David was plagued with the promised consequences of his sin even into his old age. Let us remember that God knows how to impose painful consequences for our sin. No one was still living who would have remembered God’s pronouncement to Eli of the consequences of his sin in preferring not to offend his sons at the cost of offending God; but God remembered. Do you recall God’s telling Eli that his descendants would not be holding the office of High Priest as a result of his sin? The sad stories here remind us that we cannot presume upon God’s mercy by choosing to sin.
It’s difficult to understand why David charged Solomon with seeing justice accomplished when he failed to accomplish it himself, because justice in that day and place differed from our ideas of justice today. Don’t you wish Scripture would comment on some of these situations so we could understand them better? My only comment is that I find it interesting that the man after God’s own heart, faced with determinations of justice that were beyond his ability to decide, erred on the side of mercy. He is contrasted with God, who is perfect; but where he was imperfect, he was strong on mercy and weak on justice. Solomon was more wise and less conformed to God’s heart compared to his father, and was able to carry out justice better than David was. Again, these imperfect men point to God’s perfect balance of all character qualities.
David showed in Psalm 37 that he treasured God’s justice. Imagine if we took his advice and let go of our life’s dramas to wait on God to work them out in His time: at the very least, our relationships with God would be so much more intimate. Waiting in favor of attempting to work matters out ourselves builds trust and the hope in Him that He wants us to have. David’s life shows that God can be trusted to do as He promises, both for good and for bad. Is there anything for which you need to wait on God today?