David's Last Words

David’s Titles 2 Samuel 23:1

2 Samuel 23:1 “Now these are the last words of David. Thus says David the son of Jesse; Thus says the man raised up on high, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel:”

Son of Jesse. David reminds us of his lineage. Throughout the Old Testament a lineage has been narrated that leads to David and the Son of David, Jesus. David is in that lineage. He is from the tribe of Judah.

Genesis 49:10 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.”

David clearly new his role as the head of the Davidic royal family and in the line of the Messiah.

The man raised up on high. The next “title” David ascribes is the man that God raised up.

Psalm 78:70–71 “He also chose David His servant, And took him from the sheepfolds; From following the ewes that had young He brought him, To shepherd Jacob His people, And Israel His inheritance.”

David never forgot his humble beginnings and Who it was that chose him and raised him up.

The anointed one of the God of Jacob.

1 Samuel 16:13 “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.”

David was anointed for service. He was chosen to rule, to represent God, and to start a dynasty that would bring Jesus. He recognized the anointing and respected it.

The sweet psalmist of Israel. The last of the four things that best describe David was that of a worshiper of God. He best represented what it meant to please God with music. We have his lyrics in the Psalms unfortunately we have lost the melodies.

David fought for God, but God doesn’t need us to fight His battles.

David was raised up because we all come from the lowest places and it is not of our own doing.

David was anointed king, but God was already King.

David’s songs made him great. God inhabits the praises of His people.

Psalm 22:3 “But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.”

We are created to praise Him. It the one thing only we can do. David did it wonderfully.

Psalm 147:1 “Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful.”

David’s Mighty Men 2 Samuel 23:8-39

2 Samuel 23:8a “These are the names of the mighty men whom David had:

David did not operate alone, neither do we. We depend on God as our Lord, and others in the body as our co-laborers. David had a group of thirty-seven men who he considered his “mighty men”. proven in battle and loyal. Of the thirty-seven, three stood out as greatest.

Josheb-Basshebeth was the chief of the three, he had killed 800 men in one day of battle. I don’t think he was counting, he was simply obeying God and was focused on the victory.

After him was Eleazar. He fought the Philistines so long that his hand could not physically let go of his sword. Another one who wasn’t occupied by the temporal discomfort of a difficult situation, he too was focused and intent on being faithful to the end.

The third man was Shammah. 2 Samuel 23:11–12 “And after him was Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils. So the people fled from the Philistines. But he stationed himself in the middle of the field, defended it, and killed the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory.”

His story is a little different. While Israel was running away from danger, he planted himself in the middle of a lentil field and defended it to the last attacker. I like Shammah. He reminds me that Israel was given the land by promise, and it was to sustain them. So when everyone was abandoning the promise and sustenance for fear, Shammah didn’t. When everyone was running, he was the one that stoped. It encourages me that to be a mighty man, when everyone is running away, be the one that stops.

These mighty men were the men who gathered with David in the cave of Adullum.

1 Samuel 22:1–2 “David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.”

Three of these men got David water from Bethlehem when he merely mentions that he is thirsty and perhaps homesick. Their devotion, sacrifice, bravery, mission over self attitude created a water that was too sacred to drink as something common. The water represented their blood and David could only offer that to God.

Jesus was a drink offering

Psalm 22:14 “I am poured out like water, And all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; It has melted within Me.”

Isaiah 53:12 “Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.”

Luke 22:42 “saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.””

Mt 25 34-40 the cold water ministry. there is no small action if it is made with great love.

David and the Census 2 Samuel 24:1-9

The next three writings are about David and the “Census”.

2 Samuel 24:1 “Again the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, “Go, number Israel and Judah.””

1 Chronicles 21:1 “Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.”

First thing is there a contradiction? Four times in Old Testament Scripture Satan is seen openly at work accusing and opposing God’s people. In Genesis 3 with Eve; in Zechariah 3 with the High Priest Joshua and his dirty clothes; in Job 1-2 we see God using Satan to carry out a work in Job’s life; and here God is angry with Israel and David is moved by Satan with permission of the Lord. In the end Satan always has to obey God.

David’s sin was not that he called for a census, that was a very normal thing to do. David’s sin was that he numbered “the people”. We find in verse nine that “the people” were all military age men. David was assessing his strength. His natural strength.

We are not told why God was angry with Israel, but David trusting in sight, in natural strength was not the answer God was looking for. Another bad decision from David, but what he meant for evil, God just may be using for good (Gen 50:20). Stay tuned.

The Judgement on David’s sin 2 Samuel 24:10-17

Choose Your Consequences

No, it’s not a game show. David had numbered the people and was now convicted.

2 Samuel 24:10 “And David’s heart condemned him after he had numbered the people. So David said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done; but now, I pray, O Lord, take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have done very foolishly.””

His fellowship restored to God, now he was going to learn about the consequences.

2 Samuel 24:12–13 ““Go and tell David, ‘Thus says the Lord: “I offer you three things; choose one of them for yourself, that I may do it to you.” ’ ” So Gad came to David and told him; and he said to him, “Shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or shall you flee three months before your enemies, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days’ plague in your land? Now consider and see what answer I should take back to Him who sent me.””

2 Samuel 24:14 “And David said to Gad, “I am in great distress. Please let us fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great; but do not let me fall into the hand of man.””

David choose for Israel to be afflicted by a plague for three days. And an angel all around Israel and seventy thousand men died. David trusted in men of war and God’s answer was to take some of that away. David was ready to fall into the hand of God’s mercy. This is what made David great. He was not afraid, even when he was very wrong, to come to to source of forgiveness and restoration. Just as the angel was about to strike Jerusalem, David offered himself and God stopped.

God was angry at Israel and angry at David, but David, the man after God’s own heart, knew how to reach the heart of God. Psalm 51:16–17 “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.”

God is done with His anger against Israel, now for a real turn of events!

The Altar on the Threshing Floor 2 Samuel 24:18-25

Sacrifice ought to cost something.

2 Samuel 24:16 “And when the angel stretched out His hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the destruction, and said to the angel who was destroying the people, “It is enough; now restrain your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”

God had killed 70,00 men from Dan to Beersheba. Now He stopped. David was standing there and saw the angel coming in God’s wrath.

2 Samuel 24:17 “Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, “Surely I have sinned, and I have done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done? Let Your hand, I pray, be against me and against my father’s house.””

He offered himself up instead of the people to God. Can you imagine the spectacle of seeing with your own eyes the angel of the Lord standing before Jerusalem at a threshing floor. David had faced many dangerous foes, but here was God’s agent on a deadly mission in obedience to God and David is standing there. David’s repentant heart once again touched God and God restrains the angel.

At this point, Gad instructs David to build an altar. David insists on paying for it, he won’t accept the threshing floor for free. Sacrifice must cost something. And it’s a good thing he did pay for it, but that is a story for another day. David builds the altar and sacrifices on it and the plague is stopped against Israel.

2 Samuel 24:24 “Then the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.”

Today is the same, our Christianity must cost us something. I’m not talking about salvation, that is without cost only believe. Our discipleship should cost us all.

Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

It’s a fascinating tale what became of the threshing floor, come to church to find out.

Genesis 22:2 “Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.””

1 Chronicles 21:26–30 “And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the Lord; and He answered him from heaven by fire on the altar of burnt offering. So the Lord commanded the angel, and he returned his sword to its sheath. At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. For the tabernacle of the Lord and the altar of the burnt offering, which Moses had made in the wilderness, were at that time at the high place in Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.”

1 Chronicles 22:1 “Then David said, “This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of burnt offering for Israel.””

2 Chronicles 3:1 “Now Solomon began to build the house of the Lord at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where the Lord had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.”

David bought the threshing floor. He owns it.

His family has the deed to the property. It’s in a very old Document called the Bible.

He has consecrated it toe the Lord by building an altar on it.

It is the central place of Biblical prophecy for thousands of years. The Jews will rebuild the temple there.

Jesus (Son of David) will occupy His throne there in the Millennial Kingdom.

2 Greatest Sins of David?

Romans 5:20 “Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,”