CRITICAL AND EXPLANATORY NOTES.—
1 Kings 1:50. Caught hold on the horns of the altar: an act by which he appealed to God and man that his life, forfeited by his attempted usurpation of the throne, might be spared. Originally the place was appointed as an asylum for accidental homicides (Exodus 21:12 sq.), but later on other transgressors sought and found refuge there, befriended from the penalty of their crimes.
1 Kings 1:53. Go to thine house: be content with privacy, remain in seclusion, as, the not again; in so doing he was to show himself a worthy man, vir probus. Such an act of clemency by Solomon towards his rival was a noble inauguration of his kingly rule, and must have both favourably affected the nation and conciliated the followers of Adonijah.
HOMILETICS OF 1 Kings 1:50-53
ROYAL CLEMENCY
I. Here we have royal clemency earnestly and humbly sought (1 Kings 1:50-51). The reckless adventurer is liable to great and sudden changes he may be a monarch in the morning, and a beggar before night. He who issues commands and pardons to others may himself have to sue for mercy. Adonijah confesses his crime, acknowledges the kingship of Solomon, declares his subjection, and seeks forgiveness. The fear of death, the sense of sin, and the alarming consequences it involves, the yearning of the soul to be reconciled to the Being whom we have offended, lend unutterable pathos and fervency to our prayers. The deepest want of the soul, and that which is expressed in its most thrilling cry, is mercy. The sincere penitent seeks not in vain (Isaiah 55:6-7). Forgiveness is a blessing worthy of the most diligent search.
II. Here we have royal clemency moved by the distress of the vanquished. Adonijah, who a few hours ago was the proudest and gayest in Judah, elevated to the pinnacle of confident success (1 Kings 1:5; 1 Kings 1:42), was now a crushed and disappointed man. He fears the vengeance of his successful brother, flies to the altar for safety, and becomes a trembling suppliant for mercy. It may be, Adonijah had before slighted the religious services of the altar; but, as with many others, in the time of distress it is the first place to which he runs. Whatever drives the sinner to the mercy-seat is an unspeakable blessing. Solomon hears of Adonijah’s penitence and terror; he remembers he is his brother; that this was perhaps his first offence; that he will be more serviceable as a peaceful subject than as a restless agitator of rebellion; and the heart of the young prince is moved to clemency. The victor can afford to be generous, and the most fitting exercise of newly-acquired power is to show mercy. So God hears the cry of distress—the sad monotone of woe, ever surging up from the throbbing sea of human experience. He beholds, too, the voiceless anguish under which thousands writhe; and His great heart melts with pity, and His arm is outstretched to save.
III. Here we have the conditions on which royal clemency is exercised (1 Kings 1:52). Indiscriminate lenity is fatal to good government. The continuance of mercy is conditioned on the moral conduct of the pardoned. Adonijah is put on his good behaviour. If he show himself a worthy man [Hebrew, a son of valour], controlling himself and quietly submitting to the reigning power, he shall remain secure and unmolested; but if he hatches a new treason, or otherwise misconducts himself, his life is imperilled. Let not the veteran in wickedness delude himself with the belief that he will go unpunished, or that in the boundlessness of the Divine goodness his sins will be overlooked. The Righteousness that provides an outflow of the richest mercy is also inflexibly rigorous in inflicting deserved vengeance (Ecclesiastes 12:14; Romans 1:18; 2 Corinthians 5:10). The moral character we form on earth will be the basis of our condition and destiny in the future world: and that character will be inevitably developed, or blasted, according to the degree in which we gain or forfeit the clemency and approbation of God.
IV. Here we have royal clemency generously declared. “So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar; and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house” (1 Kings 1:53). His crime is pardoned, his life is spared, and he is reinstated in his position and inheritance. Considering the custom of Eastern monarchies, the marvel is that Adonijah was so generously dealt with. In some Oriental countries, not only are pretenders almost always punished with death, but it has often been the custom for each king, upon his accession, to put to death all his brothers as mere possible pretenders. In Turkey this custom continued into the present century. Pardon brings no comfort to the stricken penitent unless it is distinctly declared and consciously realized. God delighteth in mercy and in assuring the trembling but believing soul of the joy-creating fact of forgiveness. To forgive is the most difficult and the most God-like; it is here that the flood-tide of generosity registers its highest summit.
V. Here we have royal clemency gratefully acknowledged. “And he came and bowed himself to king Solomon” (1 Kings 1:53). Subdued more by the generous spirit of his victorious brother than by the failure of his own boasted enterprize, Adonijah renders thankful homage at once to the clemency and the dignity of the king. Man forgets the gracious power that delivers him from misery far more quickly than the pungency of the misery itself when endured. Of the ten lepers cleansed, only one returned to give thanks to the Great Healer. To be grateful is the least that man can do, and it is a grace of which he shows the least. Life should be one glad expression of thankfulness and humble obedience.
LESSONS:—
1. Power loses none of its dignity or efficiency by showing mercy.
2. To be forgiven increases the obligation to live uprightly.
3. The pardon earnestly sought should be humbly and gratefully acknowledged.
GERM NOTES ON THE VERSES
1 Kings 1:50. The altar, the refuge for the guilty.
1. It is the place of sacrifice and atonement.
2. It is the symbol of reconciliation.
3. It is the scene of divine manifestations.
4. It is suggestive of worship.
5. It is the sanctuary of the distressed in all ages.
1 Kings 1:52. Destiny decided by moral character.
1. Man is a free moral agent.
2. He is therefore responsible for his beliefs, words, and actions.
3. Every provision has been made to aid man in the right conduct of life.
4. The position of man in the future is decided by the character and results of his present life.
5. To abuse religious privileges entails unutterable disaster.
1 Kings 1:53. “Go to thine house.” The uncertainty of earthly greatness.
1. It is possible to be one day in affluence, the next a pauper.
2. True greatness is permanent only when it rests on a moral basis.
3. It is a bitter experience to descend from a proud popularity to obscurity.