1 Kings 1:6: Adonijah's Character.
“And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom.”
- 1 Kings 1:6 (KJV)
Sadly, David did not do a very good job raising his own sons. David failed to restrain his passions in some areas of his life; his sons showed a much greater inability to restrain their passions. In part this was because David did not discipline his own sons well.
David also did not seem to have a very good relationship with his own father, as we see in THe First Book of Samuel:
“And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.”
- 1 Samuel 16:11 (KJV)
The godly influence in his life seems to have come more from his mother than from his father. Twice in the Psalms he referred to his mother as a “maidservant of the Lord:”
“O turn unto me, and have mercy upon me; give thy strength unto thy servant, and save the son of thine handmaid.”
- Psalm 86:16 (KJV)
“O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant, and the son of thine handmaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.”
- Psalm 116:16 (KJV)
It is likely that David did not have a good example of parenting from his father. Yet, this does not excuse David's deficiencies as a father. He knew how his Heavenly Father treated him; how he was comforted and helped by the correcting rod and staff of his Shepherd as we also read in The Book of Psalms:
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
- Psalm 23:4 (KJV)
He could have learned how to be a good father from his Father in heaven. Even before it was written, David could have known the counsel of The Book of Proverbs:
“Correct thy son, and he shall give thee rest; yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul.”
- Proverbs 29:17 (KJV)
“And he also was a very goodly man.” David was a handsome man and was attracted to beautiful women. It doesn't surprise us that David's children were “very goodly.” This gave them an unfair and unfortunate advantage.
God bless!
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