David's Death Series

Scripture

Today we conclude our study of “The Life of David.”

This is our 57th lesson on the life of David. David became God’s king of his kingdom on earth. He ruled well for a time but, sadly, fell into sin. His kingdom declined but God had promised that his kingdom would last forever (cf. 2 Samuel 7:16). In our last lesson, David had Solomon crowned as king to succeed him. Today, we learn about David’s charge to Solomon and his death.

Let’s read about David’s death in 1 Kings 2:1-11:

1 When David’s time to die drew near, he commanded Solomon his son, saying, 2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, and show yourself a man, 3 and keep the charge of the Lord your God, walking in his ways and keeping his statutes, his commandments, his rules, and his testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn, 4 that the Lord may establish his word that he spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me in faithfulness with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

5 “Moreover, you also know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, how he dealt with the two commanders of the armies of Israel, Abner the son of Ner, and Amasa the son of Jether, whom he killed, avenging in time of peace for blood that had been shed in war, and putting the blood of war on the belt around his waist and on the sandals on his feet. 6 Act therefore according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to Sheol in peace. 7 But deal loyally with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be among those who eat at your table, for with such loyalty they met me when I fled from Absalom your brother. 8 And there is also with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse on the day when I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’ 9 Now therefore do not hold him guiltless, for you are a wise man. You will know what you ought to do to him, and you shall bring his gray head down with blood to Sheol.”

10 Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. 11 And the time that David reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. (1 Kings 2:1-11)

Introduction

John Piper’s father was an evangelist. He pressed the claim of the gospel upon his audience, often using stories. Piper writes:

For me as a boy, one of the most gripping illustrations my fiery father used was the story of a man converted in old age. The church had prayed for this man for decades. He was hard and resistant. But this time, for some reason, he showed up when my father was preaching. At the end of the service, during a hymn, to everyone’s amazement he came and took my father’s hand. They sat down together on the front pew of the church as the people were dismissed. God opened his heart to the Gospel of Christ, and he was saved from his sins and given eternal life. But that did not stop him from sobbing and saying, as the tears ran down his wrinkled face – and what an impact it made on me to hear my father say this through his own tears – “I’ve wasted it! I’ve wasted it!”

Piper goes on to write that this story prompted him – more than any other story – to live a life that counted. He did not want to waste his life.

As David came to the end of his life, he told his son Solomon how to live his life in such a way that it would not be wasted. He told Solomon how to make his life count. Let’s learn about this by working our way from back to front through today’s text.

Lesson

First Kings 2:1-11 teaches us to make our lives count.

Let’s use the following outline:

1. Remember That All People Die (2:10-11)

2. Act Wisely in Kingdom Matters (2:5-9)

3. Live By God’s Word (2:1-4)

I. Remember That All People Die (2:10-11)

First, to make our lives count, remember that all people die.

We read in verses 10-11, “Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. And the time that David reigned over Israel was forty years. He reigned seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem.” In 1983, I visited Jerusalem and went to a place that was called “King David’s Tomb” just outside the Zion Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City. I have since learned that the site I visited was not the actual burial place of King David, since its location was outside the city of David at the time of his death. It was just another tourist attraction!