Exalting Yourself

1 Kings 1:5

“Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said “I will be king”.”

In today’s world, we elect nearly every official in government.  We have been given a special gift that we get to elect our officials and they don’t hold office for a lifetime. 

This was not the way in old Israel.  God was still in charge and the man that was carrying out His business was Nathan the prophet.  David was on his death bed and his reign as king of Israel was ending.  The king’s seat needed to be filled and David’s son Adonijah exalted himself as king when David is sick in bed.  Adonijah was the younger brother of Absalom who was killed by Joab for attempting to take the throne away from his father David. Seems like the apple does not fall far from the tree.

David does not know about this, nor does Nathan, the prophet of God.  In a desperate act of courage, Bathsheba tells Nathan what is going on and Nathan devises a plan to put Solomon, the rightful heir to the throne, as king. This is because David already decreed to the Lord that Solomon will be king.  The Lord also told David that Solomon will build a temple to house the ark of the covenant. This was further solidifying that Solomon was who the Lord was going have as king over Israel.

Bathsheba and Nathan tell king David all that had happened. David acts quickly to anoint Solomon as king; remembering how Absalom, his son, almost took control of Israel because he did not act quickly enough. If you remember, David let Absalom sit at the city gates and bad mouth his father long enough to turn many against David. His slothful nature in this matter resulted in David running out of Jerusalem with nothing but the clothes on his back. He was not going to make the same mistake this time. Solomon is anointed king and Adonijah is afraid for his life and put himself under the mercy of Solomon. 

There are times in life where you need to step up and be the leader.  There are also times when the Holy Spirit needs to lead you into the exalted places.  Just like Adonijah exalting himself, we can sometimes exalt ourselves and cause more harm than good both to ourselves and to others.  Adonijah carried out his exaltation in the same manner his brother Absalom did and we remember how that went. 

Jesus said in Mathew 20:28 “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  We may not know the time when the hand of God chooses to uplift us and put us in charge, but we can fall back on the words of Jesus in Matthew 20:28 while we are waiting.  It is better to serve than to be served. 

Today, practice serving and giving life to someone who needs a hand for no other reason other than to serve them.  The best feelings I can recall in my own life have come while I was serving someone.  Let the Lord exalt you in his timing, but in the meantime, be found serving someone else. 

Prayer: Father, give us a serving spirit today.  Help us wash the feet of our brothers and sisters by serving them in your name for your glory. Help us to be at peace in whatever place of authority we find ourselves in. Help us to serve others with a glad heart knowing that as we do unto the least of these, we do to you Lord. Create in me a clean heart, ready to serve you whether I am in a leadership position or not. In Jesus name, amen.