[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR WEDNESDAY APRIL 6

[Donnie Parrett]

DONNIE DAILY GEMS FOR WEDNESDAY APRIL 6

WORD OF WISDOM

Did you know that the first French Fry wasn't cooked in France? It was
cooked in greece!

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DAILY DEVOTION

"A More Sure Word"


We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take
heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and
the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of
the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in
old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by
the Holy Ghost.
2 Peter 1:19-21

It is easy for us to take the Bible for granted. Never before in history has
the Word of God been as widely available as it is in our day. We can read
it, listen to it, study it, and hear it preached and taught any time we
choose. Yet day after day, many Christians neglect the Bible rather than
recognize it as a great treasure. In his autobiograhy, George Müller wrote,
“God is the author of the Bible, and only the truth it contains will lead
people to true happiness. A Christian should read this precious Book every
day with earnest prayer and meditation. But like many believers, I preferred
to read the works of uninspired men rather than the oracles of the living
God. Consequently, I remained a spiritual baby both in knowledge and grace.”
We have the “sure word of prophecy” (as Peter described the Bible), not so
we can carry it to church on Sunday and look spiritual, but so we can fill
our hearts and minds with it and do what it says. The world is desperately
seeking wisdom and direction. People have their horoscopes prepared so they
can see what the stars have to say about their future. People go to palm
readers to see what the lines on their hand predict. People offer all kinds
of alternatives, but God has spoken. All that we need to know to please Him
in the days ahead is contained in the pages of His Word.
We do not need new predictions or forecasts about the future. We need the
certain truth of the Bible.

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DAILY BIBLE READING

1 Kings 1-3 New King James Version
Adonijah Presumes to Be King
1 Now King David was old, [a]advanced in years; and they put covers on him,
but he could not get warm. 2 Therefore his servants said to him, “Let a
young woman, a virgin, be sought for our lord the king, and let her [b]stand
before the king, and let her care for him; and let her lie in your bosom,
that our lord the king may be warm.” 3 So they sought for a lovely young
woman throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the
Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4 The young woman was very lovely;
and she cared for the king, and served him; but the king did not know her.

5 Then Adonijah the [c]son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will [d]be
king”; and he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to
run before him. 6 (And his father had not [e]rebuked him at any time by
saying, “Why have you done so?” He was also very good-looking. His mother
had borne him after Absalom.) 7 Then he conferred with Joab the son of
Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest, and they followed and helped Adonijah.
8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet,
Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David were not with
Adonijah.

9 And Adonijah sacrificed sheep and oxen and fattened cattle by the stone of
[f]Zoheleth, which is by En Rogel;[g] he also invited all his brothers, the
king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants. 10 But he did
not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men, or Solomon his
brother.

11 So Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, “Have you not
heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and David our lord
does not know it? 12 Come, please, let me now give you advice, that you may
save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. 13 Go immediately to
King David and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord, O king, swear to your
maidservant, saying, “Assuredly your son Solomon shall reign after me, and
he shall sit on my throne”? Why then has Adonijah become king?’ 14 Then,
while you are still talking there with the king, I also will come in after
you and confirm your words.”

15 So Bathsheba went into the chamber to the king. (Now the king was very
old, and Abishag the Shunammite was serving the king.) 16 And Bathsheba
bowed and did homage to the king. Then the king said, “What is your wish?”

17 Then she said to him, “My lord, you swore by the Lord your God to your
maidservant, saying, ‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall reign after me, and
he shall sit on my throne.’ 18 So now, look! Adonijah has become king; and
now, my lord the king, you do not know about it. 19 He has sacrificed oxen
and fattened cattle 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 has not invited. 20 And as for you, my lord, O king,
the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you should tell them who will sit on
the throne of my lord the king after him. 21 Otherwise it will happen, when
my lord the king rests with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be
counted as offenders.”

22 And just then, while she was still talking with the king, Nathan the
prophet also came in. 23 So they told the king, saying, “Here is Nathan the
prophet.” And when he came in before the king, he bowed down before the king
with his face to the ground. 24 And Nathan said, “My lord, O king, have you
said, ‘Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne’? 25 For
he has gone down today, and has sacrificed oxen and fattened cattle and
sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king’s sons, and the commanders
of the army, and Abiathar the priest; and look! They are eating and drinking
before him; and they say, ‘Long[h] live King Adonijah!’ 26 But he has not
invited me—me your servant—nor Zadok the priest, nor Benaiah the son of
Jehoiada, nor your servant Solomon. 27 Has this thing been done by my lord
the king, and you have not told your servant who should sit on the throne of
my lord the king after him?”

David Proclaims Solomon King
28 Then King David answered and said, “Call Bathsheba to me.” So she came
into the king’s presence and stood before the king. 29 And the king took an
oath and said, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every
distress, 30 just as I swore to you by the Lord God of Israel, saying,
‘Assuredly Solomon your son shall be king after me, and he shall sit on my
throne in my place,’ so I certainly will do this day.”

31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and paid homage to the
king, and said, “Let my lord King David live forever!”

32 And King David said, “Call to me Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet,
and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.” So they came before the king. 33 The king
also said to them, “Take with you the servants of your lord, and have
Solomon my son ride on my own mule, and take him down to Gihon.[i] 34 There
let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel; and
blow the horn, and say, [j]‘Long live King Solomon!’ 35 Then you shall come
up after him, and he shall come and sit on my throne, and he shall be king
in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah.”

36 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king and said, “Amen! May the
Lord God of my lord the king say so too. 37 As the Lord has been with my
lord the king, even so may He be with Solomon, and make his throne greater
than the throne of my lord King David.”

38 So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the
Cherethites, and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King
David’s mule, and took him to Gihon. 39 Then Zadok the priest took a horn of
oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. And they blew the horn, and
all the people said, [k]“Long live King Solomon!” 40 And all the people went
up after him; and the people played the flutes and rejoiced with great joy,
so that the earth seemed to split with their sound.

41 Now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they
finished eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the horn, he said, “Why is
the city in such a noisy uproar?” 42 While he was still speaking, there came
Jonathan, the son of Abiathar the priest. And Adonijah said to him, “Come
in, for you are a prominent man, and bring good news.”

43 Then Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, “No! Our lord King David has
made Solomon king. 44 The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan
the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the
Pelethites; and they have made him ride on the king’s mule. 45 So Zadok the
priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon; and they have
gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the
noise that you have heard. 46 Also Solomon sits on the throne of the
kingdom. 47 And moreover the king’s servants have gone to bless our lord
King David, saying, ‘May God make the name of Solomon better than your name,
and may He make his throne greater than your throne.’ Then the king bowed
himself on the bed. 48 Also the king said thus, ‘Blessed be the Lord God of
Israel, who has given one to sit on my throne this day, while my eyes see
it!’ ”

49 So all the guests who were with Adonijah were afraid, and arose, and each
one went his way.

50 Now Adonijah was afraid of Solomon; so he arose, and went and took hold
of the horns of the altar. 51 And it was told Solomon, saying, “Indeed
Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon; for look, he has taken hold of the horns
of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not
put his servant to death with the sword.’ ”

52 Then Solomon said, “If he proves himself a worthy man, not one hair of
him shall fall to the earth; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall
die.” 53 So King Solomon sent them to bring him down from the altar. And he
came and fell down before King Solomon; and Solomon said to him, “Go to your
house.”

David’s Instructions to Solomon
2 Now the days of David drew near that he should die, and he [l]charged
Solomon his son, saying: 2 “I go the way of all the earth; be strong,
therefore, and prove yourself a man. 3 And keep the charge of the Lord your
God: to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His
judgments, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that
you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn; 4 that the Lord
may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons
take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and
with all their soul,’ He said, ‘you shall not lack a man on the throne of
Israel.’

5 “Moreover you know also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what
he did to the two commanders of the armies of Israel, to Abner the son of
Ner and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed. And he shed the blood of
war in peacetime, and put the blood of war on his belt that was around his
waist, and on his sandals that were on his feet. 6 Therefore do according to
your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace.

7 “But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be
among those who eat at your table, for so they came to me when I fled from
Absalom your brother.

8 “And see, you have with you Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite from
Bahurim, who cursed me with a malicious curse in the day when I went to
Mahanaim. But he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by
the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ 9 Now
therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and know what
you ought to do to him; but bring his gray hair down to the grave with
blood.”

Death of David
10 So David [m]rested with his fathers, and was buried in the City of David.
11 The period that David reigned over Israel was forty years; seven years he
reigned in Hebron, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years. 12 Then
Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly
established.

Solomon Executes Adonijah
13 Now Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon.
So she said, “Do you come peaceably?”

And he said, “Peaceably.” 14 Moreover he said, “I have something to say to
you.”

And she said, “Say it.”

15 Then he said, “You know that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had set
their expectations on me, that I should reign. However, the kingdom has been
turned over, and has become my brother’s; for it was his from the Lord. 16
Now I ask one petition of you; do not [n]deny me.”

And she said to him, “Say it.”

17 Then he said, “Please speak to King Solomon, for he will not refuse you,
that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite as wife.”

18 So Bathsheba said, “Very well, I will speak for you to the king.”

19 Bathsheba therefore went to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah.
And the king rose up to meet her and bowed down to her, and sat down on his
throne and had a throne set for the king’s mother; so she sat at his right
hand. 20 Then she said, “I desire one small petition of you; do not
[o]refuse me.”

And the king said to her, “Ask it, my mother, for I will not refuse you.”

21 So she said, “Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your
brother as wife.”

22 And King Solomon answered and said to his mother, “Now why do you ask
Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom also—for he is
my older brother—for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son
of Zeruiah.” 23 Then King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, “May God do so
to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own
life! 24 Now therefore, as the Lord lives, who has confirmed me and set me
on the throne of David my father, and who has established a [p]house for me,
as He promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today!”

25 So King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he
struck him down, and he died.

Abiathar Exiled, Joab Executed
26 And to Abiathar the priest the king said, “Go to Anathoth, to your own
fields, for [q]you are deserving of death; but I will not put you to death
at this time, because you carried the ark of the Lord God before my father
David, and because you were afflicted every time my father was afflicted.”
27 So Solomon removed Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, that he might
fulfill the word of the Lord which He spoke concerning the house of Eli at
Shiloh.

28 Then news came to Joab, for Joab had defected to Adonijah, though he had
not defected to Absalom. So Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and
took hold of the horns of the altar. 29 And King Solomon was told, “Joab has
fled to the tabernacle of the Lord; there he is, by the altar.” Then Solomon
sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, strike him down.” 30 So
Benaiah went to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him, “Thus says the
king, ‘Come out!’ ”

And he said, “No, but I will die here.” And Benaiah brought back word to the
king, saying, “Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.”

31 Then the king said to him, “Do as he has said, and strike him down and
bury him, that you may take away from me and from the house of my father the
innocent blood which Joab shed. 32 So the Lord will return his [r]blood on
his head, because he struck down two men more righteous and better than he,
and killed them with the sword—Abner the son of Ner, the commander of the
army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, the commander of the army of
Judah—though my father David did not know it. 33 Their blood shall therefore
return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his descendants forever.
But upon David and his descendants, upon his house and his throne, there
shall be peace forever from the Lord.”

34 So Benaiah the son of Jehoiada went up and struck and killed him; and he
was buried in his own house in the wilderness. 35 The king put Benaiah the
son of Jehoiada in his place over the army, and the king put Zadok the
priest in the place of Abiathar.

Shimei Executed
36 Then the king sent and called for Shimei, and said to him, “Build
yourself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and do not go out from there
anywhere. 37 For it shall be, on the day you go out and cross the Brook
Kidron, know for certain you shall surely die; your [s]blood shall be on
your own head.”

38 And Shimei said to the king, “The saying is good. As my lord the king has
said, so your servant will do.” So Shimei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.

39 Now it happened at the end of three years, that two slaves of Shimei ran
away to Achish the son of Maachah, king of Gath. And they told Shimei,
saying, “Look, your slaves are in Gath!” 40 So Shimei arose, saddled his
donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to seek his slaves. And Shimei went and
brought his slaves from Gath. 41 And Solomon was told that Shimei had gone
from Jerusalem to Gath and had come back. 42 Then the king sent and called
for Shimei, and said to him, “Did I not make you swear by the Lord, and warn
you, saying, ‘Know for certain that on the day you go out and travel
anywhere, you shall surely die’? And you said to me, ‘The word I have heard
is good.’ 43 Why then have you not kept the oath of the Lord and the
commandment that I gave you?” 44 The king said moreover to Shimei, “You
know, as your heart acknowledges, all the wickedness that you did to my
father David; therefore the Lord will return your wickedness on your own
head. 45 But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be
established before the Lord forever.”

46 So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out and
struck him down, and he died. Thus the kingdom was established in the hand
of Solomon.

Solomon Requests Wisdom
3 Now Solomon made [t]a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married
Pharaoh’s daughter; then he brought her to the City of David until he had
finished building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall all
around Jerusalem. 2 Meanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places,
because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days.
3 And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David,
except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.

4 Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great
high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At
Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask!
What shall I give you?”

6 And Solomon said: “You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my
father, because he walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in
uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for
him, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7
Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father
David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. 8
And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a
great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. 9 Therefore give to
Your servant an [u]understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may
discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of
Yours?”

10 The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 Then
God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked long
life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the
life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern
justice, 12 behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given
you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like
you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. 13 And I have also
given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there
shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. 14 So if you
walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father
David walked, then I will lengthen[v] your days.”

15 Then Solomon awoke; and indeed it had been a dream. And he came to
Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, offered up
burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and made a feast for all his
servants.

Solomon’s Wise Judgment
16 Now two women who were harlots came to the king, and stood before him. 17
And one woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house;
and I gave birth while she was in the house. 18 Then it happened, the third
day after I had given birth, that this woman also gave birth. And we were
together; [w]no one was with us in the house, except the two of us in the
house. 19 And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20
So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while
your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child
in my bosom. 21 And when I rose in the morning to nurse my son, there he
was, dead. But when I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not my
son whom I had borne.”

22 Then the other woman said, “No! But the living one is my son, and the
dead one is your son.”

And the first woman said, “No! But the dead one is your son, and the living
one is my son.”

Thus they spoke before the king.

23 And the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son, who lives, and your
son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! But your son is the dead one,
and my son is the living one.’ ” 24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.”
So they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, “Divide the
living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other.”

26 Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for she yearned
with compassion for her son; and she said, “O my lord, give her the living
child, and by no means kill him!”

But the other said, “Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.”

27 So the king answered and said, “Give the first woman the living child,
and by no means kill him; she is his mother.”

28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and
they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to
administer justice.

Footnotes
1 Kings 1:1 Seventy years
1 Kings 1:2 Or serve
1 Kings 1:5 The fourth son
1 Kings 1:5 Lit. reign
1 Kings 1:6 Lit. pained
1 Kings 1:9 Lit. Serpent
1 Kings 1:9 A spring south of Jerusalem in the Kidron Valley
1 Kings 1:25 Lit. Let King Adonijah live
1 Kings 1:33 A spring east of Jerusalem in the Kidron Valley
1 Kings 1:34 Lit. Let King Solomon live
1 Kings 1:39 Lit. Let King Solomon live
1 Kings 2:1 commanded
1 Kings 2:10 Died and joined his ancestors
1 Kings 2:16 Lit. turn away the face
1 Kings 2:20 Lit. turn away the face
1 Kings 2:24 Royal dynasty
1 Kings 2:26 Lit. you are a man of death
1 Kings 2:32 Or bloodshed
1 Kings 2:37 Or bloodshed
1 Kings 3:1 an alliance
1 Kings 3:9 Lit. hearing
1 Kings 3:14 prolong
1 Kings 3:18 Lit. no stranger