Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 2 Samuel 23:1
Now these [be] the last words of 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,
1. David the son of Jesse said ] The oracle of David the son of Jesse: a peculiar word, generally used of a direct message from God through a prophet in the phrase rendered, “saith the Lord,” and joined with the name of the human speaker only here and in Num 24:3-4; Num 24:15-16; Pro 30:1. It therefore marks these “last words” as an utterance delivered by special divine inspiration.
raised up on high ] Raised by God from a low estate to be the king of Israel. Cp. ch. 2Sa 7:8-9; Psa 78:70-71.
the God of Jacob ] The use of the name Jacob, instead of the more familiar Israel, is chiefly poetical. It suggests more vividly the connexion of the nation with their great ancestor, and recalls more forcibly the covenant made with him by God. Cp. Psa 20:1; Isa 2:3.
the sweet psalmist of Israel ] Lit. pleasant in Israel’s songs of praise: a title deserving to stand by the side of “the anointed of the God of Jacob,” because he was God’s instrument for educating and developing his people’s religious life by means of his Psalms, not less than for governing them as king. See Introd. ch. V. 6, c, p. 31.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Ch. 2Sa 23:1-7. The last words of David
The great hymn of triumph in ch. 22, composed when David was in the zenith of his prosperity, is followed by his “last words:” his last prophetic utterance, delivered not long before his death, a parting testimony to the world of his confidence in the fulfilment of the promise concerning the eternal dominion of his posterity.
A translation of the Targum or Aramaic paraphrase of David’s last words is given in Note IV., p. 237.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The last words of David – i. e., his last Psalm, his last words of song 2Sa 22:1. The insertion of this Psalm, which is not in the Book of Psalms, was probably suggested by the insertion of the long Psalm in 2 Sam. 22.
David the son of Jesse said … – The original word for said is used between 200 and 300 times in the phrase, saith the Lord, designating the word of God in the mouth of the prophet. It is only applied to the words of a man here, and in the strikingly similar passage Num 24:3-4, Num 24:15-16, and in Pro 30:1; and in all these places the words spoken are inspired words. The description of David is divided into four clauses, which correspond to and balance each other.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
2Sa 23:1-5
Now these be the last words of David.
The last words of David
According to a commonly received interpretation of this passage, David mourned over the ungodly state of his children, but exulted in the assurance of his, own personal salvation. He first repeated the description he had received from the Lord of the character which kings and rulers should maintain, and it is supposed that he next lamented the fact that his children did not answer to the Divine ideal. It is further supposed that his sorrow on account of their shortcomings instantly gave place to grateful joy in the hope that, through the mercy and faithfulness of God, he himself should be secure and blessed for ever. It might go ill with his children, but it would be well with him. His family troubles were great and many. Some of his children were anything but what his conscience could approve and his heart could desire. They were thorns in his side and arrows in his heart. Still, is it not incredible that David, as he contemplated the lost condition of his children, could instantly get comfort by thinking of his own safety? He was sometimes sadly unlike his true self, but assuredly he was never so unlike himself as to say in effect, My children may perish, but, the Lord be praised, I shall get to heaven myself! This must be deemed impossible to David, even by those who take the worst view of his conduct in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. There is another interpretation of the passage which makes it chiefly and almost exclusively a prophecy of Christ. It is supposed to regard Him as the King ordained of God, and to describe the perfection of His kingly character, the righteousness of His rule, the benignity of His sway over those who submit to it, and the destructive effects of His sovereignty upon those who are rebellious and disobedient. Those who adopt this interpretation make certain changes in the translation of the passage which remove from it everything like lamentation on Davids part. There is a third interpretation according to which David here sets forth the Divine ideal of a ruler over men as he in early life received it from the Spirit of the Lord. Now that he has reached the close of his kingly career, he compares that career with the description of a good king which God had given to him, and he finds that he has fallen far short of it. When he speaks of his house not being so with God, he does not mean his domestic circle, but the reigning dynasty, and he refers, not to the godless character of his children, but to the imperfections of his own kingship. That had not been altogether such as Gad had enjoined, and as he himself had desired and determined. When he speaks of the covenant ordered in all things, he exults, not in the thought that he is personally safe despite the irreligion of his children, but in the assurance that he shall be saved despite his shortcomings and failures as a king.
1. These last words reveal to us the lofty standard of kingly character which was set before David in early life. Righteousness towards men and reverence towards God are named as the two great essentials in a good king. For lack of these, monarchs have been curses instead of blessings, and peoples have been oppressed, and kingdoms have been ruined. But where the authority of God has been recognised, and the rights of the people have been respected, nations have flourished, and kings have been a terror to evil-doers, and a praise to them that do well. Stress is laid upon justice rather than upon compassion, and history warrants the emphasis. The benignant influence of a God-fearing and righteous ruler is described in expressive figurative language. Gladness and growth shall characterise his reign, for he shall be as the light of the morning, etc. Several years elapsed before the throne promised to David came into his possession; and it is probable that this vivid picture of kingly perfection was also placed before him some time prior to his accession. These last words reveal to us the sad consciousness which David had in his old age, that the lofty standard set before him in early life had not been reached. His kingship was anything but a great failure. It cannot be questioned that Davids reign was a great blessing to the Jews, and that in the review of his career there was much to inspire him with joy and thankfulness. Earthly perfection is one of the pleasant dreams of inexperience. It is generally the honest determination of young beginners to do very great things, and they firmly believe that all their lofty aspirations will be fully realised This is one of the illusions of life by which every new generation is fascinated despite all the disappointments of preceding generations. Each fresh comer into the field is blissfully forgetful of human frailties and heroically defiant of difficulties, and nothing but his own personal experience will be able to shake his faith in the splendour of his future achievements. There never lived but One in this world whose review of His earthly life was free from all the sadness which sight of fault and failure brings. When Jesus hung upon the cross, He could think of such a work as had never been devolved upon man or angel, and of that matchless work He could say, It is finished! (C. Vince.)
The last words of David
The song falls into four parts.
1. In the introduction, we cannot but be struck with the formality and solemnity of the affirmation respecting the singer and the inspiration under which he sang. The first four clauses represent David as the speaker; the second four represent Gods Spirit as inspiring his words. The introduction to Balaams prophecies is the only passage where we find a similar structure, nor is this the only point of resemblance between the two songs. In both prophecies, the word translated saith is peculiar. While occurring between two and three hundred times in the formula, Thus saith the Lord: it is used by a human speaker only in these two places and in Pro 30:1. The second part of the introduction stamps the prophecy with a fourfold mark of inspiration.
1. The Spirit of the Lord spake by me.
2. His word was in my tongue.
3. The God of Israel said.
4. The Rock of Israel spake to me.
So remarkable an introduction must be followed by no ordinary prophecy.
2. We come, then, to the great subject of the prophecy–a Ruler over men. It is a vision of a remarkable Ruler, not a Ruler over the kingdom of Israel merely, but a Ruler over men. The Ruler seen is One whose government knows no earthly limits, but prevails wherever there are men. It is worthy of very special remark that the first characteristic of this Ruler is righteousness. There is no grander or more majestic word in the language of men. Not even love or mercy can be preferred to righteousness. And this is no casual expression, happening in Davids vision, for it is common to the whole class of prophecies that predict the Messiah. It is the grand characteristic of Christs salvation in theory that it is through righteousness; it is not less its effect in practice to promote righteousness. To any who would dream, under colour of free grace, of breaking down the law of righteousness, the words of the Holy One and the Just stand out as an eternal rebuke, Think not that I am come to destroy the law and the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. And as Christs work was founded on righteousness, so it was constantly done in the fear of God–with the highest possible regard for His will, and reverence for His law. Having shown the character of the Ruler, the vision next pictures the effects of His rule. No imagery could be more delightful, or more fitly applied to Christ. The image of the morning sun presents Christ in His gladdening influences, bringing pardon to the guilty, health to the diseased, hope to the despairing. The chief idea under the other emblem, the grass shining clearly after rain, is that of renewed beauty and growth. The heavy rain batters the grass, as heavy trials batter the soul; but when the morning shines out clearly, the grass recovers, it sparkles with a fresher lustre, and grows with intenser activity. So when Christ shines on the heart after trial, a new beauty and a new growth and prosperity come to it.
3. Next comes Davids allusion to his own house. In our translation, and in the text of the Revised Version, this comes in to indicate a sad contrast between the bright vision just described and the Psalmists own family. The key to the passage will be found, if we mistake not, in the expression my house. We are liable to think of this as the domestic circle, whereas it ought to be thought of as the reigning dynasty. What is denoted by the house of Hapsburg, the house of Hanover, the house of Savoy, is quite different from the personal family of any of the kings. So when David speaks of his house, he means his dynasty. In this sense his house had been made the subject of the most gracious promise. But take the marginal reading–Is not my house so with God? Is not my dynasty embraced in the scope of this promise? Hath He not made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure? And will He not make this promise, which is all my salvation and all my desire, to grow, to fructify? It is infinitely more natural to represent David on this joyous occasion congratulating himself on the promise of long continuance and prosperity made to his dynasty, than dwelling on the unhappy condition of the members of his family circle. And the facts of the future correspond to this explanation. Was not the government of Davids house or dynasty in the main righteous, at least for many a reign, conducted in the fear of God, and followed by great prosperity and blessing? David himself, Solomon, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah–what other nation had ever so many Christlike kings?
4. The last part of the prophecy, in the way of contrast to the leading vision, is a prediction of the doom of the ungodly. While some would fain think of Christs sceptre as one of mercy only, the uniform representation of the Bible is different. In this, as in most predictions of Christs kingly office, there is an instructive combination of mercy and judgment. Nor could it be otherwise. The union of mercy and judgment is the inevitable result of the righteousness which is the foundation of His government. Sin is the abominable thing which He hates. To separate men from sin is the grand purpose of His government. Oh, let us not be satisfied with admiring beautiful images of Christi Let us not deem it enough to think with pleasure of Him as the light of the morning, a morning without clouds, brightening the earth, and making it sparkle with the lustre of the sunshine on the grass after rain! (W. G. Blaikie, D. D.)
The dying kings last vision and psalm
It was fitting that the last words of David should be a prophecy of the true King, whom his own failures and sins, no less than his consecration and victories, had taught him to expect. The dying eyes see on the horizon of the far-off future the form of Him who is to be a just and perfect ruler, before the brightness of whose presence and the refreshing of whose influence verdure and beauty shall clothe the world. As the shades gather round the dying monarch, the radiant glory to come brightens. He departs in peace, having seen the salvation from afar, and stretched out longing bands of greeting toward it. Then his harp is silent, as if the rapture which thrilled the trembling strings had snapped them.
1. We have first a prelude extending to the middle of 2Sa 23:3. In it there is first a fourfold designation of the personality of the Psalmist-prophet, and then a fourfold designation of the Divine oracle spoken through him. Similarly, the fourfold designation of the Divine source has the same purpose, and corresponds with the four clauses of 2Sa 23:1, The spirit of the Lord spake in (or, into) me. That gives the Psalmists consciousness that in his prophecy he was but the recipient of a message. It wonderfully describes the penetrating power of that inward voice which clearly came to him from without, and as clearly spoke to him within. Words could not more plainly declare the prophetic consciousness of the distinction between himself and the Voice which he heard in the depths of his spirit. It spoke in him before he spoke of his lyric prophecy.
2. The Divine oracle thus solemnly introduced and guaranteed must be worthy of such a prelude. Abruptly, and in clauses without verbs, the picture of the righteous Ruler is divinely flashed before the Seers inward eye. The broken construction may perhaps indicate that he is describing what he beholds in vision. There is no need for any supplement such as There shall be, which, however true in meaning, mars the vividness of the presentation of the Ruler to the prophets sight. David sees him painted on the else blank wall of the future. When and where the realisation may be he knows not. What are the majestic outlines? A universal sovereign over collective humanity, righteous and God-fearing. In the same manner as he described the vision of the King, David goes on, as a man on some height telling what he saw to the people below, and paints the blessed issues of the Kings coming. It had been night before he came–the night of ignorance, sorrow, and sin–but his coming is like one of these glorious Eastern sunrises without a cloud, when everything laughs in its early beams, and, with tropical swiftness, the tender herbage bursts from the ground, as born from the dazzling brightness and the fertilising rain. So all things shall rejoice in the reign of the King, and humanity be productive, under his glad and quickening influences, of growths of beauty and fruitfulness impossible to it without these.
3. The difficult 2Sa 23:5, whether its first and last clauses be taken interrogatively or negatively, in its central part, bases the assurance of the coming of the king on Gods covenant (2Sa 7:1-29), which is glorified as being everlasting, provided with all requisites for its realisation, and therefore sure, or perhaps preserved, as if guarded by Gods inviolable sanctity and faithfulness. The fulfilment of the dying saints hopes depends on Gods truth. Whatever sense might say, or doubt whisper, he silences them by gazing on that great Word. So we have all to do.
4. But the oracle cannot end with painting only blessings as flowing from the kings reign. If he is to rule in righteousness and the fear of the Lord, then he must fight against evil. If his coming causes the tender grass to spring, it will quicken ugly growths too. The former representation is only half the truth; and the threatening of destruction for the evil is as much a part of the Divine oracle as the other. Strictly, it is wickedness the abstract quality rather than the concrete persons who embody it–which is spoken of. May we recall the old distinction that God loves the sinner while He hates the sin? The picture is vivid. The wicked–and all the enemies of this king are wicked, in the prophets view–are like some of these thorn-brakes, that cannot be laid hold of, even to root them out, but need to be attacked with sharp pruning-hooks on long shafts, or burned where they grow. There is a destructive side to the coming of the king, shadowed in every prophecy of him, and brought emphatically to prominence in his own descriptions of his reign and its final issues. It is a poor kindness to suppress that side of the truth. Thorns as well as tender grass spring up in the quickening beams; and the best commentary on the solemn words which close Davids closing song is the saying of the King Himself: In the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)
Davids last words
I. Gods words by david.
1. Davids words as king, David, the man who was raised on high, saith (2Sa 23:1.)
2. Davids words as Psalmist, David saith, the sweet psalmist of Israel (2Sa 23:1.)
3. Davids words from God, The spirit of the Lord spake by me (2Sa 23:2.)
1. These be the last words of David.
(1) Davids many words;
(2) Davids precious words;
(3) Davids last words.
2. The man whom God raised on high.
(1) The lowly origin;
(2) The Divine uplift;
(3) The exalted end.
3. The spirit of the Lord spake by me.
(1) David the voice;
(2) God the speaker.
(1) The source of revelation;
(2) The mediums of revelation.
II. Gods words concerning rulers.
1. What good rulers must be: One that ruleth righteously, in the fear of God (2Sa 23:3.)
2. What good rulers are like: He shall be as the light of the morning (2Sa 23:4.)
3. How God treats good rulers: He Hath made with me an everlasting covenant (2Sa 23:5.)
1. He shall be as the light of the morning.
(1) He illuminates;
(2) He invigorates;
(3) He comforts.
2. He hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
(1) The source of the covenant;
(2) The recipient of the covenant;
(3) The scope of the covenant;
(4) The duration of the covenant.
3. It is all my salvation, and all my desire. Gods covenant
(1) As a source of blessing;
(2) As an object of desire.
III. Gods words concerning enemies.
1. Equipped for evil: The ungodly shall be all of them as thorns (2Sa 23:6.)
2. Overcome by power: The man that touched them must be armed with iron (2Sa 23:7.)
3. Doomed to destruction: They shall be utterly burned with fire (2Sa 23:7.)
1. The ungodly shall be all of them as thorns to be thrust away. The ungodly
(1) Intrinsically harmful;
(2) Universally doomed.
(1) Full of virulence;
(2) Appointed to destruction.
2. Armed with iron and the staff of a spear.
(1) Mans equipment for extirpating thorns;
(2) Gods equipment for extirpating rebels.
3. They shall be utterly burned with fire in their place. The end of the wicked:
(1) Its terribleness;
(2) Its completeness. (Sunday School Times.)
Broken ideals
The history does not inform us at what period of Davids chequered life the God of Israel–the Rock of Israel, spake thus to him. We may not be presumptuous, however, in fixing on what in our judgment would appear to have been the most likely time. Voices of highest inspiration, visions of loftiest things, come, as a rule, to men in early life. By an irresistible sense of the fitness of the figure, we speak of the youth as the Morning of life, when all within and without is at its brightest and its best, and heaven and earth smile with the promise of the coming day. It would seem but natural, then, that we should place this vision of the ideal man–the ideal ruler–at least in some period of Davids earlier life. There are two or three purposes which ideals and visions serve, and though they are the mere commonplaces of all serious thinking, I may be permitted briefly to state them.
I. Ideals and visions are our only possible means of enlargement and enrichment. For the chances of true greatness everywhere never lie so much in what a man is as in what he sees, in perhaps rare moments, he may become. This is clear and obvious enough to all our minds; but in days when men are asking whether ideals do not stand in our way, it will bear enforcement. An ideal is the soul, the only soul, and the only soul in every conceivable direction of sustained effort and assured progress. Our Saviour knew this full well when He pitched the tune of our Christian lives in the highest key of all, and bade us be perfect, as our Father who is in heaven is perfect. And the high ground which He took, all experience approves. A vision of our personal possibilities may be extravagant–it may even be misleading; but find a man who has ceased to see such visions, who has ceased to be allured by them, who has ceased to follow them, and you find a man who is growing from small to less, from mediocrity to insignificance.
II. We should feel things as well as know them, There is no chance of continuous and successful effort, apart from a strict fidelity to what, in our best moments, the God of Israel–the Rock of Israel, has said to us, or has set before us. Moral precepts will help us on a long way, but they cannot kindle an abiding endeavour. Abstract injunctions and commands will help us on a long way, but I doubt if they ever yet carried a single struggling soul within sight of a very high goal.
III. God sends us our ideals–our religious ideals–to break the binding arid blinding spell of religious custom. What stagnation, what paralysis sometimes comes over us! Then, happy is the man whom the memories of former days, of former visions, of former vows, disturb at such a time; who accepts, as from God, the reproachful looks of former ideals; who goes back in thought to the times of his youthful consecration, and who determines that henceforth Christ and not custom shall be his King. And when memory travels back to life as it shaped itself to our young imagination, and then reflect on the way and manner in which it has all turned out, it requires something like ah effort to talk about ideals. And yet consider–
1. Most of the deepest things m life we can only, learn from conscious, perhaps repeated failure. In a fine lecture on Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the late Principal Shairp tins the following: Through the wounds made in his own spirit, through the brokenness of a heart humbled and made contrite by the experience of his own sin, he entered into the faith which gave rest, the peace which settles where the intellect is meek. Now wounds and failures, and even sin, remembered ideals that seem sometimes only to reproach us, sometimes almost to mock us, these things have a good account to give of themselves, if they accomplish for us anything like that
2. Patiently, too, do we come to look upon our brothers failures. Sons of consolation indeed do we become when we learn to look through the open windows of our own. The Voice of voices to this generation exclaims, Oh! my brother, my brother, why cannot I fold thee to my breast? That brother cannot be folded to this breast in any very effective way till I have come to know much more what is inside than I could know when the God of Israel–the Rock of Israel, first spake to me.
3. Lastly, there are many great sights in this world. There are many great and noble things done under the sun. Heroes and heroines are only scarce to those who, often enough for good reason, cannot see them. (J. Thew.)
Davids swan song
And now comes the last Lay of the Minstrel, with its flashes of heavenly fire–the true Swan song. If we treasure with peculiar fondness the closing sayings of great men, with what devout interest may we not listen to the concluding strains of the Laureate of the universal church–the last cadences of that harp of a thousand strings! The grandeur of earthly empire is fast waning. He has heaven in view. But he would give to his people–to the world–this dying Confession of faith farewell ode of victory. The whole poetry of his nature seems summoned up for the expiring effort. (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)
Last wards
Dr. Preston: Blessed be God! though I change my place, I shall not change my company; for I have walked with God while living, and now I go to rest with God. Matthew Henry: You have been used to take notice of the sayings of dying men, this is mine–that a life spent in the service of God, and communion with Him, is the most comfortable life that any one can lead in this present world. Rutherford: If he should slay me ten thousand times ten thousand times, Ill trust. I feel, I feel, I believe in joy, and rejoice; I feed on manna. Oh, for arms to embrace Him. Oh, for a well-tuned harp! Rev. James Hervey: You tell me that I have but a few moments to live. Oh, let me spend them in adoring our great Reedeemer! Oh, welcome death! thou mayest well be reckoned among the treasures of the Christian. His last words, The great conflict is over: all is done. President Edwards, after bidding goodbye to all his children, looked about, and said, Now, where is Jesus of Nazareth, my never-failing Friend? And so he fell asleep, and went to the Lord he loved. Rev. John Wesley: The best of all is, God is with us. Rev. Charles Wesley: I shall be satisfied with Thy likeness; satisfied–satisfied! Dr. Payson: The battles fought–the battles fought; and the victory is won–the victory is won, for ever! I am going to bathe in an ocean of purity, and benevolence, and happiness to all eternity. Faith and patience, hold out. (G. S. Bowes, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
CHAPTER XXIII
The last words of David, 1-7.
The names and exploits of has thirty-seven worthies, 8-39.
NOTES ON CHAP. XXIII
Verse 1. These be the last words of David.] I suppose the last poetical composition is here intended. He might have spoken many words after these in prose, but none in verse. Other meanings are given; this I prefer.
The words of this song contain a glorious prediction of the Messiah’s kingdom and conquests, in highly poetic language.
The sweet psalmist of Israel] This character not only belonged to him as the finest poet in Israel, but as the finest and most Divine poet of the whole Christian world. The sweet psalmist of Israel has been the sweet psalmist of every part of the habitable world, where religion and piety have been held in reverence.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The last words of David; not simply the last that he spoke, but some of the last uttered in his last days upon the approach of his death; or the last which he spoke by the Spirit of God, assisting and directing him in an extraordinary manner.
Raised up on high; advanced from an obscure family and estate to the kingdom.
The anointed of the God of Jacob; whom, though despised by men, and rejected by his own brethren, God himself singled out from all his fathers house, and out of all the families and tribes of Israel, and anointed to be king.
The sweet psalmist of Israel; or, sweet, or delightful, or amiable in the songs of Israel: either, first, As the object of them; he whom the people of Israel mentioned in their songs with joy and praise, as when they sung, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands; and many others which doubtless they made and sung concerning him, upon the occasion of his eminent victories, and the blessings of his wise and righteous government; some whereof we have in the Book of Psalms. Or, secondly, As the author of them, he who was eminent and famous among the people of God for the composing of sweet and holy songs to the praise of God, and for the use of his church in after-ages; for he did not only indite most of the Book of Psalms, by the direction of Gods Spirit; but also invented the tunes, or appointed tunes to which they were to be sung, and the instruments of music which were used in and with those holy songs, 1Ch 25:1,6 Am 6:5. If the expressions here used seem arrogant, and not fit to be said by David in his own praise, let it be considered, first, That holy men spake by inspiration from God; and therefore must follow his suggestions impartially, as indeed they do sometimes in the publishing their own praises; which yet is never done unnecessarily, and always moderately; and sometimes in the publishing of their own infirmities and shame, as they are moved thereunto, and as the edification of the church requires.
Secondly, That these seem not to be the words of David, but of the sacred penman of this book, to make for and gain the greater attention and respect unto Davids following words.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
1. Now these be the last words ofDavidVarious opinions are entertained as to the precisemeaning of this statement, which, it is obvious, proceeded from thecompiler or collector of the sacred canon. Some think that, as thereis no division of chapters in the Hebrew Scriptures, thisintroduction was intended to show that what follows is no part of thepreceding song. Others regard this as the last of the king’s poeticalcompositions; while still others consider it the last of hisutterances as an inspired writer.
raised up on highfroman obscure family and condition to a throne.
the anointed of the God ofJacobchosen to be king by the special appointment of that God,to whom, by virtue of an ancient covenant, the people of Israel owedall their peculiar destiny and distinguished privileges.
the sweet psalmist ofIsraelthat is, delightful, highly esteemed.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now these [be] the last words of David,…. Which refer not to the psalm in the preceding chapter, but to what follows; not the last words he spoke, for he said many things afterwards; for the advice he gave to Solomon, and the instructions to him about building the temple, were delivered after this time; but these were the last after he had finished the book of Psalms; or the last that he spoke under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, or that he delivered out by way of prophecy; though the Jews f will not allow him to speak by the spirit of prophecy; they own he spoke by the Holy Spirit, which they distinguish from prophecy; but the Targum calls these words a prophecy, and takes them to be a prophecy of the Messiah, and of things to come, as undoubtedly they are, paraphrasing them thus;
“these are the words of the prophecy of David, which he prophesied concerning the end of the world, concerning the days of consolation that should come;”
this is observed to excite attention, the last words of dying men being usually regarded and remembered:
David the son of Jesse said; he began with his descent, which was comparatively mean, in order to illustrate the distinguishing goodness of God to him in his exaltation:
and the man [who was] raised up on high; from a low estate to an high one, from the sheepfold to the throne, to be king over all the tribes of Israel, and a conqueror, and head of the nations round about him:
the anointed of the God of Jacob; who was anointed king by Samuel by the order of the God of Jacob; and which was an instance of his being the God of Jacob or Israel, and of his care of them, and regard unto them, that he anointed such a man to be king over them, as well as it was an honour to David:
and the sweet psalmist of Israel; who composed most of the psalms and hymns of praise for the people of Israel; invented and set the tunes to them to which they were to be sung, and the instruments of music on which they were sung; and appointed singers to preside, and lead them in that part of divine worship, singing psalms and hymns; and very sweet were the psalms he composed as to the matter of them, and very sweet and delightful to the ear was the music in the manner of singing them: it may be rendered, who was “sweet” or “pleasant [in the] songs of Israel” g, his warlike exploits and victories being the subject of them, 1Sa 18:6;
said; as follows; for all that goes before are the words of the penman of this book, drawing the character of David; in which he was a type of Christ, a branch out of the root of Jesse, highly exalted, and chosen from among the people, anointed to be prophet, priest, and King; and who sweetly expounded the psalms concerning himself, and ordered them to be sung in the churches, and of which he is the subject, and may be said to be sweetly held forth in them, see Lu 24:44.
f Maimon. Moreh Nevochim, par. 2. c. 45. g “jucundus psalmis”, Montanus; “suavis in canticis”, Vatablus; “amoenus psalmis”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The psalm of thanksgiving, in which David praised the Lord for all the deliverances and benefits that he had experienced throughout the whole of his life, is followed by the prophetic will and testament of the great king, unfolding the importance of his rule in relation to the sacred history of the future. And whilst the psalm may be regarded (2 Samuel 22) as a great hallelujah, with which David passed away from the stage of life, these “last words” contain the divine seal of all that he has sung and prophesied in several psalms concerning the eternal dominion of his seed, on the strength of the divine promise which he received through the prophet Nathan, that his throne should be established for ever (2 Samuel 7). These words are not merely a lyrical expansion of that promise, but a prophetic declaration uttered by David at the close of his life and by divine inspiration, concerning the true King of the kingdom of God. “The aged monarch, who was not generally endowed with the gift of prophecy, was moved by the Spirit of God at the close of his life, and beheld a just Ruler in the fear of God, under whose reign blessing and salvation sprang up for the righteous, and all the wicked were overcome. The pledge of this was the eternal covenant which God had concluded with him” (Tholuck: die Propheten and ihre Weissagungen, p. 166). The heading “ these are the last words of David ” serves to attach it to the preceding psalm of thanksgiving.
2Sa 23:1-2 1 Divine saying of David the son of Jesse,
Divine saying of the man, the highly exalted,
Of the anointed of the God of Jacob,
And of the lovely one in the songs of praise of Israel.
2 The Spirit of Jehovah speaks through me,
And His word is upon my tongue.
This introduction to the prophetic announcement rests, both as to form and substance, upon the last sayings of Balaam concerning the future history of Israel (Num 24:3, Num 24:15). This not only shows to what extent David had occupied himself with the utterances of the earlier men of God concerning Israel’s future; but indicates, at the same time, that his own prophetic utterance was intended to be a further expansion of Balaam’s prophecy concerning the Star out of Jacob and the Sceptre out of Israel. Like Balaam, he calls his prophecy a , i.e., a divine saying or oracle, as a revelation which he had received directly from God (see at Num 24:3). But the recipient of this revelation was not, like Balaam the son of Beor, a man with closed eye, whose eyes had been opened by a vision of the Almighty, but “ the man who was raised up on high ” ( , adverbially “ above,” is, strictly speaking, a substantive, “ height,” used in an adverbial sense, as in Hos 11:7, and probably also 2Sa 7:16), i.e., whom God had lifted up out of humiliation to be the ruler of His people, yea, even to be the head of the nations (2Sa 22:44). Luther’s rendering, “who is assured of the Messiah of the God of Jacob,” is based upon the Vulgate, “ cui constitutum est de Christo Dei Jacob ,” and cannot be grammatically sustained. David was exalted on the one hand as “ the anointed of the God of Jacob,” i.e., as the one whom the God of Israel had anointed king over His people, and on the other hand as “the lovely one in Israel’s songs of praise,” i.e., the man whom God had enabled to sing lovely songs of praise in celebration of His grace and glory. = does not mean a song generally, but a song of praise in honour of God (see at Exo 15:2), like in the headings to the psalms. As David on the one hand had firmly established the kingdom of God in an earthly and political respect as the anointed of Jehovah, i.e., as king, so had he on the other, as the composer of Israel’s songs of praise, promoted the spiritual edification of that kingdom. The idea of is explained in 2Sa 23:2. The Spirit of Jehovah speaks through him; his words are the inspiration of God. The preterite relates to the divine inspiration which preceded the utterance of the divine saying. , literally to speak into a person, as in Hos 1:2. The saying itself commences with 2Sa 23:3.
2Sa 22:3 3 The God of Israel saith,
The Rock of Israel speaketh to me:
A Ruler over men, just,
A Ruler in the fear of God.
4 And as light of the morning, when the sun rises,
As morning without clouds:
From shining out of rain (springeth) green out of the earth.
5 For is not my house thus with God?
For He hath made me an everlasting covenant,
Provided with all, and attested;
For all my salvation and all good pleasure,
Should He then not cause it to grow?
As the prophets generally preface their saying with “thus saith the Lord,” so David commences his prophetic saying with “ the God of Israel saith,” for the purpose of describing it most emphatically as the word of God. He designates God “ the God ” and “ The Rock ” (as in 2Sa 22:3) of Israel, to indicate that the contents of his prophecy relate to the salvation of the people of Israel, and are guaranteed by the unchangeableness of God. The saying which follows bears the impress of a divine oracle even in its enigmatical brevity. The verbs are wanting in the different sentences of 2Sa 23:3 and 2Sa 23:4. “ A ruler over men,” sc., “will arise,” or there will be. does not mean “among men,” but “ over men; ” for is to be taken as with the verb , as denoting the object ruled over (cf. Gen 3:16; Gen 4:7, etc.). does not mean certain men, but the human race, humanity. This ruler is “ just ” in the fullest sense of the word, as in the passages founded upon this, viz., Jer 23:5; Zec 9:9, and Psa 72:2. The justice of the ruler is founded in his “ fear of God.” is governed freely by . (On the fact itself, see Isa 11:2-3.) The meaning is, “A ruler over the human race will arise, a just ruler, and will exercise his dominion in the spirit of the fear of God.”
2Sa 23:4 2Sa 23:4 describes the blessing that will proceed from this ruler. The idea that 2Sa 23:4 should be connected with 2Sa 23:3 so as to form one period, in the sense of “when one rules justly over men (as I do), it is as when a morning becomes clear,” must be rejected, for the simple reason that it overlooks Nathan’s promise (2 Samuel 7) altogether, and weakens the force of the saying so solemnly introduced as the word of God. The ruler over men whom David sees in spirit, is not any one who rules righteously over men; nor is the seed of David to be regarded as a collective expression indicating a merely ideal personality, but, according to the Chaldee rendering, the Messiah himself, the righteous Shoot whom the Lord would raise up to David (Jer 23:5), and who would execute righteousness and judgment upon earth (Jer 33:15). 2Sa 23:4 is to be taken by itself as containing an independent thought, and the connection between it and 2Sa 23:3 must be gathered from the words themselves: the appearance (the rise) of this Ruler will be “ as light of the morning, when the sun rises.” At the same time, the Messiah is not to be regarded as the subject to (the light of the morning), as though the ruler over men were compared with the morning light; but the subject compared to the morning light is intentionally left indefinite, according to the view adopted by Luther in his exposition, “In the time of the Messiah it will be like the light of the morning.” We are precluded from regarding the Messiah as the subject, by the fact that the comparison is instituted not with the sun, but with the morning dawn at the rising of the sun, whose vivifying effects upon nature are described in the second clause of the verse. The words are to be taken relatively, as a more distinct definition of the morning light. The clause which follows, “ morning without clouds,” is parallel to the foregoing, and describes more fully the nature of the morning. The light of the rising sun on a cloudless morning is an image of the coming salvation. The rising sun awakens the germs of life in the bosom of nature, which had been slumbering through the darkness of the night. “The state of things before the coming of the ruler resembles the darkness of the night” (Hengstenberg). The verb is also wanting in the second hemistich. “ From the shining from rain (is, comes) fresh green out of the earth.” signifies the brightness of the rising sun; but, so far as the actual meaning is concerned, it relates to the salvation which attends the coming of the righteous ruler. is either subordinate to , or co-ordinate with it. In the former case, we should have to render the passage, “from the shining of the sun which proceeds out of rain,” or “from the shining after rain;” and the allusion would be to a cloudless morning, when the shining of the sun after a night’s rain stimulates the growth of the plants. In the latter case, we should have to render it “from the shining (and) from the rain;” and the reference would be to a cloudless morning, on which the vegetation springs up from the ground through sunshine followed by rain. Grammatically considered, the first view (? the second) is the easier of the two; nevertheless we regard the other (? the first) as the only admissible one, inasmuch as rain is not to be expected when the sun has risen with a cloudless sky. The rays of the sun, as it rises after a night of rain, strengthen the fresh green of the plants. The rain is therefore a figurative representation of blessing generally (cf. Isa 44:3), and the green grass which springs up from the earth after the rain is an image of the blessings of the Messianic salvation (Isa 44:4; Isa 45:8).
In Psa 72:6, Solomon takes these words of David as the basis of his comparison of the effects resulting from the government of the true Prince of peace to the coming down of the rain upon the mown grass.
2Sa 23:5 In 2Sa 23:5, the prophecy concerning the coming of the just ruler is sustained by being raced back to the original promise in 2 Samuel 7, in which David had received a pledge of this. The first and last clauses of this verse can only be made to yield a meaning in harmony with the context, by being taken interrogatively: “ for is not my house so with God? ” The question is only indicated by the tone ( = : 2Sa 19:23), as is frequently the case, even before clauses commencing with (e.g., Hos 11:5; Mal 2:15: cf. Ewald, 324, a.). (not so) is explained by the following clause, though the which follows is not to be taken in the sense of “ that.” Each of the two clauses contains a distinct thought. That of the first is, “Does not my house stand in such a relation to God, that the righteous ruler will spring from it?” This is then explained in the second: “for He hath made an everlasting covenant with me.” David calls the promise in 2Sa 7:12., that God would establish his kingdom to his seed for ever, a covenant, because it involved a reciprocal relation-namely, that Jehovah would first of all found for David a permanent house, and then that the seed of David was to build the house of the Lord. This covenant is , “ equipped (or provided) with all ” that could help to establish it. This relates more especially to the fact that all eventualities were foreseen, even the falling away of the bearers of the covenant of God, so that such an event as this would not annul the covenant (2Sa 7:14-15). , “ and preserved,” i.e., established by the assurance that even in that case the Lord would not withdraw His grace. David could found upon this the certainty, that God would cause all the salvation to spring forth which had been pledged to his house in the promise referred to. , “ all my salvation,” i.e., all the salvation promised to me and to my house. , not “all my desire,” but “ all the good pleasure ” of God, i.e., all the saving counsel of God expressed in that covenant. The before is an energetic repetition of the which introduces the explanatory thought, in the sense of a firm assurance: “ for all my salvation and all good pleasure, yea, should He not cause it to spring forth? ”
2Sa 23:6-7 6 But the worthless, as rejected thorns are they all;
For men do not take them in the hand.
7 And the man who touches them
Provides himself with iron and spear-shaft,
And they are utterly burned with fire where they dwell.
The development of salvation under the ruler in righteousness and the fear of God is accompanied by judgment upon the ungodly. The abstract , worthlessness, is stronger than , the worthless man, and depicts the godless as personified worthlessness. , in the Keri , the Hophal of or , literally “ scared ” or hunted away. This epithet does not apply to the thorns, so well as to the ungodly who are compared to thorns. The reference is to thorns that men root out, not to those which they avoid on account of their prickles. , an antiquated form for (see Ewald, 247, d.). To root them out, or clean the ground of them, men do not lay hold of them with the bare hand; but “ whoever would touch them equips himself ( , sc., , to ‘ fill the hand ‘ with anything: 2Ki 9:24) with iron, i.e., with iron weapons, and spear-shaft ” (vid., 1Sa 17:7). This expression also relates to the godless rather than to the thorns. They are consumed , “ at the dwelling,” i.e., as Kimchi explains, at the place of their dwelling, the place where they grow. For cannot mean “on the spot” in the sense of without delay. The burning of the thorns takes place at the final judgment upon the ungodly (Mat 13:30).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
| David’s Last Words. | B. C. 1015. |
1 Now these be the last words of David. 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, 2 The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. 3 The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. 4 And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. 5 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. 6 But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands: 7 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.
We have here the last will and testament of king David, or a codicil annexed to it, after he had settled the crown upon Solomon and his treasures upon the temple which was to be built. The last words of great and good men are thought worthy to be in a special manner remarked and remembered. David would have those taken notice of, and added either to his Psalms (as they are here to that in the foregoing chapter) or to the chronicles of his reign. Those words especially in v. 5, though recorded before, we may suppose he often repeated for his own consolation, even to his last breath, and therefore they are called his last words. When we find death approaching we should endeavor both to honour God and to edify those about us with our last words. Let those that have had long experience of God’s goodness and the pleasantness of wisdom, when they come to finish their course, leave a record of that experience and bear their testimony to the truth of the promise. We have upon record the last words of Jacob and Moses, and here of David, designed, as those, for a legacy to those that were left behind. We are here told,
I. Whose last will and testament this is. This is related either, or is usual, by the testator himself, or rather, by the historian, v. 1. He is described, 1. By the meanness of his original: He was the son of Jesse. It is good for those who are advanced to be corner-stones and top-stones to be reminded, and often to remind themselves, of the rock out of which they were hewn. 2. The height of his elevation: He was raised up on high, as one favoured of God, and designed for something great, raised up as a prince, to sit higher than his neighbours, and as a prophet, to see further; for, (1.) He was the anointed of the God of Jacob, and so was serviceable to the people of God in their civil interests, the protection of their country and the administration of justice among them. (2.) He was the sweet psalmist of Israel, and so was serviceable to them in their religious exercises. He penned the psalms, set the tunes, appointed both the singers and the instruments of music, by which the devotions of good people were much excited and enlarged. Note, The singing of psalms is a sweet ordinance, very agreeable to those that delight in praising God. It is reckoned among the honours to which David was raised up that he was a psalmist: in that he was as truly great as in his being the anointed of the God of Jacob. Note, It is true preferment to be serviceable to the church in acts of devotion and instrumental to promote the blessed work of prayer and praise. Observe, Was David a prince? He was so for Jacob. Was he a psalmist? He was so for Israel. Note, the dispensation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal, and therefore, as every man has received the gift, so let him minister the same.
II. What the purport of it is. It is an account of his communion with God. Observe,
1. What God said to him both for his direction and for his encouragement as a king, and to be in like manner, of use to his successors. Pious persons take a pleasure in calling to mind what they have heard from God, in recollecting his word, and revolving it in their minds. Thus what God spoke once David heard twice, yea often. See here,
(1.) Who spoke: The Spirit of the Lord, the God of Israel, and the Rock of Israel, which some think is an intimation of the Trinity of persons in the Godhead–the Father the God of Israel, the Son the Rock of Israel, and the Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son, who spoke by the prophets, and particularly by David, and whose word was not only in his heart, but in his tongue for the benefit of others. David here avows his divine inspiration, that in his psalms, and in this composition, The Spirit of God spoke by him. He, and other holy men, spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. This puts an honour upon the book of Psalms, and recommends them to our use in our devotions, that they are words which the Holy Ghost teaches.
(2.) What was spoken. Here seems to be a distinction made between what the Spirit of God spoke by David, which includes all his psalms, and what the Rock of Israel spoke to David, which concerned himself and his family. Let ministers observe that those by whom God speaks to others are concerned to hear and heed what he speaks to themselves. Those whose office it is to teach others their duty must be sure to learn and do their own. Now that which is here said (2Sa 23:3; 2Sa 23:4) may be considered, [1.] With application to David, and his royal family. And so here is, First, The duty of magistrates enjoined them. When a king was spoken to from God he was not to be complimented with the height of his dignity and the extent of his power, but to be told his duty. “Must is for the king,” we say. Here is a must for the king: He must be just, ruling in the fear of God; and so must all inferior magistrates in their places. Let rulers remember that they rule over men–not over beasts which they may enslave and abuse at pleasure, but over reasonable creatures and of the same rank with themselves. They rule over men that have their follies and infirmities, and therefore must be borne with. They rule over men, but under God, and for him; and therefore, 1. They must be just, both to those over whom they rule, in allowing them their rights and properties, and between those over whom they rule, using their power to right the injured against the injurious; see Deu 1:16; Deu 1:17. It is not enough that they do no wrong, but they must not suffer wrong to be done. 2. They must rule in the fear of God, that is, they must themselves be possessed with a fear of God, by which they will be effectually restrained from all acts of injustice and oppression. Nehemiah was so (Neh. v. 15, So did not I, because of the fear of God), and Joseph, Gen. xliii. 18. They must also endeavor to promote the fear of God (that is, the practice of religion) among those over whom they rule. The magistrate is to be the keeper of both tables, and to protect both godliness and honesty. Secondly, Prosperity promised them if they do, this duty. He that rules in the fear of God shall be as the light of the morning, v. 4. Light is sweet and pleasant, and he that does his duty shall have the comfort of it; his rejoicing will be the testimony of his conscience. Light is bright, and a good prince is illustrious; his justice and piety will be his honour. Light is a blessing, nor are there any greater and more extensive blessings to the public than princes that rule in the fear of God. As the light of the morning, which is most welcome after the darkness of the night (so was David’s government after Saul’s, Ps. lxxv. 3), which is increasing, shines more and more to the perfect day, such is the growing lustre of a good government. It is likewise compared to the tender grass, which the earth produces for the service of man; it brings with it a harvest of blessings. See Psa 72:6; Psa 72:16, which were also some of the last words of David, and seem to refer to those recorded here. [2.] With application to Christ, the Son of David, and then it must all be taken as a prophecy, and the original will bear it: There shall be a rule among men, or over men, that shall be just, and shall rule in the fear of God, that is, shall order the affairs of religion and divine worship according to his Father’s will; and he shall be as the light to the morning, c., for he is the light of the world, and as the tender grass, for he is the branch of the Lord, and the fruit of the earth,Isa 11:1-5Isa 32:1; Isa 32:2; Psa 72:2. God, by the Spirit, gave David the foresight of this, to comfort him under the many calamities of his family and the melancholy prospects he had of the degeneracy of his seed.
2. What comfortable use he made of this which God spoke to him, and what were his devout meditations on it, by way of reply, v. 5. It is not unlike his meditation on occasion of such a message, 2 Sam. vii. 18, c. That which goes before the Rock of Israel spoke to him this the Spirit of God spoke by him, and it is a most excellent confession of his faith and hope in the everlasting covenant. Here is,
(1.) Trouble supposed: Although my house be not so with God, and although he make it not to grow. David’s family was not so with God as is described (2Sa 23:3; 2Sa 23:4), and as he could wish, not so good, not so happy; it had not been so while he lived; he foresaw it would not be so when he was gone, that his house would be neither so pious nor so prosperous as one might have expected the offspring of such a father to be. [1.] Not so with God. Note, We and ours are that really which we are with God. This was what David’s heart was upon concerning his children, that they might be right with God, faithful to him and zealous for him. But the children of godly parents are often neither so holy nor so happy as might be expected. We must be made to know that it is corruption, not grace, that runs in the blood, that the race is not to the swift, but that God gives his Spirit as a free-agent. [2.] Not made to grow, in number, in power; it is God that makes families to grow or not to grow, Ps. cvii. 41. Good men have often the melancholy prospect of a declining family. David’s house was typical of the church of Christ, which is his house, Heb. iii. 3. Suppose this be not so with God as we could wish, suppose it be diminished, distressed, disgraced, and weakened, by errors and corruptions, yea, almost extinct, yet God has made a covenant with the church’s head, the Son of David, that he will preserve to him a seed, that the gates of hell shall never prevail against his house. This our Saviour comforted himself with in his sufferings, that the covenant with him stood firm, Isa. liii. 10-12. (2.) Comfort ensured: Yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant. Whatever trouble a child of God may have the prospect of, still he has some comfort or other to balance it with (2Co 4:8; 2Co 4:9), and there is none like this of the Psalmist, which may be understood, [1.] Of the covenant of royalty (in the type) which God made with David and his seed, touching the kingdom, Psa 132:11; Psa 132:12. But, [2.] It must look further, to the covenant of grace made with all believers, that God will be, in Christ, to them a God, which was signified by the covenant of royalty, and therefore the promises of the covenant are called the sure mercies of David, Isa. lv. 3. It is this only that is the everlasting covenant, and it cannot be imagined that David, who, in so many of his psalms, speaks so clearly concerning Christ and the grace of the gospel, should forget it in his last words. God has made a covenant of grace with us in Jesus Christ, and we are here told, First, That it is an everlasting covenant, from everlasting in the contrivance and counsel of it, and to everlasting in the continuance and consequences of it. Secondly, That it is ordered, well ordered in all things, admirably well, to advance the glory of God and the honour of the Mediator, together with the holiness and comfort of believers. It is herein well ordered, that whatever is required in the covenant is promised, and that every transgression in the covenant does not throw us out of covenant, and that it puts our salvation, not in our own keeping, but in the keeping of a Mediator. Thirdly, That it is sure, and therefore sure because well ordered; the general offer of it is sure; the promised mercies are sure on the performance of the conditions. The particular application of it to true believers is sure; it is sure to all the seed. Fourthly, That it is all our salvation. Nothing but this will save us, and this is sufficient: it is this only upon which our salvation depends. Fifthly, That therefore it must be all our desire. Let me have an interest in this covenant and the promises of it, and I have enough, I desire no more.
3. Here is the doom of the sons of Belial read, 2Sa 23:6; 2Sa 23:7. (1.) They shall be thrust away as thorns–rejected, abandoned. They are like thorns, not to be touched with hands, so passionate and furious that they cannot be managed or dealt with by a wise and faithful reproof, but must be restrained by law and the sword of justice (Ps. xxxii. 9); and therefore, like thorns, (2.) They shall, at length, be utterly burnt with fire in the same place, Heb. vi. 8. Now this is intended, [1.] As a direction to magistrates to use their power for the punishing and suppressing of wickedness. Let them thrust away the sons of Belial; see Ps. ci. 8. Or, [2.] As a caution to magistrates, and particularly to David’s sons and successors, to see that they be not themselves sons of Belial (as too many of them were), for then neither the dignity of their place nor their relation to David would secure them from being thrust away by the righteous judgments of God. Though men could not deal with them, God would. Or, [3.] As a prediction of the ruin of all the implacable enemies of Christ’s kingdom. There are enemies without, that openly oppose it and fight against it, and enemies within, that secretly betray it and are false to it; both are sons of Belial, children of the wicked one, of the serpent’s seed; both are as thorns, grievous and vexatious: but both shall be so thrust away as that Christ will set up his kingdom in despite of their enmity, will go through them (Isa. xxvii. 4), and will, in due time, bless his church with such peace that there shall be no pricking brier nor grieving thorn. And those that will not repent, to give glory to God, shall, in the judgment-day (to which the Chaldee paraphrast refers this), be burnt with unquenchable fire. See Luke xix. 27.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Second Samuel – Chapter 23
Last Inspired Words of David, vs. 1-7
By “the last words of David” is not meant the last words he ever spoke, but the last words of inspiration of the Lord which he uttered. David spoke many times in his psalms and prayers by the inspiration of God, most of them recorded in the book of Psalms. How near the end of David’s life he spoke these things cannot be known, though of course it must have been quite near it. David did a number of things from his death bed, as recorded in First Kings, chapter 1 and 2. The events of First Chronicles, chapters 22-29 also occur near the end of his life. Sometime contemporarily he must have received these words of the Lord and repeated them, perhaps to Solomon particularly.
It is interesting to note the accession of rank by which David speaks of himself in verse one. First, he is simply David, the son of Jesse. The lowly patronymic by which Saul and others had mocked David’s ancestry he admitted. David recognized his humble origin, which all must do to be exalted in the Lord as he was (1Pe 5:6). Second, David called himself the man whom God raised up on high to become “the anointed of the God of Jacob.” There seems to be Messianic import in this, in that the Lord raised up His Anointed, Jesus Christ. He also raises those who humbly come repenting to and trusting Him for salvation (Eph 2:4-7). Finally, he speaks of himself as “the sweet psalmist of Israel.” David lacked some things in sweetness of character, but his songs, inspired of God, were a sweet legacy to all the world after him. It reminds one of the joyous singing which shall be in heaven eternally (Rev 15:3; cf. Eph 5:19; Col 3:16).
In verse two David lays claim to divine inspiration. It may be that some of the Old Testament writers did not realize that they were writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, a possibility that has been debated, but David knew that he spoke so at least some of the time (note 2Pe 1:21). By inspiration the Lord informed David how rulers should rule over their subjects. They must be just, or fair and honest, and judge in the fear of the Lord. No man is fit to rule others who does not recognize that God judges him and his power is by His will.
God showed David that the rule of the king should be as enlightening to his people as the dawn of a new day and the rising of the sun. It should be as fair as the cloudless morning and as refreshing to his subjects as the rain to the grass. But David did not claim to be such a ruler, for he knew his shortcomings. Yet God had made it so by the covenant he had made with him, everlastingly ordered and sure (2Sa 7:4-11). This covenant David saw as the salvation of his house, according to all he could desire. The King James Version reads, “although he make it not to grow,” but the American Standard reads, “Will he not indeed make it grow?” which seems more in keeping with the context.
The passage closes with an application to the wicked rulers. They are worthless sons of Belial, as liable to harm their associates as are thorns those who grasp them. Like the thorns they must be handled with iron, held down by a spear, taken and burned with fire in the place where they are found. This is like the unsaved who, found in their sin, are consigned to the eternal lake of fire (Rev 21:8).
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES.
2Sa. 23:1. Words, rather, Divine sayings, i.e., prophetic utterances. Keil thus translates the verse:
Divine saying of David the son of Jesse,
Divine saying of the man, the highly exalted
Of the anointed of the God of Jacob, etc.
The following words of David are thereby announced to be a peculiarly prophetic declaration which rests on an inspeaking of God by His Spirit to His soul. (Erdmann). This introduction to the prophetic announcement rests, both as to form and substance, upon the last sayings of Balaam concerning the future history of Israel. (Num. 24:3-15). This not only shows to what extent David had occupied himself with the utterances of the earlier men of God concerning Israels future, but indicates, at the same time, that his own prophetic utterance was intended to be a further expansion of Balaams prophecy concerning the star out of Jacob and the sceptre of Israel. Like Balaam, he calls his prophecy a Divine saying, or oracle, as a revelation which he had received direct from God. (Num. 24:3). But the recipient of this revelation was not, like Balaam the son of Beor, a man with closed eye, whose eyes had been opened by a vision of the Almighty, but the man who was raised up on high, i.e., whom God had lifted up out of humiliation to be the ruler of His people, yea, even to be the head of the nations. 2Sa. 22:44). (Kiel), A statement of the grounds on which it was to be expected that he would be employed as an agent of God in the utterance of this important prophecy.(Jamieson).
2Sa. 23:2. Spake, Rather, speaketh, i.e., in the following revelation. On my tongue. The parallelism here employed is obviously gradational, in which the idea introduced in the former member is continued, but amplified in the latter. (Henderson.) While in 2Sa. 23:1 the prophetic organ of the Divine saying is doubly characterised, 2Sa. 23:2 sets forth in two-fold expression the two-fold Divine medium of the inspired prophetic word. (Erdmann.)
2Sa. 23:3. God Rock. To indicate that the contents of His prophecy relate to the salvation of the people of Israel, and are guaranteed by the faithfulness of God. (Keil.) Said Speaks. Rather, Saith Speaketh. He that ruleth. This should beA ruler over menjustA ruler in the fear of God. It evidently refers exclusively to the Messiah, as in Isa. 11:2-3. and is a sentence abrupt and isolated; not, as Erdmann remarks syntactically connected either with 2Sa. 23:2 or 2Sa. 23:4.
2Sa. 23:4. All the figures in this verse express the blessings of the Messiahs rain. He is not personally, as the English version makes it appear, the subject of the verse.
2Sa. 23:5. Although. yet. Here, again, the English version must be rejected. The verse read correctly isFor is not my house so with God. For He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, provided with all, and attested. For all my salvation and all good pleasure should He not make it to grow? The covenant referred to is the promise made in 2Sa. 7:12, which is said to be guarded or provided with all that can secure its fulfilment. My salvation, i.e., the salvation promised, assured to me and my seed. The pleasure must be taken (as the salvation is from God) aswhat is well-pleasing to God, notwhat is well-pleasing to me. (Erdmann.)
2Sa. 23:6-7. As thorns are extirpated out of a land that is about to be brought under culture, so wicked men will disappear from the kingdom of the Messiahthe wicked enemies and persecutors of this kingdom of righteousness. They resemble those prickly thorny plants which are twisted together, whose spires point in every direction, and are so sharp and strong that they cannot be approached without danger; but bard instruments and violent means must be taken to destroy or uproot them. (Jamieson.) In the same place. Where they dwell, or, on the spot. (Kimchi and Kiel.) Erdmann and others read, so that there should be an end of them.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.2Sa. 23:1-7
DAVIDS PEOPHECY
I. That God has spoken to man is a fact of human history. Reflection upon the aspect of things around us, and especially upon the nature and needs of man, would lead us to expect that God would break the silence of eternity and let His voice be heard by the children of time. When a vessel is built to sail upon unknown seas, the builder and owner of the ship does not consider her complete without the compass, by means of which she can make her way safely to distant ports and so fulfil the end for which she came into existence. A good human father, knowing the moral perils to which his children are exposed, will not leave them without the benefits of such moral instruction as he is able to impart to them. He would be a cruel man indeed if he permitted his children to grow up without giving them the benefits of his own larger experience and superior knowledgewithout furnishing them with the best rules for the guidance of their lives which he was able to frame. Men find themselves strangers on the earthcompelled, whether they will or no, to cross the stormy and mysterious sea of life, and they naturally look to Him to whom they owe their being for some guidance to a haven of rest and satisfaction at the close of the voyage. They know how carefully a good earthly father provides, so far as he is able, for all the needs of his children; and reasoning from the creature-to the Creator, they conclude that God must have so provided for their spiritual needs, especially as He so bountifully and constantly supplies their bodily wants. Thoughtful men in past ages were driven to the conclusion that God would thus speak to men; and we, who possess the book which claims to be the revelation of His mind and will, accept it because reason and analogy lead us to feel that such a revelation must be, and that the Bible records an undoubted fact when it declares that it has taken place.
II. That God should speak by one man to many, and by some for all, is in accordance with the social constitution of all things around us. In all departments of life we find that blessings come to man through manthat the gifts of God as a rule do not come to us direct from heaven, but through the medium and ministration of those who are bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. Not only so, but the most precious and valued benefits do not come through every man or any man, but through men who seem to be specially gifted and elected to be the channels of such good things. One great scientific discoverer is the means of bringing enlightenment and elevation to many generations, another unfolds a secret by which the pain and suffering of thousands is lessened or done away with. A great statesman brings peace and prosperity to the homes of hundreds of his countrymen, and a philanthrophist lifts up a generation of down-trodden men and women, and causes them to sing for joy. When God gave to man that greatest of His giftsa knowledge of HimselfHe did but work in harmony with His own constituted methods when He made known His will first to prophets and apostles, that through human hearts and by human lips the goodwill of God to the race might be made known.
III. What God has spoken reveals His desire that the rule of heaven should become the rule of earth. One reason why the rule of heaven is the rule of justice is because its King can make no mistake as to what justice really is. Human creatures in power are sometimes unjust through ignorance of the merits of the case. They cannot be so perfectly acquainted with all the circumstances of those under their authority as to act at all times with strict impartiality. But blessed be God, it is not so with Him. He who made man knows what is in him and around him, and cannot therefore err in His judgment. And all that He has said and done shows Him to be no less desirous than capable of thus dealing righteously with the children of men. He has found the Ruler who alone is able to bring about this reign of righteousness upon the earth. His beloved Son can misjudge none through ignorance, and His perfect holiness makes it certain He will not abuse the power which He holds in His hand. In His life and death we read the desires and purposes of God concerning us, and when He speaks we hear the voice of Him who sits upon the throne of the universe, saying, A just God and a Saviour, there is none beside Me (Isa. 45:21). In proportion as men listen to Him, and follow His guidance, will heaven be begun upon earth, and the darkness of sin and sorrow be dispersed by the rise of this Sun of Righteousness. It is to this end that God spake in times past by the prophets, and has in these last days spoken by His Son. (Heb. 1:1.)
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
2Sa. 23:1. Religion, it has been contended, is not the proper theme of poetry. But if poetry be adapted to body forth the noblest conceptions, and to breathe the language of stirring emotion, where is the theme that presents a field so sublime as religion, or awakens emotions so fervent?. The most daring flights fall far short of the elevation which such themes will justify; the most glowing language cannot exaggerate such emotion. Must the noblest forms of language be restricted to embattled fields of earth and to the petty strifes and achievements of men? No, let poetry rise amid the roll of cherubic wheels and the rushing of cherubic wings; let her glow with seraphic ardour and learn seraphic strains; let her celebrate the redeeming work, and put hymns into the lips of those who, struggling with emotions which they have no language to utter, find in the bold and tender stanzas which consecrated talent has put forth, the impassioned strains that both express and excite their piety. Were examples asked it might be shown that poetry is the selected form in which prophets embodied their inspired vaticinations, and the Psalms might be adduced as so many lyrical compositions exclusively dedicated to devotion.John Ely.
2Sa. 23:4. The chief idea of the emblemthe grass shining clearly after rainis that of growthfresh, healthy, beautiful development and progresssteady, silent advance in holiness. In individuals under his precious influence the graces of the new creation are seen ripening, the understanding becoming more clear, the will more firm, the conscience more vigorous, the habits more holy, the temper more serene, the affections more pure, the desires more heavenly. In communities conversions are multiplied, and souls advance steadily in holy beauties; intelligence spreads, love triumphs over selfishness, and the expansive, genial spirit of Christ drives out the bitter spirit of strife and the dry spirit of mammon.Blaikie.
Like the spring, so is also the reign of grace, a joyous, busy time, wherein Messiah makes us righteous and God-fearing, so that we become green, blooming, fragrant, and grow and become fruitful. And now go so; Who lives in spring he dies no more; who dies in winter he lives no more, for the sun goes away from the latter; but to the former the sun rises up of which David prophesies. Where the sun, Christ, does not shine clear, the spring also is not pleasant; but Moses with the laws thunder makes everything dreadful and quite deadly. But here, in Messiahs time, says David, when He shall reign over Israel itself, with grace to make us righteous and save us, it will be as delightful as the best time in spring, when before day there has been a delightful warm rain, that is, the consoling gospel has been preached, and quickly thereupon the sun, Christ, comes up in our heart through right faith without Moses clouds and thunder and lightning. Then all proceeds to grow, to be green and blooming, and the day is rich in joy and peace.Luther.
2Sa. 23:6-7. Some regard Christs sceptre as one of mercy only, but the uniform representation of the Bible is different. There is an ominous combination of mercy and judgment in this, as in most predictions of Christs kingly glory. In the bosom of one of Isaiahs sweetest promises, the Messiah declares that He was anointed to proclaim the day of vengeance of our God.. It could not be otherwise. The union of mercy and judgment is the inevitable result of that righteousness which is the foundation of His government. Sin is the abominable thing which He hates. To separate men from sin is the grand object of His rule. For this end, He draws His people into union with Himself;. but as for those who refuse to part with their sin, the sin that is within them cannot abide in His holy kingdom, and as they refuse to let their sin be destroyed and their persons saved, nothing remains but that they and their sins perish together.Blaikie.
2Sa. 23:1-7. True preaching is always a prophetic testimony. I. As to its origin: the spirit of the Lord speaks through it. II. As to its contents: the word of the Lord is upon its tongue. III. As to its subjects: the mysteries of Gods saving purpose, which only Gods Spirit can explain; the great deeds of Gods grace, which can be proclaimed only on the ground of personal, inner experience, and of ones own seeing and hearing; and the future affairs of Gods kingdom, in the manifestation of Divine salvation and Divine judgment, which only the eye illuminated by the light and of the Spirit can behold.Erdmann.
The prophetic photograph of the future ruler in the prophecy of David answers in its outlines to the counterpart of the fulfilment in Christ, and this:I. In respect to His personal appearing, perfect righteousness, and holiness in complete fear of God (religious ethical perfection). II. In respect to the extent of His royal dominion, He is ruler over men, universality of world dominion. III. In respect to the foundations of His kingdom, the promises of God. IV. In respect to the activity and effects of his royal rule, on the one hand in the enlightening, warming, animating, and fructifying light of his manifestations of grace and blessings of salvation; on the other hand, in the fire of His judgment consuming all ungodliness.Erdmann.
The prophetic element, which appears in Davids Messianic psalms, comes out most strongly here. In Nathans promise and prophecy David is merely passively receptive, and his prayer is only the echo of the Divine word he has received, but here he rises to the highest prophetic action, which pre-supposes indeed a passive bearing towards the Divine saying (the Neum), by which he receives an immediate revelation in plastic form of what he had previously received as a promise through Nathan.Erdmann.
A blessed end, when, in looking back upon the path of life that lies behind, one has nothing to utter but gratitude and praise; when, in looking around upon his own lifes acquisitions and his possession of salvation, all self-glorying is silent, and only the testimony to Gods grace and mercy, that has done all and given all, comes upon the lips. When, in looking forward into the future of Gods kingdom upon earth, on the ground of the grace experienced in life, ones faith becomes a prophet, beholding the ways along which the Lord brought His Kingdom through darkness to light; through conflict to victory.Erdmann.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
4. Davids Last Words and His Mighty Men, 2Sa. 23:1-39.
Davids Last Song. 2Sa. 23:1-7
Now these be the last words of David. 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,
2
The Spirit of the Lord spake by me,
and his word was in my tongue.
3
The God of Israel said,
the Rock of Israel spake to me,
He that ruleth over men must be just,
ruling in the fear of God.
4
And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth,
even a morning without clouds;
as the tender grass springing out of the earth
by clear shining after rain.
5
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.
6
But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away,
because they cannot be taken with hands:
7
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.
1.
What titles did David ascribe to himself? 2Sa. 23:1
David stood in a long line of great men such as Jacob, Moses, Joshua, and Samuel. When Jacob came to the end of his life, he called his sons before him and blessed each of them. This was his last testament (Gen. 49:1-33). As Moses laid down the reins of leadership of Israel, he gave a blessing to each of the tribes (Deu. 33:1-29). He had already composed a song (Deu. 32:1-52). Joshua called the tribes of Israel to him as he was nearing his death and made a covenant with them (Jos. 24:1-28). Samuel had also uttered a valedictory when he was about to die (1Sa. 12:1-15). David not only composed a song, but he uttered a few last words in summary of his career. He called himself by titles which must have meant the most to himthe man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel.
2.
Was David inspired of God? 2Sa. 23:2
The great hymn of triumph in chapter twenty-two composed when David was at the zenith of his prosperity was followed by his last words. They were delivered as a parting testimony to the world of his confidence in the fulfillment of the promise concerning the everlasting dominion of his posterity, and it was all given as an oracle of God. He claims for his words the special divine inspiration which was granted to the spokesmen of God. Christ, Himself bore witness of the fact that David was inspired (Mat. 22:43).
3.
What was Davids view of a ruler? 2Sa. 23:3
David knew that a king should be just. He had learned this through his experiences, but most of all through the revelation God had given him. A ruler was one who should lead his people in the fear of God. He was to be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth; even a morning without clouds (2Sa. 23:4 a). Gods people depended on the king for life-giving provisions as the earth depends upon the life-giving sunshine of a cloudless morning. David went on to say that the king was to be like the tender grass, springing out of the earth after a rain shower (2Sa. 23:4 b). To appreciate this latter figure, the reader must remember that Palestine is not perpetually clothed in verdure. At times, the land was only a brown, hard-baked, gaping plain. At intervals there would be only withered stems of thistles and other hardy plants to tell that life had ever existed there. When the rains came, there was the deep, solid growth of clover, and grasses. David had been familiar with such yearly transformations of the dry and dusty landscape around Bethlehem into a lovely garden of brilliant flowers. These annual transformations were an emblem of the gracious influences of the righteous government guided by the ideal king. David here arose to a height of inspired utterance which should be compared with the lofty utterances of Isaiah, who spoke of the wilderness and the desert rejoicing and blossoming as the rose (Isa. 35:1). Davids utterance finds its fullest fruition in the Lord Jesus Christ and His righteous rule over all nations. The prophecy in Davids last words is the companion and the complement of the prophecy in 2 Samuel 7. There the promise of an eternal dominion was given to the house of David and found a partial fulfillment in his immediate descendants, but the complete fulfillment could only be in Christ. In Davids last words he drew by inspiration a portrait of an ideal ruler, some features of which were realized partially in Solomon and the better kings of Judah, but the complete picture finds its perfect realization only in Jesus Christ. David could hope for little more; and he closed his oracle concerning the king with a statement that this was all his salvation and his desire, even though he had not seen the full enlargement of the picture (2Sa. 23:5).
4.
With what psalm may this oracle be compared? 2Sa. 23:6-7
David shifts his attention from the righteous ruler to the base and shameless sons of Satan, who are described throughout the books of Samuel as the sons of Belial. He makes this same kind of a shift in Psalms 1 where he began by describing the man who did not stand in the council of the ungodly, or walk in the way of the sinner, or sit in the seat of the scoffer. After David described the righteous man who meditated day and night in the Law of the Lord and predicted he would bring forth his fruit in his season, he turned his attention to the unrighteous. They were not so, but were like chaff which the wind drove away (Psa. 1:4). Although the wording is not the same, the spirit of this last oracle is much like the thrust of the first Psalm.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(1) The son of Jesse said.The description of the human author of the following prophecy is strikingly analogous to that of Balaam in Num. 24:3-4; Num. 24:15-16. The word said, used twice, is a peculiar form (used between two hundred and three hundred times) of direct Divine utterances, and applied to human sayings only here, in the places referred to in Numbers, and in Pro. 30:1, in all which special claim is made to inspiration.
The sweet psalmist of Israel.Literally, He that is pleasant in Israels psalms, i.e., by the composition and arrangement of Israels liturgical songs he was entitled to be called pleasant. David, with life now closing, fitly sends down this prophetic song to posterity with such description of its human writer as should secure to it authority.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
LAST WORDS OF DAVID, 2Sa 23:1-7.
The royal hand that so long had swept the harp of Judah, and been the pride and pleasure of Israel, was becoming palsied with age. But like the dying Jacob when his end was approaching, his heart and memory cling to the words of promise that bespoke for him a glorious future, and, borne along by the Spirit, he looks down the distant years until his vision culminates in the Messianic reign. The prophecy of Nathan, “Thine house and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee,” (2Sa 7:16,) had been for many years the basis of David’s holiest hopes and joys; and it was but natural that his last days and last words should be full of thought and song about that “everlasting covenant.” The gracious pledge that his throne should be established for ever now expands into a rapt vision of a righteous kingdom, whose glory and beneficence would be like the brilliant sunrise of the orient, and continue for ever the blessing and joy of the good and true, but the terror and destruction of the wicked and worthless. To this picture of the righteous ruler we may well point, and say, “Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth.” Psa 2:10.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1. Oracle Divine saying; a prophecy. This introduction is modeled after the sayings of Balaam in Num 24:3-4; Num 24:15-16.
Son of Jesse “So he remained to the end; always with his family affections fresh and bright; his father and his early kinsmen never forgotten amidst his subsequent splendour.”
The man exalted on high “This feeling, too, never deserted him the sense of the marvellous change which had placed a shepherd-boy on the throne of a mighty empire.” Stanley. Jehovah’s own word by Nathan had deeply impressed it on his soul. Compare 2Sa 7:8.
Anointed of the God of Jacob He was first anointed by Samuel, (1Sa 16:13,) next by the tribe of Judah, (2Sa 2:4,) and afterwards by all the elders of Israel, (2Sa 5:3,) and in these acts he could not but recognise the hand of Jacob’s God. Compare Psa 89:20.
Pleasant in the songs of Israel Not sweet psalmist, as the authorized version has it, for the word means songs, not singers. David was tenderly endeared to the people by his long association with their national songs of praise, for among all Hebrew poets his is the greatest name; and of the two words, David and Psalms, it may be said that the one always suggests the other.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Final Oracle Of David ( 2Sa 23:1-7 ).
We are told that these are ‘the last words of David’ (i.e. his last official words in the light of approaching death). The last words of a man were seen as having special importance, compare Gen 49:1; Gen 49:33; Deu 33:1, and were seen as prophetic of the future.
The pattern of the opening words here is partially based on two oracles of Balaam in Num 24:3-4; Num 24:15-17, demonstrating David’s close awareness of the ancient tradition. It is worth making a direct comparison with Num 24:15-17 a.
Num 24:15-17 a David’s Last Words And he took up his utterance and said And these are the last words of David’ “Oracle of Balaam, the son of Beor, “Oracle of David, the son of Jesse, And oracle of the man whose eye was closed And oracle of the man who was raised on high He says who hears the word of God The anointed one of the God of Jacob And knows the knowledge of the Most High The delightful one in Israel’s songs of praise Who sees the vision of the Almighty The Spirit of YHWH spoke by me Falling down and having his eyes open And his word was on my tongue I see him, but not now The God of Israel said to me I behold him, but not near, The Rock of Israel spoke There will come forth a star out of Jacob A Ruler over men, a righteous one And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel A Ruler in the fear of God It will be noted that while the words are in the main considerably different, the ideas and pattern behind them are remarkably similar, given that one was speaking as a pagan prophet in a trance, and the other as a prophet of YHWH under inspiration. Thus the one sought to foster mysteriousness, while the other could speak with the confident certainty of one who knew God. But both lead up to the idea of the Coming King (the Messiah). And we should note that it is this declaration that the whole book of Samuel has been leading up to, as is made clear in the original oracular utterance in 2:10, where we read, ‘YHWH will judge (rule over) the ends of the earth, and He will give strength to His king, and exalt the horn of His Anointed’. It is the book of preparation for the Messiah.
David then goes on to describe the Coming King in terms of the rain and sun producing fruitfulness, an idea taken up by Solomon in Psa 72:6; Psa 72:17 concerning the righteous king. Fruitfulness from rain and sun were regularly indicative of the coming new age of righteousness (Isa 32:15-17; Isa 44:3-4; Isa 45:8; Isa 55:10-13; Isa 59:19; Isa 60:1-3; compare Mat 5:45; Mat 13:43; Mat 17:2).
Analysis.
a
b YHWH has spoken of a coming king who will rule righteously in the fear of God (2Sa 23:2-3).
c His coming will be like the glorious rising of the sun after rain producing fruitfulness and blessing (2Sa 23:4).
b YHWH has made with David a sure and certain everlasting covenant which fulfils all his desire and brings salvation (2Sa 23:5).
a This is all in contrast with what will happen to the unworthy who will be like thorns which cannot be taken in the hand and can only be touched with a long spear, and will finally be burned with fire (2Sa 23:6-7).
Note that in ‘a’ David is exalted to Heaven, the chosen of God, the inspired one, while in the parallel the unworthy are like thorns and thistles, and doomed to the fire. In ‘b’ the coming of the everlasting king is described, and in the parallel the emphasis is on the sure and certain everlasting covenant which will bring salvation and blessing. Centrally in ‘c’ His coming is announced in glorious terms.
2Sa 23:1
‘ Now these are the last words of David.
“Oracle of David the son of Jesse,
And oracle of the man who was raised on high,
The anointed one of the God of Jacob,
And the delightful singer of Israel’ praise.”.
What a contrast there is between David in ecstasy in the presence of the living God and Balaam involved in the spirit world. ‘Raised on high — anointed — delightful singer of Israel’s praise’ contrasts with ‘the man whose eye was closed — falling down and having his eyes open — seeing Him, but not now, beholding Him but not near’ (Num 24:15; Num 24:17). The first is the glorious reality, the second is but the shadow.
“These are the last words of David.” The last words of a prophetic man were seen as of telling importance and as predictive of the future. What he said would come about. And here David was undoubtedly claiming special inspiration by God’s Spirit. The word ‘oracle’ (neum) is itself indicative of ‘the inspiration of God as He speaks to men’, and the idea is repeated twice so as to guarantee that it is a sound witness. And while it is the oracle of the mere son of Jesse, it is the oracle of the one whom God has raised up and exalted, the one whom God has anointed and set apart for Himself, the one whom God has chosen as the instrument of the praise of the whole of Israel.
2Sa 23:2-3
“ The Spirit of YHWH spoke by me,
“And his word was on my tongue.
The God of Israel said to me,
The Rock of Israel spoke,
‘One who rules over men, a righteous one,
Who rules in the fear of God’.”
And David’s emphasis is on the wonderful message that he has to proclaim. What he has to speak of arises because the Spirit of YHWH is speaking through him, and His word is on his tongue. For his words are the words of the God and Rock of Israel (the firm and sure foundation on which the certainty of the everlasting covenant is based). And what is the Spirit declaring? He is declaring the coming of a Ruler Who will rule righteously as the Righteous One, a Ruler Who will rule in the fear of God (compare Isa 11:1-4).
In one sense this was partly to be fulfilled in the first part of Solomon’s reign. David’s hope and the people’s hope may well have been that Solomon would be the one (we have the same ambivalence between Solomon and the Coming King in 7:8-17). But Solomon deteriorated, as did all who came after him, even Hezekiah and Josiah, and all therefore failed to be its true fulfilment, something anticipated in 2Sa 7:14-15 with the assurance that it would not annul the coming of the everlasting kingdom. Thus would the promise be carried into the future as Israel began to look for the coming of the Messiah, The One Who would truly be righteous and rule righteously and Who would rule everlastingly in the fear of God (Isa 9:6-7; Isa 11:1-4; Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15; Eze 37:22-28). And finally Jesus Christ did come as the Righteous One (Act 7:52), and He established God’s Kingly Rule on earth for all who follow Him, the Kingly Rule of light as opposed to the tyranny of darkness (Col 1:13), which is like a colony of Heaven on earth (Php 3:20), a Kingly Rule (basileia) which will lead to a final culmination in His Kingly Rule above (Mat 13:43). Note how this parallels the words of Balaam concerning the star that would arise out of Jacob, and the sceptre which would arise out of Israel who would establish his people (Num 24:17).
2Sa 23:4
“As the light of the morning when the sun rises,
A morning without clouds,
The tender grass from the earth,
Through clear shining after rain.
And this Coming One will arise like the brilliance of the rising sun as it bathes the earth with light. He will introduce a glorious morning beneath a cloudless sky, with no clouds present to dull its glory. It will be like the arrival of new shoots springing into life as a result, first of the activity of the rain and then of the shining sun, as the sun’s clear brilliance draws life out of the earth following the rain (Isa 32:15-17; Isa 44:3-4; Isa 45:8; Isa 55:10-13; Isa 59:19; Isa 60:1-3; compare Mat 5:45; Mat 13:43; Mat 17:2).
The word for ‘clear shining’ is an interesting one, for it is always reserved in Scripture in order to describe ‘heavenly’ things. It is only ever used either of the sun and the moon themselves, shining in the heavens, or alternatively of the shining brilliance of the coming activity of God. For examples of the latter see 2Sa 22:30; Isa 4:5; Isa 60:3; Eze 1:4; Eze 1:27-28; Eze 10:4; and contrast Amo 5:20. Note also Mat 13:43; Mat 17:2.
2Sa 23:5
Truly my house is not so with God,
(or ‘Is not my house truly so with God?’)
Yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
Ordered in all things, and sure,
For it is all my salvation, and all desire,
Although he does not make it to grow.
(Or ‘Does he not surely make it to grow?’)
But David is aware that his own house is not like this with God, something that he has cause to know as he looks back on his own behaviour, and the behaviour of Amnon and Absalom. ‘Truly,’ he says, ‘my house is not so with God’. And that is why his house appears to be diminishing rather than growing, ‘although He does not make it to grow’, as one son dies after the other. Nevertheless he recognises that in all his undeserving, and the undeserving of his house, God has made with him an everlasting covenant, an ordered and sure covenant, which will ensure the bringing about of the salvation that he desires, the salvation that is to result from his house, and will fulfil the strong desires of both his heart and of God’s heart (2Sa 7:8-17).
Alternatively some see the statements in respect to his house as being a question (there were no punctuation marks in Hebrew). In this case he is exalting in what God is aiming to do through his house.
2Sa 23:6-7
“But the ungodly will be all of them as thorns to be thrust away,
Because they cannot be taken with the hand,
But the man who touches them must be armed with iron and the staff of a spear,
And they will be utterly burned with fire at their dwelling.”
David closes his last words with a reference to ‘the worthless’ (belial = ‘worthlessness’, they are worthlessness personified), typifying the ungodly. In contrast with the glory of the Coming One they are like thorns which should be thrust away as they are rooted up by the use of implements, lest they cause the hands to bleed. Like thorns they cannot be taken in the hand, but can only be touched by a man fully equipped to deal with them. For the man who would touch them must do it with tools of iron or the staff of a spear, or else he will come away bearing the marks of the thorns. So the worthless will be rooted up, and their final destiny, instead of enjoying the glory of the everlasting kingdom (Mat 13:43), is to be burned with fire (compare Mat 13:30; Mat 13:42; Mat 13:50; Joh 15:6; Heb 6:8) in the place where they have revealed their worthlessness.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
2Sa 23:3 Comments – Note the similarity in Peter’s exhortation to the elders in 1Pe 5:1-4.
2Sa 23:4 And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.
2Sa 23:4
Isa 53:2, “ For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground : he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.”
2Sa 23:8-39 David’s Mighty Men – 2Sa 23:8-39 gives us an “honor role” of mighty men whom the Lord used to bring victory, and thus peace, to the nation of Israel. These men laid the foundation with King David for the establishment of the Davidic dynasty, much as the apostles laid the foundation for the early Church. Jesus Christ is a King under this lineage of David. Thus, it is not surprising that in this list of David’s mighty men, we find a parallel in the New Testament with Jesus Christ and His apostles. For example, both groups were anointed and filled with courage and boldness in the midst of their adversaries. The religious leaders noted the boldness of these apostles, realizing that they had been with Jesus.
Act 4:13, “Now when they beheld the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”
King Saul is a type and figure of man attempting to establish God’s kingdom in the flesh, but failed. David is an example of how God accomplishes His plans and purposes by the Spirit.
Although many of the men listed in this passage are mentioned nowhere else in the Scriptures, it reveals to us that David could not have accomplished what he did without these brave men and their courageous feats of victory.
David had gone into exile with about six hundred men (1Sa 23:13). Of these men, about thirty of them learned to partake of David’s anointing and became mighty men of war as their leader. When we read about the feats that some of the most anointed men accomplished in the following passage of Scripture, we find a clue as to why some of them were able to partake of David’s anointing. These were men who were willing to give up their very lives for David their king. Such a willingness to serve and give one’s life in behalf of opens the door of one’s heart to receive from the same anointing that David walked in. We see this displayed as bravery to stand against the enemy. But within their hearts, they had given themselves a sentence of death to their own will in order to accomplish the will of their king and their people. Such were those who because qualified for an anointing.
This passage notes three mighty men who excelled the others (1) Abishai – chief among three (2Sa 23:18), (2) Banaiah (2Sa 23:22), (3) Eleazor, son of Dodo (2Sa 23:9).
In addition, we find that Abraham had three hundred eighteen (318) mighty men of valor who slew the armies of the five kings of the East (Gen 14:14). They too were under the anointing to perform such a feat.
2Sa 23:8-23 David’s Mighty Men – Joshua told the children of Israel that one person would put a thousand to flight (Jos 23:10). The Lord could have given this anointing to anyone since the conquest of Joshua, but none found a place with God to walk in such an anointing until David.
Jos 23:10, “One man of you shall chase a thousand: for the LORD your God, he it is that fighteth for you, as he hath promised you.”
2Sa 23:8 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 eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.
2Sa 23:8
1Ch 11:11, “And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had; Jashobeam, an Hachmonite , the chief of the captains: he lifted up his spear against three hundred slain by him at one time.”
This slight variation is easily justified when looking at the Hebrew text. The first spelling has the definite article “the” attached to it, creating the pronunciation “Tachmonite,” while the second spelling leaves off the article, giving the pronunciation “Hachmonite.”
Hebrew ( ) the Tachmonite
Hebrew ( ) an Hachmonite
2Sa 23:8 “that sat in the seat, chief among the captains” Comments – Scholars interpret this phrase to mean that he presided over the council when plans were drawn up for war.
2Sa 23:8 “the same was Adino the Eznite” Word Study on “Adino” Strong says the Hebrew name “Adino” ( ) (H5722) means, “his spear,” coming from a root word meaning “slender.” – PTW says his name means, “ornament.” This is the only use of this word in the Old Testament.
Word Study on “the Eznite” Strong says the Hebrew word “Eznite” ( ) (H6112) means, “a spear,” coming from an unused root that means, “to be sharp, or strong.” This is the only use of this word in the Old Testament.
Comments – His proper name was Adino the Eznite, but his other name is given in 1 Chronicles as Jashobeam Hebrew ( ).
1Ch 11:11, “And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had; Jashobeam, an Hachmonite, the chief of the captains : he lifted up his spear against three hundred slain by him at one time.”
There is a possible reference to him again in 1Ch 12:6; 1Ch 27:2.
1Ch 12:6, “Elkanah, and Jesiah, and Azareel, and Joezer, and Jashobeam , the Korhites,”
1Ch 27:2, “Over the first course for the first month was Jashobeam the son of Zabdiel: and in his course were twenty and four thousand.”
Thus, some scholars believe the KJV translation, “that sat in the seat,” Hebrew ( ) should read as a proper name, “Josheb-bassebet.” Thus, 2Sa 23:8 would read, “Josheb-bassebet, the Hachmonite, chief among the captains” in the place of “The Tachmonite that sat in the seat,” which better matches its parallel passage in 1 Chronicles11:11. This is reflected in other translations of this verse.
ASV, “These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains ; the same was Adino the Eznite, against eight hundred slain at one time.”
JPS, “These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains ; the same was Adino the Eznite; he lifted up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.”
RSV, “These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshe’beth a Tah-che’monite; he was chief of the three ; he wielded his spear against eight hundred whom he slew at one time.”
WEB, “These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb-basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains ; the same was Adino the Eznite, against eight hundred slain at one time.”
2Sa 23:8 “eight hundred” Comments – 1Ch 11:11 reads “three hundred.”
1Ch 11:11, “And this is the number of the mighty men whom David had; Jashobeam, an Hachmonite, the chief of the captains: he lifted up his spear against three hundred slain by him at one time.”
Note the variant readings in the Hebrew text:
Hebrew ( ) “against eight hundred”
Hebrew ( ) “against three hundred”
Scholars suggest a variety of explanations:
1. A Copyist Error – A look at the Hebrew text shows that both numbers begin with the letter ( ), suggesting a copyist error, as many scholars believe is the cause of this discrepancy.
2. Adino the Eznite Fought Against 800, but Slew 300 – John Gill suggests that he fought against eight hundred, but slew only three hundred. He refers to the LXX reading to justify this interpretation. Brenton reads, “he drew his sword against eight hundred soldiers at once,” [67]
[67] John Gill, 2 Samuel, in John Gill’s Expositor, in e-Sword, v. 7.7.7 [CD-ROM] (Franklin, Tennessee: e-Sword, 2000-2005), comments on 2 Samuel 23:8.
3. A Reference to Two Different Battles – Another explanation says that there were two different battles fought by this same individual, once against eight hundred, and the other against three hundred.
2Sa 23:10 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 to spoil.
2Sa 23:10
1Pe 1:5, “Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
2Ti 4:18, “And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
Here Eleazar denied the weariness of flesh and trusted God for his strength.
2Sa 23:10 “and his hand clave unto the sword” Comments – Our sword is God’s Word (Eph 6:17). God’s Word is the source of our life (Joh 6:63, Pro 4:20-22, Psa 119:50).
Eph 6:17, “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”
Joh 6:63, “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”
Psa 119:50, “This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.”
Pro 4:20, “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.”
We are to cling to the Word of God, who fight our battles. 1Ti 6:12 is illustrated by this verse. Eleazar’s hand conformed to the shape of the handle of the sword until it was not able to easily straighten out. If we cling to God’s Word, our lives will conform to the Word of God until a time will come when our lives will not be easily removed from the Word of God.
1Ti 6:12, “ Fight the good fight of faith , lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.”
2Sa 23:10 “The Lord wrought and great victory that day” Comments – God was working in him (Php 2:12). Also, God received glory in battle.
Php 2:12, “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
2Sa 23:10 “the people returned after him only to spoil” – Comments – Others can benefit from our struggles against sin and the flesh and the victories that we receive thru it. Note how Paul used his life as an example for others to follow.
2Sa 23:13 And three of the thirty 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.
2Sa 23:13
2Sa 23:15 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!
2Sa 23:15
2Sa 23:16 And the three mighty men brake 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 to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD.
2Sa 23:16
Num 28:7, “And the drink offering thereof shall be the fourth part of an hin for the one lamb: in the holy place shalt thou cause the strong wine to be poured unto the LORD for a drink offering.”
2Sa 23:16 Comments – The water from the well of Bethlehem represented David’s joy in the Lord from the presence of the Holy Spirit upon him, which joy he offered back to the Father by pouring out the water unto Him. This joy of the Lord, which comes from the throne of God by staying in the presence of God, and which joy surpasses our power to tell, cannot be fully received by others. It is a joy that is shared only between the Lord and oneself. Thus, we can only give it back to Him, as David poured out his drink offering unto the Lord. David could have shared this water with others, but it was representative of a joy that men would not understand, so it had to be offered unto the Lord. Note these words from Frances J. Roberts:
“Ye must walk in the Spirit, and in so doing keep thyself from becoming entangled in the things of the flesh. Ye just live in obedience to the Spirit, and thus be kept from being in bondage to the desires of the flesh. Myself cannot keep you except ye first make this choice. It was concerning this matter that Jude wrote his word of admonition: And ye, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith by praying in the Holy Ghost, keeping yourselves in the love of God (Jud 1:20-21). By setting your soul through deliberate choice of your will to pursue the worship of God by praying in the Spirit, thou shalt find thy faith strengthened and thy life bathed in the love of God. With thy faith laying hold upon God’s promises and power, and thine actions motivated by the love of God, thou wilt find thyself in the path of the activity of God: His blessing shall be upon thee, and He will accomplish His works through thee. Thou needest make no plans nor resort to any clever strategy. Keep yourself in the love of God. Pray in the Spirit. Rejoice evermore. Set your affections upon Christ. God will do through you and for His glory such things as it pleases Him to do, and thou shalt rejoice with Him. For as thine own spirit is aware when His Spirit is grieved within thee, so shalt thou also be aware when His Spirit rejoices within thee. This is His joy. This is the joy He promised. This is the greatest joy that can come to the human heart, for it is the joy of God, and the joy of God transcends the joy of man. Surely thou shalt not only rejoice but be exceeding glad, with a gladness surpassing thy power to tell. So shalt thou give this back to Him, since no other can fully receive it, even as David poured out to Him the precious water from the well of Bethlehem (2Sa 23:15-16). Praise His wonderful name.” [68]
[68] Frances J. Roberts, Come Away My Beloved (Ojai, California: King’s Farspan, Inc., 1973), 83-4.
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
David’s Last Prophetic Song
v. 1. Now, these be the last words of David. David, the son of Jesse, said, v. 2. The spirit of the Lord spake by me, v. 3. The God of Israel said, v. 4. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. v. 5. Although my house be not so with God v. 6. But the sons of Belial, v. 7. but the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear,
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
2Sa 23:1
Now these be the last words of David. A long interval separates this psalm from the preceding. The one was written when David had just reached the zenith of his power, and, when still unstained by foul crime, he could claim God’s favour as due to his innocence. These last words were David’s latest inspired utterance, written, probably, towards the end of the calm period which followed upon his restoration to his throne, and when time and the sense of God’s renewed favour had healed the wounds of his soul. David the son of Jesse said. It was probably this account of the author, and its personal character, which caused the exclusion of this hymn from the Book of Psalms. It seemed to belong rather to David’s private history than to a collection made for use in the public services of the temple. Said. The word is one usually applied to a message coming directly from God. It is used, however, four times in Num 24:1-25. of the words of Balaam, and in Pro 30:1-33. of those of Agur. The solemnity of the word indicates the fatness of its inspiration. The sweet psalmist; literally, he who is pleasant in the psalms of Israel. David might well claim this title, as, under God, we owe the Psalter to him.
2Sa 23:3, 2Sa 23:4
He that ruleth, etc. This rendering of the Hebrew is very beautiful, and fit to be graven on the hearts of rulers. There is often almost an inspiration in the renderings of the Authorized Version. Grammatically, nevertheless, the psalm declares the blessedness of the king who is just, and may be translated as follows:
“He that ruleth over men righteously,
That ruleth in the fear of God
And as the morning light shall he be,
when the sun riseth,
A morning without clouds;
Yea, as the tender grass from the earth,
from sunshine, from rain.”
A king who rules his people justly is as glorious as the sun rising in its strength to drive away the works of darkness, and give men, by precept and example, the light of clear knowledge of their duty. But the last metaphor is especially beautiful. In the summer, vegetation dries up under the burning heat of the sun; all is bare and brown, and a few withered stalks of the coarser plants alone remain. But when the rains come, followed by bright sunshine, nature at one burst flashes into beauty, and the hillsides and plains are covered with the soft green of the reviving grass, through which myriads of flowers soon push their way, and clothe the landscape with bright colours. So a just and upright government calls into being countless forms of human activity, and fosters all that is morally beautiful, while it checks the blighting influences of unregulated passion and selfish greed.
2Sa 23:5
Although my house, etc. The rendering of the Authorized Version is that of the ancient versions, and is to be retained. David could not but feel that his house was too stained with sin upon sin for him to be able to lay claim to have been in fact that which the theocratic king was in theory, and which David ought to have been as the representative of Christ, and himself the christ, or anointed of Israel’s God. But most modern commentators take the negatives as interrogative, and, therefore, as strong assertions.
“For is not my house so with God?
For he had made with me an eternal covenant,
Ordered in all things, and secure:
For all my salvation and all my desire,
Shall he not make it to grow?”
But surely David had failed in realizing the better purposes of his heart, and it was of God’s good pleasure that the covenant, in spite of personal failure, remained firm and secure.
2Sa 23:6, 2Sa 23:7
The sons of Belial; Hebrew, belial; not a proper name, but a word signifying “worthlessness,” and especially vicious worthlessness (see note on 1Sa 1:16). It is from this worthlessness that opposition arises to the just king, and he recognizes it as that which thwarts his efforts. The words may be rendered
“But the ungodly are as thorns, to be all of them thrust away;
For they may not be taken hold of with the hand.
And the man that would touch them
Must arm himself with iron and the staff of a spear;
And they shall be utterly burned with fire unto nothingness.”
The vicious worthlessness which opposes righteous government must be treated like thorns, too prickly and sharp pointed for gentle dealing. They must be torn up by an iron hook fixed to the end of a spear-handle, and then burnt. The word translated in the same place in the Authorized Version is rendered by Jerome “even to nothing;” and it is just the sort of phrase for which his authority is greatest; for he went to Palestine, and remained there several years, to study the language under Hebrew teachers on the spot. The Septuagint must have had a different reading, as it translates “their shame.”
2Sa 23:8
These be the names. A similar list is given in 1Ch 11:10-47, with several variations, and sixteen more names. It is given there in connection with David’s elevation to the throne of all Israel, and the conquest of Jerusalem. Such catalogues might possibly be revised from time to time, and new names inserted as there were vacancies caused by death. And this seems to have been the ease with the list in Chronicles, which contains the names of all who were admitted during David’s reign into the order of the mighties. The present is the actual list of the order as it existed on the day when David, at Hebron, was anointed king over all the twelve tribes. And we can well conceive that, on so grand an occasion, David founded this, the first order of chivalry, and gave his thirty knights, as they would be now called, their special rank and high privileges. The Tachmonite. This verse is extremely corrupt. A man could not be a Tachmonite and an Eznite at the same time. In the Revised Version the corruption is confessed in the mildest terms, but there is something painfully ludicrous in giving Josheb-basshebeth as the man’s name. The reading “Jashobeam the son of a Hachmonite,” in 1Ch 11:11, is confirmed by 1Ch 12:6, where Jashobeam is mentioned among those who joined David at Ziklag, and by 1Ch 27:2, where we find him appointed commander of the first brigade of twenty-four thousand men. The error in the present text arose from the scribe’s eye being misled by catching sight of basshebeth in the line above, it being the word translated “in the same place” in the Authorized Version. He Adino the Eznite. These unmeaning words are a corruption of the right reading preserved in Chronicles, “he lifted up his spear.” The number of men whom he slew at one time is there stated as having been three hundred; but, as Abishai accomplished this feat, and yet held only inferior rank, eight hundred is probably right. And possibly it is not meant that he slew them all with his own hand, though that is quite possible. He was chief of the captains. The word for “captain,” shalish, is derived from the numeral “three;” and probably it was the title of the three who formed the first rank of the mighties. But in course of time it seems to have been applied to the commanders of the body guard (2Ki 10:25); and we find Bidcar so styled when in personal attendance upon Jehu (2Ki 9:25); and Pekah used the opportunities afforded by this office for the murder of Pekahiah (2Ki 15:25). It is not used of military officers generally. Those admitted to the list were evidently the outlaws who had been with David in his wanderings and at Ziklag. They now received their reward, and became, moreover, the stay of David’s throne. It is their past history which accounts for the strange composition of the list. A large number came from Judah, and especially from Bethlehem. Several are David’s own relatives. Seven towns or families furnish sixteen out of the whole list. We find a father and his son, and pairs of brothers. There are, moreover, numerous foreignersHittites, Ammonites, Moabites, a Syrian from Zobah, and Gideonites, descended from the aboriginal inhabitants of the land. Such a list would have been sorely resented had it not been formed out of men who had earned it by their past services and their fidelity to David.
2Sa 23:9
Dodo. The Hebrew has Dodai, and “Dodo” is a mere correction of the Massorites to bring the name into verbal agreement with 1Ch 11:12; but in 1Ch 27:4 he is called Dodai, and we there find him in command of the second division of the army. For “Dodai,” however, we ought to read there “Eleazar the son of Dodai.” Ahohite; Hebrew, the son of an Ahohite, and probably a member of the family descended from Ahoah, a son of Benjamin (1Ch 8:4). He would thus belong to the most warlike tribe of Israel, though not mentioned among the Benjamites who joined David at Ziklag (1Ch 12:1-7). He joined him, apparently, at an earlier date. That were there gathered together. The word “there” implies the previous mention of some place, and though the text in the parallel passage in Chronicles is more corrupt than that before us, it has, nevertheless, preserved the name of the spot where the encounter took place. In Chronicles the name of Shammah is omitted, and his achievement is mixed up in a strange fashion with that of Eleazar. Here the two heroes have each his separate record, and it is only on minor matters that the text there is more correct. Restored from the readings in Chronicles, the narrative is as follows: “He was with David at Pas-dammim, and the Philistines were gathered there to battle, and the men of Israel were gone up: and he stood (that is, made a stand) and smote,” etc. Pas-dammim is called Ephes-dammim in 1Sa 17:1. It was situated in the valley of Elah, and, as being upon the border, was the scene of numerous conflicts, whence its name, “the boundary of blood.” It was there that David slew Goliath. Were gone away; Hebrew, went up; that is, to battle. The idea that the Israelites had fled is taken from the parallel place in Chronicles, where, however, it refers to Shammah’s exploit. In 1Sa 17:9 and 1Sa 17:11 there, the phrase, “the Philistines were gathered together,” occurs twice, and the scribe, having accidentally omitted the intervening words, has confused together the exploits of Eleazar and Shammah. In this battle Eleazar withstood the Philistine onset, and smote them till his hand clave to his sword hilt. Many such instances of cramp are recorded, and Mr. Kirkpatrick, in his commentary, quotes one in which the muscles of a warrior’s hand could be relaxed, after hard fighting, only by fomentations of hot water.
2Sa 23:10
Victory; Hebrew, salvation; and so also in 2Sa 23:12 and 1Sa 11:13; 1Sa 19:5. Returned after him. This does not imply that they had fled, but simply that they turned in whichever way he turned, and followed him. Battles in old time depended very much upon the prowess of the leaders.
2Sa 23:11
Into a troop. Josephus renders it “to Lehi,” the scene of Samson’s exploit. The word is rare, but occurs again in 2Sa 23:13, where, however, we find in Chronicles the ordinary name for a host substituted for it. The Revisers have retained in the margin, “or, for foraging:” but its occurrence in Psa 68:10, where it is tendered “thy congregation,” and in the margin of the Revised Version,” troop” makes it probable that” troop” is the right rendering here. Lentiles. In 1Ch 11:13, “barley.” The difference is probably caused by a transposition of letters. The Philistines seem to have made this incursion in order to carry off or destroy the crops of the Israelites.
2Sa 23:13
And three. The Hebrew text has “thirty,” for which both the Authorized Version and the Revised Version silently substitute “three,” as is correctly given in Chronicles. The absence of the article shows that these three were not Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah, but probably Abishai, Be-naiah, and another whose name and exploits have been purposely omitted both here and in Chronicles. Apparently this narrative, so interesting as showing the fascination which David exercised over his men, is given as having led to the institution of this second order of three in the brotherhood of the mighties. In the harvest time. The Hebrew is “to harvest,” but in 1Ch 11:15 “to the rock.” As the preposition used here cannot mean “in,” this is probably the right reading. In this ease, also, it is the similarity of the words that has led to the con. fusion. Is it possible that these lists were taken from very old and worn catalogues, which it was very difficult to decipher?
2Sa 23:14
An hold; Hebrew, the hold. The definite article here and in 2Sa 5:17, and the mention of the Philistines as being in the valley of Rephaim, seem to indicate that David had abandoned Jerusalem upon the invasion of the Philistines, and sought refuge at Adullam (see note on 2Sa 5:17). In its neighbourhood is an isolated hill, on which, probably, was a frontier fortress, in which David prepared to defend himself.
2Sa 23:15
The well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate. Bethlehem is now supplied with water by an aqueduct, and the wells close to the town have ceased to exist. The cistern of “deep, clear, cool water,” descsribed by Ritter, in his ‘Geography of Palestine,’ and now called David’s Well, is three quarters of a mile to the north of Bethlehem, and too distant to be that which David meant.
2Sa 23:16, 2Sa 23:17
Brake through the host (or, camp) of the Philistines. The Philistine camp was pitched in the valley of Rephaim, and to reach Bethlehem, which was more than twenty or twenty-five miles distant, these three heroes must pass close to the ground occupied by the enemy. The valley of Rephaim, in fact, extended from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, and, to guard their position, the Philistines held Bethlehem with a strong garrison. Of course the heroes would use every precaution; for to be discovered would be certain death. The story of their perils and presence of mind in danger, and hairbreadth escape, would be full of interest; but we are told only that they succeeded, and returned in safety, bearing their precious burden; but David would not drink, and poured it out unto Jehovah. The word is that used of a sacrificial libation; for David regarded it as holy, and consecrated to God, because it had been bought with bloodat the risk, that is, of the lives of these gallant men. Nothing is recorded in the romances of the Middle Ages, when knightly chivalry was at its height, more gallant and noble than the exploit of these men. And the very essence of its devotion lay in the fact that it was done to gratify a mere sick longing, and therefore out of pure love. Sick, no doubt, David was, and burning with fever; and even more depressed by the apparent hopelessness of his position. The exploit changed the course of his thoughts. What could he not do with such heroes! Though racked during their absence with anxiety and self-reproach, yet on their return he would be dispirited no longer, but filled with confidence. The words, “Shall I drink?” inserted in the Revised Version, have apparently dropped out of the text by accident. They are found in the parallel place in Chronicles, and in the Septuagint and Vulgate here. The Syriac has, “At the peril of their life’s blood these men went.”
2Sa 23:18
Abishai was chief among three. The sense is obscured in the Authorized Version by the translators having failed to notice the presence of the definite article. Abishai, by reason of this exploit, became “chief of the three;” that is, of the second order of three established in the fraternity of the mighties. At the end of the verse, and in 2Sa 23:19, the Authorized Version strangely puts the article where it is absent in the Hebrew, and omits it where it is present. The right rendering and meaning is, “He had a name, that is, rank, reputation, among the three. Was he not the most honourable of the three? For this he was made their captain: yet he attained not to equal dignity with the first three.”
2Sa 23:20
Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. He was a very important person throughout David’s reign, being the commander of the body guard’ (2Sa 8:18), and general of the third brigade of twenty-four thousand men (1Ch 27:5). The meaning of the description given of him there is disputed; but probably it should be translated, “Benaiah the son of Jehoiada the priest, as head,” that is, of the brigade. He was thus the son of the Jehoiada who was leader of the house of Aaron, and whose coming to Hebron with three thousand seven hundred martial priests did so much to make David king of all Israel (1Ch 12:27). Subsequently he took the side of Solomon against Adonijah, and was rewarded by being made commander-in-chief, in place of Joab (1Ki 2:35). Kabzeel. An unidentified place in the south of Judah, on the Edomite border (Jos 15:21), called Jekabzeel in Neh 11:25. Two lionlike men of Moab. The Septuagint reads, “the two sons of Ariel of Moab.” which the Revised Version adopts. “Ariel” means “lion of God,” and is a name given to Jerusalem in Isa 29:1, Isa 29:2. The Syriac supports the Authorized Version in understanding by the term “heroes,” or “champions;” but the use of poetical language in a prosaic catalogue is so strange that the Septuagint is probably right. If so, Ariel is the proper name of the King of Moab and the achievement took place in the war recorded in 2Sa 8:2. A lion. This achievement would be as gratefully remembered as the killing of a man eating tiger by the natives in India. A lion, driven by the cold from the forests, had made its lair in a dry tank near some town, and thence preyed upon the inhabitants as they went in and out of the city. And Benaiah had pity upon them, and came to the rescue, and went down into the pit, and, at the risk of his life, slew the lion.
2Sa 23:21
A goodly man. The Hebrew text has “who a sight,” for which the Massorites read, “a man of sight,” that is, handsome, and worth looking at. In Chronicles 2Sa 11:23 we find what, no doubt, is the right reading, “a man of measure [equivalent to ‘a tall man’], five cubits high.” The height of Goliath was six cubits and a span (1Sa 17:4).
2Sa 23:23
David set him over his guard. We have already seen (upon 1Sa 22:14) that the words mean that David made him a member of his privy council. Literally the words are, and David appointed him to his audience. In 1Ch 27:34 mention is made of “Jehoiada the son of Benaiah” as being next in the council to Ahithophel, and many commentators think that the names have been transposed, and that we ought to read, “Benaiah the son of Jehoiada.”
2Sa 23:24
The thirty. This order of knighthood consisted originally of thirty-three men, of whom three were of higher rank, and presided, probably, each over ten, while Joab was chief over them all. This arrangement of men in tens, with an officer over them. was, in fact, the normal rule among the Hebrews. The second triad is unusual, but is explained by the history. In honour of the exploit of bringing the water from the well of Bethlehem, this second order of three was instituted, lower than the three chiefs, but higher than the rest. The third of these is not mentioned, and the disappearance of the name is not the result of accident, but of purpose. Had it been a scribe’s error, there would have been some trace of it in the versions. But if the name was erased, it must have been blotted out for treason, and we thus have two candidates for the vacant niche: one is Amasa, and the other Ahithophel. The name of Joab we cannot for one moment admit. He never was a traitor to David, nor would the latter, though king, have ventured to degrade one so powerful, and who continued to be commander-in-chief until David’s death. Now, if Amasa is the same as the Amasai in 1Ch 12:18, who was chief of the captains who came from Judah and Benjamin to David when he was in the hold, it is difficult to account for the absence of his name from the list of the thirty. Plainly, however, David did not regard his treason with strong displeasure, but was prepared, after Absalom’s death, to make him commander-in-chief. But we must remember that a place in this second triad was gained by one exploit. The three were those who broke through the Philistine host, and fetched the water from Bethlehem. Such a deed would account for the close attachment between David and Ahithophel. He was the king’s companion, and his familiar friend. It would account also for his suicide. His love to David had, for some unknown reason, turned to bitter hatred. He sought, not only David’s life, but his dishonour. His feelings must have been highly excited before he could have worked himself up to such a pitch; and the reaction and disappointment would be equally extreme. He never could have faced David again, remembering the warmth of former love, and the shamelessness with which he had sought, not only his life, but to bring upon him public shame and ignominy. And his name would have been totally erased, and gone down into silence. Of Ahithophel’s personal accomplishments as a brave warrior, we cannot doubt (see 2Sa 17:1), and his son Eliam was one of the mighties. (On a son and father both belonging to the order, see note on 1Ch 12:33.) Elhanan (see note on 2Sa 21:19).
2Sa 23:25
Shammah the Harodite. The town Harod was in the plains of Jezreel, near Mount Gilboa. In 1Ch 11:27 he is called “Shammoth the Harorite,” the latter word being an easy corruption of Harodite; and in 1Ch 27:8 he appears as “Shammuth the Izrahite,” and has the command of the fifth brigade. “Izrahite” is by some regarded as an error for “the Zarhite,” that is, a member of the clan descended from Zerah the son of Judah. But if so, how did he get to Hared? Elika. Omitted in Chronicles, probably through the repetition of the word “Harodite.”
2Sa 23:26
Helez. He is twice called a Pelonite in Chronicles, and was general of the seventh brigade (1Ch 27:10), where he is said to have belonged to the tribe of Ephraim. Whether Paltite or Pelonite is right, no one knows; but Beth-Palet was a town in the tribe of Judah, and not in Ephraim. Ira. Ira had the command of the sixth brigade (1Ch 27:9). Tekoah (see note on 2Sa 14:2). This Ira is a distinct person from his namesake, David’s confidential minister (2Sa 20:26).
2Sa 23:27
Abiezer. He had the command of the ninth brigade (1Ch 27:12). Anathoth, now Mata, was a priestly city in Benjamin (Jos 21:18), the home of Abiathar (1Ki 2:26), and the birthplace of Jeremiah (Jer 1:1). Anethothite and Antothite, in the parallel places in Chronicles, are merely different ways of pronouncing the same Hebrew consonants. Mebunnai. Written Sibbechai in 2Sa 21:18, and, as the name is so written in both the parallel places in Chronicles, Mebunnai is probably a mistake. In 1Ch 27:11 he is said to have been commander of the eighth brigade, and to have been a Zarhite of the town of Hushah, in the tribe of Judah (see 1Ch 4:4).
2Sa 23:28
Zalmon. He is called Ilai in 1Ch 11:29. Ahohite (see note on 1Ch 11:9). Maharai the Netophathite. Netophah, in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem (Ezr 2:22), was chiefly inhabited, after the exile, by the singers (Neh 12:28). Robinson identifies it with Beit-Netif, to the south of Jerusalem; but probably erroneously, as Beit-Netif is too far from Bethlehem. Maharai was commander of the tenth brigade, and was a Zarhite, and therefore belonged to the tribe of Judah.
2Sa 23:29
Heleb. He is called Heled and Heldai in the parallel places in Chronicles, where we are told that he was a descendant of Othniel, and commander of the twelfth brigade. Ittai. He is called Ithai, by a very slight change, in Chronicles. Gibeah is the Geba so closely connected with the history of Saul (see 1Sa 13:3, 1Sa 13:15, etc.). (For Ittai the Philistine, a distinct person, see 2Sa 15:19.)
2Sa 23:30
Benaiah. He was an Ephraimite, and had the command of the eleventh brigade. Pirathon was a town in Ephraim (Jdg 12:15). Hiddai. Called Hurai in 1Ch 11:32, by the common confusion of d and r. The brooks of Gaash. “Nahale-Gaash,” the ravines of Gaash, was probably the name of some village, of which nothing is now known.
2Sa 23:31
Abi-albon. He is called Abiel in 1Ch 11:32. He belonged to the town of Beth-Arabah (Jos 15:61; Jos 18:22), called also Arabah (Jos 18:18), in the wilderness of Judah. Azmaveth the Barhumite. He was of Bahurim, for which see note on 2Sa 3:16.
2Sa 23:32
Eliahba. He was of Shaalabbin, in the tribe of Dan (Jos 19:42). St. Jerome calls the place Selebi, the modern Sebbit. Of the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, Shammah the Hararite. In 1Ch 11:34, “The sons of Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shage the Hararite.” The word “of” is not in the Hebrew, and is inserted in the Authorized Version to make sense. Really, b’ne, sons, is a careless repetition of the three last letters of the name “Shaalbonite,” and should be omitted. The text in Chronicles then goes on regularly, “Hashem the Gizonite, Jonathan the son of Shage the Hararite;” but see note on next verse.
2Sa 23:33
Shammah the Hararite. He was really one of the first three (see 2Sa 23:11). (For the reading in Chronicles, see above.) A very probable correction would be “Jonathan the son of Shammah, the son of Agee the Hararite.” Thus both father and son would be in the number of the thirty, Ahiam. He is called “the son of Sacar” in 1Ch 11:35.
2Sa 23:34
Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite. In Chronicles this becomes “Elipha the son of Ur, Hepher the Mecherathite.” If the text here is correct, Eliphelet must be a native of Beth-Maachah, a town in Naphtali (2Sa 20:14). Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite. Instead of this, we find “Ahijah the Pelonite” in 1Ch 11:36. Eliam is supposed by many to have been Bathsheba’s father (see note on 2Sa 11:3; and for Ahithophel the Gilonite, note on 2Sa 15:12).
2Sa 23:35
Hezrai. The Hebrew text has Hezro, as in 1Ch 11:37. His native place was Carmel, for which see note on 1Sa 15:12. Paarai the Arbite. A native of Arab, in Judah. In Chronicles he is called “Naarai the son of Ezbai.”
2Sa 23:36
Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah. In Chronicles, “Joel the brother of Nathan,” Igal and Joel in Hebrew being almost the same. If the text here is correct, he was by birth a Syrian of Zobah, for which see note on 2Sa 10:6. Bani the Gadite. In Chronicles, “Mibhar the son of Haggeri,” “Mibhar” taking the place of “from Zobah;” “the son,” ben, that of “Bani;” and Haggadi, “the Gadite,” becoming “Haggeri.”
2Sa 23:37
Zelek the Ammonite. The presence of an Ammonite among the thirty reminds us of the fidelity of Shobi, the son of Nahash the Ammonite king, to David (see 2Sa 17:27). Armourbearer. The written text has the plural, “armourbearers,” for which the K’ri has substituted the singular. The plural is probably right, and if so, both Joab’s chief armourbearers, or squires, were foreigners, Zelek being an Ammonite, and Nahari a Gibeonite (see note on 2Sa 4:2). In actual warfare we find Joab attended by ten esquires (2Sa 18:15).
2Sa 23:38
Ithrite. Of the family of Jether, of Kirjath-jearim (1Ch 2:53). unless Ira and Gareb were two brothers of Amasa, and sons of Jether the husband of Abigail, David’s sister (2Sa 17:25).
2Sa 23:39
Uriah the Hittite (see note on 2Sa 11:3). Thirty and seven in all. “The thirty” became a technical name, and might receive additional members. But if we suppose Asahel’s place to have been filled up, the number is exact, there being thirty ordinary members, three chiefs of the first class, and three of the second, of whom, however, one name is omitted. In Chronicles sixteen additional names are given, who were probably men admitted to the order to fill up vacancies.
HOMILETICS
2Sa 23:1-7
The fruitful lessons of David’s last words.
The facts are:
1. There is a statement that these are the last words of David, who is spoken of in a fourfold respect.
2. It is affirmed that the utterance which follows is expressly by the Spirit of God.
3. The true ruler is described as one who is just and one fearing God; and the effects of his government are compared to the light of a bright morning, and the tender grass after rain.
4. David affirms that his house is specially characterized as one with which God has made a sure and everlasting covenant, and that, consequently, the whole salvation he cares for and desires will be advanced and realized.
5. He refers to worthless men having no sympathy with the desires of his heart and the purposes of his houseas being like thorns fit only to be ultimately burned. A larger space is given in the Bible to the life of David than to any other except that of his great Antitype; and herein do we see the beautiful harmony of the sacred book as an organic whole, for just as in the New Testament there is great prominence given to the death of Christ and its relation to sin, corresponding to the prominence in the Old Testament of the sacrifices which foreshadowed it, so the position of the eternal King in Zion in the one book is in the same relative proportion to that of the temporal king who so conspicuously shadowed forth his reign in the other. The great interest thus attaching to the life of David renders his last words of unusual importance. We shall best bring out their teaching by noting in succession the very fruitful topics suggested by this section.
I. THE INFLUENCE or DYING WORDS OF GOOD MEN. We feel that there is a value in these last words of David, not simply by what an examination of their strict sense may yield, but because they are his last words. All last words are weighty in comparison with others; for they close the record, or end the intercourse, or give, as in dying words, the matured expression of one’s long experience. The last words of Jacob, of Moses, of Paul, and above all of Christ, are very rich in instruction by virtue of being last. The last words of children, parents, friends who sleep in Jesus, are most precious; they are treasured forever. There are special reasons for attaching weight to them.
1. They are reflective, and touched by the influence of the eternal world. Men are earnest, sincere, uttering only what a review of the past and a prospect of the future will warrant.
2. The mind is usually calm. The passions of life are gone, the strife of tongues is no more heard, the spirit is open to the still, small voice.
3. Worldly influences are in abeyance. The pomps and fashions of this world are reduced to their proper position. There is scope for things eternal to get their legitimate hold on the thoughts, and so to form aright the conceptions of duty.
4. The action of the Holy Spirit is more direct and strong. The great hindrances to his blessed fellowship are reduced to a minimum, and hence a truer estimate is formed of life, its purpose and perils; of Christ, his love and power.
5. The affections are most pure and tender. The heart goes out freely toward the Saviour and toward men. Silver and gold and the perishable things of active life are now as dross, and words flow forth steeped in love and tender concern for others, and delight in God’s great salvation. Dying saints preach powerful sermons. Their memory is blessed. Their words are rich in all that is good and helpful.
II. THE HONOUR AND RESPONSIBILITY OF RICH MENTAL ENDOWMENTS. David was the man raised up on high, the anointed of God, the sweet psalmist of Israel. These words necessarily imply the coexistence in time of varied mental endowmentswisdom and discretion for ruling, lofty conceptions of the theocracy and the far reaching character of God’s dealings with Israel, and all the qualities requisite for the sweetest poetry. He was certainly most honoured of men in that age, and hence his responsibility was very great. The references to the ideal ruler (2Sa 23:3) indicate how conscious he was of solemn obligations. The fact is, every gift of God bestowed on man is honour put on him, and in its nature it is a talent for use, that the world may be the better for its existence. The possession of great and varied giftsof thought, emotion, willpower, and of aptitude to do the right thing at the right timeis a wonderful boon. The men of ten talents may well ponder their responsibilities to God and man. What blessing or woe comes to the world according to the direction in which great gifts are used!
III. THE INFLUENCE OF SACRED SONG ON THE RELIGIOUS LIFE. The incidental reference to the “sweet psalmist” throws a sudden and unexpected light on the immense influence exerted by David on the spiritual thought and feeling of his own and subsequent ages. He had touched the deepest feelings of the people, and by his psalms done, perhaps, more to conserve their faith and hope than by all his acts of formal legislation and words of distinct exhortation. His influence will never cease. The saints of all ages are cheered and comforted by his sweet words of song; and they find relief in using, language which so aptly expresses the holiest and purest feelings and thoughts of their life. He blessed Israel with a wise and just rule, and the entire world by the most enduring influence of sacred song. The place of sacred song in the Church is most important. It elevates thought, nourishes the more fine and tender sentiments, strengthens the most secret and radical elements of the religious life by giving form and occasion for their exercise, enriches the memory with strains that spring up in hours of weakness and sorrow, and stores the minds of young and old with a treasury of precious Christian truth. He who writes a good hymn blesses the generations to come.
IV. THE UNKNOWN WORK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. When David said, “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me,” he seemed to speak of what was a familiar truth. He was no stranger to such Divine help, as our Lord’s testimony to the Psalms indicates (cf. Psa 51:11). Yet if we confine our attention to the bare historic record of his life, we find scarcely any distinct reference to his consciousness of the direct aid of the Holy Spirit. For aught we can see in distinct words, there was none. His holy influence has no full record. Thus the most important spiritual element in David’s spiritual life was to onlookers unknown. There are two aspects of this fact in our Christian life.
1. We do not know the great extent to which we are indebted to the Holy Spirit for our perseverance, our highest thoughts, our purest feelings, and general growth in excellence.
2. The non-Christian world does not know the great work which the Holy Spirit achieves in Christian lives. “The world knoweth him not” (Joh 14:17). It becomes us to remember what we owe to him, and how incessant his action, though men live as though he were not. Religion is at a low ebb whenever the work of the Holy Spirit is forgotten.
V. THE MODEL RULER. In his closing days David remembered that he had been raised on high to be a ruler over Israel; and doubtless, in reviewing the past, he was humbled in observing the instances in which he had failed to be as a man after God’s own heart. But in the assurance of forgiveness he could now reflect on the ideal which had ever stood before him, and for the instruction of others he indicates his hope of the ideal being approximately realized in his immediate successor, and his faith that in the coming Christ it would be perfectly realized. The two elements of the ideal ruler are justice and the fear of God. These qualities being in full exercise, all things will be done for the good of man and the glory of God. Human obligationsmorality on the human sidemust be combined with religious feelingsupreme regard in everything to the Divine will. The effect of such ruling on saints is
(1) what the bright light of morning is on the earth, i.e. it is conducive to safety, cheerfulness, full development of activities, and extended knowledge and usefulness;
(2) what the abundance of rich verdure is in a tropical climate, i.e. it is wealth, beauty, restfulness, contrast. The history of civil and ecclesiastical communities illustrates the truth of this. There are conditions of prosperity which can only be fulfilled by the ruled, but here we have to do with the natural tendency of the just and godly ruling. The ruler may be king, president, parent, or pastor, and wherever the standard of ruling is high, so in proportion will these effects follow. Bad as the subjects ruled may be, the model ruler will to some extent secure for them these blessings. The most perfect illustration of the truth is to be found in Christ. He rules justly, and in harmony with the mind of the Eternal. An examination of the principles of his kingdom, its discipline and spirit, will show that it is perfectly equitable and is an expression of the Divine mind. The effects that flow from it in proportion as it is submitted to, are exactly those here set forth. Heaven and earth testify (Psa 72:1-20.).
VI. THE ORDERED COVENANT. Through Samuel and Nathan (1Sa 15:28; 2Sa 7:12-17), God had declared his promise to David, and David on his part had solemnly recognized the goodness of God, and virtually pledged himself to fulfil his side of the sacred engagement (2Sa 7:24-29). Throughout his singular life, amidst all his frailties, he had found God gracious and merciful. Though manifold dangers had arisen which seemed at one time to frustrate the promise and hand over his kingdom to anarchy and his family to disgrace, Divine wisdom had so ordered all things that now, at the close of life, the throne is firm and succession is sure and promising. His mind evidently ponders a threefold covenant:
1. Personal. This God was his God, and he could say, “I am thine” (Psa 119:94; cf. Psa 61:5).
2. Official. He had been chosen to be king, and God had guaranteed to him all needful help and blessing.
3. Messianic,. The private and official covenant was to him a type of that wider and more blessed covenant of grace which is exemplified in the working out of the redemptive purpose in Christ (Psa 2:1-12; cf. Isa 53:10-12). In respect to each of these the characteristics “everlasting,” “ordered in all things,” and “sure,” were most precious to David’s heart. The covenant made with us in Christ is thus most blessed. It is a covenant of pure mercy, originated by God, designed to elevate us to highest dignity, sustained in its development by all the resources of the Eternal; and as to duration, from everlasting to everlasting (Mat 25:34; Joh 17:23; Eph 1:4; 1Pe 1:20; Rev 17:8; cf. Joh 3:16); as to execution, ordered in all things, everything pertaining to its development and issue being so foreseen and provided for that nothing is left to chance or the exigencies of the hour (Luk 24:26, Luk 24:27; Act 2:23-28; Gal 4:4; Eph 1:10; 2Pe 3:9; cf. Gen 22:14; Rom 11:33; Php 4:19); as to stability, “sure,” resting on the unchangeable faithfulness of the all-wise and all-powerful God (Psa 89:1; Isa 25:1; 1Th 5:24; 2Th 3:3; cf. Act 2:30; Heb 6:17).
VII. GOD‘S FAITHFULNESS MAN‘S CONSOLATION. Who can tell the consolation brought to David by the fact that the covenant of God was so “sure”? Reflection on his own frailty and on the dangers of life could not but awaken shame and dread; but this sure, well ordered, enduring covenant, no Words suffice to set forth its preciousness! In this we have a common experience with David. Our hearts are sad and pained by our own shortcomings; we see perils to our salvation on every side; the resolutions we frame for the future partake of our infirmity; the struggle to attain to the likeness of Christ seems to be interminable; and the possibility of so changing our discordant and shattered nature as to present it blameless before his face, seems to us very slight. But the bruised and crushed spirit finds healing and rest in thisthat God is true, and has resolved, to save us. Blessed knowledge! Instead of inducing indifference or carelessness, it supplements the comfort it brings by a calm and steady flow of energy toward the holy goal, and develops gratitude in form of more entire consecration. In health, in sickness, amidst earthly strifes and fears, and when the chilly hand of death lays hold of us, we rest in him who cannot die, and who has said, “Because I live, ye shall live also.” Truly we have “abundant consolation.”
VIII. JOY IN THE REVEALED PURPOSE OF GOD. To see God’s blessed covenant unfold towards realization of the Divine purpose was all David’s salvation and desire. His heart was bound up with it. His joys and his sorrows were more deeply interwoven with the spiritual kingdom than with personal ease or regal splendour. Our Saviour sets forth the same more illustriously in his life. It was his meat and drink to do his Father’s will. To see the blessings of the covenant spread to all mankind was the absorbing passion of his heart. For this he endured the cross and despised the shame. The prospect of the issue of his death gave him satisfaction in the hour of death (Psa 53:1-6 :10). The secret of his life was oneness with the Father’s will. The Apostle Paul exhibits, in his measure, the same delight in God’s purpose. It is a mark of high Christian feeling that we pass from our own personal interest in redemption to delight in the merciful purpose being realized in others. This is the spring of enterprise, the purifier of the heart from spiritual selfishness, the sure mark of having the mind that was in Christ.
IX. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A WICKED LIFE. David, in verses 5, 6, contrasts the men of Belial with those who rejoice in and work along the lines of God’s covenant. Their power often terrifies the good, causes much mischief, and seems for a while to tend to their permanent prosperity. But their power is barren of good result, noxious in its influence, and destined to be cut short. Here we have the truth exemplified in the case of all who are alien to the gracious purpose of God as revealed in his covenant of mercy. The life of the wicked is:
1. Barren as thorns. Whatever promise of good there may be at one time, it never passes from the bare thorn condition to that of fruitfulness. In highest moral and simplest religious fruitfulness their lives are worth nothing.
2. It is noxious as thorns. A wicked life pierces and wounds those who come under its influence; it tends not to healing and comfort, but to pain and distress.
3. It is fleeting in power, as thorns destined to be crushed by a mightier force and consumed. The wicked may be in great power, but the day will come when it will be said of him, “He is not” (Psa 37:35, Psa 37:36). These contrasts of the righteous and the wicked should strengthen the hearts of those who endure persecution and trial.
2Sa 23:8-39
The facts are:
1. A general statement of the names of David’s mighty men, with a comparative reference to some of their deeds.
2. A more special account of the daring of three who procured water for David at the risk of their lives.
3. The refusal of the king to drink that which had been obtained at so great a risk.
Mighty men.
The account here of the heroes who figured in the course of David’s life is supplementary to the general history, and, while intended to set forth incidents in his career, is also most probably designed to give a place of honour in the national records to those whose strength and valour contributed to establish the kingdom. There are deeds of mighty men recorded in the annals of the Church, and we may note
I. THAT A PLACE OF HONOUR IS IN RESERVE FOR THOSE WHO RENDER HIGH SERVICE. Because of great service these men were honoured with a place in the record which is to be read by all mankind. In subduing the world to Christ there is scope for great energies and efforts. Those who by prayer, self-denial, holy living, written or spoken words, or other means and weapons, go forth daily in the name of Christ and achieve great things, will be honoured in the esteem of the coming ages and in the esteem of Christ. While all good men shall shine as with the brightness of the firmament, these shall shine forth more distinctly as the “stars” forever and ever (Dan 12:3; 1Co 15:41).
II. THAT THE GROUND OF THE HONOUR LIES IN THEIR OVERCOMING MUCH EVIL. These men smote gigantic foes. They contributed to the stability and splendour of David’s reign by sweeping away the evils which would have checked the progress of his wise and just methods of government. The honour of Christian soldiers lies in ridding the world of gigantic evils, the preliminary step to the perfection of good. Those who smite the greatest evils or a multitude of the most pervasive sins, confer unspeakable benefits on mankind, and clear the way for the positive development of those holy principles which are the glory of the kingdom of Christ. The riddance of sin and the introduction of holiness are concurrent acts in Christian warfare. Some men are marvellous warriors as compared with others.
III. THAT THE SPIRIT WHICH RENDERS SUCH TRIUMPHS POSSIBLE IS THAT OF DEVOTION TO THE KING. These men followed David, were under his guidance, caught his spirit, sought to establish his supremacy, and hence were nerved by a definite inspiring purpose. Consecration to Christ is the key to our victories. Wherever there is true devotion to him; and in proportion to its depth, there will be great deeds done in his name. Hence the apostolic allusions to fighting the good fight under the leadership of the great Captain of our salvation.
Christ’s tribute to Christian devotion.
The exclamation of David, “Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem!” was probably the natural unpremeditated outcome of an intense feeling of thirst when hemmed in by the Philistines. There is no evidence that it was a pretext to draw forth some special proof of devotion to himself. The incidental knowledge acquired of his actual need, nevertheless, developed in the hearts of these brave men a determination to obtain drink for him, even at the risk of their own lives. Where true loyalty exists there is no waiting for formal commands. The refusal of the king to drink what they so nobly obtained, doubtless, at first, filled them with surprise, and possibly caused annoyance. But the generous sentiment expressedthat he valued their generous devotion so highly that he could not at such a risk indulge in any personal satisfaction, deeming the offering too costly for mortal acceptancethis must have removed all disappointment, and strengthened the bond of allegiance. Here we may see a parable setting forth Christ’s tribute to the devotion of his followers.
I. THE HIGHEST DEVOTION RISKS ALL FOR GOD. As these men went forth, risking life for their king, so the truest devotion leads men to risk all for Christ. There are forms of devotion in which little is given up, and much reserve is made. The stories of the rich young man in the gospel and of the going first to prove the purchased oxen exhibit a profession of attachment too frequent in Christendom. The Apostle Peter came nearer the truth of the case when he declared that he and others had “left all” to follow Christ. The mind to forsake, if need be, father and mother, houses and land, and to give up life, is stated to be the condition of the acceptable service. Wherever there is a real appreciation of who Christ is, what we are, what his vast mercy to us is, and the infinite claims of his love upon heart and life, devotion to him becomes so complete and absorbing that pain, loss, and possibly death among the heathen are faced with composure when they stand between the soul and the advancing of his interests.
II. THIS RISK OF LIFE IS AN OFFERING WORTHY OF CHRIST. The position of David as the anointed of the Lord and distinct ruler of the kingdom of God on earth, rendered it right and reasonable for the personal risk on his account. For the covenant with David and all the great issues involved were at stake. And so, apart from the subjective feeling which prompts to full devotion to Christ, there is in him and the vast enterprise of working out the redemption of man everything to justify this devotion. The surrender of life and all is an offering most worthy. Our mortal interests are as nothing compared to the requirements of his kingdom. He is worthy of all might, all riches, all life, all that men or angels can lay at his feet.
III. CHRIST HAS NO JOY IN THE LOSS OF HIS SERVANTS WHEN SEEKING TO SERVE HIM. David felt no satisfaction that such valued lives were risked for him. It was no pleasure to think that widows might have had cause to weep in consequence of noble devotion in his service. He was always tenderly regardful of the lives and comfort of his people. And although, from the necessities of the case in a world where evil has to be fought at all costs, many a noble life has to be sacrificed and many a pain endured, yet Christ finds no pleasure in the sufferings of his people any more than he had in his own. His and their sufferings were to him a painful condition of conquest over sin. He feels for them in their woes.
IV. BUT CHRIST PAYS HONOUR TO THE SPIRIT WHICH FREELY FACES GREAT RISKS. David’s refusal to drink the water, and his pouring it out before the Lord as though it were too sacred for mortal lips to touch, was his way of paying honour to these devoted men. His feeling in regard to their personal devotion is, so far as the human may be a symbol and measure of the Divine, a representation of the feeling cherished by Christ with respect to noble deeds in his service and the spirit from which they spring. He looks with admiration on the self-consuming zeal of his followers; he sees in it the reflection of that spirit of self-sacrifice which enters into his own sufferings and death for men. They are partakers with him of the cup of which some have not the courage to drink (Mat 20:20-23). Those who have won great honours in his service are to be welcomed as “good and faithful servants,” and to be made “rulers over many things.” The loss of parents and houses and lands is to be compensated by others more enduring, with life eternal (Mar 10:30). His care and love assured to them in trial, his grace given according to their need, his distinct promise of distinction among the redeemed, all point to the tribute which he bears to the noble self-sacrificing spirit which animates them (Joh 14:18, Joh 14:19, Joh 14:27; Joh 15:18-21; 2Co 12:7-10; Rev 2:10; Rev 3:10-12).
HOMILIES BY B. DALE
2Sa 23:1-7
(Mat 1:1)
The son of Jesse, and the Son of David.
The relation of David to Jesus, regarded in the light of prophecy and history, was one of:
1. Hereditary connection; inasmuch as he not only belonged to the tribe of Judah (Gen 49:10; Heb 7:14; Rev 5:5) and the house of Jesse the Bethlehemite (Isa 11:1), but was ancestor of Jesus (Mat 1:16; Luk 3:23); who was thus legal heir to “the throne of his father David,” and was born in “the city of David” (Mic 5:2; Mat 2:6).
2. Typical representation, in his office as theocratic king, divinely chosen, “the Lord’s anointed” (messiah, christ), the representative of God and of the people; his devotion to the purpose of his calling, fulfilling the will of God, contending against his enemies, and ruling his people righteously; his exaltation, through suffering (1Pe 1:11), by the mighty hand of God, to power, honour, and dominion; his influence in securing national deliverance, religious benefits, temporal order, prosperity, and happiness; whereby he foreshadowed an incomparably greater Ruler of a kingdom “not of this world,” who saves his people from their sins, reconciles them to God, and gives them eternal life.
3. Historical resemblance (closely associated with the former, but without, so far as is revealed, being expressly designed by God), in his lowly birth, youthful consecration (1Sa 16:12; Luk 2:49), and humble occupation; his decisive conflict (1Sa 17:50; Mat 4:11), public services, and bitter persecutions; his attracting around him a band of faithful followers (1Sa 22:1; Mat 10:1), increasing fame, and popular recognition (2Sa 2:4; Joh 6:15; Mat 21:9); his great achievements, spiritual utterances, and beneficent influence (2Sa 6:1-23; 2Sa 8:1-18.); his rejection (2Sa 15:13), betrayal, and overwhelming sorrows (2Sa 15:30); his final victory (2Sa 18:1-33.; Joh 12:31, Joh 12:32), glorious restoration, and diligent preparation for an enduring reign of peace.
4. Extraordinary contrast. Even wherein the first prefigured the second David (Eze 34:23), the imperfection of the former stands opposed to the perfection of the latter. And Jesus is “the Son of God” (Luk 1:35) in the highest sense, David’s Lord (Mar 12:37); was without sin and always well pleasing to the Father; came to establish, not an earthly kingdom (as the Jews expected), but a spiritual one, and only by moral means (truth, righteousness, and love); died as a sacrifice for sin, rose again, and ascended into the heavens” (Act 2:34); “who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen” (Rom 9:5).D.
2Sa 23:1-3
(JERUSALEM.)
David’s last words.
[The closing years of David’s life (after the insurrection of Sheba was subdued, 2Sa 20:1-26.) were spent in peace. Having secured a site for the altar (2Sa 24:25; 1Ch 21:28), he made preparations for the building of the temple (1Ch 22:1-19.). At length his strength began to fail; but, when made acquainted with the conspiracy of Adonijah, he displayed something of his former energy in hastening the accession of Solomon (1Ki 1:1-53.). He also “gathered together the princes of Israel,” etc. (1Ch 23:1, 1Ch 23:2), made numerous arrangements, sacred and civil (1Ch 23:3-32; 24-27.), addressed a convocation of princes, gave a charge to his successor, and offered thanksgiving to God (1Ch 28:1-21.; 1Ch 29:1-25). He subsequently gave further counsel to Solomon (1Ki 2:1-9). About the same time, probably, he uttered these last prophetic words; and then, at the age of seventy, he “fell on sleep” (1Ki 2:10; 1Ch 29:26-28). “The omission of David’s death in the conclusion of this work is satisfactorily explained from the theocratic character and aim of the composition, since in this conclusion the fulfilment of the theocratic mission of David is completed” (Erdmann).]
“And these are the last words of David:
An oracle of David, son of Jesse,
And an oracle of the hero highly exalted,
Anointed of the God of Jacob,
And pleasant (in) Israel’s songs of praise.
The Spirit of Jehovah speaks within me,
And his word is on my tongue;
Says the God of Israel,
To me speaks the Rock of Israel,” etc.
How varied are the last words of men! How significant of their ruling passion! And how instructive to others (Gen 48:21, Gen 48:22; Gen 49:1; Deu 33:1; Jos 23:14; Jos 24:27; 2Ki 13:19; Luk 2:29; Act 7:59; 2Ti 4:6-8)! Here is David, “the man of God’s own choice,” about to go “the way of all the earth” (2Sa 7:12; 1Ki 2:2). Highly exalted as he was, he must die like other men. “We walk different ways in life, but in death we are all united.” Ere he departs his spirit kindles with unwonted lustre, as not unfrequently happens in the case of others; he is under the immediate inspiration of God (Num 24:3, Num 24:4), and sings his last song of praise, sweet as the fabled notes of the dying swan. “No prince, and certainly no one who had not acquired his kingdom by inheritance, could possibly close his life with a more blessed repose in God and a brighter glance of confidence into the future. This is the real stamp of true greatness” (Ewald). “These are the words of the prophecy of David, which he prophesied concerning the end of the age, concerning the days of consolation which are to come” (Targum). They show that he has in death (what it is also the privilege of other servants of God in some measure to possess)
I. GRATEFUL MEMORIES of the favour of God; which has been manifested:
1. Toward one of lowly origin and condition. “A son of Jesse.” “Who am I?” etc. (1Sa 18:18). “I am the least in my father’s house” (Jdg 6:15). He recognizes his natural relationships, recalls his early life, renounces all special claim to Divine favour, and is filled with humility. “What hast thou that thou didst not receive?” (1Co 4:7).
2. In raising him up to exalted honour. “The man [hero] who was highly exalted.” Earthly distinction is the portion of a few, but spiritual distinction is the possession of every good man; he is a partaker of the Divine nature (2Pe 1:4), raised; up with Christ, and made to sit with him in heavenly places (Eph 2:6), and an heir of all things (1Co 3:23). “The Christian believes himself to be a king, how mean soever he be, and how great soever he be; yet he thinks himself not too good to be servant to the poorest saint” (Bacon, ‘Christian Paradoxes’).
3. In appointing him to royal dominion over men. “Anointed,” etc. He has “an anointing from the Holy One,” and shares in the dominion of Christ. “To him will I give power over the nations,” etc. (Rev 2:26).
4. In conferring upon him excellent endowments, in the exercise of which he quickens the spiritual susceptibilities of men, furnishes them with “acceptable words” in their approach to God, and becomes a helper of their noblest life and joy. Pleasant [lovely] in [by means of] the praise songs of [sung by] Israel.” “He was not only the founder of the monarchy, but the founder of the Psalter. He is the first great poet of Israel. Although before his time there had been occasional bursts of Hebrew poetry, David is he who first gave it its fixed place in Israelite worship” (Stanley).
“The harp the monarch minstrel swept,
The king of men, the loved of Heaven,
Which Music hallow’d, while she wept
O’er tones her heart of hearts had given;
Redoubled be her tears, its chords are riven!
It soften’d men of iron mould,
It gave them virtues not their own;
No ear so dull, no soul so cold,
That felt not, fired not to the tone,
Till David’s lyre grew mightier than his throne!”
(Byron, ‘Hebrew Melodies’)
Although his greatness was peculiar, yet a measure of true greatness belongs to every one of the “royal priesthood” (1Pe 2:6, 1Pe 2:9; Rev 1:6) of the spiritual Israel. He has power with God and with men, represents God to men and men to God, employs his power with God on behalf of men, and his power with men on behalf of God; and if, by the culture and use of the gifts bestowed upon him, he has contributed to the highest good of menthis (together with all the Divine benefits he has received) is a matter of grateful remembrance and fervent thanksgiving (Psa 37:25, Psa 37:37, Psa 37:39; Psa 103:1-22.). “It is not what we have done, but what God has done for us and through us, that gives true peace when we come to the end.”
II. GRACIOUS COMMUNICATIONS by the Spirit of God; inasmuch as he is:
1. Filled with Divine inspiration. “The Spirit of Jehovah speaks within me.” Such inspiration is of various kinds and degrees, and given for different special purposes. “Men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Ghost” (2Pe 1:21; 2Ti 3:16). But every one who has fellowship with God is inhabited, pervaded, inspired by his Spirit, enlightening, purifying, elevating, gladdening, and strengthening him. Some are “full of the Holy Ghost.” In a dying hour, what a marvellous elevation of thought and feeling have they sometimes attained! “Holy men at their death have good inspirations” (see ‘Last Words of Remarkable Persons;’ ‘ Life’s Last Hours;’ Jacox, ‘At Nightfall,’ etc.; S. Ward, ‘The Life of Faith in Death;’ J. Hawes, ‘Confessions of Dying Men,’ etc.).
2. Enabled to utter the Divine Word. “And his Word is on my tongue.” Even though there be no new, definite, and infallible revelation of the Word of God, there is often a new indication of its meaning and application, and a fresh, fervid, and forcible expression thereof. “As the Spirit gave them utterance.”
3. Made a recipient of Divine promises. “The God of Israel says.” He who entered into a covenant relation with Israel, and promised to be their God, gave to David the promise of an everlasting kingdom (2Sa 7:12-16), and still gives it, with an inner voice that cannot be mistaken. He also “speaks all the promises,” not only in the written Word, but also in the soul of every one to whom that Word comes in “much assurance.”
“Oh, might I hear thy heavenly voice
But whisper, ‘Thou art mine!’
Those gentle words should raise my song
To notes almost Divine.”
4. Constituted a witness of the Divine faithfulness in the fulfilment of the promises. “To me speaks the Rock of Israel” (1Sa 2:2; 2Sa 22:2, 2Sa 22:3, 2Sa 22:32, 2Sa 22:47). “He is faithful that promised” (Heb 10:23). His faithfulness is the foundation of his promises. “And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Jehovah: and thy faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones” (Psa 89:1, Psa 89:2, Psa 89:5, Psa 89:8, Psa 89:24, Psa 89:33). On this the believer rests when all things fail, and of this he testifies in death, committing his soul into the hands of God, as “unto a faithful Creator” (1Pe 4:19; Psa 31:5).
III. GLORIOUS ANTICIPATIONS of the kingdom of God; wherein the glory of the present merges into the greater glory of the future, and earth and heaven are one (2Sa 23:3-5; Psa 85:11). He sees:
1. The majesty of the King of righteousness; like the splendour of the rising sun. His view of the ideal theocratic ruler of the future has its perfect realization in him who is “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” The chief object of the Christian’s contemplation in death is the glory of Christ. “Herein would I live; herein would I die; herein would I dwell in my thoughts and affections, to the withdrawing and consumption of all the painted beauties of this world, unto the crucifixion of all things here below, until they become unto me a dead and deformed thing, no way meet for affectionate embraces” (Owen).
2. The brightness of a heavenly day; “the drawing near of the kingdom of the heavens,” and abounding life and happiness forever (2Sa 22:51; 2Sa 22:5). “Nevertheless we according to his promise,” etc. (2Pe 3:13).
3. The realization of a blessed hope; the hope of personal salvation (2Sa 23:5), associated with and assured in the immortal life of the King and his people (Psa 16:9-11; Psa 17:15; Psa 49:15; Psa 73:24; Joh 14:19).
4. The destruction of all iniquity. (2Sa 23:6.) The people shall be all righteous. “The dying eyes see on the horizon of the far off future the form of him who is to be a just and perfect Ruler; before the brightness of whose presence, and the refreshing of whose influence, verdure and beauty shall clothe the world. As the shades gather, that radiant glory to come brightens. He departs in peace, having seen the salvation from afar. It was fitting that this fullest of his prophecies should be the last of his strains, as if the rapture which thrilled the trembling strings had snapped them in twain” (Maclaren).
“They who watch by him see not; but he sees
Sees and exults. Were ever dreams like these?
Those who watch by him hear not; but he hears,
And earth recedes, and heaven itself appears.”
(Rogers)
“His funeral obsequies were celebrated with the greatest pomp ever yet known in Israel, and his arms were preserved as sacred relics in the temple; but the lapse of time only increased the reverence in which his memory was held in the national heart, until it finally culminated in a glowing desire to behold him once again upon the earth, and to see the advent of a second David” (Ewald).D.
2Sa 23:3-7
An oracle concerning the King Messiah.
1. The hope of salvation, and more especially of the establishment of the kingdom of heaven upon earth, was, in some measure, fulfilled in the reign of David, the Lord’s messiah. In his character as theocratic ruler he was a type (prefigurement or anticipatory outline) of Christ (1Sa 2:10). “The type is prophecy in deed.”
2. Under Divine inspiration, he formed an ideal of a theocratic ruler, in connection with his own personality and history. Hence the representations contained in the Messianic psalms (16, 22.), in some things transcend his experience, and in others are mingled with his infirmities.
3. In this oracle or Divine saying (as in Psa 110:1-7; and perhaps others) he looked forward to the realization of his ideal at a future time. “No part whatever of the Old Testament is introduced with a greater majesty of language, or more excites the expectation of some splendid and glorious sense, than the last words of David” (Kennicott). The promise of eternal dominion to his house was joined with an intimation of his death (2Sa 7:12); and “these last words show how, in consequence of the consciousness of his own guilt, the image of the Messiah was separated from his subjectivity, and came before him as a majestic form of the future. He, the highly favoured one, who had considered himself immortal (Psa 16:1-11.), must now die! He therefore grasps the pillars of the promise, ceases to connect the Messianic hopes with himself, and as a prophet beholds the future of his seed” (Delitzsch). “These words are not merely a lyric effusion of the promise, but a prophetic declaration concerning the true king of the kingdom of God” (Keil). “They form the keystone of his life; his prophetic legacy; to which the cycle of psalms 138-145, must be regarded as supplementary” (Hengstenberg). “If there is any part of Scripture which betrays the movements of the human individual soul, it is this precious fragment of David’s life. If there be any part which claims for itself, and which gives evidence of the breathings of the Spirit of God, it is this also. Such a rugged two-edged monument is a fitting memorial of the man who was at once the king and the prophet, the penitent and the saint of the ancient Church” (Stanley).
4. The ideal of a theocratic ruler was only partially realized in Solomon and other kings of the house of David (Psa 45:1-17; Psa 72:1-20; Isa 32:1-20.).
5. Although the hope of a more adequate realization thereof was again and again disappointed, it was not extinguished, but became more and more spiritual and exalted (Riehm, ‘Messianic Prophecy;’ C.A. Row, ‘The Jesus of the Evangelists;’ W.F. Adeney, ‘The Hebrew Utopia’).
6. At length the hope of Israel was perfectly fulfilled in the Person, work, and glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Luk 1:32; Mat 22:43; Act 2:36; Eph 1:20-22; Rev 1:18.) “In using the Old Testament now, especially for purposes of edification, we should feel that we fail to do justice to the Old Testament, if, when expounding any truth taught in it, we do not bring into connection with the passage explained the highest form of the truth as revealed in the New Testament” (A.B. Davidson, ‘Messianic Prophecy,’ Expositor, 8.). What is here said must, on this principle, be referred to Christ; and it may be referred to him, with more or less propriety, in his earthly life, in his heavenly dominion, or at his second appearing. It indicates
I. HIS EXALTED CHARACTER and principles of government. As if present at the commencement of “the golden age,” David beholds
“A ruler over men [literally, in man’], just
A ruler fearing God!”
Many a ruler, like “the unjust judge,” neither fears God nor regards man. He acquires his position by craft and bloodshed, and exercises his power in oppression and ungodliness. Not so the ruler here depicted; who is distinguished by:
1. Rectitude of heart, of speech, and of conduct; in the laws according to which he rules, and his administration of them, rendering to every man according to his deeds; herein resembling, reflecting, and representing the rectitude of God; and protecting and promoting the best interests of men (Psa 72:4; Isa 9:7; Isa 11:1-10; Jer 23:5; Jer 30:9; Eze 34:23, Eze 34:24; Hos 3:5; Mic 5:1-15 :l-5; Zec 9:9, Zec 9:10). “The history of the actual David supplies the subject matter for these idealizations. David is the original prototype on which they are formed, and round whose person they cluster. They may be described as David idealized” (C.A. Row).
2. Piety; the fear of offending God, reverence for his Name, delight in his fellowship, obedience to his will, opposition to his adversaries, dependence on his strength, and devotion to his honour and glory. “When he that rules is just, it is as if he did not rule, but the fear of the Lord ruled in the earth” (Barrett, ‘A Synopsis of Criticisms’).
3. Rectitude united with piety; founded upon it, pervaded by it, and expressive of it; his supreme aim and constant endeavour being the establishment of the kingdom of God. All this is realized, even beyond expectation, in the wonderful Person of Christ, and his just and merciful reign over mankind. “Put together your ideal of true greatness of soulpower combined with gentleness; dignity with no pride; benevolence with no weakness; sympathy and love for humanity as it is, and especially for the poor, the sad, the suffering. Let your ideal be stainless, and even unsuspected of stain; and let him cheerfully and patiently live and die for men who misunderstood and even hated him. This is what you will see in the history of Christ the Messiah of humanity as well as the Jews” (J.M. Wilson). “The type set up in the Gospels as the Christian type is the essence of man’s moral nature clothed with a personality so vivid and intense as to excite through all ages the most intense affection; yet divested of all those peculiar characteristics and accidents of place and time by which human personalities are marked. What other notion than this can philosophy form of Divinity manifest on earth?’.
II. HIS BENEFICENT INFLUENCE.
“And (his appearance is) as the light of morning, (at) the rising of the sun,
A morning without clouds; (and the effect thereof as when)
From brightness (and) from lain verdure (springs) from (out of) the earth.”
As the influence of an unjust and ungodly ruler is powerful for evil, so the influence of the King Messiah is powerful for good, and much more abundantly (Psa 72:6, Psa 72:7, Psa 72:16). It is like that of
” the great minister
Of nature, that upon the world imprints
The virtue of the heaven, and doles out
Time for us with his beam.”
(Dante.)
The sun is the source of light, heat, and force; of life, health, fertility, beauty, and gladness. What a change takes place in the whole aspect of nature at the approach of “the powerful king of day”! A similar change takes place in the moral and spiritual world at the rising of the Sun of Righteousness (Mal 4:2; Isa 60:2). In him, who is “the Light of the world,” Jehovah himself becomes manifest to men, “visits and redeems his people,” and “gives light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,” etc. (Luk 1:68-79). “Even as the light of the morning shall he arise, Jehovah the Sun” (Pye Smith, ‘Scripture Testimony to the Messiah’). At his appearance, and under his influence:
1. Darkness is dispersed; the long dreary night of ignorance, error, injustice, impiety, oppression, discord, and misery, “and the veil that is spread over all nations” (Isa 25:7).
2. Light is diffused; the light of truth, pure and bright; revelations of heavenly love and mercy; a spirit of gentleness and tenderness, “of wisdom and might;” guiding, quickening, healing, and saving.
3. Life abounds with the peaceful fruits of righteousness; spontaneously, readily, universally; as, when (after a season of drought, or in spring) heavy showers have fallen and bright sunshine breaks forth, the earth clothes itself in fresh and “tender green” (Isa 35:1, Isa 35:2). “The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” The one true King of men has come, his influence is powerfully and widely felt, and it is constantly, increasing; nevertheless we see not yet all things subdued unto him. Like prophets and kings of old, we still wait for his appearing. “For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet” (1Co 15:25).
III. HIS ASSURED MANIFESTATION.
“For (there is sure pound for my expectation, for) is not my house (not myself merely) thus with (related to) God (that out of it such an exalted ruler and his beneficial influence shall proceed)?
For (because) he has established to me an everlasting covenant (to this effect),
Arranged in all (respects) and kept;
For (therefore) all my salvation (involved therein) and all (his) good pleasure (expressed therein)
For (therefore, I say) will he not cause (them) to sprout (to be fully accomplished)?”
“The pedge of this just ruler was the eternal covenant which God had concluded with him” (Tholuck). The whole oracle is founded upon this covenant (solemn promise, sacred engagement, arrangement, constitution, dispensation), securing eternal dominion to his house and the blessings of salvation to the subjects of his kingdom (2Sa 7:13, 2Sa 7:10, 2Sa 7:24). “The Davidic covenant is the embodiment of the hope of David, and the theme of his last meditations. In this swanlike song David clings to the Messianic promise as his greatest delight” (C.A. Briggs, ‘Messianic Prophecy’).
1. It cannot fail of fulfilment, in the appearing and reign of the Messiah; because of:
(1) The faithfulness of God, “the Rock of Israel” (2Sa 23:3), its Author;
(2) its having been actually made,
(3) with the express assurance of these things,
(4) “to David, and his seed forever” (2Sa 22:51);
(5) carefully arranged, provided with everything adapted to effect the proper end thereof, and to avert failure, even through apostasy (2Sa 7:14, 2Sa 7:15);
(6) and its being constantly preserved, guarded, watched over, until completely fulfilled.
2. In its fulfilment, the promised salvation of the people of God, and his gracious purposes concerning them, will be accomplished. “All my salvation,” etc. “The dying Israelite looked forward to the grand destiny of his people, and lost his personality in the larger life of the nation, and thus triumphed over death through the thought of the immortality and future blessedness of the collective Israel” (W.F. Adeney); or rather he expected to share with them, in some way, their glorious inheritance (Psa 61:5, Psa 61:6; Psa 73:23, Psa 73:26; Isa 54:10-14; Isa 55:3, Isa 55:4; Dan 12:3, Dan 12:4, Dan 12:13).
3. On this the servant of God rests with strong confidence and blessed hope, in life and death (Gen 49:18). “We are saved by hope.” And “when Christ, who is our Life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory” (Col 3:4; 1Jn 3:2; 2Pe 3:13).
“My God, the covenant of thy love
Abides forever sure;
And in its matchless grace I feel
My happiness secure.”
IV. HIS FINAL JUDGMENT on the wicked.
“And worthlessness [literally, ‘Belial, ungodly men’]
as thorns thrust away (are) all of them;
For (because) not with the (unarmed) hand are they seized;
And (but) the man who touches them
Is filled (fills his hand, provides himself) with iron,
And shaft of spear (i.e. a long spear),
And with fire are they utterly burned on the spot.”
It is the tart of a just and godly ruler to punish evil doers. The undue leniency of David was followed by disastrous consequences (2Sa 3:39; 2Sa 13:21; 2Sa 14:33; 2Sa 19:23; 2Sa 20:10); and, at the close of his life, he charged his successor to vindicate the Law wherein he had himself failed to do so (1Ki 2:1-9). The coming King is not only a Saviour, but also a Judge; and to him all judgment is committed (Joh 5:22, Joh 5:27). “There rises up before him (David) a field overrun with thorns, which the Divine ministers pluck up with gauntleted hands, and beat down with their burnished spears, and commit to the consuming flames” (S. Cox, ‘Expositor’s Note-Book’). His judgment is:
1. Just.
2. Certain.
3. Irresistible.
4. Complete.
The day of grace, during which forbearance has been shown in vain, is followed by the day of wrath (Mal 4:1; Mat 3:12; Mat 13:40-43; Heb 6:7).D.
2Sa 23:8-12
(1Ch 11:10-14).
The first three heroes.
Jashobeam the son of Hach-moni (Zabdiel, 1Ch 27:2), who came to David at Ziklag (1Ch 12:6), and became general of the first division of the army; Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, general of the second division (1Ch 27:4); and Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. “They served in the most direct manner by their work one who was the representative of the Divine government on earth” (Krummacher). “Such traits of warlike courage (as they displayed) are more significant than anything else; they recall to us completely those few periods of history, otherwise unknown to us, in which a marvellous aspiration for the possession of some higher blessing, such as freedom or immortality, has taken hold of an entire nation, and so has produced, through special instruments of exceptional power, even military exploits which appear incredible to ordinary men” (Ewald). “Christ the Son of David has his worthies too, who, like David’s, are influenced by his example, fight his battles against the spiritual enemies of his kingdom, and in his strength are more than conquerors” (Matthew Henry). In these battles, neither physical prowess nor intellectual strength is of so much importance as moral and spiritual qualifications, and especially eminent faith; such as that by which many “from weakness were made strong, waxed mighty in war, turned to flight armies of aliens” (Heb 11:34). It ensures success by means of
I. FEARLESSNESS and daring courage (2Sa 23:8). “He lifted his spear against eight hundred [three hundred], slain at one time;” went undismayed “against a multitude” (2Ch 14:11), and alone (or possibly aided by others) overcame them (Jdg 3:31; Jdg 15:15). Instances of a similar kind are recorded in history (see ‘Pictorial Bible’ in 1Ch 11:1-47.): “Ajax beating down the Trojan leader with a rock which two ordinary men could scarcely lift; Horatius defending the bridge against an army; Richard, the lion-hearted, spurring along the whole Saracen line without finding an enemy to stand his assault; Robert Bruce crushing with one blow the helmet and the head of Sir Henry Bohun, in sight of the whole army of England and Scotland;such are the heroes of a dark age. In such an age, bodily vigour is the most indispensable qualification for a warrior” (Macaulay, ‘History of England’). Even in modern times (when the superiority of strength of mind has been so manifest) it has accomplished extraordinary feats. But how much greater and nobler have been the achievements wrought by moral courage and spiritual weapons (2Co 10:4)!
II. INDEPENDENCE and single-handed effort (2Sa 23:9, 2Sa 23:10). When “he alone remained” (Josephus), “he arose and smote the Philistines, until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword,” etc. In like manner, when “the people fled from the Philistines” (2Sa 23:11, 2Sa 23:12), Shammah stood alone against their attack. The valour of some men depends upon the presence, sympathy, and help of others, and fails when they are left to themselves.
1. Under such circumstances, the courage of a true hero is fully brought out (Isa 63:3).
2. He is independent of men because he depends upon God.
3. By his single-handed effort, one such man is sometimes able to “chase a thousand” (Jos 23:10).
4. His courage and success infuse fresh vigour into fearful hearts; and “the people return after him” though it be “only to spoil.” He alone is fit to be a leader of men.
III. STEADFASTNESS in passive endurance and active endeavour. “He stood in the midst of the ground” which was “full of lentiles,” or barley, “defended it, and slew the Philistines” (who had probably come up to carry away the ripe crops); like Eleazar, he “endured to the end,” and conquered. It is not enough to exhibit fearlessness and independence at first; we must continue to do so (Luk 9:51), otherwise nothing will be gained, but everything be lost. “Whatever is each man’s post, chosen by himself as the bettor part, or appointed by his leader, there, as it appears to me, he ought to stay in spite of danger; taking no account of death or anything else in comparison with dishonour” (‘The Apology of Socrates’). This is the crowning quality: “Having done all, to stand [hold the field]. Stand therefore,” etc. (Eph 6:14); “Be ye steadfast,” etc. (1Ch 15:1-29 :58; Gal 6:9); “Stand fast in the Lord.”
IV. DIVINE HELP. “And Jehovah wrought a great deliverance” (2Sa 23:10, repeated in 2Sa 23:12). Here is the chief source of success. Human effort is needful, but in itself ineffectual. It avails only through the help of God (Psa 126:1; Psa 121:2). Nor is this withheld from such as seek and rely upon it. He will fight for those who fight for him. How often has he enabled them to prevail against an overwhelming host! “Salvation is of the Lord.” To him it should be ascribed. And every great deliverance calls for great thanksgiving.D.
2Sa 23:13-17
(1Ch 11:15-19).
The well of Bethlehem.
When a shepherd-youth, David doubtless often sat beside “the well by the gate,” and refreshed himself with its cold, clear, sparkling water. But those days have long since departed; and he is now a king, with many cares. Bethlehem is occupied by a part of the Philistine host, and he is once more in “the hold” (2Sa 5:17; 1Sa 21:1), accompanied by his heroic band of men, to whom his every wish is equivalent to a command. “What a circle of names are associated with his name. some of them names and scarce anything besidemen who would have been unheard of but for the occasions which brought them into temporary connection with so famous a man, and of whose lives, apart from that connection, we know nothing; yet all of whom had a life, had a character, were as precious as individuals in the eye of God as the great soul to whom they owe what little interest they have in the eyes of men!” The names of these three “knights” are not recorded; but their chivalrous achievement is immortalized. “God knows them, as he knows the noble acts of all his saints and martyrs, and will reward them at the great day” (Wordsworth). In the threefold scene here described we have
I. THE NATURAL WISH expressed by the king. “Oh that one would give me drink!” etc. (2Sa 23:15). It is:
1. Involuntarily excited. “In the harvest time,” oppressed with heat, and exhausted by conflict and toil, David is parched with thirst, and overcome with a great longing for a refreshing draught from the well of Bethlehem, whose familiar walls he, perchance, sees from a distance. So men sometimes desire, not merely the satisfaction of bodily appetites, but also the gratification of deeper yearnings, for youth and home, and happier conditions and experiences. “Oh that I had wings like the dove!” etc. (Psa 55:6).
2. In itself innocent. Many a wish, even for objects at present out of reach and beset by difficulty and peril, is as blameless as the thirst of a traveller “in a dry and weary land where no water is.” Although it may be “according to nature” (in the best sense), it nevertheless requires to be controlled, regulated, and subordinated to a higher law than that of pleasing ourselves; and it is, too frequently:
3. Inordinately indulged; so that it becomes a dominant selfish impulse. “The habit of wishing and hankering for those things which Providence denies, though natural to us and often given way to, even by godly men, in an unguarded hour, is a degree of rebellion against the Lord; and it shows the remaining sensuality and selfishness of the heart, and leads to many snares and evils” (Scott).
4. Inconsiderately uttered. David may not intend his men to hear what he says (still less to challenge their devotion); he may hardly be aware of their presence. But, knowing their character and his relation to them, he is none the less responsible for the effect of his words upon them; and should have put a bridle on his tongue (Psa 39:1; Psa 106:33; Psa 141:3). Unregulated impulses and imprudent speechwhat mischief have they wrought in the world! “Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.”
II. THE HEROIC DEED performed by his followers. “And the three mighty men broke through the host,” etc. (2Sa 23:16). “It was a foolhardy thing to do,” some one says; “they might easily have seen that a draught of water was not worth the conflict and hazard necessary to obtain it.” Happily they did not see it; else we had never heard of their heroic enterprise. Without calculating consequences, they act from a sense of duty, an impulse of unselfish devotion, a spirit of chivalry, “which shrinks from no sacrifice in order to do the smallest service for the object of its devotion;” therein exhibiting:
1. An intense attachment to their leader, love to his person, sympathy with his need, loyalty to his office, desire to please him and to do his will (as they interpreted it). It could have been inspired in them only by a man of great ability, generosity, and enthusiasm. They learnt it of him (1Sa 17:50). His self-indulgent and momentary wish was no true index of his prevailing disposition.
2. A spontaneous, prompt, and cheerful purpose and endeavour. They say nothing and do not hesitate, but go together “into the jaws of death.”
3. Invincible courage; a principle which is as needful in moral and spiritual conflict as in physical warfare (2Sa 10:12). “Most probably it made such an impression as rendered the host of the Philistines an easy prey to the Israelites” (Blaikie).
4. Entire self-denial and self-sacrifice; disregarding alike their own pleasure and peril, and laying down their lives for his sake. “Greater love hath no man,” etc. (Joh 15:13). “Pure love has its measure in itself, and disregards in its outward expression every critic (Mat 26:7-13). This exploit of the three heroes was a sacrifice offered, not so much to the man David, as rather in him to the ‘Anointed of the Lord,’ and therefore to the Lord himself” (Krummacher). How does it rebuke our lack of devotion so our Divine King] Were we as ardent, loyal, courageous, and self-sacrificing as they, what victories should we gain over his adversaries and ours!
III. THE SACRED OFFERING presented before the Lord. “And he would not drink thereof,” etc. For the first time, probably, he becomes acquainted with their desperate exploit, when they come into his presence, stained with blood, and place the vessel, containing the water for which he longed, in his hands. To him it is as if it were their blood, and he cannot drink it (Le 2Sa 17:11, 2Sa 17:12). To do so would be to justify his former wish, and gratify himself at the hazard of their lives. Their devotion evokes within him a nobler feeling and impulse than he before displayed; so that he practically confesses his fault, personally shares their suffering and self-denial, and publicly testifies his thankfulness for their preservation and his devotion to their welfare. And this he does in the highest and most effectual mannerby making of their gift a libation (1Sa 7:6), or drink offering, and thereby giving honour to God. “It was too sacred for him to drink, but it was on that very account deemed by him as worthy to be consecrated in sacrifice to God as any of the prescribed offerings of the Levitical ritual. Pure chivalry and pure religion there found an absolute union” (Stanley). Alexander denied himself of a draught of water because he could not bear to drink it alone, and the cup was too small to be divided among all his soldiers; Sir Philip Sidney, that he might give it to a wounded soldier, whose necessity appeared to him greater than his own (‘Percy Anecdotes’); David, that he might present it unto God. “He never was more magnanimous than at this moment. This deed was a psalm, sublime in its significance, and forever sweet to all loving hearts in its pure simplicity.” In his offering there is:
1. An exalted estimate of the value of human life.
2. A humble renunciation of the power even of a king to make use of it according to his own pleasure or for a selfish end.
3. A solemn recognition of the sovereignty of God over “life and breath and all things.”
4. An unreserved submission, surrender, and sacrifice of every gift to him who alone is worthy. David’s offering must have deepened the attachment of his three heroes, and exerted no small moral and spiritual influence on all his followers. How much greater is the “offering” of the Son of David (Eph 5:2; Heb 9:14), and his claim on our affection, gratitude, and self-consecration! Constrained by his love, we should live in the spirit of his life (Rom 12:1; 2Co 5:15; Php 2:17, “poured out as a libation;” 2Ti 4:6).
REFLECTIONS.
1. An impulse of a lower kind is most effectually overcome by one of a higher order.
2. A wish in itself blameless may, in certain circumstances, be sinful and injurious.
3. An action which is mistaken and imprudent sometimes affords occasion for the display of the noblest principles.
4. The self-denial of some silently reproves the self-indulgence of others, and incites in them a similar spirit.
5. The highest return that can be made of gifts received from men is to consecrate them to God.
6. A gift made to God is not “wasted,” but is a means of conferring manifold benefits on men.
7. The sacrifice of self enriches the soul by enabling it to partake more fully of the life and love of him for whose sake it is made.D.
2Sa 23:18-23
(1Ch 11:22-25).
The heroism of Benaiah.
He was son of Jehoiada, chief priest and leader of the Aaronites who came to David at Hebron (1Ch 12:27); one of (a second) three “mighties” (with Abishai and, perhaps, Asahel), and above the thirty (1Ch 27:5, 1Ch 27:6); captain of the host for the third month; and commander of the body guard (2Sa 8:18; 2Sa 20:23). He remained faithful to Solomon in the conspiracy of Adonijah, was commissioned to execute Joab, and appointed commander-in-chief in his stead (1Ki 1:26, 1Ki 1:36; 1Ki 2:29, 1Ki 2:35). He was “a valiant man, of many illustrious deeds.” His name (equivalent to “built by Jah”) is suggestive of the Divine source of his strength, valour, and successful conflicts with the enemies of the people of God. He slew
(1) two Moabitish champions, or princes, “lions of God” (2Sa 8:2);
(2) a ferocious lion, which had been driven by a heavy fall of snow into the neighbourhood of human habitations, to the terror of the inhabitants, and had taken refuge in a pit or (empty) cistern; and
(3) an Egyptian giant (fighting on the side of the Philistines). “His valour and virtues are recorded, not only for commemoration and remembrance, but likewise for example and imitation of his virtues, and to show how great works the Lord wrought by weak means” (Guild).
1. We ought never to contend, except in a good cause; for truth, justice, and liberty, the honour of God, the kingdom of Christ, and the welfare of men. “If it be possible,” etc. (Rom 12:18).
2. We cannot avoid conflict altogether without sin, captivity, dishonour, and destruction. In a world like this there is often no choice but to fight or be slain. “Curse ye Meroz,” etc. (Jdg 5:23). “Contend earnestly for the faith,” etc. (Jud 1:3). “Now we must fight if we would reign.”
3. We must not be dismayed by the power of the enemy; “in nothing affrighted by the adversaries” (Php 1:28); their strength, their number (two to one, 2Sa 23:20), their formidable appearance, their varied character, natural or spiritual; lionlike men, real lions, or “your adversary the devil,” who, “as a roaring lion, walketh about,” etc. (1Pe 5:8). Be strong and fear not.
4. We should not be unduly concerned about our own safety; but seek, above all things, to do our duty faithfully, and use our best endeavours to secure the ends for which we strive. Having traced the footprints of the lion in the snow, “he went down” (voluntarily placing his own life in imminent peril to secure the safety of others.) “and slew the lion in the pit” (knowing that he must succeed or perish) “in a time of snow” (which is apt to benumb man’s strength and to cool their courage, and when beasts of prey are most fierce and ravenous from hunger). “None of these things move me,” etc. (Act 20:24; Act 21:13; 2Ti 4:16, 2Ti 4:17).
5. We must make the best of our resources, however inadequate they may appear; and not shrink from the conflict until we are as fully armed as our opponents. “He went down to him with [only] a staff” (2Sa 23:22); skilfully and adroitly deprived him of his spear (“like a weaver’s beam”), rendered him defenceless, and turned his weapon against himself. We must fight with such means as we have.
6. We should never forget the example of our great Leader (1Sa 17:50); that he sees us, is ready to help us, and will greatly honour “him that overcometh” (2Sa 23:22, 2Sa 23:23; Rev 2:26).
“Though the sons of night blaspheme,
More there are with us than them;
Hell is nigh, but Christ is nigher,
Circling us with hosts of fire.”
7. We should be encouraged by the remembrance of past successes, achieved by ourselves and others. These are a sure earnest of the final victory of the kingdom of light over the kingdom of darkness. “Greater is he that is in you,” etc. (1Jn 4:4).D.
HOMILIES BY G. WOOD
2Sa 23:1-7
The righteous Ruler.
David, in his last days, like Jacob and Moses, received the spirit of prophecy, and was thus enabled to predict the coming of the perfect King, sprung from himself; the blessings of his reign, and his triumph over his enemies. These “last words” of his are, indeed, regarded by some as primarily a description of what a ruler of men should be, and as only secondarily, if at all, relating to the Christ. Our Authorized Version favours this interpretation by introducing in 2Sa 23:3 the words, “must be.” But the obvious truth that rulers ought to be just would hardly have been prefaced by so solemn an introduction, asserting in such varied words and phrases that the declaration was owing to the special inspiration of God. Nor would the reference to the “everlasting covenant” be so appropriate.
I. THE HUMAN SPEAKER. The terms used indicate:
1. His origin. “David the son of Jesse.” The royal son was not ashamed of his father.
2. His exaltation. “Raised up on high”.
3. His Divine appointment as king. “The anointed of the God of Jacob.”
4. His gifts and works as a sacred poet. “The sweet psalmist of Israel” (Hebrew, “pleasant in the psalms of Israel”) “As David, on the one hand, had firmly established the kingdom of God in an earthly and political respect as the anointed of Jehovah, i.e. as king; so had he, on the other, as the composer of Israel’s songs of praise, promoted the spiritual edification of that kingdom” (Keil and Delitzsch).
II. THE DIVINE SPEAKER. This is intimated by the word used twice in 2Sa 23:1 and translated “said.” It is the word commonly used of the utterances of God by his prophets, and, without any addition, indicates that the saying is a Divine oracle. Further, that what is said here is from God is distinctly declared by the assertion, “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” (2Sa 23:2, 2Sa 23:3). Such a preamble prepares us for an utterance of great weight and importance, and is adapted to excite the utmost confidence in it as one of “the true sayings of God” (Rev 19:9).
III. THE WORDS SPOKEN. David was himself a divinely appointed king over God’s nation. He had ruled on the whole justly, and had, with his people, enjoyed much of the benefit which righteous rule secures. He was, however, conscious of not having realized his ideal, partly through his own weakness and sinfulness, partly through the opposition he had encountered and the impracticableness of the materials which he had had to mould. But before he leaves the world he has a Divine assurance that One should arise out of his own house, who should be, as a Ruler, all, and more than all, that he had himself aimed to beshould diffuse amongst his subjects the greatest blessings, and thoroughly master and destroy all that should oppose his designs. Note:
1. His descent. The reference to the “everlasting covenant” in 2Sa 23:5, compared with the covenant itself in the promise of God through Nathan (2Sa 7:16), sufficiently indicates that David discerned that the King of whom he was prophesying would spring from himself. He was to be “of the seed of David according to the flesh” (Rom 1:3).
2. His character. “Just, ruling in the fear of God.”
(1) The fear of God (equivalent to “godliness, piety”) would be at the foundation of his character. He would rule with constant regard to the will and the glory of God (comp. Isa 11:2, “the spirit of the fear of the Lord”). How much this feature was found in the character of our Lord Jesus the Gospels everywhere testify.
(2) He would be eminently “just.” This characteristic of the coming King of men appears frequently in the prophecies respecting him (see Psa 45:6, Psa 45:7; Psa 72:2; Isa 9:7; Isa 11:3-5; Jer 23:5; Zec 9:9). It was a welcome thought in a world filled with injustice, which was unredressed by its rulers, yea, often perpetrated by thema world in which the poor and feeble, the widows and the fatherless, instead of being protected by the mighty, were often trampled down by them, that at length a Ruler would arise who would be just, and would cause justice everywhere to triumph. These prophecies receive their fulfilment in the character and reign of the Lord Jesus.
(a) He is personally just. Hence he is called “that Just One” (Act 22:14); “the Holy One and the Just” (Act 3:14). He was like other men in all but this, that he was “without sin” (Heb 4:15). He “knew no sin” (2Co 5:21). He “did no sin” (1Pe 2:22). In his addresses to God there is no confession of sin or prayer for pardon. Before men he could boldly say, “Which of you convicteth me of sin?’ (Joh 8:46, Revised Version). His exaltation is attributed to his love of righteousness and hatred of iniquity (Heb 1:9).
(b) Justice distinguishes the salvation he effects. For this King is also Saviour (Zec 9:9). David felt that in some way his own salvation depended on him (2Sa 23:5). In the light of the New Testament the truth becomes clear. Jesus the Son of David, the Divine King, works salvation. Now, in doing this, he displays the highest regard for righteousness. He does not deliver in violation of justice; does not take the part of the sinner against God as righteous Ruler. By his death he makes propitiation for sin, that God “might be just” while “the Justifier of him which believeth in Jesus” (Rom 3:25, Rom 3:26). Moreover, he saves from sin to righteousness (Rom 8:4), so that all who are his become just.
(c) His laws are just. The very lairs of some kingdoms are tainted with injustice. They are oppressive or partial, favouring one class of the people at the cost of others, etc. Not so with the laws of the Christ. They prescribe all that is right, and only what is right, both towards God and towards men. Were they obeyed, all injustice and wrong doing would cease, and all the evil dispositions from which they proceed.
(d) His rule is just. Good laws are sometimes ineffective through bad administration of them. Commonly the enforcement of them requires money; and those who have little of it must submit to injustice for want of the means to set the machinery of the law in motion. Sometimes the magistrates are corrupt, and decide in favour of those who bribe them, or too indolent and indifferent to examine sufficiently into the merits of the cases brought before them. Practical injustice also springs from the ignorance or weakness of rulers. But this Ruler will see that full justice is done to all under his sway. He knows exactly the character of each and all; he is powerful to execute judgment. Mighty oppressors find him stronger than they. Secret plotters against the just discover that nothing is hidden from him. With him sophistry has no weight, rank and wealth no influence. “He shall reward every man according to his works” (Mat 16:27).
(e) His whole power and influence are promotive of righteousness, and ensure its ultimate prevalence.
3. The blessings of his reign.” [He (or, ‘it’) shall be] as the light of the morning when the sun riseth, a morning without clouds; [when] the tender grass [springeth] out of the earth, through clear shining after rain” (2Sa 23:4, Revised Version). Under the reign of this Ruler shall be:
(1) Unclouded light in place of darkness. Truth, holiness, and happiness shall abound.
(2) Fruitfulness. Growth and increase of goodness and the good (Psa 72:6, Psa 72:7, Psa 72:16).
(3) Beauty. Like the flush of the tender grass just sprung up and shining in the light of the morning sun. These are the effects which the Lord Christ does produce in heart and home and country, wherever and so far as he is received and obeyed. History confirms prophecy, and gives additional assurance of its fulfilment.
4. The fate of the wicked under his rule. (2Sa 23:6, 2Sa 23:7.) The reign of One so just and powerful ensures the destruction of the wicked as well as the salvation of the righteous. He comes, indeed, to subdue the wicked by truth and love, and render them righteous. But many remain obdurate, refuse submission to him, perhaps oppose him actively; these he destroys. Note:
(1) Their worthlessness. They are “Belial” (equivalent to “worthlessness”); good for nothing; “thorns, to be thrust away” and “burned.”
(2) The difficulty of getting rid of them. Like thorns, difficult to handle and “thrust away,” requiring whoever would deal with them to be “armed with iron and the staff of a spear.” Laws cannot restrain them, example is lost upon them, benevolent efforts are wasted upon them, legal punishments only harden them, the gospel itself renders them more perverse.
(3) Their certain destruction. “They shall be utterly burned with fire in their place” (Revised Version); “on the hearth” (Dean Stanley). See Mat 3:10, Mat 3:12; Joh 15:6; Heb 6:8. Let sinners tremble and repent before it is too late.
IV. THE COMFORT WHICH THE PROPHECY GAVE TO DAVID HIMSELF. (Heb 6:5.) The words are obscure, and variously interpreted. Most modern scholars translate substantially as in the margin of the Revised Version, “For is not my house so with God? for he for all my salvation and all my desire, will he not make it to grow?” So taken, the words are altogether words of assured confidence and hope. But taken as in the Authorized Version, and substantially in the text of the Revised Version, shadows mingle with the brightness. The glorious vision of the future reminds David of the contrast presented by the past and present. His own reign has not corresponded, or only in a small measure, with the picture he has drawn. Yet he finds consolation in the “everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure.” He doubts not that the promise given him through Nathan (Heb 7:1-28.) will be fulfilled; and in its fulfilment he recognizes the fulfilment of his own ardent “desire,” and the accomplishment of his “salvation.”
So let us, amid all the blighted hopes, the fears and troubles of the present, stay ourselves on God, and admit to our hearts the comfort which springs from his covenant in Christ, and the conviction that it cannot but be faithfully and fully performed.G.W.
2Sa 23:5
Comfort from the everlasting covenant.
David, as he approached the close of life, had this vision (2Sa 23:2-7) of the just king, and the happiness which would attend his reign. It reminded him of what ought to have been the character of his own rule, and what might have been its blessedness. The perfect realization of the picture by himself and his subjects was not, indeed, possible; but the actual condition of things was not inevitable. He knew that he himself had largely contributed to the sins and troubles of his “house” and of the nation. And now life was nearly over; and as the past could not be undone, neither could he hope to repair the mischief it had produced. Under the sadness of his reflections, he finds relief and consolation in the memory of the “everlasting covenant” which God had “made with” him, which ensured that from his house should arise One in and by whom would be realized the perfect ideal of a Divine King and kingdom. His utmost “desire” would then be fulfilled, and his “salvation” effected. For it seems that as David, in the hundred and tenth psalm, calls his great Son his “Lord,” so here he recognizes him as his Saviour. These words of David have often been used by godly people for their own comfort; and the hymn of Dr. Doddridge, founded upon them, commencing, “My God, the covenant of thy love,” has ministered consolation to thousands. We shall see that there is good reason for such an application of them.
I. THE COVENANT. The word properly signifies a mutual agreement between two or more persons. When used, however, of a transaction or arrangement between God and men, the idea of agreement as between two contracting parties retires into the background, or vanishes altogether; and the word designates, on the one hand, the promises of God, and, on the other, his requirements. In this passage it refers to the Divine promise to David and his house of an everlasting kingdom (2Sa 7:12-16), which was in fact the promise of the Christ, and of all the blessings (poetically set forth in 2Sa 23:4) which his coming and reign involved. In the time of Isaiah it was seen that this covenant was in effect made with all repentant and believing souls, and that the “sure mercies of David” (the blessings promised to him) included the spiritual mercies for which they hunger and thirst (see Isa 55:1-3). Indeed, in the fourth verse of that chapter, David and his illustrious Descendant are identified, as in other Scriptures the latter is called “David” (Jer 30:9; Eze 34:23, Eze 34:24; Eze 37:24, Eze 37:25; Hos 3:5). It will thus be seen that our text may be used by Christians in its original purport. But if there were any doubt of this, the direct application of the term “everlasting covenant” to the promises of God in and through the “Lord Jesus,” and sealed with his “blood” (Heb 13:20)promises made to all who have faith in Christestablishes the propriety of the use of the words by Christians, though it were in a sense only analogous to that which they originally bore. Notice:
1. The contents of the covenant.
(1) The promises of “all spiritual blessings,” yea, of all needful temporal blessingspardon, renewal, adoption, sanctification, guidance, support, comfort, preservation, etc; terminating in eternal life; in a word, salvation.
(2) The requirements of faith in Christ and obedience to his laws.
2. Its qualities.
(1) “Ordered in all things.” Well arranged; the product of perfect wisdom, and worthy of it; so constituted as to be adapted to its purpose, fitted for the wants of men, suited to reveal and glorify God.
(2) “Sure.” More literally, “guarded,” “preserved,” and therefore secure and sure. God takes care of his own Word. Enemies may assail it, but he watches over and preserves it. Foolish friends or professed friends may misinterpret it, may narrow it so as to make it speak the language of their own particular sect, and promise good only to its members, may overlay it by traditional interpretations, or otherwise veil it from the sight of men as if it were too sacred for common eyes, or substitute for it “another gospel, which is not another” (Gal 1:6, Gal 1:7), which they regard as more in harmony with the advanced intelligence of the times; but, amid and through all, God’s covenant abides sure, the only basis of his gracious dealings with men, the secure basis of men’s hopes and life.
(3) Everlasting. An assertion that might be made in respect to its origin in the eternal thought and purpose of God, but which is made of its enduring character. It is a covenant which abides the same evermore, which God will never alter, and will be eternally fulfilling in the experience of his children. “The Word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the Word which by the gospel is preached unto you” (1Pe 1:25).
3. With whom it is made. “With me.” The covenant was made to David directly and personally, through Nathan. The covenant of God in the gospel is with all those who conform to its requirementsall who repent, believe, and obey. Whoever sincerely accepts Christ as Saviour and Lord, is warranted to regard the promises of God as made to himself, and will be able to do so with increasing confidence as his faith, love, and holiness increase. These are at once the work of the Holy Spirit, and his witness to each Christian that he is a Christian indeed, one of “the children of God,” who are “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ” (Rom 8:16, Rom 8:17).
II. THE ESTIMATION IN WHICH IT IS HELD. The believer values it as beyond all price, because:
1. It assures him of salvation. “This is all my salvation”salvation in the fullest sense, salvation from all evil to the enjoyment of all blessing, a salvation everlasting as the covenant.
2. It meets and satisfies his best, his utmost longings. “All my desire”delight, pleasure. The aspirations after perfect communion with God, and likeness to him and eternal happiness in him, all are met and satisfied by the promises of God.
III. THE COMFORT IT AFFORDS. “Although my house, yet,” etc. Similarly, the Christian may realize unfailing support and consolation from the consciousness of being interested in the everlasting covenant.
1. In view of his past and present life. Its unfulfilled ideals, disappointed hopes, broken vows, wasted energies, poor results (material or spiritual); in view of sins committed, work undone or ill done; after sad experience of the unreliableness of the promises of men (whether through changed mind, or changed circumstances, or death); or again, when he thinks with sad heart of the moral condition of his “house” (often a distressing sight to godly parents), or the painful circumstances in which it may be placed through bereavements or worldly misfortunes; or finally, when he looks upon himself, contrasting what he might have become with what he isit is a thought to bring rest and hope that God has made with him an everlasting covenant, which remains secure and unchanged amid all changes, and assures of forgiveness of all that has been wrong and defective, and eternal profit from all that has been painful, and final and complete deliverance from all sin and sorrow.
2. In anticipation of the future.
(1) The future of this life. Its uncertainties, its possible or probable troubles, personal, domestic, national, etc. “I know not what is before me, but this I know, that God has made with me a covenant which cannot fail.”
(2) Its approaching end and the eternal future. The possible suddenness or painfulness of the end; its possible loneliness, through the deaths or removals of those who it had been hoped would be near to impart consolation; in the case of the aged, the certainty that departure from this world cannot be long delayed; the dimness and strangeness of the invisible world, and the awfulness of eternity; the constitutional dread of death which haunts some; the dread, at least the awe, which sometimes visits all as they think of the account to be given of life to the holy Judge. How blessed under all anxieties and forebodings to say, “‘ I know whom I have believed” (2Ti 1:12); I am sure he will not forsake me, but will ‘deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom’ (2Ti 4:18); for ‘he hath made with me an everlasting covenant,’ etc.”!
Let Christians aim so to live that they may ever enjoy such consolation. Let all seek to make it their own; for it is available for all. Hear the Word of the Lord before referred to: “Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David” (Isa 55:3).G.W.
2Sa 23:8
The king’s mighty men.
From this verse to the end of the chapter is given an account of men who had distinguished themselves in the service of David by their might and prowess, and who were rewarded with promotion and a place in this honourable list. Our King, Jesus Christ, has also his mighty onesmen, women, and childrenwhose exploits are not forgotten.
I. THEIR QUALITIES.
1. What they are. They are the ordinary characteristics of a Christian existing in a high degree of strength and fervour.
(1) Strong faith. The eye that sees the invisible; the hand that grasps the promises; strong confidence in God and Christ (see Heb 11:1-40.).
(2) Ardent love. Warm attachment and devoted loyalty to their King; love to his kingdom and all who belong to it; love to men in general; love disinterested, unselfish. A selfish man cannot be a hero.
(3) A strong sense of duty, overpowering the desire for ease, safety, pleasure, or gain.
(4) Intense prayerfulness. Earnest prayer is “power with God and with men” (Gen 32:28).
(5) Clear and impressive knowledge. “Knowledge is power.” “A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength” (Pro 24:5). Knowledge adds strength to the character of its possessor, and is a powerful weapon in the service of our King. It is by “the truth” that Christ’s battles are fought and victories won. “The gospel is the power of God unto salvation” (Rom 1:16). Christ’s “mighty men” are “mighty in the Scriptures” (Act 18:24).
(6) Dauntless courage.
(7) Unwavering constancy and perseverance.
2. Whence they spring. David was brave himself, and inspired his men with bravery. They became “mighty men” through the influence of a mighty leader. Consciously or unconsciously, they imbibed his spirit and imitated him. In like manner, our “Leader and Commander of the people” (Isaiah Iv. 4) infuses his own Spirit into his faithful followers. They become mighty through close union and association with him. They are “strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might’ (Eph 6:10); “strengthened with might by God’s Spirit in the inner man” (Eph 3:16).
II. THEM WORKS. Their might is exercised:
1. In resisting and overcoming temptation. In conquering the enemies of Christ as they assail and would destroy themselves. A man may be a hero in the service of his country and a miserable coward and slave morally and spiritually, yielding without resistance to the impulses of lust and passion, covetousness and ambition, led “captive by the devil at his will” (2Ti 2:26).
2. In patient endurance of suffering. Martyrs, confessors, ordinary sufferers. Some of the noblest of Christ’s “mighty ones” are found in sick chambers, enduring pain and perhaps privation for long months or years without a murmur.
3. In assailing and conquering religious errors or practical evils. Especially when the many favour them, and not only opposition, but obloquy, has to be encountered.
4. In promoting the salvation and welfare of men. David’s “mighty men” displayed their strength and courage chiefly in destroying men’s lives; Christ’s in saving and blessing; though occasionally they too are called to take up material weapons in the service of their King. In this service the noblest heroic qualities are often called into exercise, as in the ease of missionaries bearing their message among savages or into perilous climates; ministers of religion at home patiently and lovingly labouring on in obscurity and poverty; visitors of those suffering from infectious diseases; teachers in ragged schools, etc.
III. THEIR VARIETIES. David’s “mighty men” were from various tribes of Israel, some even Gentiles, and had each his own peculiarities of character and achievement. But all were alike loyal to their king and brave in serving him. Thus it is also with Christ’s mighty ones. They are from every country and nation where he is known, from every section of his Church, from every class of society; and they all bear some marks of their origin. But they all are one in their devoted love to their King, and their readiness to labour and suffer for him even unto death. They differ also in respect of the special elements and manifestations of their power. Some owe their pre-eminence in part to physical peculiarities; others are great in spite of theirs. Some have the might of intellect; others, of heart. Some, the power of inflexible determination; others, of gentleness and tenderness. Some conquer by intense activity; others, by passive endurance or quiet influence. Some are powerful through their ability to attract and lead numbers; others, acting alone. The special sphere of some is the home; of others, the Church; of others, the exchange, the factory, the workshop, or the public meeting. Some are mighty in argument; others, in appeal; some, in instructing; others, in consoling, etc.
IV. THEIR REWARD.
1. Promotion. David promoted those of his men who distinguished themselves by their bravery to posts of honour (2Sa 23:23). Similarly, our Lord teaches us that those who are faithful to him shall be advanced to higher positions of trust and power (Luk 19:17, Luk 19:19; Rev 2:26-28; Rev 3:12, Rev 3:21). The display and exercise of noble qualities increases their vigour, and thus prepares for and ensures higher and wider service.
2. Honourable record. As here, “These be the names,” etc; Christ’s heroes also have their names, characters, and deeds recorded.
(1) Some on earth. In the Divine book; in ordinary biographies; in the memories of men.
(2) All in heaven (comp. Php 4:3). Not all who are mentioned in the earthly lists are in the heavenly; for some obtain a reputation here to which they are not justly entitled. Not all in the heavenly list are in the earthly; for good men are not omniscient, nor can they always discern superior worth, though it be before their eyes. The chief desire of us all should be to have a place in the heavenly recordsto be “accepted of him” (2Co 5:9), whoever may reject or overlook us.
In conclusion:
1. We should not be content just to exist as Christians, but should aim to be “mighty.” This is possible to all, through union with the “strong Son of God,” maintained and increased by vigorous exercises of faith, meditation, and prayer; and through faithful use of such power as they possess.
2. Whatever our might or achievements, we should ascribe all, and be sincerely concerned that others should ascribe all, to God. (2Sa 23:10, 2Sa 23:12.)G.W.
2Sa 23:15-17
Love, courage, and stir-sacrifice.
This narrative is highly creditable to both David and these three brave men. It shows the power he had of awakening in his soldiers passionate attachment and devotedness to himself, his high appreciation of such qualities, and, at the same time his unwillingness that they should be displayed in enterprises which hazarded precious lives for no corresponding advantage. In the pouring of the water out as an offering unto the Lord, because it was too costly and sacred for ordinary use, “pure chivalry and pure religion found an absolute union” (Dean Stanley). On the other hand, the heroism of these men, stirred by their love and loyalty to their chief, although displayed in a rash enterprise, is worthy of great admiration. We are reminded of similar qualities found amongst the servants of the Son of David, our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice
I. THE DEVOTED LOVE OF CHRIST‘S FAITHFUL SERVANTS TO HIMSELF.
1. They show sincere and practical regard to his every wish. They do not need explicit commands in detail, still less accompanying threatenings. Enough if they can ascertain what he desires; and their love for him and converse with him enable them to know his wishes without definite verbal revelations or laws. A large portion of the life of many modem Christians, especially in the departments of Christian zeal and benevolence, is founded on no express command, but springs from love and sympathyfrom that participation of the Spirit of Christ which produces intuitive discernment of his will, and that devoted attachment which prompts to the gratification of his every wish.
2. They are ready to encounter danger in his service. The work of Christ makes at times great demands on love, zeal, and courage. It cannot be done without hazard; but his true-hearted friends are prepared to endure the toil and brave the peril. Not a few in our own day may be described as “men that have hazarded their lives for the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Act 15:26). This spirit of Christian heroism is not confined to the more hardy races, but among’ the softer tribes of Polynesia and India, the knowledge, of Christ has produced a similar courage. Converted natives offer themselves for service in the most dangerous fields of missionary enterprise; and when some fall at the hand of savages, or through attacks of deadly diseases, others eagerly press forward to take the vacant places. The language of St. Paul is still the language of faithful Christians, “None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself,” etc.; “I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die for the Name of the Lord Jesus” (Act 20:24; Act 21:13).
3. They are sometimes moved to extraordinary manifestations of their regard. Like the three heroes whose exploit is here recorded. Like Mary in her lavish anointing of her Lord (Joh 12:3). Warm love prompts to generous deeds and gifts. There is need of these in the service of Christ; and if ardent love to him were more common, they would be more frequent. Love should, however, submit to the guidance of wisdom, lest it become wasteful or injurious. Our Lord will accept mistaken offerings, but it is well that the offerings should themselves be such as he can approve. One safeguard against mistake is the remembrance that he desires no display of love which is fantastic or useless, no self-denial or daring which answers no proportionate end in the advancement of his kingdom and the promotion of the good either of our own souls or of our fellow men. There is abundant room for all possible generosity, self-denial, and bravery in the practical service of Christ and man; to expend these in fruitless ways is to expose our works to condemnation, however good and acceptable may be our motives. We are to serve God with our reason as well as our feelings.
II. THE REASONABLENESS AND RIGHTNESS OF SUCH LOVE. Because of:
1. His self-sacrificing love for them. “The love of Christ constraineth us” (2Co 5:14) is their sufficient answer to any who allege that they are “beside themselves” (2Co 5:13). His love requires and justifies the utmost consecration to him of heart and life.
2. His injunctions. He claims from all who follow him that they should love him more than their nearest relations more than their own life (Mat 10:37; Luk 14:26), and that, in serving him, they should be fearless of death (Luk 12:4).
3. His example. Of love to the Father, and complete devotedness to his will and glory (Joh 14:31; Joh 4:34; Mat 26:39, Mat 26:42; Joh 12:27, Joh 12:28).
4. The effects of such love. In purifying and ennobling the character of those who cherish it, and promoting through them the well being of mankind. It is love for all excellence, stimulates to its pursuit and greatly aids its attainment. It is the inspiration and support of the highest and most persistent benevolence; for he who is loved is the Incarnation of Divine holiness and love, and the great Friend and Benefactor of the human race, and the return he asks for his love to us is not a barren, sentimental devotion, but practical obedience (Joh 14:15, Joh 14:21, Joh 14:23), and especially a fruitful love to our brethren (Joh 15:12-14; 1Jn 3:16-18), whom he teaches us to regard as being himself (Mat 25:35-45). Love to Jesus Christ has been, and still is, the strongest motive-power in the world in favour of all godliness and goodness.
5. Its rewards. Love to Christ is not mercenary, and makes no stipulation for recompense. It is its own reward. Yet in the midst of a cold and unbelieving world it needs all supports. These are to be found in the assurance of the approval and affection of Christ himself, and of the Father (Joh 14:21, Joh 14:23; Joh 16:27), and the prospect of sharing the glory and joy of Christ forever (Joh 17:24; 2Ti 4:8; Mat 19:29; Jas 1:12; Jas 2:5). On the other hand, to be destitute of love to Christ is to be lost (1Co 16:22).G.W.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
2Sa 23:1. Now these be the last words, &c. It is supposed that these are called the last words of David, as being the last which he pronounced by the inspiration of the Spirit of God. Dr. Grey, who has taken great pains to explain this passage of Scripture, observes, that it is a point in which the learned seem now to be universally agreed, that this illustrious prophesy, introduced in so magnificent and awful a manner, is to be understood of Christ’s spiritual kingdom, and his final triumph over the enemies of it. The beginning of its accomplishment may properly be dated from his entrance upon his mediatorial office; but when the time shall be of its perfect completion, is yet a secret in the hand of God. The royal Psalmist, immediately (as is probable) before his death, when the spirit of prophesy was most strongly upon him, as it had been upon Jacob and Moses in the like circumstances, being favoured by God with a clearer and more distinct revelation of this great and wonderful event, begins first with expressing the deep sense he had of the divine goodness in this gracious and comfortable communication to him, and of the certainty and powerfulness of the inspiration he was under. In the four first lines [see the following translation] this peculiar grace and favour is heightened from a consideration,Of the person inspired; one whom, from obscure parentage and a low condition, God had exalted to be king over his chosen people, and made an instrument of establishing, or at least of considerably improving, the most delightful part of his religious worship. In the four next,Of the author of the inspiration: the Lord Jehovah, the God and rock of Israel; whose powerful impulse is expressed by repetition of the words, He hath said, He hath spoken, and His word is upon my tongue. After this magnificent introduction, he breaks out into a kind of transport of joy and admiration at the prospect before him: 2Sa 23:3.
“The Just One ruleth over men!”
In the four following lines he describes the spiritual nature and glorious effects of this dominion; at line 14 his firm assurance of its perpetuity, and of the designation of it to a person of his own house and lineage; with a lively declaration of the delight and comfort which this assurance gave him, line 17. From hence to the conclusion, is a short but dreadful representation of the condition of the wicked, and of the everlasting vengeance which awaits them at that terrible day, when the wheat shall be gathered into the garner, and the chaff shall be burned with unquenchable fire. Dr. Grey observes further, that this beautiful piece of poetry consists of an agreeable mixture of iambics and trochaics, which he has reduced to metre, and given us the following translation of it:
Line 1. David the son of Jesse hath said, Even the man who was raised on high hath said, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet Psalmist of Israel.
5. The Spirit of the Lord hath spoken by me, And his word is upon my tongue. The God of Israel hath said, Even to me hath the rock of Israel spoken.
The Just One ruleth over* men! *or among 10. He ruleth in the fear of God!
As the light of the morning a sun shall rise, A morning without clouds for brightness, When the tender grass after rain springeth out of the earth.
For is not my house established with God? 15. Yea, he hath made an everlasting covenant with me, Ordered in all things, and preserved: Surely in him is all my salvation, and all my desire!
Doubtless the wicked shall not flourish: They are like thorns thrust away. 20. Which shall not be taken by the hand: But the man who shall lay hold of them, Shall be armed with iron, and the staff of a spear; And they shall be utterly burnt with fire.
The sweet Psalmist of Israel This title seems most eminently to belong to David, as he was the person who had brought to perfection the music of the Jewish service; and this not only as he was the author of most of the Psalms, but as composer of the music they were set to; as prescribing to the performers their several parts; as having invented the instruments which accompanied them, and as bearing himself a part in the performance. Grey.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
FOURTH SECTION
Davids Last Prophetic Words
2Sa 23:1-7
1Now [And] these be [are] the last words of David. 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. 2The Spirit of the Lord [Jehovah] spake by me [or, into me], and his word was in [on] my tongue. 3The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in 4the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even [om. even] a morning without clouds, as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain [when from shining after raining the herb springs from the earth]. 5Although my house be not so with God; [For is not my house so with God?] yet [for] 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 [for all my salvation and all my pleasure, shall it not prosper 6(or, shall he not cause it to prosper)?]. But the sons of Belial shall be [And the wicked are] all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands [for they are not laid hold of with the hand]. 7But the man that shall [And if a man] touch them, must be [he is] fenced with iron and the staff of a spear, and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
These last words of David have not a merely lyrical (Ewald), but a lyrical-prophetical character. Their historical pre-supposition is the prophecy through Nathan, 2 Samuel 7. Their connection with the preceding song, chap. 22, is not indeed a chronological one, since there is no chronologically definite statement in either; but as both obviously belong (22 by its content, 2Sa 23:1-7 by its title) to Davids last years, they cannot lie far apart in time, and both, partly by their retrospect of a long and eventful life that rose out of the depths to high honor, partly by their outlook into a still more glorious future, have the character of the solemn, grand final words of a king. For an inward connection of the contents of the two songs is clearly to be seen in the fact that the closing view of 2 Samuel 22. (based on the prophecy of an everlasting house, 2 Samuel 7) traverses and controls this whole song, 2Sa 23:1-7, that the seed of the Anointed of the Lord (2Sa 22:51) is here individualized into a person, and the salvation there promised as an everlasting possession to the Anointed and his seed by God, is here more definitely announced as one proceeding from and secured by the messianic Ruler.On the theocratic attitude in the biblical-theological content of this Song, see further in the appropriate section [Historical and Theological].
For the exegesis compare the following literature: Luther on the last words of David, 2Sa 23:1-7, opp. Jen. VIII. 137152. Walch III. 27902910. Erl. A. Bd. 37, p. 1 sqq.Pfeiffer, Dubia Vexata, pp. 398401Buddeus, Hist. Eccl. N. T. I., pp. 194196.Crusius, Hypomnemata II., pp. 219224.Joh. G. Trendelenburg, Comment, in noviss. verba David, Gttingen, 1779.Herder, Vom Geist der ebr. Poesie, II. 2, Leipz., 1825, p. 387 sqq., and Briefe das Studium der Theologie betreffend, I., p. 135.Ewald, Die poet. Bcher des Alt. Bundes [Poetical Books of the Old Testament], I., pp. 99102, and Hist. of Israel, III. 268 (3 ed.).Vaihinger, Zur Erklrung des Liedes 2Sa 23:1-7, in the Stud, und Krit., 1843, pp. 983 sqq.Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament, in loco.Reinke, Beitrge zur Erklrung des Alt. Testament, IV., p. 455 sq. Fries, Die letzten Worte Davids 2Sa 23:1-7, Stud. u. Krit., 1857, pp. 645689.G. Baur, Gesch. der alt.-test. Weissagung, I. 387.Tholuck, Die Propheten und ihre Weissagung, p. 166 sq.H. Schultz, Bibl. Theol. des Alt Testament, I. 463 sq. [Oehler, Theol. of the Old Testament, 230.Tr.].
2Sa 23:1. The superscription.And these are the last words of David.The Davidic origin of this song, affirmed by the superscription, is raised above all doubt by the archaic form of the introduction, the pregnant curtness of the expression, the characteristic peculiarity of the thoughts, the Davidic stamp borne by form and content, and the originality of the Messianic thought, as well as the direct reference of the latter to 2 Samuel 7. Only hyper-criticism could declare against the Davidic origin by first forming an arbitrary conception of Davids poetic style, and then rejecting this song for not coming up to that conception.A poem that was composed later and put into the mouth of the royal singer would certainly betray its origin by a fuller and clearer exposition of the idea of the Israelitish kingdom (Baur, as above, p. 388). So H. Schultz, as above, 464. Though the song is by its superscription attached to 2 Samuel 22, the opinion held by some (Mich., Dathe, Maurer), that the last words are only words later than the song in chap. 22, is untenable. Nor can the superscription refer to the following history of David, as given in the remaining part of Samuel and the beginning of 1 Kings (Paulus, exeg. krit. Abhandl., pp. 99134). Further, it does not mean: the last prophetic word in the list of Davids prophetical utterances (Grot.), or the last psalm (Vatablus: after he produced all his psalms), or, his last will and testament, though he said, did and suffered much afterwards (Luther); but it is to be understood in the absolute sense: the last of all his words, which he spoke at the end of his life in his theocratic calling and royal consciousness, and in reference to the kingdom of God in Israel, the last poetical flight that he ever took, perhaps shortly before his death, and which was specially noted down for the reason also that it was (from 2Sa 23:2) regarded as the utterance of a seer (, Num 24:3-4; Num 24:15-16) (Thenius).
Divine saying (1) of David. The word always signifies a saying or oracular utterance based on immediate revelation or inspiration. It is the passive participle, = the thing breathed in, inspired word, and stands here with the Genitive of the human receiver, as in Num 24:3 sqq. (Balaam) and Pro 30:1 (Solomon),2 while it is as a rule followed by Jehovah as the author of the inspiration. The following words of David are thereby announced to be a peculiarly prophetic declaration, which rests on an inspeaking of God by His Spirit into his soul. The introduction of the song corresponds in form and content with that of Balaams prophecy, Num 24:3. It begins with a simple personal designation, and then designates the qualities of this person that here come into consideration, and may serve to give the reasons for the expression divine saying (Hengst.) [As this expression is frequent in the prophetical writings (in Eng. A. V., rendered by saith the Lord) it is not improbable that the title is from the hand of a later prophetical editor.Tr.]The son of Jesse. How humbly he proceeds, boasting not his circumcision, his holiness or his kingdom, not ashamed of his lowly stock, that he was a shepherd; for he will speak of other things that are so high that they need no nobility or holiness, and shall be hurt by no sorrow, neither by sin nor by death (Luther).
And divine saying of the man who was raised up on high3the contrast to his lowly origin, as in 2Sa 7:8, with omission of those above whom he was raised, in order to express absolute superiority (Hengst.). Tanchum: Fixed on the plane of loftiness. On this idea see 2Sa 22:44; 2Sa 22:48.Next follows the unfolding of the content of this idea in two members: the Anointed of the God of Jacob, and the pleasant in the praise-songs of Israel [the sweet psalmist of Israel]. The first designates his high position not only in the theocratic royal dignity conferred on him by God, but also in his royal dominion as Anointed of the Lord as Gods representative and in Gods name over against the people, and not merely as an individual, but also as representative of his race (Hengst.). The second member characterizes David as the representative towards God of the people in their praise of the Lord for His mighty deeds. Pleasant (lovely) in the praise-songs of Israel. The Adjective () does not mean approved, well-pleasing, as Fries takes it, explaining: chosen to sing Israels songs of triumph, which is contrary to the constant signification of the word; comp. Ew. 288 c, 291 a. Nor is it: beloved [popular] through the songs that Israel sings (Mich.), or kindly through songs (Maurer). It is not an ordinary song that it is here named (), but a solemn, joyful song of praise, Job 35:10; Psa 95:2; Psa 119:54; Isa 24:16, and so in Exo 15:2 () and in the titles of the Psalms ().As the Anointed of the Lord he is equipped with the Holy Spirit from above; as one that is pleasant in Israels songs of praise he likewise shows himself filled with the Lords Spirit. His high position consists on the one hand in the dignity of his royal office as Gods representative towards the people, and on the other hand in his priestly position, wherein as representative of the people towards God he guides their worship to the height of praise and prayer; and in so far as he is raised to and enabled for both positions by the invoking of the divine Spirit, he is also a prophetical king and singer of his people, and his word is now spoken as a divine word.
In accordance with this it is said in 2Sa 23:2 :The Spirit of the Lord speaks into me, and his word is on my tongue. These words explain the phrase divine saying above, and declare that what follows is given him by Gods Spirit. The old Rabbis and Crusius (as above, p. 221), connect 2Sa 23:2 closely with the preceding, and suppose that David meant herewith to establish the theopneustic authenticity of his psalms, and dying, to put his seal, as it were, on them. The verbs must then be taken as real preterites [spake, said, as in Eng. A. V.], 2Sa 23:2 must be understood of all Davids songs and prophecies, and 2Sa 23:3 specially of the individual prophecy concerning his seed, which was fulfilled in Christ (sanctio nativitatis Christi e progenie Davidis). That is: the Spirit of the Lord has always spoken through me, His word has always been on my tongue in all my lays and songs, and especially the God of Israel has spoken through me the prophecy of the future Messiah. But against this Fries (as above, p. 652) properly remarks, that it would distort the relations to reckon in this especial way, among all Davids direct and indirect prophecies, precisely that one that was in fact given not through him, but through Nathan. The very definite expression of the second member: and his word on my tongue, does not permit such a general reference, and is besides to be taken on Present time. Then also the parallel verb in the first member is better taken as Present (speaks), and 2Sa 23:2-3 a are the announcement of what follows as the content of the divine inspiration from 2Sa 23:3 b on. The Spirit of Jehovah spake, not through me, which would require the Participle rather than the Perf. (Hengst.), nor in me, against which is the meaning of the phrase elsewhere, but into me, as in Hos 1:2. Thereby the origin of the following declaration is affirmed to be divine in-speaking. [The reading through (by) me as in Eng. A. V., is allowable, and corresponds very well with the second member.Tr.]. On the other hand: the his word is on my tongue refers to the human expression of this divinely given word. While in 2Sa 23:1 the prophetic organ of the divine saying is doubly characterized, 2Sa 23:2 sets forth in two-fold expression the twofold divine medium of the inspired prophetic word: the Spirit and the word of God.
The first half of 2Sa 23:3 : Says the God of Israel, to me speaks the Rock of Israel is identical in form with 2Sa 23:2, and expresses in two members the same thought, with special emphasizing of the relation of God (who speaks through Davids mouth) to His people, and particularly of His rock-like faithfulness towards them as the foundation of all manifestations of salvation. There is therefore no tautology here. Says the God of Israel, the God that has chosen Israel as His possession, giving them the promises of salvation, whose fulfilment the following revelation announces. To me speaks the Rock of Israel, the God that fulfils His promises according to His faithfulness and unchangeableness (2Sa 22:3; 2Sa 22:32; 2Sa 22:47). The Present rendering is preferable here also. But if the Past be taken: spake the Rock of Israel, what is here said in 2Sa 23:3 a cannot belong to the content of the divine saying (2Sa 23:1), since then David would have derived a very simple, psychologically easily explicable recapitulation of former revelations from present inspiration, and have introduced it with a disproportionate outlay of solemn words (Fries); rather the Past form is explained by the fact that the act of divine inspeaking preceded the outspeaking of the divine word. The object of the verbs (says, speaks), is not a number of prophecies relating to blessed rule, that were received before by David (Tanchum), or (as Thenius thinks probable) the declaration of a prophet, who uttered 2Sa 23:3 b, 4 (here recalled by David) at the beginning of Davids reign (this thought would have been necessarily otherwise expressed), but the now following declaration. What God now, at the moment of His speaking, immediately imparts to him, is declared in what follows: The to me stands emphatically first (to me speaks the rock of Israel), because David has in view his theocratic relation to the following divine word and its relation to him, and because it will be fulfilled in his seed; he expresses his consciousness (which was connected with his prophetic endowment) of the soteriological significance of his person for the people in respect to the future fulfillment of the glorious promises given to his seed.The four members in 2Sa 23:2-3 a stand in chiasmic relation to one another; the first member of 2Sa 23:3 a corresponds to the second of 2Sa 23:2, and the second of 2Sa 23:3 a to the first of 2Sa 23:2.
2Sa 23:3 b, 4. First part of the divine saying. The thoroughly abrupt, lapidary style corresponds with the solemn announcement of the imparted divine declaration, and with the fact (thereby declared) that the poet is filled with the divine Spirit and word; the words are inspired exclamations, whose pregnant and enigmatic curtness, heightened by the omission of verbs, is in keeping with the condition of the writers soul, overpowered by the mighty impulse of the prophetic Spirit, and the immediate view of truth produced by it. Comp. Tholuck, as above, p. 58. A ruler over men just, a ruler in the fear of God. These words are not to be taken as apposition to the God of Israel in 2Sa 23:3 a (Vulg., Luth.), nor as object of the verb say taken as = promised (Maurer: God promised a ruler), or as opposition to me [me a just ruler], that is, as Davids praise of himself (Sachs). Nor with Trendelenberg (in Thenius) are we to read derision ( proverb, byword) instead of ruler, and render: a byword the righteous may be among men, a byword the fear of God, but as morning light, etc. Further, the words are not to be understood as an affirmation concerning a pious king: if among men one rules righteouslyhe is as morning-light, etc (Cler., Herder, De W., Ew., Then., Baur), as if they expressed for a parenetic end the ethical-religious significance and mission of the Israelitish royal office in general. Such laudation of the governmental virtues of a king would accord neither with the preceding solemn announcement of a divine oracle, nor the thence naturally to be expected weighty content of the divine saying, would indeed make the prophetic character give way to the didactic. To the view that any pious and righteous king is here meant, by the portraiture of whom David wished to convey an exhortation to his sons, is opposed also the content of the individual statements that follow, picturing a royal form far above the proportions of an ordinary regent, and especially the reference in 2Sa 23:5 to 2 Samuel 7 as giving the ground of the picture. The ruler here spoken of stands to Davids prophetic gaze, in the light of the divine word spoken into him, as the ideal royal form proceeding from his seed, wherein he sees fully realized the idea of a theocratic king according to his religious-moral qualities, and the wielder of a dominion that stretches over all humanity. This last is expressed in the phrase over4 men. The men are not, however, the people of Israel, for the expression would then be surprisingly weak and flat, nor are they men as subjects in general and necessary appendage to any ruler (Then.), which would be a meaningless pleonasm, but men in the absolute sense, humanity, the human race (Fries, as above, p. 656 sq.). If David already sees himself made head and ruler of the nations, his royal dominion extended wide over the strangers, and praises the Lords name before the heathen, so that they acknowledge him and give him the honor (2Sa 22:44-45; 2Sa 22:48; 2Sa 22:50), here his prophetic glance takes in all the nations of the earth as embraced in the kingdom of God, wherein the portrayed ruler of the future will bear his universal sway. Comp. Psa 72:8-17.This ruler is just, perfectly conformed to the holy will of God, compare Psa 72:1 sq.; Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15; Zec 9:9.A ruler in the fear of God. His moral integrity combined with religious perfectness; the fear of God is not merely the attribute of the Messianic king, but will be seen completely to fill and control him. Compare Isa 11:2-3. A ruler of the fear of God, that is, a ruler that will be, as it were, the fear of God itself, the bodily fear of God (Hengst.). [When we compare this song with Psalms 45, 72, Isaiah 11, and similar passages, it seems correcter to regard it as the picture of the ideal theocratic king, than as a vision of a future king. This ideal king is, in the view of the pious Israelite, invested with all conceivable moral and governmental grandeur, and the picture finds its perfect realization only in Jesus of Bethlehem. The men, however, can hardly be said here to mean all humanity, but the expression must be taken in the general sense: a human ruler.Tr.]
2Sa 23:4. Picture of the blessings that follow the appearance of the future ruler, under the figure of the wholesome effects of the light of the rising sun on a bright morning. And as morning-light, when the sun rises, morning without clouds, from brightness, from rain grass out of the earth (sprouts). These words are not to be connected with the following 2Sa 23:5, protasis to it as apodosis [as morning-light, etc., is not my house so?] (Dathe); against this is the for at the beginning of 2Sa 23:5. Nor are they to be connected syntactically with 2Sa 23:3either by adding the first clause of 2Sa 23:4 to complete the preceding sentence: he is as the light of the morning (De Wette, Thenius, Sept., which reads: and in the morning-light of God)or by regarding the whole statement about the morning-light as the continuation of the description of the ruler in 2Sa 23:3 (the Rabbis, Maurer: and He will come forth as the morning-light shines, etc.). Against this connection is both the form of 2Sa 23:3 b, which is a sharply defined, isolated exclamation, and the form of 2Sa 23:4, which sensibly enough deviates from the sharply-cut, monumental style of the six words compressed in 2Sa 23:3 b by a peculiar fulness of lingering description (Fries, as above, p. 663). Besides, it is only by isolating 2Sa 23:4 on both sides that we can find the ground of its content in 2Sa 23:5 (which is introduced by for), since the statements of 2Sa 23:5 agree only with the content of 2Sa 23:4, standing in factual [or real] connection therewith, while 2Sa 23:3 b presents the ideal of a person.
2Sa 23:4 has the same abrupt, enigmatical, exclamatory tone as 2Sa 23:3 b, though it differs from it in its particular statements, a natural result of the fact that here a comparison taken from nature is carried out. As in 2Sa 23:3 b, there is not a single verb, and the different statements are unconnected. Even from this formal similarity, 2Sa 23:4 is to be regarded as continuation of the immediate divine saying in 2Sa 23:3; and not less from its content, which is closely connected with that of 2Sa 23:3, describing under the figure of natural light the effect of the light that proceeds from the ruler portrayed in 2Sa 23:3, and in similar lapidary style. Fries, however (pp. 663, 665), separates 2Sa 23:4 from the preceding, holding that the divine saying ends in the latter, and that in the former (2Sa 23:4) follows a vision to the ravished eye of the dying David, while at the same time his opened ear heard the revealing word of God; accordingly he translates: God speaks: and before me it is as morning-light in sunshine. But against this view Isaiah 1) that the divine saying (confined to 2Sa 23:3 b) would be singularly short in comparison with the elaborate announcement [2Sa 23:1-3 a]; 2) that if David here consciously began to describe a vision (different from the divine saying above), he would have somehow intimated the fact, instead of proceeding with and as the morning-light; and 3) that the explanation: before me it is light, etc., introduces into the text what is not intimated in it, for there is no hint here of any special vision given to David along with the immediate word of God divinely imparted to him. The appearance of the bright glory of a clear life-awakening morning does not now for the first time dawn on the singer, but he sees it from the same height of prophetic contemplation whence he saw the ruler in 2Sa 23:3 b. He sees both together, and certifies both by the divine saying, which extends over 2Sa 23:4; on both sections of this divine saying, 2Sa 23:3 b and 2Sa 23:4, is stamped the same plastic objectivity of prophetic view, as it is produced by the Spirit of prophecy.
The subject is not the Messiah, as was held by several early expositors (for ex., Crusius [and so Wordsworth now]), who took the sun rises as principal sentence, and sun as figure of the Messiah (after Mal. 3:20): as the morning-light will the sun rise; this is forbidden by the collocation of words, and by the fact that this comparison would involve a tautology. It is rather an impersonal expression, the subject being left undetermined: And it is as morning-light, when the sun rises, or, its appearance is as morning-light. The light of morning stands in contrast with the darkness of the preceding night, and denotes (as the figure of light generally does) the well-being that comes with the ruler after wretchedness and ruin. Comp. Psa 59:17 [16]. The when the sun rises, defining the morning-light, indicates its source, and answers to the ruler over men. The without clouds, parallel to the preceding, strengthens the conception of the well-being as wholly unalloyed. In the brightness [Eng. A. V.: clear shining] of the risen sun its light unfolds itself and shows itself active. The rain stands in connection with the without clouds; after the rain of the night the clouds have dispersed; but from rain and sunshine now sprouts forth the verdure. The expression may be rendered either: from brightness, from rain comes herb, where brightness and rain are both causes, or: from brightness after rain. The former rendering is favored by the immediate repetition of the same Preposition. The fact involved [which is the same, whichever rendering be taken] is the morning sunshine, following the night-rain, dispersing the rain-clouds, and making the fresh herb sprout vigorously from the moist soil. On rain as a figure of blessing see Isa 44:3. The verdure sets forth the blessings that are the fruit of dispensations from above. Comp. Isa 44:4; Isa 45:8; especially Psa 72:6 : He will come down as rain on the mown field, as showers that water the earth.Here, says Thenius rightly, ends the divine saying, only there is described therein not the happy work of a ruler, as he ought to be (Then.), but in general the blessing brought by the definite ideal ruler of the future seen by divine revelation.The whole figure carries out the thought that the ruler described in 2Sa 23:3 will bring weal and blessing in his train.
2Sa 23:5 gives the ground for the divine revelation in 2Sa 23:3-4, by reference to the promise in chap. 7, which forms the foundation of this prophetic view. The introductory conjunction = simply for, not: is it that my house? (as if = , Crus., Dathe). The first member is not to be taken as an affirmation: for not so is my house [so nearly Eng. A. V.]. Several Rabbis so understood it, putting an artificial and foreign sense into the words: thus in the preceding verse they take the morning without clouds as = not a cloudy morning,5 and the from shining after rain, etc., as defining this cloudy morning, when sunshine after rain produces mildew (Isaaki), or only fleeting light breaks through the clouds (R. Levi), or under the capricious alternation of sunshine and rain nothing better springs up than quickly withering grass (D. Kimchi), that they may find in contrast therewith the glory of the Davidic House set forth in 2Sa 23:5 (comp. Fries, p. 688). So Luther takes the sentence as an affirmation, but with the exactly opposite contrast with 2Sa 23:4, namely, he regards 2Sa 23:5 as an humble confession: it is not such a house as is worthy of such unspeakable honor from God, that is, such honor as is pictured in 2Sa 23:4. Here David falls into great humility and astonishment that such great things should come from his flesh and blood. In accordance with this he takes the following words: all my salvation and doing is that nothing grows, that is, I am also a king and lord, and have well ordered and established the kingdom; but such kingdom of mine, yea the realm of all kings on earth, is, in comparison with the dominion of my son Messiah, nothing but a dry branch, that has never grown nor thriven. Against this view is the absence of the subject assumed in it, or, if this subject be found in the not taken as = nothing, the absence of the defining term (earthly); nor could David possibly have based the thought that his house would not continue on the prophecy in chap. 7. Rather the first member of 2Sa 23:5, as well as the third, is to be taken as a question.6For is not my house so with God? As 2Sa 23:3 and 2Sa 23:4 are in content inseparably connected, the for assigns the reason of the whole divine saying, not merely of 2Sa 23:4; and the so7 refers to the whole of 2Sa 23:3-4, that is, so as is said above of the ruler, the wholesome influence that he brings (light) and its happy effects (verdure). But the thought on which this statement is based is not that David says that his own reign was in accord with the truth (2Sa 23:3-4), that a pious king is like the morning-light, under whose influence every thing prospersthat God has granted blessing to his house and his houses futurethat he thence infers that he answers to that figure of a pious ruler, the whole being an instance or example (in the form of a question) attached to the preceding general statement about the ruler (De Wette, Then.). For (apart from the fact that this interpretation of 2Sa 23:3-4, as a statement concerning any pious ruler, whose government diffuses blessing, has been above refuted) against this is that the sentence speaks only of Davids house, not of himself and his government, and that, if David had intended to derive an argument respecting himself from the blessing that came to his house, he must have expressed himself quite differently. And Fries rightly remarks that instead of such self-assertory thoughts, it would be seemlier to put into the dying Davids mouth a who am I and what is my house? (2Sa 7:18).The sentence is rather to be rendered: Forstands not my house in such a relation to God? Hearing and declaring the divine saying (2Sa 23:3-4), the picture of the ideal theocratic ruler and his attendant blessings, David recalls the promise of imperishable royal dominion that has been given to his house and seed. These two divine declarations he here so combines that the latter (chap. 7.) is made to confirm and give the ground of the former (2Sa 23:3-4). The sense is, then, not merely: Stands not my house in such relation to God that out of it shall arise the righteous ruler? (Keil), but also that the promised blessings will proceed from him? On the connection between this divine saying (2Sa 23:3-4) and 2Sa 23:5, Fries admirably remarks: This for serves as in innumerable cases, to attach a reflection that is meditating an explanation, and we need only put aside the erroneous opinion (that so often makes difficulty in the explanation of Old Testament passages) that sentence on sentence must be taken, as it were, in one breath, and grant the speaker a short pause of quiet thought, and we shall then understand the free transition of ideas here between 2Sa 23:4 and 2Sa 23:5. The quiet transition lies in the successful, effort of the soul to gird itself to conscious justification of its belief in the offered blessing. [The connection may be thus indicated: the ruler of men is just and God-fearing, and brings with him all blessings, and this is true of my house, for it is thus in communion with God, for He has made an everlasting covenant with me.Tr.]The second for gives the reason not merely for the so (Bttch., Then.), but also for the whole phrase so is my house with God, since the following sentence involves the position of his house towards God: for He has made with me an everlasting covenant. These words refer directly to the promise in 2Sa 7:12 sq. It is called a covenant because of the reciprocal relation between God and the seed of David, as set forth in 2Sa 23:12-14. It is according to 2Sa 23:16 an everlasting covenant: And sure is thy house and thy kingdom forever before thee, thy throne will be established forever. The phrase ordered (arranged) in all things denotes that the draught of the instrument or deed of covenant is legally correct and exact, is arranged by the declaration of God (Fries). Comp. 2Sa 7:14 sqq., where the eventual apostasy of the bearer of the covenant is considered, and in spite of this the maintenance of the covenant is contemplated. The covenant is preserved, secured, guarded against non-fulfillment by the truthfulness of the divine promise. Comp. 1Ki 8:25, where Solomon, with reference to 2Sa 23:12-16, prays: Preserve to thy servant David, my father, what thou spakest to him.As these words (for a covenant, etc.,) thus undoubtedly refer to chap. 7 it is inadmissible with Crusius to refer them to 2Sa 23:3 sqq.; for in this latter passage the reciprocity involved in the term covenant is altogether lacking, and the predicates, ordered and preserved are not applicable to it.The third for now introduces the interrogatory third member (whose reference to the image in 2Sa 23:4 : verdure (sprouts) from the earth is indubitable), and grounds the writers confidence in the sureness of the covenant on the future blessings secured by that covenant. For all my salvation and all pleasure, should He not make it sprout? My salvation, that is, the salvation promised, assured to me and my seed. The pleasure must be taken (as the salvation is from God) as = what is well-pleasing to God, not as = what is well-pleasing to me (Then., Hengst.); the pronoun my is not to be repeated with it [as in Eng. A. V. ]. David refers the salvation promised him and his housenot also the religious and ethical culture of his people (Then.)to its source in Gods good pleasure, expressed in the covenant as a divine counsel of salvation. David will say of the divine resolution of salvation that it, because it has once been lodged as a principle in the bosom of the Davidic house by the divine covenant, cannot be accomplished except by thorough development, elaboration of all its elements, conclusory revelation of its deepest secret (Fries).Should he not8 make it sprout? The verb is transitive, having salvation and pleasure as its object. This corresponds also with the idea of divine causality that controls the whole of 2Sa 23:5 and is distinctly expressed in the phrase made a covenant with me (lit.: established a covenant to me). Fries would find here the first example and fundamental passage for the solemn use of this verb ( sprout) that occurs afterwards in Isa 4:2; Isa 43:19; Isa 44:4; Isa 45:8; Isa 58:8; Isa 61:11; Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15; Zec 3:8; Zec 6:12; but here the sprouting (comp. 2Sa 23:4) is affirmed not of the person of the righteous ruler, but of the salvation and blessing that accompanies him.9 [Comp. the parallel statement in Isa 53:10, where it is said that the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in the hand of the righteous servant of Jehovah. Possibly there is a connection between this passage and ours, though the verb employed is different. The general declaration here is, that God in His covenant-mercy will secure all blessing to the writer.Tr.]
2Sa 23:6-7. From the form of the righteous ruler, and in the light of the blessing that proceeds from Him, David sees in prophetic perspective, on the basis of the promise given him, not only the salvation and blessing of the everlasting covenant under the dominion of the future everlasting king, but also the judgment (which will come with Him) on the ungodly and the enemies of the Messianic theocracy. But the wickedas cast-away thorns are they all.The abstract worthlessness (for the concrete worthless, Deu 13:14) designates the ungodly in their general character, in contrast with the abstract fear of God (2Sa 23:3), which forms the religious-moral nature and character of the righteous ruler; as in him only fear of God, so in them only worthlessness. The thorns set forth the hurtful and dangerous enemies of Gods people and kingdom, Num 33:55; Isa 27:4; Nah 1:10; Eze 28:24. The thorns, considered as representing enemies, are said (literally) to be hunted, driven away;10 when the thing itself (the thorns) is had in view, this meaning is modified into put, cast away. The basis of the figure is the field (comp. the verdure out of the earth, 2Sa 23:3), whose yield is obstructed by thorns. The rapid, prophetic glance, not pausing at the details of the process, but hastening to the end, sees the enemy already overpowered, and now tarries by the final act of destruction, which makes the enemy harmless. While the production of blessing under the righteous ruler is represented (by the figure of sprouting, growing) as a gradual process, the judgment on the ungodly is set forth as final judgment (the burning of the thorns). The thorns are no longer hurtful; they appear to David already as thorns torn up, with which one may no longer hurt his hands, since all kindness to them has been in vain (Herder).For they are not taken with the hand, that is, one does not grasp them with naked, unarmed hand in order to throw them into a heap for burning, but he that touches them for this purpose, provides,11 arms himself with iron and shaft. The poetical discourse names the various parts of the implement with which the thorns are seized and thrown into a heap (not: torn out of the earth, Then.). The expression refers not to the attacking and overcoming of the ungodly, but to their final destruction, set forth by the burning of the thorns, to which this seizing and heaping up is preparatory.And with fire are they utterly consumed; the fire is symbol of the divine wrath; the expressions indicate the indubitable certainty and completeness of destruction in this final catastrophe (the same figure in Mat 3:10; Mat 13:30).The concluding word ()12 is to be rendered: so that there is an end to them [Eng. A. V.: in the same place]. Not at the seat, as euphemistic expression for the place where trash and filth are thrown (Bttcher, Deu 23:12 sqq.)why should the thorns be first brought to this place? not: in the place of dwelling, the place where they grow (Kimchi, Keil), for the term dwelling would be here unsuitable, and the thorns are burnt not where they grow, but where they are cast; and so not: at the seat, = on the spot, burnt straight-way, because no other use can be made of them than to manure the fields with their ashes (Then. [Eng. A. V.]); not: at home (Cler., Buns.), for one does not take the trouble to carry them home, nor: at length (Dathe). The word = in ceasing, not, however: as the extirpation is ended (Thenius formerly), but: in that they cease; the burning proceeds so that a complete ceasing, disappearance takes place. They are there only for burning, and this end awaits them, that not even the place where they stood is seen (Herder). The complete cessation or annihilation of the thorns follows naturally on the burning as its final result. This figure also is taken from the promise in 2Sa 7:10. Israel is there represented as a vineyard, his family is to be its guardian, and so the rebels are hurtful, unfaithful thorns (Herder).The Prep, in serves to supplement the verbal statement by the substantive-idea, as in Psa 65:6 : I have heard thee in or with salvation, that is, so that I gave thee salvation; so here: they are burned in ceasing, so that they cease.
[Condensed, paraphrase of Davids last words: God said to me: The righteous theocratic king dispenses blessings as the rain and sunshine. God, in His covenant, has assured me salvation; but the ungodly shall be destroyed. The neum or oracle is thus first, a description of the ideal theocratic king, and then the expression of the writers personal relation to God, with the implication that godliness is the basis of the divine procedure. This conception of the true theocratic king is realized perfectly only in Jesus Christ, and may thus be termed a typical conception, that is, one that was partially realized for the contemporaries, and destined hereafter to be completely realized.The versions here are not very useful; the Chaldee paraphrases throughout, and interprets the passage directly of the Messiah, the text of the Sept. differs from that of the Heb., but Vulg. and Syr. conform in general in text and rendering to the masoretic text.Tr.]
HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL
1. The prophetic element, which appears in Davids Messianic Psalms, comes out most strongly here. In Nathans promise and prophecy in 2Sa 7:12 sq. David is merely passively receptive, and his prayer (2Sa 23:18 sq.) is only the echo of the divine word he has received; but here he rises to highest prophetic action, which presupposes indeed a passive bearing towards the divine saying (the Neum) by which he receives an immediate revelation in plastic form of what he had previously received as a promise through Nathan, and this revelation he announces in a prophetic discourse, which in form and content answers to the complete possession of his soul by the power of the divine Spirit. The theocratic king is here also the theocratic prophet, applying to himself as God-inspired singer epithets that are suitable only for prophecy (2Sa 23:1 sq.), and then, on the historical ground of his kingship and its blessings, and on the revelation-ground of the word of God that came directly to him, prophesying the antitype of his kingdom in the appearance of the royal glory and saving work of the righteous ruler of the future. It is clear from the preceding exposition that this picture transcends the form of an ordinary pious king and his blessings; and strict exegesis also shows that David here looks wholly away from himself to a royal personage in the far future.
2. The content of the prophecy is the picture of a future ruler perfect in righteousness and the fear of God. He is accompanied by the light of salvation, which has dissipated the darkness, and diffuses itself in purest radiance like morning-light at sunrise. The effect of this light-appearance is the manifestation of gracious blessings, set forth under the image of verdure springing from the earth. But with the blessing of the future rulers peaceful work is completed also the revelation of judgment (presupposing victorious conflict), whereby the righteous ruler puts an end to all the enmity of godlessness and to all opposition to his rule.
3. From the height of prophetic view and in the line of prophetic perspective Davids look rests on the ideal of a glorious royal person, raised high above all earthly royal forms in Israel (his antitype in the historical person of Christ), in whom righteousness and piety appear absolute and complete, and whose dominion in truth extends over all men. Comp. Psalms 72. The fulness of salvation and blessing, which is to appear with the prophesied king, is the object of the Messianic hope and expectation through all the periods of Israels history, but does not appear as here portrayed, in historical reality till the coming of Christ. The final judgment (following the appearance of the righteous ruler) that annihilates all ungodliness, is completed only under the rule of Him to whom all judgment has been committed by the Father, and in the final decision to which the opposition between the kingdoms of light and darkness is pressing on.
4. The historical presupposition of the prophecy is the promise in chap. 7.; here for the first time is shown how, on the basis of this promise, the view [anschauung, intuition, conception] of the Davidic-kingdom becomes clear. In that the song gives the image of a righteous ruler with a glorious future, adding that such a government is signified by the everlasting covenant that God made with the house of David, we see clearly here already how the knowledge of the idea advances to individualization in the ideal, and so (to use Sacks expression) typical prophecy [bildweissagung] arises. Doubtless epithets may be applied to any king that sits on Davids throne, that are true not of himself, but of the dynasty he represents (comp. such passages as Psa 21:5; Psa 21:7 [ Psa 21:4; Psa 21:6]; Psa 61:7 [Psa 61:6]). But, impelled by the Spirit, the sacred poetry produces a royal form that transcends all that the present shows, and exhibits the Davidic Solomonic kingdom in ideal perfectness (hler, in Herz. IX., 412, Art. Messias).
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
A blessed end, when in looking back upon the path of life that lies behind, and the manifestations of Gods grace that have been made to him, one has nothing to utter but gratitude and praisewhen in looking around upon his own lifes acquisitions and his possession of salvation, all self-glorying is silent, and only the testimony to Gods grace and mercy, that has done all and given all, comes upon the lipswhen in looking forward into the future of Gods kingdom upon earth, on the ground of the grace experienced in life ones faith becomes a prophet, beholding the ways along which the Lord will lead His kingdom through darkness to light, through conflict to victory, and by such a proclamation of the coming glory strengthening the hearts of many and confirming them in the hope of the Lords gracious help to the end, which never suffers His people to be put to shameand when in looking up to the everlasting hills from which all help has come,13 the last word upon earth is a loud Hallelujah, that sounds across into eternity.The humbler the heart is, the more highly does it praise the gracious gifts and guidance of the Lord; the more a man feels himself little and poor in the sight of the great and gracious God, so much the greater and more glorious will that appear to him which without desert on his part God has given him, in bodily good and spiritual gifts, so much the more joyfully will he, under the guidance and impulse of the Holy Spirit, regard all that flesh and blood might boast of, as coming from the foundation of divine grace.A servant of God should (every one) show himself, who like David is called to service in Gods kingdom; every ones place is in Gods sight high and glorious, however lowly and mean it may be in mens eyes, and in his place he should 1) as an anointed of the Lord perform the duties of his kingly office, and with his God and Lord conquer and rule the world, 2) as a priest of the Lord proclaim His praise in word and deed, and to the Lords honor make the harp of his ***art sound out into the world, and 3) as a prophet of the Lord prophesy of the glory of the Lord and of His kingdom, the Spirit of God and not his own spirit speaking through him, the word of God and not his own word sounding from his lips.
True preaching is always a prophetic testimony, 1) as to its origin: the Spirit of the Lord speaks through it, 2) as to its content: the word of the Lord is upon its tongue, and 3) as to its subject: the mysteries of Gods saving purpose, which only Gods Spirit can explain; the great deeds of Gods grace, which can be proclaimed only on the ground of personal inner experience and of ones own seeing and hearing; and the future affairs of Gods kingdom, in the manifestations of divine salvation and divine judgment, which only the eye illuminated by the light of the Spirit can behold.When the Lord speaks through His Spirit and in His word, then should mans own thoughts bow and be silent, but then also should the human spirit and the human word be the instruments of Gods Spirit and Gods word.The prophetic photograph of the future ruler in the prophecy of David answers in its outlines to the counterpart of the fulfillment in Christ, and this 1) in respect to his personal appearing, perfect righteousness and holiness in complete fear of God (religious-ethical perfection); 2) in respect to the extent of his royal dominionhe is ruler over men, universality of world-dominion; 3) in respect to the foundations of his kingdom, the promises of God; 4) in respect to the activity and effects of his royal rule on the one hand in the enlightening, warming, animating and fructifying light of his manifestations of grace and blessings of salvation, on the other hand in the fire of His judgment, consuming all ungodliness.
The morning-light of divine grace and truth in Christ, 1) Breaking in the dawn of the promises and predictions of the Old Testament; 2) Flashing up out of the night that before covered the world, and frightening away its darkness and its clouds; 3) Appearing in the Sun of righteousness and salvation; 4) Bringing salvation and blessing, dispensed from on high to call menand a new life, fruitful for the kingdom of God, which springs from below out of the earth.The rain in the night is the image of the blessing coming from above, which has been hidden in the trouble brought by the night, and not merely becomes manifest when the night is gone, but also in the shining of divine grace and truth dispenses the fructifying life-force, from which springs new health and new life.Morning-lightsunrisemorning without cloudsshining after raingrass out of the earththenthenthen, this is the gradation in which faith beholds the process of appearing of salvation and life from above, and the effects of salvation beneaththis is the surpassing fullness of salvation, in presence of which our human speech, unable adequately to express the unspeakable, can only speak and testify in such a lapidary style.
Luther: Here David comes forth and boasts high above all bounds, yet with truth, without any arrogance!Here David is another man than Jesses son. This he did not inherit from his birth, nor learn from his father, nor gain by his kingly power or wisdom. From above it is given him, without any desert on his part; in this he is joyous, praises and gives thanks so heartily.Faith is and also should be a fortress of the heart, which does not shake, totter, quake, writhe nor doubt, but stands fast and is sure of its point.Faith is not quiet and silent; it comes forth, speaks and preaches of such promises and grace of God, that also others come to them and partake of them.Schlier: In the first place we see the natural ground and soil in which the prophecy grows, namely the person of David, who out of a shepherds son has become the anointed of the Lord. If no prediction attaches itself to this historical ground, it is to be feared that it is no true prophetic word. But the main matter now first comes, namely, the Spirit of the Lord, that the prophet does not bring his own thoughts but Gods thoughts, and that he does not speak what has pleased himself, but what God has put into him.Luther: David means not only the loveliness and sweetness of the psalms, as to grammar and music, in that the words are ornamentally and skillfully arranged and the song sounds sweetbut much rather as to Theology, as to the spiritual understanding, therein are the Psalms very lovely and sweet; for they are consoling to all troubled and distressed consciences, which are involved in sins anguish and deadly torture and fear, and all sorts of need and sorrow.[Taylor: David spoke, and the human style had all the characteristics of his usual productions; for the Spirit and not the vocal organs of the prophet alone, but his intellectual and emotional powers as well. But God spoke by David, and that which he uttered was the truth, infallible as He who gave it.Tr.]
2Sa 23:2. Luther: What a glorious, noble pride it is; he who can boast that the Spirit of the Lord speaks through him, and his tongue speaks the Holy Spirits word, must indeed be sure of what he says. Such boasting may still be made by every one of us that is not a prophet.This may we do, inasmuch as we also are holy and have the Holy Spirit, so that we boast ourselves catechumens and disciples of the prophets, who say after them and preach what we have heard and learned from the prophets and apostles, and are also certain that the prophets have taught it.
2Sa 23:3. Schlier: So profess all the prophets of themselves, so professes all Scripture from beginning to end, and God be thanked that we have before us such a revelation of God, wherein God unveils Himself to us and draws near in the Holy Spirit.Starke: The chief aim, the star and heart of Holy Scripture is Christ. Luk 22:44; Joh 5:39. Christ, while a true high-priest and prophet, is also a true king. Luk 1:32-33.Luther: They fall into Jewish blindness who make David such a righteous ruler and ruler in the fear of God, and pervert the promise into a command and law, to the effect that whoever wishes to rule over men should be righteous and God-fearing, while David so devoutly and heartily boasts that they are words of promise of the Messiah of the God of Jacob, and not a command to secular lords. [This represents an extreme view of the present and many similar passages which some still entertain. The language is completely fulfilled only in Messiah, but had its suggestion and basis in what was true of David, and what every good ruler ought to strive to reproduce in himself. So above, in additions of Tr. to Exegetical. Taylor: David describes the character of a ruler: and reduplicating on that description, he in effect says (2Sa 23:5), Is it not to be the distinctive feature of my lineage that it shall rule in justice, and in the fear of the Lord?a feature which came out not only in Solomon, but also in Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah and others, and especially and pre-eminently in Jesus Christ, in whom this prophecy culminated, and by whom it was thoroughly fulfilled.Tr.]
2Sa 23:4. Schlier: Is not the Lord really our sun, which after a long movement at last rises upon us and with the splendor of His light makes all bright and clear and warm, and now under the blessing of His beam all begins to be green and blooming; everything grows and prospers, at least whatever does not shut itself against the Lord, but opens itself to Him and repels not His sunny beams?The Lord brings blessing and prosperity, and in Him there is nothing lacking, if only we would like to receive such a blessing which is present for us.Luther: Like the spring, so is also the rule and reign of grace a joyous, lusty time, wherein Messiah makes us righteous and God-fearing, so that we become green, blooming, fragrant, and grow and become fruitful. For He is the sun of righteousness, who draws near to us. Mal 4:2And now go so: Who lives in spring, he dies no more; who dies in winter, he lives no more;for the sun goes away from the latter; but to the former the sun rises up of which David prophesies. Where the sun, Christ, does not shine clear, the spring also is not pleasant; but Moses with the laws thunder makes everything dreadful and quite deadly. But here, in Messiahs times (says David), when He shall reign over Israel itself, with grace to make us righteous and save us, it will be as delightful as the best time in spring, when before day there has been a delightful warm rain, that is, the consoling gospel has been preached, and quickly thereupon the sun Christ comes up in our heart through right faith without Moses clouds and thunder and lightning. Then all proceeds to grow, to be green and blooming, and the day is rich in joy and peace.
2Sa 23:5. Cramer: Gods covenant is an everlasting covenant, and remains also when the world passes away.S. Schmid: In Christ alone our salvation blooms; He alone can quiet all our longing. Act 4:12.Luther: Of the everlasting covenant and house of David the two words ordered and sure are designedly used to instruct and console. For if you look at the histories, it will seem to you that God has forgotten His covenant and not kept it sure;after Messiah His kingdom the Church is, when outwardly looked at, much more waste and disorderly, so that there is no more distracted, wretched, good-for-nothing government or dominion than the Christian Church, Christs dominion. Here the tyrants distract and waste it with all their might. Here the fanatics and heresies root up and spoil it. So also the false Christs with their evil life make it as if there were no more shameful, disorderly government upon earth. And these are working, or rather the evil spirit through them, to the end that Christs dominion shall not exist, or at any rate shall be a wretchedly disorderly thing. And in fine Christ acts as if He had forgotten His dominion and was never at home, so that here neither ordered nor sure is seen by the reason. Though we do not see it, He sees it who says, Son 8:12 : My vineyard is before me; Mat 28:20, Lo, I am with you even to the end of the world; Joh 16:23, Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. However, we see that there has always remained and still remains a people which honors the name of Christ, and has His word, baptism, sacrament, key and Spirit, even against all the gates of hell.
2Sa 23:6-7. S. Schmid: He who seizes thistles with the naked hand acts imprudently; but yet more imprudent is he who holds close friendship with the children of Belial. 2Co 6:7.Schlier: Where Christ the Lord counts for something there is blessing and prosperity; but where He is despised there are thorns and thistles.A mans true worth is determined by his attitude towards Christ.Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.He who cares for Christ is also cared for in the sight of God. But he who despises Christ amounts to nothing, and is counted in the sight of God as mere thorns and thistles.
[2Sa 23:5. The covenant with David. I. Its contents: 1) His seed should reign forever, 2Sa 7:12 to 2Sa 16:2) Should reign in justice and the fear of God (2Sa 23:3). 3) Should bring great prosperity to His subjects (2Sa 23:4), like morning light dispelling the darkness, like morning showers causing the grass to spring up. 4) Should utterly destroy his enemies (2Sa 23:6-7). II. Its charactereverlasting, well-ordered, sure.Tr.]
Footnotes:
[1]Const. state of , from , properly= , to boom, murmur, buzz, used of any dull tone (kernel of the root m), hence especially of secret, confidential impartation (as Germ. raunen [Eng. roun, whisper]) = inspirare, of divine inspiration to prophet or poet as the confidant of God, which is conceived of as whispered into the ear (Hupf. on Psa 36:2 [1], where is used of the inspiration or oracle of wickedness personified as an evil demon).
[2][Eng. A. V.: the man spake unto Ithiel. The text is probably corrupt, but there is no mention of Solomon in it.Tr.]
[3] absolutely = above, as in Hos 11:7 and perhaps 2Sa 7:16 (so often = adverb below, for example Gen 49:25). Sept. wrongly: whom God [Vat.: the Lord] raised up to be Gods anointed whence Thenius would without ground read: . Luther, following Vulg. (cui constitutum est de Christo Dei Jacob) renders: who is assured by the Messiah of the God of Jacob. Against the latter (Vulg.) is that there is no Dative sign corresponding to the cui. Against the former (Sept.) is that is not = [as introducing what a thing is made to be]; in the passages cited by Then. (Lev 4:35; Lev 5:12, comp. 2Sa 7:5) denotes either being conformed to or coming in addition to the other free-offerings.D. Kimchi and Bttcher arbitrarily make = whom the Above [= Most High] has raised up. On the form , u with doubling, see Ew. 131 d.
[4] to rule over men, as Gen 3:16; Gen 4:7, not: among men.
[5] in the sense of .
[6] without the Interrog. particle, 2Sa 19:23; Deu 20:19; Hos 11:5; Mal 2:15. Ew. 324 a.
[7] is Adverb, = so, not Adjective = firmly fixed, firma (Fries), or = , 2Sa 7:26; 1Ki 2:45-46 (Crusius). = with God, not before God (De Wette).
[8]The fourth resumes the third, the interrogation being continued. It (the ) might have been omitted, but its double use makes equally emphatic the salvation and the sprouting. is Hiphil, causative. [Instead of Wellhausen proposes to read , which is smoother, but perhaps for that very reason suspicious.Tr.]
[9]Sept. separates the from 2Sa 23:5 and inserts it before 2Sa 23:6, omitting the : . So Michaelis: the ungodly will not spring forth. Against this is the Hiphil, and the fact that if this last clause were intended to express the thought: He (God) alone is my salvation, etc., we should at least expect to find the words for he ( ).
[10] not Pass. of shaken (in order to remove) (Bttch.) but Hoph. Part. of or . for . The – for – (cont. -) is infrequent archaic form of 3 masc. Ges. 91, Rem. 2.
[11]On . [lit.: fill the hand] comp. 2Ki 9:24, and on the arms 1Sa 17:7.
[12] is Subst. from to cease (Pro 20:3); it may also be pointed as Infin., For the verb see Gen 8:22; Isa 24:18; Isa 14:4; Lam 5:15; Pro 22:10; Jos 5:12. [The word is possibly not part of the true text. It occurs again in the next line, and in both places Sept. reads , , shame (see on 2Sa 23:8); it may have gotten into our verse from the following (Wellh.). Vulg.: usque ad nihilum; Syr.: for cessation.Tr.]
[13][Psa 121:1-2, of which, however, the proper translation is: I lift up my eyes to the mountains. Whence cometh my help? My help is from Jahveh the Maker of heaven and earth.Tr.]
Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange
DISCOURSE: 325
THE EQUITY OF CHRISTS GOVERNMENT
2Sa 23:1-4. Now these be the last words of David. 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, 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 men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.
THESE words are generally understood as descriptive of the duty of civil governors, and of the happiness of any people who live under a government that is thus administered. But they have doubtless a further reference, even to Christ himself, whose character they designate in the most appropriate terms. The very energetic manner in which the prophecy before us is introduced, and the strong profession which the writer makes of his immediate inspiration from God, leave no doubt upon the mind, but that something more must be intended in this passage than a mere direction to earthly magistrates. A very small alteration in the Translation will exhibit it in its true light [Note: The passage might more properly be translated thus: David the son of Jesse saith, and the man, &c. saith, The Spirit of the Lord speaketh by me, and his word is in my tongue; the God of Israel saith, the Rock of Israel speaketh to me, The Just One ruleth over men; he ruleth in the fear of God: as the light of the morning A SUN shall rise, even a morning without clouds, when the tender grass springeth out of the earth, &c.]. Christ is frequently spoken of in Scripture as the Just One [Note: Act 3:14; Act 7:52; Act 22:14.], in contradistinction to all others; and as the Sun that enlightens the whole spiritual world [Note: Joh 8:12.]. The Prophet Malachi, probably having an eye to the very passage before us, combines the two ideas, and foretells the advent of Christ, as the Sun of Righteousness [Note: Mal 4:2.]. In this view of the words, we shall be led to consider,
I.
The nature of Christs government
[In the sacred oracles, a peculiar stress is laid on the equity of that dominion which Christ exercises over his chosen people [Note: Isa 9:7; Isa 11:2-5. in the fear of the Lord.]. And who that has submitted to his government, must not confirm the truth that is so much insisted on? Behold his laws; is there one which does not tend to the happiness of his creatures? They are all comprehended in one word, Love; love to God, and love to man: and can any thing be conceived more excellent in itself, or more beneficial to man, than such a law? Well does the Apostle say of it, that it is holy and just and good [Note: Rom 7:12.]. Behold his administration; is there any one point in which a righteous governor can excel, that is not found, in its most perfect measure, in him? He relieves the needy, succours the weak, protects the oppressed, and executes judgment without any respect of persons: and though none merit any thing at his hands, he dispenses rewards and punishments in as exact proportion to the conduct of men, as if he weighed their merits in a balance. Who ever sought him diligently, without gaining admission to his presence? Who ever implored a blessing at his hands and was rejected? Who ever did much or suffered much for him, without ample testimonies of his approbation? On the other hand, who ever drew back from him, or violated his holy laws, without receiving in himself that recommence which was meet? Whatever inequalities may appear in his government (as when virtue is oppressed, and vice is triumphant) he removes them all, by vouchsafing to the sufferer the consolations of his Spirit, and the prospects of his glory. Thus truly may he be said to rule in the fear of God!]
If prosperity and happiness result from a righteous administration of civil governments, much more are they the portion of Christs subjects. This is beautifully illustrated in the words before us; wherein his government is further delineated in,
II.
The blessed effects of it on all his faithful subjects
[The sun rising in the unclouded hemisphere, cheers and exhilarates all who behold it: and, when it shines on the earth that has been refreshed with gentle showers, it causes the grass, and every herb, to spring forth almost visibly before our eyes. And is it not thus with all who submit themselves to Christ? do not new prospects open to them, and, with their more enlarged views, are they not revived with proportionable consolations? are they not gladdened with the light of his countenance? are they not sometimes almost overwhelmed with the brightness of his glory, so as to be transported with joy unspeakable? Yes; to them there is an unclouded sky, except as far as sin prevails: if they were as perfectly obedient to the will of Christ as the saints in heaven are, they would possess a very heaven upon earth. If they have any intermission of their joy, it is not owing to any strictness in his laws, or any defect in his administration, but to their own indwelling lusts and corruptions.
What an astonishing effect too does the light of his countenance produce with respect to fruitfulness in good works! let the soul, watered with showers of divine grace, and softened with the tears of penitence and contrition, once feel the genial influence of his rays, and there will be an instantaneous change in its whole state: it will revive as the corn, and grow as the vine; and the scent thereof will be as the wine of Lebanon [Note: Hos 14:7.]. Every holy affection will be called forth into exercise; and every fruit of righteousness abound to the glory of God.
Such are the effects which the Psalmist elsewhere ascribes to Christs government [Note: Psa 72:2-7.]; and such, in all ages, have invariably resulted from it [Note: Act 2:41-47.].]
Infer
1.
How earnestly should we desire the universal establishment of Christs kingdom!
[Little do men consider the import of that petition, Thy kingdom come. In uttering this prayer, we desire that our whole souls, and the souls of all mankind, may be subjected to Christ. And truly this event would restore the golden age of paradise. Ungodly men indeed would persuade us, that an unlimited submission to Christ would be an occasion of melancholy, and a source of misery. But if once they were to experience the effects of his government upon their own souls, they would learn, that obedience to him is the truest happiness of man. Let us then take upon us his light and easy yoke, as the only, and the certain means of finding rest unto our souls.]
2.
What madness is it to continue in rebellion against Christ!
[It is not at our option whether Christ shall be our ruler or not; for God has set him upon his holy hill of Zion, and in due season, will put all his enemies under his feet. If we will not bow before the sceptre of his grace, he will break us in pieces with a rod of iron. Shall we then provoke him to wrath, when we have so much to dread from his displeasure? No: rather let the truth which is here with such awful solemnity announced, be with all holy reverence received: yea, let us kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and we perish from the way [Note: Psa 2:1-12.]. Thus shall we now enjoy the felicity of his chosen; and, in the day when all his enemies shall be slain before him, we shall be made partners of his throne for evermore.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
CONTENTS
This chapter contains some of the last words of David, and as such cannot but be very interesting. To these words of David is added a list of David’s worthies, his mighty men.
2Sa 23:1
(1) Now these be the last words of David. 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,
In remarking those last words of David I would beg the Reader to observe the titles by which David is spoken of in this verse. First, looking back to his humble and obscure birth, be takes the name of the son of Jesse. JESUS is uniformly spoken of as a root out of a dry ground, and though LORD of all, yet becoming the servant of all. Secondly; David is called the man who was raised up on high. The manhood of the LORD JESUS is exalted to the most sovereign and supreme honors. All power is given to him in heaven and in earth. Thirdly, David is said to be the anointed of the GOD of Jacob. CHRIST also was anointed to his commission, and did not take the office unappointed or uncalled. Lastly, David is called the sweet Psalmist of Israel. But why are the Psalms of David sweet, but because they sing of the redemption of JESUS. Oh! dearest JESUS, how delightful is it to trace thy shadows in all things, and thy salvation as the sum and substance of everything. By the last words of David, I understand not the very last words he ever spake, because frequently after this he spake to the people, and those about him. But by the last words I apprehend is meant the last important words which he spake by the Spirit of prophecy. David was a prophet, and an eminent one. So Peter described him, Act 2:29-30 . And as the patriarchs, when dying, were blessed with a more than ordinary out-pouring of the SPIRIT, to deliver things concerning the church; so David seems to have been eminently under divine teaching when he spake these words. See Gen 49:1 ; Deu 33:1
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Heroism
2Sa 23:15-16
It is abundantly clear that no one sent the three on their splendid errand. It is highly probable that had David known of their project he would have forbidden it. Some one had heard a few words of the king’s soliloquy. His wish was whispered through the camp. And these men went forth unknown to him to meet it. Nor was the journey of the three through the enemy’s lines mere bravado, or for fame’s sake. They of all men had least temptation in these directions. It were vain to boast a courage that all men knew, and unnecessary to seek a fame already won. Each man had found his place long since. They had been the heroes of many a fight.
I. Let us look for the lesson of their deed. Let us look for the gospel of heroism, the inner history of brave hearts. Heroism is one of life’s timeless things. It belongs to no age or place. It needs no interpretation. It tells its own story and wins its meed of acknowledgment. Do not misunderstand that. Heroism is a quiet thing. The hero is not often an orator; and even if he should be, his own heroism would never seem to him to be a fit subject for an oration.
The hero does not think about the reward though he wins it. He does not think about the deed, he does it. He does not hold his life cheap. He does not think of his life. It does not enter into his reckonings. There are no reckonings for it to enter into. Calculation is never a strong point with the hero. The truest heroisms can be shown to have been part of the day’s work for those who did them. Yes, and part of their essential character too. The deed does not make the hero: it manifests him.
II. We have looked and seen something of the heroic spirit. We have looked beneath the surface, and we have at least prepared ourselves to believe that the voice that spake to three soldiers one summer day and sent them cheerful and determined across the death-haunted valley of Rephaim, is speaking also in our lives. We have looked at simple heroism stripped of any accidental trappings taken out of those martial or romantic settings which have led so many to misunderstand it. We have seen that heroism is an inward and spiritual thing born of an unselfish attitude and a heart full of love. And now, I say, it is not such a far cry from the valley of Rephaim to the office in the city, the warehouse, the counter, and the street.
III. There is a sense in which we cannot have too high a conception of heroism. When in our mind we paint the picture of the ideal hero, we cannot make the light in his eyes too beautiful and the poise of his head too kingly. It is altogether good that we should so think of heroism as to prevent our offering the hero’s crown to the essentially unheroic life. But we must lift our conception of life and the true terms of it and the spiritual setting of it and the constant issues of it till we come to see that the one man who can ever hope to do justice to life is the hero.
We have many ways of picturing the religious life. We have the picture of the pilgrim leaning on his staff, and shading his eyes to catch a glimpse of the city of light. We have the picture of the steward ordering all things fitly against his master’s coming. We have the soldier standing bravely by his comrades and his king. But there is one picture perfectly familiar to the mediaeval mind that we can ill afford to lose, and that is the picture of the saint and the dragon. If there is one thing above another that the modern saint needs it is a personal interview with a dragon.
IV. And now, after all, we should leave the highest truth about heroism unuttered if we forgot to say that the central element of it is always personal. There is no exception to that. Men have done brave deeds for the sake of great causes; but even if they themselves knew it not, it was the response of their spirit to the spirit of those who had made the causes great. Here, in our story, it is plain to see that, though David knew nothing about the errand of his three soldiers, yet it was he who sent them out to do it. He had won their love and their loyalty. They went for their leader’s sake. And when we turn to this great fight of life, this peril-haunted valley of the world, and see a man going forth unregardful of himself, uncareful of his life, to fulfil a ministry of refreshment and help, to offer some service of love, we know what to say of that man. We know he is a Christ’s man; and that the hand that feels for the sword-hilt is tingling with the touch of that wounded palm.
P. Ainsworth, The Pilgrim Church, p. 147.
References. XXIII. 15. J. S. Maver, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liv. 1898, p. 287. Christian World Pulpit, vol. lxv. 1904, p. 317. E. B. Speirs, A Present Advent, p. 292. R. J. Campbell, Sermons Addressed to Individuals, p. 191. XXIII. 15, 16, 17. S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. ii. p. 194. C. F. Aked, Old Events and Modern Meanings, p. 45. J. Baines, Sermons, p. 126. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture 2 Samuel, etc., p. 141. XXIV. 1. J. B. Mozley, Sermons Parochial and Occasional, p. 72.
Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson
Poetry At Life’s End
2Sa 22:22Sa 232Sa 23
THE twenty-second chapter, although marked by quite a number of slight changes, is identical with Psalm xviii. The fifty-first verse shows that this song must have been composed after the visit of Nathan, at which David received the promise of the perpetuity of his kingdom. As this psalm will be treated in its proper place in the psalter we propose to pass over it here, and proceed at once to the twenty-third chapter. In doing so it must be carefully noted that no attention is to be paid to the chronology of David’s life as indicated by the sequence of the chapters in the second Book of Samuel. The best collation of sequences which we have been able to find runs somewhat as follows:
Absalom’s vengeance and flight 2Sa 13:22-38 . The three years of famine 2Sa 21:1-14 . The census and the pestilence 2Sa 24 Absalom’s preparations 2Sa 15:1-6 . The Insurrection 2Sa 15:7-12 . Then would follow David leaving Jerusalem; the sending back of Hushai; the falsehood of Ziba; the insulting action of Shimei; Absalom in Jerusalem; Ahithophel’s suicide; the crossing of the Jordan by David; Absalom’s defeat and death; David’s grief for Absalom; David brought back to Jerusalem; Sheba’s rebellion; the death of Amasa, and the quelling of the revolt.
The twenty-third chapter opens with “the last words of David,” wherein his poetic inspiration flashes out, and he proves that his last words are for profound thought and ripened wisdom equal to the fire and passion of his first sublime utterances. The words may be set out in a striking appeal to the eye thus:
Absalom’s vengeance and flight 2Sa 13:22-38 The three years of famine 2Sa 21:1-14 The census and the pestilence 2Sa 24 Absalom’s preparations 2Sa 15:1-6 The Insurrection 2Sa 15:7-12 Then would follow David leaving Jerusalem; the sending back of Hushai; the falsehood of Ziba; the insulting action of Shimei; Absalom in Jerusalem; Ahithophel’s suicide; the crossing of the Jordan by David; Absalom’s defeat and death; David’s grief for Absalom; David brought back to Jerusalem; Sheba’s rebellion; the death of Amasa, and the quelling of the revolt.
The twenty-third chapter opens with “the last words of David,” wherein his poetic inspiration flashes out, and he proves that his last words are for profound thought and ripened wisdom equal to the fire and passion of his first sublime utterances. The words may be set out in a striking appeal to the eye thus:
It has well been observed that the blessedness of just government and the inevitable and unchangeable misery of weakness have probably never been more vividly represented in language. Underneath all the poetry lies complete faith in the assurance of Nathan that David’s house was established with God for ever. This assurance constituted to him a kind of Messiah in promise; it was indeed the form in which he saw the great deliverer and King of Israel, and so he lived by faith in the Coming One, who was the restorer of the breach. In the authorised version David is called “the sweet psalmist of Israel,” literally, he that is pleasant in Israel’s psalms. David does not hesitate to claim personal inspiration in the composition of his loftiest songs. In the second verse he says, “The spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.” In the fourth verse we meet with the expression. “A morning without clouds,” a description of the blessings of an ideally perfect government. David well knew that the ruler of God’s people must be just, and that the highest blessings would flow from a government originated and sustained by God and breathing the spirit of his holiness and justice. The following has been submitted as a clear translation of the whole imagery: “And as the light of the morning, when the sun ariseth, a morning without clouds; as by means of sunlight and by means of rain the tender grass grows from the earth: is not my house so with God?” The fifth verse is admittedly difficult of translation. Not a few modern commentators take the clauses interrogatively: “Is not my house thus with God? For he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all, and sure: for all my salvation, and all my desire, shall he not cause it to spring forth?” The covenant is represented as being “ordered in all,” the idea being that it is formed on the pattern of a carefully-detailed legal document providing for any contingencies, and so explicitly worded as to prevent any misconstruction. “The sons of Belial” referred to in the sixth verse, is not in the common form, but may be represented in an abstract form as equivalent to worthlessness. David’s meaning is that when divine righteousness is established, not only will it take to itself all that is of kindred nature, but it will reject and utterly cast out all that is evil. David teaches that although wicked people injure and debase all with which and with whom they come in contact, yet God will provide means for their utter extinction. A beautiful picture of the equipment of a destroyer of evil is given in the seventh verse: “But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear.” The meaning is that the thorns are to be handled with an iron hook at the end of a spear-staff. Men are not to venture to take hold of some things with their own hands: they are to use the implements which have been provided by a gracious providence.
Some of the remaining points of interest in the twenty-third chapter are such as these, namely, that some of David’s men were famous in the highest degree for devotion to his person and his cause. The names of the mighty men whom David had were: Adino the Eznite; Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite; and after him Shammah the son of Agee the Hararite. It has been noted that no mention is made of Joab amongst the mighties who surrounded David, some accounting for the absence of the name by the supreme wickedness of that great captain, and others more graciously suggesting that as Joab was commander-in-chief he stood in a rank by himself. Can a finer picture of devotion be found than is supplied by these three men? One of them is said to have smitten the Philistines “until his hand was weary, and his hand clave unto the sword” ( 2Sa 23:10 ). There are well-authenticated instances of cramp following excessive exertion, so much so that the soldier’s hand could only be released from the sword by external force. When the people are described, in the tenth verse, as returning after David, it should be noted that the grammar does not imply that they had at any time deserted him but only that they turned wherever David himself went to gather up the spoil of the men whom he slew, as gleaners always return after the reapers. In his distress David, being confined in a hold, “longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” ( 2Sa 23:15 ). There are times when memory goes back to the earliest scenes of life, when only old faiths, old habits, old pastors, old friends, can really minister to the hunger and thirst of the life. The old man is said to live more in his early years than in the times which are passing around him. What is true in general life is significantly and profoundly true in religious experiences: we become dissatisfied with the new, the modern, the last invention, and go back to old times, that we may rest in the house of our youth, and pray at the altar which we built at the first. Any good water would have quenched the thirst of David, but in the moment of his agony he longed for water from the well of Bethlehem. Even a little touch of superstition, when found in connection with a really grave and solid character, does not diminish the pathos and moral sublimity of a scene like this. Any Bible may do for us in which to read our lesson, but there may be times in life when the Bible used by a mother, a teacher, a pastor, a Bible with whose very appearance we are familiar, may seem to bring with it helps which do not attach to the ordinary publications of the word. It may be a sign of strength, and even robustness of mind, to assume independence of all such associations and accessories, but I could not advise the cultivation of such apparent independence, for in its essence it is but flippancy and vainglory. It is comforting, too, to think that a time will come when advantages which are now but little thought of will be seen in all the fulness of their worth, and be inquired for with anxious love. Herein let all good men take heart; at present they may be despised and rejected, but the time will come when they will be remembered, when their names will be repeated with affection, and when their instruction will be sought after with the eagerness of hunger.
Keeping strictly to the local incident, we cannot but see how worthily the three mighty men deserved their fame. They were not merely ornamental personages in the army or in the court Looking at them in what in our own day we should call their honours, their badges, their medals, or their other decorations, one might wonder how they came to be so signalised. Our wonder is more than satisfied by the deeds which they are reported to have accomplished. If we could for a moment doubt as to the justice of their fame, it would be removed when we read such words as these,
“And the three mighty men brake 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 to David” ( 2Sa 23:16 ).
Now we know that they were worthy of their fame. They were men of daring, men of the highest valour, men whose spirit was subdued and ennobled by supreme loyalty and consecration. May we not apply the same test to our own standing and quality as professors of the Christian name? David’s Lord is continually expressing desires: what are we doing to prove that we are willing to bring them to a happy consummation? He desires that his word may be spread abroad to the ends of the earth: who rushes through the hosts of darkness and bears the sacred message to those who are afar off? He desires that his Church should be fairest among all the objects seen of men: who is valiant enough to defy the enemy, to drive away the devastator, and to protect the garden of the Lord from incursion and profanation? Christ desires that the poor should be fed, the ignorant taught, the oppressed delivered, the heart-broken comforted: who has strength enough of mind, and pureness enough of consecration, to abandon all the charms of earthly vanity and glory, and give himself wholly to the cause of humanity as represented in the Son of man? There is a fame not worth having a fame of mere words, a noise of popularity, a fickle wind that follows men only so long as they are content to be driven by it. Let our fame be established upon our capacity, service, and beneficence, and it will be an imperishable renown.
The character of David is beautifully brought out by the answer which he made to the enthusiasm of his three mighty servants:
“Nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord. And he 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” ( 2Sa 23:16-17 ).
Now we come to men who were famous for secondary service. For example, there was Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, who led another band and was chief among three; so strong a man was he that he lifted up his spear against three hundred and slew them. Being the most honourable of the triad to which he belonged he was appointed captain: “howbeit he attained not unto the first three.” Then there was “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 plucked the spear out of the Egyptian’s hand, and slew him with his own spear” ( 2Sa 23:20-21 ). But even Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, who was “more honourable than the thirty” “attained not to the first three.” Then there was Asahel the brother of Joab; following him, Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem; Shammah the Hararite, probably the same with Shamhuth the Izrahite, captain of the fifth division of the army ( 1Ch 27:8 ); then Helez, and Ira; and a glittering list of other noble and mighty men. But still the “first three” stood alone in their primacy, rejoicing in honours which other men might not share. What, then, are men to be discontented because they cannot attain the rank of the “first three”? Here comes the great Christian lesson, that men are to stand in whatever circumstances God has appointed for them, to use their powers according to the opportunities which providence has created. We fritter away our strength, and disqualify ourselves for the work even which we might do, if we envy others and repine because of their exaltation. The true view is that which enables us to regard the first three as part of ourselves. The hand must not say to the foot, I have no need of thee; the eye cannot dispense with the ear, nor can the ear dispense with the eye. We are many members, but one body: some honourable, some less honourable; some comely, others unlovely; but the body is one, and is crowned by Christ as the head. Why should mathematicians begrudge poets their honours? Why should they who can only walk refuse to use their feet because they see others who can fly in the open firmament? God hath set everything in order as it hath pleased him; and we can only grow in faculty as we restrain all envy and uncharitableness, and devote ourselves to such tasks as we are able to accomplish. Even in the economy established by our Lord himself, we find the first three, Peter, James, and John; and after them we find men more or less secondary and obscure. But Jesus Christ has contempt for none of his followers. He ever puts in a word for the “least of these my brethren.” He will not even have a “little one” destroyed. He teaches us that every child has its angel in heaven, steadfastly looking on the face of the Father. He will have the fragments gathered up that nothing be lost. He is the Shepherd who cannot rest while one of his sheep is straying in the wilderness. This being the case, we may be assured that when he sets three men high above all others in his apostolate he has his reason for doing so, and that his reason is consistent with his benevolence towards all the members of his kingdom. What if all were famous? What if all soldiers were generals? What if all generals were commanders-in-chief? In one of his most vivid parables Jesus Christ represents the king as giving to his servants according to their several ability: to one five talents, to another two talents, and to a third one talent. To have one talent is to have fame enough for any creature. The very least of us will find that in the cultivation of his one talent he has work enough to task all his efforts and to absorb all his time. Let us not envy one another, or boast ourselves over other men: for if we have much, much will be required of us: according to our resources will be our responsibilities. There is one comfort which every man may take who is serving Christ: looking abroad, he may see great worldly prosperity, great political fame, great pecuniary wealth, great social clat, all of them dissociated from Christian principle and sacrifice; his honour consists in the reflection that he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than the greatest who are not within the circle of its glory.
Selected Note
Henry IV., Part II., act iv., sc. I.
Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker
2Sa 23:1 Now these [be] the last words of David. 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,
Ver. 1. Now these be the last words of David. ] The last he set down as a penman of holy writ, and as divinely inspired. This was his swanlike song; Davidis novissima; wherein he doth, in few words but full of matter, acknowledge God’s benefits, confess his sins, profess his faith, comfort himself in the covenant, and denounce destruction to unbelievers. So that we may well say of this piece of Scripture, as Cicero did of Brutus’s laconical epistle, Quam multa quam paucis! How much in a little! Some think that they were his very last solemn words that he uttered, a though here set down.
David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high.
The sweet psalmist of Israel.
a Quum iamiam esset moriturus. – Jun.
b The divine cosmographer.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2 Samuel
THE DYING KING’S LAST VISION AND PSALM
2Sa 23:1 – 2Sa 23:7
It was fitting that ‘the last words of David’ should be a prophecy of the true King, whom his own failures and sins, no less than his consecration and victories, had taught him to expect. His dying eyes see on the horizon of the far-off future the form of Him who is to be a just and perfect Ruler, before the brightness of whose presence and the refreshing of whose influence, verdure and beauty shall clothe the world. As the shades gather round the dying monarch, the radiant glory to come brightens. He departs in peace, having seen the salvation from afar, and stretched out longing hands of greeting toward it. Then his harp is silent, as if the rapture which thrilled the trembling strings had snapped them.
I. We have first a prelude extending to the middle of 2Sa 23:3 . In it there is first a fourfold designation of the personality of the Psalmist-prophet, and then a fourfold designation of the divine oracle spoken through him. The word rendered in 2Sa 23:1 ‘saith’ is really a noun, and usually employed with ‘the Lord’ following, as in the familiar phrase ‘saith the Lord.’ It is used, as here, with the genitive of the human recipient, in Balaam’s prophecy, on which this is evidently modelled. It distinctly claims a divine source for the oracle following, and declares, at the outset, that these last words of David were really the faithful sayings of Jehovah. The human and divine elements are smelted together. Note the description of the human personality. First, the natural ‘David the son of Jesse,’ like ‘Balaam the son of Beor’ in the earlier oracle. The aged king looks back with adoring thankfulness to his early days and humble birth, as if he were saying, ‘Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should proclaim the coming King.’ Then follow three clauses descriptive of what ‘the son of Jesse’ had been made by the grace of God, in that he had been raised on high from his low condition of a shepherd boy, and anointed as ruler, not only by Samuel and the people, but by the God of their great ancestor, whose career had presented so many points of resemblance to his own, the God who still wrought among the nation which bore the patriarch’s name, as He had wrought of old; and that, besides his royalty, he had been taught to sing the sweet songs which already were the heritage of the nation. This last designation shows what David counted God’s chief gift to him,-not his crown, but his harp. It further shows that he regarded his psalms as divinely inspired, and it proves that already they had become the property of the nation. This first verse heightens the importance of the subsequent oracle by dwelling on the claims of the recipient of the revelation to be heard and heeded.
Similarly, the fourfold designation of the divine source has the same purpose, and corresponds with the four clauses of 2Sa 23:1 , ‘The Spirit of the Lord spake in [or “into”] me.’ That gives the Psalmist’s consciousness that in his prophecy he was but the recipient of a message. It wonderfully describes the penetrating power of that inward voice which clearly came to him from without, and as clearly spoke to him within. Words could not more plainly declare the prophetic consciousness of the distinction between himself and the Voice which he heard in the depths of his spirit. It spoke in him before he spoke his lyric prophecy. ‘His word was upon my tongue.’ There we have the utterance succeeding the inward voice, and the guarantee that the Psalmist’s word was a true transcript of the inward voice. ‘The God of Israel said,’ and therefore Israel is concerned in the divine word, which is not of private reference, but meant for all. ‘The Rock of Israel spake,’ and therefore Israel may trust the Word, which rests on His immutable faithfulness and eternal being.
II. The divine oracle thus solemnly introduced and guaranteed must be worthy of such a prelude. Abruptly, and in clauses without verbs, the picture of the righteous Ruler is divinely flashed before the seer’s inward eye. The broken construction may perhaps indicate that he is describing what he beholds in vision. There is no need for any supplement such as ‘There shall be,’ which, however true in meaning, mars the vividness of the presentation of the Ruler to the prophet’s sight. David sees him painted on the else blank wall of the future. When and where the realisation may be he knows not. What are the majestic outlines? A universal sovereign over collective humanity, righteous and God-fearing. In the same manner as he described the vision of the King, David goes on, as a man on some height telling what he saw to the people below, and paints the blessed issues of the King’s coming.
It had been night before He came,-the night of ignorance, sorrow, and sin,-but His coming is like one of these glorious Eastern sunrises without a cloud, when everything laughs in the early beams, and, with tropical swiftness, the tender herbage bursts from the ground, as born from the dazzling brightness and the fertilising rain. So all things shall rejoice in the reign of the King, and humanity be productive, under His glad and quickening influences, of growths of beauty and fruitfulness impossible to it without these.
The abrupt form of the prophecy has led some interpreters to construe it as, ‘When a king over men is righteous. . . then it is as a morning,’ etc. But surely such a platitude is not worthy of being David’s last word, nor did it need divine inspiration to disclose to him that a just king is a great blessing. The only worthy meaning is that which sees here, in words so solemnly marked as a special revelation closing the life of David, ‘the vision of the future and all the wonder that should be,’ when a real Person should thus reign over men. The explanation that we have here simply the ideal of the collective Davidic monarchy is a lame attempt to escape from the recognition of prophecy properly so called. It is the work of poetry to paint ideals, of prophecy to foretell, with God’s authority, their realisation. The picture here is too radiant to be realised in any mere human king, and, as a matter of fact, never was so in any of David’s successors, or in the whole of them put together. It either swings in vacuo, a dream unrealised, or it is a distinct prophecy from God of the reign of the coming Messiah, of whom David and all his sons, as anointed kings, were living prophecies. ‘The Messianic idea entered on a new stage of development with the monarchy, and that not as if the history stimulated men’s imaginations, but that God used the history as a means of further revelation by His prophetic Spirit.
III. The difficult 2Sa 23:5 , whether its first and last clauses be taken interrogatively or negatively, in its central part bases the assurance of the coming of the king on God’s covenant 2Sa 7:1 – 2Sa 7:29, which is glorified as being everlasting, provided with all requisites for its realisation, and therefore ‘sure,’ or perhaps ‘preserved,’ as if guarded by God’s inviolable sanctity and faithfulness. The fulfilment of the dying saint’s hopes depends on God’s truth. Whatever sense might say, or doubt whisper, he silences them by gazing on that great Word. So we all have to do. If we found our hopes and forecasts on it, we can go down to the grave calmly, though they be not fulfilled, sure that ‘no good thing can fail us of all that He hath spoken.’ Living or dying, faith and hope must stay themselves on God’s word. Happy they whose closing eyes see the form of the King, and whose last thoughts are of God’s faithful promise! Happy they whose forecasts of the future, nearer or more remote, are shaped by His word! Happy they who, in the triumphant energy of such a faith, can with dying lips proclaim that His promises overlap, and contain, all their salvation and all their desire!
If we read the first and last clauses negatively, with Revised Version and others, they, as it were, surround the kernel of clear-eyed faith, in the middle of the verse, with a husk, not of doubt, but of consciousness how far the present is from fulfilling the great promise. The poor dying king looks back on the scandals of his later reign, on his own sin, on his children’s lust, rebellion, and tragic deaths, and feels how far from the ideal he and they have been. He sees little token of growth toward realisation of that promise; but yet in spite of a stained past and a wintry present, he holds fast his confidence. That is the true temper of faith, which calls things that are not as though they were, and is hindered by no sense of unworthiness nor by any discouragements born of sense, from grasping with full assurance the promise of God. But the consensus of the most careful expositors inclines to take both clauses as questions, and then the meaning would be, ‘Does not my house stand in such a relation to God that the righteous king will spring from it? It is, in this view, a triumphant question, expressing the strongest assurance, and the next clause would then lay bare the foundation of that relation of David’s house as not its goodness, but God’s covenant ‘ for He hath made’. Similarly the last clause would be a triumphant question of certainty, asserting in the strongest manner that God would cause that future salvation for the world, which was wrapped up in the coming of the king, and in which the dying man was sure that he should somehow have a share, dead though he were, to blossom and grow, though he had to die as in the winter, before the buds began to swell. The assurance of immortality, and of a share in all the blessings to come, bursts from the lips that are so soon to be silent.
IV. But the oracle cannot end with painting only blessings as flowing from the king’s reign. If he is to rule in righteousness and the fear of the Lord, then he must fight against evil. If his coming causes the tender grass to spring, it will quicken ugly growths too. The former representation is only half the truth; and the threatening of destruction for the evil is as much a part of the divine oracle as the other. Strictly, it is ‘wickedness’-the abstract quality rather than the concrete persons who embody it-which is spoken of. May we recall the old distinction that God loves the sinner while He hates the sin? The picture is vivid. The wicked-and all the enemies of this King are wicked, in the prophet’s view-are like some of these thorn-brakes, that cannot be laid hold of, even to root them out, but need to be attacked with sharp pruning-hooks on long shafts, or burned where they grow. There is a destructive side to the coming of the King, shadowed in every prophecy of him, and brought emphatically to prominence in his own descriptions of his reign and its final issues. It is a poor kindness to suppress that side of the truth. Thorns as well as tender grass spring up in the quickening beams; and the best commentary on the solemn words which close David’s closing song is the saying of the King himself: ‘In the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them.’
Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren
Chapter 23 follows 24, but is placed here (by the Figure of speech Hysterologia)so as to include David’s “last words “with his “song” under his “worship”, and make the correspondence shown in the Structure. See p. 414.
last words. Hence their importance.
words = discourse, message, oracle, revelation. Hebrew. dabar. App-73.
said. Hebrew. na’am = to speak with assurance and authority.
man. Hebrew. geber. App-14.
God. Hebrew. ‘Elohim. App-4.
God of Jacob: i.e. the God Who met Jacob when he had nothing and deserved nothing (but wrath), and promised him all = therefore “the God of all grace”. Compare Psa 146:5 and 1Pe 5:10, referring to the grace which had called David.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Chapter 23
In chapter twenty-three,
These are the last words of David. The son of Jesse, the man who was raised up on high, the anointed [of God,] of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel. [I like that last title, “the sweet psalmist of Israel.”] The spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue ( 2Sa 23:1-2 ).
So David acknowledges that God spoke by him. It was God’s word that was in his tongue. These words are confirmed in the New Testament. Peter in quoting one of the Psalms of David said, “And David by the mouth of the Holy Ghost spake saying…” attributing the words of David actually to the Holy Spirit. David here himself is attributing his words to the Holy Spirit. As you read the Psalms you realize that surely they must be inspired of God, the worship of God that is actually inspired by God. “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me. His word was in my tongue.”
The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God ( 2Sa 23:3 ).
Oh, I wish that they would put that somewhere in the swearing-in ceremonies of every leader in our country. Anyone who rules over men must do so in justice and the fear of God. What a whole different climate would exist in the United States today if our leaders were each of them just ruling in the fear of God. The problem with man is that he cannot really handle authority. If you don’t believe that just go down to the city council meeting on some Monday night, and watch them as they sit there as little gods wanting everybody to bow to them, and to do their obeisance and “come to me,” and “I” and they’re expecting everybody to just caliber over them. Even in local government. But it only gets worse as you go up the ladder.
I am absolutely appalled at the corruption that exists in the local level of government. What we see in the local levels of government is only just so little compared to what you see when you get further up in the government, because man is totally incapable of ruling over men because he fails to do it in the fear of God. You see, you begin to think that you are the authority, because people are coming to you constantly for favors. People are constantly telling you how wonderful you are, building you up, in order that they might get favors from you and you begin to take the position of making the decisions in authority, not taking into account God, and the fact that you’re gonna have to answer to God one day, for each decision that you’ve made. Because if you are in a position of leadership, you actually are representing God, because you’re ruling over people’s lives. Every man who rules over men should do so in justice, in the fear of God.
David said, “came to me powerfully from the Lord.” David’s rule was marked by justice and in the fear of God. David made his mistakes, true. But yet he was aware of his accountability to God, and that is something every leader, every ruler over man needs to be keenly aware of his accountability to God. Someday he’s gonna answer to God.
You know there are so often the desire to escape this urban life. “Oh, if I could only live in the country. Oh, if I could only move up into central California into one of those little country towns where things are so clean, and pure and all.”
I have a friend who took the position of Chief of Police in one of these nice little country towns in central California. He’s having a terrible time with the corrupt politicians who are trying to tell him who he can arrest, and who he can’t arrest. Certain things, crimes going on in town, he’s just to overlook those completely. If there are certain people in town that park their cars in the wrong place, they’re not to get ticketed. So he just quit issuing parking tickets. Then they came all upset, “Why aren’t you?” He said, “I can’t do selective enforcement.” But you talk about corruption, it’s all over because man doesn’t have the fear of God in his heart, and doesn’t recognize the fact that he is accountable to God. When man becomes the end in himself, you’ve got corruption in the worst form. It’s a breeding ground for corruption.
I have friends in Sacramento that say no matter how sincere and honest you are, Sacramento has the capacity of corrupting the most honest man within three months. Human government is corrupt to the core. Anybody is naive, and their head is in the sand if they think any different because men are not obedient to the word of God, where the Lord came to him and declared, “He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.” If we would follow that one rule, we could clean up the whole society. If those who were ruling over men were just, and ruling in the fear of God, that would end all the corruption in government. But such is not the case, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to be the case in the near future, unless Christ comes.
He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by a clear shining after a rain. Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, and he has 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 [or Satan] shall all of them be thorns that are thrust away, because you cannot take them up with your hands: But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall utterly be burned with fire in the same place ( 2Sa 23:4-7 ).
Now you have David’s hall of fame. These are the mighty men that were with David, the men that fought in his armies.
Among the chief captains was Adino: [Sounds like Italian] in one time he lifted up his spear against eight hundred men, and killed them. [He was a tough cookie.] After him was Eleazar, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines that were gathered together against Israel: He arose, and he smote the Philistines until his hand was weary, and the hand clave unto the sword: and the LORD wrought a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to the spoil ( 2Sa 23:8-10 ).
This guy was fighting so long that he couldn’t tell where his hand ended and the sword began. He just, his hand was locked, and he just kept wailing away until the guy just came in and took the spoil after them, and he did all of the battle. A mighty, one of the three mighties of David.
And after him was Shammah. And the Philistines had gathered together unto a piece of ground that was full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines. But he stood in the middle of the ground, and defended it, and he slew the Philistines: and the Lord wrought a great victory ( 2Sa 23:11-12 ).
Then it tells of another three who, when David was battling against the Philistines, and the Philistines had taken Bethlehem.
David out there in that hot sun said, Oh if I only had a drink of water from that well that is there near the gate of the city of Bethlehem. [“Oh, I’m so thirsty.”] So these three guys went in and they broke through the Philistine lines, and they got David a drink of water from that well, and brought it back out to David, wiping out several Philistines in the task. And they brought David this water from the well, and David took the water and poured it on the ground, said, Man this water cost blood, I won’t drink it. These were numbered as a part of David’s mighty men ( 2Sa 23:15-17 ).
So it goes on and tells of the mighty men and of their acts. Then it just gives a list of the names of the men finally, the thirty men who were numbered with David, who were the mighty men of David. “
Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary
2Sa 23:1-5. Now these be the last words of David. 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, 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 men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Although my house be not so with God;
He remembered his many sins, and the many tribulations in his family which had come upon him in consequence of those sins, and the dying man felt a sad heart-ache so he thought of the errors of his life, so well he might.
2Sa 23:5. 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.
What blessed words his last words were! His sorrow is turned into joy; his own house grieves him, but Gods promise comforts him. I think we must read this verse again; perhaps there is some father here who is growing old, or some mother upon whom years are multiplying. May these last words of David be such as your last words may be! 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.
This exposition consisted of readings from ISAIAH 44. and 45; and 2Sa 23:1-5.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
Here we have first, the second psalm, containing David’s last recorded words in this connection. They breathe the consciousness of his own failure, and sing of the divine faithfulness. In verses one to four David set forth the true ideal of kingship in most exquisite language. In verse five he recognized that he had not realized the ideal, but declared that nevertheless God had been faithful to His Covenant. In the last movement, verses six and seven, in words that must have been to him full of searching power, he announced what the fate of the wicked inevitably must be.
The reign of David was pre-eminently the heroic age in Israel’s history. This is demonstrated in the list of the mighty men and their exploits. It is interesting to remember that these were men who had gathered to him in Adullam, who had been described as men in debt, in danger, and discontented. They were possessed of natural powers, which had been spoiled but now were redeemed and realized.
These were the elements of David’s reign. His deepest character, as we have seen, was the result of such convictions as he had given utterance to in the great psalm; and the result of such character on others had been the transformation of strong men who were useless into mighty men who were capable of deeds of heroism. More than all his victories against outside foes, the influence of his life and character on the men nearest to him testify to his essential greatness.
Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible
Davids Last Song
2Sa 23:1-7
Let us place our lips at Gods disposal, that He may speak by them, and let His words be on our tongues. Gods love is to our souls like morning light. It stole over our hearts in childhood so gently that we did not know when first it came. The happy experiences of those pure and holy years were like the grass-blades that glisten across the lawns soaked in dew. Thou hast the dew of thy youth.
When our heart is breaking with domestic or public anxiety, what a comfort it is to look away to the Covenant, ordered in all things and sure. Sometimes, indeed, Gods purpose in our lives seems to come to a standstill. He maketh it not to grow, 2Sa 23:5. But beneath the scaffolding the building is rising, and under the ground the harvest seeds are swelling.
These verses indicate Davids ideal for himself which he had not fully attained. The harp became jangled, and the strain lost its music. There is only one King who can realize all that we ask or think-our fair dream. That King is our Lord Jesus.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
2Sa 23:1
In David we have: (1) an example and (2) a warning.
I. The characteristic of David was loyalty to the Lord his God, loyalty to the King of kings. Loyalty is love evinced towards a superior, love which induces us to do all that in us lies, as circumstances from time to time admit, in small things or in great, to promote the glory of Him whose servants and subjects we are, and to advance the interests of His kingdom. We are to show our loyalty: (1) by from time to time renewing our vow as subjects and soldiers of the great Captain of our salvation; (2) by seeking to enkindle in our souls, through prayer for the renovating influences of the Holy Ghost, love towards Him who first loved us; (3) by looking out for opportunities of service.
II. The history of David is also a warning. However excitable the devotional feelings may be, that man is not in a state of grace whose conduct is not conformable to the moral requirements of the Gospel. David fell; and if David had not repented, he would have perished everlastingly. Those whose hearts are fervent in adoration have need to take warning from David and watch as well as pray.
F. W. Hook, Parish Sermons, p. 90.
References: 2Sa 23:1.-Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 233; W. M. Taylor, David King of Israel, p. 312. 2Sa 23:1-5.-D. J. Vaughan, The Days of the Son of Man, p. 388; J. R. Macduff, Sunsets on the Hebrew Mountains, p. 114.
2Sa 23:1-7
If Jacob when he died foresaw the fate of a family, and Joseph the fate of a nation, David saw, and rejoiced to see, the destiny of mankind. His dying eyes were fixed on that great advent which changed the old world into the new world in which we live, on the dawn of that new Christian day which has come to the earth like the clear shining of the sun after rain and clothed it in fresh, tender green.
Whether it was so designed or not we cannot tell, but in the sacred record the last words of David fall brokenly from his lips, as though uttered with difficulty and pain. They sound like the murmurs of a dying man struggling for breath, who nevertheless has somewhat of the utmost moment to say, and nerves himself to gasp out the more weighty words and phrases, leaving his hearers to piece them together and spell out their meaning. For convenience’ sake we may divide them into a prelude and a revelation.
I. The prelude. The opening words point back to an antique prophecy, the prophecy of Balaam on the fate and glory of Israel (Num 24:3-4). His oracle corresponds with Balaam’s, but it also contrasts with it. David’s vision is no cloudy and imperfect glimpse of a star and sceptre; he sees the King, the true King of men, and the new day which the King will make for men.
II. He sees in the future the ideal Ruler, the true Divine King who was to arise on the earth. In sweet, pure figures the kingdom of Christ passed before the mind of David. When the true King came, the darkness in which men sat would be over and gone; the rain of tears, falling because of the tyranny of man to man, would cease. His hope was based on the “everlasting covenant” which God had made with him. On His word, His promise, His covenant, the dying king bases his hope for his house and for the world.
Congregationalist, vol. i., p. 88.
References: 2Sa 23:1-7.-S. Cox, An Expositor’s Notebook, p. 115; J. G. Murphy, The Book of Daniel, p. 33. 2Sa 23:4.-J. Van Oosterzee, Year of Salvation, vol. i., p. 13.
2Sa 23:5
Thus the thought of the shortcomings of family religion entered into the last words of David, the son of Jesse, and laid a shadow upon his dying peace. Of all the images under which another world has been revealed to us, the best and the happiest is by far “My Father’s house.” But in proportion as the anticipation of that Father’s house is clear, and beautiful, and distinct, will the contrast of the earthly home grow every day more intolerable.
I. It is a very rare thing to find much freedom of intercourse on spiritual subjects among the members of the same family, so that many give the confidences of their souls to comparative strangers, who seldom, if ever, speak on deep matters of personal religion to their parents or brothers or sisters. The reason of this is threefold: (1) the general law which rules most minds that they honour more what is at a distance than what is near; (2) the consciousness that we all have that our near relations are acquainted with our infirmities and inconsis-tencies-a consciousness which ties the tongue; (3) the want of effort, that effort without which no conversation is ever profitable, and without which no real benefit is ever given or received in any matter.
II. If the frequency of the custom had not almost accustomed our minds to it, we should all mark and be offended with the way in which many Christian fathers and mothers discharge their parental duties. The grace of reverence has fallen away from almost all our home duties. The man who is unreverential towards his parents can never have true reverence for God.
III. The chief reason of family evils is that there is so little prayer in our homes. We want the ark in the house, the Shechinah, to fill the rooms and make them all little sanctuaries.
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 9th series, p. 134 (see also Fifty Sermons, 1874, p. 320).
References: 2Sa 23:5.-Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 356; J. M. Neale, Sermons in Sackville College, vol. i., p. 37; J. Irons, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. v., p. 409; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. i., No. 19. 2Sa 23:11, 2Sa 23:12.-S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, vol. ii., p. 204. 2Sa 23:13-17.-Sermons for Boys and Girls, p. 403. 2Sa 23:15.-M. Nicholson, Redeeming the Time, p. 180.
2Sa 23:15-17
We see in this instance how hard work, the sweat of toilsome labour, risk of life, weariness, wounds, and heroic endurance may all be accepted of God, may be poured out unto the Lord, though in the first instance shown to man. Every work done for others costing self-denial, weariness, and anxiety is like the water brought from the well of Bethlehem by the three valiant men of David. It does not rest with the immediate object; it is poured out in sacrifice to the Lord.
Unselfishness confers on him who is adorned with it a sort of priesthood. He is ever offering up sacrifices of his time, his comforts, his conveniences, to others, and though these be offered to others, they are in reality libations to God. There is special merit in such acts if they be done with a right intent, and in such a way that Christ may be seen in all we do for others.
S. Baring-Gould, Village Preaching for a Year, p. 194.
References: 2Sa 23:15-17.-J. Baines, Sermons, p. 126. 2Sa 23:20.-S. Baring-Gould, One Hundred Sermon Sketches, p. 91. 2Sam 24-W. M. Taylor, David King of Israel, p. 269.
Fuente: The Sermon Bible
3. The Last Words of David and the Record of the Mighty Men
CHAPTER 23
1. His last words (2Sa 23:1-7)
2. The names and records of Davids mighty men (2Sa 23:8-39)
In his last words an even greater and clearer vision is given to King David. If Psalm 18 was a grand Hallelujah, with which David quitted the scene of life, these his last words are the divine attestation of all that he had sung and prophesied in the Psalms concerning the spiritual import of the kingdom which he was to found in accordance with the divine message that Nathan had been commissioned to bring to him. Hence these last words must be regarded as an inspired prophetic utterance by David, before his death, about the King and kingdom of God in their full and real meaning (History of Judah and Israel). And this King is Christ and the kingdom that which will be set up with the second coming of Christ. As the translation in the authorized version is weak we give here a corrected translation:
David the son of Jesse saith,
And the man who was raised on high saith,
The anointed of the God of Jacob,
And the sweet Psalmist in Israel:
The Spirit of the Lord spake by me,
And His word was on my tongue.
The God of Israel said,
The Rock of Israel spake to me:
A righteous ruler over men.
A Ruler in the fear of God,
Like the light of the morning when the sun riseth,
A morning without clouds;
When the tender grass cometh forth out of the earth,
Through the clear shining after the rain.
But my house is not so with God.
Yet He has made me an everlasting covenant
Ordered in all and sure;
For this is all my salvation–all my delight,
Although He maketh it not to grow.
But the wicked shall be all of them as thorns thrust away,
For they cannot be taken with the hand;
And the man that toucheth them,
Must have iron and the staff of a spear
And they shall be utterly burned with fire in their dwelling.
Little comment is needed; just a little help to open up the words of the dying King. The righteous ruler over men, a ruler in the fear of God is our Lord. Thus He will yet rule over the earth in righteousness. And when He comes to rule, there cometh the morning without clouds when the earth will be refreshed, through the clear shining, the brightness of His glory, after the rain; after judgment is passed. Then David confesseth that his house is not so with God. His hope, his salvation, all his delight is in the covenant made with him; it centers in the fulfilment of the Davidic covenant. And the wicked will suffer the fire of His wrath.
In blessed keeping with this last great prophetic utterance of the King are the records and the names of the mighty men of David. They were the men who loved David, stood by him, showed their loyalty and devotion to the King. And others are given, of whom we read no definite deeds. The last name is Uriah the Hittite. The spiritual meaning is not hard to find. Before the judgment seat of Christ all will be made manifest. When He comes to be the righteous Ruler, to usher in the morning without clouds, those will be remembered who were loyal and devoted to Him in His rejection. No name and no deed, even the smallest, will then be forgotten. What an incentive this should be, especially in the solemn days in which we live, when we see the day approaching, to serve Him and be as devoted to our absent, but coming Lord, as Davids mighty men were to him. In our annotation on 1 Chronicles where we find these records also we hope to point out some of the details of the deeds of Davids mighty men (1 Chronicles 11).
Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)
am 2989, bc 1015, An, Ex, Is, 476
the last: Gen 49:1, Deu 33:1, Jos 23:1 – Jos 24:32, Psa 72:20, 2Pe 1:13-15
raised: 2Sa 7:8, 2Sa 7:9, Psa 78:70
the anointed: 1Sa 2:10, 1Sa 16:12, 1Sa 16:13, Psa 2:6, Psa 89:20
sweet psalmist: 1Ch 16:4, 1Ch 16:5, 1Ch 16:7, 1Ch 16:9, Amo 6:5, Luk 20:42, Luk 24:44, Eph 5:19, Eph 5:20, Col 3:16, Jam 5:13
Reciprocal: Num 24:16 – General 1Ch 23:27 – by the last 2Ch 1:8 – Thou has showed 2Ch 29:30 – with the words Psa 84:9 – the face Psa 141:6 – for they Mat 1:6 – Jesse Luk 2:30 – General 1Co 12:10 – prophecy Heb 4:7 – saying
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
DAVID IN FOUR ASPECTS
The son of Jesse the man who was raised upon high the anointed of the God of Jacob the sweet psalmist of Israel.
2Sa 23:1
Thrown on the opening words of this chapter, we do well to give due weight to the fact that they are Davids dying utterances. How do men speak in that hour? Is the mind always clear and logical, or is the heart so busy and the memory so quickened that often order will be set aside before the rushing flood of tender and mighty thoughts that sweep onward to the verge of eternity? The thoughts of a dying man like David are indeed long, long thoughts. Yet I think the key-note of this hymn is struck in the first verse. 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 . His autograph, with which David starts off, following so far the usual custom (Num 24:3-4), is four times repeated, only with different titles. It is David in four of his aspects, the man, the king, the inspired messenger, the psalmist. All that he has to say belongs to one of these four names of his. He seems to see himself, as he looks away from his deathbed, four times over.
I. David, the son of Jesse.Intensely human, David was in no danger of forgetting his humble origin. He had none of that pitiful pride that ignores the lowly cradle in the splendour of the royal crown. When much else is forgotten, historians will remember how, at his inauguration as President, General Garfield stooped down to kiss his old mother. Voltaire says truly enough that whoever serves his country well has no need of ancestors, but perhaps the ancestors had a good deal to do with the loyal service. We must not forget that Ruth the Moabitess was one of the progenitors of David, the son of Jesse.
This reference to his birth may have suggested what David further said here as to his own descendants. The popular reading of the verse seems to be a mistaken one. The connection does not lead us to expect a tremulous note, and still less does the fact that here David was a prophet, knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins he would raise up Christ to sit on His throne. We shall probably come nearer to what he really did say if we read thus: For is not my house thus with God? For an eternal covenant hath He made for me, ordered in all things and secured: for all my salvation and all good pleasure shall He not cause it to spring forth? Connecting the sense with the preceding verse about the true ruler, David expressed his confidence that, because of Gods eternal covenant with him, such a ruler would arise out of his house.
II. The man who was raised up on high.Realise literally this vivid expression by reading the last three verses of the 78th Psalm. Raised up to rule, that was the history of David. Now see how he paints the portrait of what a true sovereign must be. Six words only in the original, six vigorous touches, and the portrait lives before our eyes. He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. Here are two points, a righteous rule, controlled by piety. Royalty without religion is but eminent dishonour. Such being the governor, then, see what his reign or his term of office will be. A cloudless morning following rain, the air washed to a crystal purity, and the tender grass springing out of the earth in response to the clear shining of the sun. The shepherd lad of Bethlehem saw the fields about his fathers farm once more, and the poet spoke through the lips of the king.
Then follow the shadows in this glowing picture. (vv. 6, 7.) The thorns grow apace amid the corn, and he who deals with them must arm himself with iron and a spear shaft, an iron hook fastened to a long handle. Torn up in this way they shall be utterly burned with fire. Perhaps in this view of his enemies as sons of Belial, foes of God, men to be rooted up and cleared away, before prosperity can be looked for, we see an explanation of Davids last words to Solomon as to Joab and Shimei.
III. The anointed of the God of Jacob.Thrice anointed by the hands of man David here speaks of the spiritual anointing, the unction from the Holy One, which made him prophet, psalmist, and king. Notice how assured he is that by him God has spoken. The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue. Here he makes, in the plainest language, a claim to be inspired. Our Lord sets the seal of His approval upon the claim when He says, David in spirit calls Him Lord. We cannot dwell longer on this point, but there can be no doubt that here, on his deathbed, Davids language, as that of Jacob before him, did attain to somewhat of prophetic strain.
IV. Lastly, David speaks of himself as the sweet psalmist of Israel.He was shepherd, sovereign, seer, and singer. Why did he put this title last? One sufficient answer is that his poetry was itself inspired. God spoke through these wonderful psalms. Another reason may be that after all it is by his psalms that David is remembered. The Temple, the dream of his life, the royal line on which his heart was fixed, these, in any literal sense, have ceased to be long ago. But David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, is immortal in his works.
Through busiest street and loneliest glen
Are felt the flashes of his pen;
He rules mid-winter snows, and when
Bees fill their hives,
Deep in the general heart of men
His power survives.
In conclusion, we ask, now that so much is slipping away, what is left to David? We answer, his faith. Faith in Gods choice of him, in Gods covenant with him, in Gods government, in Gods salvation in Christin one word, faith in God Himself.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
In David we have: (1) an example and (2) a warning.
I. The characteristic of David was loyalty to the Lord his God, loyalty to the King of kings.Loyalty is love evinced towards a superior, love which induces us to do all that in us lies, as circumstances from time to time admit, in small things or in great, to promote the glory of Him whose servants and subjects we are, and to advance the interests of His kingdom. We are to show our loyalty: (1) by from time to time renewing our vow as subjects and soldiers of the great Captain of our Salvation; (2) by seeking to enkindle in our souls, through prayer for the renovating influences of the Holy Ghost, love towards Him Who first loved us; (3) by looking out for opportunities of service.
II. The history of David is also a warning.However excitable the devotional feelings may be, the man is not in a state of grace whose conduct is not conformable to the moral requirements of the Gospel. David fell; and if David had not repented, he would have perished everlastingly. Those whose hearts are fervent in adoration have need to take warning from David and watch as well as pray.
Dean Hook.
Illustration
(1) David was lifted into prominence in Israel as a man after Gods own heart, as a king who aimed to rule by translating the law of God into his daily conduct, instead of following the promptings of personal ambition, and making use of his position and opportunities for his own selfish gratification.
(2) Note the description of the human personality. First, the natural David the son of Jesse, like Balaam the son of Beor in the earlier oracle. The aged king looks back with adoring thankfulness to his early days and humble birth, as if he were saying, Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should proclaim the coming King. Then follow three clauses descriptive of what the son of Jesse had been made by the grace of God, in that he had been raised on high from his low condition of a shepherd boy, and anointed as ruler, not only by Samuel and the people, but by the God of their great ancestor, whose career had presented so many points of resemblance to his ownthe God who still wrought among the nation which bore the patriarchs name, as He had wrought of old; in that, besides his royalty, he had been taught to sing the sweet songs which already were the heritage of the nation. This last designation shows what David counted Gods chief gift to himnot his crown, but his harp. It further shows that he regarded his psalms as divinely inspired, and it proves that already they had become the property of the nation. This first verse heightens the importance of the subsequent oracle by dwelling on the claims of the recipient of the revelation to be heard and heeded.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
David’s Mighty Men
2Sa 23:1-23
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
We have today the last words of David for our consideration. Somehow or other, final words always carry special significance. In the case of David, his words may be called the summing up of a most eventful and God-honored life. The life of David was not without its faults, and there was one great shadow that hung over his career; and yet, as a whole, he was indeed the friend of God. God found in him a willing channel through whom He might work. There are several things in David’s last words we wish to bring before you.
1. A man raised up. Our minds go back to the boyhood days of David. He was known as the son of Jesse, the shepherd lad. If we had chanced to have seen him in those days, we might not have picked him out as the destined King of Israel, but God chose him.
Our first statement is “David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, * * said.” It was a long stretch from the life of a shepherd, to the king of a mighty nation. Truly David was raised up.
It is, however, just as long a stretch to those of us who have been raised up out of sin. Did God not lift our feet out of the miry clay, and place them on the Rock, Christ Jesus? Did not God come to us when we were dead in trespasses and in sins? Did He not raise us up and cause us to sit down with Him in the Heavenly places?
There is, however, another sense in which we are destined to be raised up. This time to be raised up on high. The Lord will descend from Heaven with a shout and He will raise the dead bodies of all saints. Then shall we the living, ascend up, with the raised dead, into the clouds to meet our Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Thank God that David recognized the fact that he was raised up on high. May we also rejoice in the fact of our exaltation in Christ.
2. The man anointed of the God of Jacob. God did not leave David unpanoplied for his task. When God causes us to undertake, He makes possible the undertaking. The son of Jesse was especially anointed of God to be King of Israel. He had a definite filling of the Holy Spirit. Is this not also true with us? God has not only saved us, and called us into royal service, but He has anointed us with the Holy Ghost. He told us: “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” Thank God we do have an anointing. It is not in our own name, nor in our own strength that we go forth to service.
3. The man who was anointed as the sweet Psalmist of Israel. The Psalms of David are an inspiration to Saints. David had the gift of music. He played well upon the harp. He not only had the gift of music, but he wrote hymns full of praise, and of Divine worship. He himself said, as he wrote in 2Sa 23:2 of our lesson, “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His Word was in my tongue.”
Here was a Psalmist whose hymns were written by Divine appointment. Yea, the very words were given to David by the Spirit. This was not merely David’s claim, but frequently the New Testament emphasizes the fact that the Holy Spirit spake by David. This fact is not only in the Gospels, but it is also in the Acts, and in the Book of Hebrews. We may not claim what David claimed. We do know, however, that the Spirit of God does rest upon us, and He gives us what we shall say in the hour of need and testimony.
I. ADINO, THE EZNITE (2Sa 23:8)
We now begin the study of the lesson proper. The theme of our message is “God’s Heroes.” These heroes are men who were connected with David. The first one mentioned is in 2Sa 23:8. He was a man whom David appointed as chief among his captains. The record of his greatest deed is thus stated: “He lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.”
1. God needs fearless men to serve Him. Here was a man who was not afraid. There are few who would be willing to go out alone against eight hundred. Yet, here is a man who accomplished that feat. They were crowding around him, and were pressing hard upon him; but he stood firm. He did not retreat. He fought with his spear in his hand until he prevailed. One by one he cut them down until all were overcome.
There is a little passage in Joshua where it says, “Be strong and of a good courage.” Many men of the world are strong and courageous. We read of Naaman the Syrian, “He was also a mighty man of valour.” This is a day when we need young men, and young women who are valiant in the fray. The powers of darkness are looming heavy. Shall we succumb, or shall we go forth and contend for the faith? God needs aggressive men. God needs men who will go forth to battle.
Our courage should not be a courage of lips. It is not recounting our mighty deeds, or telling of our own valor, that brings things to pass. It is actually entering into the conflict.
The Holy Spirit said through Paul, “Endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” Soldiers are panoplied for war. They are not men who know naught but dress parade. To the young men and women to whom we write and speak, we plead: Go forth to the battle! Undertake for God!
II. ELEAZAR, THE SON OF DODO (2Sa 23:9-10)
Here is one who was numbered as one of the three mighty men of David.
1. The Philistines had defied the armies of Israel. This is exactly what we have round us today. There are plenty of men who are denying, decrying, denouncing and defying the sons of God. Every possible insult is being thrown at faithful believers. Satan would, if he could, overwhelm them with his threats.
Our minds go back to the days when Nehemiah was building the wall. We can see the enemy mocking him, telling him that a fox running upon the walls would make them fall. Young people, remember that those who resist you in the Word and work of the Lord have many tactics. They will try to frighten you with ridicule. When that fails, they will endeavor to place every possible obstacle in your way.
2. The Philistines had joined together against Eleazar. These are exactly Satan’s present tactics. In the 2d Psalm we read that the kings of the earth set themselves together against the Lord, and His anointed. There is no ground of comradeship and fellowship between saints and the world. Christ said, “The world hateth you.”
There is an effort on the part of Satan to combine his forces. He seeks to amalgamate and federate against every one who would go forth to battle for the Lord.
3. Eleazar was left alone. We read in the last clause of 2Sa 23:9, “The men of Israel were gone away.” Here the Philistines gathered together and as they joined arms for battle, Israel fled. It was at this strategic moment that Eleazar, alone, rose up and smote the Philistines.
Our minds go at once to Jonathan and his armor bearer. Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, “Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few.” Thus it was that the two went up and the first slaughter that they made was as it were twenty men in as much ground as a yoke of oxen might plow. Then God came to the help of Jonathan. He sent a great trembling in the hosts of the Philistines. He set every Philistine’s sword against his fellows.
This was also the case of Eleazar, as he smote the Philistines. He smote until his hand was weary, and it clave unto his sword. That day, however, God wrought a great victory, and remember God still works.
III. SHAMMAH THE HARARITE (2Sa 23:11-12)
This was another one of David’s great men, and one of God’s heroes. We read these words, “And the Philistines were gathered together into a troop, where was a piece of ground full of lentiles: and the people fled from the Philistines. But he stood in the midst of the ground, and defended it, and slew the Philistines: and the Lord wrought a great victory.”
1. Once more the enemy was gathered together. Satan may be overwhelmed, but he does not give up. He may be cast down, but he does not despair. When Eleazar slaughtered the Philistines, did they cease from fighting? Not they! They were gathered together once more into a troop. Let us take to heart this suggestion. Sometimes even our enemies can instruct us.
Has not God said, “Be not weary in well doing”? Eleazar was not weary. He fought until he could not let go his sword. Let us remember how the Children of Israel under Gideon were faint, and yet pursuing.
2. The Philistines came down to seek the Israelites. They permitted the children of God to sow their seed, and to grow their lentiles; and then, at the time of harvest, they came down to carry away the fruitage. They stole the labor of God’s people.
This is always Satan’s tactics. While he would overthrow a child of God and would rob him, he would at the same time, enrich himself.
3. Shammah defended the field. The Children of Israel fled. Had Shammah also fled, he would never have been reckoned as one of God’s great heroes; however, the word “retreat,” was not in Shammah’s dictionary. He stood in the midst of the ground, and defended the lentiles. He slew the Philistines.
Is it not written, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you”? If there is any running to be done, let the devil do the running.
4. We now call attention to the last statement in 2Sa 23:12,-“And the Lord wrought a great victory.” Run. back to 2Sa 23:10 and you read the same words, “And the Lord wrought a great victory.” Eleazar and Shammah, neither the one nor the other, had any room for self-praise. They did refuse to flee. They did, in each case, meet an impossible situation. However, both of them would have been overthrown and laid low had not God come to their rescue.
Remember that these mighty men were not mighty, in so far as human reckonings were concerned. Their might lay in the fact that they believed God, and that the Lord answered their faith, and wrought a great victory through them.
IV. THREE MIGHTY MEN (2Sa 23:15-18)
The Spirit of God now groups three men.
1. The longing of David’s heart. David was away from home. He was being oppressed by the enemy, and with a heart that was human he longed, and said, “Oh, that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”
David’s wish, in this case, proved his will so far as the three mighty men were concerned.
We wonder if we, as God’s people, are listening to hear His voice? We wonder if just the wish of our Lord’s heart, would prove all the command that we would need to become active and eager to please Him? David longed for the water from the well at Bethlehem. The three men caught his sigh, heard his wish, and hurried on their way.
2. Wherein obstacles cannot hinder endeavor. Between David’s camp and the drink of water from the well of Bethlehem, there was gathered a host of Philistines. That host intervened and stood in the way. Do you remember how David himself wrote in the Spirit, “By Thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall”? Shall we allow any wall, be it ever so high, be it ever so thick, to hinder us in the accomplishing of the will of God?
Recently we stood on Lookout Mountain, over against Chattanooga. We walked to the crest of the mountain, looked down the slope, seemingly impossible of ascent. Yet on the monuments around us, was a description of how the soldiers climbed that mountain, and scaled its crest. Soldiers of Christ must not falter no matter how difficult the task.
3. The story of victory. 2Sa 23:16 tells us this: “The three mighty men brake 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 to David.” As David received it at their hands, he did not drink of it, but poured it out unto the Lord. To David it seemed to be the harbinger of victory. He knew that what the three mighty men had done, his armies by faith and courage could also do.
V. BENAIAH THE SON OF JEHOIADA (2Sa 23:20-21)
Here is one of David’s lesser heroes, and yet he is spoken of as a man who had done many acts. Noteworthy among them were two.
1. He went down into a pit and slew a lion in the time of snow. The lion had, no doubt, been causing great havoc among the people of Israel. They had heard its roaring. It had slaughtered more than one of their inhabitants. It seemed to be crying out against the children of God.
Is not Satan alive, and does he not cry out as the accuser of the saints? Indeed! God tells us that he goes about seeking whom he may devour. This lion had a den. His den was a pit.
Who would think of leaping into a pit inhabited by the strongest of beasts?
But, mark you, there is something else here. It was a time of snow. Perhaps this “time of snow” was a time of hunger to the lion. The whole picture is the picture that would terrorize any weakling. What did Benaiah do? He went down into the pit. He went down alone. He went down in the time of snow. He closed in on the lion and slew him. Beloved, has not God given us an armor with which to fight? Let us go forth as went Benaiah.
2. He slew an Egyptian. This Egyptian was a goodly man so far as fighting went. He knew how to wield a spear and he went to meet Benaiah with his spear in his hand. The same Benaiah who went down into the midst of the pit, went down to meet this Egyptian. 2Sa 23:21 tells us that Benaiah had but a staff in his hand. A staff against a spear; and yet, with his staff Benaiah plucked the spear out of the hand of the Egyptian. Then he picked it up from the place where it fell and slew the Egyptian with his own weapon. These things did Benaiah, and what shall we do?
VI. DAVID THE HERO OF THEM ALL (2Sa 23:1-39)
David was captain over all of these mighty men. Should men of might and prowess, of courage and valor, be ruled by a weakling? Not so. In the days when David was yet a youth, he learned how to deliver his sheep from the paw of the lion and of the bear. This courage and this faith in conflict never deserted David.
1. There was a giant crying out against the armies of Israel. Goliath, the Philistine, was of mighty power. Single-handed he stood forth to defy the armies of Israel. He sought battle with anyone who was willing to meet him. The Children of Israel, including king Saul, were all afraid. No one was willing to try his hand. They fled from his threats and were sore afraid.
When the shepherd lad, David, came to bring gifts, sent from his father to his brothers, he sought audience with Saul and he said, “The Lord * * will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.”
2. The secret of David’s victory. As David approached the Philistine, he went in his simple shepherd garb, with his staff in his hand. He chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, put them in his shepherd’s pack, and took his sling in his hand.
As David approached the Philistine, he said, “Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the Name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; * * that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.” Thus it was that David prevailed because the Lord prevailed.
Beloved youth, are we willing to be a David? Shall we retreat, and retrench, and recoil? Let us, in our weakness, trust His strength; in our nothingness, let us lean upon His almightiness; in our impotence, let us go forth crowned with His omnipotence.
VII. DAVID’S PARTING ADVICE (2Sa 23:6-7)
How fitting in this chapter where we have recounted the conquests of David’s mighty men, God’s heroes, that the parting words of David should be considered.
1. A word of warning. The first thing David said, was, “The sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands.” David warns us, first of all, that the sons of Belial are thorns. Then he tells us that they cannot be taken with hands. The warning is against anybody attempting to overcome the wicked one in their own strength.
Satan is, in truth, a genius. Satan is so mighty that even the archangel, Michael, durst not bring against him a railing accusation. Satan’s sons are also strong. The foes against which we fight are powerful. Not one of us, alone, nor all of us combined, dare go out in our own strength to meet our enemy.
2. A word of advice. In 2Sa 23:7 David said, “The man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear.” It is not difficult to grasp the significance of these words. When God sent Moses to Pharaoh, Moses quailed. He knew that back of Pharaoh were all the armies of Egypt; and what was Moses? When Moses pleaded his weakness and inability, God told him, “Certainly I will be with thee.” Moses, with God, could well go; but Moses, without God, could never go.
When God called Jeremiah and sent him on his difficult task, he said unto Jeremiah, “I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls against the whole land.” “They shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee.”
One who is sent by God is panoplied of God. When the Government sends out an Ambassador, that Ambassador is backed with all the power that lies behind the Government.
3. A Word of assurance. In the last clause of 2Sa 23:7, David gives this statement, “They shall be utterly burned with fire.” Thank God that we are in a winning, not in a losing fight. The antichfist and the false prophet and Satan may combine against the Lord, and against His hosts; but the antichrist and false prophet shall be destroyed with the breath of His lips and with the brightness of His coming. Satan shall be chained and cast into the pit. The armies which form under this devilish trinity, shall be utterly routed and overwhelmed.
As Satan and his hordes gather together against the Lord, God says: “Yet have I set My King, upon My holy hill of Zion.”
AN ILLUSTRATION
Moffat looking into the eyes of a savage, who threatened his life, calmy said, “We are resolved to abide by our post. * * You may shed our blood or burn us out. * * Then shall they who sent us know that we are persecuted indeed.” Mrs. Moffat stood by with her babe in her arms. Moffat threw open his waistcoat, and said, “Now, then, if you will, drive your spears to my heart.” The Lord again heard prayer. The chief was confounded. He shook his head significantly, and said to his followers, “These men must have ten lives when they are so fearless of death. There must be something in immortality.”
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
2Sa 23:1. These be the last words of David Not simply the last that he spoke, but the last which he spake by the Spirit of God, assisting and directing him in an extraordinary manner. When we find death approaching, we should endeavour both to honour God, and to profit others with our last words. Let those who have had experience of Gods goodness, and the pleasantness of the ways of wisdom, when they come to finish their course, leave a record of those experiences, and bear their testimony to the truth of Gods promises. The man who was raised up on high Advanced from an obscure estate to the kingdom. Whom God singled out from all the families of Israel, and anointed to be king. The sweet psalmist He who was eminent among the people of God, for composing sweet and holy songs to the praise of God, and for the use of his church in after ages. These seem not to be the words of David, but of the sacred penman of this book.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2Sa 23:1. The last words of David; that is, the last song of an expiring muse; a bright spark rekindled before it burned out. All his hope was concentrated on Christ, called by Isaiah the sure mercies of David: Isa 55:4. This consoled him when he saw his walk defective: and in all our troubles the Redeemer is our only hope.
2Sa 23:5. Although my house be not so with God. Since the reformation, several commentators, biassed by peculiar opinions, have attempted to give a gloss on this text very repugnant to the sanctity of God. They would suggest, that although David and his house, (including all his future posterity) were not pure and holy before God, as they ought to be; yet in defiance of sin, he had made with them an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure. This is very extraordinary: and it ill assorts with what is proved in the notes on the second chapter of the first of Samuel, viz. that every covenant God has contracted with man, has its conditions either expressed or implied. And it is more extraordinary still to force this gloss on the texts where the readings vary so much. The Septuagint, which was the copy generally quoted by the apostles, reads, my house is not of that account with God, that he should make with me an everlasting covenant. This appears to be the true reading, as it best agrees with the scope of the song, which professedly magnifies grace by speaking of the obscurity of Jesses house: and the reading of the Septuagint here is preferred by several of the more ancient critics.
2Sa 23:8. These be the names of the mighty men whom David had. Both the names and the number vary here from 1 Chronicles 11., and this variation is common to the Hebrew names and chronologies. We often find that one man has two names, and that grandfathers are often called fathers; but the list here might be taken at a different time from that in the Chronicles, or that some omitted here, feeling themselves aggrieved, might afterwards get enrolled in the tablet of honour.
2Sa 23:20. Slew a lion. Such an action always placed a man in the list of heroes.
REFLECTIONS.
We have now followed the hero of Israel to about the seventieth year of his life, and surely few princes called to sway the sceptre in difficult times, had either more distinguished virtues or fewer faults. As to his piety and prophetic character, still making the allowance due to a king, grace and talents shone in him with a most distinguished lustre. Inspired while young to pour forth the effusions of his heart in sacred songs, the divine endowments continued to old age. But in adversity, piety and confidence sustaining his soul, his compositions possess the most impressive excellence. When pursued by Saul, and when fleeing from Absalom, he uttered the sorrows of his heart in the best of psalms; and transferring all his hopes to a full deliverance by the Messiah, he frequently paints the sufferings of the Saviour more clearly than he himself was then able to comprehend. 1Pe 1:10; 1Pe 1:12. This divine endowment, the glory of his youth and the guide of his life, did not forsake him in hoary age. We have here his last psalm: and whether we consider the simplicity of the ideas, the beauty of the diction, or its close connection with the past life and future hopes of this illustrious man, it is a worthy close of sacred merit. He begins by avowing the obscurity of his birth, that he might ascribe the greater glory to God; but he regards his call to the throne as a link in the chain of mercies flowing from the covenant of Jacobs God. Learn then, oh my soul, anointed of the Lord, to make his covenant promises the basis of thy faith, the support of thy life, and the refuge and retreat of thy retiring days.
David here bears testimony to his own inspiration. The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was on my tongue: and the testimony of the servant is confirmed by the Master. All things must be fulfilled, said Jesus, which are written of me in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms. Hence though many things in the psalms might be written without inspiration; yet we are here taught to regard the whole as composed under a sacred influence; and something of that sacred influence is still felt by the pious soul in reading the sacred page. May our hearts ever burn within us, while those things are expounded in our ears.
The first charge which God gave to David was to be just, and to rule in the fear of the Lord. Righteousness is both the glory of God, and of a king. National justice must never sustain a blot: bribery, partiality, and party decisions must never be known there. The ministers of justice, as well as the ministers of religion, must be able to look all mankind in the face. It is equally the interest of the wicked and of the righteous, of the prince and of the poor, that perfect purity should exist in the administration of equity and justice.
If these words be applied to the Messiah, of whom the victorious kingdom of David and the peaceful reign of Solomon were types, they are most strikingly true, and everywhere illustrated in his reign and government. He arose on the world as the sun shining without a cloud; and his church being watered with the grace of pentecost, flourished under his influence, just as the grass rapidly grows after the rain, when acted upon by the solar warmth. God is as the dew unto Israel, and the people flourish as the herb. Thus also he confirms his covenant with David, and with the faithful, while all their enemies, the sons of Belial, melt away.
While David retired with songs of triumph, and with all the glory of conquest, his worthies or generals shared his fame. Riches, honour, and happiness crowned their glorious career. So those who fight the good fight of faith, and endure to the end, shall sit on thrones in the presence of their Lord. God is not unrighteous to forget their work of faith and labour of love. The little efforts we make to resemble him and to advance his glory, shall one day be crowned with the fairest honours which heaven can give.
Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Sa 23:1-7. The Last Words of David (cf. above).This poem is generally held to be a late production and not composed by David. Saith (twice) in 1Sa 23:1, is the solemn neum, oracle (Num 24:3). Instead of sweet psalmist of Israel, render him whom Israel delights to praise (cf. RVm). 2Sa 23:4 should run:
He shall dawn like the light of morning,
Like the sun on a morning without clouds.
The text and translation of the last line, and of 2Sa 23:5-7, are uncertain; there is no agreement amongst scholars as to how they are to be restored, so that one cannot offer anything which is an assured improvement on RV, except at one or two points. 2Sa 23:5 should open, Verily my house is sure with God; the last line of the verse should be taken with what follows.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
In the last words of David (vs.1-7) we see far more clearly than in Chapter 22 the sharp distinction between David personally and David’s Son Messiah. The first verse presents David himself as son of Jesse, raised up to the throne of Israel as the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel. All of this blessing given to him is mainly for the purpose of his bearing witness to the future King of Israel, the Lord Jesus.
Verse 2 shows that David was not only writing from the viewpoint of his having learned in experience the ways of God, but rather from that of having had a direct revelation from the Spirit of the Lord, who spoke by David, His word being on his tongue. It was the God of Israel, the Rock of Israel who spoke.
“The ruler over men shall be just, ruling in the fear of God.” In comparison with other rulers, this was in measure true of David. But there were many things in which he fell short of this, as we have seen in this book, and as he confesses in verse 5. in Christ in His lowly humiliation we find perfect righteousness, perfect truth: He has proven His character in His experiences of sorrow and rejection. This same truth and justice Will shine out in beautiful magnificence when He takes His throne over all creation. As Man He will rule in the fear of God, in perfect consistency with the character of the God of Israel and of the universe.
“He shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, like the tender grass springing out of the earth, by clear shining after rain. This advent of the Lord Jesus at the beginning of the millennium is also depicted in Mal 4:2 as “the Sun of Righteousness” arising “with healing in His wings.” In a very real sense the sun reigns over the earth: without it everything would be left in a total deep-freeze at absolute zero, and in darkness. The rule of the sun is by no means simply the rule of authority, but provides welcome light and warmth, as well as living chemical action that produces growth in vegetation.
If there were no rain, no moisture at all, of course the sun’s heat could become unbearable, with everything dried up and desolate. The rain is typical of the refreshing showers of the word of God, without which our own souls would be dried up and parched. But when once the rain has come, followed by the clear shining of the sun, how good it is to see the fresh green grass springing up from the earth. Thus, the coming of the Lord Jesus in glory will be like such a day, with Israel springing forth in spiritual prosperity, the word of God being precious to them, and the coming of their Messiah a marvellous joy.
Sadly, in verse 5 David has to acknowledge that his house is not so with God: he could not in any way quality as this just person ruling in the fear of God. Yet in spite of this, God had made with David an everlasting covenant, ordered in perfection, and absolutely sure. In this David saw all his salvation and his every desire, and asks the question, “Will He not indeed make it grow?” (NASB). For what is of God will grow, while men’s works will come to nothing, as verses 6 and 7 indicate. The sons of Belial (“worthlessness”) are as unwelcome thorns, discarded because they cannot be handled with human hands. Contact with such men requires a heavy defensive armour, with a spear also to take the offensive. But such harmful influences will not be tolerated in God’s kingdom: they will be burned with fire.
DAVID’S MIGHTY MEN
Nearing the end of David’s history, it is appropriate that this chapter provides a picture of the judgment seat of Christ, at which every work for Him will be rewarded. The commendations of these mighty men of David teach us that what victories we may accomplish for the Lord will receive full recognition at His judgment seat. Their weapons were of course carnal, or fleshly, and their victories were not spiritually profitable, as ours should be. The armour of the Christian is seen in Eph 6:10-18, and this involves the self-discipline that keeps the flesh from exerting itself, but allows the Spirit of God liberty to produce proper spiritual fruit in our lives. All the details here will not be found easy to interpret, though there is no doubt that they are significant of what is commendable in the way in which a believer meets his conflicts. One man stands out in the first place, Adino, the Eznite. He is called “The Tacmonite who sat in the seat.” When we consider that in Eph 6:12 our warfare is seen to be “in the heavenlies,” then the connection with Eph 2:6 is most striking. Here we are told that believers are “raised up together” and made to “sit together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus.” This is our place “in Christ.” All believers have this, and yet all believers do not enjoy it and act consistently with it. If so, we should experience far more real triumph over evil in our lives. Let us be like Adino in a practical way, sitting in the seat of our heavenly position, thus overcoming the world and its seductions.
Eleazar is seen in the second place of honor (vs.9-10), a man who did not retreat when the rest of Israel retreated, but boldly carried on the battle with the Philistines alone, and for so long that his hand struck to the sword he was using. By his energy of faith the Lord accomplished a great victory, for the Lord honors the faith of one who will not be intimidated by the enemy even when no one else stands with him. The people afterward returned after him to reap the benefits of his faith.
The third one of the most outstanding three was Shammah (vs.11-12). The Philistines attacked with the object of either taking for themselves a field of lentils or destroying it. Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field and killed the attackers, thereby giving the Lord the victory. This illustrates the faithfulness of a believer in fighting to keep the food of the word of God from being stolen from God’s people. May we stand firmly and decidedly against anything that will deprive the saints of God of the food of His word that is so necessary for their sustenance.
Three other men are now spoken of (vs.13-16) who show their devotedness to David himself in an unusual way. The garrison of the Philistines had taken possession of Bethlehem while David was in exile in the cave of Adullam. Saul did not have the energy to expel the Philistines from Bethlehem (the house of bread), and David expressed the longing for a drink of water from the well of Bethlehem. No doubt there was no thought in his mind of expecting anyone to take this seriously enough as to risk their lives in order to secure a drink of water for him, and he certainly gave no command as to this. Yet these three mighty men, purely out of devotedness to David, were willing to venture their lives in breaking through the army of the Philistines with the object of drawing water from the well of Bethlehem. They did so successfully and brought the water to David.
This is a refreshing picture of the faith that delights to please the Lord in a spirit of willing self-sacrifice. David however appreciated their devotion more than he desired the water. He considered that he was not worthy of so great devotion, and he poured the water out as a drink offering to God, who alone is worthy of such sacrifices (vs.16-17).
Abishai, the brother of Joab, has a significant place as chief of these three men. Sadly, Joab himself is not mentioned as being given any honor at all in this final summation of David’s mighty men. He was a capable warrior who gained many victories, but his one fatal flaw was the fact that his motives were proven to be selfish. It was not God’s honor that he sought, but his own. David knew this, and advised Solomon that Joab must be put to death (1Ki 2:5-6). Joab’s treachery could not be ignored because of his many victories.
Benaiah is another one of the second three, a man who showed unusual courage whether in fighting men or beasts. Certainly the exploits of both of these are typical of spiritual victories, little as we may be able to interpret their significance. We are not told the name of the third man of this group, but we are reminded in verse 23 that the first three are accorded higher honor than the second three or all that follow them. These are mentioned by name only, and any spiritual lessons to be learned from them can be gleaned only from the meanings of their names.
Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible
23:1 Now these [be] the {a} last words of David. 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,
(a) Which he spoke after he had written the psalms.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
D. David’s Last Testament 23:1-7
The combination of David’s final song (in the text, ch. 22) followed by his last testament (2Sa 23:1-7) recalls the similar combination of Moses’ final song and his last testament (Deuteronomy 32, 33). This was David’s final literary legacy to Israel.
"Whereas the psalm in the previous chapter celebrates the delivering acts of Yahweh by which the Davidic supremacy was established, this little poem is composed around the theme of the dynastic covenant through which the continued prosperity of the Davidic house was vouchsafed." [Note: Gordon, p. 309.]
This poem also has a chiastic structure focusing on the Lord speaking (2Sa 23:3-4). His words describe the ideal king. They are messianic. However the passage also anticipates all of David’s successors.
The same great spiritual themes come through here as in the previous chapter and in the whole historical account recorded in 1 and 2 Samuel. The ancients regarded the last words of any person as especially significant. The last words of Israel’s great leaders were even more important. The last words of prophets were extremely important (cf. Genesis 49; Deuteronomy 33; Act 20:17-38; et al.). They often expressed lessons those who had walked with God for many years had learned.
The writer described David as simply the son of Jesse, a common Israelite, and as someone whom God had raised up, in contrast to a self-made man (2Sa 23:1; cf. Dan 4:29-33). David always viewed himself as one whom God had chosen and anointed for his role in life (2Sa 23:1). He was the Lord’s anointed and the sweet psalmist. These four descriptions of David picture his leadership in relation to his family, his political administration, his military forces, and his spiritual influence.
David claimed that the words that he had spoken had been received from God (2Sa 23:2). He thus gave God the credit for his inspiration. He also recognized God as the real ruler of Israel (2Sa 23:3). Many ancient as well as modern interpreters of this book have understood David’s description of Israel’s ruler in 2Sa 23:3-4 as a reference to Messiah. It probably also describes David and his royal descendants. The figure of the dawning sun pictures the righteous ruler as a source of promise, joy, and blessing to his people (2Sa 23:4). The figure of the sprouting grass describes him as a source of prosperity, new life, and fertility (2Sa 23:4). David viewed his dynasty this way because God had made an everlasting covenant (the Davidic Covenant) with him (2Sa 23:5). This resulted in order, security, deliverance, and fulfillment of desire (2Sa 23:5). David believed that the covenant would result in increased blessing for his house (2Sa 23:5). The worthless would suffer the reverse fate, however, and even be burned up as useless (cf. Mat 13:30). [Note: For a linguistic analysis of this pericope, see H. Neil Richardson, "The Last Words of David: Some Notes on 2 Samuel 23:1-7," Journal of Biblical Literature 90:3 (1971):257-66.]
To summarize, David believed that the Lord sovereignly initiates blessing, and those who value it cause His blessings to increase on themselves and others.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE LAST WORDS OF DAVID.
2Sa 23:1-7.
(See Revised Version and margin.)
OF these “the last words of David,” we need not understand that they were the last words he ever spoke, but his last song or psalm, his latest vision, and therefore the subject that was most in his mind in the last period of his life. The Psalm recorded in the preceding chapter was an earlier song, and its main drift was of the past. Of this latest Psalm the main drift is of the future. The colours of this vision are brighter than those of any other. Aged though the seer was, there is a glory in this his latest vision unsurpassed in any that went before. The setting sun spreads a luster around as he sinks under the horizon unequalled by any he diffused even when he rode in the height of the heavens.
The song falls into four parts. First, there is an elaborate introduction, descriptive of the singer and the inspiration which gave birth to his song; secondly, the main subject of the prophecy, a Ruler among men, of wonderful brightness and glory; thirdly, a reference to the Psalmist’s own house and the covenant God had made with him; and finally, in the way of contrast to the preceding, a prediction of the doom of the ungodly.
I. In the introduction, we cannot but be struck with the formality and solemnity of the affirmation respecting the singer and the inspiration under which he sang.
“David, the son of Jesse, saith,
And the man who was raised on high saith,
The anointed of the God of Jacob,
And the sweet psalmist of Israel:
The Spirit of the Lord spake by me,
And His word was upon my tongue;
The God of Israel said.
The Rock of Israel spake to me” (R.V.).
The first four clauses represent David as the speaker; the second four represent God’s Spirit as inspiring his words. The introduction to Balaam’s prophecies is the only passage where we find a similar structure, nor is this the only point of resemblance between the two songs.
“Balaam, the son of Beor, saith,
And the man whose eye was closed saith;
He saith which heareth the words of God,
And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High;
Which seeth the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes open”
(Num 24:15-16, R.V.).
In both prophecies, the word translated “saith” is peculiar. While occurring between two and three hundred times in the formula “Thus saith the Lord,” it is used by a human speaker only in these two places and in Pro 30:1. Both Balaam and David begin by giving their own name and that of their father, thereby indicating their native insignificance, and disclaiming any right to speak on subjects so lofty through any wisdom or insight of their own. Immediately after, they claim to speak the words of God. All the grounds on which David should be listened to fall under this head. Was he not ”raised up on high”? Was he not the anointed of the God of Jacob? Was he not the sweet Psalmist of Israel? Having been raised up on high, David had established the kingdom of Israel on a firm and lasting basis, he had destroyed all its enemies, and he had established a comely order and prosperity throughout all its borders; as the sweet singer of Israel, or, as it has been otherwise rendered, “the lovely one in Israel’s songs of praise” – that is, the man who had been specially gifted to compose songs of praise in honour of Israel’s God – it was fitting that he should be made the organ of this very remarkable and glorious communication. It is interesting to observe how David must have been attracted by Balaam’s vision. The dark wall of the Moabite mountains was a familiar object to him, and must often have recalled the strange but unworthy prophet who spoke of the Star that was to shine so gloriously, and the Sceptre that was to have such a wonderful rule. Often during his life we may believe that David devoutly desired to know something more of that mysterious Star and Sceptre; and now that desire is fulfilled; the Star is as the light of the morning star; the Sceptre is that of a blessed ruler, “one that ruleth over men righteously, that ruleth in the fear of God.”
The second part of the introduction stamps the prophecy with a fourfold mark of inspiration, 1. “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me.” For “the prophecy came not of old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2. “His word was in my tongue.” For in high visions like this, of which no wisdom of man can create even a shadow, it is not enough that the Spirit should merely guide the writer; this is one of the utterances where verbal inspiration must have been enjoyed. 3. “The God of Israel said, “He who entered into covenant with Israel, and promised him great and peculiar mercies. 4. “The Rock of Israel spake to me,” the faithful One, whose words are stable as a rock, and who provides for Israel a foundation- stone, elect and precious, immovable as the everlasting hills.
So remarkable an introduction must be followed by no ordinary prophecy. If the prophecy should bear on nothing more remarkable than some earthly successor of David, all this preliminary glorification would be singularly out of place. It would be like a great procession of heralds and flourishing of trumpets in an earthly kingdom to announce some event of the most ordinary kind, the repeal of a tax or the appointment of an officer.
II. We come then to the great subject of the prophecy – a Ruler over men. The rendering of the Authorized Version is somewhat lame and obscure, “He that ruleth over men must be just,” there being nothing whatever in the original corresponding to “must be.” The Revised Version is at once more literal and more expressive:
“One that ruleth over men righteously,
Ruling in the fear of God,
He shall be as the light of the morning.”
It is a vision of a remarkable Ruler, not a Ruler over the kingdom of Israel merely, but a Ruler “over men.” The Ruler seen is One whose government knows no earthly limits, but prevails wherever there are men. Solomon could not be the ruler seen, for, wide though his empire was, he was king of Israel only, not king of men. It was but a speck of the habitable globe, but a morsel of that part of it that was inhabited even then, over which Solomon reigned. If the term “One that ruleth over men” could have been appropriated by any monarch, it would have been Ahasuerus, with his hundred and twenty-seven provinces, or Alexander the Great, or some other universal monarch, that would have had the right to claim it. But every such application is out of the question. The “Ruler over men” of this vision must have been identified by David with Him “in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed.”
It is worthy of very special remark that the first characteristic of this Ruler is “righteousness.” There is no grander or more majestic word in the language of men. Not even love or mercy can be preferred to righteousness. And this is no casual expression, happening in David’s vision, for it is common to the whole class of prophecies that predict the Messiah. “Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment.” “There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord . . . shall rest on Him, . . . and righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins.” There is no lack in the New Testament of passages to magnify the love and mercy of the Lord Jesus, yet it is made very plain that righteousness was the foundation of all His work. “Thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness,” were the words with which He removed the objections of John to His baptism, and they were words that described the business of His whole life: to fulfill all righteousness for His people and in His people – for them, to satisfy the demands of the righteous law and bear the righteous penalty of transgression; in them to infuse His own righteous spirit and mould them into the likeness of His righteous example, to sum up the whole law of righteousness in the law of love, and by His grace instill that law into their hearts. Such essentially was the work of Christ. No man can say of the religious life that Christ expounded that it was a life of loose, feverish emotion or sentimental spirituality that left the Decalogue far out of view. Nothing could have been further from the mind of Him that said, “Except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Nothing could have been more unlike the spirit of Him who was not content with maintaining the letter of the Decalogue, but with His “again, I say unto you,” drove its precepts so much further as into the very joints and marrow of men’s souls.
It is the grand characteristic of Christ’s salvation in theory that it is through righteousness; it is not less its effect in practice to promote righteousness. To any who would dream, under colour of free grace, of breaking down the law of righteousness, the words of “the Holy One and the Just “stand out as an eternal rebuke, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law and the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.”
And as Christ’s work was founded on righteousness, so it was constantly done “in the fear of God,” – with the highest possible regard for His will, and reverence for His law. “Wist ye not that I must be about My Father’s business?” is the first word we hear from Christ’s lips; and among the last is, ”Not My will, but Thine, be done.” No motto could have been more appropriate for His whole life than this: “I delight to do Thy will, O My God.”
Having shown the character of the Ruler, the vision next pictures the effects of His rule:
“He shall be as the light of the morning when the sun riseth,
A morning without clouds,
When the tender grass springeth out of the earth
Through clear shining after rain.”
But why introduce the future “shall be” in the translation when it is not in the original? May we not conceive the Psalmist reading off a vision – a scene unfolding itself in all its beauty before his mind’s eye? A beautiful influence seems to come over the earth as the Divine Ruler makes His appearance, like the rising of the sun on a cloudless morning, like the appearance of the grass when the sun shines out clearly after rain. No imagery could be more delightful, or more fitly applied to Christ. The image of the morning sun presents Christ in His gladdening influences, bringing pardon to the guilty, health to the diseased, hope to the despairing; He is indeed like the morning sun, lighting up the sky with splendour and the earth with beauty, giving brightness to the languid eye, and colour to the faded cheek, and health and hope to the sorrowing heart. The chief idea under the other emblem, the grass shining clearly after rain, is that of renewed beauty and growth. The heavy rain batters the grass, as heavy trials batter the soul, but when the morning sun shines out clearly, the grass recovers, it sparkles with a fresher luster, and grows with intenser activity. So when Christ shines on the heart after trial, a new beauty and a new growth and prosperity come to it. When this Sun of righteousness shines forth thus, in the case of individuals the understanding becomes more clear, the conscience more vigorous, the will more firm, the habits more holy, the temper more serene, the affections more pure, the desires more heavenly. In communities, conversions are multiplied, and souls advanced steadily in holy beauties; intelligence spreads, love triumphs over selfishness, and the spirit of Christ modifies the spirit of strife and the spirit of mammon. It is with the happiest skill that Solomon, appropriating part of his father’s imagery, draws the picture of the bride, with the radiance of the bridegroom falling on her: “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?”
III. Next comes David’s allusion to his own house. In our translation, and in the text of the Revised Version, this comes in to indicate a sad contrast between the bright vision just described and the Psalmist’s own family. It indicates that his house or family did not correspond to the picture of the prophecy, and would not realize the emblems of the rising sun and the growing grass; but as God had made with himself an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure, that satisfied him; it was all his salvation and all his desire, although his house was not to grow.
But in the margin of the Revised Version we have another translation, which reverses all this: –
“For is not my house so with God?
For He hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
Ordered in all things and sure:
For all my salvation and all my desire,
Will He not make it to grow?”
Corresponding as this does with the translation of many scholars (e.g., Boothroyd, Hengstenberg, Fairbairn), it must be regarded as admissible on the strength of outward evidence. And if so, certainly it is very strongly recommended by internal evidence. For what reason could David have for introducing his family at all after the glorious vision if only to say that they were excluded from it? And can it be thought that David, whose nature was so intensely sympathetic, would be so pleased because he was personally provided for, though not his family? And still further, why should he go on in the next verses (1Sa 22:6-7) to describe the doom of the ungodly by way of contrast to what precedes if the doom of ungodly persons is the matter already introduced in the fifth verse? The passage becomes highly involved and unnatural in the light of the older translation.
The key to the passage will be found, if we mistake not, in the expression “my house.” We are liable to think of this as the domestic circle, whereas it ought to be thought of as the reigning dynasty. What is denoted by the house of Hapsburg, the house of Hanover, the house of Savoy, is quite different from the personal family of any of the kings. So when David speaks of his house, he means his dynasty. In this sense his “house” had been made the subject of the most gracious promise. ”Moreover, the Lord telleth thee that He will make thee an house. . . . And thine house and thy kingdom shall be made sure for ever before thee. . . . Then David said, . . . What is my house, that Thou hast brought me thus far? . . . Thou hast spoken also of Thy servant’s house for a great while to come.” The king felt profoundly on that occasion that his house was even more prominently the subject of Divine promise than himself. What roused his gratitude to its utmost height was the gracious provision for his house. Surely the covenant referred to in the passage now before us, ”ordered in all things and sure,” was this very covenant announced to him by the prophet Nathan, the covenant that made this provision for his house. It is impossible to think of him recalling this covenant and yet saying, “Verily my house is not so with God” (R.V.).
But take the marginal reading – “Is not my house so with God?” Is not my dynasty embraced in the scope of this promise? Hath He not made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure? And will He not make this promise, which is all my salvation and all my desire, to grow, to fructify? It is infinitely more natural to represent David on this joyous occasion congratulating himself on the promise of long continuance and prosperity made to his dynasty, than dwelling on the unhappy condition of the members of his family circle.
And the facts of the future correspond to this explanation. Was not the government of David’s house or dynasty in the main righteous, at least for many a reign, conducted in the fear of God, and followed by great prosperity and blessing? David himself, Solomon, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah – what other nation had ever so many Christ-like kings? What a contrast was presented to this in the main by the apostate kingdom of the ten tribes, idolatrous, God-dishonouring, throughout! And as to the growth or continued vitality of his house, its “clear shining after rain,” had not God promised that He would bless it, and that it would continue forever before Him? He knew that, spiritually dormant at times, his house would survive, till a living root came from the stem of Jesse, till the Prince of life should be born from it, and once that plant of renown was raised up, there was no fear but the house would be preserved for ever. From this point it would start on a new career of glory; nay, this was the very Ruler of whom he had been prophesying, at once David’s Son and David’s Lord; this was the root and the offspring of David, the bright and the morning star. Conducted to this stage in the future experience of his house, he needed no further assurance, he cherished no further desire. The covenant that rested on Him and that promised Him was ordered in all things and sure. The glorious prospect exhausted his every wish. ”This is all my salvation and all my desire.”
IV. The last part of the prophecy, in the way of contrast to the leading vision, is a prediction of the doom of the ungodly. The revised translation is much the clearer:
“But the ungodly shall be all of them as thorns to be thrust away,
For they cannot be taken with the hand,
But the man that toucheth them
Must be armed with iron and the staff and spear,
And they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place.”
While some would fain think of Christ’s sceptre as one of mercy only, the uniform representation of the Bible is different. In this, as in most predictions of Christ’s kingly office, there is an instructive combination of mercy and judgment. In the bosom of one of Isaiah’s sweetest predictions, he introduces the Messiah as anointed by the Spirit of God to proclaim “the day of vengeance of our God.” In a subsequent vision, Messiah appears marching triumphantly “with dyed garments from Bozrah, after treading the people in His anger and trampling them in His fury.” Malachi proclaimed Him “the Sun of righteousness, with healing under His wings,” while His day was to burn as an oven and consume the proud and the wicked like stubble. John the Baptist saw Him “with His fan in His hand, thoroughly purging His floor, gathering the wheat into His garner, while the chaff should be burnt with unquenchable fire.” In His own words, “the Son of man shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity, and cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And in the Apocalypse, when the King of kings and the Lord of lords is to be married to His bride, He appears “clothed with a garment dipped in blood, and out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that He should smite the nations, and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”
Nor could it be otherwise. The union of mercy and judgment is the inevitable result of the righteousness which is the foundation of His government. Sin is the abominable thing which He hates. To separate men from sin is the grand purpose of His government. For this end, He draws His people into union with Himself, thereby for ever removing their guilt, and providing for the ultimate removal of all sin from their hearts and the complete assimilation of their natures to His holy nature. Blessed are they who enter into this relation; but alas for those who, for all that He has done, prefer their sins to Him! “The ungodly shall be all of them as thorns to be thrust away.”
Oh, let us not be satisfied with admiring beautiful images of Christ! Let us not deem it enough to think with pleasure of Him as the light of the morning, a morning without clouds, brightening the earth, and making it sparkle with the luster of the sunshine on the grass after rain! Let us not satisfy ourselves with knowing that Jesus Christ came to earth on a beneficent mission, and with thinking that surely we shall one day share in the blessed effects of His work! Nothing of that kind can avail us if we are not personally united to Christ. We must come as sinners individually to Him, cast ourselves on His free, unmerited grace, and deliberately accept His righteousness as our clothing. Then, but only then, shall we be able to sing: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, He hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.”