King David's Last Words Series

Have you had a loved die? Did you have the chance to have a final conversation with them? And do you remember the last words they spoke to you? Or the last words they gave, period?

It's a way of communicating something very important, as your last statement to the Earth. One of the most famous last words given were those of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. They both died on July 4th, the anniversary of the American revolution. John Adams last words were, "Thomas Jefferson lives!" And Thomas Jefferson's last words were, "Is it the fourth?"

Famous atheist and founder of the church of Satan Anton Lavey's last words were, "Oh my, oh my, what have I done? Something is wrong..."

I recall my Grandpa Steckbauer's last words to me, in 2009 were a challenge to me, I was in my twenties, and he said to me, something a judge had said to me in a court room. He said, "Justin, remember what the judge said: You're walking on thin ice."

I was angry at the time when he said that. But later, I realized he was right.

My grandma Check, near the end she kept falling asleep, and waking up, and she would look over at my aunt Kelly, and ask her, "Am I heaven now?" She even asked my aunt Kelly why she was in the room. She asked if she had died too! But grandma knew where she was going. She was going to heaven. She saw a little girl in the room as well. She thought it might've been an angel. No one else could see it. But it may have been a daughter she'd had, her first child, who was a miscarriage.

I wonder what my last words will be! What will your last words be? What would you want to communicate to your family and friends?

Right now we're going to look at what King David felt was most important in all his life and history to communicate to his people and family about who God is.

I think it goes all the way back to the beginning. David's beginnings were very humble.

There was a young man named David who cared for a few sheep of his father. He was the youngest of all his brothers. When the whole family was called for an important meeting with a religious leader David was the only one they didn’t invite.

All these years later, we see David an old man, hair turned white, beard gone gray, wrinkled and tired, laying in bed, unable to keep warm.

King David has setup his son Solomon to become king after him. He has given him a charge in his last words to Solomon about how he should reign.

Now King David is dying. He’s surrounded by his family. And he’s going to give his last words to his family, to the nation, and to us today.

But first we get this summary of David’s life from the writer of 2nd Samuel.

It says this in 2nd Samuel 23:1, “These are the last words of David: “The inspired utterance of David son of Jesse, the utterance of the man exalted by the Most High, the man anointed by the God of Jacob, the hero of Israel’s songs…”

We find here the inspired utterance of David. What that means is the author agrees that the words of David given here were inspired by God himself.

First point today, God can use you as well to bring forth inspired utterance. In other words, God will speak through you if you let Him.

When you’re talking with someone whose struggling, pause a moment and ask God for the right words. Then trust in your heart that he’ll provide them. Then, as you talk with this person, God will bring just the right words out of your mouth, to touch their heart.

And you’ll sense in that moment that it was from God. And so will they. All of us do this from time to time without realizing it. The closer we are spiritually with God, the more it will happen I think.

The most extreme and amazing version of this, as an inspired utterance, is the prophetic person, who gives you a word from God for your future.

David was also, it says, "exalted" by the Most High God. This is the idea of being promoted to a higher position. He was given authority. He was shown before all to be trusted by God.

Second point today, God will at times exalt you, and at times he will humble you. If you show your faithfulness to God, he will exalt you, if you resist God and act pridefully, then he’ll humble you.

David was exalted by God, yet he was also anointed by God. He was prepared by him for all he had for him to do. God spoke truth over him through Samuel the prophet. And the author also says, David was the hero of the songs of Israel. That’s certainly true, most of the psalms are written by David in the book of Psalms!