again tonight to the second book
of Samuel, tonight chapter 23. Second Samuel chapter 23. Now these be the last words of
David. David the son of Jesse said,
and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the
God of Jacob and the sweet psalmist of Israel said, the spirit of
the Lord spake by me and his word was in my tongue. The God
of Israel said, the rock of Israel spake to me. He that ruleth over
men must be just ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be
as the light of the morning when the sun rises, even a morning
without clouds as a tender grass springing out of the earth by
clear shining after rain. Although my house be not so with
God. Yet he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things, and sure. For this is all my
salvation and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. No one can say with certainty
what is meant by the first sentence in this chapter. Now these be
the last words of David. I say that because we know that
David spoke after this, that he gave Solomon the instructions concerning the temple
after this, and he gave Solomon commandment concerning several
men that he was to deal with after he became king. Now, I
skipped over chapter 22, which is a psalm. It's a psalm, and some think
that the statement here, now these be the last words of David,
refer to that psalm in chapter 22. This was the last inspired
psalm of David. And then others, they understand
that seeing that David was a prophet, and we know he was because Peter
quotes and gives us that word in Acts chapter two on the day
of Pentecost, David being a prophet, that this was the last prophecy
that David delivered concerning the coming Messiah, his greater
son. But after all is said and done,
if we really needed to know, then God would have told us.
God would have told us. But I look at this and I see
that not knowing, not knowing when exactly David wrote these
words that we're looking at tonight, very comforting words, and they're
words that may apply to us in different situations that we
go through. You know, David's life was like
the life of God's children in this world. And I mean by that
it was filled with changes, just like my life is and just like
your life is. David's life was filled with
changes. He had his ups, he had his downs. He had his disappointments, he
had his great encouragements. He had his highs, as we would
say, he had his lows. He had youthful years and he
had old age. He had many joys and he had many
sorrows. His life was just like yours
and just like mine, like the life of every person and especially
every child of God in this world. Ups and downs, changes, changes. In every change, here is a believer's
consolation. He gives it to us in verse five.
In every change, this here is a believer's consolation. Although
my house be not so with God, he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant ordered in all things insure, for this is all my salvation,
though he make it, and all my desire. This is all my salvation. Tonight as we look at these verses,
I want us to see three things. First of all, I want us to see
this prophecy, the prophecy of David here in verses two through
four. The spirit of the Lord spake
by me, and the word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said,
the rock of Israel spake to me. He that ruleth over men must
be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light
of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds,
as a tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining
after rain. We see that this prophecy was
given unto him by God. You know, the scripture in 1
Peter says, holy men of old, they spake as they were moved
by the Holy Spirit. A prophet just didn't decide,
well, on Mondays I'm going to prophesy and I'm going to take
Tuesday off and then Wednesday off. No. And you notice here
in this passage how each person in the Godhead is mentioned.
Did you notice that as we read that? The Spirit of the Lord
spake by me. That's God the Holy Spirit. But
then notice the God of Israel said, this is God the Father. He speaks of the rock of Israel. Well, we all know who the rock
is, the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, he said, upon this rock,
speaking of himself, I will build my church and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. Every child of God, every believer
has Christ as the rock, the foundation of our hope and of our salvation. Remember at the end of the Sermon
on the Mount, when he gave that illustration of two men, one
man was wise, one man was foolish. The foolish man built his house
upon the sand. The wise man built his house
upon the rock. That rock is Christ. And we look
to Christ for all of our salvation, not most of it, not 90% of it
or 99 and nine-tenths percent of it. But Christ, He is our
salvation. He is our life. So this prophecy
concerns the Lord Jesus Christ. But I point out to us, it is
a prophecy that David spoke by the power of God, the Holy Spirit,
by the power of God. You know, John tells us, try
the spirits. in the New Testament, try the
spirits, for every spirit is not of God. And there are many
people who speak and they speak in the name of God, but we must
try the spirits, try the prophecy that they bring to us, and we
try it by the word of God, don't we? We take what we hear and
does that line up? Is that what the scriptures teach?
That's how we try the prophets and This prophecy here, David
confesses, was given unto him by God Almighty. And he speaks
of Christ, the rock, he's speaking of the mediator as the king,
the rock. He calls him the just one. The God of Israel, the rock of
Israel, spake to me, he that ruleth over men must be just. He's speaking about Christ. He
must be just. Speaking of him as a king. We know as a mediator, he is
prophet, he's priest, and he's king. Now what he says here is
true of all rulers. I don't mean to hint that this
isn't to be true of all rulers. All rulers should be just. They should be righteous. They
should rule with integrity and honesty, and they should rule
over those that God has placed them over with patience and kindness
and tenderness. That's true of every ruler, but
this especially speaking of the just one. Remember even the demons
when the Lord Jesus Christ was here in the flesh and he went
into a synagogue one day and that demon said, we know who
thou art. thou holy one, thou just one
of God. We know who thou art. Yes, he
must rule in the fear of God. Don't you wish the rulers that
the Lord put over us would rule in the fear of God? Don't you
wish? We pray to that end, don't we? We're commanded to pray for
those that God puts in authority. And wouldn't it be wonderful
if God would raise up men and women who rule over us, and thank
God for rulers. I mean, God ordained all power,
and this world would be an awful, awful place to live if we didn't
have laws and men to enforce those laws. The person wouldn't
be safe anywhere. But he's to be a just ruler. And he's to rule in the fear
of God, recognizing ruling in the fear of God, I'm speaking
now of a ruler among men, in the fear of God, he must recognize
that he has a ruler. Yes, God's put him in a place
where he rules over others, but he must always remember he has
one above him and rule accordingly. But we know the Lord Jesus Christ,
he is the only one who was a just one, righteous one, and ruled
in the fear of God. He did always those things that
pleased the Father. And this is the one that men
are going to meet at judgment. This is the one you're going
to meet and I'm going to meet. We're gonna stand before him
one day, all of us. Not just us, all the world, the
wicked as well as the righteous. He, all judgment has been committed
unto him by the Father. And speaking of him, as God,
he has all judgment as God the Son, but as the mediator, the
God man, all judgment has been committed unto him. And there
couldn't be a better judge. There couldn't be a better judge
to stand before, because as God, he knows all things. He does. But I want you to notice in verse
four, we're told of two mornings, two mornings. And he shall be
as the light of the morning when the sun rises. That's the first
morning. Here's the second morning. even
a morning without clouds. Now, I believe that this is telling
us that this first morning has the light of the morning. How
does the light come in the morning? Well, if you're up early enough,
everything's black and dark, and you're looking over there
into the east, and you see just a little light. Just a little
shade of light. And that's the way it is with
the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. That first promise or prophecy,
the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent. Just
a ray, just a little ray of light was Adam and Eve given there. But then as time progressed,
there's a progressive revelation, more and more. Just like the
light of a day, that first ray of light, but then there's a
little more light and a little more light, and eventually we're
at noonday, and there's great light. And that's the morning
without clouds. When the Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world, all the clouds and the shadows by which he had
been revealed in the Old Testament. Many shadows, right? Many clouds. He was pictured in the sacrifices,
in the feast days, and the various ordinances that were given in
the law to Israel. But when he came, and fulfilled
those shadows when he came by his living in this world and
dying and rising again from the dead, those shadows are done
away. Remember in Hebrews 10, the apostle
said, for the law had a shadow of good things to come. Had a
shadow. Clouds, yes. It shadowed forth
a high priest. It shadowed forth an altar, it
shadowed forth a sacrifice. But he came and those shadows,
now those clouds are done away, aren't they? We say that he is
our altar, he is our sacrifice, and he is our priest, our high
priest, after the order of Melchizedek. A morning without clouds, all
those shadows and types are done away. And then he has spoken
of under the picture of tender grass. I won't say much about
this, but there's a number of scriptures that reveal Christ
as a plant. I think of this one and I have
it marked down here, Isaiah chapter 11 and verse one. If you want
to turn over there, you probably know it by heart, but let's,
Isaiah 11 and verse one. There shall come forth a rod
out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his
roots. Just a rod, just a stem comes
out of the ground, comes out of the roots of Jesse. And that shows us, doesn't it,
how David's family, king of Israel, all the royalty and wealth and
everything that that he possessed, but when the Lord Jesus Christ
came into this world, it had all been cut down, hadn't it?
And so his supposed father was a carpenter. His mother, the
wife of a carpenter. Just the roots, that's all there
was left. But a rod, there shall come forth
a rod out of the stem of Jesse. Of course, Jesse was David's
father. This prophecy, of course, shows
how he would come as he came. That's one reason the Pharisees
and the Sadducees, the religious rulers, they rejected him. Hands
down, thumbs down on this man. His mother, we know his mother.
We know his father, they thought he was his father. This surely
can't be the Messiah that God has promised us. No, but he was. And God had told him this is
the way he would come. And in other places in the Old
Testament, he's spoken of as a branch. I think I have one
scripture marked down here, Jeremiah 23 in verse five, where God said,
behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that will I raise unto
David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper. and shall execute justice in
the earth. So that's the first thing that
we see here is David's prophecy of the coming Messiah, his son. Second, we see the confession
of David in verse five, although my house be not so with God. That's his confession. though
my house be not so with God. Now there's three ways that may
be understood. First of all, David may be speaking
about his kingdom. If you look back to chapter seven,
2 Samuel chapter seven, remember David wanted to build God a house,
a temple. God said no. But God didn't just say no, did
he? He said, I'm going to build you a house. Super, super abounding
grace, right? Look here in 2 Samuel chapter
7 and verse 12 and 13. When thy days, this is Nathan,
God speaking through Nathan, the prophet to David. When thy
days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will
set up thy seat after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels,
and I will establish his kingdom. Now notice, he shall build a
house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom
forever. When David here says in our text
tonight, although my house be not so with God, he could be
speaking of his kingdom. He knew, he knew there was problems. He had faced rebellion on several
occasions and this He says, though my house be not
so, my kingdom is not as this kingdom that he's prophesying
of and he sees is going to come. He may be talking about his family.
Secondly, he may be talking about his family. Though my house,
my family, surely wasn't what he would have wanted. Remember
he had one case of incest, a case of murder, a case of rebellion
against the king himself. I mean, though my house be not
so with God. I could have been speaking about
himself. He could have. Wouldn't be unusual, would it,
for a believer to speak like that, though he knew he was not. He said here that a man that
ruleth over men must be just. Well, when he sent Uriah with
the letter to Joab to make sure Uriah died in the battle, there
was nothing just about that, nothing righteous about that.
So he very well could have been speaking of himself. Oftentimes when we all, and maybe
you're not like this, but I think most of us are. Sometimes the
only thing we can see about ourselves is our failures. Our failures. Where do we turn? Where do we
turn for consolation then? Where did David turn? Where did
he turn? Though my house be not so with
God, though I be not so with God, not as I would want to be
with God, where does he turn for consolation? To the covenant,
to God's effort lasting covenant. Yet, He hath made with me an
everlasting covenant ordered in all things, and sure, for
this is all my salvation. Even though my house be not so
with God, my family not so with God, my kingdom not so with God,
me myself not so with God, but this is all my salvation, this
everlasting covenant. I want to share six statements
with us tonight that I copied from a message by John Gill from
this text of scripture. Six statements. Number one, though
there be a great deal of sin, as there is in all good men,
a great many failings and infirmities in their lives and conversation,
as there are in the best of men upon the earth, Nevertheless,
interest in the covenant of grace continues. Number two, though
it may be with the people of God, as it was with David, that
they are guilty of many backslidings after conversion, after their
call by divine grace, nevertheless, covenant interest continues. Number three. The dear children
of God are liable to various temptations of Satan and sometimes
are prevailed upon to do things that are disagreeable to their
Heavenly Father, yet covenant interest continues. Number five,
no, number four, there may be and often are, they may be and
often are in great darkness of soul. and under great distress
on that account. Yet covenant interest continues. Number five, the people of God
are subject to great coldness, indifference, sleepiness, sluggishness,
and slothfulness. It often attends them, as it
did the church when she said, I sleep, but my heart waken.
But still we find that she was recovered out of this frame of
soul and brought to the exercise of strong faith in the Lord.
This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O daughters of
Jerusalem. All the virgins slept, he's speaking
of the parable our Lord gave of the ten virgins, not just
the foolish, but the wise, all the virgins slumbered and slept. This may befall the best of men. And yet, notwithstanding that,
their covenant interest remains. And number six, lastly, faith,
hope, love, and other graces may not be in lively exercise. Faith sometimes is very low. All that a believer can say at
most is, Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. But that
does not affect covenant interest. It does not depend upon the lively
exercise of grace. Though we believe not, he abides
faithful. Where did David turn when he
confessed Though my house be not so with God. He turned for
consolation to this everlasting covenant. Now that's my third
point. The covenant. The consolation
of David. I want you to look at what David
tells us about this covenant. Three things. Three things. First of all, it's everlasting. It's everlasting. Now, before
we think about what that means, that the covenant is everlasting,
I want to give you two other things that we're told about
this covenant. In Isaiah 54 and verse 10, we
are told it is a covenant of peace because reconciliation
between the sinner and God is a major part of this covenant. It's a covenant of peace. The mediator of this covenant
made peace for us through the blood of his cross. In Malachi,
it is a covenant of life because it secures eternal life for his
people. And then we just add this, God's
people, myself, you, We most often refer to this as a covenant
of grace, and with good cause, because everything about it is
gracious. Everything about it is gracious. But the fact that it is an everlasting
covenant, how can we even begin to understand that? An everlasting
covenant, it springs from God's everlasting love to his people. A love, which as I said, we cannot
even begin to understand how love can be everlasting. How
God is everlasting. How love is everlasting. In our
Lord's prayer in John 17, he said this concerning his people,
speaking to his father, he said, as thou, thou God, as thou has
loved me, or thou hast loved them as thou hast loved me. God loved you, if you're one
of his children tonight, God loved you as he loved the Lord
Jesus Christ. Well, from the beginning when
he was set up as a mediator, Do you think from that time to
now there has ever been a time when God has not loved the Lord
Jesus Christ? Of course not. And there's never
been a time when he hasn't loved you. It's an everlasting covenant. Springs from God's everlasting
love for his people. Second thing he says about it,
it's ordered in all things. It's ordered in all things so
that each person in the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit, receives honor and glory. The Father especially
for his electing a people from before the foundation of the
world. Ordered in all things. God the
Son, his glory in redeeming those people by His precious blood,
and God the Holy Spirit, by applying that salvation unto each and
every one of His chosen people. It's ordered in all things. And the very time of your conversion, when this was
manifested unto you, that God loved you, and Christ died for
you, and you trust in Him, that time was ordered. How many times have men and women
told me, preacher, you know, I just wish the Lord had saved
me when I was younger. Well, God ordered the time, the
exact time. There was a time on God's calendar
when it was a time of love. And he passed over you, spread
his skirt over you. showing his love unto you. And
then the last thing he said about it is sure. It's sure. It is
sure that Christ will see his seed. That verse in Isaiah chapter
53 that speaks of a suffering Savior. It tells us he shall
see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. That's
sure. That's sure. Christ is not going to be disappointed. Everyone for whom he travailed
on that cross and dying for them, he's going to see the travail
of his soul and be satisfied. I've used, given this illustration
before. I heard it years ago by a pastor,
but a lady is carrying a baby and the time of birth comes nine
months and And she goes through the throes of delivering the
baby, and then the doctor says, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but
your baby is stillborn. You think she'd be satisfied?
No, no, no. Lord Jesus Christ, he's going
to see of the travail of his soul. He's going to be satisfied. Everyone for whom he died is
sure to be saved because they're named in this everlasting covenant. May the Lord bless his word to
us tonight.