Verse one. 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, this one
who rules over men and who is 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 the tender grass springing
out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Let's pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in Christ's name, and we ask that you would be pleased to make Yourself known to us
through the preaching of the Gospel. For Christ's sake, O that we
might be found in Him. Lord, forgive us of our many
sins and cleanse us and enable us to be followers of Thy dear
Son. We pray for our nation. We pray
for those of our number that are sick, that You would Use
the sickness for your glory and their good and heal them according
to your will. Lord, give us grace to love you
more and to love one another more. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Now every time that I've ever
dealt with the last words of David, I've always gone straight
to verse 5. That is I don't have a more favorite
scripture than verse five, although my house be not so with God,
yet hath he made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things
insure. And this is all my salvation
and all my desire. I love that verse of scripture.
So every time I've dealt with the last words of David, I've
gone straight to verse five and I've never dealt with these first
four verses. Now, these are the last words
of David and how important they are. Last words mean so much
and this is his final testimony. So we know that this, what he
is saying is just infinite importance. These are his dying words. Now
he doesn't die for a while, but this is the way God, the Holy
Spirit inspires him to speak. So we'll know these are his dying
words. This is his last testimony to
us. Verse one, now these be the last
words of David. David, the son of Jesse. Now I think this is neat. Neat,
that's, I don't know what other word to use. He doesn't speak
of himself as the king. He uses his name as the son of
Jesse, the shepherd boy. David, the son of Jesse. What name is going to be exalted? Jesus. at the name of Jesus,
His name of humiliation, His name of His incarnation, Jesus,
Jesus of Nazareth. That's the name that everybody's
going to bow before. David, the son of Jesse. And the man who was raised up
on high, Now David became the most powerful man in the world
from a military standpoint. At this time, Israel was the
most powerful nation in the world. The scripture actually says the
fear of David. fell on every nation. They knew this is somebody you
don't want to mess with. This is David. This is the man
that God has anointed. And at this time, David was the
most powerful man alive. He was the one God raised on
high. But you know what this is referring
to. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. How he was raised. And what a high position he has,
seated at the right hand of the Father. David is such a type
of Christ, and we see this here so clearly. David, the man that
God raised up on high. The anointed of the God of Jacob. The anointed. Now that is also
translated the Messiah. The Messiah. The Greek word is
the Christ. God's anointed Messiah. David was anointed as a king,
and he was a prophet. Acts 2 says he was, but he wasn't
a priest, was he? He couldn't offer up a sacrifice.
Samuel was anointed by God as a prophet and a priest, but Samuel
wasn't a king. Saul tried to be all three things. He tried to be prophet, priest,
and king, and God killed him for it. Prophet, priest, and
king. There's only one who that description
fits. And who's that? The Lord Jesus
Christ. He's God's prophet. He is the
Word of God. When God speaks, what is the
word that comes out of His mouth? This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. He's God's priest. If any man sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He's God's priest.
If he represents me, if he prays for me, all is well. He's God's
king. He's the one who rules and reigns
and completely controls everything. And I tell you what, I need him
as my prophet to bring me the word of God. I need him as my
priest to represent me before God. And I need him as my king,
whose will is always done to cause me to do his will and to
cause me to look to his son. Oh, how we need him as prophet,
priest, and king. Now he says, David, the son of
Jesse, his name is a shepherd, The one God raised on high, God's
anointed, the God of Jacob, the anointed of the God of Jacob.
I'm glad God's the God of Jacob, aren't you? That means he's the
God of Todd. That's what that means, Jacob.
I think it's interesting how, particularly in the book of Isaiah,
in the same verse, he'll call Jacob and Israel. Jacob, my name
in the flesh. Israel, my name in the gospel.
Jacob, my name in the flesh. Heal, supplanter, deceiver. Israel, prince with God. Ever-believers, both of those.
But God has called the God of Jacob more than any other title
in the Bible. The God of Jacob. And then he
says, the sweet psalmist of Israel. What a name for the Lord Jesus
Christ. for David, the sweet psalmist
of Israel. Now, I love the psalms. You know why I love the psalms?
The closest I ever come to prayer is when I read a psalm and that
psalm is mine. That's the closest I've ever
come to true prayer. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to
thy loving kindness, according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies. Blot out my transgressions. Wash
me throughly from my sin. Cleanse me from my iniquity.
I acknowledge my transgressions. My sin is ever before me. Against
thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight,
that thou mightest be justified when you speak and clear when
you judge. You read that, that's the very
language of your heart. The praises of the psalm, the
confessions of the psalms. He is the sweet psalmist of Israel,
and David, and it's the Lord Jesus speaking, speaks in such
a way as we can enter in more than any other way. I love the psalms, read the psalms.
Make that your intention. Even this week, begin to read
the Psalms. David is the sweet psalmist of
Israel, and you will find the feelings of your heart expressed
in the Psalms more than anywhere else. That's why he's called
the sweet psalmist of Israel. Verse 2. The Spirit of the Lord spake
by me. Now, well, let's go on reading. 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. Now, before I get back to what
verse 2 means, I want us to notice that the Trinity is mentioned
here. The Spirit of God the God of Israel, the Father,
and the Rock, the Lord Jesus Christ. When he's speaking, he
speaks of all three persons of the Blessed Trinity. Now, don't
ever forget this. God is one God in three persons,
and all three persons have their work in salvation, the work of
the Father to elect, to choose me freely. the work of the Son
to redeem me and put away all my sins, and the work of the
Spirit to give me spiritual life, regeneration." He speaks of all
three persons of the Trinity, and that's the message of the
Bible. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit, and all their work in salvation. Now, notice in verse 2, "...the
Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue."
Now this is speaking of the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures. Aren't you thankful that God
gave us a book that He inspired that tells us the truth concerning
Him? What are we here for? We're here
to find out what this book says regarding God. and His Son and
His Spirit and how He saves sinners by His grace. That's why we're
here. We want to hear what the book says. And David says, the
Spirit of the Lord spake by me. Everything in this book is inspired,
all Scripture. is given by inspiration of God,
and is profitable for doctrine, for correction, for reproof,
for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect,
thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Now, here's what
he says in verse 3. 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. Now, this has been used I don't
know how many times in political campaigns. You know, we need
a just ruler. We need a ruler that fears God.
We need a president that fits this description. And this has
been used in countries for centuries. The king needs to be just, and
he needs to rule in the fear of God. And who would disagree
with that? Wouldn't you like our rulers to be just, absolutely
just men, people who feared God and ruled in the fear of God? I mean, I'd like to have that
for all of our political leaders. How many of them are like that? I'm not real sure we have any
political leaders who actually rule in the fear of God and who
are just. Now, I'd like to have that. But
this is talking about one person. This is talking about the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's the one who reigns over
men. Nobody else does. He reigns over
men. I love thinking about this. Believers
and unbelievers, he's in control of everybody. He's in control
of unbelievers. All they do is do his bidding
and do his will. He's in control of believers.
He truly reigns over men. Thou has given him, he said in
his great high priestly prayer, Thou has given him power over
all flesh. Everybody's in his hand. Don't you love that? You know,
when you believe that, you're not worried about anything. You're
not fearing anything. He reigns. He reigns. Our problem is most of the time
we forget that. Every time you worry, you're not thinking He's
reigning. Every time. I know that by experience. Every
time. You forgot. I forgot. He reigns. He rules.
He's in control. His will is being done. Now,
He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of
God. He must be just. That's the Lord,
isn't it? He is that just one. Remember when Ann and I said
to Paul on the road to Damascus, the God of our fathers hath chosen
thee that you should know his will and see that just one. I like saying this. There's just
one, just one. Amen? There's just one, just
one. And this just one, has made a
way for God to be just and justify an ungodly sinner like me in
a way that's consistent with His justice so that there's just
Lot. Remember how Peter calls Lot
who we wouldn't call just? What does Peter call Lot? Just
Lot. That righteous man. His righteous
soul. That's what this just one has
done. This just one. He's made a way for God to be
just and justify sinners like me and you. Aren't you thankful
for that, this just one? And you know, ruling in the fear
of God. Now this tells us something about
what the fear of God is. It's not a slavish fear because
Christ Jesus feared His Father. He was heard in that He feared. The book of Hebrews says he was
heard and that he feared the fear of God is not some kind
of slavish Oh, I've messed up and he's gonna squash me now.
He's gonna make me sick. He's gonna take something away
from me He's gonna punish me because I've sinned against him.
Oh, you know that that's not the fear of God Every time we
feel that way write this down. That's not the fear of God the
fear of God is that reverence for him that the Son had. Oh, how He reverenced His Father. That's the fear of God. You look
at the way the Lord Jesus Christ feared His Father. It wasn't
a fear of slavish dread. It was the fear of reverence
and respect and love. The ruler of men He that reigneth
over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. Now look
what verse four says. And he, this one who is just,
this one who rules in the fear of God, and he shall be as the
light of the morning when the sun rises. Even a morning without
clouds. Now, this can only describe one
person. Who's the only one without clouds?
I mean, you look at any person, there's plenty of clouds that
darken the view. And you can't really see clearly
what is all there, can you? You can't see clearly regarding
yourself. Every man is filled with clouds that block the view
that you can't really see, but not the Lord Jesus Christ. And
he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth,
even a morning without clouds, as the tender grass springing
out of the earth by clear shining after rain." Now there's two
things that are brought out about the Lord Jesus Christ in that
verse of Scripture. He's light. He's light. And He's life. That tender blade of grass coming
out that comes as a result of the rain falling down and the
light shining upon it. He's light and he is life. As John said, in him was life
and the life was the light of men. Now I want us to think about
the Lord Jesus Christ being light. John 8, 12, he said, I am the
light of the world. And that was said in connection
with that woman who was taken in adultery in the very act. There wasn't any question about
her guiltiness. She was taken in adultery in
the very act. And the Pharisees, I think they
had this set up. And I think you see what these
men were made of when they brought the woman and they didn't bring
the man. The man was just as guilty as the woman and they
just let him go. And they brought this woman before
the Lord and said, this woman was taken in adultery in the
very act. Now Moses in the law said that such should be stoned.
What do you say? And they thought they had the
Lord in a predicament. If he says stoner, we'll say,
well, where's your mercy? You talk about being the friend
of sinners. Show us. And if he says, let
her go, where's your respect for the law? The law says stone
her. They thought they had the Lord
in a predicament that he could not get out of. What did the
Lord do? He stooped down on the ground
and wrote in the sand. I kind of feel like I know what
he's writing. Because there's two times the finger of God wrote
something. The first time was the law. Thou
shalt not commit adultery. And the second time was the writing
on the wall. You are weighed in the balances
and found wanting. They kept at him, and he got
up and said to him, he that's without sin among you. And I
think he's talking about this sin, this particular sin. He that's without sin among you,
throw the first stone. Go on, throw the first stone.
And they being convicted by their own consciences, the scripture
says. Not the Holy Spirit, but their own consciences. They knew
what hypocrites they were. They knew that they were guilty
of this. They began to move away. And that woman was left with
the Lord. And he said, woman, where are
those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She
said, no man, Lord. He said, neither do I condemn
thee. Go and sin no more. Now, the next verse is, I am
the light of the world. I am the light as to how this
woman who is guilty could not be condemned. I'm the light as
to how all of that takes place. That's light, isn't it? The light,
I know, I've got light as to how God can love me and embrace
me and not condemn me and see me as without sin. Because Christ
put away my sin and gave me his perfect righteousness and now
I stand before God not guilty, sinless. Nothing to be ashamed
of, nothing to be condemned for. Christ is the light of how that
takes place. He's the light and you know He's
the light without any clouds. God is light and in Him is no
darkness at all. He's the light and He is the
life. That tender blade of grass that
comes out of the ground after the sun has shined on it, after
the rain comes down, and life is produced from that. Now, here's
what I love thinking about. Christ is my life. Now, he's my life in the sense
that My life is simply being found
in Him. He's my life, and I want to live for Him. I want to live
for His glory. I want to be His disciples, His
disciple. But more than anything else,
this is what this means. When my name is called on Judgment
Day, what about your life? What about
your personal life? Read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John. That's my life. His perfect life is my life. That's what I'm gonna be judged
by. I'm gonna be brought into judgment,
and God's gonna look at me, and He's gonna say, He's perfect. The life of the Lord Jesus Christ
is my life before God. Paul put it this way, I live,
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life that I now
live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who
loved me and gave himself for me. Now my life, my personal
life, is His life. Turn with me to Revelation chapter
19. Verse 7, Let us be glad, and
rejoice, and give honor to him. For the marriage of the Lamb
is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. Now, how'd she
make herself ready? His wife is every believer. It's
the church, the bride of Christ. How'd she make herself ready?
Well, here's how she made herself ready. And to her was granted. Freely given is what the word
means. Graciously given. A gift of grace. To her was granted that she should
be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen
is the righteousness of saints. Now what I think is amazing is
most people, most preachers, when they See that they said,
now this is the righteousness of the saints. This is what they
have been enabled to do by the grace of God. This is the good
works of the saints. This is the righteous deeds of
the saints. Well, what is the righteousness
of the saints? The life of Jesus Christ. This is the righteousness of
the saints. The life, the perfect life Christ
said, I am the life. I'm the way, the truth, and the
life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. The righteousness of the saints
is the life of Jesus Christ. He is our life. That's why I
don't fear judgment. Now, if I thought I was going
to be judged according to my preaching, or according to my personal obedience
here on earth, or my character, or my conduct, or anything like
that. If I thought I was going to be judged in any way, to any
degree, based upon anything I've done, I'd have no hope. I don't
want to stand before God like that. You know, when people talk
about... I don't know of anything more
annoying to me. and disgusting to me than people talking about
believers getting rewards in heaven. You know, like one's
going to have a higher reward than the other because of their
personal obedience here on earth. Do you really think you deserve
anything like that? Really? Come on now. Really? You're deceived. That's all I can say. Somebody
believes something like that, they're plumb deceived. My life, the only life
I want to stand before judgment is His life is my life. That
is the righteousness. of the saints. And oh how we
see light and life in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that will set
us up to next week, verse 5, Although my house be not so with
God, yet hath He made with me an everlasting covenant. Okay.