David and the Kingly Line of the Messiah – David’s Troubles in Old Age (part 1)

Peter Barnes | 1 Kings 1:1-10

SERMON  NOTES
DAVID’S TROUBLES IN OLD AGE
1 Kings 1:1-10

Succession planning has ever been an issue in human history.

1. The frailty of old age.

– 1:1. He was not like Moses – Deut.34:7.

– an illustration of what Ecclesiastes tells us – Eccles.12:1.

– 1:2-4. Abishag may have already been one of David’s concubines – hence 1 Kings 2:13, 17, 21-23. Philip Ryken calls her ‘a kind of human hot water bottle’.

2. David’s sins catch up with him.

– 1:5-6. This is the third rebellion that David has suffered – the first being under Absalom and the second under Sheba.

– the mystery of sin is at work here. Adonijah is culpable for his own sin of rebellion, but David’s weakness plays a part. Prov.19:18; 23:13-14.

– read Heb.12:5-11. That is the principle. David did not grasp this fully, and it was surely one of his regrets in life.

3. The covenant community is made up of mixed loyalties.

– 1:7-10. This is the covenant community of God.

– Nathan was the man who ‘wounded’ David over his sin with Bathsheba – Prov.27:6. But he was a true friend.

Lift our eyes to a greater kingdom, to a greater King – Heb.12:25-31.