Adonijah Sets Himself Up as King (Solomon): Before Solomon could take the throne, a new rival emerged—his own brother. Adonijah was the oldest living son of King David, so he would’ve been the normal choice. However, both the Lord and King David had chosen Solomon. Driven by pride, Adonijah ignored both God and his father. Would Solomon learn to be humble? Humility requires faith that God is God and you are not. Recorded on Sep 21, 2025, on 1 Kings 1:1-31 by Pastor David Parks.
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This sermon is part of the Solomon: The Legacy of a King series. King Solomon was a complex man whose story started some 3,000 years ago, when David, his father, was the most powerful and successful king of ancient Israel. David’s reign brought peace, prosperity, and plans to build the temple before handing the kingdom to Solomon. How would King Solomon handle living in the shadow of his great father’s legacy? Would he learn to be a wise and godly king? Could he overcome the plotting of his enemies, the dysfunction of his family, and the temptations of virtually unlimited wealth, fame, and women? What would be his legacy? Solomon’s story is a vital part of the history leading up to the ultimate son of David and anointed king, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Sermon Transcript
So last week, we started a new sermon series called Solomon: The Legacy of a King, which will run for about the next five months because we have a lot to cover. We’re following King Solomon’s story in the historical record of 1 Kings, but we’ll also look at his psalms, proverbs, and other writings in the Bible as well. We said that his story started some 3,000 years ago, when David, his father, was the most powerful and successful king of ancient Israel. David’s reign brought peace, prosperity, and plans to build the temple before handing the kingdom to Solomon. Last week, we saw some of David’s big expectations for his chosen son. But we wondered, how would King Solomon handle living in the shadow of his great father’s legacy? Would he learn to be a wise and godly king? Could he overcome the dysfunction of his family and the temptations swirling all around him? Well, today, we’ll see that Solomon faced a threat to his life and leadership of the highest level before he even took the throne. A potential rival for the crown emerged from within his own family, one of his own brothers. In his foolish pride, Adonijah attempted to steal the throne. Solomon’s story has drama right away. So let’s get into it. If you have your Bible/app, please open it to 1 Kings 1:1.
1 Kings 1:1–4 (NIV), “1 When King David was very old, he could not keep warm even when they put covers over him. 2 So his attendants said to him, “Let us look for a young virgin to serve the king and take care of him. She can lie beside him so that our lord the king may keep warm.” 3 Then they searched throughout Israel for a beautiful young woman and found Abishag, a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4 The woman was very beautiful; she took care of the king and waited on him, but the king had no sexual relations with her.” Ok, so last week, we started our series in 1 Chronicles chapter 28, where David displayed a lot more strength physically and in his leadership than at this time here at the start of 1 Kings. David charged his officials and his son, Solomon, to obey the Lord and follow his ways. David gave Solomon the plans to build a glorious temple for the living God—a house for the Lord. But here, sometime later, the picture is one of weakness. David, who was known for his bold action, couldn’t even keep himself warm anymore. David was still the king, but things weren’t looking good. So his attendants suggested they find a beautiful young woman to keep him warm and maybe wake him back up from his weakness. So they brought in Abishag from the town of Shunem, and she served the king, but he never slept with her. Now, David had already made it clear who his chosen successor was to be. But while he was still alive, David was still the king. Would this be a problem for Solomon? An aging king might not be as on top of his game as he was when he was younger. Clearly, at this point, David wasn’t his old self. But here’s the problem: a king who isn’t on top of things, who is weak and distracted, is vulnerable. Would some strong young man come in to test David’s authority before Solomon could take the crown? Let’s find out.
1 Kings 1:5-10 (NIV), “5 Now Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith, put himself forward and said, “I will be king.” So he got chariots and horses ready, with fifty men to run ahead of him. 6 (His father had never rebuked him by asking, “Why do you behave as you do?” He was also very handsome and was born next after Absalom.) 7 Adonijah conferred with Joab son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they gave him their support. 8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei and Rei and David’s special guard did not join Adonijah. 9 Adonijah then sacrificed sheep, cattle and fattened calves at the Stone of Zoheleth near En Rogel. He invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah, 10 but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the special guard or his brother Solomon.” So they had a full-on crisis as a rival king emerged. But why did Adonijah claim the crown for himself? Well, one answer is that Adonijah was the next in line by birth, which is generally how the succession of kings worked. The crown would pass from father to the eldest living son. But to explain why Adonijah thought he was next in line, we have to do a brief history of David’s very messed-up family. You think you have a crazy family? Just you wait. It all started with David behaving like all the ancient kings behaved when he took multiple wives (8!) and started having kids with all of them. Granted, at the time, this was totally normal. Every ancient religion and culture practiced polygamy, meaning one husband and multiple wives, although it was most prevalent among the wealthy and ruling class. One of the ways you showed your wealth, power, and status in those days was the number of sons you had. The more wives you had, the more sons you could have, and the higher your status became. But besides having sons and status, marriage was also a way to solidify political alliances. David’s first marriage was to King Saul’s daughter to secure David’s rising star in Israel to the house of Saul. But I just have to say, this sounds so wrong to us, right? But remember, just because something is in the Bible doesn’t mean God is ok with it. All kinds of evil things are described in the Bible, but that doesn’t mean they’re prescribed for us. We’re not supposed to go out and repeat those things. Dt 17 is a passage in the Mosaic Law which addresses a later time when Israel would have a king. And the law specifically says, “He [the king] must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray.” (Dt 17:17). Now, maybe David felt that eight wives weren’t that many, so he was justified (or maybe he just ignored this instruction and followed his own way and not God’s way on this point), but, and this is a really important point, if you track how David’s family relationships worked, you’ll see it was a total disaster. Even though it was a widely accepted practice back then, and still is in many places today, polygamy never works because it’s not how marriage was designed. Genesis 2 has one man and one woman united in a life-long covenant of marriage. Back to David’s family, his multiple sons from all these wives saw each other as competitors more than brothers. But when you add other sins to the mix, it becomes deadly. David’s firstborn son, Amnon, became infatuated with his younger half-sister, Tamar, and he ended up raping her. This heartbreaking event is recorded in 2Sa 13, and made David furious, but despite being such a bold man of action, David sadly chose not to intervene. He could’ve worked to bring justice and healing into his family, but he didn’t, which only made things worse. Tamar was the full sister of David’s son, Absalom. Later, when Absalom saw his opportunity to take revenge on his brother, Amnon, Absalom murdered him. David’s second son, Kileab, is never mentioned after his birth, which suggests he might’ve died at some point, although we can’t be sure. But he wasn’t in the picture. After Amnon was killed, Absalom, the third-born son, conspired to take the throne from his father, David. Perhaps he was resentful of his father for his inaction with Amnon? But just like Adonijah would later try here in our text, Absalom got chariots and horses and had fifty men run ahead of him. In other words, Absalom started acting like the king. He started collecting important officials and fighting men who would support his ascension to the throne. And step by step, he won the hearts of the people of Israel over to himself. Incredibly, this forced the mighty David and his loyal family and officials to flee Jerusalem for a time to prevent a coup. Can you imagine having to run for your life from your own son? However, Absalom, David’s son, was captured and killed despite his express command not to keep his son alive. David bitterly mourned the loss of another son, even though Absalom had conspired against him. So now, the first three sons were dead or gone, which left Adonijah as the oldest living son of David. Now here, Adonijah tries again where Absalom failed. But it wasn’t just the fact that he was next in line according to the ways of the world. Adonijah arrogantly put himself forward to be the king. Why did Adonijah claim the crown for himself? Another answer is pride. But this was a huge mistake for several reasons, most importantly, it directly opposed the will of the God of Israel. Not just in his pick of Solomon, but the two previous kings of Israel, Saul and David, Adonijah’s father, had both been chosen and anointed to be king by a prophet of Yahweh. It was God who created Israel, saved Israel, and brought them into the Promised Land. And it was God who chose the king of his people and his kingdom, not the will of Saul or David or any man. But in his foolish pride, Adonijah put himself forward. “I will be king.” Or really? And how well do you think that’ll work out for him? Well, it’s important to note that our narrator doesn’t put the blame completely on Adonijah. Did you see that? His father deserves some of the blame as well. v. 6 says, “His father had never rebuked him by asking, ‘Why do you behave as you do?’” So again, David chose not to intervene to correct or rebuke or discipline his son when he was clearly headed down a dangerous and destructive path. David was obviously a man of great faith. He loved the Lord his God with all his heart, as best as any imperfect man could. But we see here that David’s family was a huge moral blind spot for him. He slew the giant Goliath, but he couldn’t figure out how to stop his sons when they were headed for destruction. He brought peace to Israel, but he couldn’t keep the peace in his own household. David was a brilliant political and military leader. He was a gifted poet and musician, and he enjoyed many successes. But he was not a good parent. And this had many consequences. So Adonijah was next in line for the throne by birth, he was handsome and spoiled. All this fed into his ego, making him think he could go against God’s will and the will of his father, David. This was especially ironic as Adonijah’s name meant, “Yahweh is my Lord.” But his actions told another story. So like his brother Absalom before him, Adonijah collected several important officials who would support his ascension to the throne and threw a party celebrating his impending coronation. However, Adonijah was shrewd and knew some officials would not support him; they would be loyal to King David and his chosen son, Solomon, so they weren’t invited. This reveals that Adonijah knew exactly what he was doing. But would any of these officials who were loyal to David try to stop any of this from happening? And would David, in his advanced age and weakness, be able to do anything about it, even if he wanted to?
1 Kings 1:11-14 (NIV), “11 Then Nathan asked Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother, “Have you not heard that Adonijah, the son of Haggith, has become king, and our lord David knows nothing about it? 12 Now then, let me advise you how you can save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. 13 Go in to King David and say to him, ‘My lord the king, did you not swear to me your servant: “Surely Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’ 14 While you are still there talking to the king, I will come in and add my word to what you have said.” So, Nathan the prophet and Bathsheba, two people who were not invited to Adonijah’s party, come up with a plan to try to make David aware of what’s happening right under his nose. And Bathsheba especially would’ve been motivated to act because, being Solomon’s mother, she likely would’ve been killed if Adonijah actually became the king. Because that’s what ancient kings did. Once you ascend to the throne, you eliminate any potential rivals or people who could create more rivals down the road. Of course, this was not how God’s kingdom was supposed to work, but Adonijah seemed to be following his own path. But would it work? Or were Bathsheba and Nathan too little too late?
1 Kings 1:15-31 (NIV), “15 So Bathsheba went to see the aged king in his room, where Abishag the Shunammite was attending him. 16 Bathsheba bowed down, prostrating herself before the king. “What is it you want?” the king asked. 17 She said to him, “My lord, you yourself swore to me your servant by the Lord your God: ‘Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne.’ 18 But now Adonijah has become king, and you, my lord the king, do not know about it. 19 He has sacrificed great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep, and has invited all the king’s sons, Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army, but he has not invited Solomon your servant. 20 My lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to learn from you who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 21 Otherwise, as soon as my lord the king is laid to rest with his ancestors, I and my son Solomon will be treated as criminals.” 22 While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet arrived. 23 And the king was told, “Nathan the prophet is here.” So he went before the king and bowed with his face to the ground. 24 Nathan said, “Have you, my lord the king, declared that Adonijah shall be king after you, and that he will sit on your throne? 25 Today he has gone down and sacrificed great numbers of cattle, fattened calves, and sheep. He has invited all the king’s sons, the commanders of the army and Abiathar the priest. Right now they are eating and drinking with him and saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ 26 But me your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and your servant Solomon he did not invite. 27 Is this something my lord the king has done without letting his servants know who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?” 28 Then King David said, “Call in Bathsheba.” So she came into the king’s presence and stood before him. 29 The king then took an oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, 30 I will surely carry out this very day what I swore to you by the Lord, the God of Israel: Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he will sit on my throne in my place.” 31 Then Bathsheba bowed down with her face to the ground, prostrating herself before the king, and said, “May my lord King David live forever!” This is God’s word. So, we’ll have to wait until next week to see how David’s promise will play out. Last week, we asked, “What will your legacy be?” and were challenged by the two paths everyone faces in life. Are you going to follow God’s way or your way? Adonijah was clearly following his own way. So today, instead of talking about that again, let’s consider Adonijah’s pride, his other motivation for ignoring God’s word and trying to overthrow his own father and brother. Pride is a killer. It’s the sin under many other sins. But how often are we tempted to elevate ourselves higher than we ought? Or look down on others for all sorts of reasons? How often are we tempted to brag about our strengths, exaggerate our accomplishments, or boast even in our goodness? I’ve noticed this in my own heart many times after serving our monthly homeless shelter dinner. I feel the tug in my heart to mention it later in conversation. Why? Because of how good I am. But how often are we tempted to cover up our weaknesses, justify ourselves in disobeying God, or minimize the evil of our own sins? This is all pride. Listen to what God says about pride. Proverbs 16:18 (NIV), “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” God’s way is a way of humility. Wise people are humble people. But here’s the truth about humility: Humility requires faith that God is God and you are not. When you see and believe the truth about who God is, it snaps a lot of other things into the right priority and perspective. But pride is a counterfeit faith. Pride is faith in yourself, your abilities, family, grades, looks, popularity, wealth, ethnicity, intelligence, or even your spirituality. If you have pride, why would you need God? If you have faith in yourself, why would you need to put your faith in him or trust him when you don’t understand his will or his ways? This is why pride is so destructive. Just as a dysfunctional family puts brothers in competition with each other, so pride puts creatures in competition with their creator. This was never meant to be, and just like defining marriage however you want to define it, it never works. But true faith in God is a pride-killer. Because true faith not only recognizes God as being the highest and most glorious being in all the universe, but it demands a response of love. And you can’t love someone when you think you’re better than them. Love humbles. The greatest commandment to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength guards against the destruction of pride. And the second greatest command, to love your neighbor as yourself, is only possible when you love God more than yourself. So parents, if you aren’t sure how to raise or instruct or discipline your children, swallow your pride and get some help. The younger your kids are, the better. But it’s never too late to do the right thing. We’ll see this next week in David’s response. Better late than never. But for all of us today, humility requires faith that God is God and you are not. But this is incredibly freeing. It’s the truth. But it’s also the basis for healthy, life-giving relationships. This is where wisdom is found. God’s way is a way of humility. So let us be humble people. And may this church be a humble church, not elevating ourselves or our flag or our brand higher than we ought. And so, may we reflect the humility of our King, the Lord Jesus Christ, out into the world around us. No one deserved more glory, honor, and praise than Jesus. But he was not only willing to come in humility to become a human being, but he was willing to humbly die on a cross for our sins to set us free from the sin of pride. Jesus was God, but he acted as if he were a humble servant. Will Solomon learn this? We’ll see. But as we seek to follow his humble way, may we never forget that God is God and we are not. Praise God. Let us pray.
