1 Kings 1:22

Also came in. At the climactic moment, Nathan entered and interrupted the queen with his urgent report. Bath-sheba adroitly withdrew (see v. 28), allowing Nathan the opportunity to make the same startling announcement, that Adonijah reigned. Surely this could not be without the command of the king! But how could David have given such orders as these? Why had he done it without a word to his trusted counselor and friend? Each question was an implied rebuke, a thrust at the king for having had part in a procedure so uncalled for, an outrage aimed directly at Solomon, Benaiah, and Zadok.

How could David have turned his back on these men who had been so close to him? The questions were asked, of course, merely to draw a vehement denial from the king. The denial must necessarily entail a royal rebuke upon the whole outrageous plot, for nothing like this could even be conceived of as having taken place without the will of the king, unless it were a plot directly against the throne. Nathan in his attitude of assumed injury was only ensuring the success of his mission, for it was now the king’s turn to be outraged and to direct the immediate steps to be taken to foil the conspirators in their plot.