An Everlasting Covenant of Grace

2 Samuel 23:1-7 

1 Now these are the last words of David.

Thus says David the son of Jesse;
Thus says the man raised up on high,
The anointed of the God of Jacob,
And the sweet psalmist of Israel:

2 “The Spirit of the LORD spoke by me,
And His word was on my tongue.

3 The God of Israel said,
The Rock of Israel spoke to me:
‘He who rules over men must be just,
Ruling in the fear of God.

4 And he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises,
A morning without clouds,
Like the tender grass springing out of the earth,
By clear shining after rain.’

5 “Although my house is not so with God,
Yet He has made with me an everlasting covenant,
Ordered in all things and secure.
For this is all my salvation and all my desire;
Will He not make it increase?

6 But the sons of rebellion shall all be as thorns thrust away,
Because they cannot be taken with hands.

7 But the man who touches them
Must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear,
And they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place.”

The last recorded words of king David as poetic song follow his magnificent song of praise in the previous chapter.  He speaks of a lowly background, called higher by God as anointed and gifted with psalm making talent as we find in the books of Psalms was to worship Him with.  Here the LORD moved David by His Spirit to speak to others by another song of revelation.  It begins with identifying God’s character as his Rock, unmoving as a foundation and impenetrable as a protective fortress (Psalm 18:2, 31:3) as Martin Luther later put to song.  God revealed that a ruler of His people must execute fair justice in the fear of God that perversion of just dealings may break the second greatest commandment (Mark 12:31) as well as the first and foremost (Mark 12:30) in loving God in fairness and honesty while demonstrating justice to our fellow man.  Then such a man should continue in righteousness as a light in the darkness as a sunrise on a clear day, indicating no dull dimness or hidden intentions.  He is also to be like new grass sprouting by such light after a good rain, hinting of fruitfulness in providing for others.  He acknowledged that he was not meeting these high standards, but relied on God’s promises in the covenant with him because God never fails to provide the righteousness and worthiness to accomplish all He calls David and us to do.  This covenant is laid out clearly and absolutely immutable.  It is the deliverance, the salvation of all called by God in His given covenant of grace, and should be all we desire as well in the new covenant of Christ by His shed blood for us to establish us in His righteousness and eternal goodness of salvation by grace which cannot be undone or taken away.  As David acknowledged here, God’s call and covenant will only increase to better things.  Those who reject His covenant, however, will be gathered as thorns and ultimately burned (Hebrews 6:7-8).  We then learn from this magnificent final song of revelation by king David what it means to not only be a godly leader, but also a righteous and humble follower of the Father through obedience to Christ as our Rock of Salvation who delivered us and continues to do so (Colossians 1:13, 2 Corinthians 1:10).  This is more than reason enough to thank and praise God who has become our righteousness, and who calls us to be holy and righteous as He is in our dealings with others for good (Romans 13:10)!