We continue to study our series, “Passing on the faith from one generation to another.” I have recently learned numerous examples of transferring the blessings of faith to future descendants in the Bible. Conveying the promises of God from Abraham to his following generations is such a wonderful case. God made special promises to Abram when he was called to be the divine blessing to all people. He was assured that his descendants would be a great nation in the future. In response to that sacred call, Abram and his wife Sara immediately followed God’s new directions with faith. They also taught their children about the holy blessing that was related to the God-blessed place. The race that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, as spiritual runners, were in the Book of Genesis can be compared to a four by one divine relay.

After Joseph died, the people of Israel increased in numbers in Egypt. When a new Egyptian king took power, they were forced to do harsh labor. At that time, the Lord also called Moses and gave him the mission to bring the people of Israel out of Egypt. For forty years in the wilderness, he fulfilled the godly task of the exodus. Then, Moses’ leadership was transferred to his successor, Joshua. Under his influence, the people of Israel conquered all the inhabitants there. Finally, each tribe of the Israelites inherited its portion of their God-prepared land.

During the period between Abraham and Joshua, I believe that the people of Israel seized every opportunity to share their faith with the next generations. I also believe that remembering God and passing down the heritage made the journey of the Israelites successful and the nation of Israel stronger. If we continue to look at the rest of the Bible, we can find more examples of transferring the belief of the people of Israel to their offspring, such as King David to Solomon, the prophet Elijah to Elisha, Jesus to His disciples, the Apostle Paul to Timothy, and so on.

This morning I want us to think about one representative example among them. In our main text for today, David gave a charge to his son, Solomon, as his time drew near to die. David’s words were profound and held important lessons for his descendants. He said, “I am about to go the way of all the earth. So be strong, act like a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires…” (1 Kings 2:2-4). Today, I want us to learn a couple of practical instructions we can find from King David’s final words to his son, King Solomon.

Firstly, David gave a godly commandment to Solomon: “Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands… Do this so that you may prosper in all you do…” (1 Kings 2:3). This divine guidance he shared with Solomon seems to be similar to the Book of Psalms Chapter 1: “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked… but whose delight is in the law of the Lord… whatever they do prospers…” (Psalm 1:1-4). David is believed to be the main writer of the Book of Psalms. In this book, he emphasized the importance of living a courageous life based on the Word of God. David knew that Solomon could be strong when he had an obedient relationship with God. Due to experiencing this truth, David woke up in the middle of the night to meditate on God’s law. The Word of God was sweeter than honey to his mouth and a light on his path (Psalm 119:103-105). From God’s Word, David gained sacred insight, understanding, courage, determination, and knowledge in his spiritual journey. With those God-given resources, he lived a confident life and united the twelve divided Israelite tribes to form the United Kingdom of Israel. David wanted his son, Solomon, to follow in his footsteps by obeying God and His Word.

Secondly, David not only taught Solomon the importance of the Word of God but also wanted him to accept the Lord as his God. When David mentioned the phrase, keeping “the charge of the Lord,” he added two important words: “Your God”. He said, “Observe what the Lord your God requires” (1 Kings 2:3). What he was charging Solomon was not just obeying God but also knowing the Lord in a personal manner and serving God as his Lord. In other words, David wanted his son to have a deep intimate relationship with God. I believe that when David encouraged Solomon to have his own faith in the Lord, he was setting a good example for his inheritors on how to be people of God. Whether we, as parents and/or grandparents, realize it or not, we are being watched. This fact reminds me of one TV commercial about the resemblance between a father and a son who wants to do everything his father does. We are our children’s role models. They are watching us to figure out what life is all about.

Please understand this. Here I am not saying that we need to live faultless lives before our descendants. We often tend to think that King David was a perfect person before the Lord and a perfect father before Solomon. In a way, I would say, “Yes”, because he has been known as “a man after God’s own heart.” This description would be the highest compliment we as Christians would like to have. At the same time, we need to remember that David was a sinful human being like each of us. When we read the story about David in the Bible, we can discover that he would have struggled with doubt, fear, discouragement, and temptation. He was no different from us. Too often, David asked God not only for His strength and guidance but also for His mercy and forgiveness. David wanted to teach the people around him God’s love and grace so that they would turn back to the Lord. In other words, David wanted to use his own mistakes to help those who would be failures like him, not to give up but to continue running the godly race in repentance and faith. Proverbs 24:16 assures us that “though the righteous falls seven times, they rise again.” When David stumbled and fell, he got up and kept running his race before the Lord. Even in his weaknesses, David wanted Solomon to learn from him and left his son a great legacy of divine character.

Thirdly, David knelt before the Lord and prayed for his offspring. In the Old Testament, we can find some of David’s prayers for Solomon. I would like to read to you one prayer taken from Psalm 72. “Endow the king [Solomon] with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness. May he judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice! May the mountains bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness…” (Psalm 72: 1-3). In his prayer, David asked God to provide his son with one particular gift: justice, which is a common requirement of leadership. In another primary scripture, King Solomon pleaded with God for one specific request in a dream. Like David, Solomon, a man of prayer, said to God in the following statement: “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David” (1 Kings 3:7). Did we notice that Solomon called the Lord his God? God answered David’s prayer for his son to have a personal relationship with God as his Lord. After that, Solomon asked God to “give your [his] servant a discerning heart to govern your [his] people and to distinguish between right and wrong…” (1 Kings 3:4-9). This was the same prayer topic that David presented to God for his son. God answered David’s prayer, and the Lord was so pleased with Solomon’s petition. As a result, God gave him not only “a wise and discerning heart” but also “both wealth and honor.” Solomon became the wisest king in those days and wrote the book of Proverbs, called the wisdom literature.

Like David, Solomon had his ups and downs in his faith journey. However, through the Word of God, Solomon realized what he had done wrong and repented of the sins before the Lord. Later, when he wrote the book called Ecclesiastes, he started with the phrase “Everything is meaningless!” and finished with the same phrase (Ecclesiastes 1: 2; 12:8). In the last chapter of that book, like his father, Solomon also emphasized the importance of walking in obedience to God for the benefit of future generations. “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind. For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14) Due to David’s teaching of the Word of God and his prayers, Solomon turned back to God and wanted to pass on to his descendants the important lessons he had learned from his father. God answered David’s prayer for his son’s success and well-being in the Lord.
I recently read a wonderful example of the power of parents’ prayers for their children, related to the life of John Newton… Later, John Newton penned “Amazing Grace,” one of the most beloved hymns in Christian history. In addition to the description of God’s grace, the lyrics of this hymn reflect his personal journey affected by his mother’s prayers.

While praying about God’s ministries for our next generations, one scripture that has struck me is Hebrews 12:2. As some of you know, the previous chapter of Hebrews, chapter 11 describes a list of a number of heroes and heroines of faith in the Bible. Chapter 12 in our epistle for today starts off the phrase, “a great cloud of witnesses.” We, as runners of faith, are surrounded by those great ancestors who have already finished their journey of faith and have been cheering us on at the Heavenly Stadium. For a moment, let us think about the environment of a relay race on any track field. For example, in a four-by-one race, the first and last ones are usually faster than the second and third. If the first runner makes a big lead over the other teams, the second and the third runners could easily continue leading the race and pass on the baton to the last runner. Since the final one is always the best of the team, he or she can complete a winning relay race.
The point I am making here is not just one common strategy for the relay but the whole chemistry of this event. After the first, second, and third runners finish their own part of running, what do they do? Do they just put on long pants and shirts and go back to the locker room? No, as soon as he or she passes on the baton to the next, he or she keeps running behind their team members while cheering them up. What about the coaches and crowd watching the relay race? All of them clap their hands and encourage all of the runners to finish the race well. A spiritual relay race would be similar to this athletic event. Like a relay race, we, as runners in God-given journey here on earth, all need to cheer up for one another. In Christian ministries, we need all generations serving the Lord together as a team for the Heavenly Kingdom and praising the Mighty Lord our God.

Some of us may wonder whether we will be the last Christian generation in our families. As I mentioned before, our spiritual relay race is still ongoing, even though the baton seems to have been dropped. We can always pick it up again and run like David and Solomon. Unlike an athletic race, there is no specified time and place for the handoff to take place. For some, an individual conversion to God can happen at an early age in life. For me, it took place when I was in my twenties. My mother and father experienced it when they were in their fifties or early sixties. The truth I believe is that there will be moments down the road for our loved ones to have their personal encounter with God, their Lord. Whenever it occurs, it will be the result of hours of our prayers for them, as well as the help of the Lord our God. If we continue sharing God’s word with the people around us, God can change the hearts of those who receive His Word, regardless of where they are in terms of their spiritual journey with Him. When we fix our eyes on Jesus, who is “the pioneer and perfecter of faith,” and hand the spiritual blessing to our next generations, God will help them value it from His perspective and follow in our footsteps (Hebrews 12:2).

To conclude, once again, I want us to ask ourselves what kind of spiritual legacy we would like to transfer to our loved ones. My wife and I are the first generation of immigrants here in Canada. I have two younger brothers living in my homeland, South Korea. My wife is the youngest of 8, and all her siblings are residing there as well. We are the only family living in this land, which I would call God’s country. My wife and I have three sons who are now in their twenties. Since our children were born, we have been in the process of passing down our heritage to them. Sooner or later, they may have their own family and transfer the things they have been influenced by us to their children. When this important thought comes to mind, sometimes I feel overwhelmed. One main reason comes from the reflection of who I am. Before the Lord, I was a sinner, and I still am. When I look back on my journey of faith, I might feel discouraged due to numerous failures I have experienced. At the same time, I am so grateful to God for His forgiveness upon my sins. I am very thankful to God for His faithfulness despite my weaknesses. I am so appreciative of God’s ongoing reminder about my genuine identity. “I am God’s masterpiece, God’s handiwork, created in Christ…” (Ephesians 2:10).

To my wife and me, having faith in God is worth much more than relying on anything else in this world. Since we place our complete in Christ, Philippians 4:13 has become one of our favorite scriptures: “I can do all this through him (Jesus Christ) who gives me strength.” Faith changes our language. My wife and I often say to ourselves: “By faith, we can even break any generational bondages that may exist within our family and set godly examples of daily lives for the following generations.” As long as my wife and I have life and breath, we would like to build a strong foundation of faith for our loved ones to carry on and pray for their success and prosperity in their journey of faith.

Friends, what kind of divine heritage would you like to leave to those behind you? By faith, we can all leave our next generations a legacy that is the blessing of the Lord, our individual God.

*In this sermon I have used some thoughts from various sermons based on the texts, 1 Kings 2:1-12; 3:4-14; Hebrews 12:1-3.