God Puts His Chosen Ruler on the Throne

1 Kings 1:28-53
    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. 34 There let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him king over Israel; and blow the horn, and say, ‘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, “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.”

God puts His chosen rulers in place upon the thrones of all nations, not just in Hos theocracy of Israel.  As Romans 13:1 later says, “For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.”  Here we see that the royal presumption and scheming of Adonijah ended in his supporters fleeing the scene of the attempted coups in verse 49, no longer backing the loser in his own failed election to take over the throne from David’s appointed heir and God’s channel of the redemptive line of the Messiah (Luke 1:32), the Christ named Jesus.  When king David heard of the plot conveyed from Nathan through Bathsheba, he immediately assured his wife that her son Solomon would be crowned immediately, on that very day without delay.  The priest and prophet went to anoint David’s son as the ruler of God’s people, and there was nothing more Adonijah could do.  His cunning plans were sniffed out as quickly as his life could have been, and all his sacrifices amounted to nothing without backing by the LORD as he may have supposed (1 Kings 1:9).  He instead panicked to save his own life as his previous friends and backers fled for their lives as well, and ran to hold onto the horns of the altar to get a guarantee that his life would be spared by the true king whom God had appointed.  King Solomon answered with a conditional reprieve, making it clear that Adonijah’s life rested on being worthy and not wicked in the time after his removal from the altar; he would have to prove himself worthy by submission and obedience to the king.  Then the king sent him home.  We see here in this account that God appoints the rulers whom we are to follow as we obey His appointed choices, not rebelling or fighting against them, no matter if we believe another should be in power or even if we imagine that we could take over ourselves.  This is not wise.  God puts His chosen rulers in place for all nations, and ultimately rules Himself over them all.  Let us be subject to Him and live by faith in obedience to His will, no matter what nation or government system we live under.