Introduction

There are all kinds of documents that tell about a person’s life. Resumes, autobiographies and biographies, obituaries. Generally, they are quite flattering and they skim the cream from a person’s experiences. Failures, broken promises, crushed dreams, and major faults are not stirred to the surface for the public to see. Our real lives, on the other hand, are a blend of good and evil, strength and weakness, hope and despair.

But there is another important document that makes up a part of our lives. A will. That which we bequeath to our families and to our world. Sometimes there isn’t much money involved, but we all leave a legacy (whether we know it or not) by the lives we live.

Our narrative today, 2 Samuel 23:1-7, is often called "the last words of David." Whether he or some later writer composed these words doesn’t really matter. They sum up some of what he brought to the world and they point the way forward. They give a glimpse for the people of Israel of what leadership and the kingdom can achieve. This legacy suggests the perpetuity of the house (dynasty) of David. They are words of assurance that God will dwell with his people. These are truly "famous last words." In them there are at least three themes: (1) David’s words were good words because the Spirit of the Lord spoke through him (2 Samuel 23:2); (2) a glimpse of perfect leadership (2 Samuel 23:3-4); and (3) an everlasting relationship/covenant (2 Samuel 23:5).

1. Good words

Language specialists claim that the five sweetest phrases in the English language are: "I love you." "Dinner is served." "All is forgiven." "Sleep ‘til noon." "Keep the change." And there are those who choose to add: "You’ve lost weight!"

Words are good if they add dignity and confidence to people. King David’s words did that. The ascription of nearly half the psalms to David is testimony to the regard in which this "sweet singer of Israel" was held (2 Samuel 23:1). If this shepherd/warrior/king/poet/musician left us nothing other than the great expression of confidence in God’s protection - where the Lord is compared to a shepherd - it would be legacy enough. How many people have been comforted and given new hope by these words:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;
he makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil;
for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff, they comfort time.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. - Psalm 23 (A psalm of David)

David’s "good words" did (and do) what Job’s words did (and do) - at least according to Job’s friend, Eliphaz:

Your words have kept people on their feet.

- Job 4:4 - my paraphrasing

David left a legacy of good words that encouraged and brought hope and life to people. He also left a legacy of ...

2. Leadership

In a poetic and beautiful way, the writer of "David’s Legacy" gives us a glimpse of what perfect leadership might achieve.

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 upon a cloudless morning,
like rain that makes grass to sprout
from the earth. - 2 Samuel 23:3b-4

Such an image! All of us can visualize the two universal sights of sun and rain - not the blistering heat of noon in tropical countries, nor the torrential and violent rains which come sporadically, but rather the gentle, nourishing effects of warmth and water. Sun and rain together work the miracle of natural growth. They are gifts of God for all. This is the sort of leadership David’s legacy is talking about. This is the sort of leadership the world always needs.

True leaders are true to themselves, basically honest and open. We ought not aspire to leadership, but if it comes, we need to accept it - "being ourselves" as we do lead. One of my favorite theologians, the cartoonist Charles Schulz, gives us a glimpse of this authenticity through one of his characters in Charlie Brown’s gang.

In one "Peanuts" comic strip Lucy comes up to Charlie Brown and says, "Yes sir, Charlie Brown, would you like to have been Abraham Lincoln?"

"Well, now, I don’t think so," he replies slowly; "I’m having a hard enough time being just plain Charlie Brown." I love it! I love it! God does not expect us to be persons other than ourselves. But he does expect us to make full use of our given abilities and to live lives of integrity and faithfulness wherever we are in our little corner of the earth.

Even though he slipped and fell short of perfect leadership, David gave us a glimpse of "what could be." And God was able to use his leadership to move his kingdom along. We can’t be David, or Abraham Lincoln, or Dorothy Day or Shirley Chisholm. But we can he Roger. Or Shirley. For we, too, are a part of God’s plan for his world.

3. Relationship/Covenant

Yea, does not my house stand so with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. - 2 Samuel 23:5

With all the trouble we humans have with relationships (read that "covenants") these words fall on us like water in a desert. They are refreshing and life-giving.

God’s everlasting covenant with us, culminating in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus the Christ, is a "base" for all our other covenants/relationships in this life.

As my mom approached her death, she continued to have a simple and clear trust in God. After she died we found the following piece in her Bible. It must have been her covenant with her Creator as she moved through the sunset of her life:

Lord, Thou knowest I am growing older. Keep me from the idea that I must express mnyself on every subject. Release me from the craving to meddle in everyone’s affairs. Keep my tongue from the recital of endless details of the past which do not interest others. Seal my lips when I am inclined to talk about my aches and pains. They are increasing with the years, and my love to speak of them grows sweeter as time goes by. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be wrong. Make me thoughtful, but not interfering; helpful, but not bossy. With the wisdom and experience I’ve gained, it does seem a pity not to use it all, but Thou knowest, Lord, that I want a few friends left at the end. So help me to pray more, talk less. And beyond all this, let me continue to flourish spiritually and bring fruit to Thy glory even in old age. AMEN

Not a bad "covenant" for us all as our day to "meet our Maker" approaches. And underneath this covenant, and David’s covenant, and all the rest of them, are "the everlasting arms" of the living God. We give thanks daily for that.

Conclusion

King David left for posterity his good words, his leadership, and perhaps most of all, his "covenant" with God and the human family. Each of us can do the same - by God’s grace - in our little corner of the world.

How shall we love you, holy, hidden Being,
If we love not the world which you have made?
Oh, give us deeper love for better seeing
Your Word made flesh, and in a manger laid.
Your kingdom come, O Lord; your will be done!*

*Lutheran Book of Worship, No. 413, Stanza 5. This version in the LBW is altered from the original with permission of Oxford University Press, London, England.

Prayer: O God, in your mind the past and the future meet in this day. Help us to accept with grace what we have received, and to share all that - and more - with those to come.