The Handoff
By: Brendon Butler
Two of my biggest bible heroes are David and Solomon. This father-son duo accounted for some serious kingdom growth, wisdom, and prosperity. We’ve got the book of Psalms, Proverbs, and Songs of Songs directly from them. Not to mention that the lives they led produced some of the most encouraging and inspiring stories of the whole bible. The men around David were strengthened by his unwavering pursuit of God’s heart. Solomon’s subjects were secure knowing they had a king with direct God-given wisdom. And the entire kingdom was better off for their pursuit. Let’s take a look at their last exchange in 1 Kings Chapter 2:1–12. This is the chapter where David is on his deathbed, and he calls in Solomon to deliver some parting words. This is one of my favorite passages in the entire bible. David gives his son some final words of encouragement, and exhortation. He also lets Solomon know about some unfinished business, and gives him the thumbs up to handle it. David then reminds Solomon of what the stakes are; in this case a massive promise of God is riding on Solomon’s behavior while on the throne….
“…that the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’” 1 Kings 2:4
In other words, “No pressure son, but we’ve got a lot riding on this. This whole thing of being a king is not just about you. Think about what it took for us to get here, and think about what can happen after you’re gone. The Lord has given us a pretty sweet promise here, lets try not to just forget about that in our first trial run here. Now go get ‘em.” So what does Solomon go do after that? He immediately takes up the baton and falls right in step with David. He took care of the loose ends right away, with the promise in mind. He asks for wisdom from the Lord, and is given it, plus wealth and honor. It says that everyone in his kingdom lived under their own vine and their own fig tree. I’m not a historian, but I’m pretty sure that means that there was prosperity in all the land, there was no lack. Then Solomon gets to work building this temple that David longed to build, and he completes it. In other words, he is about his father’s business.
Among other things, I think this highlights a different paradigm for us. In today’s world, especially if you are in America, there’s this individuality that we all seem to crave. Individual expression, being unique, singing our own song, etc. I’m not mad at that. But I think we may have lost some of the corporate perspective (corporate in this sense meaning the group or the whole). There’s a lot of that in the Old Testament, and this is a prime example. The promise that God made to David here was a multi-generational promise. All the way down to Jesus Christ himself, in fact! So what we can take from this is that our actions don’t just effect us. Your faithfulness, righteous acts and life of praise doesn’t just effect you! You’re paving the road for you sons and your daughters. You might be teeing up your great-great-grand kids. And you might be already be walking in the fulfilled promises that the Lord made to those who came before you.
This topic always gives me goosebumps. When I think about who came before me, and what they plowed through, the battles the fought and victories they won, I’m just so thankful. My pastor, Steve Gray, has a great story on this. He talks about walking into his first church years ago, and seeing the original old wooden floors there. Then when Revival was poured out on this church and congregation soon after, he often wondered to himself, “who was it that laid on these old wooden floors and prayed for God to move here? And now here it is.” See, that story is part of my legacy, because now I’m a part of that church. I am walking in the move of God that other got on their hands and knees and cried out to God for. Now I think about the prayers of my heart today, and who will be walking in the manifestation of them 100 years from now. Selah….
The biggest takeaway I have from studying David and Solomon is that we can be both of them. We can be a David, who’s heart is so on FIRE in the pursuit of God that He uses us to advance the entire Kingdom. And we can also be a Solomon, who doesn’t waste a second after David passes before he begins to reign with justice and truth, and uphold the Kingdom values that his dad fought for. A friend of mine named Paul says we need to walk in the posture of a son, long after we become a father. And how sweet that will be. The Word says a dream fulfilled is a tree of life (Proverbs 13:12)! To that point, when you’re done with this piece here, do yourself a favor and check out 2nd Chronicles 6:12–42. This is where Solomon dedicated the temple that he built to the Lord. Quite a moment, because that’s really what David was fighting for the whole time anyway. But Solomon is the one to finally fulfill that dream. And boy, does God show up big that day! Think about that the next time you have an obstacle to overcome or a challenge to navigate.
It’s my prayer for you today that you get to be as impactful as David, and as faithful as Solomon when it comes to your family and the kingdom. That you would walk with the anointing of a father to establish, and the posture of a son to accept and carry on. Think about those who have been Davids in your own life. How can you be a Solomon to them? Think about the people who are coming after you, whether that’s your own children, or the leaders in your church who are coming on behind you. Do you still have some fight left in you to move the Kingdom forward for them? Men, if you ask God to help you with this I promise he will, just he did for Solomon. Be Fierce today!
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Brendon Butler is a Kansas City, MO millenial and has been writing since early 2017. He is proud his self proclaimed “mixed-kid swag,” and has been told that he has an old soul in a young body. He is all about Faith, Family, and Freedom, and current has a blog where he shares about these topics. Check out https://wordofthewell.wordpress.com/ for more writings!
