DAVID A man after God's own heart! The Final Words.

THE FINAL WORDS.

Last week I ask a question that none of you liked.  I won't even repeat it.  So let me try again...

I can't express how hard it is for me not to ask another death question since that is the focus of this lesson.  Davids last words and death.  However, I will be kind!

Question of the Day:  What are the most powerful words you have ever heard?

Today we are looking at a fairly short passage.  It is back in 2 Samuel 23:1-7.

David’s Last Words

23 These are the last words of David:

“The inspired utterance of David son of Jesse,
    the utterance of the man exalted by the Most High,
the man anointed by the God of Jacob,
    the hero of Israel’s songs:

2 “The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me;
    his word was on my tongue.
3 The God of Israel spoke,
    the Rock of Israel said to me:
‘When one rules over people in righteousness,
    when he rules in the fear of God,
4 he is like the light of morning at sunrise
    on a cloudless morning,
like the brightness after rain
    that brings grass from the earth.’

5 “If my house were not right with God,
    surely he would not have made with me an everlasting covenant,
    arranged and secured in every part;
surely he would not bring to fruition my salvation
    and grant me my every desire.
6 But evil men are all to be cast aside like thorns,
    which are not gathered with the hand.
7 Whoever touches thorns
    uses a tool of iron or the shaft of a spear;
    they are burned up where they lie.”

I admit this is a challenging passage.  I was hoping for Davids last words to be something poetic and much like the Psalms, but this is what is recorded.  Let's first look at the first 4 verses. 

Verse 1 and 2.   Do you find it interesting the way this starts?  Such high praise for such a flawed man.  How is that possible? 

Last night here at Pisgah a young girl was having prayer at the beginning of the meeting.  She prayed for the speaker and asked that her words be the words of God.  We hear this a lot.  Here it isn't a prayer but a testimony, stated as fact.  

How important are our words?

A couple weeks ago I gave a week of prayer at ACA and we studied a passage from 1 Peter. In the passage it says, "If one speaks they should speak as if speaking the very words of God."  

Can we say we speak that way?

What does it take to speak the very words of God? 

How could David make this statement with such confidence? 

Verse 3.  ‘When one rules over people in righteousness,

    when he rules in the fear of God,

What is this statement from God saying to us?

Do we rule over people?

Do we lead we in positions of leadership in our homes?

At work?

At church?

If we are going to lead in righteousness, we must do what?

This 'fear of God' statement is often just quickly explained as 'reverence of God' or even to love God which are both correct.  However I really believe that this is a word we find hard to adequately define in our language.  Let's try.

In a bible commentary I was reading it said, "This 'fear of Yahweh' is manifested in keeping God's commandments, walking in His ways, doing His will, avoiding sin," 

So the only way to lead in righteousness is to... "keep God's commands, walk in His ways, do His will, avoid sin."

Tall order.  How well did David do at this?

The results of doing this...

4 he is like the light of morning at sunrise

    on a cloudless morning,

like the brightness after rain

    that brings grass from the earth.’

This is still David quoting God.  How poetic!

If we are going to be leaders, if we are going to serve God we must first, during, and always 'fear the Lord.'  The fruits of which will be something to behold!

Now on to verse 5-7, again David is being quoted.   

What to you take away from this passage?

In verses 6-7 David is describing  what happens to Kings or leaders who are evil.  Essentially they are rooted out.  All decedents gotten rid of. 

Now I want you to put together the quote from God and the quote from David. 

God is saying to be a righteous leader you must, fear God.

David is saying wicked leaders are rooted out.

“If my house were not right with God,

    surely he would not have made with me an everlasting covenant,

    arranged and secured in every part;

surely he would not bring to fruition my salvation

    and grant me my every desire."

What is David saying here?

David knew he had not always been a righteous King.  He surly deserved to be destroyed and all his decedents.  Yet there was an everlasting covenant, and his salvation and his every desire.  

What are David's last words?

GRACE!

As David lay dying, he was exclaiming how gracious God is.  

As David lay dying, the unimaginable beautiful grace of God was what he was exclaiming about. 

Last Sunday, Chris and I went to the memorial for my cousin Will Willis.  It was an incredibly moving experience. Over and over, people talked about how the one thing that Will did more than anything was share Jesus with those around him until the very end.  David here in his last moment exclaimed the grace of God.

We now need to skip ahead to 1 Kings 2:10-12

I want to remind you that it is believed the passage we read and many others at the end of 2 Samuel are just like an appendix and not in chronological order.  So I decided to put together his last words with his death.  

10 Then David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. 11 He had reigned forty years over Israel—seven years in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 12 So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his rule was firmly established.

I hope that you have a moment to share with each other what you will most take away from the study of David.  

I will share with you mine...

Maybe it is because of what we are going through right now, but when I think of this story I love the way over and over again we saw waiting as part of God's plan for David.  Waiting! Many of us can't stand to wait.  We don't like lines.  We don't like being put on hold when we are trying to talk to the cable company, or any company.  We don't like waiting for anything to come in the mail, which explains the success of Amazon's 2 day shipping plan.  We don't like to wait.  I don't like it either, but I am trying to relish in the waiting.  Not just accept it but find the joys in it!  Over and over God asked David to wait.  He anointed him, and then sent him back to the fields to herd sheep.  You know the story.  

What is your take away from the David testimony?