2 Samuel 23 now. 2 Samuel 23. These are the last
words of David, apparently his dying words. We tend to sit up
and pay attention to someone's dying words, don't we? Well,
these were David's dying words. If you thought you were dying,
what would you want to say? What would you say? If you're
getting ready to go out and face God, leave this world, what would
you say? What would be on your mind, on
your heart? Well, we may not be able to say any dying words. We might die a violent death. We might lose our minds with
dementia or Alzheimer's or something. We might be in excruciating pain. We might not be able to say anything.
But know this, if you live by faith, you'll die of infamy. If Christ is really your life, He's your eternal life. You'll
die in Him. You'll die in Him. We've had
a few here. I've heard some of their dying
words. Brother Stephen's dad, one of the last things I remember
him saying was, I'm standing on the rock, Christ Jesus. We'll never forget that. Ellen
Fralin, didn't know anybody's name, didn't know my name, but
I asked her what the gospel is. She said, Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. That's the last thing I heard her say. These are David's dying words.
He's 70 years old. You may not think that's old. But that's all the Lord has promised
us. Right? Not promised, but told us we
can expect. Perhaps. Maybe 80. But he's 70
years old. And he died a full age. And if we live to 70, that's
a full age. Seventy years old. And he sums
up his life in a few words. He sums up his hope, his salvation,
his joy, his desire, the feelings of his heart, his confession
in just a few words. I like what Brother John Chatelain
said about this fleeting life. He said, You'll see someone who's
died, see their birth year and then their death year, like my
father, 1926 and 2019. There's a dash between it. 1926-2019. Brother John said
that dash, that's our life. It goes by that quick, like a
sleep, like a dream. You wake up and it's over. Such
a frail and brief life. Well, David sums up the life
that God gave him, real life. David doesn't mention, you know,
all the beautiful things and good things that God has given
him. He had 19 sons, I think. I think he had one daughter,
I think. Wives and, you know, all the riches and all that.
He didn't mention any of that. And he's dying what? And one
thing, dear to him. That's how you know. One thing
have I desired of the Lord. And that's what I seek after,
he said. Psalm 27. Well, he found it then. Dwell in God's house. David,
verse 1. These be the last words of David.
David, the son of Jesse. This is just another man. David's no special man. Do you
know that? He's special to God. No more
than you are. You know that? He's the son of
Jesse. What do you know about Jesse?
My grandfather's name was Jesse. Chances are, somebody in here's
grandfather or somebody with the name Jesse, right? John,
the son of Jack. David, the daughter of Ed. Just a man. David, son of Jesse. He's not saying, I'm the king. No, I'm just the son of Adam.
That's all I am. David, the son of Jesse, the
man who was raised up on high from nowhere. Remember now, he
heard this, what Nathan preached to him, that covenant in chapter
seven. God said, I took you from the sheep coat. I found you. shaped in a sheep pen. Some of us he found in a hog
pen. I found you there. That's where
I found you. And I raised you up on high. Has he raised you
up? Yeah, I know he has. You're sitting
here, aren't you? He's raised you up to sit in heavenly places
off the dung heap out of the miry clay to set you among princes. David said, that's what God's
done to me. I was low, he lifted me high. I was dead, he quickened
me. I was in darkness, he brought
me into light. The anointed of the God of Jacob. Oh, happy is
he that hath the God of Jacob for his help. You want to hear
that again? Happy is he that hath the God
of Jacob for his help. Oh, my, was Jacob ever glad God
was his God. Covenant God. Electing God. Keeping God. God who will not
fail, cannot fail, who never changes. I am the Lord, I change
not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. And nothing
you can do to change my covenant concerning you. Oh, happy is
he. Want to hear it again? Happy
is he that hath the God of Jacob. The anointed. You know, John
talked about the anointing you have received. to the people. You know that? The Holy Spirit
has anointed us with the oil of gladness that flows down from
our head, even to the beard, and hair in our great high priesthood,
to the robes, even to the skirt there. The oil of gladness. The
oil of the gospel. The Holy Spirit. He's done that
for us. David said he did it for me.
The sweet psalmist of Israel. The sweet psalmist of Israel. Are the Psalms sweet to you? I say this all the time, and
I know it's true of you, but I no sooner finished reading
the Psalms than I want to go back through them again. And
whenever you need something from the Lord, you can always turn
to the Psalms, somewhere, and find something that meets your
needs. Because David is a man after God's own heart. And God
put David through all the things He puts you and I through. And
we can relate to everything He's said in the psalm. All His trials,
His afflictions, His ups, His downs, His ins, His outs, His
troubles, His sorrows, His joys, His gladness, His failures. We can relate to Him. I'm so
thankful for David. So thankful. And the psalms that
God God gave him to write my, my
sweet psalms. You know, psalms are only sweet
to those who have tasted something of the bitterness of sin, the
dregs of sin, drunk a little bit of that cup. They're only
sweet. We had a lady here whose father was an educated man. Well, he was a doctor. He taught
in a university. And he told his daughter, who
was a believer, a dear sister, you know her. He said, I read
the Psalms and I find them boring. Well, he's not one of God's children. He met God one day. Oh, how he
wishes he had not found them boring. I find them sweet, don't
you? Just what I need. David said,
thy word was unto me as sweet as honey, sweeter than a honeycomb.
And I did eat it. Eat it. Sweet sauce. He said
in verse 2, the Spirit of the Lord spake by me. His word was
in my tongue. Spirit of the Lord. Holy men. You and I know, we believe, yea,
we know that what David wrote was not David's words. They're
the words of God. Don't we? What Samuel wrote,
what Isaiah, what all the prophets, we believe all things written
by the prophets were the words of God. Paul, James, Peter, Matthew,
those were the words of God. No man spake by any private personal
interpretation, but holy men spake as they were moved by the
Spirit of God. We believe that, don't we? The world doesn't believe
that. The world thinks you can take it or leave it. It's just the words of men and
some good stories, but not us. We believe this is God's Word.
The Spirit of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, spake by David. His Word
was in his tongue. The Word was in his tongue. You
know, the Spirit of God speaks to us. Yes, He does. Yes, He does. And He puts His
Word in your heart, and whatever is in your heart, you know where
it will come out? Out of the abundance of the heart. The mouth
speaketh. Paul wrote in Romans 10, The
Word is now you, even in your mouth. It's in your tongue. How
blessed you are that he turned your cursing, your mouth that
was full of cursing and bitterness, to thankfulness and praise and
put his word in your heart and on your tongue. That's a blessing. Now, who is
David really speaking about? himself? The eunuch would ask
him, who's the prophet David speaking of, himself or another
man? Another man. The man Christ Jesus. Because whoever the Holy Spirit
speaks to and speaks through, you know who he's going to speak
of? Christ. That's what the Holy Spirit does.
So, now, let's look at it. Look at it this way, alright?
Jesus Christ. The last words of God to us are
the words He said concerning His Son, Jesus Christ. This is
My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him. He's the Son
of God. He's the Son of Man. He's the
Son of Man. He's the Son of God. The Man
who was raised up on high. Verse 5 is my text. But you think
I'm just going to skip through this? He's the man, Christ is the one
God raised up on high. Higher than any other. Name above
every name. The anointed, that's what Christ meant. The anointed
of the God of Jacob. The sweet psalmist of Israel.
David didn't write the Psalms. Jesus Christ gave him those words
to say. The Spirit of the Lord spake
by me. This is Christ. Christ said, you know, the Spirit
was given unto him not by measure. He said, the words that I speak,
I speak not of myself, but the Father's in me. And his word
was in my tongue. Not only in his tongue, he is
the word of God. The God of Israel, verse three,
the rock of Israel spake to me. Jesus Christ is the rock of Israel. Listen to Psalm 62. You don't
have to turn if you want to, you can. But it says here in
Psalm 62, He only is my rock and my salvation. He's my defense. I shall not be greatly moved.
It says in verse Six, He only is my rock and my salvation.
He's my defense. I shall not be moved. And God
is my salvation and my glory. The rock of my strength and my
refuge is in God. Yea, in Jesus Christ. Trust in
Him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before Him. God, Christ, is a refuge for
us. Selah. Just dwell on that a little
while. I'll repeat that. He's the rock. David kept repeating that. He's
the rock. And I remind you that what David said, he said, they're
rock. The one they talk about out there is not like our rock. Our rock, our God is rock. Christ is unmovable, unshakable. He that ruleth, verse 3, Christ
ruleth over men. He's just having salvation. That's Isaiah 63. ruling in the
fear of God, giving us the fear of God. Look at verse 4. He shall
be as the light of the morning when the sun rises. That's Christ
in the Son of Righteousness who arose with healing in His wing. Listen to Psalm 72. Turn to Psalm
72 quickly. Psalm 72. This is good. He shall
be as a sunrise on a clear day. Psalm 72. How refreshing, how
renewing it is to see the sun come up in the morning. Well,
look at this. The son of righteousness. Read these with me. Psalm 72.
This whole psalm is about him, like so many. Give the king thy
judgments, O God, thy righteousness under the king's son. He shall
judge thy people with righteousness and thy poor with judgment. The
mountains shall bring peace to the people. Mount Calvary, Mount
Zion, the little hills called Golgotha, my righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the
people. He shall save the children of the needy. He shall break
in pieces the oppressed. They shall fear thee as long
as the sun and the moon endure throughout all generations. He
shall come down like rain upon the mown grass as the showers
that water the earth. In his days shall the righteous
flourish, an abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river
unto the ends of the earth. Verse 12. He shall deliver the
needy when he crieth, the poor also, him that hath no helper.
He shall spare the poor and the needy, and shall save the souls
of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from
deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood be in his sight.
How relevant is that right now? Verse 17. His name shall endure
forever. His name shall be continued as
long as the sun, and men shall be blessed in Him. That's what
Brother David Edmondson preached on. All nations shall call Him
blessed. That's Christ. Yes, blessed be
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Righteousness. Go back to the text. Here's our
text. That's the introduction. Verse 5, David sums up his salvation. Sums up my salvation. Sums up
his hope, his desire. Is this all your desire? Is this
all your hope, your help? And look how he starts out. Although
my house be not so with God. yet but God. Although my house
be not so with God. Although in my house there's
nothing but trouble. Read the story of David, his
life. There's so many in his house
that didn't know his Lord, didn't rejoice in his Lord. David said,
all is not right in my house. Anyone? Anyone else? All is not right in my house,
but it is well with my soul. Can you say that? David's life,
ours, is full of trouble. I mean, man is born a woman,
a few days, a little dash, full of trouble. That's what God's
promised us. Christ said, in this world you
shall have tribulation. mind you, of Psalm 73, I remind
you often, that David was envious at the prosperity of the wicked.
He said, they're not in trouble like I am. They just don't have
the grief and the sorrow and the troubles and the fighting
and the battles and the wars and the ins and outs and ups
and downs that I have. And he said, is all this in vain?
He said, I went into the sanctuary. I went into the sanctuary. You
know what he heard? He heard Nathan preach. Preach the gospel. He said, I was like a beast. I was like a fool. Now I understand
everything they have ends. He said, I went into the sanctuary
and I found out everything they have ends. What I have just begins. Never ends. God is my portion. My portion is not in this life,
but my portion is an everlasting portion. God in all that he is
and has. Although it be not so with my
house, David's house, his family, his life is full of trouble.
He had troubles within, troubles with himself, troubles without,
troubles with others in the world, in his home. Trouble with his
own sins. Trouble with other people's sins.
He had marital problems. He had a wife who didn't know
the Lord. She mocked his religion. I just read that. Really, it's
sad. David came back from a worship service. He was so overjoyed.
And he came back to bless his house. He said he came back to
bless his house. And Michael mocked him. His wife
mocked him. Anybody? I've often said one of the most
difficult things you could possibly endure in this life is to be
married to an unbeliever. You can't imagine. Just tear
down. They'd go and worship and come home and they'd tear down
everything that you heard. But they can't shake you. He
had marital problems. He had problems with his children.
Most of his children were lost. Most of his children gave him
grief and heartache. He lost an infant son. He prayed,
he laid on the hearth all night praying for the life of that
infant son. Can you imagine, sick unto death,
how you'd be praying for the Lord to spare that baby? And
God took him. Absalom was his son. He loved
Absalom. He loved him dearly. He was a
wayward son. He was not an obedient, loving
son like Solomon. Absalom gave him grief, but David
loved him. And when he died that tragic,
violent death, David grieved. Absalom, my son. Anybody? Although it be not so with my
hand. was killed by his brother Absalom.
Tamar. David had friends that turned
against him. David said, I could have taken
it as being my enemy, but it was my friend, Joab. Anybody
have any Joabs that turned against you? Although it be not so with
my house. Your house, your family. A house,
what about the church house? Any troubles in the church house?
Oh, my. We've had people leave here.
Breaks our heart, doesn't it? Why? Breaks our heart, doesn't it? Tragedies. Things happen. We
don't understand, Lord. Why do you allow this to happen?
A house, a church house. This house, this house of clay,
This house is just not in my flesh, although it be not so
with my house. In my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. It's not getting growing. It's
not getting better. It seems to be getting worse.
Anybody? Although it be not so with my
house, but God. Yet, he. Yet he, verse 5, had made with
me, concerning me, an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure. And this is all my salvation.
He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things
and sure. You know, David, I'm sure David,
I know he's thinking back, the Lord reminded him where he found
him. You see your calling, brethren. We need to never forget where
the Lord found us and where we are now. Don't ever forget that. Do you remember when you first
heard the gospel, where you were, the times leading up to that? Can you remember that? Oh, I
can. You've heard my story, the prodigal
son. What about you? I know some of you. Remember David? was out watching
the sheep, and somebody said, the prophet's at your house. Samuel's at your house. They
said, what's he doing? He's going to have a service. He's going to have a preaching
service. They want you to come. So Dave
said, okay. He came in. He was running in.
He was flushed. He was faced and dirty and all
that. And he said, what's going on
here? Samuel said, everybody get out. Right there's the King of Israel. Don't you know David shrunk?
What? Do you remember the first time
when God said, you're my son? You're a prince. You're not Jacob.
You're Israel. I've chosen you. You're mine. I've anointed you. You're my
son. I've come for you. I've sent the gospel. Do you
remember the first time you heard the gospel? Don't forget it. David can never forget that.
Now, he said, look at me. Who am I? What is my house? You
brought me here. Look where you found me and look
where you brought me. Oh, blessed be the name of the
Lord. Look what all I've done. David's not just his family,
but he himself was his greatest source of trouble. What all David
did, he mourned over. But God, see His hope, all His
peace, all His comfort, all His salvation, in spite of His sin,
though His sin did abound, this was His hope. Grace did much
more abound. This covenant of grace that God
made with Christ concerning Him. Is that yours? David thought,
I'm a failure as a father, I'm a failure as a husband, I'm a
failure as a son, I'm a failure as a king, I'm a complete failure. That's what I am. But my hope
is my God does not fail. He won't fail me. And He's made
concerning me, He made a covenant with Christ that's ordered, commanded. Don't we love Psalm 71? 71. John
and I love this. Our favorite verse in all of
the Bible, right now. He said, Thou hast given commandment
to save me. You reckon Ephebosheth loved
that? That verse? Fetch him! He ain't coming. I didn't ask you to ask him. I said fetch him. Elect him. Fetch him, Graham. Ordered. Commandment. Ordered. Gave orders to save
me. Almighty love arrests that man.
Predestined. Everything predestinated. The
world hates that sound of that word. That man I worked with
one time said, I believe anything but that predestination. Don't
bring up that P word. You know what we say? Keep bringing
it up. Preach it, preacher. Predestination. Ordered in all things and sure.
Everything about us is predestined. Don't you want your destiny to
be predetermined by our Lord? That way we know whether it be
good or whether we think it's evil. The Lord ordered it. Like
you said, it's His will and it's good. Everything works together
according to His will and His purpose for our good, according
to this Eternal covenant He made in everything in our life. All
things work together for good. And sure, everything He said
has been ordered and sure. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow you all the days of your life. Why is that? Where did
that verse come from? Somebody say it. Psalm 23, it's
the last verse. Why will surely goodness and
mercy follow you all the day of your life? Because the Lord
is your shepherd. David knew something about shepherding.
David never lost sheep. The Lord removed salt, but he
couldn't find his asses. David never lost sheep. Never. And surely that's a picture of
Christ. You never lose a sheep if you're His sheep. And surely,
goodness and mercy you shall not want. He walked through the
valley of shallow death with fear of no evil. His rod and
His staff comfort you. He prepares you a table in the
midst of your enemies. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow you all the days of your life because of this covenant
that God made and gave it to Christ to fulfill, and Christ
came down here and fulfilled that covenant, ratified it in
His blood, fulfilled it with His life and His righteousness,
imputing that to His people. It's not doctrine, people. This
is what Christ did. This is our salvation. Is this
all your salvation? Is all your salvation in Christ
alone? Is it really? Something he did?
Something somebody else did? Is that yours? And that's my desire. One thing
of my desire. Although he make it not to grow.
What does that mean? Well, my house. It seems to be David's house,
people were dying, sons and daughters. Israel was diminishing under
his leadership. I told somebody the other day,
I said, if all the people that came here had stayed, came to
Central Bay, we'd have to meet at Roanoke Civic Center. That's
a fact. But you know that all the people
that God has for His house is all the people He has for His
house at any one given time. And nearly always, He takes somebody.
And what does He do? He puts somebody else in their
place. I remember when the Lord took Brother Joe. He was devastating
to all of us. He was a right-hand man, song
leader and deacon. And just a few years after they
sent four or five men, it took four or five men to replace your
dad. And they didn't replace him. He still missed. But the fact is, God's house
is numbered, his people. And don't think, you know, that
it's a failure if there's not great numbers. David made the
mistake of numbering Israel in his letter to Abraham. Mmm, Joab
said, don't do this. He did it anyway. See, I want
to see how well we're doing. God killed a bunch of them. See, that's what modern religion
does. Look how many we have. Let's be like Noah. Let's be
like Noah. Noah was thrilled with seven
other people he's got in his house. And although this house, I don't
feel like I'm growing in grace, do you? Do you feel like you've
grown in grace? Although you make it not to grow.
You are. I can see it in you, but you
can't see it in yourself, can you? This growth in grace is
a growth in humility. It's growth in meekness. It's growth in loathing yourself. And so David said, I just don't
feel like I'm growing and my house is growing and all that,
but my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ's blood
and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
flame, but wholly lean on the Lord Jesus Christ. Now on Christ
the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.
Okay, stand with me.