Last Words

“Now these be the last words of David.” 2 Samuel 23:1

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." (2 Sa 23:1)

When we consider the Saints in the Old Testament, David, King of Israel would be one of the most renown of the parade that marches through the sermons and studies. David was elevated by God’s Spirit from the least of the brothers in the House of Jesse to lead a life that only God could orchestrate. From a keeper of sheep to the King of Israel.

The scripture is filled with the adventures of David from the victory in the battle where he destroyed Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, with one of the five stones he plucked from the brook and to his greatest failure with Bathsheba and Uriah.

Everyone who follows after God will have a record of victories against giants and failures when challenged by sin and a life filled with experiences both good and bad. No matter how great the victories we win or how great the failures in sin we experience; we will be remembered by how we ran the race.

God’s word reminds us of this truth:

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” (Heb 12:1)

David ran his race and you must run yours. Just as David was called from the least and promoted to king, you too have this same pedigree given to you by Jesus. The scripture reminds you that you came from the “least.” The Apostle Peter reminds the followers of Jesus that we too were called by God out of the cesspool of lost sinners:

“For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries.” (1 Pe 4:3)

God not only called you out of the “least” but just as David was made to be a king, we too have been made kings. We find this teaching in these words, “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father.” (Rev 1:6) David in his last words said:

“...he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.”(2 Sa 23:5)

David was not depending on the greater preponderance of his life journey to determine his value to God and his place in God’s Kingdom. David was depending on God’s everlasting covenant for his salvation. David believed God when He said:

“And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.” (2 Sa 7:16)

What will your last words be? Will you call out to God for His mercy given to you through the Saviour? Will you plead your hope based on your victories and failures? David understood the power of grace, knowing that God had called him he trusted in God’s grace and mercy not his victories. David in his failure said:

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.” (Psa 51:1)

He did not remind God of all the victories he had or how much he had produced for God’s purpose. David just wanted mercy and grace. God has directed His grace towards you:

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” (Rom 5:8-9)

David was just as you are. Trusting in the Saviour, he was looking forward to the “throne” that would be “established for ever,” and you are looking back to the “throne” that was “established forever” when Jesus came into this world as God in the flesh and gave Himself for your deliverance from the pool of sinful men.

When your last words are spoken, let them be not of the works you have performed for God but the work of the cross that Jesus performed for you.