The Last Words of David

I. The Word of God is the Highest Authority

David starts with why you should listen to him.

When someone gives their last words, they are uttering words of supreme importance.

In fact, he also cites his experience as a reason to listen to him. His goal is to explain how to be exalted by God, and reminds us that he has been enormously exalted by God, as the annointed One. Since God is just, whatever works for David will also work for you, though in not quite the same way.

But there is something else even more important - The Word of God.

David is claiming to speak God’s Words as a prophet

He calls this an Oracle - a technical term for prophetic utterance

He claims to speak by the Spirit of God himself

II. Living in the Fear of God increases blessing

David is using his experience as King, and he teaches a very different pattern from the majority of political figures in every age. He states that it is of supreme importance that the king rules justly. Not image, not “messaging”, not “power plays.” Justly.

But ruling with real justice requires the proper motivations. You can’t fake real justice. Without genuine principle and conviction, trying to look like a just ruler will only result in injustice - either obvious injustice, or worse, apparent justice while being unjust in reality.

The Fear of God

The Fear of God is the starting motivation, without which it is impossible to have a properly functioning moral compass. To fear the Lord means to respect him, to care about obeying him and believing what he says.

the Fear of God is spoken of elsewhere. It’s not just an idea for Kings. Solomon writes that “the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom.” (Prov 1:7) When Jesus was hanging on the Cross, one of the criminals crucified with him began to mock him with “if you are the Christ, save yourself and us.” the other criminal rebuked him saying “don’t you fear God, since we are under the same condemnation? and we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” Luke 23:39-43 Now that’s an odd time to mention the fear of God - to a criminal who was so evil he was crucified justly for his crimes, coming from another criminal who was also justly crucified. but the implication is that you can’t be so evil that it doesn’t matter if you fear God, so evil that you have nothing left to lose if you don’t fear God.

The Fear of God must begin with salvation, for you can’t claim to fear God unless you’ve taken care of your basic relationship with him, to have your sins forgiven by a holy and merciful God.

But it’s possible even for Christians to stop living in the fear of God - Look at what David did. There’s no doubt that David was a redeemed man when he committed his sin with Bathsheba. But it would be impossible to sin as badly as he did if he had continued living in the fear of God.

So to live in the Fear of God means to live as a Christian in complete fellowship with God.

The Fear of God doesn’t just allow Kings to rule justly. It’s also how leaders of any sort lead justly. It’s also how you can have the courage to do the right thing everyday in your own life. If God is big and people are small in your life, you’ll do the right thing.

The Consequences of living in the Fear of God

“Like the dawning of the sunrise on a cloudless day” “like the brightness after a rain that makes things sprout again” In addition to being a great word picture, this image demonstrates that a King that rules justly because he fears God will gradually accumulate blessing for himself and his nation over time. Not that there won’t be problems - look at David’s life. But no matter trials or blessings, the trajectory of the King who rules justly is ever and always upward.

The corrolary is that living in the Fear of God does this for everyone.

III. God chose the line of David for this reason

David’s evidence is his own life. God has finally promised him an eternal Covenant, that the Messiah would come through his own line and rule the World some day. David received the highest possible honor.

But he started as just a simple shepherd boy. He had the habit of living in the fear of God from before we met him, and this choice meant that his life moved inexorably upward, to eventually becoming king, and then to even greater honor as King.

But evil people have a different path- they are like thorns. No one wants to handle thorns, because they are prickly. you have to use something to protect yourself. just so, those who do evil and do not rule justly are quickly cast aside.

If someone chooses to do evil consistently throughout their life, they will certainly not be saved, and they will certainly be forever cast aside in hell.

But David’s experience is that though the Christian cannot be punished forever in hell, to cease to fear God will very quickly ruin all the goodwill you’ve built up. David had ceased to live in the fear of God for only about a year, but that year haunted him for the rest of his life.

But, once he confessed his sin and restored his fellowship with God, he was able to start piecing together the shattered pieces of his life.