So David’s troubled life came to a close, but he has never ceased to lead the praises of the saints.

At the very beginning of his reign Solomon was confronted by a difficult problem. There was so close a connection in public opinion between the title to the crown and the possession of a deceased monarch’s harem, that it would have been impossible to grant Adonijah’s request without giving strong encouragement to his pretensions. Solomon treated Bath- sheba with profound respect, but his love for her did not blind him to his duty to his realm, Prov. 20: 26.

Notice that solemn declaration, ‘‘ As Jehovah liveth,’’ v. 24. It was common to the godly of those days. See 1 Kings 17:1. They would not use the phrase lightly nor flippantly, but with a profound realization of standing in the presence of God. Let us recall those words of our Lord, ‘‘As the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father,’’ John 6:57, and let us draw daily on his life, so that we may live,—yet not we, but he in us and we in him, Gal. 2: 20,