David Commissions Solomon

BY Erin Davis

I saw it in my grandmother’s smile as she curled my hair for my first school dance. I caught a glimpse of it in my mother’s eyes as she dabbed away tears at my wedding. It welled up inside me as I stood on rocky riverbanks and sandy ocean shores, watching my husband baptize each of our sons. No matter when or how it comes, there are few moments as pure and precious as watching the next generation step into the new season God has for them. 

David, the great king of Israel, had seen a giant’s head roll by his hand (1Samuel 17:51). He’d led armies toward spectacular victory (1Chronicles 18:1–13). He’d sat on the throne as God’s hand-picked king for forty years. But since the man after God’s own heart (1Samuel 13:14) was built of the same stuff we are, his heart must have swelled with particular pride when he watched his son take his place as the king of Israel. 

It was likely a proud-papa move to call the nation’s leaders to leave their posts and assemble for Solomon’s coronation. Imagine the fanfare of tens of thousands of men standing at the ready in their military best, watching as their leader and king gave this passionate speech:

“[God] said to me, ‘Your son Solomon is the one who is to build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. I will establish his kingdom forever if he perseveres in keeping my commands and my ordinances as he is doing today.’

So now in the sight of all Israel, the assembly of the LORD, and in the hearing of our God, observe and follow all the commands of the LORD your God so that you may possess this good land and leave it as an inheritance to your descendants forever” (1 Chronicles 28:6–8). 

David had been saving for this moment (1Chronicles 29:2–4). And as much as he’d hoped to build God’s temple himself, David’s heart must have threatened to burst from his chest as he publicly acknowledged that sacred assignment would fall to his son. 

Our God is a God of generations. The work He began in David’s heart lived on through Solomon, who built a spectacular and significant temple—we’ll read next week how God sent fire from heaven for the ribbon cutting (2Chronicles 7:1). What was true in David’s time remains true in ours. 

We may not see every prayer answered in our day. God so rarely operates according to our timetable. But the work of God is not limited to your lifetime. He is doing something that will outlast you. A day is coming when you will witness His goodness in the lives of those who will rise up behind you (Psalm 145:4).