09/16/2026
Two brothers, two ways to live.
I’m talking about Solomon and Adnonijah, two brothers, and two sons of King David. They both had different approaches to life, and all of humanity is represented by their two views. One ended in life and promotion, the other in death.
At this point in the account of what happened, David was close to dying in his old age. So, who would be the next king? God had already promised that it would be Solomon.
Solomon’s viewpoint was to wait upon God for His promise to be fulfilled. There was a great conspiracy against him becoming king, but Solomon trusted God’s promise. He didn’t panic, didn’t rise up and take matters into his own hands, but seems to have quietly rested on the promise of God that had been given to David, that Solomon was to be king after him. That’s one way to live… trusting in the faithfulness of God… no matter who rises up against you, no matter how circumstances seem to be against you. His ambitions were surrendered to the will of God.
His brother, Adonijah, represents those who choose to live another way. They decide, like he did, to exalt themselves. Listen to this:
1 Kings5 "Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted
himself, saying, “I will be king.” And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him."
His approach to life was to go after what he wanted, no matter what God said or what was the will of God. And he prepared to do it! He was a cunning one, and evidently charismatic, because he got quite a few people to follow him. That’s the way the worldling lives. they don’t care about the will of God. They set their goals, they don’t let anyone stop them from obtaining them. There is a whole industry of self-help books based on this philosophy of life. And let's face it, we were all that way by nature.
Adonijah was like Adam, he decided to rebel against the known will of God. Solomon, at this point in his life at least, waited on the promises. These are two ways to live. Which way is yours?
We have to all be careful because, left to self we all have some Adoniah in us. It’s what Paul called the old man, the man we need to die to. The desire for self-glory, self-exaltation in any way except God’s way, leads to a fall, like it did for Adonijah. He wouldn’t give it up and he ended up being executed for his continuing maneuvering, even after being shown mercy, and even after being warned against continuing to try to exalt himself to be king.
Are we seeking our own glory, even a little bit? Are we starving to be king, not of Israel, but of our own hearts and our own little world. Then we are like Adonijah. We need to repent of any of that spirit in us of self exaltation. Only Jesus deserves to be king! Is He king of your life, and have you submitted to him? Or are you like Adonijah, and you want to be king yourself? Those are the two ways to live in this world
Jesus said: 1 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
So those are the two ways to live as exemplified by the two brothers, Solomon and Adonijah. Which brother are we? That’s the question. Let’s ask God to help us to surrender our ambtions to the will of God, and let’s humble ourselves today under the mighty hand of God. Let's set our heart on the things above.
"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time." 1 Peter 5;6
Search me O God, and see if there is any Adonijah in me, and let me be like Solomon at this time in his life, when he trusted you and waited patiently on you. Jesus, be the king of our lives. Amen.
