[0:00] 2 Samuel chapter 23. We are going to look at the chapter in its entirety. And I know when we read through the kind of the name list, it's kind of cumbersome. So you have to just bear with me on my enunciation of some of the names.
[0:14] I do the best that I can, right? And even where they're from. So 2 Samuel 23. Now let's put it in context before I get into it. We're near the end of David's life, right?
[0:26] We have looked back over some things in the last couple of chapters that chronologically didn't happen. So we've looked at his psalm that is recorded for us in the 22nd chapter that is also the psalm that he records in the book of Psalms of when he ascends to the throne.
[0:41] His praising and rejoicing in what God has done, the magnificence of God's moving and how all the enemies have been defeated. And we've seen how that didn't happen at the end of his life.
[0:52] That was really a midway point. That was when God finally helped him fulfill the role that he had called him to do, and that is to be the king of the Lamb. And now we've gotten past all the additional information that the author of the book of 2 Samuel wanted us to understand.
[1:08] And now we've come to really the end of David's life. So the 23rd and 24th chapter are the end of his life events. We're back chronologically there because we will see it very quickly where it says these are the last words of David.
[1:20] So we're going to see things that are happening at the end. And we're going to see kind of what's going on. Pay attention. I always pay attention in Scripture especially of what's happening at the end of an individual's life and kind of how they finish, right?
[1:33] Do they finish well or do they not finish well? And it's amazing how much we can glean and gather from those truths that are taking place at the end of their life. We know that between this song of praise in the 22nd chapter, in this last song we have recorded for us here in just a moment that we're going to read, a lot transpires in the life of David.
[1:54] And one of those being this magnificent sin, magnificent and not in good, but magnificent in nature and the effects of this sin with Bathsheba that takes place and brings so much turmoil inside of his home and even in the kingdom and among the nation.
[2:11] And there's all this discord, right? So temptingly, we would look at that and say, well, I mean, David, you know, sure he's forgiven. You remember, as we've looked at that over the last months, I think it was Warren Wiersbe who made the comment that it was the high price of a forgiven sin, right?
[2:30] He was forgiven. Don't ever forget that. When David repented and he confessed and he went into the temple of the Lord, after that child dies, remember, he goes before the presence of the Lord and he falls on his face. He's forgiven.
[2:41] The prophet declares to him he's forgiven, but there are consequences from the sin, right? The high price of forgiven sin. And we would almost assume that bitterness towards the end of David's life would be there because though he's forgiven and though he's restored, you know, he's still a man after God's own heart.
[2:56] We see the penitent psalm, Psalm 51, really declares to us really what it looks like to be a man after God's own heart and have this desire. Yet we see the turmoil that takes place in his home. We see the death of his children, right?
[3:09] We see all these things happening. We see one of his sons taking the throne from him and just kind of creating all this civil war. And we would be tempted to think, David's going to be bitter and just upset.
[3:21] I mean, I would be probably, just to be honest. But for the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we all would be. But we see this here, this final testimony, and I want you to see it as it is, the final testimony of King David.
[3:36] And it's recorded for us there in the 23rd chapter. Now, these are the last words of David. David, the son of Jesse, declares. The man who was raised on high declares.
[3:47] The anointed of the God of Jacob and the sweet psalmist of Israel. The spirit of the Lord spoke by me and his word was on my tongue. The God of Israel said, the rock of Israel spoke to me.
[3:58] He who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God, is as the light of the morning when the sun rises. A morning without clouds. When the tender grass springs out of the earth through sunshine after rain.
[4:11] Truly is not my house so with God, for he has made an everlasting covenant with me, ordered in all things and secured for all my salvation and all my desire. Will he not indeed make it grow?
[4:24] But the worthless, every one of them will be thrust away like thorns because they cannot be taken in hand. But the man who touches them must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear, and they will be completely burned with fire in their place.
[4:37] These are the names of the mighty men whom David had. By the way, if you know anything about me and preaching to David, you know this is the stuff that really I get excited about, right? Not their names, but these men that David had around him.
[4:50] It's astounding. These are some real men. We've already looked at them kind of briefly, but we'll look at it. These are the names of the mighty men whom David had. Joshua, Joshua, Beth, to Hachomite, chief of the captains.
[5:03] He was called Adino, the Enzite, because of 800 slain by him at one time. And after him was Eleazar, the son of Dodo, the Ochoite, one of the three mighty men with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there to battle.
[5:16] And the men of Israel had withdrawn. He arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary and clung to the sword. And the Lord brought about a great victory that day. And the people returned after him only to strip the slain.
[5:29] Now after him was Shammah, the son of Agi, a harite. And the Philistines were gathered into a troop where there was a plot of ground full of lentils and the people fled from the Philistines. But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it, and struck the Philistines.
[5:42] And the Lord brought about a great victory. Then three of the 30 chief men went down and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam while the troop of the Philistines was camping in the Valley of Rephim.
[5:55] David was then in the stronghold while the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. David had a craving and said, Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate.
[6:05] So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water from the well of Bethlehem, which was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless, he would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord.
[6:18] And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives? Therefore, he would not drink it.
[6:28] These things the three mighty men did. Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zariah, was chief of the 30. And he swung his spear against 300 and killed them. It had a name as well as the three.
[6:40] He was most honored of the 30. Therefore, he became their commander. However, he did not attain to the three. Then Benaniah, the son of Jehodiah, the son of a valiant man of Kabzil, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab.
[6:56] He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day. That's my favorite guy, by the way. His dad was a priest, right? Because Jehodiah was a priest.
[7:07] The man who went down into a pit and killed a lion on a snowy day. Yeah, his dad was a priest. He said, I'm going to be a warrior. He also became the chief of the bodyguard you'll see in just a minute. And he was also the one who helped Solomon ascend to the throne because David chose Solomon.
[7:22] And if you remember, he's the one who displaces Joab in the next book that we get to. What a man, right? What a man. I love that. He went down and he killed that lion in the pit in the middle of a snowy day.
[7:34] And he killed an Egyptian, an impressive man. Now the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but he went down to him with a club and snatched a spear from the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear. These things Benaniah, the son of Jehadiah did, and had a name as well as the three mighty men.
[7:47] And he was honored among the 30 and he did not attain to the three. And David appointed him over his guard. Asahel, the brother of Joab, was among the 30. Ohanan, the son of Dodo, of Bethlehem, and Shema, the Haredite, Elekai, the Haredite, Helez, the Palatite, Ere, the son of Ikesh, the Tekoite, Abizar, the Enethite, Mubanai, the Hushethite, Zalman, the Ahohite, Mahare, the Netethethite, told you these names get me, Halab, the son of Banna, the Netethethite, Ittai, the son of Ribai, of Gebeah, the sons of Benjamin, Benaniah, a Perithonite, Hidaiah, of the brooks of Gash, Abi, Albon, the Ahrabathite, Asmaveth, the Bahamite, Elahaba, the Shabbanite, the sons of Jeshun, Jonathan, Shama, the Harite, Ahim, the son of Sharar, the Haramite, Eliphelet, the son of Ahishbai, the son of the Makathite,
[8:50] Ilium, the son of Ahithophel, the Gilanite, Hezro, the Carmelite, Pari, the Arbite, Ilgal, the son of Nathan, of Zobah, Bani, the Gadite, Zelek, the Ammonite, Nahariah, the Beherthite, armor bearers of Joab, the son of Zariah, Ere, the Ithrite, Gerab, the Ithrite, Uriah, the Hittite, 37 in all.
[9:12] Now the temptation is to skip over those names, but they're there. Even if we butcher them, they're there, right? 2 Samuel chapter 23, the last testimony of King David.
[9:23] And what a testimony it is. I'll try to keep it quick, as I can, because I know we need to do business here as well. But I want you just to notice three great things from this chapter.
[9:34] Number one, we see the song that he sang. This is the last words of David recorded in song. This psalm is not recorded in the book of Psalms, so it was never intended for public worship of the nation of Israel.
[9:50] This was something more than likely David penned at the end of his life. This is not the very last thing he says. We know that. We turn the page and we get into the other writings when he's handing the kingdom over to Solomon.
[10:01] But this is the last authoritative word that he writes as psalm. This is his song that he is singing at the end of his life. It is not a song of bitterness. It's not a song of discord. But it is a song of revelation.
[10:12] We see here some great truths that David expounds upon and expels. And the first one is, is he declares that being the anointed of the Lord, he was also led of the Lord.
[10:23] And the words that he penned were of the Lord. It says, and the Lord spoke to me and from me, right? So immediately he begins to declare that his writings, because of the anointing of the Lord upon him, that his writings bear with it.
[10:38] Also, the word of God says, the Lord spoke by me. One of the only few times in scripture that anyone declares that their mouth had been the mouthpiece of the Lord God.
[10:49] That God was speaking through them to the people. That's astounding by the way. And now we see this because how many times do we see David quoted in the New Testament of, you know, giving authoritative word of God to the people of God.
[11:06] So we see that David understands his position, not just as king, but as the Lord's anointed and a mouthpiece for God among his people. That God was using him to speak to them and he was speaking through him to the people through these psalms and through these songs and all the praise that he was leading.
[11:24] And so much, you know, when Charles Spurgeon did his preaching through the book of Psalms and many of you've read it, some of you haven't. If you want to look at a copy, I have it. He called the book of Psalms the treasuries of David, right?
[11:37] The treasuries of David. Here, sure, there are other authors, but David, more than any other individual, led the nation in worship and he was leading it through the words that he was declaring to them.
[11:48] And he gives this here. He speaks of this reality. But David doesn't just kind of gloss over his life. Now, he declares that God had told him that the one who rules righteously is like a breath of fresh air to the nation.
[12:02] It's essentially what he's saying here is that the righteous ruler is like the sunshine after the rain. It's like the new grass growing. It's everything that is fresh. It's everything that is new. And he realizes he's fallen short there because in it, if you look in this original wording, he says, but yet I'm kind of lacking in a little bit of that.
[12:20] But it's not that there's no hope, right? He gets towards the end there. In verse 5 and 6, really, or verse 5, really kind of poses the questions because we kind of miss it a little bit in the English, but essentially what he's saying is those who rule righteously are like the fresh breath of the air and like great sunshine.
[12:38] But the weight of his own sin is resting upon him. And he looks around and, I mean, his household isn't perfect. I mean, it's just not because of his sin. And he understands that.
[12:49] He says, truly is not my house so with God. And what he is saying is, even though I've messed up, even though I've fallen, does God not have a plan and a purpose for my house?
[13:01] Is he not going to fulfill it? Not in spite of me? Because he's repentant, right? Here we begin to see, he says, the hope for the nation is not within me.
[13:12] It is within the promises of God. And he says that his house is with God. And he makes this great statement. For he has made an everlasting covenant with me. Here's one thing that David acknowledges in this last song, is that the covenant of God is greater than the failure of man.
[13:31] And that's astounding to me. David has failed at an astounding level. Because to he who much is given, much is required, right?
[13:43] God had entrusted him with much and had anointed. And don't ever forget the fact that he's one of the few, if not the only one. We'll make our way through the Old Testament.
[13:54] It says that when Samuel poured his oil, poured the oil on David's head, that David was anointed, not only, but then he was also covered with the Holy Spirit. And the Bible tells us, and the Spirit was with him from that day forward.
[14:07] It's the only one I have found in the Old Testament that the Spirit was with that individual from that day forward. With Saul, who preceded him, the Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and then the Spirit departed from him, and he was given a spirit of terror and torment, right?
[14:19] The Spirit of God went with him. He wasn't in him. It wasn't indwelt within him. It cloaked him, right? That's the difference. So through Christ, we had the indwelling of the Spirit. In the Old Testament, they had the covering of the Spirit.
[14:31] So it didn't change the man from inside out, but it moved with him. And he said, well, what do you mean, Pastor? Well, yeah, that's exactly what we mean, right? So the Spirit of God is with him and is there in God's Jesus.
[14:44] But he acknowledges he's failed. But what he looks at, at the end of his life, when all of this discord and all this strife in his family and all the failures around, that the hope of the nation doesn't rest in the faithfulness of David and the faithfulness of David's family, but the hope of the nation rests in the faithfulness of God's covenant, that God had made an everlasting covenant.
[15:03] And he's asking the question, is not my family with the Lord God? Does he not have a purpose? He made a covenant so he makes this great statement for all my salvation and all my desire. All of my salvation, all of my desire, everything that I expect God to do, he will do it.
[15:20] Will he not indeed make it grow? So what he's doing here is he's making this declaration that Jesus would say that David looked forward unto his day.
[15:35] That there was one coming from his family that was greater than him, that wouldn't fail, that wouldn't mess up, that though David had fallen, though his children were, you know, in discord, though everything seemed to be falling apart, the faithfulness of God ensured that what God had promised would happen.
[15:55] A king would come who would reign forever. He was looking for the true king. And this is the song he's singing at the end of his life, right?
[16:05] He's not looking back and going, oh man, woe is me, woe is me. No, he's already done that. He's already confessed. But he's looking forward. Will not God fulfill his promises? Will he not bring it about?
[16:16] I may cannot see it. Now I think when we turn the page and he begins to hand it over to Solomon, I think David, I don't want to say that he had it wrong, I think he was hoping Solomon would be that man, as any parent would be, but he's not.
[16:35] But he knew the faithfulness of God that that man would come. We know who it is. His name is Jesus. But he's looking forward. He says, it's not me, but that one is coming. So we see the song he sang.
[16:47] The next thing that we see is the support he received. And this is so good. This is, these are the men whom David had. Love that. Right? This is the support he received.
[16:59] If we go to the book of 1 Chronicles chapter 10, we see the same listing with some differences in names and even the position of the names. And that's okay. Many believe that 1 Chronicles chapter 10 was probably a little bit more accurate in its naming.
[17:13] We're not here to talk about that. And to see what it is, some scribble translations later on may have changed some of the names, but it's really not affecting anything. Numbers are all the same. But 1 Chronicles chapter 10 tells us this.
[17:24] These are the men that helped David become king. Now hold on to that statement, okay? These are the men that helped David become king. You say, no, no, no, no, no, no. David was king because God anointed him and appointed him to be king.
[17:34] That's what we've been saying all along. Right. He was anointed of the Lord by Samuel to be the king over Israel. He was appointed by God to be the king who would take Saul's place. But the anointing and the appointing does not remove the requirement to have other people.
[17:49] Right? This is so beautiful. We're on Sunday mornings. We're in Ephesians 4. We're getting ready to go into Ephesians 4, which is really cool because I've studied Ephesians 4 a lot in the last couple of years. Two years ago in our retreat, we looked at Ephesians 4, right?
[18:01] And I'm studying it again in preparation for Sunday in Ephesians 4. I love Ephesians 4. We won't get into all of that that applies to that this Sunday because we're going to be confounded to the first six verses, I believe.
[18:13] But one thing that we notice, and it goes along with this, God calls the individual and then he always unites the individual with a corporate, what we call body. Right?
[18:25] David was called of God to be the next king. He was anointed by Samuel to be the next king. He was appointed to be the heir of the throne to have a covenant for, but God put him with other people.
[18:39] This shows us the humanity of David. That David could not have become king on his own. He just couldn't because these are the men he had.
[18:50] And it tells us in Chronicles, these are the ones who helped him become king. He said, oh no, no, he was going to be king because God said he was going to be king. Right. And the way God intended to bring that about was that God also has the resources to support you to be what he's called you to accomplish.
[19:12] We see it called here, the mighty men. We see it when we open up the New Testament called the church. We say, well, God's called me to do this. Well, whatever God's called you to do, I can't promise you a lot, but whatever he's called you to do, I guarantee he has called you to do it through the church.
[19:27] I guarantee it. Because he never calls an individual to be apart from the church because he cares about the church.
[19:38] The only thing he started was the church, and that's just one of the guarantees we have in Scripture. Right. He never isolates an individual and says, oh, they're over there. He wants the church supporting that individual.
[19:48] He wants the church equipping that individual. He wants the church praying for that individual. He wants the church walking with that individual. He wants the church to be the one who goes down into the pit and kills a lion on a snowy day with that individual. He wants the church to be the one who would take their stand with that individual when everybody else leaves, right?
[20:04] He wants the church, the body, to be there to support the individual in their calling. And what we see here is the humanity of David. He needed other people. And by the way, if David, as a man after God on the heart, needs other people, we need other people, right?
[20:17] If Paul needed other people, we need other people. I mean, you go through the list. I don't find anybody in scripture that didn't need somebody else. I find a few people who tried to do it on their own. I can tell you who they are. And every one of them didn't finish well.
[20:29] Samson didn't think he needed anybody, but he really needed somebody to help him out with what the Deliah issue, right? He needed somebody to give him some wisdom there. There's some other people who may not have needed anybody else, but it didn't end well for them.
[20:41] We can go down through there. Moses thought he could do it all on his own. And then his father-in-law looked at him and said, you're going to kill yourself. This isn't working. You need other people, right? Put them around you. So what we find here is the humanity of this.
[20:52] It's okay to need people with you. You need to have some people. David had some men. And I preach this to myself. You need to have some people. You need to have some people around you that know what God's called you to do that will be willing to take a stand with you.
[21:06] Because I promise you that in that calling, there are going to be battles to be fought. In that calling, there are going to be fields of lentils that need to be protected. David, you need someone who has swinged the sword so much that it's like the sword is welded to their hand, which is literally what it means.
[21:21] He couldn't drop the sword. You need people that have swinged the sword so long, they can't let it go because they're with you. That's the kind of people we need. And we find it here in scripture.
[21:31] If David needed them, so do we. But the beautiful thing is, how do you think they all came to David? One thing that we notice in scripture is that David doesn't go around picking people. The people come to David.
[21:43] Have you ever noticed that? When he's in the cave, they come to him. When he's in the hideout, they come to him. When he's sitting here talking, they go to Bethlehem, then they come back to him. God has a way of drawing people to you that you need.
[21:57] Because he holds the hearts of all men in the palm of his hands. And God has the ability to put the right people around us. And we see that here, the support that he received.
[22:08] God had a calling on David's life, but God also had the resources to help him have that calling. So don't isolate yourself. Psalm 18, verse 1. It's actually Proverbs 18, 1.
[22:20] It says it's a fool that isolates himself. Why? Because we need people. And we need to trust that God knows people. And he knows the right people. I think it was when Carrie and I were at the Billy Graham Training Center last year, Pastor's Renewal, and we were listening to Jim Henry.
[22:36] And he said, and I shared this with somebody not too long ago. I actually shared it with him Sunday night. I had a meeting with someone, and he said, you know, if God is the author of the builder of your church, if God is the one who builds your church, he said, and if you know the needs in your church as a pastor, and you do, he said, then start praying that God would bring those people to your church.
[22:54] I mean, as a pastor, I was like, well, you know, to you, you're like, well, yeah, that makes sense. Well, I don't know. He said, no, be specific in your prayer. He said, God, bring me this person, this person. Not by name, but give me somebody that can do this. Give me somebody that can do this.
[23:04] Give me somebody that can do this. Because, God, you know people, right? And he has them. What a great resource. And we see that with David. David needed help, so he had the support.
[23:17] He needed these people around him. These are the people who helped him become king. One last thing, and we'll be done. We'll get into the business. We see the song he sang, the support he received. Well, we have to see this one, because those names are there.
[23:29] We also see the subtle reminder of sin's power. Because what was that last name we read? Uriah the Hittite. You know, I will read every one of those names and stumble over every one of them to get to that last name, Uriah the Hittite.
[23:47] Why? It's not last. When we open up 1 Chronicles chapter 10, Uriah is somewhere there in the middle. I love the fact that the author of 2 Samuel put his name at the end.
[23:59] Kind of as a staggering reminder. Oh, and Uriah the Hittite. There's 37 men in all, because 30 was the number that was maintained. These were the men that were around him.
[24:11] Some were captains of his bodyguards. Some were the three mighty men, right? And then you had those who didn't achieve the level of the three. One that you notice that's not in there is Joab, the commander of his army. He's not one of the 30 mighty men.
[24:23] By the way, his brother is, but he's not, because he wasn't very trustworthy. But he maintained 30 in numbers, so when someone died, they would have to put somebody else in place. Uriah is one of those who died.
[24:35] But Uriah stands there as a subtle reminder to us of sin's power. Because what did I tell you to hold on to just a minute ago? I asked you to hold on to something.
[24:46] These are the men who helped David become king. That's who Uriah is. One of the ones who helped him become king. He was faithful to David.
[24:58] He stood beside David. And yet, in an instant moment of unguarded, isolated weakness, David so chose to sin that he entered into such a position that he commanded the death of Uriah.
[25:15] David's not a bad man. Right? He is a man after God's own heart. He's desperately wicked because he's still a man with a heart of flesh.
[25:27] But it's not like it's a Saul we're talking about or, you know, Pharaoh of Egypt in the days where there rose another Pharaoh who did not know Joseph. We're talking about David.
[25:38] The author who has just declared that God spoke through him to the people. This David. And yet, at the end, we're reminded that even he was so caught by sin in a moment that one of the ones who helped him become king lost his life.
[26:01] If it doesn't do anything else, it reminds us that sin is much stronger than we think it is. It will always take us further than we ever wanted to go.
[26:13] I don't think that David willingly, knowingly set out that day going, you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to get rid of one of those guys who helped me become king. He didn't do that. But he got so caught up in the sin. He got so caught up in the moment.
[26:24] He got so caught up in being isolated because in the days where kings went out to war, David wasn't at war, right? He was home by himself, unguarded, nobody around him. He got so caught up in this individuality that in that moment, he made a decision that led to the consequences that took the life of one of the men who helped him become king because sin has destructive power.
[26:47] And he's not a bad guy, but sin is a wicked master. And if it doesn't do anything to us in this passage, it shows us the desperate need of all mankind for a redeemer.
[27:06] We need someone to set us free from this wicked person we are. We do. Paul says in Romans 7, O wretched man that I am, who will set me free from this body of sin?
[27:23] And he answers this question, praise be to God through Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, right? We need a redeemer. The people around us, as good as they are, they're not enough.
[27:36] David had some men, right? He had some good men. He had men that would fight with him when everybody else would leave. He had men that would do things. He had men that would risk their own lives to get him a cup of water, right? David had some men, but those men couldn't stop him from sinning.
[27:49] David had a position. He was king. David had an anointing. He was there. David had an appointing. He was there. He had everything, but they couldn't keep him from sinning. But Paul answers the question, who can praise be to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord, right?
[28:04] Man needs a redeemer. Mankind needs a redeemer. And it shows us this great testimony of David.
[28:16] We wish it wasn't there, right? I mean, we wish when we read that name, it was just a bunch of names we didn't understand. But we all know Uriah the Hittite. And we get so lost in that one name that we fail to even notice.
[28:30] I mean, the wide array of people that were included in this name, there were people from all different regions, right? David united them. He brought them together, people from all different regions and not even the land of Israel.
[28:40] There were people, Malachi, there were people from everywhere that were right there and they're all connected to this one cause, on purpose. And it's astounding that David could unite them. But yet for everything he could do, the one thing he couldn't do was keep himself from sinning.
[28:54] Why? Because we need a redeemer. But David's not the end of the story. He's just a part of the story. The redeemer's coming, right?
[29:05] The redeemer's coming. We meet him in the New Testament and we go, wow, what a savior. In case we ever think that we have it all together and we're on our own and we really don't need it, go back and read the life of David, right?
[29:24] He could kill the giants. He could protect the fields. He could push out the enemy. But the one thing he couldn't overcome was his own sin.
[29:37] In case we don't think, we're going to turn the page and it's going to be 2 Samuel chapter 24 and he costs the lives of thousands of people because of pride. Just this constant reminder, the subtle reminder of sins, power, and the desperate, desperate need of mankind.
[29:56] And we see it here in the last testimony of King David, 2 Samuel chapter 23. Thank you, my brothers. I realize it's a little cool in here and I promise I cut the heat on very early so I don't know what's going on.
[30:09] I did cut the heat on today. I asked, I asked, I asked, Thank you.