We read about a man in the word of God in second Samuel 23 this evening to whom much was given. And thereby much was also what? Required of him. In James chapter three, we are reminded of those that seek to be teachers of the word of God and and ministers shall also receive a greater judgment or accountability based upon that privilege. James chapter three says, my brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we, those who are leaders, guides, and teachers, shall receive the greater condemnation, that is the greater judgment, Because with much responsibility also comes much with much privilege also comes much responsibility.

And so sometimes we need to be reminded of that, and thus we see in the life of David. As we close our study, we read his last words in second Samuel 23. We'll start with second Samuel 23 verse one. Now these be the last words of David. So lest you think I've made up that these are the last words of David, the text clearly says these are the what?

The last words of David. Alright. 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. So we'll stop there for just a moment. This is the introduction that Samuel gives or whoever the writer is here of David.

Okay? Who is he that, who is saying these words? He is described as the son of Jesse. Being the son of Jesse reminds us of his common upbringing, who at first was not born a king but a what? A shepherd.

Mhmm. A shepherd in the hills of Bethlehem. David was never embarrassed to be called the son of Jesse, the Bethlehemite, nor would it seem the son of Jesus, the son of Joseph, the carpenter of Nazareth, though adopted. Jesus was not ashamed to grow up in the son of a carpenter, the son of a carpenter, neither David in the home of Jesse as a shepherd. This reminds us of his humility, a humility that he did never never completely outgrew.

Sad to say, people often in positions of power and prestige often outgrow their humility and forget from whence they they came. But but that was not true of David. Thus, in the introduction of his last words, he is called the son of Jesse. He is the man raised up on high, which reminds us of the transition which took place in David's life as he was raised from a lowly shepherd in Bethlehem, one of considered one of the more lowly jobs in Israel to be a shepherd to the position of king of Israel. But not by his own ambition or power.

But he did not raise himself, but he was raised by another, by a higher power, by the God of Jacob to fulfill his divine purpose. Thus, we are reminded, as we've been reading in our Thursday bible study in the book of Ephesians, in Ephesians chapter two beginning in verse four, it says this of us, but God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together, that is raised us up, given us life together with Christ, by grace are ye saved, and hath raised us up together and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through Jesus Christ. We did not raise ourselves up. We have been raised up in Jesus Christ who died for our sins and rose from the grave and ascended up to heaven, who is seated even now at the right hand of the father where he is not only making intercession for us but is preparing a place for us to be part of this this blessed kingdom, this eternal house.

He is the man raised up on high as are we who have become the children of God through faith in him. He is the anointed of the God of Jacob. It tells us who it was that chose him and installed him as king for his own purpose and glory. David was special. Why?

Because he was God's anointed. And as such, he was the forerunner and ancestor of the Messiah himself, Jesus Christ. We too are anointed by God. In first Peter chapter two and verses nine and ten, it says this, the Lord being first Peter, not second. But ye are but you and he's talking to Gentile believers, not Jews, but Gentile believers.

He says, but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people but now are the people of God which had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. That same God of Jacob that anointed David as the king of Israel have anointed us the children of God. We are a holy nation. We are a special people in Jesus Christ because he has saved us by his grace and according to his goodwill and purpose, which he before was ordained before the world was made. David is also the sweet psalmist of Israel.

That's how he is introduced here. David longed not to be remembered solely as a warrior and king, but also as a musician and a poet and one who worshiped at the feet of the Lord. The author of many of the Psalms. When we first meet him, he is shepherd and poet and psalmist, a musician who used his gift to praise the Lord and comfort a king and bless the hearts of God's children through the ages, both Jew and Gentile alike. He is the warrior, the king, and the musician.

Kind of a bit of an odd combination maybe in the eyes of people today. But he was all of those and he used them for whose glory? For God's glory. And that's what made David great. There are many great musicians in the world.

There are many great warriors. There are many powerful rulers. But David used all of those things for the glory of God. Psalm 40 verse three says, and he hath put a new song in my mouth. This is David writing.

He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. Many shall see it and fear and shall trust in the Lord. You know, we you may not be a musician. You may not be able to write a poem to save your life. But you know something?

We have a bunch of those recorded in here for us. We can read them. We can pray them. We can sing them. We have a hymn book full of songs written by others who God has led and inspired, not word for word like the word of God, but to write beautiful songs that lift our hearts and our minds and our eyes up to who?

Up to Jesus our Lord. And as we lift our our voice up in song, as we make a joyful noise unto the Lord, others, as a result, will see it and will fear and will will trust in the Lord. And I in Ephesians chapter five verse 19, says, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. What a joy it is. I didn't want to miss that third song, so we had to come up with it.

Thank you, Jane, for day by day. But you notice in that list there, speaking to yourselves in, the first one on the list is Psalms, many of which were written by the hand of the great psalmist, king and warrior David. And then we move on to verse two and the message or the body of what David has to say here in his last words. Beginning in verse two, 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 man must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

He shall be as a light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds as the tender grass springeth out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant and ordered in all things and sure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. But the sons of Belial shall be, all of them, as thorns thrust away because they cannot be taken with hands. But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear, and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.

So let's take a few minutes to look at that. None of David's psalms recorded in scripture or as Peter reminds us of any private interpretation or opinion or observation, but were given to us through set apart men of God, holy men of God who spake and wrote as the spirit moved them, providing to us the very words of God, as Paul told Timothy. So as we read this right now, we're reading not David's words, whoever wrote the book of Samuel, but we're reading the words of who? The words of God. Specifically here, it says, God says.

God's words are faithful and true and should be heard and heeded by every generation. We should read the word of God as it is, understanding that it carries the authority of God. The one who is our God, our rock, our shore foundation, our security deserves to be heard when he speaks. And this is what he said to David. He said to David, he that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

I don't know that he said that to David right as he wrote this. I suspect this is something that he said to David a long time ago. And David is now repeating. As God chose David to rule, he said to him, he that ruleth over man must be just, ruling in the fear of God. Just meaning fair and equitable and righteous.

Ruling in the fear of God meaning totally submitted to God's authority. God's ruler must be honest, fair, and sincere in his leading of others and judging of others. Any false intentions or guile of any kind, any self seeking ambition, any manipulation for personal profit and advancement have no place in the heart of God's ruler. And, of course, David is speaking of himself. As God called him, this is what God relayed to him that he expected of him.

And so he does today. Mark ten forty three and forty four, Jesus said to his disciples, but so shall it not be among you. But whosoever will be great among you shall be your what? Minister or the word means servant. And whosoever of you will be chiefest shall be servant of all.

In the next verse he says, for even the son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many, as Jesus, of course, sets the perfect example. So too, we must, who are given positions of leadership and authority, We must look also to the Lord to help us to be honest and fair and just. And we must remember to whom we are accountable and who is that. And that is to our great example and our savior, to God and to Jesus Christ, his son. So too, we have been given great great privilege, have great responsibility, and one day we will give an account unto the Lord.

And we should act and live and make decisions in the fear of the Lord. The Bible says, Solomon wrote, David's son, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of what? Beginning of wisdom. Thus, the character of God's ruler is a man after God's own heart. God's own heart.

Who, of course, is truly and forever the man after God's own heart. Not David, but who? But Jesus Christ. But Jesus Christ. We'll come back to that in a second.

So David mentions here, relates to us, what God said to him about what kind of ruler he needed to be, a just ruler, an honest ruler, a fair ruler, one who rules in the fear of God, such that the blessings of God's ruler become evident. In verse four, it says, and he shall be as a light of the morning when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds. So when the day breaks and the night goes away and the dawn comes, it is a new day. It is a wonderful thing. And so he that rules, he that leads in the fear of the Lord, for those they lead each day will be a blessing and will be something to look what?

To look forward to. Yeah. That's what happens when leaders lead in honesty and fairness and in the fear of the Lord. For those who follow them each morning will be something to look forward to as a as a day as a cloudless day, as the tender grass springing out of the earth by a clear shining after the rain, it will be refreshing. Refreshing.

We have been blessed in our country in ways that no people have seemingly, maybe except for Israel, ever been blessed. We have been blessed to wake up today after day with the freedom to worship our Lord, to share his message without fear, to enjoy the blessings of life because our rulers were fair and just. Maybe in some ways that has been changing. They are certainly not ruling in the fear of who? In the fear of God like they used to.

And in many ways, we have taken that for granted. And sometimes when you take that for granted, you learn unfortunately what it's like to not have it. The same thing indeed did happen to Israel also. We see in the next verse, he says, although my house be not so with God. Or in another translation it says, or is my house so with God?

It would seem that David, first of all, understood early in his early in his reign, it was not he that lifted himself up. It was obviously God. It was God who anointed. It was God who installed him. It was God who called him.

It was God to whom he was to serve, to whom he was accountable. He was to be a righteous and honest and he aspired. That's the word I couldn't find a minute ago. He aspired to be that in his in his in his reign and in his life. But did he entirely succeed?

The answer is no. He did not entirely succeed in that aspiration, did he? No. He fell what? He fell he fell short.

But at the end of his life, did he look back and say, oh, well, boy, I messed up. It's over. It's done. No. He still had hope.

Why did David still have hope despite despite his failure in meeting the standard that God asked of him? Well, he says here in verse five, yet he hath made with me an everlasting, what, an everlasting covenant. So turn back a few pages. Hold your place there. Turn back a few pages to second Samuel chapter seven, and we'll look at the covenant David is talking about.

Now David wanted to build and you might remember this from like, I don't know, six months ago, whenever we were in second Samuel seven. But David wanted to build a temple for the Lord and God said, no. But I am going to build a house for you. So David said, God, I want to build a house for you. And God said, no, but I'm going to build a house for you.

Now, wasn't talking about a physical house. He was talking about a kingdom. Okay? He was talking about a continuing reign of David's seed over the nation of Israel. In second Samuel seven and verse 12, it says, and when thy days are fulfilled and now they're about to be, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels.

I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name. I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. If you look down in verse 16, and thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee. Thy throne shall be established forever.

According to all these words and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David. Now, of course, Solomon followed David in the reign of the kingdom. But is Solomon the ultimate fulfillment of this verse or this covenant, which is a promise from God? The answer to that is no. Because Solomon didn't reign forever.

What happened to Solomon? Well, he died. He died after he actually strayed from the Lord for the sake of his wives to whom he built pagan temples. But God did not abandon the house of David. No.

Solomon's son ruled Rehoboam in Judah and then his son after him and his son after him. And, yes, there came a day when God brought the Babylonians in and destroyed Jerusalem and took David's line off the throne. But he didn't end David's line. No. The line of kings continued.

And hundreds of years later, one who was in the line of the kings of Israel was a carpenter in a little tiny town in Nazareth in Galilee. I don't even knew if he knew if he was in the lineage of David and Solomon and Rehoboam and Jehoshaphat and Hezekiah and Josiah, but he was. And God gave to him via Mary, a legal heir, Jesus Christ. Mary also being a descendant of David also. And he will one day rule and reign on from the throne of what?

David forever and ever. He shall return to finish what he started. He rules today from heaven, but one day he will rule physically again from earth as God fulfills his promise here to David. And of that, David is sure. While David had failed, God would not fail.

Isaiah says several hundred years later, he writes, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. The government shall be upon his shoulders. Name shall be called wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting father, the prince of peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

David had failed, but God would what? Succeed. And God would succeed in keeping the covenant that he had made to David. And his descendant would be his salvation. His descendant would be his salvation.

He writes back here in verse 23, verse five again, although my house be not so with God, yet he hath made me an everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire. Jesus is David's salvation as much as he is ours. Of whom David said in Psalm 27, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?

The Lord is my strength. Of whom shall I be afraid? He is David's desire, his longing, and the seed of which God spoke to David by the mouth of Nathan the prophet concerning his house. He is the root out of dry ground who will spring forth and fulfill all that God has promised, who shall rule over the house of David, who will perform his will where David and his seed had failed. Jesus did not fail.

He is righteous. He is just. He did live and lives in the fear of the Lord. And he went to the cross and he died for the sins of the world that we would have the opportunity to be the subjects of his kingdom. For without his death, there would have been no subjects because first he had to redeem us before he could reign over us, and we can reign with him as we are told.

Of this great hope, David is convinced that Israel should endure, and so the house of David while his enemies should be destroyed. And so he says, but the sons of Belial, the sons of the wicked shall be all of them as thorns thrust away because they cannot be taken with hands. But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear, and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place. David's enemies, God's enemies, who would defy the Lord God of Israel will one day be destroyed. We read about that in Revelation chapter 19 when the son of David returns and destroys and wipes out the enemies of the antichrist to take his rightful place on the throne of David.

We read about it in Matthew chapter 13 where we have the the parable of the wheat and the tares. And the farmer says, the Lord of the plantation the the the farm says to the workers, don't take out the tares yet. Wait till the harvest comes. And then when we harvest the wheat, we'll also separate it from the tares. And the tares will be taken and thrown into the what?

And thrown into the fire. Thus are the thorns here. These the enemies of David who had been a thorn in David's side, who are good for nothing because they can't be handled. Ever try to handle Pam's found some thorns out here while she was pulling up weeds and they can catch you by surprise and it's like, oh, there's a hole there. How did that happen?

Ouch. Okay. So what do you do? Well, it talks about that here. It says something about, but man, but the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron.

What does that? That means, you know, you gotta have something covering you like good leather gloves or iron in order to protect you from the what? From the thorns. And then you gather up the thorns and the tares, and they're thrown into the fire. So the enemies of David and of Israel and of Jesus Christ will one day be vanquished at his return.

Of this, David is sure. David is sure that what David could not finish, God would. The covenant that God made, he would keep. His seed would rule from the throne of David. His enemies would be vanquished.

God would keep his promise. And so as David closed his reign, as he gives his last testimony, he testifies of the grace and the power of God to finish what he has started. And we can also be assured, just as David was, that what God has started, he will what? Finish. He will finish in our life and he will finish in this world by his son, Jesus Christ.

And now David closes with a list of acknowledgments of those God gave David to protect him and to build up his kingdom and his house, for he did not do it alone. It's interesting that some of the last words David said were to lift up those that stood by his stood by his side. Too often leaders take all the credit for themselves. Too often leaders, when they pass off the scene, you hear about them in the news and how great they were and what they did, but you don't hear about the people that stood with them by their side through thick and thin, who lifted them up in prayer, who stood by them when accusations were flying, who kept them in their prayers and did not forsake them. There is a friend that sticketh closer than a what?

Than a brother. And David had a few of those. If you have some, praise the Lord for it because oftentimes, they're few and far between. But if you know Jesus, you have one, don't you? We do.

But praise the Lord for others he puts in our life, and we must be reminded of them. And we must not take credit for that which should be given to another. This past week, John MacArthur passed away and he's been in the news a lot. And you hear about John MacArthur, he had this ministry and he did this and he did that and and that's great. The Lord did use him, but but he didn't do all that alone.

He didn't. No. For fifty six years, I think, he pastored one church from 1969 till 2025. But he didn't build that church by himself. It was God who built that church, and it was others who came in and out of his life over fifty six years that held him up.

Remember Moses and the Amalekites came out after the Israelites as they left Egypt? And they were losing the battle. And Moses went up on top of the hill and he held up the the rod of God. And when he held up the rod, they began to win. But his arms got what?

Tired. And they began to fall. And then then Israel began to lose. And so Aaron and Hur came up beside him and they held up his arms and helped him to hold up the rod. And so is any that accomplishes great things for God, they do not accomplish them alone.

We look at the New Testament, the apostle Paul, and you read about what Paul did, and he did this in the book of Acts and he did that. But you know Paul was almost never alone. There's Luke who traveled with him at times. There there's Silas. There's Barnabas that we talked about this morning.

Played a key role in Paul's early ministry. There is Timothy, and there is Titus, and there's Erastus, and there's Aristarchus, and there's Gaius, and there is anyway, there's a lengthy list of those who held up the arms of Paul as he ministered also, of whom Paul and Luke also reminded us of in their ministry. And so should we be reminded of those who have been confidants and helpers in ours. Let's just read about these quickly. Verse eight, and then we'll close.

These be the names of the mighty men whom David had. The Tachmonite that sat in the seat chief among the captains, the same was Adino the Eznite. He lift up his spear against 800 whom he slew at one time. And after him was Eleazar, the son of Dodo and Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David. When they defied the Philistines that were gathered to gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel were gone away.

In other words, they had retreated. He arose and smote the Philistines until his hand was weary and his hand clave unto the sword and the Lord wrought a great victory that day and the people returned after him only this morning. Everybody else had retreated. Eliezer stood there with David, and he grasped so tightly to his sword that he couldn't, what? He couldn't let go.

Have you ever grabbed onto something so hard and after a few minutes when you go to Lent to let go, you couldn't get your hand to uncurl? Yeah. Then there was Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite, and the Philistines were gathered together into a troop where was a piece of ground full of lentils like beans, and the people fled from the Philistines. And he stood in the midst of the ground and defended it and slew the Philistines, and the Lord wrought a great victory. And three of the 30 chief went down and came to David in the harvest time unto the Cave Of Adullam.

And the troop of the Philistines pitched in the Valley Of Rephaim. And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David longed and said, oh, that one would give me drink of the water of the Well Of Bethlehem which is by the gate. Now I think David was just he was, you know, wishing. He was just saying as he was thinking, oh, it would be so great to have some water cause he grew up in Bethlehem.

See? That was his well. And so he was thinking as it was under siege that, boy, it would be nice to have so these three mighty men, probably the ones named above, heard him. And what did they do? Well, the three men break through the host of the Philistines and drew water out of the Well Of Bethlehem that was by the gate and took it and brought it unto David.

So they heard him saying, oh, I wish I could just have a drink of water. They went and they broke through the lines and they went and they got him a cup of water and they brought it back out. Wow. That's loyalty and that's courage. Nevertheless, David would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord and said, be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this.

Is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives, therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men. I don't know that I would have been too happy if I had been one of them. He poured it out on the ground. And then he goes on about some others besides the first three.

And then there's Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah. That would be his nephew. He was chief among three, and he lifted up his spear against 300 and slew them and had the name among three. Was he not most honorable three? Therefore, he was their captain, howbeit he attained not under the first three.

And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many acts, he slew two lion like men of Moab. He went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow. And he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man. And the Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but he went down to him with a staff. And he plucked the spear out of the Egyptian's hand and slew him with his own spear.

These things did Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and had the name among three mighty men. Both Benaiah and Abishai are mentioned several times. Abishai in particular throughout the book of Samuel. He was more honorable than the first than the 30, but he attained not to the first three, and David set him over his guard. Asahel, the brother of Joab, was one of the 30.

So he mentions three sons of Zeruiah, Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. And then he goes on and he gives a list. We won't read all the list because, well, honestly, I won't probably pronounce all the names and places right, but you can read it for yourself. But it's interesting though, you get down to verse 39, and I just found it interesting. What's the last name on the list?

Who is that? That's Bathsheba's husband that he left to die in battle. Yeah. He made the 30. He made the list.

I think David, in remembrance and honor and also in humiliation, he he remembered to put Uriah on the list of the thirty thirty men that were his compatriots, sadly, the one he abandoned, though he was loyal to David. But David would not have been David without Uriah nor Benaiah nor Ab Abishai or Asahel or Shammah. When he was running from Saul, he he garnered a 100 men quite quickly who came to his side to protect him as Saul came after him. He owed them his life indeed, and so he gave praise to his God. He reminded his people that though he had failed, God would still keep his what?

His promises. And he remembered those who stood by him. The Bible says a three ford coal cord cannot easily be broken. Iron sharpeneth iron so a man does sharpen in the countenance of his, what, friend? Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, manner of some is, but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching.

We must stand by one another. God is looking for someone to stand in the gap, as he told Ezekiel. In Ezekiel's day, he didn't find anybody, and Israel fell. Sometimes I think we give in to despair as Christians today and said, well, you know, this is just the way the world is. It's just the way America is.

It's just the way the church is. We need to be the person standing in the what? Standing in the gap. Have courage. As God said to Elijah, there are 7,000 in Israel that have not bowed the knee to Baal.

You are not alone. Have courage. Trust in the Lord. And that was the message that David wanted to leave with his people and with us. Let's take it to heart.

Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, thank you, Lord, for all that you have done for us and for Jesus Christ, our savior, for the promises and the covenants that you have made with us in Jesus Christ, the son of David, who has saved our soul from sin and hell and will one day return to take his rightful place, and we with him. Lord, thank you for those blessed promises, the promises of eternal life that you'll never leave us nor forsake us. And, Lord, may we be filled with hope today in Jesus Christ our savior. Regardless of our failures, he is ever faithful.

And may we strive and aspire, as did David, to be a more just ruler, a more just servant of the king, and live each day in the fear of the Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.