Thank you.
It astounds you to hear it.
The shock and surprise is evident on all of your faces at this very moment.
But it's true.
Sometimes they lie to you.
Now, we are even now in the middle of an election cycle.
And I would wager if you pay close attention and keep both your eyes open and both of your ears open, you might catch a lie like this.
You might catch one or two half-truths.
A few exaggerations of fact.
A few hyperbolic detours.
Detours.
A few taking of liberties.
I know it surprises some of you.
But for those of you who are not surprised by this, perhaps there are a few of you who came into church tonight knowing this particular secret already.
Perhaps the greater surprise would be to hear that there may be a ruler who tells the truth.
Perhaps you listen to the news every night.
Perhaps on your way home or once at home.
You listen to the news with your defenses held high.
With thoroughgoing suspicion about all the words that come out of politicians' mouths.
Now, if this more accurately describes you, then I suspect our text and this sermon tonight may actually surprise you.
For this sermon is about a ruler who comes and causes to make, he causes his people to flourish.
A ruler who rules in justice and righteousness.
A ruler who keeps every promise he makes.
If you were to find such a ruler, would you vote for him?
Would you even campaign for him?
Would you put a bumper sticker on your car about him?
Would you put a lawn sign out about him?
What precisely would you do if you found a ruler who never lied to you?
Tonight, I want to speak with you about a ruler who keeps every promise he ever made.
You won't find the stories about him in the newspaper.
Instead, we have to go to a different text.
The text we're going to look at to discover this ruler is 2 Samuel 23, verses 1 through 7.
You can turn there with me.
We'll be there the whole evening.
2 Samuel 23, 1 through 7.
And my hope tonight is that as we read this text together, we'll see one major point.
This is the one point.
God's children celebrate when God's king is crowned.
God's king is crowned.
Let's look at the text.
2 Samuel 23, verses 1 through 7.
Now, these are the last words of David.
The oracle of David.
The son of Jesse.
The oracle of the man who was raised on high.
The anointed of the God of Jacob.
The sweet psalmist of Israel.
The spirit of the Lord speaks by me.
His word is on my tongue.
The God of Israel has spoken.
The rock of Israel has said to me,
When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God,
he dawns on them like the morning light,
like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,
like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.
For does not my house stand so with God?
For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and secure.
For he will not cause,
will he not cause to prosper all of my help and my desire?
But worthless men are all like thorns that are thrown away.
For they cannot be taken with the hand,
but the man who touches them arms himself with iron
and the shaft of a spear,
and they are utterly consumed with fire.
Now in order to understand this text before us this evening,
a bit of context might be useful.
This text tells us that these are the last words of David,
which is a strange designation
because after these last words of David,
David keeps on talking.
He's got plenty more to say after this.
You could read this as a simple error by the narrator,
but even if a cursory proofreading shows us that this is not the case,
these are not in fact the last words of David,
perhaps something else is intended.
And I suggest that's exactly what is intended.
These are not chronologically the last words of David.
These are rather the culminating words of David.
These words are supposed to describe in a capsule form the entirety of David's reign.
They epitomize his rule.
These words are presented to us as an oracle,
which is a rare thing for David.
An oracle or a prophetic utterance that David makes under the influence of the Spirit of God.
Do you see that there?
A long introduction.
The oracle of David.
The oracle of the man who was raised on high.
And then in the second verse,
the Spirit of the Lord speaks by me.
These are not only David's words.
These are God's words.
David is looking back as a historian over his rule.
But the Spirit might be saying something prophetic as well as historical.
We'll come back to that toward the end.
So there's a little context for what's going on here.
The centerpiece of this passage is verses 3 and 4,
where we find the reason that God's children rejoice when God's king is crowned.
And that's where I want to spend most of our time this evening tonight,
looking at 3 and 4.
Look at these verses again.
The God of Israel has spoken.
The rock of Israel has said to me,
when one rules justly over men,
ruling in the fear of God,
he dawns on them like the morning light,
like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,
like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.
These words David speaks about himself.
He is the Lord's anointed one in this passage.
He is the one who deals justly with his people.
Why?
First off, because he fears God.
He knows himself to be one who is himself under authority.
And therefore, he is supposed to rule over those over whom he has authority with justice.
And look at the metaphors that are used here for the reign of this king.
He dawns on them like the morning light,
the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning,
rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.
These are metaphors of flourishing as in a garden,
the things that are required to make the plants that this king is husbanding flourish,
the unmitigated,
unclouded sun,
the mist of rain that waters this garden.
This is a king who serves his people,
who rules on behalf of his people.
That's how you tell a good king,
that he rules on behalf of the people over whom he has authority.
He does not use the people over whom he has authority for his own purposes.
He causes them to flourish.
This flourishing metaphor,
this garden metaphor,
I don't think is accidental.
Do you remember what man and woman's first task was?
To go and have dominion,
caring,
husbanding of a garden.
To bring forth the fruits of the earth.
To cooperate with God in making the world flourish.
To be his agents in the world,
causing goodness and justice
and beauty and love
to reign over all the earth.
This is what we were meant for.
This was our first task.
And the good king has not forgotten that.
The good king remembers that he,
as a descendant of Adam,
is charged with the task of
being God's agent in the world.
Of causing the world to bring forth much fruit.
To beautify the world.
To cause it to abound with goodness.
This is why
God's children celebrate
when God's king is crowned.
Because God's king is one who knows
that he is charged
with bringing the earth to flourishing.
And the people over whom he rules
rejoice when they see the world
righted from its wrongs,
beautified from its ugliness,
encompassed in love
rather than wrapped in violence.
How could God's children
not celebrate
that sort of thing?
Now, you may be skeptical
about this claim
that freedom and flourishing
come from submission
to good authorities,
rulers.
I'm even using the word
kings over and over.
Those of us in the audience
who are Americans,
we are taught from our youth
that kings are bad things
and we're supposed to revolt against them.
And here I am preaching to you
about the goodness of a king,
that we should indeed even celebrate
when certain kings are around.
Isn't that treasonous to my American citizenship?
Well, I don't think so.
I do think the American ethos
does not train us well
to sympathize with this idea.
We think that freedom and flourishing
mean doing what is right in our own eyes.
But the Bible has something to say about this.
Even this story,
when we remember where this story is
in the overall narrative of the Bible,
we have reason to doubt
our American idea
that freedom and flourishing
are doing whatever is right
in our own eyes.
Do you remember where this story begins?
Even back before the king,
in the book of Judges.
Judges is one of those
really depressing books
over and over.
They come into the land
and it's racked in evil
and a judge comes up
and takes care of business.
The judge dies
and the text says
there was no judge in Israel.
Every man did what was right
in his own eyes.
We think this is a utopia.
The Bible clearly depicts it
as anarchy,
violence.
The poor and the weak
are not taken care of
when everyone does what he wants.
Something is needed
to solve the problem
of human violence.
And anarchy is not the answer.
And that's where
1 and 2 Samuel come in.
The people want a king.
And God says,
okay,
you need a ruler.
I want it to be your king.
But if the people
yearn so much for a king,
Samuel,
give them one.
And at first,
it seemed like it was going to work.
Saul,
this stalwart man
who inspired hope
and strength
into his people,
flourished for a while.
And then he fell away.
And David came.
David,
the good king,
the man after God's own heart.
Surely,
he is the answer
to the problems
of the wickedness
of his people.
Except when you read
the stories of David,
it seems like
he is wracked
by the same wickedness
of his people.
We know the Bible,
the narrative,
the long arc
of the Bible
has said that somehow
the answer to our problems
is a king,
but not Saul
and not David.
So who?
At the beginning
of 1 Samuel,
the passage that brackets
these ending songs
in 2 Samuel,
you see the woman
named Hannah,
a barren
and lonely
woman
who pleads
with God
for deliverance
for a child.
And when God
provides a child,
she sings a song,
a song of prophecy.
And she says this,
She sees the Lord
is going to do something
through one
whom she calls
the anointed.
And here in this text,
we see David
takes this on
for himself.
Look there
in verse 5,
Does not my house
stand so with God?
David sees this
as applying to himself.
This is why
he sings this song
toward the end
of his life.
David is a historian
chronicling
his own reign.
What's the grounds
for him saying
that this applies
to his kingship?
Verse 5 again,
He has made with me
an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things
and secure.
What's David's reason
for saying this?
What's the proof
that God has made
a covenant with him?
Well, first off,
God has spoken to him.
Second and thirdly,
David,
over the course
of the last several chapters,
has destroyed
the enemies of God.
Something that today
looks to us
like a needless,
senseless bloodbath.
But here's what he's done,
little by little.
He has cleared out
a space of peace
for his son
to construct the temple.
Solomon will not need
to marshal grand armies
to defeat
any more Philistines.
David's already done that.
Solomon can muster
the strength of Israel
to build the dwelling place
of God.
This is one of David's
greatest feats.
things.
But,
if we read this passage
only as history,
then it certainly
must be
pure mockery.
For we've already seen
the dreadful things
that David has done.
And this next chapter,
after this one,
will be no different.
The list of his mighty men,
those come next.
The mighty men
that did all these things,
that won all these battles
with David.
Do you know who that last name
in that list is?
Uriah the Hittite.
The narrator mentions last
Uriah the Hittite,
ensuring that no matter
who else the listener
remembers,
what other names
in this long list of names
the listener remembers,
he will remember
Uriah the Hittite.
What's so special
about Uriah the Hittite?
Well,
this one
of David's mighty men
had the prestige
of being killed
by his king,
of having his wife
stolen by his king.
David is guilty
of the blood
of Uriah the Hittite,
and the narrator
won't let us forget it.
He puts his name
right at the end
of the list.
And right after that,
David will take a census,
which shows his desire
to trust in his own
military strength
rather than God,
and God is angry
about this
and causes a pestilence
to come and kill
70,000 of David's men.
David is the one
who rules
in perfect uprightness.
The narrator
does not want us
to read it
so simply.
When these two
contradictory pieces,
apparently contradictory
pieces of information
are presented to us
side by side,
the narrator
wants us to think.
On the one hand,
the just one
rules over men.
This is David
ruling in the fear of God,
causing the people
to flourish.
On the other hand,
he's imperfect
at best.
What the narrator,
I think,
wants us to see
is this.
That David
in this passage
is pointing
beyond himself.
Indeed,
all of Samuel
is pointing
beyond itself.
It ends
and culminates
with David,
but it ends
with David's failures
as well as
his successes.
The Bible
has told us
that a king
is necessary
to restrain
human wickedness
and to cause
the earth
to flourish.
But David's
not a great,
a perfect candidate
for this.
Do you remember
what I said here?
That David
speaks not only
as a historian,
but in the Holy Spirit,
speaks also
as a prophet.
David is looking
forward to
another king
that is to come
that rules
in justice
and righteousness.
Look here
in verse 5
again.
David says,
God has made
with him
an everlasting
covenant,
ordered in all
things
and secure.
more.
Historically,
we know
that a united
kingdom only
lasted for about
one more generation
after David
and the whole
thing went to pot.
How can this
be said to be
an everlasting
covenant?
Christians know
the answer
to this.
The answer
is that
David was
always supposed
to point
to somebody,
the better
David,
the true
king,
who would
truly cause
justice
to reign
on the earth,
who would
restore the
garden that
once was lost,
that would
cause the
earth and
all the people
in his care
to flourish.
And this
king came
in riding
on a donkey,
was crowned
not in gold
but in thorns,
was lifted
up not on a
throne but on
a cross,
and did not
live over his
people but died
for his people.
How can this
one be a
king?
Jesus can be
a king because
he did not
stay dead.
And after
his death,
he rose again,
and after his
resurrection,
he ascended.
He ascended
not simply
like a divine
elevator bumping
up into the
basement of
heaven.
No, he
ascended like
a king ascends
to a throne.
And all the
way back here
in Samuel,
hundreds and
hundreds of
years earlier,
we have it
foretold that
a true king
would come,
God's chosen
king would be
crowned,
and God's
cherished children
would celebrate.
So when we
read this,
we ought not
think only of
it as the
history of
David's reign,
but also as
the prophecy
of the coming
king,
the one who
is the desire
of all nations,
the joy of
every longing
heart.
what is in
this text for
us?
What does
this mean for
us, who no
longer search
for kings,
but nevertheless
find ourselves
to be in an
election cycle?
I think this
text tells us a
few things.
First, for
those who are
in authority.
Notice the
way a just
ruler exercises
authority.
authority,
they exercise
authority in
such a way as
to cause the
earth to
flourish.
Again, these
garden metaphors,
restoring Eden,
bringing the
fullness of
earth, the
fullness of
God's creation
to blossoming.
those of you
who exercise
authority in
ways big or
small, either
in elected
office or
even in a
parent, being
a parent, or
even in an
office, do
you have
anybody in
your life whom
you serve over
whom you have
authority?
If you do, you
have the
opportunity to
work with
God to cause
the earth to
flourish, to
make it, like
David for
Solomon, easier
for your
children and
those who
come after
you to
worship God.
That's a
choice you
have.
Or, you
can be like
those in
verse 6 and
7.
Worthless men
are like
thorns that
are thrown
away.
Do you
remember what
Adam's curse
was in the
garden?
That his
work would be
marked by
thistles and
thorns.
that now
Eden would
be overcome
with these
thorns.
And here
David speaks
of worthless
men as
these thorns.
The very
thorns that
the one who
is to
shepherd and
husband the
garden needs
to cut down
with iron and
steel and
throw into
the fire.
For those of
us who exercise
authority, this is
our choice.
To work with
God in causing
the earth to
flourish or to
be one of those
thorns that needs
to be pulled up
and thrown into
the fire.
Use your
authority,
therefore, to
cause the earth
to flourish.
To cause your
children and
your coworkers and
your family and
all those around
you, over whom
you have authority
or not, to
flourish.
set an example
in your life
of justice
and mercy
and love.
Ruling like
this king in
the fear of
God.
Is your life
lived in the
tangible fear
of God, knowing
that you will
give an account
one day to
this king
Jesus who
now sits
enthroned over
heaven and
earth?
This choice
is yours and
David would
beg you,
exercise your
authority in
the fear of
God, causing
those around
you to
flourish.
Pray for the
people that
surround you.
Be a good
example for
them.
Encourage them
and strengthen
them.
What about
those of us
who don't have
authority or
who are under
authority?
None of us
is president
in this room
and that means
we are all at
least under
one authority.
What should
we do?
What does
this text teach
us about how
we are to
behave under
authority?
The first
thing it tells
us is this.
Do not be
cynical.
Do not be
cynical about
your leaders.
A cynic is
one who has
given over to
despair, who
has thought our
leaders are so
corrupt that
there is nothing
for which to
rejoice any
longer.
I will never
get my hopes
up.
I won't be
fooled again.
men.
But this
passage talks
about just
rulers who
bring flourishing
to their
people and
worthless men
who grow up
like weeds and
are fit only to
be cut down
and burned.
This text thinks
there is a real
difference between
these people.
We should pray
that God
might send
good rulers
so that the
lands in which
we dwell might
flourish like a
garden, not
wither like a
desert.
We ought to
pray to God
that we have
occasion to
celebrate the
crowning of
one whom God
has chosen to
lead us.
We cannot be
despairing.
The Christian is
commanded to
hope.
Hope for what?
Not that this
world will be
somehow transformed
into heaven little
by little.
No.
We cannot be
given over to
despair.
So this text
teaches us
that we
ought not
despair.
It also
teaches us
that we
ought not
follow false
messiahs.
Humans
are hard
wired to
seek for
messiahs.
That's why
we believe
high-flying
rhetoric every
four years.
But that
rhetoric and
those messiahs
will always
disappoint us.
messiahs.
Those
messiahs share
our sins.
They
participate in
our flaws.
You know,
the only way to
ensure that you
will never be
disappointed by
your rulers is
to plan to be
disappointed by
your rulers.
The only way
never to be
disappointed by
your rulers is
to plan to be
disappointed by
your rulers.
They won't let
you down if you
plan on them
letting you down.
don't make
them into
messiahs.
We
incline toward
one of these
directions,
either being
messianic about
our favorite
person, our
favorite elected
official, or
being cynical.
They're all the
same.
Crooks, thieves,
bums, throw
them out.
We're tempted
to think this
way about all
of those in
authority over
us.
Our bosses,
probably even
more proximate
to us than
the president,
are the
particular objects
of our
scorn.
Don't
mess, don't
make a
messiah out
of anybody
above you.
Don't be
cynical claiming
that there is
no real
justice in
this world.
Instead, pray
for your
leaders.
Pray for
your leaders.
Pray that
God would
give us the
occasion to
celebrate the
rule of
justice.
God would
send ones
to us who
would come
to us like
the morning
light, like
sun shining
forth on a
cloudless
morning and
rain that
makes the
earth bring
forth grass.
Be thankful
for the small
ways we see
that now.
Christians are
taught to
expect very
little from
the rulers of
this world.
God.
We are also
taught to
thank the
Lord for
every shred
of grace
that we
see.
And for
those who
have eyes
to see and
ears to
hear, there
are millions
of shreds
of grace for
which to be
thankful.
Do you
thank the
Lord when
you come
to a red
light, which
has prevented
you from
smashing into
another car,
coming in the
opposite direction?
There's a sign
of good
governance.
Do you
praise the
Lord with
eager rejoicing
when in the
middle of the
night, in a
thunderstorm, you
are awoken by
the scraping of
a snowplow out
on the street,
doing a job to
make sure you
can get to
work the next
day?
This is a
little shred
of grace.
Good governance
is happening.
When the mail
arrives at your
home, assuming
it doesn't
include only
bills, we
should rejoice.
Something has
gone right in
the world.
Today I was
not falsely
imprisoned.
There are
plenty of
countries in
which that's
not the
case.
We ought to
rejoice and
be thankful for
every shred of
grace we see.
In a world that
is given over to
cynicism, what
kind of people
would we be if
we were pervasively
thankful for all
of the shreds of
grace that we see?
we can in fact
in this world
get dim visions
of what it would
look like for
the dawn to
come on us
like a morning
light and for
the sun to rise
on cloudless
mornings and the
waters to water
the earth bringing
forth grass.
We can see
these things.
When we see
them we ought to
rejoice.
hope for the
coming king.
The king that
David himself
looked forward
to.
Because this
king is coming.
this king
has said behold
I am coming
quickly.
With a real
crown on his
head this time.
And a real
white horse upon
which he is
riding.
This king is
coming.
The flourishing
garden of Eden
that our parents
forsook will one
day flourish again.
And those who
love Christ can
live there.
There in this
garden in the
middle of the
city of the
new Jerusalem
where God
himself sits
enthroned.
This is the
king that our
hearts yearn for
every election
cycle.
Every campaign
promise we hear
that we allow
ourselves to
believe even
slightly is a
picture of our
yearning for this
good king.
The failures
and the
successes of
this world's
leaders are
are both
designed to
point our
minds to the
coming of God's
true anointed
one.
The successes of
these leaders
because they're
only a dim
picture of what
full flourishing
will look like
when Christ is
finally enthroned
and subdues all
of his enemies.
And the failures
of this world's
leaders ought to
cause us to
raise our eyes
higher up to
that divine
king as well
knowing that
he will never
let us down.
None who
trusted in the
Lord were ever
put to shame.
This Messiah
does not
disappoint.
This is the
ruler who keeps
every campaign
promise he's
ever made.
This is the
Messiah our
hearts truly
yearn for.
And this
Messiah is
coming.
And when
this chosen
king of God
comes, God's
children will
celebrate at his
coronation.
How will we
celebrate?
Well we are
told in the
Bible that not
only will this
king come and
rid the world of
his enemies, but
he will also wed
himself to his
bride.
This is a
king betrothed
to a bride.
And we who
are in his
church are
that bride.
The celebration
that will be
ours when
this king
comes is
a bridal
feast.
It's a
wedding supper.
It's a
meal.
With bread
and wine
there for
the taking
and union
with our
king.
What a
celebration
that will
be.
And that
celebration is
precisely what
we look forward
to now.
As we come to
the Lord's
table to
drink the
cup and
take the
bread.
So as we
come, think
on the fact
that this
king died
for us to
cleanse us of
our sins and
to give us
new life.
Think also
of that great
wedding feast
that it
foreshadows
to which
all those
who love
Jesus are
invited to
come.
Let's pray.
Lord, we do
thank you for
this promise that
you will come
and right all
of the world's
wrongs.
That when your
king is
coronated, your
children will
celebrate.
great.
Thank you that
you have put
before us the
possibility of
real joy.
Know the
promise of
real joy.
Promises from
a king who
never broke a
promise.
Stir our
hearts with
eager longing
for your
reign, Lord
Christ, even
now as we
come to your
table.
I pray these
things in the
name of Jesus.
Amen.