meanwhile, just outside the city…

⁴¹Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “Why is the city in an uproar?” … ⁴³ Jonathan answered Adonijah, “… King David has made Solomon king; This is the noise that you heard. ⁴⁶ Solomon now sits on the royal throne. ⁴⁷ Moreover the king’s servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours, and make his throne greater than your throne.’ The king bowed in worship on the bed ⁴⁸ and went on to pray thus, ‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who today has granted one of my offspring to sit on my throne and permitted me to witness it.’ ”

I wonder when David made that promise to Bathsheba years before if he had any idea he would grant it during a devious inside-the-family royal coup? David had lost sight of God in making his own plans in the intervening years, and likewise he also lost sight of betrayal festering inside his own home. Yet, even as the rebellious son arose to betray, so did David’s faithfulness rise to honor his words of promise. First Chronicles: 28:9  reveals his promise, “And you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve him with single mind and willing heart; for the LORD searches every mind, and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will abandon you forever.” David remembers that keeping his sight set on God also gives him vision in times of great need. Solomon takes the throne. David is both honored yet humbled in the way God delivered on his promises, and it empowers David to deliver his own promise to Bathsheba. David blesses the Lord, not himself, for placing Solomon upon the throne.