1 Kings 1:51-52
⁵¹And it was told Solomon, Behold, Adonijah fears King Solomon, for behold, he has caught hold of the horns of the altar, saying, Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will not slay his servant with the sword. ⁵²Solomon said, If he will show himself to be a worthy man, not a hair of him shall fall to the ground; but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.
Adonijja attempted to take David’s throne but failed, he runs to the Altar in fear of His life on finding out that Solomon is rightfully set up as King who seeks out for Him. He cries out that unless His life be spared, He won’t let go of the altar, Solomon accepts but with a condition of Him being worthy and not proving evil, so His life is spared for a moment..
When we look at the after verses, we discover that Adonijja was later killed because he proved ambitious and evil by demanding for Abishail the shunnanite for a wife( 1 Kings 2:15-27) who was “like” a concubine to His father David when He was too old to be warm, she came to be of warmth ( 1 Kings 1:1-4) and thus He proved not worthy!! He didn’t accept the will of God, by rejecting the kingship of Solomon.
1 Peter 4:1-2
¹Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;²That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
The Altar was a place to obtain mercy in a symbolism of Christ.
Hebrews:4:16
“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.”
Coming to the altar for mercy doesn’t mean that you take for grattage the gift and live life ‘anyhow’, if we have been granted mercy, we ought to live life as one who has received that mercy, a worthy life that walks according to His ways, a life in union with Christ!! Apostle Paul calls us to live a life worthy of the calling we have received (Ephesians 4:1) fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God ( Col 1:10), for whoever abides in Him should walk a walk that He walked..
1 John:2:6,
He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
Much as we live in the dispensation of grace, we have pledged and conditioned to live a worthy life, commited to follow His will and shun away evil, it’s not a vibe of empty words, rather a vibe of meaningful heart deep words, to believe and confess in His Lordship ( Romans10:9-10).
It is a pledge to live His life, not by might but by His spirit, as He leads, we follow and hear His voice, not seeking to take for grattage that which has been availed unto us. We cry for mercy, He bestows unto us that mercy, we receive it and embrace it ,not for grattage but for an advantage, not to lose but to cling unto, not in pretence nor in ambition rather from the depth of the heart, with a readiness to embrace His being, His walk, a life of sacrifice and commitment to walk His walk and do the fathers will.
Psalms 5:7
⁷But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
Prophetic Declaration:
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
May God count you worthy of your calling [to faith] and with [His] power fulfill every desire for goodness, and complete [your] every work of faith, so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you [by what you do], and you in Him, according to the [precious] grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Guiding Text
1 John 2:15-17
¹⁵Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.¹⁶For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. ¹⁷And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.