God the Father and the Godfather

During my teen years, my father and I used to watch gangster movies together. We’d watch for hours and hours at a time. One of which was the Godfather. After seeing the scene where Don Corleone tells Michael that whoever brings him a meeting is a trader, I soon saw how their lives correlate with King David and Solomon. One day, I just so happened to be reading 1 Kings 2. This was when King David was on his deathbed and was charging his son to, ‘be strong and prove [himself] a man’ and to, ‘keep [his] word’. But then it turns a little Godfather-ish because the king starts to tell him what to do with his once trusted right hand lieutenant, Joab. The two had fought alongside and respected one another. But somewhere along the way, Joab became the king’s enemy which resulted in David telling his son to ‘do according to your wisdom, and…not let his gray hair go down to the grave in peace.’

There was another scene, before his death, where Don Corleone begins to impart gangster wisdom by telling Michael how that world operates. But before there was an underworld, there was the kingdom of David, who too, imparted wisdom into his son Solomon, the soon-to-be king (don). In verses 8,9 we find David telling Solomon to do what he thought was right to one of his enemies by the name of Shimei. Shimei was from the house of Saul, his predecessor, of whom David swore to ‘not touch’. Meaning, even when Saul had a bounty out for him, David swore to never kill him or anyone in his family, which is why on his deathbed, he brings that incident to his son’s attention when he says, ‘And see, you have with you Shimei…who cursed (disrespected) me….but…I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death….now therefore, do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man and know what you ought to do to him; but bring his gray hair down to the grave with blood.” David kept his word. He didn’t kill him. But this is what Solomon does.