I Kings 2:3a and 4a And keep the charge of the LORD thy God…that the LORD may continue his word
Yesterday I was watching a video about York, England. The claim was that York was the best example of medieval architecture in that part of the world. It has buildings and cathedrals that go back many hundreds of years, and in some cases back to Roman architecture, thousands of years ago. For a guy from Tennessee, that is very different. In Tennessee if a building or business is one hundred years old, we think that is forever, but in the scheme of things, a hundred years is not that long.
I think our goal should be results, not longevity. The goal is to make the right decision today because that is all you’ve got. Some people are always talking about the good old days, and that is a bad sign because it means they are not ready for the future. They have a foundation which is important, but they are not doing anything with it. Other people are always thinking about the future, maybe even running from the past, but that can be dangerous because if you don’t have something upon which to base your actions and life, you will have a very poor structure for life indeed. Then there is the moment we all live in, right now, and that is all you are guaranteed. You can’t change yesterday; you don’t know that you will have tomorrow; but you do have today. All three times are important and that is impressed on us in I Kings 2 which is about David’s dying and Solomon’s beginning his reign.
The last two verses of I Kings 3 gives us a summary of the whole chapter, “And King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever…And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.” The establishment of Solomon’s kingdom is the bottom line of I Kings 2. Verse 1 gives you the premise for this, “Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying…” This is important because you have the transfer of one king to another in the same kingdom. The kingdom didn’t change; the kings did. That is the way life is.
So, you have three times, past, present, and future, but what you see as you examine I Kings 2 is that the way you show yourself today will determine a future you cannot see. That is why in verses 2-3 David says to Solomon, “I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man; and keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself.”
In verse 4 David continues, “That the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee…a man on the throne of Israel.” David says something very important, “Show thyself a man…that the LORD may continue his word.” If you look at these verses again, David is basically saying, “Be a man of courage, wisdom, responsibility, and obedience.” Does a king need to be obedient? Yes, and he needs to be courageous, wise, and responsible. You may not be a king, but the way you show yourself today—not yesterday, that’s gone, and not tomorrow, that’s not certain—determines a future you cannot see.
What about your start? Starts are important. In these verses you read about Joab, Barzillai, Shimei, and Abiathar. All these men play a part in the story of David. Some of them had a strong start and a poor ending. Others had the same end as the they had beginning, whether good or bad. Starting is good, but it is not the end. What you will be remembered for is probably going to be how you end things, the summation of your life. You can have a bad start and still live honorably. You can have a great start and end miserably. That makes today important.
Your future is important. In verse 36 the new King Solomon is talking to Shimei, a man who had been in rebellion against David when David was down and Absalom was in the ascendency. David spared this man’s life, but Solomon basically put him in confinement in a certain area and said, “Don’t ever leave.” Long story short, he left his area and broke his oath to the king. Solomon says to Shimei, “Therefore the LORD shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head.” This man began poorly but had a chance to change; he did not.
Oftentimes what we do in the future is tied to our current character. Unless something changes as to the choices I make, I am going to be in forty years what I am right now. Haven’t you ever watched old family films or videos and seen how much changes but how the basic character and way of communicating, walking, talking, and acting, doesn’t really change. Someone whom I admire has said, “You will be the same person in thirty years as you are now except for the people you meet and the books you read.”
So, your start is important, but it is now past. Your future is important, but it is not here. What ties the two together are the decisions you make today. Are you making decisions based on courage, or are you making decisions based on what is most convenient? You look at men like Joab and Shimei, who put their finger to the wind to find out who they thought would be in power and then went for that. In the cases of the men in this chapter, they guessed wrong. Life is fickle.
Wisdom is also important. What good is courage if you don’t know how to use it? David twice advises Solomon to act in the wisdom God had given him. Are you acting responsibly? God has not given you the charge to be the king of Israel, but He has given you a charge today. Be responsible with the charge God has given you. Finally, are you obedient to a higher authority, Jehovah God? These things matter. You can’t take back yesterday; you aren’t yet in tomorrow, but you can ask God to help you to do what is right in the decisions you make today because the way you show yourself today will determine a future you cannot even see.