2 Samuel 23:1-7

LAST WORDS OF DAVID, 2 Samuel 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,” (2 Samuel 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.” Psalms 2:10.