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2 Samuel 23:1-7 (New International Version)

The Last Words of David

 1 These are the last words of David:
       “The oracle of David son of Jesse,
       the oracle of the man exalted by the Most High,
       the man anointed by the God of Jacob,
       Israel’s singer of songs ^[a] :

 2 “The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me;
       his word was on my tongue.

 3 The God of Israel spoke,
       the Rock of Israel said to me:
       ‘When one rules over men in righteousness,
       when he rules in the fear of God,

 4 he is like the light of morning at sunrise
       on a cloudless morning,
       like the brightness after rain
       that brings the grass from the earth.’

 5 “Is not my house right with God?
       Has he not made with me an everlasting covenant,
       arranged and secured in every part?
       Will he not bring to fruition my salvation
       and grant me my every desire?

 6 But evil men are all to be cast aside like thorns,
       which are not gathered with the hand.

 7 Whoever touches thorns
       uses a tool of iron or the shaft of a spear;
       they are burned up where they lie.”

I think I’ll spend a few days in these verses.  Today, I want to concentrate on verse 3b:

       ‘When one rules over men in righteousness,
       when he rules in the fear of God,

David equates living in righteousness with living in the fear of God.  Before there were blogs, I once wrote a series of bible studies on the Fear of the Lord.  Seeing as how David equates fearing God with being righteous, it would be instructive to review what it means to fear God.  Let me bulletize it:

1. Fearing God equates to showing Him reverence.
1. a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe.
2. the outward manifestation of this feeling: to pay reverence.
3. a gesture indicative of deep respect; an obeisance, bow, or curtsy. 
2. The fear of the Lord is many things for us:
1. Proverbs 1:7 - “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
2. Proverbs 9:10 - “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
3. Proverbs 10:27 - “The fear of the LORD prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be shortened.”
4. Proverbs 14:26 - “In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence, and his children will have refuge.”
5. Proverbs 14:27 - “The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, that one may avoid the snares of death.”
6. Proverbs 15:16 - “Better is a little with the fear of the LORD , than great treasure and turmoil with it.”
7. Proverbs 15:33 - “The fear of the LORD is the instruction for wisdom, and before honor comes humility.”
8. Proverbs 16:6 - “By loving-kindness and truth iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the LORD one keeps away from evil.”
3. Be diligent in seeking wisdom
4. See spiritual wisdom over fleshly wisdom
5. Guidelines for living in the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 3:1-12)
1. Live spiritually – you will live longer and in peace (verses 1, 2)
2. Be kind and truthful — you will be respected (verses 3, 4)
3. Trust in God – God Himself will help you (verses 5, 6)
4. Fear God – He will refresh you (verses 7,
5. Tithe – God will provide all you need (verse 9, 10)
6. Allow God to discipline you – you will see His love (verse 11,12)
6. Other verses: Romans 1:21-22, 5:1-5, 7:14-22, 2 Corinthians 7:9, 9:6-7

Does this equate to what we’ve been seeing righteousness is: believing God and obeying Him?  Certainly is.  I mean, fearing God, showing Him reverence, and walking out what you know certainly requires belief and obedience.

Is this only true of a king? Not at all.  We all have ruler-ship over something(s) in our lives, whether it be our home, our jobs, our ministry, or even just ourselves… and as long we live that ruler-ship within the fear of the Lord we are righteous in God’s eyes.  But notice something very important… as we’ve been seeing in this series, David is not talking about how well we rule, and Solomon is not talking about looking good in man’s eyes.  These are all spiritual decisions we must make, because God is spirit, and so it is ultimately a spirit, God, whom we are believing and obeying. And it is ultimately your spirit from which your belief and obedience come.

 

This entry was posted on Monday, January 19th, 2009 at 8:45 am and is filed under Word Studies, Bible Commentary, Devotional Notes, Walking with God. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.