1 Kings 1:38-40. A short scene of the anointing of Solomon as King of Israel. King David, Solomon's father, has directed this while he is still alive in order to put to rest any debate upon his death, since one of his other sons Adonijah had been proclaiming himself the successor to the throne. Here, David's instructions are followed precisely, Solomon rides on King David's mule to Gihon, where a Zadok the priest takes the horn of oil from the tent, anoints Solomon, and the people all proclaim "Long live King Solomon!" They play music and rejoice so that "the earth was split by their noise."

There are always power struggles when rulers change, and this can have devastating effects on the nation and the people (just look at our presidential election process, now that politics has become like a religion in this country!). David, knowing his other son is proclaiming himself the successor, has Solomon anointed publicly by the priest at the tent of meeting while David is still alive. This is so wise, it shows that David truly cared about his people - he did not hold on to power until the end and then let fighting and bloodshed break out. Instead, he put his people first and transferred power to the proper successor while he still had the power to keep the peace. No wonder the people were so filled with joy!

David is a good foreshadowing of Jesus - a truly loving leader who cares about his people. It was not about power or control to David, it was about ruling in a just and merciful way, and preserving the order of right governance for the future.

Would that we had leaders like David around today!