David’s Final Words

2 Samuel 23:1-7

Immanuel – 10/15/23

22 weeks following David: shepherd boy from Bethlehem, warrior of Judah, king of Israel, forever marked by his infidelities. David’s rise to the throne was meteoric: And along the way, as he became the champion of Israel, he became our champion!

But then a moment of indiscretion, a moment of lustful indulgence, a moment that led to murder, and all came crashing down. Our hero of the Samuels covered in shame, a disappointment, a confusing mess. God restored David but things were never the same again.

Purpose

1. Remember the life of David through his last words.

2. David’s soul longed for the future King; so also does ours.

Verse 1 tells us that these are the last words of David. This does not mean that these were the words David uttered on his deathbed. For those you’ll have to look at 1 Kings 2. But here, in 2 Samuel 23, these last words of David are akin to the last words of Ecclesiastes.

The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. -Ecclesiastes 12:13

The passage we consider today functions in a similar way. These words sum up David’s life; this is his legacy. If you want to know David, then know these words. For David, the words of 2 Samuel 23:1-7 are the end of the matter. After this, all has been heard.

Of course, these words do come at the end of David’s life. Perhaps he delivered them in one final public address. Imagine an aged king, about around 70 years old, speaking over a crowd gathered somewhere in Jerusalem.

As we listen to the words of this old king, I have placed them into three categories: identity, prophecy, destiny.

Read vs 1

Identity

Before David gets to his message, he wants us all to remember who he is. He is the son of Jesse. Remember Jesse, man from Bethlehem of little significance. In fact, no one would ever know who Jesse was if David had not risen to prominence. Jesse, though he had some wealth, was a nobody. Yet even here at the end, David was proudly his son.

And from these obscure roots, David was raised on high. Indeed! Can a person ascend any higher than from lowly shepherd boy to king of Israel? And remember what David said just before he was crowned king in Judah?

David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?” And the LORD said to him, “Go up.”

-2 Samuel 2:1

As we saw, David went up and Judah made him their king. Seven years later, after he was crowned king over all Israel, we read:

And David became greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of hosts, was with him. -2 Samuel 5:10

David’s meteoric rise was precisely because God was with him. It had nothing to do with his achievements, neither in terms of righteousness nor might. God raised David on high because he was the anointed of the God of Jacob.

Remember when the prophet Samuel anointed David all the way back in 1 Samuel 16? Though Samuel poured the anointing oil upon Daivd’s head, he poured that oil on that particular boy because God had directed him. God was the one anointing David.

And notice how, in verse 1, David calls Yahweh the God of Jacob. The three patriarchs are traditionally Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So why does David choose to name Jacob next to Yahweh? Perhaps because of the promise Yahweh spoke to Jacob hundreds of years earlier:

And God said to [Jacob], “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come from your own body.”

-Genesis 35:11

David, Jacob’s descendant, God’s anointed, is a fulfilment of that ancient promise. How obvious it is now, David is king not because of his magnificence, but because of God’s eternal purposes. The God of Jacob has anointed him, and so a shepherd boy has come to be the king.

And with his rise, David has become the sweet psalmist of Israel. In other words, he is the focus of Israel’s songs. He is the hero in Israel’s songs. Wasn’t Saul once greatly annoyed by this very thing?

And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. -1 Samuel 18:7-8

Even more, David – who authored so many of the Psalms – is at the heart of those Psalms. For instance, Psalm 110:

The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” -Psalm 110:1

From the testimony of Scripture, we know that David is hearing a heavenly conversation. The highest Lord (the God the Father) says to David’s Lord (God the Son) sit with me until I defeat all your foes. David is privy to that divine conversation and writes it into a song. He could never have known that this same Psalm he authored – Psalm 110:1 – would become the most quoted Old Testament passage within the New Testament. How truly was David’s identity the sweet psalmist of Israel.

But we have not finished with David’s identity. Not only is he the king of Israel, he is also counted among Israel’s prophets.

Read vs 2

In no uncertain terms, David declares that he is a of prophet of God. Not only here, but earlier when he twice proclaimed that he was speaking oracles of God. It means he’s a prophet of Yahweh, and that is a powerful identity.

And we know that David truly is a prophet because the New Testament attests to this; for on the day of Pentecost, Peter declares:

Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. -Acts 2:29-31

Peter is here referencing Psalm 16:10-11 where David wrote of a holy one, an Anointed One, whose flesh would not see corruption. On the other side of the resurrection, Peter knew that David was prophesying about the Risen Christ.

Not only was David God’s anointed, but Daivd prophesied that a greater Anointed One was coming: The Messiah. And according to Peter, those who prophesy do so by God the Spirit.

For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. -2 Peter 1:21

Those prophets of old who spoke authoritatively for God, such as David, did so as they were carried along by the Spirit of God. And did not the Spirit of God rest upon David as soon as God had anointed him?

And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward.

-1 Samuel 16:13

The Spirit of the Lord is the Spirit of prophecy, and that Spirit rested upon David; from time to time carrying him along to speak prophetically.

May there be no doubt, David is a prophet of God. All of this context is building towards something. The fact that God has raised David up, anointed him as king, made him a prophet; now at the end of his life the Spirit of God would deliver one last oracle through him. What mighty prophesy will this aged prophet-king deliver?

Read vs 3-4

Prophecy

Hear the Spirit of Prophecy continuing to build the anticipation: The God of Israel, the Covenant Keeper, and unshakable refuge for His people; by David He has spoken.

And now the words that everything has been building towards: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them…

Wait. Is David merely saying that if a person rules in righteousness, in the fear of the Lord, it goes well for the people. There’s nothing prophetic about that. It just sounds like a proverb, a good principle, an implication from the law. Why all this prophetic building?

Though it is true – people benefit when leaders rule justly and in the fear of the Lord – there’s more going on; and for that we need to see the Hebrew. David does not use the common word for men when he says, When one rules justly over men. Instead, he uses the Hebrew word “adam.” Though “adam” can be translated as “man”, its truer meaning is “mankind”. So what David is prophesying, and what this passage has been building towards, is about the coming One who will rule justly over adam/humanity.

By the Spirit of Prophesy, David has now been catapulted from the realm of his own life. He’s ruled over Judah and Israel, but never all humankind. Even the most powerful of human rulers has never been able to subdue rebellious “adam” and form a kingdom over all the earth.

But David prophesied that a ruler over the human race would arise, a just ruler, who will exercise his authority in the fear of the Lord. About 1,000 years after David, this Ruler came to Israel.

So Jesus said to [the Jews], “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And He who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” -John 8:28-30

Operating in perfect, loving, fear of the Lord; Jesus couldn’t have been more right. He was lifted up. First he was lifted up on the cross, executed as a rebel and criminal. But because His life so pleased the Father, three days later, the Father lifted His Son from the grave. Jesus was lifted from death to life. Finally, after 40 more days, the Father lifted the Son to heaven’s throne, where Jesus was given all authority in heaven and on earth.

Earlier I asked, Can a person ascend any higher than from lowly shepherd boy to king of Israel? How about from a sinner’s cross to the high throne over heaven and earth? It is where Jesus sits today!

This means for us today that the prophecy of David is fulfilled! The King has come! Jesus reigns! As Paul declares in Ephesians 1:22, all things have been placed under the feet of Jesus. The King has come.

And what is the kingdom of this prophesied King meant to look like?

Read vs 4

Jesus is the morning light that breaks the grip of night. Notice too, how He is like dawning light. It’s not night and then with the blink of an eye, midday sun. There is a dawning effect, a swelling hope, a growing brilliance, in Jesus’ reign. It is the prophetic anticipation:

Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom. -Isaiah 9:7

The King has come, and the night is breaking. It’s important to understand that Christ has this dawning effect over the earth, this progressive increase. Because we look around our world and see nations at war, we see earthquakes, persecutions, and the love of many gone cold; and we say, “How can Christ be reigning today? How can we be living in the kingdom of Christ?”

The writer of Hebrews addressed this very issue.

Now in putting everything in subjection to [Christ], [the Father] left nothing outside His control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to Him. But we see Him…namely, Jesus, crowned with glory and honor. -Hebrews 2:8-9

Even though you do not see a world subjected to Jesus, have faith that it is increasingly coming under His reign – for everything is under Christ’s control! Believe this in the same way you believe Jesus is crowned with glory and honor. The light of Christ is dawning upon the earth, gradually breaking the grip of night.

Verse 4 also says Christ’s reign Is like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning. Jesus, this rising sun, scatters all the clouds. Any who would look can see Him clearly. Step into the light and feel His warmth. He thaws the cold and unfeeling heart. He heats the lukewarm life. Your sleepy heart cannot help but beat a little faster in the light of His justice, His grace, His calling.

His rule is like the rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth. When Jesus is on the throne, barren places burst to life.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved. -Ephesians 2:4-5

With Jesus is on the throne, there is life where there was death. He is the living water that rains down from heaven. He is the river in the desert, the only satisfaction for our panting souls.

The Spirit prophesies, and it is going to happen. Jesus is creating the new heavens and new earth. Even now the King is drawing together heaven and earth. And to show us this prophetic word is firmly fixed, that it will happen, David grounds it all in established covenantal history.

Read vs 5

Destiny

David wants us to see that the historical existence of his kingdom is proof that a greater kingdom is destined. As he says, Does not my house stand so with God? David has already reminded us that it is God who raised him from shepherd boy to Israel’s king. The house of David, with all of its contradictions, stands because of the work of the Almighty.

And God has done this because He made a promise to David. We saw this back in chapter 7: the Davidic Covenant. There Yahweh promises,

“I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom… I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son… And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.”

-2 Samuel 7:12,13-14,15

David’s house – or David’s kingdom – exists in history because of God’s work. Speaking as an old man, David knows how profoundly true this is. Though David was a nobody, God made him king. Though there were assassination attempts, God protected David. Though there were civil wars and terrible rebellions, the kingdom was not divided. Though David disgraced the throne, and for his sins deserved to die, God did not revoke his promises.

In fact, it is in spite of David that God faithfully kept him as king. When it looked like everything should fall apart, God caused David to prosper – as he states in verse 5. God protected. God forgave. God restored. God made good on His promises. Did we not see this again and again in the life of David?

And seeing this in David reveals something of our destiny. For He who began a good work in the life of David brought it to completion in the life of David. He who began a good work in your life, will bring it to completion. It’s why Paul can write,

I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. -Philippians 1:6

It is not only true for David and for you, but He who began a kingdom on this earth will bring that kingdom to its completion! We know this because the keeping power of God is found in his everlasting covenant and not in our ability – or David’s – to be righteous!

Christ is righteous, and that’s why He the King is bringing the kingdom! So if you bow your knee to Jesus, His kingdom is your destiny. Just as God did not dump David for his sins, neither will He dump you.

It is the promise of the kingdom of God: covenanted by the Father, brought to you by the Son, and guaranteed by the indwelling Holy Spirit! It is your imperishable, undefiled, unfading, inheritance in Christ Jesus our Lord (1 Peter 1:4)! This promise is yours by faith in King Jesus!

Yet the promise of this kingdom comes with an unavoidable warning: there is a destiny that exists apart from King Jesus.

Read vs 6-7

In verse 4 is was prophesied that Christ will be like rain to make the grass sprout up. Now we see a warning to the weeds. Many people will benefit from the rule of the King – along with the grass they are blessed by the rain – but they take that nourishment and twist it. They become corrupted, sprout thorns.

These are the people who benefit from Christ’s rule, but reject it, or call it evil. We see this so clearly in our nation today: A once green pasture has been overrun by weeds.

But we know, in part because of David’s prophecy, that opposition to the King is both worthless and hopeless. The day will come when the weeds will be torn out and thrown to the fire, utterly consumed. To deny Jesus and resist His kingdom is a horrid exercise in futility.

Brothers and sisters, hear the inescapable implication: There is no middle ground. There is no sitting on the fence. There is no lukewarm. This is why, when we share the gospel, we must not leave out this warning. The hard new must be given with the good!

Our worth comes from whom we worship. If by faith we worship Christ, then God reckons our life worthy. If we worship our unworthy passions, then we are like worthless weeds, and God will cast us to forever burn with those empty passions.

As Alistar Begg has said, “In bowing to the Jesus our lives are filled with hope, or in rejecting Jesus our lives are ultimately worthless.”

We can be assured of the prophetic word of David, that God’s covenant will not fail, that the promised King is true, because David’s historical kingdom was real. Indeed, all of David’s life, and in spite of David’s life, he was a prefigurement of the Christ to come. Which is why with his last words, David points once more to the future King.

God used David’s kingdom to lay a foundation. Upon this foundation Yahweh is building something far greater, something everlasting, a blessing to every family on earth. It is a kingdom ruled by the King who dawns like the morning light and brings life where there was death. The promise God made to Jacob, to David, is forever fulfilled in Jesus Christ our Lord!

The story of the kingdom is the story of the gospel. It is the longing of every heart.

Right now we hear the news spilling out of the Middle East, or Eastern Europe, and it breaks our hearts. We weep when we hear of Christians being ruthlessly persecuted in Nigeria or India or Iran or so many places. When dementia or cancer or injury afflict, when we say farewell to those we love, when we just can’t seem to overcome our flesh; let us in that moment see our nail-scarred King, crowned in glory and honor, shining upon us like the sun on a cloudless morning, and hope. He reigns and there is a work underway that nothing can stop. No one can hold back the dawning son!

Jesus is making all things new. He is putting all this chaos into order. He has already started; He will not fail. Yes, the answer to all the deepest longings of our hearts are found right here in 2 Samuel 23:1-7. These are the last words of David, the end of the matter, all has been heard.

Lord willing, next week we will begin a year and a half long study in the Gospel of Matthe: The Gospel of Matthew that opens with these words,

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.