Praying the Last Words of David

Intro

Good morning everyone. I hope you had a good independence day this past week. For those of you who are new here, or for anyone I haven’t had a chance to meet yet, my name is Cody and I serve as the worship and college pastor here at Coram Deo. And this morning, I get the chance to open God’s word with you. So why don’t we do that together...

Turn in your Bibles to 2 Samuel 23…and if you don’t have a copy of God’s word just raise your hand and get the attention of one of the ushers and we would be happy to get a copy into your hands.

So turn to 2 Samuel 23 and I’ll join you there in just a minute. I wanted to start out by telling you why I chose this passage for us this morning. You see, this is a message that was preached at our College ministry this past spring, and I felt led to bring this specific message to you...

The reason is really two-fold.

This past spring our college ministry went through a series on King David. We looked at many points in his life and wanted to learn what it looked like to walk with God closely, both in the spiritual highs of our life…and in the midst of our own sins and failures. And King David is a great example of that. Just as the apostle Paul says in scripture, follow me as I follow Christ…we wanted to take that approach with King David. We wanted to look at his life, see that the things that were Christ-like in them, and learn how we can follow in that. And that’s my first prayer for you this morning…that you would be reminded of some of the things in David’s life that were God-honoring, and that you would always grow in your desire to do the same. So that’s the first reason…it’s a message preached at the college ministry in our series on King David.

Over the past year, our ministry has been focusing on the spiritual disciplines of the Christian life. These disciplines include, but aren’t limited to, studying scripture, being in community, fasting, and certainly praying. We, as a ministry, try to take every opportunity that we can to incorporate these spiritual disciplines into our rhythms as a group…whether it’s through the two retreats we take a year where we focus heavily on practicing these disciplines, or in our small groups, or even in our messages on Thursday nights. We want to make sure the idea of being disciplined in our faith is constantly before us. Just like, Pastor Rob charged us to have a life full of fervent prayer last week…and to look at the world through the perspective of one who is on our knees…this message is intended to encourage you in that specific discipline.

And as such, this message is structured in two parts…you can see it on your notes there if you have them. The first part of the structure will be us learning things from King David’s life and reflecting on what we learn in his last words that we are about to read…and the second part will be putting the spiritual discipline of prayer into practice. As a way of encouraging us to pray in response to scripture.

And this is prayerfully, going to be something that either teaches you how…or encourages your already established practice of reading God’s word, and praying in accordance with it.

So with that said, let’s get into the passage and then I’ll show you exactly how we we are going to do that…

2 Samuel 23:1–7 ESV

1 Now these are the last words of David: The oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel: 2 “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue. 3 The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, 4 he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth. 5 “For does not my house stand so with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire? 6 But worthless men are all like thorns that are thrown away, for they cannot be taken with the hand; 7 but the man who touches them arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear, and they are utterly consumed with fire.”

The first thing we see in this passage is that we are looking upon the last words of King David. There is no context for where he was or in what kind of health he was when these words were recorded. We don’t know if this was on his deathbed, or his last public appearance…but scripture doesn’t concern itself with telling that…instead, scripture does was us to be aware that these were his final words.

And something that we should certainly be able to understand…is the importance of last words right?

We just went through graduation season as a culture. Just a show of hands…how many of you attended a graduation of some sort in the past few months. Whether it’s college, high school, Jr. High....yeah, quite a few of you.

What’s one thing that almost all graduations have in common? Graduation speeches.

And what, if I may ask, is the purpose of a graduation speech? In short…it’s the graduates last opportunity to reflect upon their years at school…and charge others to do the same…or charge them to press on into the world.

At graduations, precedence to speak is given often to a valedictorian, or salutatorian…essentially…it’s given to the ones who have succeeded…the ones who have done school well. And it is expected for those in attendance to give ear to it…and to, if they are able, apply such words.

A weight is placed upon the last words of a graduate who has succeeded…and in the same fashion…so too should weight be placed upon the last words of King David…because he is a man who has gone before us..and, Church, this is not a man who has gone before us and had done well in something like school…but rather in something like walking in relationship with God…and he is a man who was blessed by God and was a blessing to the people of God.

In fact, we see it there in verse one. This was a man who was raised on high and anointed by the God of Jacob. This is the man who was treasured by Israel as their sweet psalmist.

This is the man who defeated Goliath, brought the Ark of the Covenant back into Jerusalem, won many a battle for God’s people, wrote at least 73 of the 150 psalms found in the word of the living God…and so much more.

Church, when we see these are the last words of David, what we should be seeing is that these are the last words of someone who is worth following after. Someone who is worth learning a few things from. Someone who is worth looking at when it comes to evaluating a life lived for the glory of God.

That’s the weight we should have when evaluating David’s last words…because for the people of Israel, and for the people of God…that’s the kind of weight they would have had placed on them…Because of who he was to them, and what he had done for God, and what he had done for God’s people.

So, let’s look at the first thing we see about David’s life…and it’s found right in verse 1.

David was known for God’s work in his life (v.1)

Look back at verse 1 with me and see what I mean.

2 Samuel 23:1 (ESV)

1 Now these are the last words of David: The oracle of David, Oracle just means utterance or announcement…so this passage is just saying that it’s the final announcement of David …as I mentioned before, we don’t exactly when this took place…but we do know that it must have been sometime near the end of his life and reign as King of Israel…let’s keep going...the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high, You see that there? David, was raised on high…and a question that should come to mind is…who raised him on high? That question is answered in the next statement in the description of him...the anointed of the God of Jacob…anointed here meaning, the chosen one, the one set apart for authority, the one selected by God…in the Old Testament, this word is only used to describe priests, prophets, and kings. People who were set apart by God to do the will of God. And it’s beautiful isn’t it? That the word anointed is used for priests, prophets, and kings…and when Jesus appears in the New Testament he is also called the anointed one, because he was and is indeed a priest, prophet, and king. Scripture is just cool like that.

So what we see back in the text here is that David was raised on high by God…he was chosen by God. “Raised on high” is a way to describe someone who has been given a kingly position…and that is exactly what God did to David…in 1 Sam. 16 God literally has David anointed as King.

So if you were to summarize how this passage is describing David…if you were to summarize how David is described at the end of his days…it’s not by the great personal accomplishments he had. It doesn’t say “the man who wrote x number of songs, defeated x number of enemies, lived x number of years…yada yada”…It also doesn’t describe David by the terrible things he did in his life…like “the man who killed Uriah and stole his wife after already committing adultery with her”....or “the man who disobeyed God and took a census”...instead David is described in relation to what God did in his life. The ways that God was glorified and the ways God moved in it.

So church, let’s thank God, that at the end of his days…the way David is described is by what God had done in his life, not what he had done against God. The things that are remembered is God’s work to bring David to become King…God’s work to choose him…God’s work to raise him on high as greatest King Israel had known and would know…God’s work in his life to even allow David to become, you see it there in verse 1, “the sweet psalmist of Israel”. Even David’s songwriting is not known for it’s beautiful melodies, complicated instrumentation, (scripture didn’t keep those things) or the people he pleased with it…but rather David’s songwriting is known for the God that he glorified with it. The psalms that he wrote that led the people of God to worship.

So our point of understanding is that David was known for God’s work in his life. And I told you that with every point that we see something about David’s life…there will be a point of prayer to ask the Lord to strengthen us in doing the same. And this first point of prayer is...

Lord, may I be known for your work and not mine.

As in…at the end of our days…may the thing that people remember about us, be the things that God did. The ways that God worked in our life. The things that God did through us to build his kingdom. That’s a prayer worth praying. So let’s do that now...

Pray

Moving on to our second point in our text this morning.

David acknowledged God’s word in his life (v.2-4,6-7)

This Second main point comes to us with a couple sub-points. Look with me back at verse 2.

2 Samuel 23:2 ESV

2 “The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue.

Let’s stop there for the moment, and realize that one of the ways that David acknowledged the word of God in his life…is that he spoke it.

He spoke it.

It says it right there in this verse…the Lord speaks by me. His word is on my tongue. This is David’s way of acknowledging that God had made him a prophet. This is David’s way of saying that many of the things that David said are things that God was saying.

This is proved alone by the fact that these words that he is currently speaking in this passage, as well at least 73 of the psalms are the words of David that God revealed to be his word…in his word.

On top of that, if that wasn’t enough, scripture speaks specifically to David being a prophet and having the words of God on his tongue.

This is Peter’s sermon at Pentecost in the book of acts.

Acts 2:29–31 (ESV) 29 “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. 30 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, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.

So, I don’t think we need to go any further in proving that David spoke the words of God. But I do want to take a moment, church, and encourage you to do the same. I want to encourage you to acknowledge to word of God in your life, by speaking the word of God like David did. And, specifically, by speaking it to others.

You know, the words we speak now may not be recorded in a book and added to the bible, the word of God…that’s already complete and whole…but…the words we speak can absolutely still be rooted, founded, and find their place from word of God.

Because we can choose to speak God’s word to other people by speaking the bible to them. You can speak God’s word about a specific topic to others, You can speak God’s word applied to a situation you or a someone finds themselves in, You can speak God’s word given as an encouragement for hope and perseverance in hard time, You can speak God’s word as the foundation wise council to a friend..

Peter is saying in this Acts passage that David spoke of the resurrection of Christ…which is true, we see that in the psalms…David spoke of it and yet didn’t understand fully what he was saying…didn’t understand exactly what that would look like, who it would be, how it would happen…but yet he spoke of it because it was God’s word...In the way that David spoke of the resurrection of Christ like Peter acknowledges here in Acts... so too can we speak of the resurrection of Christ. In the way that David spoke and sang of God’s awesomeness and majesty in the Psalms, so too can we speak of God’s awesomeness and majesty to others.

Church, be someone who speaks God’s word. Be someone wise in council because you’ve read the words of the wise councilor, be someone who speaks encouragement because you’ve read the words of the great encourager, be someone who speak truth (like Pastor Rob preached last week) because you’ve read the words of the one who is the truth

David acknowledged the word of God in his life by speaking. But he didn’t just acknowledge the word of God by speaking the word of God… he also heeded it.

He heeded it.

Look back at verse 3 with me.

2 Samuel 23:3–4 ESV

3 The God of Israel has spoken; the Rock of Israel has said to me: When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, 4 he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.

Verse 5 is actually a side comment that David makes that relates to this but also drives a separate point, so we will get to that in a minute. In verse 6, we see what the Lord told David continues.

2 Samuel 23:6–7 ESV

6 But worthless men are all like thorns that are thrown away, for they cannot be taken with the hand; 7 but the man who touches them arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear, and they are utterly consumed with fire.”

So here we have this statement of what God told David. And essentially, what he told David is…the man that rules over God’s people in a way that fears God, will be blessed. We see that in verses 3 and 4. And then, on the flip-side in verses 6 and 7, we see David remembering that God told him that the man who takes the opposite approach, the worthless man is like a thorn to be thrown away because it can’t be handled…rather, instead of being handled it is shoved with iron or shaft of a spear and it is burned.

So David is remembering that at some point in his life…God told him these things about what it meant to rule over the people of Israel…and what should be noted about David’s life is that he didn’t hear this word from God…but he heeded it. Meaning, he took notice of it..and he followed through on it.

He heard what God had to say…and he did something about it. We know he did something about because the blessing in verses 3 and 4 of someone who rules with the fear of God in them…that is what we saw of David’s reign. David’s reign was like the morning light to the people of Israel, it was like the sun shining forth on a cloudless day…David’s reign was like the rain that causes grass to grow on the earth…good things grew from David’s time as king…really good things grew and we will see in a minute with the Davidic covenant...

And to prove that even David thought he was heeding God’s word and ruling the people justly and in the fear of God, David even mentions it in his side-comment in verse 5. You see that? He says, does not my house stand so with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant...

David is showing that God has blessed him as part of the proof that he has done as God has told him. God has not forsaken David to the fire…David will not burn away, Peter even said that in the scripture from acts we looked at…Peter said David would not be abandoned to Hades. Instead we see that God has blessed him, and even made a covenant with him…more in that in a moment.

But for the moment, this should let us see that David both spoke God’s word…and when he heard God’s word, he heeded it. He didn’t just listen…he did.

This is jut like it says in the book of James. James charges the recipients of this letter..

James 1:22–25 (ESV)

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

David is living proof of this command in James. Be a doer, not just a hearer…for the one who looks into the perfect word of God and acts on what it says…will be blessed. And David was blessed. And in just a minute we will see just how blessed he was…but for now

We’ve learned from and summarized this point of scripture…David was a man who acknowledged the word of God in his life…he spoke it, and he heeded it...and now.

Our prayerful response to this point should look something like this.

Lord, may I be a doer, hearer, and speaker of your word.

Pray

Amen. So let’s get into our last part of the verse this morning. We’ve covered most of these verses, but we haven’t spent much time on verse 5 yet…and since David makes a bit of a side statement in verse 5, it seemed right to cover this on it’s own. Look at verse 5 with me again.

2 Samuel 23:5 ESV

5 “For does not my house stand so with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire?

The point we can see about David in this passage is that, at the end of his life…David was a man who treasured God’s promise.

David treasured God’s promise in his life (v. 5)

Here in verse 5, David is referencing the single most important moment of his life. The moment in which, despite his failures in the past and ones to come, God himself made a covenant with David.

A covenant, if you’re wondering… is a relationship that God establishes and guarantees by his word.

And we call this covenant the Davidic Covenant because it is a promise and relationship entered into between God and David...and if you want to take a note of where it is, it’s in 2 Samuel 7. We won’t read it in full, because there is so much to it and the full covenant certainly demands a message on it’s own... but here is an excerpt from it on the screens.

2 Samuel 7:12–14 (ESV) 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son...

Already…alarm bells should be going when you here about forever kingdoms and someone being a son of God…because under the surface, what the Davidic covenant really is…is a continued revelation of God’s promise to send his son, Jesus Christ, into the word. The David Covenant, and the heart of it…set’s up the hope for a promised king who would reign eternally and give God’s people peace and a land to call their own. At the end of the day, the promise that David is remembering in the Davidic Covenant, is the promise of Christ…and clearly, David treasured this promise. Notice the beginning of this excerpt…it says when your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers...

That moment that God is speaking of…is a moment close at hand for King David as he speaks these last words…You have to imagine, that as David is looking back upon his life, knowing that it is soon coming to an end…that the promise of God to raise up his offspring after he dies....the promise of God to establish a kingdom for his son…the promise of God to bring an heir who’s throne will last forever…That is on David’s mind, and it is something he is remembering…and clearly, because these are the things he chooses to say at the end of his days…this is something he is treasuring.

Now we…being on this side of history…know the fulfillment of this covenant. We know that God is speaking of Jesus, who was descended from David as Matthew 1 shows us…and we know that he did come, and God did establish his kingdom forever and one of the things we’ve been learning in the book of revelation is how his Kingdom is going to come together and be fully revealed at the end of time…we get to see fully what David only saw dimly..

And yet…David treasured this promise nonetheless. He treasured it so much that it caused him to sing for joy…and he offered prayers of gratitude. Right after the covenant is made, David says this in his prayer of gratitude...

2 Samuel 7:22 (ESV) 22 Therefore you are great, O Lord God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

It’s clear that David treasured the promise of a future eternal King, and it caused him to rejoice. And church, if it caused David to rejoice…as someone who was not going to see it fully come to pass…how much more should it make us rejoice when we have seen it come to pass. When we have seen the fulfillment of the Davidic covenant. David has just a glimpse of the promise of a messianic king to trust in…but we have the full fledged picture of the full promise of Jesus Christ as son of God, the Davidic King, who rules and reigns over his people and will return to be gathered with his bride and reveal his full kingdom to all of creation.

How much more of a reason do we have to rejoice than even David did? And yet, sometimes it’s hard to rejoice in that. Sometimes rejoicing isn’t the response we choose when hearing this amazing promise.

David treasured God’s promise in his life (v. 5)

Sometimes…rejoicing is easier said than done right? Sometimes the burdens of life, or our struggles with sin can get in the way of our rejoicing.

That’s why David had to make the plea to God in Psalm 51, after his sexual sin with Bathsheba and his murdering of her husband…David says “restore to me the joy of your salvation.”

Even David…who very clearly heard the promise of God made to him…had to pray to God to restore the joy of it to him.

Even David, who is considered a man after God’s own heart…had to pray that God would lead him to once again treasure him and rejoice in him the way God deserves.

And we are no different. Weariness can hit us…with the business of life…the concerns of this world..the burdens of living in it…the schedules we have between work, and family, and everything else…sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of treasuring God’s promise..sometimes it’s easy to lose joy because we lose focus.

And sometimes our own sinfulness gets in the way as well. The things that we treasure over God. The things that are impure, and unholy…and separate us from a pure and holy God. Even though we walk with Christ…our hearts are prone to wander and that wandering can lead us to a place, if we aren’t careful, where we no longer treasure the promise of God…and it no longer leads us to rejoice.

But thanks be to God…that we have examples like David that have come before us. Thanks be to God that we have a great cloud of witnesses who surround us and spur us on to run the race before us with endurance…thanks be to God that he allows us the grace of repenting and coming back to the cross of Christ…coming back to treasuring the promised one rather than the things this world promises.

Church…if any of you are in a place where you have strayed from treasuring the promise of God…if any of you are in a place where you find it difficult to rejoice in that promise…i encourage to do the same as David…and pray for it. Repent and pray for it.

Maybe, just like it says in the book of James…you have not, because you ask not. I encourage you to ask. And that’s the last point of prayer this morning, and how we will end our time in the word together. We will pray...

Lord, may I be one who treasures your promise and rejoices in it.