Steve W. Reeves
INTRODUCTION:
A. The
year was approximately 960 B.C. David, the second king of Israel, was
approaching the end of his life. He was
seventy years old. 2 Samuel 5:4 says that he
was thirty years old when he began to reign
and he reigned for thirty years,
1. David had enjoyed great success in his
life.
a. As a boy he had been a shepherd of
his father’s sheep. He even killed a lion and
a bear in protecting those sheep (1
Samuel 17:34-35).
b. While still a young man he was
anointed by Samuel to be the second king of
Israel succeeding Saul (1 Samuel
16:12-13).
c. He killed the Philistine champion,
Goliath, using a small, smooth stone and a
slingshot to knock him down and then
beheading him (1 Samuel 17:48-51).
d. He was a musician and poet. He is
credited with writing 73 of the 150 Psalms in
the Bible. When King Saul was upset
he would call on David to come and play
the lyre for him Saul eventually put David over his men of war
(1 Samuel 18: 5).
David became best friends with Saul’s
son Jonathan (1 Samuel 18:1-3) and
married Saul’s daughter, Michal (2
Samuel 18:27)
e. He succeed Saul as King of Israel,
moved the capitol from Hebron to Jerusalem,
and led the way for Israel to become
a major political and military power in the
ancient, mid-eastern world.
f. Perhaps, more than anything we
remember about David’s accomplishments is
the statement made by him in Acts
13:2 that he was a “man after God’s own
heart.”
2.
Not everything in David’s life had been successful. This was especially true
regarding his family.
a. He had at least seven wives according
to 1 Chronicles 3 which does not list
Saul’s daughter, Michal. (Some
Jewish rabbi’s taught that she is listed as “Eglah”
in this list).
b. Whenever you consider David’s life
you think about his lustful pursuit of
Bathsheba, his adultery and his
scheme to have her husband, Uriah, killed in
battle (2 Samuel 11).
c. When David was confronted about his
sin he said, “As the Lord lives, surely the
man who has done this deserves to
die. 6 He must make restitution for the lamb
fourfold, because he did this thing
and had no compassion” (2 Samuel 12:5-6).
1.) For the rest of his life David’s
family experienced tragedy and heartbreak.
2.) Four sons of David died.
a. The child born as a result of
David’s adultery (2 Samuel 12:19).
b. Amnon raped his half sister,
Tamar and was then killed by his brother
Absalom (2 Samuel 13).
c. Absalom revolted against his
father and was later killed by David’s soldiers.
One of the most heart-wrenching
scenes in the Bible is recorded in 2 Samuel
18:33 when David cried, “O my
son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom!
Would I had died instead of you,
O Absalom, my son, my son.”
d. As David lay on his deathbed
another son, Adonjahi, set himself up to be king.
After David’s death Solomon
became King and Adonijah was killed.
I. WHAT COULD DAVID HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY?
A. He could have learned from others.
1. Saul was David’s predecessor. David
had seen Saul’s life spiral downward in
jealousy, hatred and rage.
2. In Psalm 51:11 David said, “Do not
cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your Holy Spirit
from me.”
a. He had seen what had happened to
Saul. He didn’t want it to happen to him.
b. Yet, David had failed to protect
himself from Satan’s schemes.
3. We need to learn from others. We need
to learn from the mistakes others have
made. We need to learn from the
successes others have had.
B. He could have been faithful in his
marriage.
1. Even though it was common for men in
the ancient world to have a plurality of
wives and concubines this was not
God’s plan.
2. I have never known anyone who has
been unfaithful to their marriage vows who
has not paid a high price.
C. He could have disciplined his children.
1.
The Bible’s description of David’s children is not favorable for the most part.
They
appear to have grown up without much
discipline.
2. Even when Adonijah sought to become
king, 1 Kings 1:6 says, “His father had
never crossed him at any time by
asking, “Why have you done so?”
3. Proverbs 22:15 – “Foolishness is
bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of
discipline will remove it far from
him.”
4. Proverbs 29:15 – “The rod and reproof
give wisdom, But a child who gets his
own way brings shame to his mother.”
5. My father used to say, “This will
hurt me worse than it hurts you.” Though I
doubted it at the time I have come
to realize the truth in those words. I am
thankful that with discipline there
was love and making sure I understood why
discipline was being administered.
D. He could have realized that the things
you do today will bring consequences
tomorrow.
1. You are free to choose. God has given
you the ability to make choices between
right and wrong. You are not free to
choose the consequence of your choice.
2. There are three people sitting where
you are sitting today.
a. The person you are right now.
b. The person you could be for God
if you give your life fully to Him.
c. The person you could be for Satan
if you choose to follow him.
E. He could have spent time with his
children. We wonder how much time David
spent with his children as they grew.
Was he too busy with the duties of being a
king?
1. In the 19th century a
politician named Charles Francis Adams kept a detailed
diary of each day. One day he wrote,
“Took my son fishing – a day wasted.” His
son, Brook, also kept a diary. For
the same day he wrote, “My father took me
fishing – the most wonderful day of
my life.”
2. What will matter the most in 50 years
– a few hours of overtime or spending time
with your child?
F. David personified the statement made by
John Greenleaf Whittier, ““Of all sad
words of tongue or pen, the saddest are
these, ‘It might have been,’”
II. WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR FAMILY?
A. Notice David’s words to Solomon in 1
Kings 2:1-4 - “Be strong, therefore, and
show yourself a man. 3 Keep
the charge of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways,
to keep His statutes, His commandments,
His ordinances, and His testimonies,
according to what is written in the Law
of Moses, that you may succeed in all that
you do and wherever you turn, 4 so
that the Lord may carry out His promise which
He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your
sons are careful of their way, to walk
before Me in truth with all their heart
and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man
on the throne of Israel.’”
B. It’s important to notice what David did
not say.
1. He did not tell Solomon to pursue
riches although Solomon was blessed with
incredible wealth.
2. He did not tell Solomon to pursue
power, position, pride or prominence although
Solomon came to possess all of these
things.
C. What did David say? From all of his
years of experience as he considered the
good times and the difficult times David
said, “Walk before God with all of your
heart and soul.” Later, when God told
Solomon to ask for anything he desired
Solomon asked “So give Your servant an
understanding heart to judge Your people
to discern between good and evil. For
who is able to judge this great people of
Yours” (2 Kings 3:9). Where do you think
Solomon got this idea?
CONCLUSION:
A. You
only have one chance to raise a child and the time you will have them passes
quickly. You cannot hit “stop” and
“rewind.” You cannot go back and repeat the
course. You must use the opportunity you
have right now to provide a Godly
influence on your child.
B. You
will never influence your child to be what you are not. They will see right
through
your hypocrisy. If you want your child to
grow up to know Jesus Christ as Lord the
first question is, “Do you know Him as
Lord?” Perhaps it is time for you to make
Jesus the Lord of your life and surrender
to Him in faith, repentance and baptism. If
you’re a lukewarm Christian the place to
begin is to light the fire in your heart again.
