The Daily Fountain Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 3 September 2026 – What Do You Want: Abishag Or The Kingdom?
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TOPIC — What Do You Want: Abishag Or The Kingdom?
READ: 1 Kings 2:19-27
19 Bathsheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a seat to be set for the king’s mother; and she sat on his right hand.
20 Then she said, I desire one small petition of thee; I pray thee, say me not nay. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother: for I will not say thee nay.
21 And she said, Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife.
22 And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.
23 Then king Solomon sware by the Lord, saying, God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life.
24 Now therefore, as the Lord liveth, which hath established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who hath made me an house, as he promised, Adonijah shall be put to death this day.
25 And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died.
26 And unto Abiathar the priest said the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted.
27 So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the Lord; that he might fulfil the word of the Lord, which he spake concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.
THE MESSAGE:
Abishag was the young woman who cared for and ministered to David in his old age, like a companion. In ancient Near Eastern culture, marrying a king’s concubine was not simply about love. It was an assertion of one’s claim to power and status (2 Samuel 16:21-22). It was one of the customs of that culture that the concubines of a sovereign descended to his successor. Adonijah’s request for Abishag was beyond mere romantic interest; it was an appeal to legitimacy and authority. Solomon’s sharp and yet decisive response to Adonijah’s request (verse 22) shows his awareness that this was manipulative; Adonijah was seeking to utilise this means to reclaim power. Solomon therefore pronounced a death sentence on Adonijah.
We have lessons to learn here from Adonijah, Bathsheba and Solomon. Having received pardon for his initial action of setting himself up for the throne (1 Kings 1:50-52), Adonijah needed not to have had an eye on the throne again. His death came from the desire for something temporal. Bathsheba, who was highly respected by her son, was used by the conspirators against the kingdom, thereby ‘misusing’ her position to facilitate an ‘unholy’ request. And for Solomon, he was discerning enough to see through the pretence of Adonijah and to know what he was aiming at. He was not naive in his assessment. We must be watchful.
PRAYER: Lord, may I not be an instrument in the hands of conspirators. Help me to see through the pretences of men.
