1 Kings 1:5-53 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen… I. BEWARE OF AMBITION. When regulated, restrained, and guided, ambition serves a good end. It rouses to activity, and it tends to produce a generous and noble character. But when it is inspired only by selfishness, by the desire simply to attain to a certain position, so that vanity may be indulged and pride gratified — by the determination to outstrip your fellows and win certain prizes for which they too are toiling; — when, in short, there is nothing but self to be consulted and flattered and appeased, it is dangerous. It may lead you to do much that is evil, to trample on that which is sacred, to break through and cast down the barriers which God's law has erected around you, to despise the nearest and dearest relationships of human life. Under its withering influence he loses sight of the eternal in the temporal, ignores the spiritual in the carnal, and forgets God in self! There is no ban laid by God on advancement or "getting on." You are not forbidden to attain earthly honours, to acquire what are called the world's "good things." But then, recollect, you must regard them only as subordinate to higher things. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." II. BEWARE OF DISOBEDIENCE TO PARENTS. It may be an old, but it is a permanent command, "Honour thy father and thy mother," etc. III. BEWARE OF EVIL ASSOCIATIONS. The unholy alliance at Enrogel broke up, immediately on the arrival of adverse tidings. Joab, Abiathar, and their confederates disappeared, and left Adonijah to his own devices. There was no deep affection, and no bond of pure love to keep them together; selfishness was at the root of the association. They fawned, and flattered, and fled. Wicked men do not care for their companions beyond the point of advantage. They have no interest in each other's welfare, and they are suspicious of each other's designs and of each other's fidelity. Accomplices and partners in guilt indulge in mutual accusations and revelations which show the slender nature of the tie which binds them together. There is no love — no true, deep, self-sacrificing love — such as dwells in the hearts of Christian brethren, united in Jesus Christ. (A. Williamson.) Parallel Verses KJV: Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. |
    |