Now I want you to turn with me
to the book of 2 Samuel. Turn to the book of 2 Samuel,
and I'm much prayerful and desiring of God that when I get
through with this message, that this passage of scripture will
mean more to you than it's ever meant before. 2 Samuel chapter
23. Now there was much activity and
much anxiety in the palace at Jerusalem. Messengers were rushing
here and There was a silence over the
city. People spoke in hushed tones,
both in the palace and in the city. A great event was taking place.
David was dying. It says in verse 1 of 2 Samuel
23, now these be the last words of David. David was the son of Jesse. When
they talked about the Messiah, they said he would be a root
out of Jesse. Jesse's son, David. That's who
we're talking about. We're talking about, it says,
the man who was raised up on high. The man whom God used to conquer
all those enemy nations. the man who fought the battles,
the man who brought the twelve tribes and the two tribes together,
the ten tribes and the two tribes, the man who knew the highest
claim, man of great power, God's king. And then it said this man
David who was dying was the anointed of the God of Jacob. But God
has specially chosen him and anointed him to be king of Israel,
to be the type of Christ Jesus, the king. Moses was the prophet
who pictured Christ. Melchizedek was the priest who
pictured Christ, our priest. But David was the king who set
forth our king, the Lord Jesus. That's who was dying. And then
said not only that, but the sweet sweet psalmist of Israel, David,
the tender, gentle, gracious psalmist of Israel, the sweet
singer of Israel. He wrote, The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want. He wrote, Blessed is the man
that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly. He wrote, I will
lift up mine eyes unto the hills from which cometh my help. Is
any wonder that the palace was anxious and troubled. Any wonder that the whole city
lay under a cloud of mourning and sorrow, and people whispered
to one another in hushed tones. David was dying. David was dying. The Spirit of God, you see in
verse 2, the Spirit of God spake by David. The Word of God was
in his tongue. For all these years that David
had been over them, ruling them, God had spoke to them through
David. The Word of God was on the tongue
of David, and everybody knew that. They knew he was sent of
God, anointed of God, and inspired of God, and when David spoke,
God spoke. These people knew that. And they
wanted to hear him say something else before he left. That's what
they wanted to hear. I just know that dying words
are significant. I know when I read about these
old Puritans and preachers of old, somebody always comes up
with the last sermon they preached. I remember hearing the last message
Brother Barnard preached. I was very anxious to hear the
last message he preached. I played on my tape recorder
and shared with you, some of you, the last message Brother
Griswold preached. I wanted to hear that message
he preached on Wednesday night before he died on Saturday. I'm
just concerned to hear what the man has to say before he leaves
here. And they were concerned to hear what David had to say.
And more concerned because they knew God spoke through David.
I'm sure they were saying to him and to themselves and to
those, leave us a word. Leave us a word. Leave us something
to talk about. Leave us something to remember. One more word. They were standing
by the door there where David was lying upon his dying bed,
and they were around his bed and in the doorway and down the
hall and out in the palace courtyard and all. What's David saying? What's David saying? And much like Paul's last words,
you remember Paul from the prison wrote to Timothy, and he said,
I fought a good fight. The time of my departure, death,
is at hand, but I fought a good fight, and I kept the faith.
Paul said that. And listen to what David said
in verse 3. And this is God, the Spirit of God spake by me,
and his word was in my tongue. And the God of Israel said, The
rock of Israel spake to me. He that ruleth over men," and
what he's saying there is, be thou ruler over men. You're my
ruler, David. Be my ruler over men. And rule
justly. Be thou ruler over men, and you
must rule justly, fairly, wisely, and in the fear of God. That's
the way to rule. And that's the way David had
ruled. He had ruled fairly and wisely and justly, and he had
ruled in the fear of the Lord. And he said to me that the man
that rules over men in the fear of God justly and wisely, he
will be as the light of the morning. Darkness endureth for the night,
light cometh in the morning, joy in the morning. I wait for
those who watch for the morning. I wait and I watch. for the morning
light. He said, that's what a just man
ruling in the fear of the Lord is like to the people, like sunshine
coming up in the morning. He is like a morning without
clouds, a clear, beautiful morning. He's like tender grass. What's
tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after
the rain to a bunch of sheep? Oh, I tell you that's good. And that's what David said. He
said, God told me to rule over Israel, to rule justly and rule
in the fear of God. And if you can rule justly and
in the fear of God, you'll be to those people like the morning
sunshine, like a clear spring day, like tender grass growing
up after a refreshing rain. And everything was quiet. And
David sighed. David sighed. And he said, verse
five, although my house be not so with God. And I tried to, as I thought
about this message, I tried to, I tried to live what David was
living at this moment. Life is over, death is on the
horizon. These were his final words, going
out to be with God. And I believe he looked around
him, and he looked at those that were standing in the room, and
he saw Joab, but Absalom wasn't there. And he saw another of his captains
and lieutenants and faithful friends, but Amnon, his son,
wasn't there. And others, his brothers, were
not there. a number who had been so close
to him through life were not there. And that's when he sighed,
and he said, although it be not so with my house. And I believe he might have thought
back to when all this started. I think he might have thought
back to when he was a boy, and his daddy came to him one day
and he said, he said, David, some of you daddies have done
this, When you want to break some bad news to a boy, you know,
you put your arm around his shoulder and say, David, son, you know
how much I think of you. I just think the world of you,
David. And David was one of, what, seven
sons? Six others. He said, but son,
he said, the prophet Samuel is coming
down to our place tomorrow. And he said, he's going to anoint
one of my sons to be a very special person in the kingdom of God.
And as much as I love you and as much as I think of you as
highly esteemed as you are, it won't be you. Now that just stands
to reason. Mr. Samuel's not going to pick
you. So David, why don't you, son, go out Take care of the
sheep. Why don't you do that? And that'll
make it up to you some way, you know. You're going to miss out
on the dinner, and you're going to miss out on all these things,
seeing Mr. Samuel. But there'll be another
day." So David went up on the hillside to take care of his
sheep. I think he was thinking about
this. And he sat down on a rock, and he played a guitar, a lute
they called it. He sat there and played his guitar
and sang, watched his sheep, and once in a while he'd raise
up and look down at the house, see what was going on, you know.
There was a big hullabaloo going on down there. People from everywhere
were there, everybody but him. But he didn't mind. He was content.
He was happy. David was a hunter. David was
an individualist. David was a A man who knew God,
walked with God, loved God. He was a man after God's own
heart. And he was content with what he had and where he was.
He went home and played his guitar, singing some sweet song. And
he looked, coming up the hill after a while was a messenger.
And he watched him come up the hill, and he said, what do you
want? He said, your dad sent for you. My father wants me? Yes, sir.
said, if you come on down to the house, who's going to take
care of my sheep? I'm sure David wouldn't leave his sheep. That's
what made him what he was, you know, principal guy. He said,
I'll watch the sheep, you go on down to the house. So David
got up, he's just a young man, and he went down to the house.
I know he wasn't dressed for this occasion, but he went down
to the house and he came to the door and he walked in. and stood
in the door, and everybody was looking at him like you're looking
at me. And I'm sure he thought, Charlie,
what's going on here? Because you know his dad said,
they won't choose you, and his brother said, they won't choose
you, and everybody said, they won't choose you, God won't choose
you. It'll be one of us. But my friend,
when he stood in that door, God said, Samuel, there's my man. arise and anoint Him. Men look
on the outward countenance, God looks on the heart. God wouldn't
choose you, would He? Yes, He would. Yes, He would. Yes, He would. David, I'm sure
David said, I neither thought it, sought it, or bought it.
But that's when all this started, when he stood in that door, and
Samuel said, Come here, son, and kneel. And David kneeled
in front of all those people, and Samuel took the oil and anointed
him king of Israel, God's king. Think about it. But you know,
God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise. God hath chosen the base things
to bring to nothing the things that are, yeah, the despised
hath God chosen. Yea, and the things that are
not, the things that men won't have, you go watch the sheep,
we'll play God. We'll play church. But probably
God's out there with the sheep. Men play God, play church. Well,
David believed God, and he was true to the king. And they had another incident. I know he was lying there thinking
about this, too. You see, this anointing by Samuel
stirred up a lot of jealousy in that household. His dad was
wrong, and dads don't like to be wrong. And his brothers weren't
chosen, and brothers don't like to be bypassed for younger brothers.
No, they don't. Jacob's, Joseph's brothers proved
that. They don't like this thing of
being God choosing the kid. And so they had a giant to challenge
Israel, and David went out there, and you know what his brother
said to him? Let me read you this. You don't need to turn
to him. Let me read. He went out there, and In 1 Samuel 17,
his brothers met him when he came out there to see about this
confrontation that was happening with this giant. And he listened
to this older brother. The oldest brother, Elab, spoke
to David, and his anger was kindled against David. And he said, What
did you come down here for? What did you come down here for?
And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness?
Who's watching you? You, sheep, he said. What about, I know your pride,
he said to David, I know your pride, I know your haughtiness
of heart. Have you come down to see the
battle? And David said, what I, what have I now done? Is there not a cause? And he
slew the giant. But that didn't win him any popularity
with his brothers. and his family, his house. A
man's enemies shall be those of his own household. Did you
know that? A prophet is not without honor except where? In his own
house, in his own country. That's what David, lying here
on his deathbed, sighs and says, although my house be not so with
God. Well, it wasn't long until Some
of this popularity with other people arose in David. Saul just
kicked him out of the kingdom. He just ran him clear out of
the kingdom. He was going to kill him. He got a handful of men to follow
him, and David went out and lived in caves and on the mountains
and in the plains, and just ate what he could eat and live like
he could live. And it just seemed like everybody
was against him. He knew God's hand was on him. He knew God had called him and
anointed him. He knew the living God, but here
he is out here again, out here again sitting on another rock
out in the middle of the wilderness. These men sitting around looking
at him for leadership, and Saul was hunting him everywhere, and
armies were hunting him to kill him, and he's sitting there trouble
of soul, One of the men turned to him and said, David, where's
your God? Where's God? You heard from God lately? You
know they did. Where's God? David said, Our
God's in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he pleased.
What I'm pointing out to you is this. Here, this man is son
of Jesse. The man who was raised on high,
man after God's own heart, man anointed of God, the sweet psalmist
of Israel, who's sighing in his soul, although my house be not
so with God. And then he finally became king,
and he was so gracious, he brought the ark back to Israel, back
to Jerusalem, he set up the worship of the Lord, he served humbly
and truthfully, He served justly, and he served wisely in the fear
of the Lord, and he's sitting one day in his throne room, and
a messenger came in and said, I know he's thinking about this,
David, your son Amnon has violated his
sister, raped his own sister, and your son Absalom killed him. One son has violated a sister,
and the other son has murdered him. My God, David, my God, what
in the world is happening to my house? And they brought Absalom before
him, and David had to sentence his
son, his own son, to exile. And he told Absalom to get out
of his sight and not come back. Now, you think about that. And
he said in 2 Samuel 13, David mourned for his son every day. Every day. Well, finally, after
three years, he brought him back. You see why he's sighing, don't
you? Although my house be not so with God. He finally brought
him back. And he was so happy he was back,
and Absalom seemed to be happy to be back in the good graces
of the king. But you know what Absalom was
doing all this time? This son of David, he was sitting
out there at the gate, and when people would come to see David,
he'd stop them. At the gate of the city. And
it's the king's son. The king's beloved son. And people
would stop and talk to him. He'd say, you going to see the
king? Yes, I'm going to see the king.
Well, he doesn't have time for you. He's got other things on
his mind. You talk to me. I'll help you. And you know, he sat out there
at the gate of the city and won the hearts of that city. And he organized an army and
ran his father out of the kingdom. You see why he sighs? Oh, Lord,
be not so with mine. And Absalom took over, and David,
with a hundred men and women left the kingdom. And he was
out there a long time until Absalom was killed. Until Absalom was
killed. And then they brought him news
that Absalom was dead. And David, this is one of the
saddest cries in all the Word of God, he stood one day and
he just raised his hands to heaven and he said, Oh, Absalom, my
son, would God I had died for you. good God, I have died for
you. Even after all this trouble you've
caused me, the broken hearts you've given me, good God, I've
died for you." Now death is upon him, and he's
lying there dying, and he's sighing before God. His mind and thoughts
are going back over all these years, every happening, every
event And he says, my house is not so with God. My friends,
my family, those who mean a great deal to me are just not right
with God. But secondly, listen to what
he said, yet, yet, and his voice takes on a ring of thanksgiving
and praise. My house, he sighed, although
my house be not so with God. Yet, yet he hath made with me
an everlasting covenant." You know, David knew something about
a covenant. David knew something about a covenant. David had a
friend. His name was Jonathan, the son
of Saul. They were friends. They were
brothers. They loved each other. Jonathan
admired and respected David, and David admired and respected
Jonathan. They were just, their hearts
were knit together in God, in faith. They were friends in time
of adversity and trouble. They stood together. And they
went out in the field one day, and Jonathan said to David, I'm
Saul's son. I'm in line for the throne if
something happens to my father. But you're going to be king,
David, not me. Because God's already anointed you king of
Israel. And the only way for you to be king is for me to be
killed. Jonathan knew that. There's another broken heart
for David. In order for David... See, God
moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform. In order
for David to be king, his best friend got knocked out. That's
right, he's got to die. If God does it, it's right. He
doesn't give any answers to men for what he does, but John's
got to die. And John said, now, David, I don't have a family
now. These are just young men now.
But he said, someday, I'm going to have a son, a family. Now,
I want you to promise me, because I'm going to be dead, and you're
going to be king. Now, I want you to promise me right now.
Make a covenant with me. But you'll be kind to my son."
And David took Jonathan to the hanging. And he said, I promise. This poor little bittersweet
was never that one. I promise, he said. You have my word. I'll be kind to your son. Well,
when David became king, right after he became king, years went
by. Jonathan was dead, but David never forgot that covenant. Never forgot it. It was stamped
on his heart. And when David became king, and
all the dust was settled down, and the throne was settled and
sure, and David was on that throne, the crown was on his head, he
said, now, is there any of the house of Saul and Jonathan still
living? And a servant said, well, he
said, Jonathan, there's that magic word, has a son, but he
ain't much. He's not much. David said, where
is he? Well, he's in the Lodibar, the
place of no pasture, no bread. And another thing about him,
David, is that he's a cripple. He's lame through the balls.
You see, when the news came out of Jezreel about Jonathan and
Saul, his nurse grabbed him up to run, and he fell and crushed
both of his legs. He's never walked. He's a cripple. He's a beggar. He's a dirty,
ragged bum, is what he is. And he's in the place of no bread.
David said, go fetch him. Go fetch him. And I want to tell
you this. Those are the orders that came
from heaven in regard to you, Mike, Cecil, Gary, one day. Adam's got a son, lame through
the fall, son of Adam, who's never walked in the house of
no bread. But he belongs to Christ. God
said to the Holy Spirit, go fetch him. And they went down there
and they brought old Bephibosheth up. Oh, he must have been a sight,
you know. He just, he was a fugitive. Fugitive. And they brought him
up there, and here's the splendor and glitter and glamour of David's
throne, and they cast him down in front of David on the floor
there, crippled, laying there on the, sitting on the floor,
you know, his little legs shriveled up, never walked. And David said,
Bephibosheth? you're going to be my son, sit
at my table, eat my food." But do you know what David was seeing
when he was looking at Mephibosheth? He's seeing Jonathan. That's
who he was seeing. I bet you David went to Barnaby
and said, he sure looked like your dad. He's never seen him
since he's born. You look like your dad. And David, David saw Jonathan. And I'll tell you, when Christ
When God deals with us, he sees Christ. He sees Christ. This man, Mephibosheth, was in
David's presence for Jonathan's sake, because of Jonathan, on
the basis of David's covenant with Jonathan, and you and I,
as helpless, lame beggars from the house of no-braver, are in
God's presence only because of the Lord Jesus Christ and a covenant
which God made with Christ everlastingly. That's it, four weeks born. I don't think I ever told you
all this story, but my brother had a son. My brother's first
marriage had a son, John III. My dad was John Carey No. 1, my brother was John Carey
Jr., and this son was John Carey III. He was born in 1940. six or seven, seven I guess.
And my brother and his wife were
divorced just when the boy was, I guess, two years old or something
like that. And my brother never saw this
boy again. The in-laws took him, changed his name, took him away. I never saw him again until he
was 21 years old. That's 19 years. Never saw him,
didn't know where he was, anything about him. Didn't hear from him. My brother was in the Army. He
was a career officer. He was in Germany. One day I
was sitting in Doris's mother and father's living room in Birmingham
in 1968, 21 years later. And there's a knock at the door,
and somebody went to the door, and this young man walked in.
And he opened that door. You remember this diocese, and
I thought, that's my brother's boy. He walked like him, he talked
like him, he looked like him. It was like a reincarnation of
my brother standing in that door. I hadn't seen that kid since
he was two years old. And he stood in the door, and
he said, uh, Uncle Henry? I said, yes, sir. I knew who
you were. He said, I'm looking for my dad. I'd like to get in
touch with my dad. I'd like to come to know him
again. But you know, when David brought Mephibosheth there, that's
Jonathan's boy. And I'm telling you, this is
what this covenant of grace is all about. We are sons of the
king. We're his sons. May be lost sheep,
but we're sheep. May be lost sons, but we're sons.
We're his. And that's what David's saying
here. These are his last words. Although it be not so with my
house. It's been so many tears and trials
and troubles and tribulations, but God's made with me a covenant.
God's made with me a covenant. Yes, sir, grace first contrived
the way to save this rebellious man. And all the steps that grace
displays drew that wondrous plan. Grace wrote my name in God's
eternal book. Grace gave me to Christ, who
all my sorrows took. Grace taught my heart to pray
and made my eyes overflow. It's grace that kept me to this
day, and grace will not let me go. That's my comfort. That was
David's comfort, God's covenant. Notice he said this, he said,
he made with me the covenant. I didn't make it, he made it.
It wasn't a man's covenant, it was God's covenant. He made it
with me. Now watch this. This is interesting. He's thinking
of something here. Ordered in all things and sure. This covenant that God's made,
this covenant, that assures my redemption. You see, when David
brought Mephibosheth up here before him, he made that covenant
with Jonathan. I'll show mercy to your son.
He didn't require one thing of Mephibosheth. Not one thing. He sent and fetched him, brought
him up there, and he said, Mephibosheth, you're going to sit at my table,
eat my food, be my son. That's it. He didn't say if,
perhaps, maybe, depending on how you act. No, sir, said you
here, by my grace. Now this is what David's saying
about this covenant God made with him. You know, David knew
something about anger. David wasn't always a choir boy. One time when David was out there
in exile, he had defended the farmers around there. He'd used
his army to help them. And this fellow Nabal, this fellow
Nabal, This fellow lived down there from where David was hiding
out. David had protected his shepherds and his sheep. He fought
for him. He called his men one day and
said, We just don't have any provisions, anything to eat. Go down to this fellow Nabal's
house and tell him to send us some food. Tell him how we defended
his property and run the thieves off and the robbers off and defended
his shepherds. and tell him to send us some
bread, and some raisins, and some wine, and something to eat.
Well, they went down there, and old David was waiting on them
to come back, and they came back, and they had kind of a sad look
on their faces. And David said, What's the problem?
Said, Mabel wouldn't give us any food. He said he wouldn't. No. In fact, he called you a
rebel, David. He said that he didn't have to
feed all the rebels running from the king around here. David got
up and said, did he say that? He's mad. He shook himself, and
he strapped on that sword. And he said, every one of you,
put on your sword. We're going to visit Mr. Naples.
And he said, when we get down there, kill everything. Don't
leave anything alive. that pisseth against the wall,
ever male child, kill him from one month to one hundred. This
is David talking. He's mad. And he got on his horse
and headed to Mr. Nable's house with a full intention
of murdering ever male on that whole property. Doesn't sound
like I lift up mine eyes to the hills, does it? Whoo! But God stopped him. God sent
him a messenger, a dear woman by the name of Abigail, Nabal's
wife. She met David on the way and
said, I know where you're going, I know what you're going to do.
But she said, you're wrong. You're wrong. My husband's a
fool. Let God deal with him. David,
don't avenge yourself. Let God deal with him. God wills. And David stopped and said, thank
you. But I know where he was headed. David knew something
about lust when he took this other man's wife and then had
him killed. David knew something about pride. Do you know one
day he called Joab in and he said, how many chariots and horsemen
and captains and men do I have? Joab said, well, I don't know,
David. He said, the Lord knows how many people he had. We're
like them boards on the wall that tell us how many we got,
you know, records. David said, go count them. Joab
said, I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't do that. God forbids
that, David. It's pride that's leading you
to do this. You want to brag. You got a bigger army than the
next. David said, I said, go count them. And Joab did. And God came to David and he
said, well, I'll let you have a choice. He said, I'll turn
you over to the hands of the enemy. Or I'll do this, or I'll
deal with you myself. David said, deal with us yourself.
And God killed 70,000 men because David did that. Let me show you
another scripture about David, 2 Samuel 19. This is when Joab
rebuked him, I guess as much as David was ever rebuked. But
what I'm showing you is this. As David lay there on that bed, And he sighed and he said, Be
not so with my house, yet God hath made with me a covenant,
a covenant of grace and mercy in Christ. And that covenant
is ordered in all things. It's a righteousness given to
me that I don't have to produce. It's a justification accomplished
for me that I don't have to work out. It's ordered in everything. The covenant is sure, it's certain,
and it's finished. It's by the work of another,
not by my work. And I'm showing you how David,
though he loved God, and loved the fellowship of God, loved
the word of God, the law of God, yet he was a man of emotions
and passions and conflict and trial and anger and pride and
lust and selfishness. Look at the selfishness here.
You see, You see, his son Absalom, and all, so many of us, I got
this problem, you have too. This boy Absalom was such a heartache
to David, but he loved him. He loved that boy. And that boy
that killed his brother, that boy that took the kingdom away
from his father, that boy that exiled his own daddy, that boy
whom the soldiers of David murdered, killed him. was dead now. And David was back as king, his
friends brought him back, his army won the victory for him,
and he's mourning over that boy. And Joab came to him now, look
at 2 Samuel 19 verse 5, and Joab, and look at verse 4, and the
king covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice,
O my son Absalom, O Absalom my son, my son! Crying like a baby,
grieving over this boy. And I tell you, look at verse
2, and the victory that day was turned into mourning. For the
people heard that day how the king was grieving for his son.
He cried over this boy. And the victory, they've restored
the king, some of them gave their lives for the king, they brought
him back to the kingdom, they put him back on the throne, and
here he is turning the whole thing into a mourning session
over that boy. And Joab came in, verse 5, listen
to this, and Joab came to the king and said, You've shamed
this day the faces of all your servants, which this day have
saved your life and the lives of your sons and daughters and
the lives of your wives and the lives of your concubines. in
that you love your enemies and hate your friends. Is that right?
You've declared this day that you regard neither princes nor
servants. For this day I perceive if Absalom
had lived and every one of us had died, it would have pleased
you well, wouldn't it?" Boy, I'm telling you. They don't
talk to the king that way, but this one did. You're just a selfish
man. You care more for this rebel
son than you do for all of God's people. You mourn over this rebel
son, and you've shamed this very day everybody that stood with
you. David remembered that, don't
you? Don't you? And I bet, I'm sure as he lay
on that bed, looked around at Joab. Thank God for Joab. Thank God for Joab. Thank God for His restraining
grace. Do you know that? Do you know what you'd do if
God didn't restrain you? If God didn't send us a Joab
or an Abigail or somebody to restrain us, or His Word to restrain
us, do you realize what you'd be? What I'd be? What we all
would be? Thank God it's a covenant ordered
in all things, isn't it? Thank God. Well, oh my, look
at the last line. Here's what he said. He sighed,
although my house be not so with God. And then his solace, his
comfort, yet God hath made with me a covenant everlasting. And
then his security, in spite of me, it is ordered in all things
ensured." Now watch this, "...and this is all my salvation." What
is this covenant? This purpose of God, this will
of God. What I'm saying is David is declaring
this. David is not going back and finding
some experience and saying, I'm counting on this to take me to
glory. David is not going back to some moment of victory because
he had victories and defeats. He had successes and failures.
He had times when he honored God and times when he dishonored
God. So he couldn't go back to one of those times and say, now
I've got a home in glory because I did this, and I did that, and
I had this experience with God and that experience. He said,
God made a covenant of grace in Christ with me everlastingly,
and it's ordered in all things insure, and that's my salvation. That's my salvation. And you
can call me a Calvinist or a hyper-Calvinist or a fatalist or a hardshell
or anything you want to. But my salvation is in what Christ
did for me. In what God, through Christ,
in his grace, has done for me. That's my salvation. And David
didn't quit. And he said, that's all my desire. That's all my
desire. Although he make it not to grow. Although he make it not to crow.
What's he saying there? I really don't know. Unless it's
this. The Lord said he had put all
things in subjection to Christ. And yet now we don't see yet
all things in subjection to Christ. But they're there. They're there. They're in subjection. It's not
evident to most people. And here David lay dying. And
they thought about all these conflicts and troubles and all
this, and yet he said, God's made with me a covenant, and
it's as sure and as certain and positive. Although you don't,
you see a frail old man lying here dying, yet in Christ I live
eternally. I never die. I never die. I'm not gonna die. My soul's
gonna go be with the Lord, but I'm not gonna die. I hope that's
helpful. It was a blessing to me as I
studied these last words of David. And I think so many of us can
identify with them. Hopefully, by God's grace, when
this day comes for God to call us away, that we'll be able to
say the same thing.