Special Series #8: David, Biblical Characters and How they Finished

 David was a man after God's own heart, and we all identify with him because of the way he lived his life. He was out there, you know, leading people making mistakes. I just just loving God passionately with his heart dancing before God. I mean, he was enjoying life with God. But there are a lot of lessons to learn from his life. I have the text there, and you can follow them all in your handout as well, but follow these texts, and let's learn from his his life in the next few minutes. In Second Samuel chapter 23 he lists out more than 30 friends who have shaped his life. I mean, that's a good discipline. Think back across your life, of the friends that you've had and how they have shaped your life. You know we talk about in the seven essentials for finishing well, the second one is, don't stop connecting with friends.

Transcript

Dr Hal Habecker: 0:27

I hope you're enjoying these studies and characters in the Bible and how they finished as much as I enjoy them. You know, I never thought about this when I was younger. I'm in my mid 70s now, but they're, they're really profitable stories about how people finished. You know, in my own personal life, it goes back to 99 when I heard Howard Hendricks give a series on the Edge of Eternity. The title of that series of lectures that he gave at Dallas Seminary was focused on men and women at the end of their lives, moving into eternity with Christ. I'll never forget that series God etched it in my life. And you know, he begins shaping things in your life by what he brings into your life the people he brings in. And now I'm finding myself at this age thinking more about the value of the latter years in life than I did in my middle years in life, being a pastor and building a church and building a ministry across the nation. You know, God has a plan for each one of us, and he's setting us up, as John Masel said, for the rest of our lives. That's why Robert Browning I love his poem. Grow old along with me. The best is yet to be I hope it etches its way into your mind and your heart, and I think of like Paul Romans 12, be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the perfect will of God for our latter years, our 60s, our 70s, our 80s, our 90s, our culture would say, retire, enjoy yourself, go Spend leisure time and enjoy the rest of your life. Well, there's a place for that. Solomon says that Ecclesiastes God is the source of all enjoyment. So enjoy your life, but know that he is a purpose for your life as well. Robert Browning hits that square on now, today I want to talk about David. I mean, who doesn't like David? David was a man after God's own heart, and we all identify with him because of the way he lived his life. He was out there, you know, leading people making mistakes. I just just loving God passionately with his heart dancing before God. I mean, he was enjoying life with God. But there are a lot of lessons to learn from his life. I have the text there, and you can follow them all in your handout as well, but follow these texts, and let's learn from his his life in the next few minutes. In Second Samuel chapter 23 he lists out more than 30 friends who have shaped his life. I mean, that's a good discipline. Think back across your life, of the friends that you've had and how they have shaped your life. You know we talk about in the seven essentials for finishing well, the second one is, don't stop connecting with friends. You know, I think about all the new people God has brought into my life in just the last few years. I think about how that will shape my life in the years to come. And then I think back across so if I wrote my own list of my 30 best friends, or 30 people that God has used to shape my life. How would they measure up to what David's list was? That's a good discipline to try. I also want to say that we'll see in David don't presume on past successes or insecurities. God wants to do something new in your life all the time. Many times we're hung up and mistakes we've made in the past, things that would make us insecure or we may be hung up on past successes trying to live out of them. Don't let's make these years New Years of trusting God, learning from the past and presuming on the future. Now, here's a great example for David. It's the first one I want to give. Now, the anger of the Lord burned against David, burned against Israel, and incited David against them to say, Go number Israel and Judah. Now the. That's interesting, David in his latter years. This is in Second Samuel, 24 in his latter years, as maybe he is letting loose of the kingdom somewhat Israel begins to go astray, and God didn't like it. Now the anger of the Lord burned against Israel and incited David against them to say, Go number Israel. I think David was a military man, and he's asking himself, do we have enough fighting men to whip everybody into shape? Now it's it's interesting. We'll learn later in Chronicles, the version there is. It says Satan numbered, moved against David to number Israel. Here it says, God, I think David is back in his fighting mode. He wants to make sure he's got all the men, all the resources to take the next step, the next challenge. I love what Joab says to him. And the king said to Joab, the commander of the army, he was with him, go now through all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and register the people that I may know the number of people if I have enough power to do what I want to do or what God wants me to do. But Joab said to the king, now may the Lord your God, added the people 100 times as many as they are, while the eyes of my lord the king still see but why does my lord the king delight in this thing? Nevertheless, the king's word prevailed against Joab and against the commanders of the army. So David is back to his fighting mode, and Joab says Tim, you got all the men you need. David, what is making you insecure in your aging years about the importance of getting your army ready and knowing how many men are there? I mean, that's a great question. So David numbered Israel with sobering consequences. And I mentioned first Chronicles 21 the text there says Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel. So ask yourself this question, what's motivating you in your decisions? Is it the Lord motivating you, or is it Satan motivating you? Dealing with your own ego, wanting to come out and make sure you've got everything under control. If it's the latter, it's not God, it's Satan. Great question. Now, David was aware of this. I mean, he would say, Hal, I agree with your assessment of this. David's heart troubled him after he had numbered the people. So he said to the Lord, I have sinned greatly and what I have done. But now, O Lord, please take away the iniquity of Your servant, for I have acted foolishly. David was aware, deeply aware in his heart, that he had gone against God. He He made this decision out of self, self exaltation, you might say. And that was Satan moving him to make sure he was in control. So when David arose in the morning, the word of the Lord came to the Prophet gad David Sears, saying, Go and speak to David. Thus says the Lord, I'm offering you three things choose for yourself, one of them, which I will do to you? This is interesting and sad. So gad came to David and told him and said to him, shall seven years of famine come to you in your land? Or will you flee three months before your foes, while they pursue you? Or shall there be three days pestilence in your land? Now consider and see what answer I shall return to Him who sent Me. David said to God, I'm in great distress. Let us now fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercies are great. But don't let me fall into the hands of man. David, realizing his sin repents, and he says, God, you're in charge. Now watch this. This is, in a sense, tragic. So the Lord sent a pestilence among Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and 70,000 men of the people from Dan to Beersheba died. Can you imagine that I just I shrink back in horror in my own life, if God said to me, because of my sin, this is the penalty, and here, 70,000 men died because of David's sin. When the angel Lord stretched out, stretched out his hand towards Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who destroyed the people, it is enough. Stop. Relax your hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Aruna the Jebusite. So then David says, I am the one who sinned not this people. Let your hand be against. Me and my father's house. So God came to David that day and said to him, go up and erect an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of a run of the Jebusite. So that's what David did you know, and that's what we all should do. When we come to grips with our sin, we need to worship and repent and say, God, you're the one in charge. I'm sorry, please, please, please forgive me. So David went and the ruler said to the Lord David wanted to pay him for that land and that sacrifice. He said, Let my lord the king take and offer up what is good in his sight. Look the oxen for the burnt offering, the threshing sledges and the yokes of the oxen for the wood everything, O King, Aruna gives to the king. And Aruna said to the king, may the Lord your God accept you. However, the king said to Aruna, no, but I will surely buy it from you for a price, for I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God, which cost me nothing. Yeah. That's why David was a great man. He falls on his face before God and repents. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels, and he built an altar and restored his fellowship with God. I just want to say, don't stop your worship when you fail. Fall on God and continue to worship through the very, very end of your life. David worshiped on Mount Moriah, I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God, which cost me nothing. Don't leave unfinished. What needs to be done and completed with your family. Is our next observation on David, so we move from this one to another one. This is recorded in First Kings chapter one. Listen to the text. Now, King David was old and advanced in age, and they covered him with clothes, but he could not keep warm. The aging years are upon him, and David had to be reminded of the importance of his son, Solomon. Now, here's the background. David did not name Solomon to be king. I don't know why you don't do certain things you ought to do in your aging years. You know, Solomon was given to David and Bathsheba out of their adulterous affair, and God had told David that Solomon would be the next king. But here he is in the end of his life, and he had not made Solomon King. How could he forget note, especially in First Kings one six concerning his relationship with his son, Adonijah, who was the one who proclaimed himself as king. The text says his father had never crossed him at any time. Why have you done so? And he was also a very handsome man. Now that's intriguing. Why didn't you deal with your sons, David, why didn't you instruct them? Why didn't you take them to task? I mean, you see this in David's life. He was not a faithful father in his latter days, he perhaps was not a faithful follower all of his days. You know, God blessed him, and he was the king of Israel, but he didn't take care of his home. Now the next challenge is with David's son, Adonijah. He proclaims His cell himself as king. That's interesting. The oldest son, the firstborn, usually was the successor to the throne. Now, why shouldn't Adonijah think that's his next move, because his dad never did anything about it. His dad should have proclaimed Solomon as king. So if dad does nothing, what happens the oldest son says, I'm going to be king. So he even gets some of David's right hand men to make him king. So he becomes the new king of Israel, not Solomon. Now, Nathan sees this, and he says to Bathsheba, there's something wrong with this picture. Bathsheba, your son, Solomon, is supposed to be king. And you can read the story there. We want to go in and confront David to make Solomon king. And David had to be reminded of the importance of his son, Solomon. How can he forget it? You know, I just don't understand. I don't understand David at this point. And maybe David didn't understand and didn't understand himself. You know, why don't you do certain things that you're supposed to do? And by the way, I want to add note this, who will hold us accountable to the end, it was Nathan who was David's accountability partner in this story. Nathan had been there all along. He was the one who confronted. In his affair, and he's confronted David in the end, so in the end of your life, as you live out your years, who's there as a close friend to encourage you to stay faithful to God, I want to say, Keep dreaming and planning for the future of your family as you age, what are you anticipating for your kids. I mean, David didn't wrap up his affairs, you might say, but we have the freedom. We have the opportunity to do that in our lives, to say things to our children, to encourage them as we grow up, as they grow up, or as Joseph did in Genesis 50, where he encouraged his family to keep trusting God. So one final note on David, he did learn from this, and he dreamt of his son, Solomon, building the temple. You can see this later on in First Chronicles, 28 and 29 where David has a vision for the temple, but God says you're not going to build it. Your son, Solomon, is going to build it. So they do go through this last phase of life, and you can see it there in David's words. Then King David rose to his feet and said, Listen to me, my brethren and my people, I had intended to build a permanent home for the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of our God. So I made preparations to build it, but God said to me, You shall not build a house for my name, because you are a man of war and have shed blood. Yet the LORD, the God of Israel, chose me from all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever, for he has chosen Judah to be a leader and in the house of Judah, my father's house, and among the sons of my father, he took pleasure in me to make me King over all Israel, all my sons. He has chosen my son Solomon, to sit on the throne of the Kingdom of the Lord over Israel. He said to me, your son Solomon is the one who shall build my house and my courts. For I have chosen him to be a son to me, and I will be a father for him. Everyone of us, as our years unfold and as we anticipate the end, there are things that we need to do. Don't let them remain on finished day. David wrestled with that, and he learned from his mistakes. He named his son, Solomon King, and God gave him the idea of building the temple all his plans, and he gave all that to Solomon, and it was Solomon who built the temple. May God help us in the end, to be like the apostle Paul as well, like David, to live well and to finish well. As Paul said, For I'm already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is coming. David saw it coming. I fought the good fight. I have finished the course, I have kept the faith, and in the future, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge will award me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who love His appearing. You know, David loved the appearing of God in his hand on his life to the very end, and even though he made some major mistakes at the end, I would say he finished well, and maybe isn't that like all of us, and that reminds me of the phrase by Crawford loretz, Don't let me drown in shallow water. Don't trip me up in my aging years for things that I shouldn't do and for things that keep me from doing what I should do. What a great lesson David is, and you can explore more of him in his life. He's been a favorite of mine, but I learned from him greatly in the end of his years. May God help us all to finish well, like Moses, Psalm 90, verse 12, so teach me to number my days that I may give to you, O God, a heart of wisdom. May God bless us to that end with our lives. You.