In a song that David composed as his last words – not yet his last breath, but intended as his final composition – he would recognize that God had raised him to eminence, that he was not only “the anointed of the God of Jacob” but also “the favorite of the Strong One of Israel” (II Samuel 23:1). He was clear on how this is supposed to work: “The Spirit of the Lord speaks through me; his word is upon my tongue” (23:2).

David’s song declares that God blesses a leader “who rules over people justly, ruling in the fear of God” (23:3). He could rejoice that his house stood firm with God, who “has made with me an everlasting covenant” (23:5) – in contrast to the godless, whom God rejects (23:6). It’s nice poetry, but the message seems to be a version of the conventional wisdom: there are good people and bad people, and God loves the good people – including especially ourselves.

Yet if David’s house was standing firm as he came toward the end of his reign, we have seen that it was a very rocky road to get there. God had indeed raised David to eminence, yet we can hardly say it was because of the steadfast goodness of David’s character. We have seen a number of incidents where David got it all quite wrong; and we remember how Nathan rebuked David for having “despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight” (12:7-9). David’s own testimony might well have been that God still loves even those who displease him, and somehow finds a way to redeem them.

We all need the admonition to live in purity of heart, giving ourselves gladly to do God’s will. David’s last words serve well as that reminder. In the end, though, we still need to remember that it was God’s faithfulness to the covenant, rather than David’s, that resulted in him being established as God’s anointed.

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Spirit of God: let your words be on our tongues, that we may sing your praises. Apart from your grace we would all of us be lost sinners forever. We are all to be rejected, unless you raise us up from our failures, large and small, and from death itself. King of kings and Lord of lords, we will praise your name forever and ever.