Now these are the last words of David. David the son of Jesse says, the man who was raised on high says, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel:
“Yahweh’s Spirit spoke by me. His word was on my tongue.
The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me, ‘One who rules over men righteously, who rules in the fear of God,
shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, when the tender grass springs out of the earth, through clear shining after rain.’
Isn’t my house 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 my desire, although he doesn’t make it grow.
But all the ungodly will be as thorns to be thrust away, because they can’t be taken with the hand,
But the man who touches them must be armed with iron and the staff of a spear. They will be utterly burned with fire in their place.”
These are the names of the mighty men whom David had: Josheb Basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains; he was called Adino the Eznite, who killed eight hundred at one time. After him was Eleazar the son of Dodai the son of an Ahohite, one of the three mighty men with David, when they defied the Philistines who were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel had gone away. He arose and struck the Philistines until his hand was weary, and his hand froze to the sword; and Yahweh worked a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to take plunder. After him was Shammah the son of Agee a Hararite. The Philistines had gathered together into a troop, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils; and the people fled from the Philistines. But he stood in the middle of the plot and defended it, and killed the Philistines; and Yahweh worked a great victory. Three of the thirty chief men went down, and came to David in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam; and the troop of the Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim. David was then in the stronghold; and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. David longed, and said, “Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!”
The three mighty men broke through the army 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; but he would not drink of it, but poured it out to Yahweh. He said, “Be it far from me, Yahweh, that I should do this! Isn’t this the blood of the men who risked their lives to go?” Therefore he would not drink it. The three mighty men did these things.
Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the three. He lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them, and had a name among the three. Wasn’t he most honorable of the three? Therefore he was made their captain. However he wasn’t included as one of the three. Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit in a time of snow. He killed a huge Egyptian, 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 killed him with his own spear. Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did these things, and had a name among the three mighty men. He was more honorable than the thirty, but he didn’t attain to the three. David set him over his guard. Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty: Elhanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, Shammah the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, Helez the Paltite, Ira the son of Ikkesh the Tekoite, Abiezer the Anathothite, Mebunnai the Hushathite, Zalmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, Heleb the son of Baanah the Netophathite, Ittai the son of Ribai of Gibeah of the children of Benjamin, Benaiah a Pirathonite, Hiddai of the brooks of Gaash. Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth the Barhumite, Eliahba the Shaalbonite, the sons of Jashen, Jonathan, Shammah the Hararite, Ahiam the son of Sharar the Ararite, Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maacathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite, Hezro the Carmelite, Paarai the Arbite, Igal the son of Nathan of Zobah, Bani the Gadite, Zelek the Ammonite, Naharai the Beerothite, armor bearers to Joab the son of Zeruiah, Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, and Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 26, 27, 39 Which he spake after that he had made the…
Which he spake after that he had made the Psalms.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–23 2Sa 23:1 Now these [be] the last words of…
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.
Read full note →
David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high.] Though raised up to regal majesty, yet as not ashamed of his mean parentage and the obscurity of his family; saying in effect as Iphierates afterwards did, εξ οιων εις οια, from what a low estate am I advanced to this height of honour!
The sweet psalmist of Israel.] Sweet indeed: for in his psalms are amulets of comfort, as one {b} well saith, more pleasant than the pools of Heshbon, more glorious than the tower of Lebanon, more redolent than the oil of Aaron, more fructifying than the dew of Hermon. One touch of the son of Jesse, one murmur of this heavenly turtle dove, one michtam of David’s jewel, is far above the buskined raptures, garish phantasms, splendid vanities, pageants and landscapes of profaner wits.
{a} Quum iamiam esset moriturus. - Jun.
{b} The divine cosmographer.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 39 The last words of David; not simply the last…
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.
Read full note →
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 father’s 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 God’s 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 David’s following words.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv1–38 Now these be the last words of David,.... Which…
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:
Read full note →
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, Sa1 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 Luk 24:44.
(f) Maimon. Moreh Nevochim, par. 2. c. 45. (g) "jucundus psalmis", Montanus; "suavis in canticis", Vatablus; "amoenus psalmis", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 19, 21, 25 The last words of David, ver. 1-7. An account…
The last words of David, ver. 1-7. An account of his mighty men, the first three, ver. 8-12. Two of the next three, ver. 13-23. And the thirty, ver. 24-39.
Last words - 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 God's 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 the promise. Raised - Advanced from an obscure estate, to the kingdom. Whom, God singled out from all the families of Israel, and anointed to be king. 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.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 39 The last words of David, 1-7.
CHAPTER XXIII
The last words of David, 1-7.
Read full note →
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.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 17, 18, 20, 21, 25, 26 2Sa 23:1. These be the last words of David…
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 God’s 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 God’s 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.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 23, 24, 36, 39 The last words of David - i. e., his…
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.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39 Last words, which he spoke by inspiration, (Menochius) or…
Last words, which he spoke by inspiration, (Menochius) or which may be considered as the conclusion of his Psalms, and inserted after the 71st, (Calmet) or as a preface or summary of those divine canticles; (Du Hamel) or they relate to the last ages, and to the Messias, (Chaldean) the end of the law. (Haydock) --- Some think it has not been inserted among the Psalms, as not being written in verse: (Sanctius) but it is composed in the true spirit of the Hebrew poetry, though very obscure. --- Christ, who should be born of him; or David himself was appointed to be "the king" of God’s people. Septuagint, "he whom God raised up, the Christ of," &c. Hebrew, "sovereign anointed of," &c. --- Psalmist. The Holy Spirit directs David to speak in his own praise. His Psalms were always most highly esteemed in Israel. (Calmet) --- Said. This preamble may remind us of a similar one of Balaam, Numbers xxiv. 3. The prophets generally declare who they are. (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On vv1, 8 David’s Last Prophetic Words
FOURTH SECTION
David’s Last Prophetic Words
Read full note →
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 David’s 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. 137–152. Walch III. 2790–2910. Erl. A. Bd. 37, p. 1 sqq.—Pfeiffer, Dubia Vexata, pp. 398–401—Buddeus, Hist. Eccl. N. T. I., pp. 194–196.—Crusius, Hypomnemata II., pp. 219–224.—Joh. G. Trendelenburg, Comment, in noviss. verba David, Göttingen, 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. Bücher des Alt. Bundes [Poetical Books of the Old Testament], I., pp. 99–102, and Hist. of Israel, III. 268 (3 ed.).—Vaihinger, Zur Erklärung des Liedes 2Sa_23:1-7, in the Stud, und Krit., 1843, pp. 983 sqq.—Hengstenberg, Christology of the Old Testament, in loco.—Reinke, Beiträge zur Erklärung des Alt. Testament, IV., p. 455 sq. Fries, Die letzten Worte Davids 2Sa_23:1-7, Stud. u. Krit., 1857, pp. 645–689.—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 David’s 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. 99–134). Further, it does not mean: the last prophetic word in the list of David’s 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 (נְאֻם, Num_24:3-4; Num_24:15-16)” (Thenius).
Divine saying (נְאֻם1) 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 Balaam’s 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 high3—the 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 God’s representative and in God’s 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 (נְעִים) does not mean “approved, well-pleasing,” as Fries takes it, explaining: “chosen to sing Israel’s 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 (זְמִיר), 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 (זִמְרָה) and in the titles of the Psalms (מִזְמוֹר).—As the “Anointed of the Lord” he is equipped with the Holy Spirit from above; as one that is “pleasant in Israel’s songs of praise” he likewise shows himself filled with the Lord’s Spirit. His high position consists on the one hand in the dignity of his royal office as God’s 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 God’s 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 David’s 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 David’s 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 David’s 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 David’s 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 writer’s 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 David’s praise of himself (Sachs). Nor with Trendelenberg (in Thenius) are we to read “derision” (מָשָׁל “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 righteously—he 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 David’s 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 Lord’s 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_23:3—either 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 = הֲכִי, 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.6—For 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 “so”7 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 prospers—that God has granted blessing to his house and his house’s future—that 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 David’s 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 David’s mouth a “who am I and what is my house?” (2Sa_7:18).—The sentence is rather to be rendered: “For—stands 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” (Böttch., 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 writer’s 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 house—not also “the religious and ethical culture of his people” (Then.)—to its source in God’s 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 (צמח “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 wicked—as 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 God’s 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 (בַשָּבֶת)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 (Böttcher, 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 David’s 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 writer’s 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 David’s Messianic Psalms, comes out most strongly here. In Nathan’s 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 ruler’s 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 David’s 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 Israel’s 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 Sack’s expression) typical prophecy [bildweissagung] arises. Doubtless epithets may be applied to any king that sits on David’s 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” (Œhler, 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 God’s grace that have been made to him, one has nothing to utter but gratitude and praise—when in looking around upon his own life’s acquisitions and his possession of salvation, all self-glorying is silent, and only the testimony to God’s grace and mercy, that has done all and given all, comes upon the lips—when in looking forward into the future of God’s kingdom upon earth, on the ground of the grace experienced in life one’s 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 Lord’s gracious help to the end, which never suffers His people to be put to shame—and 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 God’s kingdom; every one’s place is in God’s sight high and glorious, however lowly and mean it may be in men’s 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 Lord’s 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 God’s saving purpose, which only God’s Spirit can explain; the great deeds of God’s grace, which can be proclaimed only on the ground of personal inner experience and of one’s own seeing and hearing; and the future affairs of God’s 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 man’s own thoughts bow and be silent, but then also should the human spirit and the human word be the instruments of God’s Spirit and God’s 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 dominion—he 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 men—and 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-light—sunrise—morning without clouds—shining after rain—grass out of the earth—then—then—then,” this is the gradation in which faith beholds the process of appearing of salvation and life from above, and the effects of salvation beneath—this 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 Jesse’s 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 shepherd’s 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 God’s 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 sweet—but 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 sin’s 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 Spirit’s 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_4:2—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 law’s thunder makes everything dreadful and quite deadly. But here, in Messiah’s 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: God’s 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, Christ’s 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 Christ’s 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 man’s 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 character—everlasting, well-ordered, sure.—Tr.]
Footnotes:
[1]Const. state of נָאוּם, from נאם, properly=המה ,נהם “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 נאם 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] עַל absolutely = “above,” as in Hos_11:7 and perhaps 2Sa_7:16 (so תַּחַת often = adverb “below,” for example Gen_49:25). Sept. wrongly: “whom God [Vat.: the Lord] raised up to be God’s anointed” whence Thenius would without ground read: הֵקִים יהוה עַל. 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 עַל is not = לְ [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) עַל denotes either “being conformed to” or “coming in addition to” the other free-offerings.—D. Kimchi and Böttcher arbitrarily make עֶלְיוֹן = עַל “whom the Above [= Most High] has raised up.” On the form הֻקַּם, u with doubling, see Ew. § 131 d.
[4] מָשַׁל בָּאָדָם “to rule over men,” as Gen_3:16; Gen_4:7, not: “among men.”
[5] בֹּקֶר לֹא עָבוֹת in the sense of לֹא בֹקֶר עָבוֹת.
[6] לֹא without the Interrog. particle, 2Sa_19:23; Deu_20:19; Hos_11:5; Mal_2:15. Ew. § 324 a.
[7] כֵּן is Adverb, = “so,” not Adjective = “firmly fixed,” firma (Fries), or = נָכוֹן, 2Sa_7:26; 1Ki_2:45-46 (Crusius).—עִס־אֵל = “with God,” not “before God” (De Wette).
[8]The fourth כִּיּ resumes the third, the interrogation being continued. It (the כִּי) might have been omitted, but its double use makes equally emphatic the salvation and the sprouting.—יַצְמִיחַ is Hiphil, causative. [Instead of חֵפֶץ כִּי Wellhausen proposes to read חֶפְצִי, which is smoother, but perhaps for that very reason suspicious.—Tr.]
[9]Sept. separates the כי־לֹא יַצְמִיחַ from 2Sa_23:5 and inserts it before 2Sa_23:6, omitting the וֹ: ὅτι ὀυ μὴ βλαστήσῃ ὁ παράνομος. 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” (כִּי הוּא).
[10] מֻנָד not Pass. of הֵנִיד “shaken (in order to remove)” (Böttch.) but Hoph. Part. of נוּד or כֶּלָּהַס—.נָדַד for כֻּלָּם. The ָהם- for ָהֶם- (cont. ָם-) is infrequent archaic form of 3 masc. Ges. § 91, Rem. 2.
[11]On ימָּלֵא. [lit.: fill the hand] comp. 2Ki_9:24, and on the “arms” 1Sa_17:7.
[12] שֶׁבֶת is Subst. from שָׁבַת “to cease” (Pro_20:3); it may also be pointed as Infin., בִּשְׁבֹת 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 בּשֶׁת, αἰσχύνη, “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.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 27 LAST WORDS OF DAVID, 2Sa_23:1-7.
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.
Read full note →
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 זמרות 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.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 1. David the son of Jesse said] The oracle…
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.
Read full note →
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.
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.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39 (1) The son of Jesse said.—The description of the…
(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 Israel’s psalms, i.e., by the composition and arrangement of Israel’s 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.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39 Now these be the last words of David. A…
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 Numbers 24. of the words of Balaam, and in Proverbs 30. 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.
Vers. 1-7.
Read full note →
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 isspoken of in a fourfold respect.
2. It is affirmed that the utterance which follows is expressly by the Spiritof God.
3. The true ruler is described as one who is just and one fearing God; andthe 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 whichGod 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 hisheart and the purposes of his house as 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 endowments wisdom 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 (ver. 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 gifts of thought, emotion, willpower, and of aptitude to do the right thing at the right time is 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 obligations morality on the human side must be combined with religious feeling supreme 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. (Ps 72)
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 (Ps 2; 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; 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 this that 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. (Ps 53) 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 vers. 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.
HOMILIES BY B. DALE.
Vers. 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 (Gen_49:10; Heb_7:14; Rev_5:5) and the house of Jesse the Bethlehemite, (Isa_11:1) but was ancestor of (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". (Mat_2:6)
1. 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
2. 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_6:8) his rejection, (2Sa_15:13) betrayal, and overwhelming sorrows; (2Sa_15:30) his final victory; (ch. 18. 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, (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". D. (Rom_9:5)
Vers. 1-3. (JERUSALEM.)
David"s last words.
The closing years of David"s life (after the insurrection of Sheba was subdued, ch. 20.) 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) 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) He also "gathered together the princes of Israel,", (1Ch_23:1, 1Ch_23:2) made numerous arrangements, sacred and, (1Ch_23:3-32 1Ch_23:24-27) addressed a convocation of princes, gave a charge to his successor, and offered thanksgiving to God. (1Ch 28:29:1-25) 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, 22 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". (Jud_1:6:15) 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").
1. 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)
2. 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 men this (together with all the Divine benefits he has received) is a matter of grateful remembrance and fervent thanksgiving. (Psa_37:25, Psa_37:37, 39 Ps 103) "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 (vers. 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; ver. 5) "Nevertheless we according to his promise," etc.. (2Pe_3:13)
3. The realization of a blessed hope; the hope of personal salvation (ver. 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. (Ver. 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.
HOMILIES BY G. WOOD Vers. 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 ver. 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". (comp. 2Sa_7:8, 2Sa_7:9)
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 ver. 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" (vers. 2, 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 be should 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 ver. 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, 7 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 them a 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 (ver. 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" (ver. 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. (Vers. 6, 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. (Ver. 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 (ch. 7.) 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.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 19, 20 Now these be the last words of David.
2Sa_23:1-5
Now these be the last words of David.
Read full note →
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.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On v1 2Sa_23:1-7. (See Revised Version and margin.)
CHAPTER X X X I.
THE LAST WORDS OF DAVID.
Read full note →
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."
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv1, 8 2Sa_23:1. Words, rather, Divine sayings, i.e., prophetic utterances. Keil…
CRITICAL AND EXPOSITORY NOTES.
2Sa_23:1. Words, rather, Divine sayings, i.e., prophetic utterances. Keil thus translates the verse:
Read full note →
“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 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 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 be—“A ruler over men—just—A 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 Messiah’s 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 is—“For 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) as—what is well-pleasing to God, not—what 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 Messiah—the 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
DAVID’S 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 knowledge—without furnishing them with the best rules for the guidance of their lives which he was able to frame. Men find themselves strangers on the earth—compelled, 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 man—that 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 gifts—a knowledge of Himself—He 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 emblem—the grass shining clearly after rain—is that of growth—fresh, healthy, beautiful development and progress—steady, 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 law’s thunder makes everything dreadful and quite deadly. But here, in Messiah’s 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 Christ’s 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 Christ’s kingly glory. In the bosom of one of Isaiah’s 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 God’s saving purpose, which only God’s Spirit can explain; the great deeds of God’s grace, which can be proclaimed only on the ground of personal, inner experience, and of one’s own seeing and hearing; and the future affairs of God’s 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 David’s Messianic psalms, comes out most strongly here. In Nathan’s 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 life’s acquisitions and his possession of salvation, all self-glorying is silent, and only the testimony to God’s grace and mercy, that has done all and given all, comes upon the lips. When, in looking forward into the future of God’s kingdom upon earth, on the ground of the grace experienced in life, one’s faith becomes a prophet, beholding the ways along which the Lord brought His Kingdom through darkness to light; through conflict to victory.—Erdmann.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 2Sa 23:1
2Sa 23:1
In David we have: (1) an example and (2) a warning.
Read full note →
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.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 5, 15 2 Samuel
2 Samuel
THE DYING KING’S LAST VISION AND PSALM
Read full note →
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.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 David's Last Words. The Exploits of his Heroes
David's Last Words. The Exploits of his Heroes
1-7. This psalm is not contained in the book of Psalms. It is called 'the last' (rather, 'the latter') 'words of David,' in contrast with the earlier psalm, which forms 2 Samuel 22. We have no other means of determining its date.
Read full note →
2. By me] RM 'in me.' The idea is that God used the psalmist as His instrument and spokesman to repeat His words to the people: cp. 1Ki_22:28; Hos_1:2.
4. As the tender grass springing] render, 'when the tender grass springs.' The righteous ruler is like a bright, sunny morning, when there are no clouds and the grass springs out of the earth. There are no clouds to darken the present or threaten the future, and the whole land is alive with gladness and life.
5. This v. is better taken as a question: 'For is not my house so with God, seeing He hath made.. for all my salvation and all my desire, shall He not make it to grow? 'David refers to the promise actually made in the past and looks forward with confidence to the future. Everlasting covenant] cp. 2Sa_7:15, 2Sa_7:16.
Ordered in all things] i.e. properly drawn up and arranged in every respect. Grow] i.e. continue and increase: cp. Isa_45:8.
6, 7. These vv. contrast the fate of the wicked. Thorns cannot be pulled up with the naked hand, but the man who wishes to cut them down must take in his hand a long staff with an iron weapon at the end.
8-39. This list of heroes originally contained the first three, then a second three, then the 30:36 names in all, or with Joab, 37 names. This is the number actually given in 2Sa_23:39.
8-11. The first three, Ishbosheth, Eleazar, and Shammah.
8. The Tachmonite that sat in the seat] read, 'Ishbosheth the Hachmonite.' Chief among the captains] read, 'the chief of the three': cp. 2Sa_23:19. The same was Adino the Eznite] Chronicles rightly reads 'he lifted up his spear.'
11. Into a troop] read, 'to Lehi.' Lehi was the scene of Samson's exploit against the Philistines (Jdg_15:9.).
13-16. We now get a great exploit, which promoted three other heroes to a place above the 30.
16. Poured it out unto the Lord] as too precious for human use.
18-20. Two names only of the second three have been preserved: Abishai and Benaiah.
24-39. Chronicles reduces this list to the correct number of 30, by omitting the name of Elika (2Sa_23:25). But we know that Asahel died early in David's reign, and another may have been chosen in his place.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv3, 8 (See Scofield "Psa 19:9").
fear
(See Scofield "Psa 19:9").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 3. The Last Words of David and the Record…
3. The Last Words of David and the Record of the Mighty Men
CHAPTER 23
Read full note →
1. His last words (2Sa 23:1-7)
2. The names and records of David’s 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 David’s 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 David’s mighty men (1 Chronicles 11).
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 8 David’s Last Prophetic Song
David’s Last Prophetic Song
v. 1. Now, these be the last words of David. David, the son of Jesse, said, he uttered a divine, oracular saying based on immediate inspiration, and the man who was raised up on high, from his lowly position as the son of a shepherd, the anointed of the God of Jacob, who had the royal dignity conferred on him by God, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, he who was pleasant in the praise-songs of Israel, said, all in the power of the Holy Spirit,
Read full note →
v. 2. The spirit of the Lord spake by me, using him as His instrument to convey the divine truths to men, in his writings and psalms, and His Word was in my tongue, for the Spirit acts through the Word.
v. 3. The God of Israel said, He who chose Israel for His possession, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He who is unchangeable, faithful, and trustworthy, he that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God, literally, "a ruler over men just, a ruler in the fear of God" (there will be), that is, such a Ruler would arise whose rule would be exercised in the fear of God.
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. The picture is that of a cloudless, beautiful morning after a night of ram, when all the plants, refreshed with moisture, respond to the coaxing warmth of the sunlight. That is the character of the Messianic period, such are the conditions following the coming of the promised King.
v. 5. Although my house be not so with God (the sentence is a question, like 2Sa 7:18, expressing David’s surprise over the goodness of God which was shown to his family), yet He hath made with me an ever lasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, 2Sa 7:12 ff. the declaration of God ordering and arranging all things beyond the possibility of overthrow; for this is all my salvation and all my desire, the salvation promised by God being a constant source of pleasure to David, although he make it not to grow, literally, "Should He not make it sprout?" Messiah would surely be a righteous Branch, who would reign and prosper, Jer 23:5; Jer 33:15. The contrast between this excellent condition and the judgment upon the ungodly is now brought out.
v. 6. But the sons of Belial, the godless, vain, and worthless scoundrels, shall be all of them as thorns thrust away because they cannot be taken with hands, they are so hurtful and dangerous that one does not take his bare hands to handle them, but uses tools;
v. 7. but the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear, in order to avoid all contact with them; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place, so that there will be an end to them. The reference is to the final judgment upon the godless and unbelievers, Mat 13:30. Note: The first part of this prophecy is fulfilled. The wonderful grace of God in Christ Jesus has appeared to all men, the dawn of the Messianic day has come. All believers enjoy the light and the warmth of the grace of Jesus Christ, both in life and in death, and therefore bring forth, as long as they live, fruits of righteousness, to the honor and praise of God.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 20, 22, 24, 29, 33, 37 This marks the beginning of a new section of…
Now
This marks the beginning of a new section of the book.
Read full note →
these are the last words
This refers to what David will say in 2 Samuel 23:2-7.
the man who was highly honored, the one anointed by the God of Jacob
This can be stated in active form. AT: "the man whom the God of Jacob highly honored and anointed" (See: Active or Passive)
anointed by the God of Jacob
Anointing was done by pouring oil on a person's head. This was done to choose who would serve God as king or priest. (See: Symbolic Action)
psalmist
This is a person who writes psalms or songs.
by me
by David
and his word was on my tongue
Here "on my tongue" is a metonym for David speaking. AT: "he gave me a message to speak" (See: Metonymy)
translationWords
word
David
son
Jesse
honor
anoint
God
Jacob
psalm
Israel
Holy Spirit
Yahweh
tongue
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, 18, 24, 39 23:1-7 This passage comes from the end of David’s…
23:1-7 This passage comes from the end of David’s career and reflects on his experience as king, even as ch 22 reflects on his experience before becoming king.
23:1 David’s last words were not necessarily the last words he actually spoke (see 1 Kgs 1:16, 29-30, 33-35; 2:1-9) but his final public expression of worship to God as king (cp. 1 Sam 12:1-25). • David . . . speaks: The language indicates that he was about to utter an oracle, a revelation from God (2 Sam 23:2). • the sweet psalmist of Israel: For other references to David as musician and poet, see 1 Chr 23:5; 2 Chr 29:26, 27; Neh 12:36; Amos 6:5.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.