While I draw this fleeting breath,
when their eyes shall close in death, when I rise to worlds
unknown, behold thee on the throne, rock of ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. These are the last, the dying
words of David. 2 Samuel 23. These are indeed
the last words, at least the last recorded word. Now, a man's
words in times of prosperity, you can take them or leave them.
You know, everybody talks about being blessed if everything's
going well. Someone's words while everything's
going well, while they have money and health and no troubles and
all that, everybody's blessing the Lord. But now, when a man
is in trouble, when a man is sick, when a man is sorrowing,
when a man is suffering, when a woman is suffering like Job, and can say, blessed be the name
of the Lord. Now that man, the root of the
matter, is in that person. I didn't know what the title
is. I thought of all sorts of things. A covenant saved by a
covenant. David's dying words, but maybe
these are words to live and die by. Words to live and die by. If you thought you were really
dying, if you really thought you were dying, you just had
a few days, what would you say? What would you leave? What would
you want to leave with your children? your spouse, your brethren. What is your hope of eternal
life? What is it? Well, this is David's
and this is ours. And he said, look at verse 1,
now these be the last words of David. And he begins, David,
David wrote this. And it begins David, son of Jesse. Now David was the greatest king
to ever live. He really was. Solomon had more
glory, but nobody had the conquest of David. Nobody. But he doesn't
say that. He doesn't say King David. He
just says David. He begins where he began. I'm
just David. I'm just the son of Jesse. I'm
just a man. This is his testimony. I'm just
another son of Adam is all I am. I'm just a sinner saved by grace. How about you? I'm just the son
of a man who was a sinner, who was a son of a man, who was a
sinner, the son of a man, all the way back to Adam, who was
a sinner. I have grandfathers on both sides. My mother's side was a man named
Jesse Freeze, and on my father's side, Jesse Mahan. I'm the son
of Jesse. That doesn't make me special.
There's a whole bunch of them out there. So David begins where
the Lord found him, does it? And he's going to build and show
us where the Lord found him and where the Lord took him. He was
just amazing. I'm just a son of Adam. I'm just
a sinner, saved by grace, full of sin, tempted, tried. You know,
our Lord. came down to this earth, made
of a woman, didn't he? The son of David. He called himself,
constantly called himself the son of man. Though he was the
son of God, is, he called himself the son of man, didn't he? He
was identified with us. Tempted in all points, like as
we are, yet without sin. His mother was shaping an iniquity.
He wasn't. And yet he's tempted, touched
with the feeling of our infirmities. He knows our frame. Aren't you
glad? That's the reason I love David
so much. A man after God's own heart means
a man after mine. I can relate to David. So David
says, I'm just a man, son of a sinful man. I'm just a lowly
man. David, the son of Jesse, the
man who was raised up on high. A lowly sinner whom God raised
up. A man who was quickened by the
grace of God, made to sit in heavenly places. Is that you?
A man chosen by God, loved by God, called by God, saved by
sovereign mercy and grace, saved by blood and righteousness, saved
by a covenant ordered by God before I was ever born. Yep,
that's me. And God raised me from the dead,
raised me from darkness to light, delivered me from darkness into
light, from death to light, raised me up from the dunghill to sit
among princes. You too, David? Yes, me too. I don't think David ever got
over his calling. I know he didn't. Think about
that when he was just 17 years old. He's out watching the sheep.
And he doesn't have a clue of what's about to happen. Think
about it. He's out there watching sheep.
And somebody comes to get him and says, Samuel's here. That's
the prophet Samuel. Oh. Yeah, he's come to bring
a sacrifice. Oh, I want to go with that. And
he said for you specifically. Me? What's wrong with me? Watch these sheep for me." I
said, now watch them. You need to take care of these sheep.
So he left them with a keeper and he went back home to his
dad's house and he walked in and all eyes were on him. What's going on here? Samuel
walked up to him, put his hands on his shoulder and said, everyone,
this is he. The King of Israel. What was going through David's
mind? Me? Wait a minute. Me? Isn't that what you felt when
you first heard the Gospel? When you first found out that
the Lord had made you a king and priest under God? A son of
the... Beloved, when you first really
heard this word, Beloved, now are we the sons of God. There
is therefore now no condemnation of them that are in Christ. He
that believeth on the Son hath life. When you first heard that,
didn't you think, me? Have you ever gotten over it? Oh, my. Abraham never got over
it. He was 75 years old. Why did the Lord, he was an idolater,
why did the Lord put up with me for 75 years? And now he calls me the father
of the faithful? Abraham said, Me? Jacob. Jacob. Oh, happy is he to have
the God of Jacob for his salvation. Jacob said, Me? God loves me. You know what all I did to Esau?
You know what I did to my dad? You know what I did to everybody?
Me? God chose me. David. Paul. Paul had people killed that believed
the truth. He never got over that. You think
he ever got over seeing Stephen's face as he was done? He never
got over Amazing grace and mercy of God to him. He said, I am
the chief of sinners. I am not fit to be called an
apostle, a disciple, son of God. I am a no good sinner, but God
chose me. He had to. No good in me. You think he ever got over that?
Neither do God's people, any of God's people. Oh, my, my. A man God raised up. And he went
on to say, verse 1, the anointed of the God of Jacob. Surely David
wrote things that he didn't fully understand. You reckon? Psalm 18. I just read that today. Psalm 22. Psalm 69, Psalms of
the Cross. Surely he wrote those things
under inspiration. And Brother John, as he was writing
them, he was thinking, this is the Lord who's coming. This is
the Christ who's coming. Isaiah 53. When Isaiah wrote
Isaiah 53, don't you know him? He's penned, but he couldn't
quit writing. 61. And do you know, our Lord
said of us in 1 John 2, let me read you this, about the anointing
and all of God's people, we dare not say, I have the anointing.
We just don't do that. People like to throw that term
around, but here's what John said of God's people. You have
an unction from the Holy One. He says, The anointing which
you have received of Him abideth in you, and has taught you the
truth. And it abides in you, and He
abides in you. Yes, we do. What is the anointing? The word anointed is what? It's Christ. If you're anointed
by God, by the Spirit of God, You have received that oil of
gladness that came down from the head to the beard to the
skirts of the garment. That's the anointing. The Spirit
of God takes the things of Christ, our head, and they flow down
to us, don't they? That's the anointing. It doesn't
make you talk like a blooming idiot. It makes you talk about
Christ. That's how you know the anointing.
God's people are anointed. They talk about Christ. That's
how you know a preacher, he preaches Christ. The anointed of the God
of Jacob. I know that God, don't you? And
I'm so glad. My God is the God of Jacob, aren't
you? The sweet psalmist of Israel. Sweet psalmist. Don't you think
of David as being a sweet man? He wouldn't call himself that.
He'd think back on times that he did things, he thought, I'm
anything but sweet. He thought, my sins have left
a bitter taste in my mouth. And yet, don't you think of David
as being a sweet man? I think of you that way. I hope
you think of me that way. But he was a sweet psalmist.
Aren't the psalms sweet? Is there a word that better describes
the psalms than sweet? Sweeter than honey, David said. That word is sweeter than honey
to my taste. Here's what Solomon wrote in
the proverb. Aren't the proverbs sweet? Pleasant
words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, health to the bone. Pleasant words, sweet words.
This is why I love, you know, the Psalms are my sweetest source
of comfort, aren't they? Don't you find it so? If you
need some comfort, Where do you go? You go straight to the psalm,
don't you? Well, the Lord had David write
these sweet psalms. Thank God. Thank God He put David
through what he went through. Right? Because only the bitterness
of sin and the bitterness of this world and the things in
it will make the Word of God sweet to you, make the Gospel
sweet to you. So he says, verse 2, The Spirit
of the Lord spake by me. His Word was in my tongue. Now
this is David, the anointed of God, the king of God. This is
David who's a prophet, David who's a king. He wasn't a priest.
He's a prophet and a king, but he wasn't a priest, was he? Only one man in scripture fit
that bill, and that was Melchizedek, right? Oh, wait, hold on. Christ. But they're one and the same.
They're the same person. But David was a prophet and a
king, but he said, The Spirit of the Lord spake by me. His
word was in my tongue. All the prophets, all the apostles,
all the apostles and all the prophets were holy men moved
by the Spirit of God, weren't they? Do you believe that? That's
2 Peter 1, 21, I think it is. Isn't it? Yes, it is. No scriptures
of any private, personal interpretation, but holy men spake as they were
moved by the Spirit of God. Do you believe that? Do you hang
your soul, your eternal soul, and your destiny on this being
the Word of God? Can you say with Paul to those
people, where was it? I forget. He said, I confess
the way they call heresy is the way I believe. I believe all
things written in the prophets. I believe it all. I believe it's
all the Word of God. Every jot and tittle. And all
my hope. All my salvation. is on the sure
mercies of God and the Word of the Lord. This is God's Word. And you know why we know that
and believe that? Because He said, if you believe,
I'll show you the glory of God. If you don't believe, you won't
be established. For those who He gives this precious
gift of faith, He keeps giving you more. Him that hath, He gives
more. Till finally you say, how could
you not believe this? Are you an idiot? That's what
you say to people. It reads, can't you see? No, you can't. To them it's not
given. It's been given to us. There's
not one doubt. And I'm not bragging on myself
here. I'm bragging on my Lord who gave me this assurance. There's
not one, the slightest shadow of a doubt about this being God's
Word. Is there any? I see. You believe that. You know how
few people? How few people really believe
this to be God's Word. The Spirit of the Lord spake
by David. The Spirit of the Lord spake by Isaiah, Elijah, all
these prophets, apostles. His Word was in their tongue.
All right, now let's back up now. Let's look at who David
is really talking about here. David the son of Jesse, Christ
the son of God, son of man. Man raised up on high. A man
who made himself of no reputation. Took upon himself the form of
a servant, made of a woman. Oh, he was raised up on high. The anointed. That's what Christ
means. He is the anointed of the God
of Jacob. The sweet psalmist of Israel.
How did David pen such sweet psalms? Because Christ was whispering
in his ear. Christ, write this, write this,
write this. Write this, I gave my back to
the smiters. Write this, they plucked my beard. Write this,
I never happened to David. Write this, my God, my God, why
is that? Write this, David. The Spirit of the Lord spake
by me. That's Christ, isn't it? John said, He hath not the Spirit
by measure. He speaks the Word of God. John
1 says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. That's His Name, the Word of
God. His Word in my tongue. Verse
3, The God of Israel said, Who? Jesus Christ is the God of Israel. Let me say it again. You want
to hear it say again? Jesus Christ is the God of Israel. Yes, He is. He is our God. We say with Thomas, don't we?
My Lord and my God. God was manifested in the flesh.
Great mystery, but it's without controversy among His people.
They all know, they all believe that God was manifest in the
flesh. His name is Jesus Christ. He
said, you call me Lord and Master, you say well, for so I am. I am. The Spirit of the Lord spake
by the God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel He's the rock,
isn't He? Christ is the rock of Israel.
Look at chapter 22. 2 Samuel 22 begins with verse
1. This is Psalm 18. David spake unto the Lord the
words of this song in the day that the Lord had delivered him
out of the hands of all his enemies, out of the hands of Saul. And
he said, The Lord is my rock. and my fortune, and my deliverance,
the God of my rock. In Him will I trust. He is my
shield, the horn of my salvation, my high tower, my refuge, my
Savior. Thou savest me from violence.
Who is he talking about? Jesus Christ, the rock. Look at verse 47. The Lord liveth
and blessed be my rock, and exalted be the God of the rock of my
salvation. Paul wrote, that rock in the
wilderness that followed them? That's what he said, didn't he? He said, that rock was Christ.
And just a rock is a person. And Moses smoked with a rod and
water came over him. That's Christ, isn't it? Christ
crucified. He's the rock of ages. Oh my,
these are David's dying words, aren't they? The rock, God is
my rock. Stephen Park's dad, some of his
dying words were just those ones. I'm standing on the rock. Oh,
let these be my dying words. Let me leave that with my children.
I'm standing on the rock. Remember when God, the Lord,
told Moses, there's a place by me. I'm going to put you on the
rock. First he said, I'm going to put
you on the rock. I'm going to come down and stand beside you.
Like all my goodness, Pastor. He said, I'm going to put you
in the rock. Cleft. The cleft of the rock. So that you won't be consoled. Rock of ages, cleft for me. What
a solid foundation. Oh, my. These are words to live
and die by. Let that be our dying song, huh?
Rock of Ages, cleft for me. Verse 3 says, He that ruleth
over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. He that ruleth.
David wrote in Psalm 96, Thy God reigneth. He rules. Daniel wrote, Thy God
rules in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever He will. He reigns and rules among the
armies of heaven and inhabitants of the earth, and none can say
unto Him, What doest thou? He is the potter worthy like
God. Our Lord Jesus Christ reigns and rules over everything. Isn't
that comforting? You stand on Him. You are hidden
in Him. He is your fortress, your high
tower, your defense, your shield. Your salvation in whom you trust. He that ruleth over men must
be just. Oh my, is he? Is he ever just? Righteous, true, faithful, the
judge of the earth. Here's what Abraham believed
and pleaded with the Lord who said he was going to destroy
us all. He couldn't find ten righteous men in that city. There
was one there. He destroyed the city, but he
didn't destroy that righteous man, did he? He pulled him out. But our God is just. And Abraham
said, Shall not the judge of the earth do right? Yes, he will.
Well, why did the Lord spare Lot? He was inside of him. He
shouldn't have been there. He was a sinner too, isn't he?
It says he delivered that just man. Why was Lot just? before
God. How can Lot be justified before
such a holy God and be spared the wrath of God when all the
rest of those sinners, they were destroyed by that same God? How? How? Jesus Christ. The Lamb slain before the foundation
of the world. A lot was justified by His grace,
wasn't it? Justified by His blood. Yes,
but Christ didn't come yet, but yes, He's glimpsed like before. It is God that justifies, Christ
that does. So he's just. Oh, he's righteous. Ruling in the fear of God. Now,
this is an amazing thing. In Hebrews 5, it talks about
our Lord. Let me read it to you. This is
a mysterious thing. It's still mysterious to me.
Our Lord, as a man, feared God. Isn't that amazing? It says in Hebrews 5, 7, In the
days of his flesh he offered up prayers and supplication with
strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him
from death, and was heard in that he feared. Though he was
a son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. And being made perfect, he became
the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him,
called of God and high priest after the order of Melchizedek."
Now that's a mystery, isn't it? That he feared. Fear. for us. Verse 4, he shall be,
now this verse is beautiful, this description of Christ, like
a day without clouds, a sunny day, spring day, after rain,
look at it, verse 4, he shall be, Christ, as the light of the
morning, when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, as
the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining
after rain. How refreshing is it, how enjoyable,
how invigorating is it to wake up having rained that night in
the springtime, having rained that night, and the sun, a clearness
comes up. Our bedroom window faces the
east and southeast. And we see the sun come up. And the Lord just puts on a display
for us every morning. Yeah, He does it for us. Yes,
He does. He does it for you, too. Right?
Those that look for Him, the sun of righteousness arises.
Well, we wake up to these beautiful sunrises, and especially if it's
rained that night. And what if there's no clouds
in the sky? No clouds anywhere in the sky. It's been raining.
The other window's open. Is it just refresher or something? That's Christ. All of that. He's the bright and morning star. You know what the morning star
is? The day star? You know what they say? There
are no stars during the daytime. Yes, there are. One. Can't see
the other ones. You can't see a star in the sky,
there's zillions of them, but when that sun, day star arises,
he eclipses all the others. That's Christ. The fairest of
ten thousand, the bright and morning star, the son of righteousness
with healing in his wings, the light of life, the light of life. Son of the morning, without clouds. We read there in Psalm 72, He
shall come down like rain on the mown grass. Is there anything
more fragrant, anything more sweet than rain on mown grass? Sweet smelling, savory. That's
Christ and His sacrifice. tender grass. He said, Isaiah
wrote, he shall grow up as a tender plant, a root out of dry ground. When did David write this? Quite
possibly, well he wrote it in his latter
days, but he quite possibly wrote this after a long night, a long
dark night of sadness and sorrow. A night when his mind is clouded
with doubts and fears and troubles. Out of the depths have I cried
unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my voice. Be attentive
to the voice of my supplication. I wait for the Lord. My soul
doth wait. In His Word do I hope. How many
times David said, I watered my couch with my tears. My soul
waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning.
I say, more than they that watch for the morning. Did he write this after he'd
laid awake all night under a dark cloud Unbelief and worry and
doubts and fears and all that. And all of a sudden, he wakes
up. The Lord, the sun starts peeping up. You know, when the
sun comes out, things get a little brighter. It can be the coldest,
the driest winter day, but if the sun starts shining, you feel
better already. Oh, my. The Gospel of Christ
is only sweet. dispels all doubts and fears
and removes these dark clouds that hang up over us. We think
they're dark clouds, but they're not. They're full of mercy and
blessing. Well, it says here, that's Christ. Now, verse 5, he closes this
way. Now, David wrote most of the
Psalms, and most of them are prayers. Most of them are cries
for mercy. That's why we love them so much.
Most of them are cries for help, cries for salvation for himself
and for his family and for everybody. David was praying, man, wasn't
he? Now, I can just picture David, you know, maybe waking up after
a night worrying about one of his children. Worrying over that, you know,
crying over that unsaved spouse of his, Michael. Worried, not so much worried
as just grieving over the state of the nation that he lived in
and the way things were. And he got up, and I don't know
if they drank coffee back then, But T or something, I don't know,
but he got up and you know he called on the Lord. He prayed
to the Lord, and prayed for his brothers and sisters, and prayed
for the Kingdom of God, and prayed for his children, and prayed
for his wives. And he got out his pen and he
started thinking, thinking back on his life. These are his last
words. He's an old man now. Remember,
he wrote in Psalm 37, I was young, I've been young, and now I'm
old. And I said, I've never seen the righteous forsaken or God's
seed begging for you. He started thinking about his
past and his own sinfulness. the sins of his family and thinking
about his lost children, lost grandchildren. He lost, literally
lost children. David lost that boy that he and
Bathsheba had, the infant that he cried all night for that child. He lost it. He lost Epsilon. He grieved terribly away. He lost Amnon. Amnon was killed
by Epsilon. Tamar was brutalized by Hamlet. And on and on it went. He had troubles. He had some,
I believe, that really had troubles in his family. He starts thinking
about all that, and he says, although it be not so with my house. You see, my house, my
family, My past is just not right with God. But God. That's yet He. That's but God. He says this is my salvation.
This is my hope. God hath made with me an everlasting
covenant. Ordered in all things and sure. Oh my. Did he think, I thought
about this, did he think back on Jonathan and that covenant? He might have. I remember that
the Lord led him to, is there any left of the house of Saul
that I might show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? Jonathan,
my beloved brother, we made a covenant. I promised him that I would show
kindness to his seed for his sake because I love him so much,
because he was so loyal and so faithful to me. David's thinking, that's what
my God has done for me. David thought, I'm just like
Mephibosheth. I've been fetched. I've been
shown mercy. I've been called. I've been,
everything restored to me for Christ's sake. Yes, God hath
made with me, that is concerning me, an everlasting covenant. A covenant is a contract. A covenant
is an agreement between two parties. This was a covenant of grace,
a covenant God made with Jesus Christ, three parties, the Holy
Spirit. A covenant that they made, the
triune God made concerning all of God's people that God would
give to Christ to to save and give to the Holy Spirit to regenerate.
God chose them, Christ died for them, the Holy Spirit rounds
them up, regenerates them by the power of the gospel and brings
them all to Christ. Now this covenant was made by
God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit before the world
began. It's called an everlasting covenant,
meaning it began before anything began and it will never end.
No one and nothing can eradicate. No one and nothing can change
it. Nobody can change a jot or a tittle. Nobody can take one
name out of that cup. Nothing anybody does, not even
you, can take you out of that cup. And David thinks back about what
all he did, what all he felt like he was right then and there,
and what all he does not know he might do yet. And he thinks,
my salvation is that God made a covenant with
his Son concerning me, ordered in all things, and sure. and nobody can change it. That's
my salvation. Is that yours? That God chose
to save me, that God gave me to Christ to do the work, to
shed His blood for the remission of my sins, to keep the law for
me. I've broken every law. I want
to keep it. I love it, but I can't. I'm just
a lawbreaker. But Christ is my law keeper,
and the Spirit of God keeps me. I'm kept by the power of God.
If He doesn't keep me, God has given a commandment to save me,
and He gives the Holy Spirit reign and rule over me. And He
says sin will not have dominion over me. And Christ said that
He will not forsake me, will never leave me. He gives me eternal
life, and I'll never perish. Nobody can pluck me out of His
hand. That's all my salvation. God who cannot lie has promised
all this. And that's all my desire. When
he says that's all my desire, meaning such a glorious, wonderful
thing as this, as the Gospel. Who or what could I glory in? Who or what could take up my
time, my strength and my life? The
Lord is the light of my life. Christ is my life. He said one
thing have I desired. It's all my desire. Now it is
or it isn't. He is or he isn't. Right? It's like marriage. It's just
like marriage. That love cannot fail. It will
not fail. The love of Christ will never
fail us. That for sure is it. Well, if he's put the love of
God has been shed or brought in your heart to cry, you won't
either. Didn't Christ say, I prayed for
you that your faith fail not. And the Father always hears his
prayer. And if you really do desire Christ, You're going to
have Him. Yes, you are. One thing, if I
desire, and that's what I'm seeking after. I want to dwell in the
house of the Lord, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and inquire
in His temple. I just want to sit there. David
thought, let me just sit there with the fish at His table. That's my desire. I don't want
to be a king anymore. David thought, no more. Let Solomon
have that. Let me just sit at the table
of God's people. Although he make it not to grow. What's that mean? Go with me
to Habakkuk. We'll close with this, Habakkuk.
You know, David's kingdom had diminished. David's friends,
many friends, had turned on him. Lots of things happened. Children
had died. Things had diminished. It wasn't growing and prospering
like he had hoped it would, but it was actually diminishing.
Habakkuk. I hadn't found it yet. Where
is it? Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Zechariah. There we are. All right. The
things took a downturn. David's family
and lots of that. And friends left, and people,
and his family. He said that. It's just not the
way I would have it to be. It's the way God has it. You
know, the church, the church, a local church rarely remains
more than 50 or 60 years. Isn't that right, Ed? Church
history. Think with me just a minute.
Can you imagine how my dad felt driving by that building he spent
50 or 60 years in and he could no longer go back in there? It's going to happen. It's going
to happen. The place serves its purpose. Like every church in Revelation,
it's gone. But that's alright. All my salvation is. Everybody's gone but a few
of us. So back at chapter 3, verse 17 says, and you know this
is a song. This whole chapter is a song.
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit
be in the vines, the labor of the olive shall fail. The fields
shall yield no meat. The flocks shall be cut off from
the foal. There'll be no herd in the stalls, yet. I will rejoice
in the Lord. I will enjoy in the God of my
salvation. The Lord God is my strength.
He'll make my feet like hinds feet. He'll make me to walk upon
mine high places. Now, right this time, let's start
singing it to the chief singer on my stringed instruments. This
is all my salvation. I'm just sure thankful, David
said. It's not so with my half and with so many others, and
so many have left. And this is not all his disappointment,
but bless his holy name. He's revealed to me this everlasting
covenant in Christ, ordered in all things secure, and I'm happy. I'm happy. I'm a blessed man.
How about you? Okay. May the Lord come right
now. Okay, stand with me.