2 Samuel 23:1 – 7 “These are the last words of David:
“The oracle of David, son of Jesse, the oracle of the man raised on high, the one anointed by the God of Jacob,
and the sweet psalmist of Israel:
The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me; His word was on my tongue.
The God of Israel spoke; the Rock of Israel said to me,
‘He who rules the people with justice, who rules in the fear of God, is like the light of the morning at sunrise of a cloudless dawn, the glistening after the rain on the sprouting grass of the earth.’
Is not my house right with God? For He has established with me an everlasting covenant, ordered and secured in every part. Will He not bring about my full salvation and my every desire?
But the worthless are all like thorns raked aside, for they can never be gathered by hand.
The man who touches them must be armed with iron or with the shaft of a spear. The fire burns them to ashes in the place where they lie.”
After all the battles, after all the trials, after everything has been said and done, David is now giving us his final message. The words are glorious and inspiring, but we feel a bit puzzled. Is David’s assessment of his reign really true? Yes, David is the son of Jesse, and God has anointed him and raised him on high. Yes, David is the “sweet psalmist of Israel.” But what can we say about the rest of these verses?
‘He who rules the people with justice, who rules in the fear of God, is like the light of the morning at sunrise of a cloudless dawn, the glistening after the rain on the sprouting grass of the earth.’ These verses can readily describe David’s reign prior to the theft of Bathsheba. After the vagaries of Saul, who took offense readily and acted on impulse, the Israelites must have heaved a sigh of relief when David ascended the throne. There is no evidence to support the notion that Saul himself ever truly worshiped the One True Living God. David, on the other hand, was a worshiper and people realized this.
“Is not my house right with God? For He has established with me an everlasting covenant, ordered and secured in every part. Will He not bring about my full salvation and my every desire?” In the beginning, David’s house WAS right with God; however, David’s theft of Bathsheba, the murder of Uriah, and the subsequent attempts at cover up have torn the fabric of David’s family. If David’s house is right with God, it is only because of David’s repentance and not because of his own righteousness. True, God has established an everlasting covenant with David, and eventually God will send his son Jesus, born of David’s lineage, to occupy David’s throne. But God will do these things out of His great mercy, keeping His covenant with David because He is faithful and cannot violate His own agreements. God will bring about David’s full salvation and every good desire for David, for his family, and for Israel.
“But the worthless are all like thorns raked aside, for they can never be gathered by hand. The man who touches them must be armed with iron or with the shaft of a spear. The fire burns them to ashes in the place where they lie.” David seems unaware of how close his family and he have come to being raked aside as worthless! The only thing that saved David was that when the prophet Nathan confronted him with the enormity of his sin, David immediately repented. There is no record of David ever arguing with the Lord even once. The only thing that David did was to pray and fast, begging God to spare the life of the baby he had fathered with Bathsheba. When God allowed the baby to die, David got up from the ground, washed and anointed himself, changed his clothes, and went into the temple and worshiped. (2 Samuel 12:20)
APPLICATION: Heading a family, an organization, or even a nation brings crushing responsibilities. The head of any group sets the tone for the entire group. At one point, we had the opportunity to chat with a highly – experienced teacher at a missionary training school. This man told us that he had practically never seen a church – related organization that functioned along Christian principles. Our friend observed that almost without exception, most Christian organizations worked just like secular companies. The difference was the commitment of top – level leadership. If the leaders at the top conducted business along Christian lines and enforced that behavior, the organization would exhibit Christian principles. Lacking that firm commitment, the group would simply be one more secular organization with a Christian name plastered on it.
The story of King David is one of triumph and tragedy. Close examination of some of the aspects of David’s life leaves us wondering how God could possibly describe David as a man after His own heart, but yet God did so. The royal throne of Israel was referred to as the throne of David, and Jesus is honored as having come from the house and lineage of David. Only David’s repentance made such a thing possible.
One of the saddest parts of David’s reign is this question: what might have happened, had David gone to war with his troops and had he never stolen Bathsheba? If God wanted David and Bathsheba to get together so that Solomon would be born, God could have arranged that. Uriah might have fallen in battle without David’s machinations and David might have met Bathsheba innocently after Uriah’s death. Then David’s record would have remained unstained, and David would not have left a horrible example for his family and others to follow. But when David sinned with Bathsheba, that sin triggered ripples throughout David’s family and the kingdom as well.
David was respected throughout Israel, and he served as a sterling example for others. Only God knows how many men may have used David’s bad behavior as an excuse to do something terrible themselves. Only God knows how many families were damaged as a result. We know that in the battle between Joab and Absalom, twenty thousand men died. Had David not sinned, those twenty thousand men would never have found themselves in the forest of Ephraim in the first place.
The encouraging thing about the story of David is that David is portrayed as a flawed and sinful man, not as some kind of a super – star. If we are honest with ourselves, each of us can name long lists of sins that we have committed, are committing, or might commit in the future. David may have glimpsed what God was going to do for all of us. Psalm 110 is attributed to David as one of the songs that he has written. Look at the opening verse:
“The LORD said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” Huh? Who is” my Lord?” This can only be Jesus the Messiah to whom David is referring.
“God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but should have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Acting as a prophet, David knew that Messiah would surely come and bring salvation. That salvation is free for anyone who will believe in Jesus Christ.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help all those who read this to believe in Your salvation and in Your Son Jesus. Thank You for the blood sacrifice for our sins that Jesus made on the cross at Calvary. Amen.
Burunche's Blog 
Leave a comment