“King David answered by saying, ‘Summon Bat-Sheva to me.’ She entered the king’s presence and stood before the king. Then the king swore an oath: ‘As Adonai lives, who has delivered me from all adversity, as I swore to you by Adonai the God of Israel, ‘Your son Shlomo will be king after me; he will sit on my throne in my place,’ so will I do today.’”-1 Kings 1:28-29
It appears that Bathsheba had left David’s royal chambers when Nathan had entered.
I say that because in verse 28, we’re told that David summoned Bathsheba back.
She returned, and then that’s when David uttered the mother of all announcements.
In front of Bathsheba, Avishag, Nathan, and presumably some other members of his court, David declares that Solomon will be Israel’s next king.
The typical Biblical vow-making formula is used here.
David swears an oath in the name of YEHOVAH.
Once David did that, there was no way the vow could be overturned since God himself became the guarantor of the oath.
David’s declaration was to take effect immediately.
Solomon would assume the throne from that very day.
Overjoyed and filled with gratitude, Bathsheba responds with…
“Let my lord King David live forever.”
Let’s examine the phrase “live forever” for a second.
In Hebrew, it is CHAYAH OLAM.
Honestly, the words “live forever” don’t quite do the original Hebrew justice here.
In modern terms, it’s more accurate to translate this as, “May my Lord David eternally.”
“What the hell is the difference?”…is what you’re probably thinking, right?
Well, homie, there’s actually a huge difference here.
So pay attention.
See, Bathsheba wasn’t wishing her husband a long life here on earth here.
She was actually wishing him the opposite.
She was wishing him a happy afterlife AFTER he died.
That was kind of the point behind why Nathan and Bathsheba rushed to his royal chambers.
They had to make it clear to David that he didn’t have much time left.
That since his time was so limited…
He had better hurry up and announce Solomon to be the next king while he still had the breath of life in him.
Take a look at what Bathsheba told David in verse 21:
“If you don’t, then,
when my lord the king sleeps
with his ancestors,
I and my son Shlomo
will be considered criminals.”
Bathsheba was doing something very few people in David’s royal court dared to do.
She was speaking openly about his impending death to him.
And it was the right thing to do given the circumstances.
This leads to today’s takeaway.
Too many people are living out their lives as if they’re gonna live forever.
This leads to huge procrastination when it comes to carrying out important duties we need to take care of.
Ya feel me?
So the lesson for today is to be aware that your time on this planet is limited.
It could be much more limited than you could imagine.
So if there’s some important stuff you gotta do…
Apologies to be made…
Certain relationships to mend…
Or whatever.
Don’t put it off.
Live for the Lord TODAY with all of your soul and mind.
Ya feel me?
Done.
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