Author: cackywalker@yahoo.com

So Solomon finished building the Temple of the Lord, as well as the royal palace. He completed everyting he had planned to do. Then the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had done before iat Gibeon. The Lord said to him,

“I have heard your prayer and your petition. I have set this Temple apart to be holy-this place you have built whey My name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it, for it is dear to My heart.”

“As for you, if you will follow Me with integrity and godliness, as David your father did, obeying all my commandments, decrees, and regulations, then I will establish the throne of your dynasty over Israel forever. For I made a promise to your father, David: ‘One of your descendants will always sit on the throne of Israel.””

“But if your descendants abandon Me and disobey the commandments and Decrees I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods, the I will uproot Israel from this land that I have given them. I will reject this Temple that I have made holy to honor My name. I will make Israel an object of mockery and ridicule among the nations. And though this Temple is impressive now, all who pass by will be appalled and will shake their heads in amazement. They will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do such terrible things to this land and to this Temple?”

“And the answer will be, ‘Because this people abandoned the Lord their God who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and they worshiped other gods instead and bowed down to then. That is why the Lord has brought all these disasters on them.'” (vv. 1-9, NLT)

It was midspring in the moth of Ziv, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, that he began to construct the Temple of the Lord. This was 480 years after the people of Israel were rescued from their slavery in the land of Egypt.

The Temple that King Solomon built for the Lord was 90 feet long, 30 feet wide, and 45 feet high. The entry room at the front of the Temple was 30 fee wide, running across the entire width of the Temple. It projected outward 15 feet from the front of the Temple. (vv. 1-4, NLT)

Then the Lord gave this message to Solomon: “Concerning this Temple you are building, if you keep all my decrees and regulations and and obey all my commands, I will fulfill through you the promise I made to your father, David. I will live among the Israelites and will never abandon My people. (vv. 11-13, NLT)

Solomon loved the Lord and followed all of the decrees of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered sacrifices and burnt incense at the local places of worship . The most important of these places of worship was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings. That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, “What do you want? Ask and I will give it to you!”

Solomon replied, “You showed faithful love to your servant my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to You. And You have continued Your faithful love to him today, by giving him as son to sit on his throne.”

“No, O Lord my God, You have made me king instead of my father David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. And here I am in the midst of Your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted! Give me an understanding heart so that I can govern Your people well and know the difference between right and wrong. For who by himself is able to govern this great people of Yours?”

The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for wisdom. So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing My people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies-I will give you what you have asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or every will have! And I will also give you what you did not ask for-riches and fame! No other king in all the world will be compared to you for the rest of your life! And if you follow Me and obey My decrees and My commands as your father, David, did, I will give you a long life.”

Then Solomon woke up and realized it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem and stood before the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant, where he sacrificed burnt offerings and pease offerings. Then he invited all of his officials to a great banquet.” (vv. 3-15, NLT)

King David responded, “Call Bathsheba!” So she came back in and stood before the king. And the king repeated his vow: “As surely as the Lord lives, who has rescued me from every danger, your son Solomon will be the next king and will sit on my throne this very day, just as I vowed to you before the Lord, the God of Israel.” (vv. 28-30, NLT)

So Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and the king’s bodyguard took Solomon down to Gihon Spring, with Solomon riding on King David’s own mule. There Zadok the priest took the flask of olive oil from the sacred tent and anointed Solomon with the oil. Then they sounded the ram’s horn and all the people shouted, “Long live King Solomon!” And all the people followed Solomon into Jerusalem, playing flutes and shouting for joy. The celebration was so joyous and noisy that the earth shook with the sound. (vv. 38-40, NLT)

But after he [David] had taken the census, David’s conscience began to bother him. And he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly by taking this census. Please forgive my guld, Lord, for doing this foolish thing.”

The next morning, the word of the Lord cam to the prophet Gad, who was David’s seer. This was the message: “Go and say to David, ‘This is what the Lord says: I wll give you three choices. Choose one of these punishments, and I will inflict it on you.”

So Gad came to David and asked him, “Will you choose three years of famine throughout our land, three months of fleeing from your enemies, or three day of sever plague throughout your land? Think this over and decide what answer I should give the Lord who sent me.”

“I’m in a desperate situation!” David replied to God. “But let us fall into the ands of the Lord, for His mercy is great. Do not let me fall into human hands.”

So th Lord sent a plague upon Israel that morning that lasted for three days. A total of 70,000 people died throughout the nation, from Dan to the north to Beersheba to the south. As an angel was preparing to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord relented and said to the death angel, “Stop! This is enough!” At that moment, the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.

When David saw the angel, he said to the Lord, “I am the one who has sinned and done wrong! But these people are as innocent as sheep-what have they done? Let Your anger fall against me and my family.” (vv 10-17, NLT)

These are the last words of David:

“David, the son of Jesse, speaks-David, the man who was raised up so high,
David, the man anointed by the God of Jacob,
David, the sweet psalmist of Israel.”

“The Spirit of the Lord speaks through me; His words are upon my tongue.
The God of Israel spoke.
The Rock of Israel said to me: ‘The one who rules righteously, who rules in the fear of God, is like the light of morning at sunrise, like a morning without clourds, like the gleaming of the son on new grass after rain.'”

“Is not my family God has chosen?
Yes, He has made an everlasting covenant with me.
His agreement is arranged and guaranteed in every detail.
He will ensure my safety and success.
But the godless are like thorns to be thrown away,
for they tear the hand that touches them.
One must chop them down;
they will be totally consumed by fire.” (vv. 1-7, NLT)

When David had gone a little beyond the summit of the Mount of Olives, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, was waiting there for him. He had two donkeys loaded with 200 loaves of bread, 100 clusters of raisins, 100 bunches of summer fruit, and a wineskin full of wine.

“What are these for?” the kin asked Ziba.

Ziba replied, “The donkeys are for the kings people to ride on, and the bread and summer fruit are for the young men to eat. The wine is for those who become exhausted in the wilderness.

“And where is Mephibosheth, Saul’s grandson?” the king asked him.

“He stayed in Jerusalem, ” Ziba replied. “He said,’Today will get back the kingdom of my grandfather Saul.'”

In that case,” the king told Ziba, “I give you everything Mephilbosheth owns.”

“I bow before you, ” Ziba replied. “May I always be pleasing to you, my lord the king.” (vv. 1-4, NLT)

So the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to tell David this story: “There were two men in a certain town. One was rich, and one was poor. The rich man owned a great many sheep and cattle. The poor man owned nothing but one little lamb he had bought. He raised that little lamb, and it grew up with his children. It ate from the man’s own plate and drank from his cup. He cuddled it in its arms like a baby daughter. One day a guest arrived at the home of the rich man. But instead of killing an animal from his own flock or herd, he took the poor man’s lamb and killed it and prepared it for his guests.”

David was furious. “As surely as the Lord lives,” he vowed, “any man who would do such a thing deserves to die! He must repay four lambs to the poor man for the one he stole and for having no pity.”

Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel says” I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. From this time on, you family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own.”

“This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will bo to bed with them in public view. You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in sight of all of Israel.” (vv.1-12, NLT)

One day David said, “Is anyone in Saul’s family still alive-anyone whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” He summoned a man named Ziba, who had been one of Saul’s servants. “Are you Ziba?” the king asked.

“Yes, sir, I am,” Ziba replied.

The king then asked him, “Is anyone still alive from Saul’s family? If so, I want to show kindness to them.”

Ziba replied, “Yes, one of Jonathon’s sons is still alive. He is crippled in both feet.” (vv. 1-3, NLT)

So David sent for him and brought him from Makir’s home. His name was Mephibosheth; he was Jonathon’s son and Saul’s grandson. When he came to David, he bowed low to the ground in deep respect. David said, “Greetings, Mephibosheth.

Mephilbosheth replied, “I am your servant!”

Don’t be afraid!” David said. “I intend to show kindness to you because of my promise to your father, Jonathan. I will give you all the property that once belonged to your grandfather, Saul, and you will eat here with me at the king’s table!” (vv. 5-7, NLT)

Mephibosheth had a young son named Mica. From then on, all the members of Ziba’s household where Mephibosheth’s servants. And Mephilbosheth, who was crippled in both feet, lived in Jerusalem and ate regularly at the king’s table. (vv. 12-13, NLT)