5Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” Then he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. 6His father had not displeased him at any time in saying, “Why have you done so?” and he was also a very handsome man; and he was born after Absalom. 7He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest; and they followed Adonijah and helped him. 8But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah.
9Adonijah killed sheep, cattle, and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En Rogel; and he called all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah, the king’s servants; 10but he didn’t call Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother.
Adonijah was one of David’s many children. He had never experienced discipline or encouragement. The bible says that his father never even asked him why he behaved the way he did. May be David was too busy, maybe there were just too many children, maybe he only paid attention to those in direct line to the throne. The truth is we simply do not know why David didn’t intervene when Adonijah behaved badly.
Adonijah was so used to getting his own way that he decided to make himself King. This was a decision that was not his to make and a birth rite that what not his to own, as the crown had been promised to Solomon. It is hard to imagine so much dissent in the house of David, he was a successful king, a writer and unbeaten in battle, yet he struggled at home.
Of course, as a church we want to be the best church we can be. We want to see people won to Christ, we want to see social and economic justice and the name God lifted high. We want to make a difference and be the people that God has called us to be. It is also important to remember that God’s call on our lives is not in isolation from our family. (Whatever that family dynamic looks like.) Balancing home life and doing God’s work is probably the most difficult task we face. God wants to be part of our family life too. That’s not an excuse to sit at home and do nothing, but an opportunity to seek a Godly balance in our lives inside the home and out.