2 Samuel 23
McGeeCHAPTER 23THEME: David’s last words; David’s mighty men
2 Samuel 23:1
DAVID’S LAST WORDSDavid was “the son of Jesse.” Jesse was a peasant, a farmer in BethlehemDavid was never ashamed of that. God lifted David “up on high”. He placed him with the great men of the world. David was the “anointed of the God of Jacob.” The same God who took that clever, conniving fellow Jacob and made him Israel, a prince with God, is the same God who took David and put him on the throne. He is the same God who saved me and the same God who saved you. He is gracious, good, and loving. Oh, my friend, how wonderful is our God! David was also “the sweet psalmist of Israel.” He was a musician: he wrote music, he played music, and he loved to hear music. I share David’s love for music although I have no talent for reproducing music in any form. But I appreciate good music. I don’t care for what we call “rock” musicin fact, to me it is not even music. I deeply regret that this type of music is being brought into the church. Good music, elevating music, music that thrills the soul has always contributed something beautiful to man’s worship of his God.
2 Samuel 23:2
The Spirit of God came upon David, and that is the way he wrote his psalms. Peter tells us that that is the way men wrote the Old Testament. “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2Pe_1:20-21).
2 Samuel 23:3
It is obvious that the decisions made in our government todayregardless of the partyare not made “in fear of God.” They are made in fear of the voters. There is little effort being made to please God in our government. I wish it could be said that the United States of America is a Christian nation. It is not. I was rather amused by the comments being made by some men who were out of work because of a decision made in Washington by the Senate. Each man who was out of work said, “I voted for that man because he said he was going to vote for this project, and he voted against it.” Well, all the politician wanted was to be elected to office. He didn’t care anything about the men and their project. We need men who will rule in the fear of God and, until we get them, we are going to have corruption in high places.
2 Samuel 23:4
This is one of the more remarkable statements David ever made. You will recall that I said 2 Samuel 7 was one of the great chapters of the Bible. In that chapter God made a covenant with David. The Davidic covenant, upon which the future kingdom of Christ was to be founded, provided for David the promise of posterity in his house, a royal throne of authority, and a kingdom on earth established forever. God promised that the Messiah would come through the Davidic line. He is the same One promised to Eve in the Garden of Eden. He is the same One promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the One whom Moses talked about. Joshua also spoke of Him. Now God’s covenant with David concerns Him.
2 Samuel 23:5
What David is saying is simply this: “My house is not worthy of this. We did not receive this by merit. It did not come because of who I am.” If David had gotten his just deserts, God would never have made a covenant with him. Neither would God have saved you or me if it had been on the basis of merit. And yet He made an everlasting covenant with David. God has made a covenant with us, too.
It is recorded in Joh_3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Now I hold on to that. God has made that covenant. I never asked Him to make it. He did not make it because of who we are. He did not wait for you or me to make a suggestion. He did it 1900 years ago.
He said, “Here it is; take it or leave it.” I take it, by the way. I rest upon that. David said that his covenant was “ordered in all things, and sure.” Friend, you can depend upon God. David says, “This is all my salvation.” Well, God’s covenant with me is my salvation. It is what I desire, friend. It should be the desire of every believer’s heart, “although he made it not to grow.”
2 Samuel 23:8
DAVID’S MIGHTY MENNext we are given a catalog of David’s mighty men. These men, you will recall, came to David during the time that he was in exile. When David was being driven by Saul, he was an outcast, hunted like a partridge. He had to hide in the dens of the earth. It was during this time that those who were in distress came to him. They were persecuted and oppressed by Saul, and they fled to David. Others also came to him: those who had gotten into debt and could not pay, those who were discontented, and those who were bitter of soul.
In this same way men come to Christ. They are in distress. According to their letters, many young rebels were once in distress. They write to me and tell me about their experiences with the Lord. They came to Christ with debts of sin, and He cancelled those debts. Are you discontented with life?
If you are living a fulfilling life and doing all right, I guess I don’t have any message for you at all. But if you are discontented down deep in your soul, and you want to be saved and have fellowship with God, come to Christ. He will remove your guilt and give you satisfaction in your life. These men who came to David were outstanding men in many ways. They did many remarkable things. Let us look at a few of them.
2 Samuel 23:11
Defending a patch of lentils may not seem very important, but Israel needed the food. It was the custom of the Philistines to wait until an Israelite’s crop was ready to harvest, then they would come ravaging, plundering, and robbing. This year, as usual, everyone ran when they cameexcept one man, Shammah. He stopped, drew his sword, and defended it. One man against a troop of Philistines! “And the LORD wrought a great victory.”
2 Samuel 23:13
David was brought up in Bethlehem, and he thought about the refreshing water from the well there. I know how David felt. I was raised in a little town in Texas. My dad built our house and dug our well. The water was “gyp” water. A few years ago I went back to that place. I could hardly wait to get a drink of that water. I lay down on the ground by the faucet by the well and lapped up that water. My, it was delicious! I was raised on it. It took me back to my boyhood. Now David longed for water from the well at Bethlehem. He never gave a command to anybody to go and get him water, but three of his mighty men broke through the Philistine lines to get it for him. That is the way they became mighty men. I think of the command that the Lord Jesus gave in Mat_28:19-20 to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Then I think back in the past to the men who broke through the enemy lines and took the gospel to those who needed to hear. Think of the pioneer missionariesI don’t like to mention just one man, but think of men like the apostle Paul or Martin Luther. A great company of missionaries followed after them, and they have been breaking through the enemy lines ever since and getting out the Word of God. These are mighty men of David’s greater Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is another of David’s mighty men.
2 Samuel 23:20
I love this one. This fellow slew a lion. That is not an easy thing to do, and he did it when there was snow on the ground. I know a lot of people who won’t even come to church when there is a little rain on the sidewalk. May I say to you, they could not have much fellowship with a man like Benaiah. He was out there when there was snow on the ground. He was a tremendous man.
2 Samuel 23:39
Uriah the Hittite was one of David’s mighty men. This is the man he sent to the front lines to be killed. This is the blot on the escutcheon of David.