Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Apr 16th, 2020 Flashy or Faithful? … by Dawson Parker

Today’s Passage – 1 Kings 1 – 2 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – Click here to view the passage from Blue Letter Bible)

(Second Milers also read – Mark 3 – 4; Proverbs 16; Psalms 76 – 80)

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song –  Psalm 61:1 – 3

Read the “0416 Evening and Morning” devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.” (1 Kings 1:5)

We can see many things in chapters one and two but what I want to focus on is a comparison. I will be comparing the actions of Adonijah to the actions of Benaiah. From the beginning of the story, much of what we read about is Adonijah and not a lot is mentioned about Benaiah. In I Kings 1:5, Adonijah reminds me of Satan in that he was trying to exalt himself and get the kingdom, which didn’t belong to him (Isaiah 14:13-15). We then see him go out and recruit Joab and Abiathar. Notice that he knew who to, and who not to talk to, as he didn’t try to recruit King David’s mighty men because he knew he couldn’t convince them since they would be loyal to King David. “Rebels raise armies” – Pastor Clark. We keep seeing Adonijah pop up throughout the story, just like sin often rears its ugly head time and time again. Adonijah and his men heard about the anointing of Solomon to become king and they actually were afraid and scattered. Proverbs 28:1 says, “The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.” We know that Adonijah and his men were up to no good because the Bible makes this clear. The last action we see from Adonijah ultimately puts him to death. He comes to Bathsheba which hits home because Bathsheba was King David’s wife and the mother of now King Solomon. Bathsheba asks him if he comes peaceably and it seems he lies and says that he comes peaceably. I believe there was an underlying hidden motive that he wanted to try to get even with King David’s family. He asks Bathsheba to go in unto King Solomon and see if he will grant Adonijah the same damsel that comforted King David before he died! It seems as if this switch flipped for King Solomon in that he made the decision to have Adonijah killed.

Here is where it gets good as we see the other side of the comparison in Benaiah. Guess who King Solomon calls upon to kill wicked Adonijah? That’s right, Benaiah! King Solomon knew he had a friend that had been faithful to him and one that he could count on. We see that Benaiah is not mentioned a whole lot and he is kind of in the shadows or serving behind the scenes but nonetheless he was faithful and doing his job. King Solomon continues to rid the rebellion out by having Benaiah kill Joab. We then see that King Solomon promotes Benaiah in that he put him in his room over the host! And lastly, King Solomon calls upon Benaiah to once again kill Shimei. Benaiah keeps getting these opportunities from the king himself and the best part is he is getting rid of the wicked men.

So, in conclusion, who would you rather be? Would you rather be flashy and ultimately not get used by God like Adonijah or be faithful behind the scenes like the king’s right-hand man Benaiah? The Bible says in I Samuel 16:7, “man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” It doesn’t matter if we are in the spotlight and everyone thinks we are being used by God is our heart is wicked like that of Adonijah. It matters what God sees when no one else is watching as he did in in the life of Benaiah. Promotion comes from God and he is keeping a record!

In this time of quarantine and stay at home orders, as we are not having many opportunities to see people, go to church and do ministerial work, let’s make sure we are still faithful in pleasing the Lord as he is still watching. Our personal reading of God’s Word and prayer life has never been so important. Let’s each get our eyes off of ourselves and others and let’s get our eyes on what really matter which is God! Proverbs 20:6 says, “Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?”