2 Samuel 23:1-7--The Last Words of David

2 Samuel 23:1-7
English Standard Version

The Last Words of David
23 Now these are the last words of David:

The oracle of David, the son of Jesse,
    the oracle of the man who was raised on high,
the anointed of the God of Jacob,
    the sweet psalmist of Israel:

2 “The Spirit of the LORD speaks by me;
    his word is on my tongue.
3 The God of Israel has spoken;
    the Rock of Israel has said to me:
When one rules justly over men,
    ruling in the fear of God,
4 he dawns on them like the morning light,
    like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,
    like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.

5 “For does not my house stand so with God?
    For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
    ordered in all things and secure.
For will he not cause to prosper
    all my help and my desire?
6 But worthless men are all like thorns that are thrown away,
    for they cannot be taken with the hand;
7 but the man who touches them
    arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear,
    and they are utterly consumed with fire.”

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The book of 2 Samuel has taken us all the way from when David was recognized as king over all of Israel all the way to his final days.  While not the last words of this book, these are the last words spoken by David to his people.  We'll have some crossover in the book of 1 Kings as David will be alive and an old man there, and that book will mostly speak of the time during the reign of King Solomon, but David will be alive and active during some of this time.  Let's take a look today at what David wanted to say for his "farewell address" to the people of Israel.

First, David wanted to remind the people that the source of his oracles and psalms was the Spirit of the LORD.  It is only by Him and through Him that David was able to speak words of prophecy and write what would be the hymn book for the nation of Israel (there would be some other contributors as well, but by far the book Psalms is often thought of as The Psalms of David as he is the largest contributor).

David then encourages those who would rule after him (probably turning and speaking directly to Solomon here) to rule justly.  That is not to say that David always got everything right, but David speaks a truism that when the king does what is right, the people are blessed, but when the king does what is wrong, all the people suffer.  We are actually going to see an example of this before the end of David's life as David is going to make one more big mistake that will be recorded in the book of 2 Samuel, and he will have to choose the punishment that the nation will face as a result.

David then reflects on the everlasting covenant that the LORD made with him and his household that is a promise that extends beyond David's life and reign as king at this time (there are some Old Testament prophecies that seem to indicate that the LORD will allow David to once again sit on the throne in Jerusalem in the coming Kingdom).  So, David hopes that his family will stay true to God because he knows that God will never forsake his family.  Unfortunately, David's family is going to mess up "royally" within just one generation and very few of them will be described in the books of Kings and Chronicles as being righteous or doing what was right in the LORD's eyes.  However, that will not put an end to the covenant that the LORD made with David and his house because that covenant was unconditional (not based off of the works of David or his descendants, but based on what the LORD was definitely going to do through Jesus, the Son of David, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords).

David calls all those who try to oppose this covenant "worthless men" who might be like thorns that injure you if you try to touch them with your bare hands (take care of them in your own strength), but David encourages the people to take up arms against such men as the LORD commands so that they may face the fiery judgment that they deserve.