Study Desk

The Lord alone is God; God alone is our defense.

This God is my strong refuge; he makes my pathway safe.

The Lord lives! Praise my defender! Proclaim the greatness of the strong God who saves me!

God gives great victories to his king; he shows constant love to the one he has chosen, to David and his descendants forever.

David son of Jesse was the man whom God made great, whom the God of Jacob chose to be king, and who was the composer of beautiful songs for Israel. These are David's last words:

The God of Israel has spoken; the protector of Israel said to me: "The king who rules with justice, who rules in obedience to God,

And that is how God will bless my descendants, because he has made an eternal covenant with me, an agreement that will not be broken, a promise that will not be changed. That is all I desire; that will be my victory, and God will surely bring it about.

But Joab answered the king, "Your Majesty, may the Lord your God make the people of Israel a hundred times more numerous than they are now, and may you live to see him do it. But why does Your Majesty want to do this?"

Araunah gave it all to the king and said to him, "May the Lord your God accept your offering."

But the king answered, "No, I will pay you for it. I will not offer to the Lord my God sacrifices that have cost me nothing." And he bought the threshing place and the oxen for fifty pieces of silver.

She answered, "Your Majesty, you made me a solemn promise in the name of the Lord your God that my son Solomon would be king after you.

that today I will keep the promise I made to you in the name of the Lord , the God of Israel, that your son Solomon would succeed me as king."

"It shall be done," answered Benaiah, "and may the Lord your God confirm it!

What is more, the court officials went in to pay their respects to His Majesty King David and said, ‘May your God make Solomon even more famous than you, and may Solomon's reign be even more prosperous than yours.' Then King David bowed in worship on his bed

and prayed, ‘Let us praise the Lord , the God of Israel, who has today made one of my descendants succeed me as king, and has let me live to see it!'"

and do what the Lord your God orders you to do. Obey all his laws and commands, as written in the Law of Moses, so that wherever you go you may prosper in everything you do.

Then Solomon made a solemn promise in the Lord 's name, "May God strike me dead if I don't make Adonijah pay with his life for asking this!

O Lord God, you have let me succeed my father as king, even though I am very young and don't know how to rule.

Solomon woke up and realized that God had spoken to him in the dream. Then he went to Jerusalem and stood in front of the Lord 's Covenant Box and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings to the Lord . After that he gave a feast for all his officials.

When the people of Israel heard of Solomon's decision, they were all filled with deep respect for him, because they knew then that God had given him the wisdom to settle disputes fairly.