David was wise for appointing Solomon to take his place as king, for Solomon became the wisest king ever to rule Israel. David also knew Solomon would honor the arrangements David laid before him concerning the people who needed to be punished and the people who needed to be protected. David left a legacy that has lasted centuries!
What kind of legacy will you leave? For the early part of my life I wanted to be famous or do something the entire world would remember forever. As I have gotten older, I realize that it doesn’t matter how many people know about the things I do or who I am. What matters is that God and I know what I do and who I am. The things I do that make the world a better place, no matter how small, are all that really matter. If only a handful of people are impacted by my positive actions, that is a legacy worth leaving.
1 Kings 2:1-12
When David’s time to die drew near, he charged his son Solomon, saying: “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, be courageous, and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn. Then the Lord will establish his word that he spoke concerning me: ‘If your heirs take heed to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail you a successor on the throne of Israel.’ “Moreover you know also what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, Abner son of Ner, and Amasa son of Jether, whom he murdered, retaliating in time of peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of war on the belt around his waist, and on the sandals on his feet. Act therefore according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. Deal loyally, however, with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table; for with such loyalty they met me when I fled from your brother Absalom. There is also with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a terrible curse on the day when I went to Mahanaim; but when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ Therefore do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man; you will know what you ought to do to him, and you must bring his gray head down with blood to Sheol.” Then David slept with his ancestors, and was buried in the city of David. The time that David reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.
So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David; and his kingdom was firmly established.