I want you to turn with me this
morning to 2 Samuel chapter 23. This is a passage that you're
very familiar with. We have the last words of David. David the king, David the psalmist,
David the prophet, one who is said to be The apple of God's
eye. The apple of God's eye, the chosen
servant and king of Israel is now on his deathbed. Surely his words are worthy of
an ear. All he had experienced, and it
was a lot, All that he had seen with his own eyes now ends with
these words of great importance. Notice just the first few words
of verse 1. Now these be the last words of
David. But before we read them in their
entirety, I want to look at the first five verses. Let's examine
again for just a few minutes this famous man and king. We first read about him in God's
book as a young man or a child born the eighth and youngest
of his father, Jesse. Had seven brothers older than
him. Now that in itself must have
been a trial. Having seven older brothers to
pick on you. She's tough enough with one,
ain't it, Tyler? And his father seems to have
been a man who lived a humble life. The best I can tell, his
mother's name is not ever even recorded in scripture. And his early occupation was
that of tending his father's sheep in the uplands of Judah. His first recorded exploits were
with his encounters with the wild beast of the field. He mentions
that with his own unaided hand he slew a lion and a bear when
they came out against his flock. The day he stood before Saul
in order to answer the challenge of the enemy of God, Goliath,
he told Saul, the king, he said, Thy servant kept his father's
sheep, and there came a lion, and there came a bear, and took
a lamb out of the flock. And he said, I went after him.
I went after him, and I smote him, and I delivered him out
of his mouth, delivered the little sheep out of the animal's mouth. And when he arose again against
me, I caught him by his beard and smote him and slew him. And
he said, O king, he said, the servant slew both the lion and
the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine which defies the army
of the living God shall be as one of them. And you know the
rest of the story. He said, the Lord that delivered
me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear,
He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And
you know the rest of the story. One day, while David, in the
time of his youth, was caring for his father's flock, Samuel,
the prophet, paid an unexpected visit to Bethlehem, having been
guided there by divine direction. God sent him there. And he offered
up sacrifice, and he called the elders of Israel and Jesse's
family to the sacrificial meal. And among all who appeared before
him, he failed to discover the one that he sought. Each of his
older brothers, one after the other, came before the prophet,
and after seeing their countenance, some of great stature, fine-looking
young men, After man's eyes, we would have chosen probably
any of the seven and never considered the one whom God chose. And after each one of them walked
before him, the prophet said these words. He said, the Lord
hath not chosen these. That sounds to me like choosing
God's prerogative. choosing as God's doing. And among who all appeared before
him, he failed to see the one that God had called him to see. And the Bible says that Samuel
said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? Is this all of
them? He said God had told him he'd be from the family of Jesse. And Jesse said, Well, there remaineth
yet the youngest, and behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel
said to Jesse, Send and fetch him. Send and fetch him. I like that, don't you? God in
his mercy and grace one day said, David Edmondson, send and fetch
him. Fetching grace. Fetching grace. And he sent and he brought him
in and now he was ruddy, scripture says, and without a beautiful
countenance. And goodly to look on, and the
Lord said, Arise, God said, Arise, anoint him, for this is he."
Just a still young shepherd boy in the fields. God anointed him
king. He would be God's chosen to succeed
Saul, who was departing from the ways of God and on the throne
of the kingdom. And David again went back to
his shepherd life. And the scriptures say that the
Spirit of the Lord came upon David, and from that day forward,
the Spirit of God was upon him. It was obvious to those who were
around him. He was confident and bold in
his Lord and in his Savior. And not long after this, David
was sent to soothe with his harp the troubled spirit of Saul the
king. And he played before the king
so skillfully that Saul was greatly cheered and began to entertain
great affection for the young shepherd boy. And even after this, he went
home to Bethlehem to once again tend his father's sheep. But
he soon came into prominence. You see, the armies of the Philistines
and Israel were in battle in the valley of Elah, some 16 miles
southwest of Bethlehem. So his father sent Jesse with
provisions for his three older brothers who were then fighting
on the side of King Saul. And you're familiar with this
story, and on his arrival in the camp of Israel, David, now
about 20 years old, was made aware of the state of matters
when the champion of the Philistines, Goliath of Goth, came forth to
defy Israel. Every day, this giant of a man
walked out into the valley, and he said, Won't anyone come out
and fight me? This is the deal, if one man
will come out and meet me and defeat me, we'll retreat and
be gone forever. You don't have to beat the whole
army, just beat this champion. And David said, who is this uncircumcised
dog that defiles the army of the living God? And David took
his sling and and with a well-trained aim threw a stone out of the
brook which struck the giant's forehead so that he fell senseless
to the ground. He then rushed upon him and took
his head. And the result was a great victory
for the Israelites who pursued the Philistines. Scripture says
all the way back to the gates of Gath, chased them all the
way home like you would a little dog. Why? Because God was with Israel. God was the champion for his
people. But like every man, the personal
respect for David was sadly lowered by the incident with Bathsheba.
His popularity as king fell to an all-time low, and his own
son plotted against him. Absalom, his son, taking full
advantage of the state of things, gradually gained favor over the
people, and at length openly rebelled against his father and
usurped his throne." You see, David wasn't without trials and
tribulations, even though he's the apple of God's own eye. And God helped me to remember
that the next time I'm in the valley. But David once again was delivered
by God Almighty, and according to the reading in 2 Samuel 18,
Absalom's army was defeated and himself put to death by the hand
of Joab. And yet the tidings of his son's
death, who sought to murder him, kill him, take him from the throne,
put a heavy, heavy trial upon David, filled his heart with
the most horrible grief. He was a loving father. He went
up to the chamber over the gate and wept, and giving utterance
to the heart broken, he cried. And he said, Would God I had
died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son. You think about
that trial. And by God's mercy, peace was
once again restored to Israel, and David returned to Jerusalem
and resumed the direction of the affairs of God Almighty as
king. And he reigned over 40 years
as God's king. And when we come to this portion
of Scripture that you now look at in 2 Samuel 23, This great man now speaks his
last words. I think worthy of our hearing. I think a man who had been so
close to God and had gone through so much, he must have something
wonderful to say on his deathbed. Look at verse 1 again with me.
Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse
said, and the man who was raised up on high, see he came from
humble beginnings as the son of Jesse as just a shepherd boy.
But God raised him up on high. The anointed of the God of Jacob
and the sweet psalmist of Israel of old said, The Spirit of the
Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue." You see, the
psalms and the songs he composed were not the fruits of his own
genius, my friends. but were written by him under
the inspiration of the Spirit of God. And this precious gift,
he says, and his word was in my tongue. This precious gift
was given to holy men of God, the penmen of the scriptures
of the Old Testament, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost,
of whom David was also one, being a prophet. So what are David's
last words? Well, it shouldn't surprise us.
His last words are the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That
shouldn't surprise us, should it? These are the last words
of believers. I've seen it many times with
my own eyes. Men who lay dying in confident
hope that everything was all right. Everything's going to
be all right. I'm going to be plumb well. Why? Because the Lord has laid
down His life for me. And that's what true preachers
preach. They preach the true and living
gospel of Jesus Christ. Now look close with me at verses
3 and 4. It says, "...the God of Israel
said..." Now notice, "...the rock of Israel spake to me, He
that ruleth over men must be just." ruling in the fear of
God. Now, I read many commentators
on this verse, but before I did, before I read any of them, I
believe God showed me the beauty of the gospel in verse 3. And some of the commentators
agreed and some didn't, but that's okay. That's okay. I believe
that here, my friends, we have the God of Israel, God the Father. And He says to His prophet that
the rock of Israel, the Lord Jesus Christ, is He not the rock
of ages? Is that rock that was smitten
that provided water for Israel in the desert, is it not a picture
of our Lord? he talks about setting Moses
upon a rock as a place by me he said and he set him on the
cleft of the rock that's Christ so here God the Father says the
rock of Israel the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to him these words
the rock of Israel said to the God of Israel he that ruleth
over men must be just ruling in the fear of God Now I ask
you plainly No, I guess it's not a question it's
a statement there's only one just man that ever lived One
truly just man and that is our Lord and our Savior In Matthew
28, the Lord spake unto them, saying, He said, All power is
given unto me in heaven and earth. That's everywhere. And all power
is given to Him. How much power? All power. All power. He said in Matthew
11, all things are delivered unto me of my Father. All that
the Father has in sovereign power and omnipotence, omniscience,
He says, my Father's delivered unto me. He that ruleth over
men must be just." Did you hear that? That's what the gospel
proclaims from beginning to end. To be reconciled to God, we must
be just as perfect as God. Just in His sight. Perfectly,
perfectly righteous and holy. Just. ruling in the fear of God. You know, friends, I thought
about this. The gospel is not hard to understand, but it's
impossible to bow to unless God gives you bidding. Most people
can understand what the Scriptures say, but they want no part of
it in their hearts and in their minds. They say, I will not have
this man rule over me. Now, I don't know about you,
but I made a decision. I made a choice. No, you didn't.
No, you didn't. God did. God did the choosing. And he that ruleth over men must
be just. There's only one that fits that
deal. There's only one that matches
that description. And it's the God-man. the Lord
Jesus Christ. Apostle Paul wrote in Romans
to declare, I say at this time, His righteousness. Our righteousness
not worthy of mentioning. It's as filthy rags. But Paul
said, I declare to you His righteousness, that He might be what? Just. He's just. And the justifier
of Him. which believeth in Jesus." David,
the apple of God's eye, was saved by covenant with the Lord Jesus
Christ. Christ is David's just ruler
and also his justifier, the same as with you and I. He's the just
one who rules over us and reigns over us supremely, and yet, at
the same time, He's the justifier. And He says, all that come unto
Me that are heavy laden, come unto Me, I give you rest. The
justifier of His people. And let me add, at no extra cost,
my friends, if you and I will ever be saved, it will be by
the same means in which David was saved, by looking to the
Rock of Israel, the Just One, the Just Ruler, the King of kings,
the Lord of lords, Christ our Lord. Christ is the Lamb slain
before the foundation of the world, told God, the Father,
He knew what was required of Him and by Him. He agreed to
be our Savior before the world was ever spoken, the Lamb slain
before the foundation of the world. But what did He know? Well, He knew He must be just.
He knew in order for man to be reconciled to God and God's law
kept perfectly, that He must fulfill all righteousness for
sinners like you and me. That's our only hope. He voluntarily
laid down His life that you and I might live. He who knew no
sin must be made sin for us, that we might, just like David,
be made the righteousness of God in Him. Now, if God grant
any sinner to see this, it will not be what David saw, Some people
think it has to do with things. Well, I saw that I need to straighten
up and fly right. I saw that I needed to change
some things, that I needed to stop cursing, stop drinking,
stop cussing and chewing and running with those that are doing.
That's what the country preacher said. No, sir. It will not be what David saw
and what you see, but it will be who David saw and who you
see. When you see that in Christ hangs
all the law and the prophets, you'll see what David saw and
what was on his mind at the end of his life. Now look at verse
4. Now you tell me who he's talking about here. I bet you can answer
before we read it. And he shall be as the light
of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without
clouds. Now I'm telling you, there's
nothing more beautiful, there's no more beautiful light than
the light of the morning, when the sun first rises. Many of
you men have been out on the lake as the sun comes up. Oh,
it's so bright. It's so pure. It's so revealing
to that which had lay in darkness. We've spent our times past in
darkness, walking after the course of this world, blinded as others. But when we see Christ, our blind
eyes are opened and we see things in God's light. The light of
His Word. But it doesn't stop there. Christ
shines forth like the light of the morning when the sun rises.
But David says, but even a morning without clouds, how much more
brighter. How much more? Our enlightenment
is without clouds. Our salvation is without works. We are free from the law, oh
happy condition. Jesus has bled and there's remission. There are no distractions, nothing
to get in the way of seeing our Lord. He rises in our hearts
and in our minds and there's the morning light, the rising
sun, even without clouds. The remainder of verse 4 shows
us Christ as the tender grass springing out of the earth by
clear shining after rain. I thought about that. We see
Him as our life. Jesus Christ is our life, and
He's everything we need. The Apostle Paul wrote, but of
Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us. That's the good news I have for
you. He's made unto us wisdom. We have none. Righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. Jesus Christ is all I need. All
I need. All I need. He alone is all my
plea. He is all I need. Next time we
sing them words, you remember this. He's everything. He paid our debt completely,
even to conquering hell, and He springs forth out of the earth
as the green and shining grass with clear shining after the
rain. Now listen, the rain of God's holy and just wrath poured
out on Him with determinate destruction. All the sins of all the people,
all the elect people throughout time were put upon Him. And He drank that cup dry. Did
you hear that? He drank that cup dry. And the reign of justice of God
Almighty stopped, and it was satisfied. And now our Savior
shines with the victory over death and with the keys of hell
in His hands. Oh, this, dear saints of God,
is all your salvation. Christ is all and in all. And
this was David's salvation. These are the things he found
worthy of talking about as he was dying. Now, before I left Friday, I
visited a lady in the hospital who I've known for 20 years.
Faithful. Faithful woman. Loves the gospel. Loves it. And she's had a rough
time lately. And as we sat there talking and
I held her hand, all she talked about was going home to be with
her Lord. That's all she talked about.
She said, I don't want to go back home and be a burden on
my family. She said, I lay here daily. She was in the hospital. She
got to go home. She got shingles. She had to
go back. She came back home. She fell
and broke her foot. Had to go back. And she said,
I lay here praying every day that the Lord would send His
angel and take me home to be with my Lord. And immediately
I thought of this passage. Her prayer was the same as David's. And she echoed the words of the
psalmist in verse 5. She said, although my house be
not so with God. You see, the only thing, Ray,
that was bothering her, she's ready to go. She told me, she
said, don't you cry when I'm gone, you rejoice. She said,
I'm going to be plum well. I'm going to be perfectly holy
and righteous. She said, no more thoughts played
by sin. She said, don't be sad for me. But the only thing that was on
her mind was leaving children who were yet without Christ. And David says, although my house
be not so with God. I'm convinced that's usually
the one thing that believers are worried about at their time
of death. Oh, that my daughter might know
Him. That my son might know Him. But
notice David's words. They're not without hope and
comfort. He said, although my house be not so with God yet. I love those little yets and
buts and therefores of Scripture. He said, Yet He hath made with
me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure. For this is all my salvation,
and it's all my desire. although he make it not to grow. Although David's house was not
so with God, he says, yet God had made with me. If you're ever saved, dear unbeliever,
it's because God has made you to differ. David proclaimed with
utmost assurance that God had made with him an everlasting
covenant. God had determined before the
foundation of the world to do him good. And it's the same with
you, you saints of the Lord. God has crossed his path and
God's crossed your path with the true message of salvation. You know, one day Nathan said
to him, Thou art the man. And you know what? He believed
him. He knew. His heart convicted Him. His mind convicted Him. The Holy
Spirit convicted Him. And He knew that He was that
man. You know the story. God showed
David his desperate need. Has God shown you years? I believe
He has, those of you here. The covenant God made with him
was ordered in all things." Ordered by who? By the very One that
gave it, God Almighty, the Sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. And He showed him it was ordered
in all things by the same One who it was made with, God Almighty.
All things are ordered and sure, He said. We live in a world of
unsure things, dear friends. It used to be a man had a job
at IBM or somewhere. He had a job forever. There's
no sure thing anymore, except there is a sure and a sovereign
God who is surety for His people. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy. And for thy truth's
sake, wherefore should the heathen say, Where now is their God? And David said, Our God is in
the heavens. He's in the heavens. And he hath
done whatsoever he hath pleased. David goes on to sum it up this
way. He says, For this is all my salvation. I find no salvation in anything
else. This is all my salvation. I cannot
earn it. I cannot buy it. I do not deserve
it. And it's only by the grace and
gift of God. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? What do you have that you haven't received? And if
you've received it, how do you glory in it? The Apostle Paul said, I was
once a murderer. I once hated and persecuted and
killed those who believed God. And he said, now I'm a servant
of the Most High God. And he said, the only thing I
can do to explain that is to tell you that by the grace of
God, I am what I am. It's by God's grace if you're
here this morning as a believer, trusting in Christ and in His
merits. It's God's doing. where there
is neither greeting or juice, circumcision or uncircumcision,
barbarian, Scythian, bond or free, and I can throw in rich
and poor, good looking and not good looking, it don't matter.
Christ is all and in all. And if you've yet to bow to Him,
my dear friend, you're in a heap of trouble. Come to Christ. Tell me, Well, He's your all in all. David
said that He is all my salvation. Then he says these words, He's
all my desire, and let me hurry. Paul said, tell me, do you desire
to be under the law? Do you not hear the law? Is your
desire to work your way to heaven? Is your desire to try to appease
God on your doings? He said, you better listen again
to what that law says. That law calls for your death
and your execution. That law calls and says, guilty
as charged. The wages of sin is death. The
law was our schoolmaster. What? To bring us to Christ. To show us our inability of keeping
it. Showing us that it's got to be
kept in our mediator, our substitute. That's the gospel. No, not the
law. Please, not the law. Don't make
me live under the dos that I don't and the don'ts that I do. I'll
never be saved if salvation is left up to me, doing right or
wrong. I'm condemned. I'm in trouble,
if that's the case. Give me what I need, O God. Give
me Christ. He said, Christ is all my desire.
He's all my salvation and He's all my desire. And I tell you,
once a man sees his disease, his desire will always be the
same. You know what it will be? The
cure. Every time. No matter what kind
of disease you've got, his desire is the cure for his disease.
What will he desire more than anything else in life or in death? The cure. The great physician
is here today. He's still in the business of
saving sinners until he wraps the four corners of this world
up. As long as there's one gospel preacher still standing and proclaiming,
God's still got some sheep to bring into the fold. And once
he does, it's done. It's finished. My salvation is safe and secure
in my surety. Now let me say this, I've gone
too long, but the last words of this verse says, although
he make it not to grow. Now I've read that for years
and I never truly understood what it meant. I think God's
given me some understanding of it. It's a word of encouragement. Although he make it not to grow,
how's that encouragement? Let me tell you, even though
right now there may not be at present any growth of my outward
faithfulness, any much seeing of my inward grace, even though
I'm not what I once was, I'm still not what I should be. It's alright. Because God has
made with me an everlasting covenant, not dependent upon what I do
and don't do. Not dependent upon my faithfulness,
but dependent upon His. It's 100% dependent on my Lord
and my Savior's faithfulness and His righteousness. And that's
why I beg you as your pastor, don't ever put a man up on a
pedestal. He's as like-fashioned as you.
And a true preacher of God is going to point you to him. Don't
look at me. Even though he make it not to
grow, it doesn't have anything to do with it. God has made with
me an everlasting covenant. It's ordered, it's sure, and
it's all my salvation, it's all my desire, and my promise from
God is the Lord Jesus Christ, The Righteous. That's the promise
that He's given me. Amen.