David Dies

If you have your Bible, turn with me to 1 Kings chapter 2, 1 Kings chapter 2. Tonight we come to an end of a very long journey that we have had through the study of the life of David. He has been king over Israel for 50 years. The time that 1 Kings chapter 2 is written, he is 70 years of age. We picked up David back when he was just around 13, 14, 15 years of age when he was anointed and he became the king over Israel. And we have watched him grow up and we have seen what God has done in his life.

And we have become entrenched in the man's life. We come to a place in our study where we realize that he's going to die and he charges his son Solomon. And for me, this is sort of a bittersweet ending because it's great to come to the end and to have accomplished the study of a great man. It's bitter because I don't want it to come to an end. I want it to keep on going. But you know, when David dies, what else can you say? Right? He's dead. He's gone. He's home with the Lord. And yet, I guess if we were to go back and do it all over again, we'd do it differently maybe by looking at different aspects of his life.

But there has been so much that we have covered. And if you've been with us for these months that we've studied this man, you have learned a lot about King David. But more so, you've learned a lot about your own life as you put it up against the Scriptures and begin to realize what God did in the life of David and what God wants to do in your life as well as mine. We began by looking at David as a son. He was a son of Jesse. We saw David not only as a son, but as a shepherd on the backside of Bethlehem.

We saw him as a singer, the sweet singer of Israel who wrote psalm after psalm after psalm. We saw him as the servant of the living God. He served his God. He honored his God. We saw him as a soldier, a great warrior for his God who defeated Goliath, Goliath's brothers and all the enemies around him. He was a great sufferer for the Lord God of Israel. As he was accused by Saul and sought after by Saul, we saw him suffer much in the wilderness of Engedi and all throughout the Judean wilderness. We also saw him as a seer, a very wise prophet of God who spoke the words of God.

We saw him as a supplicant, one who would intercede on behalf of the people of Israel. We saw him as a scholar, one who knew the word of God, studied the law of God. We saw him as a sovereign over all of Israel, the King of Israel. We've seen him as a spouse. He's a husband, a sire, he's a father. We've seen him as a sinner who sinned much against his God, but we saw him also as a saint because God saved his life. We also saw him as the savior of Israel, who pictures to us the ultimate savior who will come, the son of David, who will save the world.

But there was no king that saved Israel like David did. And that's what we've covered in his life over the last several months as we have examined this man through 1 Samuel, through 2 Samuel, and now in 1 Kings 2. And we come to an end of a journey. And what a journey it's been as we've examined his life and learned so much about our own lives. Tonight we look at his last words.

And I thought about this as I was writing this sermon for this evening. You know, if you've been in our church for any number of years, you've had the privilege of hearing the last words recorded by the great men of God. The Bible records the last words of Jacob in Genesis chapter 49. If you were with us in our study of Genesis, you know what those last words were as we covered them for you. The Bible also records the last words of Moses. If you were with us in our study of Moses, you were with us when we talked about his last words to a nation.

The Bible also covers the last words of Joshua. We studied the book of Joshua, Joshua 23, Joshua 24. We covered those last words as well. And if you were with us in our study of 2 Timothy, we covered the last words of the apostle Paul as he wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 4 and talked about the fact that he was about to depart. And now we come to the last words of David. So if you've been in our church for any number of years, you've had the opportunity to cover the last words of all the great men recorded in scripture.

I just gave them to you. And so you've had a great privilege to hear them, to understand them, to digest them. And those last words that they give are words that should hang on our hearts to help us understand the important elements of their life and things they want to leave with us. And God has been so good to allow us to hear them, to witness them, and to come to grips with the reality of those wonderful, wonderful words. When you come to 1 Kings chapter 2, David has already commissioned Solomon to build the temple.

It will take Solomon seven years after David's death to build that temple. What we have recorded in 1 Kings chapter 2 are the last words that David says to his son Solomon. Jacob speaks to his boys in Genesis 49. Joshua speaks to a nation in Joshua 23 and 24. Moses speaks to a nation. Paul speaks to Timothy. But David speaks to his son, the successor to the throne, the next king of Israel. And so what does he say? Why are these words important? How do we come to understand them? So we're going to look at four points with you this evening.

We're going to look at David's exit as he gets ready to die. And then we're going to look at David's exhortation as he speaks to his son Solomon.

And then we're going to look at David's epitaph as it's recorded in scripture. And then we're going to look at our encouragement as a result of David's death.

That's where we're going. This is our last sermon in this great king of Israel. First Kings chapter 2, verse number 1.

As David's time to die drew near, he charged Solomon, his son, saying, I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong therefore and show yourself a man and keep the charge of the Lord your God to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, his commandments, his ordinances and his testimonies. According to what is written in the law of Moses, that you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, so that the Lord may carry out his promise, which he spoke concerning me saying, if your sons are careful of their way to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you should not like a man on the throne of Israel.

Verse 10, then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. And the days that David reigned over Israel were 40 years, seven years he reigned in Hebron and 33 years he reigned in Jerusalem. Solomon sat on the throne of David's father and his kingdom was firmly established. Let's look first of all at David's exit.

It's eminent. He's about to depart. He calls his son into his chambers to speak to him, to address him one last time. So you need to be able to put yourself in the palace of the king, put yourself at the bedside of the king to understand what he wants to say to his son. His son is going to be the next king of Israel. And so the instruction he's going to give him comes from not only experience as the king of Israel, but it comes from a man that is committed to his God and wants his son to follow the Lord God of Israel.

And so the Bible says, as David's time to die drew near, it was an appointed time. Everybody's death is by divine appointment. He knew he was going to die, he just didn't know when, but he knew his time was coming to an end. Job says it this way in Job 14, verse number one, man who was born of woman is short lived and full of turmoil.

Verse five, since his days are determined, the number of his months is with thee and his limits thou has set so that he cannot pass. You know, I read that and I think, you know, everybody dies by divine appointment. Nobody ever dies by accident because all their days were written in Psalm 139 before they ever existed. God knows exactly how long you're going to live. He knows how you're going to die. He knows when you're going to die because it is an appointed time. In Genesis 49, it tells us that Israel, Jacob must die.

Why? Because God decreed that Jacob would die as he decreed that David would die. For it's appointed a man once to die and after that, the judgment. But look what the text says. It says, he charged Solomon the son with these words, I am going the way of all the earth. You know, he phrases it in such a way to help you understand that there is no fear in his life. David had no fear of death. He wasn't afraid to die because he knew where he was going. He said very simply, I'm going the way of all the earth.

Paul said it this way, the time of my departure is at hand. The word departure is a nautical term that speaks of loosening the ropes to allow the ship to leave its stock and move out to the sea. That's how Paul viewed death. The ropes of this life that kept him tied to earth were being loosed that he might be set free to go into eternity. Now, if you know the Lord, you realize that death is a doorway that opens for you to go into the glory and presence of God. The Bible says these words in Psalm 16.

To help us understand why David wasn't afraid to die, this is what he wrote. He said, verse 10, for thou will not abandon my soul to Sheol, neither wilt thou allow thy Holy One to undergo decay, thou wilt make known to me the path of life. In thy presence is fullness of joy, in thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore. David knew that. He called Solomon in and says, I'm going to die, but don't worry about me, I'm going the way of all the earth, because he knew at the right hand of God there were pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 17, verse number 15, says this, as for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied with thy likeness when I awake. That's what David said. He knew that when he died, he would awake in the presence of God and he would be satisfied in that presence. That's why David didn't fear to die. He knew that even though he would walk through the valley of the shadow of death, he would fear no evil, for God was with him. He knew that he would dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

He knew that. So as his time to depart drew near, he would gather his son around him to talk to him and give him an exhortation, words that he would need to know and obey to help him understand the essence of kingship. What is going to make Solomon a great king? What's going to allow Solomon to rule the people of Israel the way David ruled the people of Israel? If you could call your son around you or your children around you and you knew you were about to die, what would you say to them that would allow them to live their life, taking your place and be successful?

What would you say to them that they could put into their heart, that they could write down and say, these were my dad's last words. This is what my dad said to me. Now, if you said that they wouldn't be inspired by God, they'd be inspired by your heart, but not by God. These words are inspired by God. These are the living words of God. This is what God wanted him to say, and this is what he said to his son. This is his exhortation. He simply says, be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. Be strong.

Be strong. Don't be weak. Be strong. Now, is he talking about being strong physically? You know, David was a soldier. He was a warrior. He was a fit man. He could go to battle against Goliath and not be afraid. He was a sharpshooter with his slingshot. David was a well-sculpted individual. Is he talking about Solomon being strong physically? I don't think so, but that's not a bad thing to be if you're going to be the king of Israel. You got to be strong physically. Is he talking about being strong mentally?

Probably so. You need to be strong mentally. You need to have a stable mind. You can't be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. You got to know what you believe, why you believe it, so you can have convictions. You got to be strong in heart and in mind. Strong in body. You got to be strong emotionally. You got to be able to not let your emotions govern how you rule the kingdom, because so easily we can let our emotions take us down a path that would cause us to make decisions that would be detrimental to people's lives.

I love what Solomon would write in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 18, verse number two says, a fool does not delight in understanding, but only in revealing his own heart.

In other words, a fool doesn't want to know the truth. They don't want to know biblical truth, because in the book of Proverbs, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding all deal with the truth of God. So a fool doesn't want to know the truth. They just want to let their heart out. They just want to let you know what they feel, what they're feeling on the inside. If you're that kind of person, the Bible says you're a fool, but you got to know how I feel.

Really? The Bible says you're a fool if that's what you think. But don't people care how I feel? Listen, if you're going to be the king of Israel, you can't go, you know, you guys are really hurting my feelings out there, you know? You know, I'm trying to govern you here, but my feelings are hurt. That's not being strong. Solomon couldn't do that. He had to be strong emotionally. He had to be strong mentally. He had to be strong physically. He had to be strong spiritually. He had to have spiritual strength, because that would help govern his emotions and his mind.

Listen, if you're not strong spiritually, you want everybody to know how you feel, because somehow that'll make you feel better. But if you're not strong spiritually, your mental capacity will be thwarted by all kinds of things that come into your mind, that you watch, that you see, that you read. You're unable to be discerning between that which is good and evil, so you've got to be strong spiritually. You need to be. You need to be able to be steadfast. You need to be able to have your strength in the Lord.

That's why the Bible says these words in Ephesians 6, verse number 10, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

To be strong spiritually means to be strong in the Lord. 2 Timothy 2, verse number 1 says, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The Bible says in Isaiah 30, verse number 15, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you were unwilling.

In quietness and in trust, that's where your strength will reside. But then the Lord says, but you were unwilling to be quiet. You're unwilling to listen.

You're unwilling to trust me. See, that's where your strength lies. People who want to let their feelings out, they just don't want to live the quiet life, the trusting life, so that the strength of the Lord will envelop them and allow them to be strong in mind, and strong in spirit, and strong emotionally. Solomon had to be a strong person. I would like to say that he would take it to heart, and he was, but he necessarily wasn't strong spiritually, mentally, or emotionally, because he would allow himself to be swayed by hundreds of women, and they would build idolatrous altars on the hill of offense outside the walls of Jerusalem.

And yet, David's words still ring true. You need to be strong. That's why over in 1 Corinthians chapter 16, these words are written by the apostle Paul. 1 Corinthians 16, verse number 13, be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong, be strengthened. You need to be strong in the faith. You need to be strong in the Lord. You need to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. You need to be strong. Can you tell yourself this evening that you are a strong person emotionally, mentally, because you're a strong person spiritually?

It all resides in your relationship with the living God. That's where your strength lies. It is so important. The Bible says, which David wrote, Psalm 27, verse number 14, these words, Psalm 27, verse number 14, says, wait for the Lord, be strong, and let your heart take courage.

Yes, wait for the Lord. Wait for the Lord, be strong. In quietness and trust is your strength. Now it's interesting to note that in Chronicles' account of David's last words to Solomon, these words are recorded. As for you, my son Solomon, is what David says, know the God of your father. That's really interesting, because in order for you to be strong spiritually, you must know the God of your father. To be strong, you must know God. How do we know that? Daniel 11, verse number 32, mark it down, memorize it.

Those who know their God display strength and take action. Those who know their God display strength mentally, emotionally, spiritually. They are able to go to war for God, because they're strong people. They know their God. And not only do they know God, they take the action necessary to glorify their God. Folks, this is crucial. These are David's last words to Solomon, his son, son, you've got to be strong. Know the God of your father. Make sure you know my God, because my God sustained me. My God strengthened me.

My God has taken me through my life. You can't make it without him. David lived that life. Solomon would need to live that life. That's why Peter says, 2 Peter 3, 18, grow in the grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why the Bible says, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, or the mighty man glory in his might.

Or the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the God who exercises loving kindness and justice and mercy on the earth, for in these things I delight, thus saith the Lord. Make sure you know me. You can be rich, but know me. You can be wise, but know me. You can be rich, you can be strong, but know me above all else, because without me you can't do anything. Folks, this is crucial. You need to know the true and living God.

Hosea chapter 6, verse number 6, the Lord God says this, Hosea 6, verse number 6, for I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

I want you to know me. It is life's most important pursuit. It is life's most impassioned pursuit. It is life's most impressionable pursuit. You must come to know your God. That's why Paul said that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. Paul cried, oh, that somehow I may know him. When he was in the Mamertine prison in 2 Timothy chapter 4, he told Timothy, come to me quickly. Bring the parchments, bring the scrolls. I need to know my God. Come on, Paul, you've written 13 epistles.

How much more do you want to know? He just had to keep knowing more about his God. That's why he was so great. That's why he was so strong. That's the way we need to be. We need to know our God. We don't need to know him intellectually. That is, know that he exists. We don't need to know him informationally. That is, we know that he is creator, he's sustainer, he's majestic. We need to know him influentially. That is, he influences everything that we do. We know him for the fact that he rubs off on us, and therefore the way he thinks, I think.

The way he speaks, I speak. The way he walks, I walk. The way he lived, I live. In other words, how do you know you know God? He rubs off on everything you do. He influences everything you say, everything you, every place you go, every decision you make. It's all run through a grid of God. And what does God say? What would God do? That's what it means to know God. A lot of people know him intellectually. A lot of people know him informationally. They have all the information about God. They have a great doctrinal statement, but they don't know him in such a way that he rubs off on their lifestyle.

God needs to rub off on the way you live. That's how you know you know him. See? Listen to what the Bible says.

Those who know their God, Daniel 11, 32, display strength and take action. How do you know you know God? Strength is displayed in everything you do. You're strong. Mentally you're strong. Emotionally you're strong. Spiritually you're strong. You have the strength that God himself gives because you know you're God. You don't live in fear. You don't have a feeble kind of life, a feeble existence. You are strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. And not only do you display strength, but you take action.

You act on what you know. You act on who you know. You know the living God. So you act on that, living his life. It requires the total person. It requires every part of you. Listen to what the Bible says.

Deuteronomy 4, 29, you shall seek the Lord your God and you will find him if you search for him with all your heart and all your soul. Knowing God requires a totality of my person, all my soul, all my mind, everything that I have. That's why it says in Jeremiah 29, 13, you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. Listen, if I'm going to know God, it requires every part of me, heart, soul, mind, and strength. I can't pursue God half-heartedly. I can't do that. I must pursue him with all that I have.

That's why over in Psalm 119, these words are recorded in verse number two, how blessed are those who observe his testimonies, who seek him with all their heart.

Verse 10 of Psalm 119, with all my heart I have sought thee. Verse number 34 says this, give me understanding that I may observe thy law and keep it with all my heart. Verse 58, I entreated thy favor with all my heart. Verse 69, with all my heart I will observe thy precepts. Verse 145, I cried with all my heart, answer me, O Lord, and I will observe thy statutes. Verse 128 says, therefore I esteem right all thy precepts concerning everything. The psalmist said, with all that I have, with all of my heart, I do everything for my God.

If you want to know him, it requires a totality of your being. Everything about you must seek after God. It must be your life's passion. Knowing that, the Bible says this in Proverbs chapter two, this is so good because so many times we miss this.

God wants us to seek him with all of our heart, but he wants to do it with eagerness and passion. Listen to what it says in the book of Proverbs, the second chapter, the first verse.

My son, if you will receive my sayings and treasure my commandments within you, make your ear attentive to wisdom, incline your heart to understanding. For if you cry for discernment, lift your voice for understanding. If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. You want to know me, you've got to seek after me. I got to know you're serious enough that you will do whatever it takes, like a man seeking silver, turning over every last stone, doing all you can to know me.

That is just so important. That's the kind of way we need to live our lives. That's why the Psalm was said in Psalm 63, my soul thirst for thee. Is that the way you are? Listen, if you're serious about making money, what do you do? You get up, you look for a job, you find the job, you go to work. You want to get a promotion in that job, you get there before everybody else. You stay after everybody else and you work harder than everybody else. If you're serious about making money and moving up the corporate ladder, you've got to do everything you can to make sure that when your boss sees you, he knows that you are absolutely committed to that work no matter what.

Slowly but surely, you begin to climb that corporate ladder. Slowly but surely, you begin to make more and more money. And yet, we find people that are just too tired to go to church on Sunday. They're too tired to read their Bible. They're too worn out to study the Scriptures. Yet they say, I want to know God. How bad do you want to know him? How bad do you want to know your God? Will you search for him as one would search for hidden treasure? Will you dive into the Scriptures and study the Scriptures to know what God's Word says?

That's so important. But so many times, we just don't have the energy because all of our energy is put into the corporate world. All of our energy is put into our job. And therefore, when it comes to knowing God, that's just set aside, not realizing that our family is our legacy. And how we train them and teach them and grow them is of utmost importance. J.B. Phillips said this, where our fathers saw the world as a battleground, we see the world as a playground. When they went out to engage the world as a foe, we go out to embrace it as a friend.

He says the difference between the previous generation and this generation, they saw the world as a battleground. We see it as a playground. They went out to face the world as their foe. We go out to embrace the world as our friend. And we wonder why we don't know God. We wonder why our testimony isn't as strong as our fathers were, our forefathers were. Simply put, we need to be men and women who seek passionately after their God. Over in the book of Jeremiah, this is recorded. Jeremiah chapter 9, as he laments over Jerusalem, he says, Oh, that my head were waters and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people.

Oh, that I had in the desert a wayfarer's lodging place, that I might leave my people and go from them. Oh, that if I could just, if I just had a house in Tahiti, a condo in Palm Springs, someplace in the desert, I could go and escape my people, I'd go. Some other place other than being here in Jerusalem. He says for all of them are adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. And they bend their tongue like their bow, lies and not truth prevail in the land, for they proceed from evil to evil. Things are just getting worse.

I'm preaching to them, I'm telling them the truth, and they're not listening. Things are just getting worse and worse and worse. Remember God told Jeremiah, Lord, I want you to go, I want you to be a spokesperson to my people. And Jeremiah says, I'll go, I'll do that. And the Lord says, listen, you're going to go, but nobody's going to listen to you, Jeremiah, nobody. And that's what Jeremiah said, all of that words are found that I did eat them and they were the joy and rejoicing of my heart. I have your word, God, that's all I need.

And he goes and he begins to preach the word and he tells people the truth and nobody turns. They just go from bad to worse, from worse, excuse the expression, to worse. They get really bad. They get horrible. He says, oh, if I can just go to some lodging place in the desert, just escape from all of this. Nobody listens. Nobody cares. What's the problem? What's the problem? He tells us, they do not know me, declares the Lord. That's the problem. That's a, that's a problem in your marriage, by the way.

That's probably with your family. That's a problem with the church. That's probably everything. They don't know me. Oh, they might know I exist. They might know me intellectually because Israel knew of their God. They knew God, but they didn't know him in such a way that he rubbed off on the way they lived their lives and the way they thought. They weren't strong spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. They were weak spiritually because they didn't know their God. They lived adulterous lives. They lied.

Their mouths were full of perversion. They would not speak the truth and things just got worse and worse and worse. And Jeremiah said, oh, I just got to get out of here. Go some other place because whatever I say, they don't obey. God says, this is the reason.

They just don't know me because if they knew me, they wouldn't do these things. If they sought for me with all of their heart, if they longed for me with all of their soul, they would find me. They would know me. I would save them, but they don't know me. Folks, that's the way it always is. At the bottom of every issue, at the bottom of every problem is the fact that people just don't know God. And worse yet, they don't even care that they don't know him. They don't even care. And we need to care.

We need to pursue our God, know our God, understand our God. Wow, how much time do I have left? This is my last sermon, so put on an extra tape back there, all right? Go a little longer than that. You got to be home by midnight. Turn into a pumpkin. So anyway, you need to pursue God. And Jeremiah says this is, it's simple, but it's profound. It's so simple. They don't know me, but it's so profound. That's the problem in America. God says, I want you to know me.

This is eternal life, right? Knowing Jesus Christ. That's eternal life. Eternal life is knowing God. Not just knowing that he exists, knowing things about him as creator, designer, you know, that he's omnipotent, omniscient, that's all good, but it needs to alter your life. That's when you know, you know God. He changes your life. That's why Moses said, let me know thy ways that I may know thee.

That's what Moses said. And he was the meekest man on the face of the earth. He spoke to God face to face. Oh, that I may know thy ways. Paul would say in Philippians 3, I count all things rubbish in view of the surpassing value of knowing God. Do you know him? In order for you to be strong, you must know him. If you are weak spiritually, it's not God's fault. You don't know him. If you're weak emotionally and mentally, it's because you're weak spiritually. You don't know God. You need to pursue him, understand him, be strong in the Lord, in the power of his might.

Paul told Timothy, God has not given us a spirit of fear, a spirit of timidity. He's given us a spirit of power. He's given us a spirit of self-discipline. That's what he's given to us, that we might be used of him in a mighty way. God has given us his spirit to indwell us, to empower us, to cause us to live for God, and we need to pursue God with everything that we have. David gathers Solomon around and says, Solomon, my son, you've got to be strong. You've got to know the God of your father. If you know him, you will have no limits in your strength.

You must know him. And then he says, not only do you must know him and you must be strong, but you must show yourself a man. I read that you've got to be manly. It speaks of his maturity and speaks of his masculinity. You've got to show yourself a man, Solomon. You can't do that unless you're strong. You know the Lord, but if you do, then you've got to, those who know their God display strength and take action. This is your action. Show yourself a man. Paul would say it this way over in 1 Corinthians 16, verse number 13.

He said, be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men. In other words, be manly. He's telling this to the church. Be manly. He said in 1 Corinthians 3, I wanted to speak to you as adults, as mature, but I can't. I've got to speak to you as babes because you haven't grown. You haven't grown. And so David tells Solomon, you need to show yourself a man. You know, so many times as men, the toys of the world reign over the truth of God's word. The toys of the world. You know, so many times, you know, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13, when I became a man, I put away childish things.

So many times as men, we act like boys. I'm just going to speak to the men for a minute. You know, we could spend hours, not we because I don't do this. Not that I'm better than you. This doesn't interest me. But men spend hours playing video games. I don't get that. I don't understand that. They sit there and they just, you know, do this all day. I'm like, seriously, dude, that's all you can do? But that's what they do. I'm like, wow, really? Show yourself a man. When you became a man, you put away childish things.

Or they'd be on the computer all day, playing games on the computer. You know, searching for this game and that game. Playing games on the computer. When you became a man, you put away childish things. I mean, you have a family to run. You have a job to pursue. You have children to lead. A wife to love. That's all-consuming. All-consuming. It should envelop you. It should be everything you do. But so many times, the toys of the world take precedent over the truth of the Word of God. And Solomon had no video games.

He didn't have any, okay? He didn't have the Internet. He didn't have those kind of things. So when David is speaking to him, he wants him to play the man, to be the man. Take action as a man. If you know God, you display your strength. You take action as a man. Live your life as a man. Lead the way. Be the leader. So many times, as men, we just don't want to grow up. You know, you got to put on your big boy pants. You got to do that. You know, when you're a man, you're the provider for your home.

If you got to work two jobs, you work two. If you got to work three, you work three. You are the provider for your home. You might want to play, but you know what? Those days are all over now.

Put them behind. It's no time to play. You got to work. You got to do the man thing. You want to get married? You want to have kids? You got to be the man thing. You got to be the provider, protector, prophet, priest of your home. That's what God's called you to do. You got to love your wife. You got to lead your children. You got to be a testimony for the Lord God. You got to put away childish things. Be a man. Be strong. Live a life that brings glory and honor to God. That's what you got to do.

Now, I don't know what you guys do in your own homes. That's up to you. I mean, I don't know if I'm talking to you or not. But I've had a lot of wives over the years come to me and complain about their husbands who just aren't there because they're playing games all the time. I'm like, wow. Really? Why'd you get married? Why'd you have kids? Because once you say, I do, everything changes. Changes drastically. And once you have kids, it multiplies in terms of the change. And David says of Solomon, as he gathers them around, you got to be strong, my son.

You got to know the God of your father. And you got to show yourself a man. It speaks to his maturity and speaks to his masculinity. You got to be mature. Got to lead. Listen, to be a father, to be a husband, requires leadership. You got to take the lead. That's what you do as a man. God designed you to be the leader. What do leaders do? Leaders are always in front. They're not behind. Those are called followers. The guys in front, they're called leaders. And you lead the way for your wife. You lead the way for your children.

You lead the way for your church. You lead the way at work. You just lead the way. You're the man. Show yourself a man. Do the manly thing. Be strong in the Lord. You know, so many times we act like children. You know, as a man, sometimes your feelings get hurt. But you know what? Listen, in the Bible, when the psalmist, his feelings were hurt, what did he do? Who did he cry out to? The Lord. The Lord. The cry was out to the Lord. And when, if you get your feelings hurt, cry out to the Lord. Don't cry out to your wife.

Cry out to the Lord. Be strong in the Lord and the power of the Lord. Don't go moping around the house as if you've got the weight of the world on your shoulders. And if your wife's always got to pick you up and build you up and encourage you and admonish you, you've got a problem. You've got a spiritual problem. You are the leader. Be strong. If you had those down times, you cry out to God. You get off in your closet, you cry out to God. But when you exit that closet, you exit as a man of your house.

You exit as a leader of your home. You be strong in the Lord. You provide the example for your children because they've got to know how to handle those things. If you can't handle them right, what makes you think they're going to learn to handle them right? You have to lead the way on how to handle conflict. You've got to lead the way on how to handle emotional turmoil. You have to lead the way on how to handle financial difficulty. You've got to lead the way. You're the man. Play the man. Show yourself a man.

That's what we've got to do. That's what we're called to do. And David just says to Solomon, Man, put on your big boy tunic. Because that's what you've got to do. You're the king. You're the king of Israel. You're no longer, yes, you're my son, but now you're the up front guy. Now you can't afford to be the back seat guy. You're the up front guy. Everybody's watching you. Everybody's looking at you. Lead the way. That's what you need to do, Solomon. You need to be a leader. You need to be a man. That's what I love.

1 Timothy 6. How much time I got? 13 minutes? That's why I love 1 Timothy 6. When Paul tells Timothy, But you, O man of God. The only time the phrase is used in the New Testament, it's used of Timothy. Paul was a man of God, but never called a man of God. Okay? Peter was a man of God, never called a man of God. But Timothy specifically was called a man of God. You, O man of God, flee these things. What things? The love of money. Flee the love of money. That's the context of 1 Timothy 6. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul says, Flee immorality.

Flee idolatry. Here he says, flee the love of money. In other words, as a man of God, you're a running man. And the word there is fuego. We get our English word fugitive. You ever seen the movie The Fugitive? He was always running. Always running from the law. He was always on the go. As a man of God, you're always on the go. You're always running from evil. You're always running from idolatry, immorality, the love of money. You run away from those things. And you flee sin, but you pursue spiritual virtues.

You never run from something unless you're running to something. Right? So Paul says over in 1 Timothy 6, these words. He says, but flee these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Pursue these things. In other words, the word pursue is a hunting term. In other words, you hunt these things down. You go after them. You scope them out. This is what you do. You run from these things, and you run after these things. That's the man of God.

Flee sin. Follow after the spiritual virtues that God has put before you, and fight constantly for your Savior. He says, fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.

You fight for your Savior, and you make sure that you're faithful to the Scriptures. That's the man of God. That's what he does. That's what Solomon had to do. He's about to exit. David is. He calls his son, gives him this exhortation. Be strong. Know the God of your father. Show yourself a man. What's his epitaph? Acts 13 is David's epitaph. Acts 13. For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, was laid among his fathers, and underwent decay. That is the New Testament epitaph on David.

David, after he served God's purposes in his own generation. Listen. Men, we need to serve God's purposes in our generation. That's what we've got to do. Serve God and the purposes of God today. You can't serve Him in the past generation. You didn't exist past that. And the only way you can serve Him in the future is through your children who follow in your footsteps. So serve Him in this generation. Serve Him with a willing mind and a committed heart. For back in 2 Chronicles chapter 28, David says, As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind.

Serve Him. Serve Him with all that you have. So when you read the epitaph about David in Acts 13, He served God in his generation. He's not telling Solomon to do something that he himself didn't do. Fellas, you can't tell your children to do something that you yourself don't do, right? You've got to lead the way. If you're serving God in your generation, you can command and exhort your children to serve God in their generation. And that's what David did. He served his God in his generation with a whole heart, with a willing mind.

Ephesians 6 says, 2 Chronicles 16, 9 says, The Lord strengthens the heart of those whose are completely His. That's the epitaph. I've got eight minutes. What's our encouragement? Here's the encouragement. Ecclesiastes chapter 7, verse number 1, A good name is better than a good ointment. And the day of one's death is better than the day of one's birth. A good name is better than a good ointment. The word name, shem in Hebrew. Ointment, shemen in Hebrew. It's a play on words. It's a play on words.

Because from the day you're born to the day you die, you have the opportunity to build on your character. So that when you die, you leave something behind. You leave behind a beautiful fragrance instead of a foul stench. It's a play on words. A good name is better than a good ointment. Why? Because a good name lasts forever. The memory of the righteous will be remembered forever, Psalm 112. So you need to have the kind of name. The name speaking of character, speaking of the person's persona, who he is as an individual in the death of a soul.

That's his name. That's his character. David had a good name, had a great name. He left behind a beautiful fragrance. From the day he was born to the day he died, he was God's chosen king of Israel. And through the loins of David would come the Messiah, the son of David. But the point being is that when you look at your life, our job, our responsibility is to live a life that honors the Lord God, that seeks to build a character that glorifies him.

Our study of David has helped us understand this man, his life. In the pages of Scripture have given to us the good things as well as the bad things. But they were given for our instruction, that through perseverance and encouragement we might have hope. And our hope is based on what God does in the life of an individual. And my prayer for you and for me is that our study of David would not just go in one ear and out the other, but it would become a part of our lives. That we would understand the importance of living a godly life.

David was a man truly after God's heart. May God give us the grace to be the same. Let's pray. Father, we thank you Lord for tonight, a chance to spend time in your word. And pray God that you'd go before us and lead us and guide us. Thank you for this study. A study Lord that has touched our hearts and challenged our lives, that we might live for the glory and honor of Christ. Our prayer is that for every man, woman, boy and girl in this room, they would apply the principles given to us in the life of David.

They might live for you. They might have a name that leaves behind a sweet smelling fragrance, because of its beauty, because it's a character that honors and glorifies the Lord. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.