Leaving a Lasting Legacy
Leaving a Lasting Legacy – 2 Samuel 23:1-7
David’s Last Words
23 Now these are the last words of David.
Thus says David the son of Jesse;
Thus says the man raised up on high,
The anointed of the God of Jacob,
And the sweet psalmist of Israel:
2 “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me,
And His word was on my tongue.
3 The God of Israel said,
The Rock of Israel spoke to me:
‘He who rules over men must be just,
Ruling in the fear of God.
4 And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises,
A morning without clouds,
Like the tender grass springing out of the earth,
By clear shining after rain.’
5 “Although my house is not so with God,
Yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant,
Ordered in all things and secure.
For this is all my salvation and all my desire;
Will He not make it increase?
6 But the sons of rebellion shall all be as thorns thrust away,
Because they cannot be taken with hands.
7 But the man who touches them
Must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear,
And they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place.”
Outline:
Verse 1 = Myself, My Dad, and God
· David identifies himself clearly, and tells us who his earthly and heavenly fathers are.
Verses 2-4 = My Words are His Word
· God spoke to David and through him.
Verse 5 = My Salvation
· David stands on the promise of God’s covenant with him and his family.
Verses 6-7 = My Option
· In stark contrast to God’s covenant with David, he shows the alternative - what the rebellious receive.
Verses 8-39 = My Friends
· David closes the chapter with a detailed account of the friends who stood by him through thick and thin. He recognizes the value of others in his life.
David’s Last Words
Samuel 23:1 Now these are the last words of David.
· What will my last words be?
Proverbs 3:35 The wise shall inherit glory,
But shame shall be the legacy of fools.
· What kind of legacy will I leave my family, friends, and neighbors?
· A legacy is more than our estate – it’ the overall message of my life.
· What will my last words be? Will they make a difference?
· What a privilege to sum up the things that really matter to share them with the ones you love.
· David’s last words to Solomon are recorded in 1 Kings 2:1
· Paul’s last words to the Elders of the church in Acts 20:17-35
· Jacob blessing his sons in Genesis 49
· Moses parting words to Israel in Deut 33
· Parting words when you leave a job, class graduation, or in your will.
· Here’s a few last words from some people you might recognize, and a few last words inscribed on some grave markers…
Last Words
• Why, yes. I’d like a bulletproof vest.—James Rogers, who was executed in 1960 in Nevada, upon being asked if he had a last request as he stood before the firing line
• Just pull my legs straight, and place me as a dead man; it will save trouble for you shortly.—Dr. Fidge, who had a boat converted into a coffin and stored under his bed
• I am dying, as I have lived, beyond my means.—Oscar Wilde
• It was a great game.—Bing Crosby, who collapsed right after sinking a final putt on a golf course in Spain in 1977.
• I am as good as without hope, and without fear; a sad old man gazing into the final chasm.—Thomas Carlyle
• That guy’s got to stop. He’ll see us.—James Dean, just before his Porsche slammed into a car turning onto the highway
Interesting Epitaphs
• This epitaph adorns the grave of Ellen Shannon, twenty-six, of Girard, Pennsylvania:
Who was fatally burned
March 21, 1870
by the explosion of a lamp
filled with “R. E. Danforth’s
Non-Explosive
Burning Fluid”
• Epitaph of a dentist named John Brown:
Stranger! Approach this spot with gravity!
John Brown is filling his last cavity.
• Inscribed on the tomb of Mel Blanc, creator of the cartoon characters Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig:
That’s All, Folks!
• [Page 185] The epitaph of Benjamin Franklin:
The Body of
B. Franklin, Printer
Like the Cover of an old Book
Its Contents torn out
And Stript of its Lettering & Gilding
Lies here. Food for Worms
For, it will as he believed
appear once more
In a new and more elegant Edition
corrected and improved
By the Author
Samuel 23:2 (Continued) Thus says David the son of Jesse; Thus says the man raised up on high, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel:
· The whole story of David’s life is told in that one verse: humble beginnings as a shepherd boy, the purpose of God for which he was set aside, made king of Israel by divine appointment, and the organizer and leader of temple worship.
· David was raised up from a lowly position to be the greatest in the kingdom. It was because of his heart…
Acts 13:21 And afterward they asked for a king; so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’
2 Samuel 23:2 “The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue.
· David’s insight was given by God, not natural ability. No doubt David spoke on God’s behalf abundantly in the Psalms.
2 Peter 1: 19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
2 Samuel 23:3 The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me: ‘He who rules over men must be just, Ruling in the fear of God.
· Jethro’s advice to Moses:
Exodus 18:21 Moreover you shall select from all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens. 22 And let them judge the people at all times.
· Qualifications of an Elder:
1 Timothy 3:1 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work. 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; 3 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4 one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence 5 (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?); 6 not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. 7 Moreover he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
· Prophecy of Messiah…
Jeremiah 23:5 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. 6 In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
2 Samuel 23:4 And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, A morning without clouds, Like the tender grass springing out of the earth, By clear shining after rain.’
· Jesus is called the Bright and Morning Star
Revelation 22:16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”
· Like a day after rain after summer fires.
· Refreshing, clean, causing growth in those receiving it.
2 Samuel 23:5 “Although my house is not so with God,
· Some translations imply “since my house is so with God…”
o NIV says…“Is not my house right with God? Has he not made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part? Will he not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire?
· One translation covers David’s humanity, the other translation shows God’s perspective through Jesus’ blood – David’s position before God as His forgiven son, or it points to the Messiah to come…this is a common way the Word deals with prophecy…
2 Samuel 23:5 Yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant, Ordered in all things and secure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire; Will He not make it increase?
· God made a key covenant with David:
2 Samuel 7:12 “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his Father, and he shall be My son.
· Refers to Solomon, then beyond to Messiah.
· The Hebrew word for “increase” means “to sprout up”
Isaiah 11:1 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight is in the fear of the Lord, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; 4 But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
· In the Psalms, David regularly uses contrasts – just like his last words here. David tells us the end of the rebellious.
2 Samuel 23:6 But the sons of rebellion shall all be as thorns thrust away, Because they cannot be taken with hands. 7 But the man who touches them Must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear, And they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place.”
· Where did thorns come from –the fall of man, the curse
Matthew 13: 37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!
· What will your legacy be? What will you leave behind for your children and grandchildren, for your co-workers, for your neighbors? Consider more than your estate – what words will you leave behind, what impression on those who you’ve come in contact with? What kind of witness?
· David is remembered for being a man after God’s own heart, even though he lied, committed adultery, and even murdered. God saw past his weaknesses and sin because of God’s grace. I trust the same for us.
· To be a man after God’s heart, we must see our actions and words in context of God’s Word, be broken by our failings, and confess our sins before God. 1 John 1:9 (NKJV)
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
· If you’ve never given your life to Jesus Christ – if your not sure what you fate will be when Jesus returns to rule and reign in righteousness – into the fire or into His arms – you can make a certain decision today. If you desire a relationship with the only true God – repeat this prayer after me…