A Final Charge

Introduction

Today we conclude our Life of David series—a whole summer spent looking at the life and faith of one of the Bible’s most important figures, King David. We’ve tracked his peaks and valleys—great military victories, and defeats from sin. And, it should come as no surprise that our series ends with the death of David and the transition from one King to the next. Yet even at the end of what was a tumultuous life—tumult from sin but also from obedience—there is a note of hope and renewal as David gives the reigns to his son Solomon. This week’s message will also serve as a compliment to Dan’s message from last week on Radical Generosity—this sermon could simply be called Radical Obedience. focused on David getting ready the legacy that he wants to leave for his son, for the kingdom, and ultimately, for God. That legacy was really the building fund for what would be the great Temple, the seat of worship of the Most of High God in all of the Kingdom and all of the world.

Today’s passage is also about legacy, it is the final charge that David is giving to his son Solomon. It’s as if he’s saying “Ok. Your inheritance is set, the building project if fully funded, you are set up for success…but now I need you to do something…you take the reigns.”

One more thing to remember before we get into today’s passage. Remember God’s covenant with David from 2 Sam? The promise that god is establishing an everlasting Kingdom with David, that his line will continue and that as long as there are future King’s in his line who are obedient and follow the Law of God, there will God be protecting and making Israel prosper. When their turn from God the nation will be disciplined, but there will always be the opportunity for redemption. And so surely David has this in mind when he gives Solomon a final charge.

And keep in mind what we started this series with. Way back on the first Sunday of June we said that these stories are meant to teach us something about David, something about ourselves, and something about Jesus because all scripture points to Him.

Just 4 verses today, let’s read them now:

1 Kings 2:1–4 NASB95

As David’s time to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying, “I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. “Keep the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, so that the Lord may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 2

1 As David’s atime to die drew near, he charged Solomon his son, saying,

2 “I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man.

3 “Keep the charge of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, to keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn,

4 so that the LORD may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, dyou shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

1 Kings 2:1-4

David is going the way of all the earth—he knows he is about to die and in practicality he wants to make it clear to his son that obedience to God should be of the highest priority.

Is it yours?

His advice to his son: walk in God’s ways, keep his statutes, his commandments, etc. And David knows this from experience, right? This is a man who has felt the bitter pain of disobedience, of discipline from God. Remember, probably David’s gravest sin? The affair with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband. What was, ultimately, the result? The child died.

A few chapter’s before that, David’s friend Uzzah dies because he mishandles the ark of the covenant. A simple sin, didn’t feel like it was effecting anyone, caused a man to die.

And just before this moment in 1 Kings, the end of 2 Sam. closes with this strange story of David calling a census of the people, something that was apparently a sin—even one of David’s men said that God won’t like that. And the result of David taking a census? 70,000 men were killed. Geez.

I’m not relating these stories to frighten you about the nature of God—in fact, we know that God is just and merciful, that he was only ever being true to himself and these were the consequences of the king’s sin. And at the end of each of these stories? David closes them by worshipping God all the more. Even when his child is literally taken from him in this life, David arises and worships the LORD. This was a man who was well acquainted with the consequences of sin. And thus he passes along to his son the charge to continue in this way.

And for Solomon it was especially important that he be obedient, because he was king and because of the promise of the covenant. “As the representative head of this nation, a king had a particularly important obligation of covenant obedience. Saul’s disobedience resulted in the destruction of his royal dynasty (). David’s disobedience in the taking of a census resulted in the death of 70,000 men in Israel (). Later, Solomon’s disobedience would divide the kingdom of Israel —more on Solomon’s disobedience in a few minutes.”

He is saying even though you are king, and in fact, especially because you are King, make sure you obey the LORD. But though Solomon’s obedience, because he is King, is of special importance, he is also meant to be an example to all the people.

And that’s where we come in. David’s learned his lesson and he’s passing it on to his son, but just because this is between Kings doesn’t mean we’re off the hook. The people are meant to follow the example and we are meant to truly consider what obedience looks like in our own lives. I would refer you to and the great commission. That great commission that we all take as our own. We are to go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them—it says—to obey all that Jesus has commanded us.

If we are serious about making disciples, then we’d better know what it means to obey Jesus. You can’t teach something that you don’t already know, and you won’t be an effective teacher if you don’t practice it.

So what of this obedience? The charge is that we would make a conscious effort to obey the LORD.

It’s interesting what he says here—verse 3, keep the charge of the LORD your God to walk in His ways. Another translation might read—guard or watch over the charge of the LORD God. This is not some passive activity. I think sometime we think of obedience as a list of things not to do and as long as I’m not doing them today, I’m good.

But in fact, the charge in scripture is to actively guard yourself and watch over, making sure that you are walking in the way of the LORD. We do not fall into obedience, it’s not in our nature. Left to my own devices, I will just sin.

Something you’ll hear often today is this idea of “being your best, most true self.” Be your true self. That message makes me sad because of how destructive it is…at least for me. I know that if I was my most true self, then I would sin a whole lot more. I would give myself over to the desires of my flesh—sloth, anger, lust, etc.

And what are we to obey? This is referring to all the law of the OT, but the ten commandments are a great place to start—they truly some up the whole of the great commandments to love God and to love your neighbor. If you want some more specifics, read the Sermon on the Mount—. Those are the commands of Jesus, often seeming to raise the standards of what is required of us. We’ll talk about some examples in a moment.

And why obedience?

That’s a good question.

Elsewhere in scripture we see people asking this.

Malachi 3:14 NASB95

“You have said, ‘It is vain to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept His charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of hosts?

The people wonder aloud what good is it to serve God?

First of all, I’ll say this: we should obey God because that is the greatest expression of love for God. Jesus says that if we truly love Him we will obey his commands.

But there is a specific reason given in this text:

That you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn.

Because it is good and it will be of benefit to you.

Because obedience leads to life. This is so important, and I don’t want you to miss this—obedience does not save you. Obedience does not secure your salvation. But it is good, and it is a reflection of a heart that loves God. And it leads to life. Just like last week—generosity does not save you, you cannot buy your way into heaven. But a generous heart is demonstrates one who loves God.

And this is seen throughout scripture. Look at , probably written by David, its the opening to entire selection of Psalms.

Psalm 1:1–3 NASB95

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.

Psalm 1:1-

It goes on to say that the wicked are like chaff, blown in the wind.

Jesus uses similar imagery toward the end of the sermon on the mount when he says:

Matthew 7:13–14 NASB95

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Over and over again the Bible presents us with two options:

This way, this way of obedience and love of God, this leads to life!

But this way, the way of sin, disobedience, and rebellion against God—this leads to destruction!

And hear my well: the promise here is not that you will have great wealth, perfect health, business success, etc. if you obey. Dan talked about this last week—that sometimes the Bible talks about something that seems to be an external reality, but is better understood as an internal one. The prosperity, success, fruit, and life you will experience because of your obedience will be expressed in your relationship with God and with others. This is a spiritual reality that is not insignificant.

But sometimes—you might be thinking—there are weird laws, or just commands I don’t want to obey because when I commit sin I’m not hurting anyone.

I’ll give you an example from Solomon’s life.

tracks the change in Solomon, the time in his life during which his heart is turning away from the LORD. There is this section here, right before, in chapter 10, labeled “Solomon’s great wealth” in by Bible. It starts by saying every year he would take in 666 talents of Gold. I mean, that sounds like a bad omen. And for perspective, a talent is about 75 lbs of gold. It goes on describing his great wealth, and then says:

Guard, as in guard your behavior—an ever-active practice as opposed to just not doing something.

English Standard Version Chapter 10

26 And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen. He had 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, whom he stationed in the chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. 27 And the king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah. 28 And Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt

Ok. That seems fine. Right? He’s king, he needs lots of horses. and where else would we get them but from Egypt. Fine.

And then it goes on in it records that he had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Ok, that seems weird, but he’s King so we’ll go with it.

So we’ll check on the commands of God, and oh shoot. Yeah , there’s this section that is laws specifically for the King of Israel. Ok. If you’re the King, and there’s a section labeled “Laws concerning Israel’s Kings” that might be a good place read. Right? If there was a section labeled “Commands for EDH Christians—you’d pay attention,” I hope.

v. 16. Only he must not acquire for many horses for himself…shoot. Ok. So no good on the many horses. Let’s go on. Or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, oh geez. Ok so no good on the Egyptian horses.

Ok next, v. 17—and I’m not kidding here—it says, “and he shall not acquire many wives for himself…lest his heart turn away. Oh, c’mon! And I should, it doesn’t specify what “many wives” is…but I’m betting 700 qualifies as “many.” And it goes on…nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold. 666 talents worth, maybe?

The point is this. Solomon sinned. But his sin here doesn’t seem like that big of a deal—especially for a king. But in reality, God knows what’s best for him and knows that if he engages in these things then his heart will turn away from God. His focus will be drawn away from his relationship with the Lord.

What of us today? A good example might be Jesus’ teaching on adultery and lust. He says “You shall not commit adultery,’ and I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

So Jesus seems to be raising the standard. And he does so for a good reason. Maybe you’re at the gym and can’t stop looking at that woman that’s always there. It seems like a totally harmless thing—no one’s really getting hurt. It’s fleeting, momentary, no one will know, and no one is effected. But, the message of the Bible is this: God knows better than you do. God made you, he knows what will damage you. Just like Solomon’s heart is turned away from God—a simple look at another woman is another step toward distance and distraction in the relationship that matters. Each time its another moment of your heart turned away from God and away form your spouse.

Or take lying. Little white lies, that seem so inconsequential. They only serve to isolate us from one anther, building a ever-increasingly precarious tower of tiny, insignificant white lies that one day may fall about and reveal themselves to others. God does not want that for us. He wants peace for you, joy, contentment in Him.

Or that friend, that drives you crazy, that makes you so angry, but you never say anything. You repress it, until you’re entire idea of them in your head is just bitterness and resentment. You can’t stand to be around them. What started as angry or judgmental thoughts has now made the relationship impossible.

And I’m sure everyone’s got that one command they wish wasn’t in here. The one thing that’s easier to ignore. But my question is this: if everything about this book leads to life, why would that one command be different? Maybe Solomon was totally aware of the commands against lots of gold and horses. Maybe he was good with disobeying there, because he could handle it. But if everything else about the Word of God was good and brought him toward life, then why would the command about lots of horses be any different? Why would the command against lust be any different?

Yet that’s the message of our culture today, the temptation of society is one of moral relativism. In which you get to decide what is right and wrong for yourself. But the truth is you have a creator, who knows you and made you and who loves you. God wants good for you, he is for you. And in his love for us he has given us commands to follow!

So why obedience?

Two reasons: as says, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.”

And two: Because God actually does know what’s best for us, what is good and what will lead to joy, peace, contentment, satisfaction, fruit, in all seasons and in all circumstances.

CS Lewis talks about obedience in this way in his classic Mere Christianity:

“[To have Faith in Christ] means, of course, trying to do all that He says. There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried way. Not doing these things in order to be saved, but because He has begun to save you already. Not hoping to get to Heaven as a reward for your actions, but inevitably wanting to act in a certain way because a first faint gleam of Heaven is already inside you.”

And we ought to bring this back, full circle, to the issue at hand in the text. David is telling his son to obey God—and part of the reason is that David remembers the covenant. He knows that the covenant promise hinges on whether or not his son will be faithful and obedient. Obedience is life or death for the Solomon! The people are dependent on it. And they are not off the hook either, they ought to keep the terms of the covenant as well.

And of course, this is problematic. There is no perfect king in the Old Testament. They get worse, yes there will be good ones, but on the whole they get worse. Under Solomon’s reign the kingdom splits in two. Later generations of disobedient kings will cause the people to go into exile.

Yet all is not lost, all is not hopeless. For there is one, one in fact from the line of David who is called the King of Kings and was perfectly obedient, obedient to the point of death on the cross. Jesus is the perfectly obedient King he leads us and saves us.

It’s not just that we can’t earn our salvation by being obedient, it’s that we don’t have to. We will never do this perfectly, but there is one who already has.

Our obedient King reigns eternally at the right hand of God the Father, securing unending blessing and security for those who know and put their faith in Him. Ultimately, the flawed and temporary kingship presented to us through Israel’s kings, the doomed charge that David gives to Solomon, serves as a bright contrast against the eternal and flawless kingship of Jesus, reminding each of us why we worship Him as our King.

*loving God is obedience

**JESUS as the perfectly obedient KING:

As the representative head of a covenant nation, a king had a particularly important obligation of covenant obedience. Saul’s disobedience resulted in the destruction of his royal dynasty (). David’s disobedience in the taking of a census resulted in the death of 70,000 men in Israel (). Later, Solomon’s disobedience would divide the kingdom of Israel (), and the disobedience of the kings who followed would eventually lead to the nation’s destruction and the exile of God’s people (; ). A king’s obedience and the security of his people went hand-in-hand. Given this track record, our frequent despair in human leadership is not unwarranted.

When Christians worship Jesus as the “King of kings” (; ; ), however, our despair turns to delight. What motivates such worship is the fact that Jesus was perfectly obedient, fulfilling all the kingly virtues detailed in . Additionally, our obedient King reigns eternally at the right hand of God the Father, securing unending blessing and security. Ultimately, the flawed and temporary kingship presented to us through Israel’s kings shines the bright spotlight of contrast onto the eternal and flawless kingship of Jesus, reminding each of us why we worship Jesus as our King.

This is the good news of David’s charge to Solomon—it points to the one who will come much later, but in the same line, Jesus Christ. And it is in the person of Jesus that we see this passage perfectly fulfilled.

, , , ,

Which is a good place to close and a good place to transition into our time of communion. For in communion we celebrate and observe the suffering and sacrifice of our perfectly obedient king for the forgiveness of our sins.

We participate as a church in communion each month—and maybe sometimes its an activity that has lost meaning for you. It’s just something we do each month because we do it. Let communion today truly be in remembrance of the sacrifice of our King. As you take the elements, the break symbolizing his body broken for you and the juice symbolizing his blood shed, remember what the sign said on top of the cross: King of the Jews.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 11

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;

24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.

Today we remember the perfect King that gave everything for us, that we may have life and life abundantly. Let’s prayer.