Conspiracy

Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Hagath has become king, and David our Lord does not know it?

Bow with me as we go to our Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, the passage that we have before us today reminds us that men are wicked, proud, presumptuous, and self-centered. The passage also reminds us that you are sovereign, holy, and all-powerful. Evil men believe that they call the shots in this world.

They believe that they can force their will through manipulation, deceit, and their own brute strength. This passage reminds us that you are God and we are not. It is a reminder to us that compromise with evil will never win. Our culture laughs at this.

They believe that compromise with evil is the only answer. Father, use this passage in every heart today to build character into your people. Help us to quit being dependent on self and to grow in our dependence on Christ. You woke David up from his deathbed. Would you wake us out of spiritual lethargy? Help us to fight the good fight, to finish our course, and to keep the faith, as it is in the precious and holy name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.

You may be seated. My sermon last week was entitled, King Me. For we saw David's son, Adonijah, claiming the throne of Israel for himself. Now, did he have permission to do that?

And the answer is no. He did not have permission from David, his father. David was king.

He was still alive. David gave no permission. He did not have permission from God. He didn't really give a hoot what God thought. He had no desire to know what God's will was. He had no permission from the godly men in Israel to become king himself. He just bypassed all the godly men and did what he wanted to do. So what we have here is a full-blown, unholy, ungodly conspiracy.

What did Adonijah do? He said, well, I am the oldest living son of David. I believe that I am the most qualified. To become hell or high water, I will be king.

That's the conspiracy. I got three points that I want to share with you today as we look at this conspiracy. Number one is godly insight. Look with me at verses 11 through 12. Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Hagath has become king? And David our Lord does not know it.

Now therefore come, let me give you advice that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. Who is Nathan? Nathan is a priest and a prophet, but more than this, he's a man of God. Nathan is the only one who had the spiritual guts to stand up to David when David had committed adultery with Bathsheba and conspired to have her husband killed. When David needed counseling, spiritual counseling, he always went to Nathan. When David needed a prayer warrior, he always went to Nathan. Nathan had an unbelievable spiritual gift. And the gift that Nathan had was a gift of spiritual discernment.

He could smell a satanic scheme a mile away and he would discern that and then fight against it. Very interesting verse over in 1 Chronicles chapter 12 verse 32 that is describing the sons of Issachar, the men of Issachar. Nathan, let me read that to you. Verse 32 says the men of Issachar had understanding of the times so that they knew what Israel ought to do. Nathan had that same spiritual gift that the men of Issachar had. It was a gift of discernment. Nathan could see things that other people could not see.

He could understand things that other people did not understand. And when he looked at this situation with Adonijah, he immediately knew this is wicked, this is wrong, and it is extremely dangerous. So he goes to Bathsheba and he says this to her. Have you not heard that Adonijah has made himself the king? Now, had Adonijah actually done that?

And the answer to that is absolutely yes. In 1 Kings chapter 1 verse 5, Adonijah says, I will be king. And then he threw this big coronation party. He brought in the chariots and the charioteers and all these horsemen.

He killed fatted calves and lambs and did all of this stuff, getting everything ready. And then there was a huge guest list of all the people that he invited. And what's interesting is who was not on that guest list. Nathan's not on the guest list. Neither is Zadok the priest, neither is Solomon, and neither is Bathsheba. None of them are there.

That was not by accident that they were left off. You see, Adonijah did not want them anywhere around him. So why is Nathan so up in arms about Adonijah becoming the king? Adonijah is a son of David, just like Solomon was.

So what's the big deal? Nathan knew that this was not just a kingdom of Israel issue, that this was a kingdom of God issue. If Adonijah had been wise, he would have gone to Nathan to begin with to ask his counsel.

And if he had, then Nathan would have said to him this, this kingship is bigger than all of us, Adonijah. It's not about David. It's not about Solomon.

It's not about you, Adonijah. It is about a future king. It is about the Messiah who is coming. Now we don't know his name yet, and we don't even know how long it's going to be before this Messiah gets here, but this we know. He will be a sinless and perfectly righteous king. He will be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He will be sent from God to bless Israel and to bless the world.

His bloodline has been sovereignly chosen. It is God who commanded that our Messiah be a descendant of Solomon. This is not about you, Adonijah, Nathan would have said.

It is about the Messiah. I call this point a godly insight because I look at Nathan's counsel, and I look at the counselors of Adonijah, and man, what a difference. For when Nathan gave counsel to people, it was always based on the Word of God. Proverbs chapter 3 verses 5 and 6 says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart.

Lean not to your own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths. Nathan lived by that principle.

Alright, point to a crafty plan. Look at verses 13 through 14. Go in at once to King David, and say to him, Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying, Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne? Why then is Adonijah king? Then while you are still speaking with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm your words. Nathan has thought all this out carefully. Now some commentators have said that this is nothing more than just worldly manipulation.

No, no, no. This is godly planning. He knows what the will of God is. He knows the wickedness of Adonijah. He knows what it will take to shake David out of his lethargy and motivate David to do something about this terrible situation. So he goes to Bathsheba, and Nathan does, and tells Bathsheba what to do step by step.

Bathsheba was the person who had the most direct contact and access to the king. So he tells her what to say to David. Books Nathan knows how to ring David's bell, doesn't he? You remember how David acted after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and conspired to have her husband killed? He just kind of swept it under the rug. He wasn't going to say anything about it. Acted totally apathetic about it.

Didn't want anybody to mention it or bring it up. Until finally, that went on for nine months, and Nathan walked into the throne room. Nathan told him the story about the poor man who had a little ewe lamb that he loved.

It was a pet, but he loved it like a daughter. And the next door neighbor, a very rich man, came over and stole the poor man's lamb and killed the lamb and ate it for supper. David was livid over this injustice. And he's ranting and raving, and then Nathan stops him right in the middle of his rant. And he points his finger in his face and he said, David, you're the man in the story. You are the one who stole somebody's wife and had her husband killed. You're the one who did this, David.

Thou art the man. And David fell down on the floor just weeping and crying and tears of repentance just flowing. Folks, Nathan knew God so well that he could see David's heart. So he sends Bathsheba into David's bedroom. And verse 15 says that Bathsheba went into the bedroom, and there was Abishag the Shunammite who was in the bed with David cuddling him. Abishag the Shunammite was a beautiful young lady, and there she was with David cuddling him because he was shivering with cold.

She's trying to get him warm. I shared with you last week what Philip Ryken said about this. He said that Abishag could be called a human hot water bottle. Bathsheba's so focused, though, on what Abishag or what David needs to do that she's not even concerned about Abishag.

And I think that's very interesting. Look what's being said in verse 16 through 21. Bathsheba bowed and paid homage to the king, and the king said, What do you desire? She said to him, My lord, you swore to your servant by the Lord your God, saying, Solomon, your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne. And now, behold, Adonijah is king, although you, my lord the king, do not know it. He has sacrificed oxen, fattened calf, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army, but Solomon your servant, he's not invited. And now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him, otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted offenders.

Bathsheba approached David and humbly bowed before him. And David says, What do you desire? And she pours out her heart to David. She said to David, You told me that God told you that Solomon would be your successor, that Solomon would be the one who would sit on the throne of Israel as the next king. I want you to notice what she's doing. She did the exact same thing that Nathan did. She used and appealed to the word of God.

Folks, what a lesson that should be to every single one of us. What matters is this. What does God say?

When it's all said and done, that's what matters. What does God say? David said, Yes, that's right, Bathsheba. And she said, You've been out of the loop for several weeks, David. You have been bedridden.

You don't know what's going on here. But Adonijah has claimed himself to be the king. And he's claimed himself to be the king over and above the anointed king who is Solomon. He's done that. He's already had this big coronation party. He's killed sheep.

He's killed cattle. He's invited all these people in. And the ones that he did not invite was Nathan and Solomon and Zadok and David.

He didn't even consult you. Then she says, David, you need to take action. For if you allow this thing to take place, then Solomon and I are going to be executed.

While she's still speaking, Nathan walks in. He's got this all planned. This is very wise for him to do this. He knows how important godly timing is.

And he walks in right at this point in time. Now what has Bathsheba done? Bathsheba has spoken to David's heart. But now Nathan's getting ready to speak to David's mind.

Verses 22 through 27. While she was still speaking with the king, Nathan the prophet came in. And they told the king, here is Nathan the prophet. And when he came in before the king, he bowed before the king with his face to the ground. And Nathan said, my lord the king, have you said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne? For he has gone down this day and has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him and saying, long live king Adonijah. But me, your servant Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, your servant Solomon, he is not invited.

Has this thing been brought about by my lord the king? And you have not told your servants who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. Nathan, when he came in, pretty much just confirmed what Bathsheba's already said. He said, Adonijah had proclaimed himself to be king. He threw this big coronation party.

He had all these people that came, and the ones that should have been there, the ones that weren't there. And then Nathan added this, he said, and all the people are shouting now, long live Adonijah. Long live Adonijah. In other words, Adonijah has convinced everyone that he really is the king, everyone in Israel now is just kind of accepting it, and said, well, I guess that's the way it's supposed to be. So Nathan said, David, did you okay this? Did you give Adonijah the stamp of approval from the king, that he was to be the next king? Is this something you did? He said, David, I don't think that you did that.

I don't think that he got your stamp of approval. You see what's happening here? Bathsheba has appealed to David's heart. She said, if Adonijah becomes king, then Solomon and I are going to be executed. We're going to die. You think that might have gotten to David's heart?

I believe that it would. But now Nathan is speaking, and Nathan is speaking to David's mind. He said, David, look what's going on here. This is a coup. This is nothing but treason. This deserves an execution. What he has done is so terribly evil. I see these actions of Nathan and Bathsheba as being very godly.

And here's why I think that. They honored their God-given authority. David was old and feeble. They could have just ignored him. They could have taken advantage of him. They could have manipulated him.

They didn't do any of that. They came in and they bowed before David as their king, and Bathsheba as king and husband. Bathsheba said this, may my lord the king reign forever. And she was on her face before her king and husband. Ladies, I want you to put yourself in Bathsheba's shoes for just a minute. She walks into David's bedchamber, and there is this beautiful young girl, Abishag, the most beautiful girl in the kingdom. She's probably about 19 years old. And there she is, cuddling with her husband.

She's about 19 years old, Bathsheba's going on 60 at this point in time. I don't know many wives that would have handled that situation with grace. We are told that all Abishag was doing here was just cuddling with him and trying to get David warm. He was shivering with the coal.

There was infidelity here that had to make Bathsheba still very uncomfortable. Most wives would have said, look David, if you're cold and shivering, I've got a closet over here that's filled with blankets. And David, if you need somebody to cuddle with, I'm your huckleberry. I can take care of this for you. I can cuddle with you.

I can be a hot water bottle for you. She could have said all that, but those thoughts don't seem to even be going through her mind whatsoever. There's no time for jealousy. She's not even thinking about that at this point in time. She bows before David and she honors him as her husband and her king. She is respecting her God-given authority. Nathan shows David the same honor.

And what are the results? The results are that David listens. Evidently when Nathan came into the room, Bathsheba slipped out. I think that was all planned.

This is an amazing thing to me. I think David was confident that this was the end for him. He knew that he was dying. And I think in his mind he's just accepting that and he knows that it's coming. So mentally and physically and emotionally, David is just kind of winding down. He's at the point where he's getting ready to die.

Have you ever been in bed at night getting ready to go to sleep? You're just about asleep. And you're at that point where you just don't think about anything else. You don't even recognize what's going on. Everything else you're just oblivious to. You're almost just completely out of it.

You ever been to that point? I think that's where David was. And then all of a sudden, Nathan and Bathsheba come in and they share these truths with him about what's going on with Adonijah. And man, he wakes up just like that. He comes out of this stupor. No longer is he thinking about his own death. Now he's thinking about the kingdom and who's going to be the next king. He realizes that he cannot die until all this is dealt with. He cannot allow the wrong son to become the king. So he tells his servant, bring Bathsheba back in here right quick.

And the servant does. And all David's mental fogginess and all his lack of clarity just flows right out the window. And so he's clear as a bell. He's shouting out orders. He has given everybody instruction.

He is sharp as he can be. Look what's said in verse 28 through 31. Then King David answered, Call Bathsheba to me. So she came into the king's presence and stood before the king. And the king swore, saying, As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity, as I swore to you by the Lord the God of Israel, saying, Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place.

Even so will I do this day. Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground and paid homage to the king and said, May my Lord King David live forever. David's thinking as clear as a bell.

He assures Nathan and Bathsheba that Adonijah's conspiracy will not stand. I think most of you probably remember Wanda Lilly. Wanda has gone to be with the Lord a few years back, but she was a Sunday school teacher here for over 30 years for our little children.

Did a wonderful, wonderful job. But when she was on her deathbed, she was at the hospice house over in Kannapolis, and the morning she died, Cindy and I were over in her room with her, and Lucy Heron was there and Vicki West were there, who were standing around her bed, and she somehow realized that in her will she had left out a relative that she cared for and loved very much, and she said, I've got to get the lawyer back over here very quickly. She had been going down, and you could tell she was just closing out up until that point. And then we called the lawyer. The lawyer got over there, and just very quickly, she told the lawyer what she wanted done, how she wanted this other relative in her will to get some of her inheritance, and she said, this is very important. He wrote it out just exactly like she wanted it.

We had to sign as witnesses if this was right, and we signed it. The lawyer turned around to Wanda, and he said, it's taken care of. Your relative is going to get that inheritance, and she said thank you, and she closed her eyes.

Within minutes after that, she was with the Lord. When I read this passage this week about what's going on with David, what was going on with Wanda was very much like that. She said, I cannot die until this will is corrected until the relative that I love is taken care of.

And that's what David is saying. I cannot die until I know that Solomon is on the throne, and when I know that, then I'll be able to die, but not until then. I cannot die until I know that Adonijah can't stop Solomon's reign. Now, some have believed that the only reason that Bathsheba and Nathan were so concerned about this and almost in a panic was because they knew that they were going to die if Adonijah became king. I don't think that at all. Some commentators also believe that God never told Solomon or prophesied that Solomon would be the next king of Israel.

I don't believe that either. In 1 Chronicles 22, verses 9 through 10, David is talking to Solomon, and David told him what happened. David said that he was praying to the Lord, and he asked the Lord about becoming or building the temple of God in Jerusalem.

He said, that's what I want to do for you, Lord. And the Lord said, no, David, you will not do that because you're a bloody man. You're a man of war, and you will not build the temple.

It needs to be a man of peace. So the one that will build the temple will be the next king, and the next king is going to be Solomon. Solomon's not even born at that point in time.

He even gives him his name. So Solomon will be the next king, and Solomon, a man of peace, will be the one who builds the temple of Jehovah in Jerusalem. Let me read 1 Chronicles 22 to you, verses 9 through 10. Behold, a son shall be born to you, who shall be a man of rest. I will give him rest from all his surrounding enemies, for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quiet to Israel in his days. He shall build a house for my name. He shall be my son, and I will be his father, and I will establish his royal throne in Israel forever.

Now think about that. It was God who said Solomon would be the next king in Israel. It was God who said Solomon would build the temple of God in Jerusalem. God said all that, and as David is dying, Nathan and Bathsheba come in, and they say Adonijah's claiming to be king, and people are accepting it. Is Adonijah going to be the next king, the successor to David?

Is that what's going to happen? It's no wonder David woke up. It's no wonder David started shouting out orders. He knew that the will of God was being violated, and come hell or high water, David was not going to put up with that.

The reasons I just shared with you are they're true, and I think they're relevant and they're valid, but I believe that there's something much, much more important here, much bigger and more glorious that David had in mind. In 2 Samuel chapter 7, God had given David royal promises. The kingdom promises that he had given him are promises that reach far beyond the little nation of Israel. The kingdom promises pointed to a king who would be much greater and much more glorious than Solomon. The kingdom promises spoke of an eternal kingdom and of an eternal king, a perfect, sinless, perfectly righteous Messiah. And David knew that the bloodline must go through the prophesied Solomon. So how would the kingdom come?

Only one way the kingdom could come, and that is through a perfectly holy life that would be sacrificed as a substitutionary atonement, as a propitiation, as a reconciliation, and as a ransom or a redemption. And then, after that sacrificial death, there would be a resurrection, a resurrection to eternal life. David did not have that full revelation, but he was somehow able to look down the corridor of history for a thousand years, and when he did, guess what he saw? He saw Jesus. He saw Jesus. He saw Jesus, the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the earth. He saw Jesus, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. This Jesus would be born in David's bloodline through Solomon, not through Adonijah. That's what woke David up. That's what gripped his heart. That's what forced David to stop Adonijah in his tracks. This political treason was not just about Adonijah, it was essentially about Jesus.

Folks, when you're teaching your children about life, teach them that there's one question that is more important than any other question, and that is this. What will you do with Jesus? What will you do with Jesus? Philip Ryken said it this way, Although in many ways the kingdom has come, we are still waiting for all its promises to be totally fulfilled. This is why we pray, Thy kingdom come. We are looking in faith for the kingdom to come in all its full dominion. And while we wait, we are called to believe the kingdom promises of God. He has promised that in His kingdom there will be no more death or dying or pain. He has promised that the citizens of His kingdom will experience the full joy of being at home with Jesus forever. And He has promised that His kingdom can never be shaken, but will endure for all eternity. Do you belong to the kingdom of God? If so, then swear ongoing allegiance to Jesus Christ as your King, and believe that one day you will see all His kingdom promises come true. Believe this even when the progress of the gospel seems slow, when things seem to be getting worse instead of better, or when the world seems tired, out, and broken down, or when you suffer grief and loss and physical pain, or when God seems far away. Even then, believe the kingdom promise of the eternal God taken by faith in Jesus Christ, which you cannot see until He comes again.

Point three, working for the kingdom's progress. Verse 17 through 18, and then verses 29 through 30. She said to Him, My Lord, You swore to Your servant by the Lord Your God, saying, Solomon, Your son, shall reign after me. He shall sit on my throne. Now behold, Adonijah's king, although You, my Lord the king, do not know it. Verse 29, And the king swore, saying, As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity, as I swore to You by the Lord the God of Israel, saying, Solomon, Your son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place, even so I will do this day.

When times are hard, people say, Well, what can one person do? Those thoughts surely must have gone through the minds of Nathan and Bathsheba. Here, as Adonijah proclaimed himself to be the king, he has already thrown this big coronation party, invited all the big muckety mucks from all over Israel to that coronation party. The people of Israel are already screaming out, Long live Adonijah! And I think it would have been very easy for Nathan and Bathsheba to have said, Well, we're just a day late and a dollar short. There's nothing we can do about it. We may as well just forget it.

No, no, that's not what they did. They said, We plus God are a majority. And Bathsheba pours her heart out to her husband. She appeals to his spiritual side. She says, Look, David, while you've been cuddling up with Miss Universe over here, we've had some problems. And Adonijah has proclaimed himself to be the king, and he is trying to take over from the real anointed one who is Solomon. We've got to do something about it. David, you've got to realize that this has got to be finished up before you die.

You've got to tell the nation what you told me. Solomon is to be king. This is important for our nation now, David, but it's important for the kingdom of God for all of eternity.

So David was stirred up. I mean, man, he comes out of that lethargy, that mental fogginess comes right out of that and does everything he has to do to make sure that God's will is accomplished. Folks, I believe in the sovereignty of God. I believe that there's not one maverick molecule in this universe. I believe that God is in total control.

I am what you call just a blue-nosed Calvinist. I believe that with all my heart. But having said that, I'm not a fatalist. I am not a fatalist.

I don't shrug my shoulders and say, what will be will be. I believe that God causes people to stand strongly for truth. I believe that oftentimes we must push back against ungodliness, even if it means persecution.

I believe that we should not be deterred by criticism or public opinion. I believe we should stand strong, that we should put on the whole armor of God, that we should forge ahead for the kingdom and trust the results to God. That's exactly what Bathsheba and Nathan did. Did God honor that?

Oh, yeah. God woke David up from his deathbed and stopped Adonijah from becoming the king. Let me close with a short statement from Philip Ryken. He said, if Jesus Christ is the king, then we should do whatever we can do for his kingdom. After all, Jesus himself has done everything he could do for this kingdom. He has even done what no other king would dare to do. He has offered his own blood to save his people. Given what he has done for us, it is only right for us to do whatever we can for him and for his kingdom.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, what was it that woke David up from his deathbed? Was it a family struggle? No. Was it an arrogant son? No. Was it a godly son who was being cheated?

No. It was the promise of the everlasting kingdom. It was the promise of the coming Messiah. A thousand years before Jesus would be born to the Virgin Mary, God woke up David and called him to deal with Adonijah's rebellion, so the Messiah's royal bloodline would stand. Lord God, nothing can thwart your purposes.

Nothing can stay your hand. May we live out our lives with that truth burning in our hearts. You had a plan for David. You had a plan for Nathan and Bathsheba. You had a plan for Solomon. And you have a plan for every child of God in this building. Show us your plan. Use us for your glory. For it is in the precious and holy name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.