2 Samuel

2 Samuel 23: God makes an everlasting covenant

Begin in prayer

Before we read David’s last words, let us come before the LORD together. Ask Him to show us that His covenant is everlasting, and to help us trust His word.

Yahweh has sworn to David in truth. He will not turn from it: “I will set the fruit of your body on your throne.

Psalm 132:11

Father in heaven, please open our eyes as we read Your Word. Show us that You have made an everlasting covenant, and show us Jesus, the Son of David, who keeps it. Help us to trust Your word more than our own. Make us more like Jesus. And please bless our family as we worship You together. In Jesus' name, Amen.

See where we're going

David speaks his last words as the anointed of the God of Jacob and the sweet psalmist of Israel. He says that the Spirit of the LORD spoke by him. He describes a righteous ruler who rules in the fear of God as like the morning light after rain. Yet God has made with David an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure. The ungodly are like thorns, to be thrust away and burned. The chapter names David’s mighty men, and it tells how three of them brought him water from Bethlehem at great risk.

As you read 2 Samuel 23, look for the answers:

Reflect together

Key truth

God has made an everlasting covenant with David, ordered in all things and sure.

These are David’s last words, and he speaks as the anointed of the God of Jacob (verse 1). He says the Spirit of the LORD spoke by him, and the Rock of Israel spoke to him (verses 2 and 3). A righteous ruler who rules in the fear of God is like the morning light after rain (verses 3 and 4). David says his house is not so with God, yet God has made with him an everlasting covenant (verse 5). The covenant is ordered in all things and sure, and it is all David’s salvation and desire (verse 5). The ungodly are like thorns, to be thrust away and burned (verses 6 and 7). Then the chapter names David’s mighty men, and three of them bring him water from Bethlehem (verses 8 and 15 to 17). David will not drink it, and he pours it out to the LORD (verses 16 and 17). God brought Jesus, the Son of David, back from the dead with the blood of an eternal covenant (Hebrews 13 verse 20).

How does 2 Samuel 23 show us that God has made an everlasting covenant with David, ordered in all things and sure?

God makes an everlasting covenant with David.

David confesses that his house is not so with God (verse 5). Yet God has made with him an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure (verse 5). This covenant is all David’s salvation and desire (verse 5).

The ungodly are like thorns, to be thrust away.

The ungodly are like thorns, which cannot be taken with the hand (verse 6). They are burned in their place (verse 7). God’s covenant is sure, and the ungodly stand apart from it.

The everlasting covenant stands in Christ.

David says that God made the covenant, and that it is sure in all things (verse 5). God brought the Lord Jesus back from the dead with the blood of an eternal covenant (Hebrews 13 verse 20). He is the Son of David, and the covenant God made with David stands in Him.

Memorise

yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, for it is all my salvation, and all my desire

2 Samuel 23:5

Looking to Jesus in my life

Ask yourself in your heart, do I trust God’s promise to keep His covenant?

David’s last words point to a covenant that does not end. God made it, God keeps it in all things, and it is sure. It stands in Jesus, the Son of David.

Jesus shed His blood on the cross for His people and paid the debt of their sin in full. He was buried, and God raised Him from the dead through the blood of an eternal covenant (Hebrews 13 verse 20). The covenant stands forever in Him.

So come to Him, and put away your sin. Trust Jesus, and rest in the covenant that God has made. Everyone who trusts Him is made clean, and God keeps His covenant with them.

Parent's note

Tell your children that God has made an everlasting covenant, and that Jesus is the Son of David who keeps it. Parents, please explain in your own words what happens to the ungodly in verses 6 and 7. Please do not tell them they are saved just because they grew up in a Christian home. Call each child to turn from sin and trust Jesus, and pray that God would give them a new heart.

Pray together

Now please close your time together in prayer. Thank God that His covenant is everlasting, and bring the heart question to Him. Every child can pray, so let each one say a short prayer if they want to.

Let your loving kindness be on us, Yahweh, since we have hoped in you.

Psalm 33:22

Lord God, thank You that Your covenant is everlasting, and that Jesus, the Son of David, keeps it. Lead every person here to turn from sin and trust Jesus. Help us to rest in Your promise this week, and bring our heart question to You. Amen.