David's Last Words

Read aloud

These are David's last words. He identifies himself as the son of Jesse, the man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel. He says the Spirit of the LORD spoke by him and that God's word was on his tongue.

David hears a word about the ruler who governs people justly, ruling in the fear of God. Such a ruler is like the morning light when the sun rises, like a morning without clouds, and like the glistening after rain on grass sprouting from the earth.

David says that God has made an everlasting covenant with him, ordered in all things and secure. He also speaks of the worthless as thorns that cannot be gathered by hand and will be burned where they lie.

The ruler who fears God brings benefit like morning light on the earth after rain. The worthless, by contrast, are compared to thorns that injure and must be removed. This is a warning about evil and judgment, not permission to treat people we dislike as disposable.

David’s own reign has fallen short of the just rule he describes. His final confidence is in the everlasting covenant God has made, ordered and secure. When the angel announces Jesus’ birth, he says God will give Him David’s throne and His kingdom will never end (Luke 1:31–33). The hope of enduring, righteous rule rests in God’s promised King, not in finding a faultless human leader among ourselves.