As the Chronicler tells the story, it was at a large public coronation ceremony: King David gave Solomon extensive directions about how the temple was to be built, at the specific instruction of the Lord (28:11-19), and also gave him strong spiritual admonition to faithfulness and courage (28:9-10, 20-21).

This is quite a contrast to the account in Kings. We do see David giving a charge to Solomon to walk in the ways of the Lord (I Kings 2:1-4). But we also see him giving instructions to take care of David’s grudges against Joab and Shimei, making sure neither of them died of old age (2:5-9). The text does not explicitly say where these last words were given. Yet I Kings leaves the impression that David was old and sickly as he said these things: his age is mentioned several times (1:1, 15), we are told his “time to die drew near” (2:1), and it appears that all the other conversations at this time between the king and his son took place “in his room” (1:15, 22, 28, 32). Moreover the instructions he gave regarding Solomon’s coronation all seem to indicate that David would not be present for this ceremony (1:33-35). Immediately after the report of this last conversation with Solomon we read the report of the king’s death (2:10).

According to the Chronicler, however, David attended Solomon’s coronation ceremony, and gave a speech there describing his own generosity in giving very large gifts for the building of the temple (I Chronicles 29:2-5). This then motivated other leaders to give substantial gifts as well (29:6-8). And David offered praise to God, acknowledging that “all things come from you, and of your own have we given you … ” All the abundant gifts we receive and can use “comes from your hand and is all your own” (29:14-16).

David’s prayer for his son Solomon is thought-provoking. He did not pray that his son would have a long life and a successful career; he did not even pray that his son would be happy. Instead he prayed, “Grant to my son Solomon that with single mind he may keep your commandments, your decrees, and your statutes, performing all of them” (I Chronicles 29:19).

So many of today’s parents say, “I just want my children to be happy.” Yet there are a lot of things that look like happiness at first glance, which will take our children far away from God; we need to help them discover that it is only in fulfilling God’s purpose for our lives that we experience the fullness of joy that our Lord intends for us. David got a lot of things wrong (though as we’ve seen, the Chronicler does not tell us about most of those failings). But David got this thing right, and the Chronicler wants us to see it: David’s prayer for his son was that Solomon would set himself in wholehearted obedience to God’s commands.

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We pray for our children, those who are still youngsters and those who are now adults, O Lord: that they will seek your will, and be diligent to put it into effect. We ourselves are so prone to cut corners and make excuses for ourselves: teach them, and us, to keep your word with undivided heart.

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