David’s+Last+Words

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=2 Samuel 23:1=

David was a man that was raised in a small town named Bethlehem and grew up to become the King of Israel. He had Grace upon Grace placed upon him by the Lord which shows he was the anointed one. He was selected by the Lord Himself and the more he abided in the Lord the more he was blessed. His humility and love for the Lord allowed him to write the many Psalms he did. He understood that he couldn’t do any of the things he did on his own merit or strength. Even the beautiful Psalms David wrote where not his own words, but the very words of God. At the end of the day it is the Lord that controls all things. It was the Lord that put David in the house of Judah, a requirement to become a legitimate king, and it is going to be the Lord that follows through with His promises. This verse can be arranged in a chiasm where the main point being that God is in control. ** (i) ** The chiasm: //Genealogy of David: the fact he was born into the House of Judah// //He was lifted up and elected by God// //Anointed: David’s line will bring forth the Messiah.// //David’s is the sweet psalmist of Israel// Like in any chiasm, the important point(s) are in the middle. Here the important point is the fact is God lifted David up and that through David’s lineage, the Messiah will come.
 * 1****//Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse declares, The man who was raised on high declares, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel, (NAS)//**

=2 Samuel 23:2=

God’s Holy Spirit is the instrument used for revelation and inspiration. It is the part of God that lives within the believer, constantly guiding the believer to do things that are pleasing to the Lord. It is the source of all good that comes from the believer, giving the believer the motivation to do action and the instruction for how to do it. Though it may be people doing the work, the Lord is the puppeteer that orchestrates the whole world and does so through the power of the Holy Spirit, which resides in the body of every believer. In this verse David presents himself as a prophet. Scholar argue this verse was a late insertion into the account because of its poetic diction in the Hebrew language. **(ii)** Words like milla and dabar that are in this verse occur in other passage in the bible but they are poetry (i.e. Joab, Pss 19:4,5). Scholars believe this verse was added to transform God's message to David into one for the nation of Israel as a whole, and this can be further supported by the fact that the passage flows well even if this verse were to be omitted. **(iii)**
 * //2//** **//The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me, And His word was on my tongue. (NAS)//**

=2 Samuel 23:**//3//**=


 * //3"The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me, He who rules over men righteously, Who rules in the fear of God, (NAS)//**

This verse is when God begins to speak directly through David and gives the attributes the ideal king should have. The King should conduct his office with complete fairness and be fully dependent on the Father for He is sovereign beyond all measure. **(iv)** Though David is the king that wrote this, he is not the king that is spoken of here. God is speaking of another king that has God’s justice and God’s sovereignty in mind all the time. **(v)** This king is the Messiah as identified in Isaiah 9:6,7, //“6For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”//

=2 Samuel 23:4=

This verse shows the consequences that come with having a King that pleases the Lord. As stated before, this king is not David but the Messiah that has yet to come. This ideal king (the Messiah) will be like the sun and its light at sunrise, a cloudless morning, and will provide sunshine to the grass after a rain to help it grow. **(vi)** This ideal king, that follows the Father, is going to lead the people of Israel in righteous manner and they will flourish under his rule. In contrast of course to the king that does only his own will and lead to his people to destruction and famine. **(vii)** "Mettinger believes that just as morning follows dawn and grass follows rain, so the prosperity of David's house follows the granting of the covenant." This ideal King that is spoken of here will come from the house of David, for it is what God promised in His Covenant with David. The righteous King is going to bring warmth, beauty and progression to the nation. For this is the King God wants for His people, one that is going to guide them well and help them prosper, all according to His will.
 * //4//** **//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.' (NAS)//**

=2 Samuel 23:5=

This verse is translated quite awkwardly, but the New King James Version (NKJ) states, //“Although my house be not so with God; yet 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.”// The KJV gives an affirmation statement where David admits his house is not right with God. In the NAS translation it sounds like David is trying to prove his righteousness on the fact that God chose him. **(viii)** The interpretation from the KJV is better for it fits better with the context of the rest of the chapter and the book, where David acknowledges he is not up to par with what God expects, but God’s faithfulness will continue and He will keep his covenants. (Mcccarter 1984) **(ix)** David then responses to the attributes God has given for the ideal King. David admits he and his house have not always ruled over the people of Israel with complete fairness and dependence on God, and so therefore they have fallen short of the standard wanted by God. Thus David and his house were not able to fulfill covenant that was stated in 2 Samuel 12-16. But that covenant was a promise the Lord made with David and He will do well on that promise, even though David and his house failed.**(x)** David’s language here shows his faith, that God will not break the promise He made with him. David knows that though he failed, the Lord will bring someone in his line that is going to bring the nation to where the Lord wants it to be. This king is going to be the Messiah, the true king that is able to fulfill the attributes stated in verse 3.
 * //5//****//”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? (NAS)//**

=2 Samuel 23:**//6,7//**=


 * //6 But the worthless, every one of them will be thrust away like thorns, Because they cannot be taken in hand;//** **//7But 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."//** **//(NAS)//**

The thorns here represent the doers of evil and those who persecute those of the Kingdom. **(xi)** Those that remain enemies of God will not be shown mercy but will be removed and judged by the Messiah. And only the true king can remove these people for they are dangerous. **(xii)** Only those armed with the proper weapons of God can manage to remove them without themselves getting hurt. The Messiah’s rule on this earth will be perfect and no action of man will be able to disrupt the reign of the Messiah. **(xiii)** The true king's righteous motivation will cleanse the kingdom of evil and will do so by the use of force when necessary.

**___** (i) Mccarter, P. Kyle. [|II Samuel] [|(The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries)]Yale University Press (1984)

(ii) Baker, David W., Daniel I. Block, and Daniel Bodi, [|Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary)]Zondervan (2009)

(iii) Albert Barnes, Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (1 Samuel -Ruth), Baker Book House (1967)

(iv) Mccarter, P. Kyle. [|II Samuel] [|(The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries)]Yale University Press (1984)

(v) John R. Franke, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament IV (1-2 Samuel), InterVasity Press (2005)

(vi) Albert Barnes, Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (1 Samuel -Ruth), Baker Book House (1967)

(vii)Baker, David W., Daniel I. Block, and Daniel Bodi, [|Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary)]Zondervan (2009)

(viii) Mccarter, P. Kyle. [|II Samuel] [|(The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries)]Yale University Press (1984)

(ix) Albert Barnes, Barnes' Notes on the Old Testament (1 Samuel -Ruth), Baker Book House (1967)

(x) Baker, David W., Daniel I. Block, and Daniel Bodi, [|Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary)]Zondervan (2009)

(xi) John R. Franke, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Old Testament IV (1-2 Samuel), InterVasity Press (2005)

(xii) Mccarter, P. Kyle. [|II Samuel] [|(The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries)]Yale University Press (1984)

(xii) Baker, David W., Daniel I. Block, and Daniel Bodi, [|Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary)]Zondervan (2009)

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