10
lack of natural affection

1 Kings 1
1. In his old age King David was confined to his bed; but no matter how many blankets were heaped upon him, he was always cold…
5. At about that time, David's son Adonijah (his mother was Haggith) decided to crown himself king in place of his aged father. So he hired chariots and drivers and recruited fifty men to run down the streets before him as royal footmen.
6. Now his father, King David, had never disciplined him at any time - not so much as by a single scolding! He was a very handsome man, and was Absalom's younger brother.
7. He took General Joab and Abiathar the priest into his confidence, and they agreed to help him become king.
LB

This incident in the life of the nation of Israel gives us a picture of the kind of disconnect-of-heart that can happen between generations in a family.

Of course the root of the problem goes back many years to David's early life, when he not only took multiple wives who bore him many children, which set up a competitive situation in the family.
But then he decided that he would take another man's wife and have the man murdered.

God said that the judgement for this terrible deed was that there would always be discord, infighting and death within David's household.

The Absalom spoken of here had already tried and died attempting to take the kingdom away from his father David. It had been a most painful time of upheaval , both for David personally and for the nation as a whole.

The way in which Adonijah went about taking the kingdom for himself, without any consideration for his father shows a total lack of the natural affection that should exist between a father and his sons.

The Apostle Paul makes this comment about people who behave like Adonijah:
2 Timothy 3
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
NKJV

Prayer:
Father, keep me humble and submissive to You, so that I do not become like the people You say I should keep away from.
Let me always reflect Your beauty of character and loving-kindness, just like the Lord Jesus,
in whose name I pray,
Amen.