Considering Matters of Life and Death - II Samuel 21 - 24

Life is so fragile and death so permanent; one wonders why people live so haphazardly through the extremely few moments we have while here on earth. The few moments we have should be used to prepare for the eons of time we will have in life [somewhere] after death. Yes, there will be life after death for each and every person on earth. Today, fortunately we live in America, either by birth or some fortunate circumstance. Others live in other nations, even on other continents for the same reasons. After death there will only be two places, continents, or worlds. Those two places of life existence are Heaven and Hell. You and I will live in one or the other, and it will be by choice! I repeat. “Life is so fragile and death so permanent” and I am made to wonder why we waste the little time we have to choose our future home. David probably wasted less of his young life than any other man that has ever lived, Christ withstanding.

The Bible teaches us that life is as a vapor that appears for a moment and then evaporates away. Life is as a flower that blooms and is for a moment of time so beautiful to behold—and then it is cut down. I tell you that you are the flower mentioned here—and in the few moments of your life while here on earth, you will plant your roots in the moist fertile soil of heaven where you will enjoy eternity; or you will cast your roots out on the hot rocky soil of hell where they will wither and burn continually and forever. Just think about a world without a fuel shortage.

The lesson title today directs our consideration to the study of matters that deal with life and death. I want you to stop now and realize that these two conditions only exist in our time, in this present world. In our present state we will all live until we die, and there are no exceptions. After death, the resurrection and the judgment will come. Every soul that has ever lived will be resurrected and all…all…absolutely every one will be alive again. Each one will be judged by the God head and found either accepted or rejected and there will be no more death. All will remain alive forever more…SOME IN HEAVEN! SOME IN HELL! Where will you spend the last eons of your time? I have great difficulty thinking about $700,000.000.000. The amount of the bail out. Try this: an eon=999,000,000, 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, and more years.


David is the greatest example we have in the Bible of any man that has ever lived a normal life that was challenged each day by the sins of the flesh who held on to the more important necessity of his constant dependence on his lord and savior. David got his first impressions of God being his foundation stone by using field stone for a pillow each night as he slept under the moon at night always available and ready to protect his herd of sheep. David spent untarnished days caring for and studying the life and needs of his animals; and by learning the lay of the land and how to use its food and water to best meet the needs of his herd. He spent as many nights in calm meditation studying the Milky Way and the arrangement and movement of the stars. Out of this dedicated life we have proof through the music he authored and played, and out of the Psalms he wrote that he believed in the one and only God without any reservation. From my study of his young life he may be one of the few; if not the only young man that lived to be sixteen years or older that had not committed a known sin.

There were two facets of David’s life that led God to proclaim that he was a “Man after God’s own heart.” First, he had a young life that was almost if not perfect. He performed God’s will each day. Secondly, from the day that he traded his shepherd’s staff for the warrior’s sling and rock and triumphed over the Philistines—he never committed on sin that he did not acknowledge that he was a sinner…and repent from the sin…and call on his heavenly father to forgive him. He truly and deeply wanted God’s will to be supreme.

His life had not been free of danger since he and his flock had been attacked by wild animals and he had been able to defeat a charging lion in a one on one fight. His success in protecting his flock as he lived through the frequent pearls led him to know without any doubt that God was on his side. It was this inward dependence on God that gave David courage and ability far beyond any other man of his time. Even at the early age of seventeen or eighteen years old, when he was called into his master’s service, he already was able to believe in and depend upon God more than any other man I can remember.

David knew how to live this life fully and completely without fault or defeat. Life to David had been positive in every way… it was definitely that period of his life that afforded him the necessary time to choose his destiny, plan and set his goals for this life that was to be used to prepare for death and eternity. David did not walk into the valley alone and face the giant Philistine, Goliath; he brought with him the same power that had overcome the lions that had threatened his flocks. More important, David did not let this success go to his teen-aged head, but he remained humble and knew in his heart that God was with him all the way. David’s respect for God’s sovereignty never diminished; in fact it grew even stronger during the perilous days of life under the reign of King Saul.

I will now summarize the portion of history that teaches us most about David’s dependence on Almighty God. While Saul was still the anointed king of Israel, David appeared and successfully defeated the philistines and won the heart of the people who began to sing songs about David’s success and insinuated that he had triumphed over King Saul. Saul became very jealous. His son, Jonathan and David became life long best friends. For a short time Saul made friends with David and called him into special personal service to sing and play the harp which seemed to sooth his broken and tormented nerves. Later David was given assignments against some of Israel’s many enemies. He was successful and always without exception gave credit to his superiors. This seemed to make no difference in Saul’s continued effort to do away with David.

There are numerous occasions where even though David was successfully defending his country, Saul seemed more interested in killing David than winning the war. His jealousy grew until it was destroying him. David and Jonathan loved and trusted each other as brothers, and Jonathan had tried in many ways to win his father over and have him trust David also…but to no avail.

We must go back to chapter 24 to find the scripture that truly proves that David had total belief in kingdom sovereignty. Saul returned from war and was told that David was in the area. Saul took three thousand men and set out to look for David in the Crags of the Wild Goats. A large cave was near and Saul went in to relieve himself. David and his men were hidden deep in the same cave and the moment was right—and David’s men urged him to make his move on his sworn enemy, Saul. They insisted, telling him “This is the day the Lord spoke of when he said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hands for you to deal with as you wish.’” Then David crept up unnoticed and cut off a corner of Saul’s robe.

“David was conscience-stricken for having cut the robe.” He said, “The Lord forbid that I should do such a ting to my master, the Lord’s anointed, or lift my hand against him; for he is anointed of the Lord.” David rebuked his own men and allowed Saul to walk away. And now comes the moment of absolute proof that David was totally committed to sovereign authority.


As Saul walked away, David called out to him “My Lord the King!” Saul turned and saw David bowing down before him. David prostrated himself with his face in the dust and he asked Saul this question. “Why do you listen when men say, “David is bent on harming you”? This day you have seen with your own eyes that I could have killed you…and I did not. My people urged me to kill you but I spared your life. I said. “I will not lift my hand against my master because he is the Lord’s anointed.” David continued to explain that God would be the judge between the two and would be the one to make the final decision as to who should be the anointed king of Israel. There is no other place in the scripture that teaches us any more absolute the necessity of being submissive to the authority over us. Man’s rebellion against God‘s dominion over the earth and all that is within is one of our greatest problems on earth.

I believe the law of dominion authority applies to our lives as American citizens. God has given us the power of the ballot box and freedom to vote and when it is used fairly, the elected official has dominion authority and is worthy of his/her office. Laws based on Christ like principals, anointed by God are to be supported and obeyed even at times when they may seem to be against what we would prefer. David had the situation that makes it difficult. Saul did not deserve to be honored, but he was serving in a kingship that was a form of government accepted or allowed by God and had been anointed to serve therein. No man had the authority to personally kill Saul in order to gain better rule. Any change could be made only under and by the authority of God.

You may not be an elected official, but you are surely a chosen person. You have been chosen by God to perform a work, fill a space, be of service, even just to provide for your family. How effective are you in your chosen field? If you enjoy life here on earth, love your family and would like to spend the last eons of your time with conditions even better there are preparations that must be made. These are the matters of life that need your consideration and these are the very last chances you have to properly prepare for death that is sure to come—and very soon for many of us. HAPPY THANKSGIVING 2008.