Study Desk

With your help I can defeat an army. If my God is with me, I can climb over enemy walls.

There is no God except the Lord . There is no Rock except our God.

God is my strong fortress. He clears the path I need to take.

The Lord lives! I praise my Rock! How great is my God, the Rock who saves me!

He is the God who punishes my enemies for me, the one who puts people under my rule.

These are the last words of David: "This message is from David son of Jesse. This message is from the man God made great. He is the king chosen by the God of Jacob, the sweet singer of Israel.

The God of Israel spoke. The Rock of Israel said to me, ‘Whoever rules people fairly, who rules with respect for God,

"God made my family strong and secure. He made an agreement with me forever. God made sure this agreement was good and secure in every way. So surely he will give me every victory. He will give me everything I want!

But Joab said to the king, "May the Lord your God give you 100 times as many people, no matter how many there are! And may your eyes see this thing happen. But why do you want to do this?"

O King, I give everything to you!" Araunah also said to the king, "May the Lord your God be pleased with you."

But the king said to Araunah, "No! I must pay you for everything. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of silver.

Bathsheba answered, "Sir, you used the name of the Lord your God and made a promise to me. You said, ‘Your son Solomon will be the next king after me. He will sit on my throne.'

Today I will do what I promised you in the past. I made that promise by the power of the Lord , the God of Israel. I promised that your son Solomon would be the next king after me. I promised that he would take my place on my throne, and I will keep my promise!"

Benaiah son of Jehoiada answered the king, "Amen! It is as true as if the Lord God himself had said it, my lord and king.

Solomon is sitting on the king's throne and the king's officers are congratulating King David, saying, ‘King David, you are a great king!' And now we pray that your God will make Solomon a great king too. We pray your God will make him even more famous than you. And we pray that his kingdom will be even greater than yours is! Even King David was there. From his bed, the king bowed before Solomon

and said, ‘Praise the Lord , the God of Israel. He has put one of my own sons on my throne, and he has let me live to see it.'"

Now, carefully obey all the commands of the Lord your God. Carefully obey all his laws, commands, decisions, and agreements. Obey everything that is written in the Law of Moses. If you do this, you will be successful at whatever you do and wherever you go.

Then King Solomon said to Abiathar the priest, "I should kill you, but I will let you go back to your home in Anathoth. I will not kill you now because you helped carry the Holy Box of the Lord God while marching with my father David. And I know that you shared in the hard times with my father."

While Solomon was at Gibeon, the Lord came to him at night in a dream. God said, "Solomon, ask me what you want me to give you."

Lord my God, you have made me the king in my father's place, but I am like a small child. I don't have the wisdom I need to do what I must do.