Legacy

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We have spent this summer walking through the life of David, and today we come to the end. It’s been a roller coaster. David has gone from being a nobody shepherd boy, to a heroic giant-slayer, to a fugitive, to the king of Israel, to a fugitive again as his own son turned on him, and then finally back to the throne.

When you get to 1 Chronicles chapter 28, David realizes his time is almost up. So he calls a huge gathering of leaders: military commanders; business leaders; spiritual leaders; political office holders…it’s like a who’s who of important people in Israel. They all gather in Jerusalem. Try to feel the gravity of the moment: David has been serving as king for forty years. In America, that would be like if Ronald Reagan were still president. That’s a long run. For many of the people standing there, this is the only king they’ve ever known. It’s an epic moment. And David chooses his words carefully—because at moments of great importance, leaders realize their words carry extra weight.

He begins his speech by charging his son, Solomon, to faithfully build the temple. Than he challenges the people of Israel to give toward the temple-building project—and they respond with incredible generosity. And then David stands in front of the people and prays this prayer—1 Chronicles 29, starting in verse 10—let’s hear God’s Word…

10 David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying,

“Praise be to you, LORD, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. 11 Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. 12 Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. 13 Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. Skip down to verse 20…

20 Then David said to the whole assembly, “Praise the LORD your God.” So they all praised the LORD, the God of their fathers; they bowed down, prostrating themselves before the LORD and the king. And then verse 26…

26 David son of Jesse was king over all Israel. 27 He ruled over Israel forty years—seven in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 28 He died at a good old age, having enjoyed long life, wealth and honor. His son Solomon succeeded him as king. This is the Word of the Lord.

As we conclude our series, let’s rewind the clock and look back. What did David experience along the way that led to this final moment and this final prayer? I’m actually going to summarize the life of David in one sentence. Here’s the first half of the sentence:

Life is hard… Can we just say that together? Life is hard. It’s just true. Earlier this year, in my personal read-through of the Bible, I came to the life of David—which was ultimately why I chose to preach it this summer. And as I got toward the end of his life, something struck me, and I shared it with our staff one Monday morning. I said, “You know—David’s life never stopped being hard.” It wasn’t just at the beginning, when he had to flee from King Saul. Even after he became king, painful things kept happening to him. So I used that as a reminder that we should expect leadership to be hard. And today I want to remind all of us that we should expect life to be hard.

This is going to so naïve, but I used to think that at a certain point, life would become easy. That would seem fair, wouldn’t it? You pay your dues early on: you survive middle school, you get through college, you scrape up enough money to buy a house, maybe deal with some sleepless nights from screaming babies. But then around age 40, you can put up your feet and coast. Let me ask anyone here over 40—has your life gotten really easy? Just put up your hand. No family problems; not physical problems; no personal problems? Anyone coasting? Of course not! Life is hard. In some ways, as you get older, it gets harder. I was talking to a friend on vacation. He recently had his annual physical exam. And he said, “The doctor told me I need to cut way down on fatty foods and salty foods and sweets and caffeine. He said cut out all alcohol and stop going out in the sun. Other than that, enjoy your vacation.” Life keeps being hard, and those are just the physical things. The emotional and relational things are actually much harder, aren’t they?

So let’s think about some of the hard things David experienced—see if you can relate to any of these.

First, Mistreatment. We all know the story. David had been anointed as the next king of Israel, but it was a secret anointing, because King Saul was still on the throne. So young David was waiting on God’s timing. In the meantime, Goliath the Philistine was tormenting the people of Israel, and David courageously stepped up and killed the giant with a sling and a stone. He immediately became a hero, which made King Saul so jealous that he tried to kill David, and David ran for his life into the wilderness, where he spent about five years as a fugitive. Completely unfair—unjust—David didn’t do anything to deserve that—but that was his reality.

Do you know how it feels to be mistreated?

Years ago, I was talking to a married couple with adult children. And one of their daughters, who was now married, had completely cut off the relationship with her parents. She didn’t respond to calls or texts—just silence. They tried to ask her what happened, and she gave a vague explanation—something they had said that had hurt her. But it didn’t explain the complete cutting off of communication. I cannot tell you how painful it was for those parents. I wish that were an isolated incident, but I’ve heard similar stories over and over again. Maybe it’s your story. Now, sometimes, parents really have done horrible things. But many times they haven’t. And it seems like we’re living in a culture where instead of talking through our differences, it’s easier to just cancel people.

If that hasn’t been your story, thank God. But I’m sure you’ve been mistreated in other ways. At work, with your friends, on social media. Mistreatment is a reality of life, because life is…what? Hard.

Secondly, David experienced Loss. Ironically, at the same time that King Saul was trying to kill David, David’s best friend was Saul’s son, Jonathan. And Jonathan was the kind of friend we all wish we had: loyal, sacrificial, faithful. When David was on the run, Jonathan risked his life to come and see his

friend. 1 Samuel 23:16— And Saul’s son Jonathan went to David at Horesh and helped him find strength in God. That’s what friends do—they remind us where true strength is found.

Unfortunately, while David was still a fugitive, Jonathan was killed on the battlefield. Listen to how David lamented the loss of his friend—2 Samuel 1:25-26…

25 “How the mighty have fallen in battle! Jonathan lies slain on your heights. 26 I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.

The one friend that he truly could count on was gone. And for the rest of David’s life, we never hear of him having another friend like that ever again. That’s loss.

And this life involves loss. I just spoke with a friend who lost his wife earlier this year. I said, “How are you doing?” He said, “You know, I walked into the grocery store the other day, and I went into the produce aisle, and I just stood by the potatoes and stared for about ten minutes. It was so strange—like, what am I doing here? Who am I even shopping for?” His wife had been such a constant part of his life, and he just felt lost. Have you ever felt that? Loss of friends? Loss of a parent can be so disorienting. Maybe loss of a pastor? Loss is part of this life, because life is…hard.

Third, David experienced Failure. Sometimes the hardness of life happens because of our own dumb choices. And David made some really bad choices. You know the most famous one: he slept with another man’s wife, and when he found out she was pregnant, he arranged to have the woman’s husband killed. I think that qualifies as failure. Thankfully, Nathan the prophet had enough courage to confront David, and he confessed, and God forgave him. But there would be consequences of his sin for the rest of his life. Two weeks ago, Pastor Paul talked about the heartbreak of David’s own son, Absalom, rising up and conspiring against his own dad, and that was one of the consequences of David’s moral failure.

Some of you, right now, are experiencing hard things in life because of bad choices you’ve made. You’ve can’t drive because of a DUI. You’ve lost your marriage because of an affair. You’ve ruined your health because of a lifetime of smoking. We all make bad choices. And some of those choices make our lives painful, because life is…hard.

One more thing: David experienced Disappointment. As he approached the end of his life, he got this amazing vision from God. At least he assumed it was from God. His crowning achievement—his lasting legacy—would be to build a magnificent temple for God. And he was so excited about it, so he told Nathan the prophet, and Nathan came back and said, “I’ve got some bad news for you. God said no.” Huge disappointment.

And that wasn’t his only one. His first marriage to Michal started out well, but in the end they weren’t even speaking to each other. Obviously he had the disappointment of his son, Absalom, turning against him, and several of his trusted officers siding with Absalom. And the list goes on.

Ever had any disappointments? I have a vivid memory of my freshman year of college, sitting on the floor of my dorm room at Virginia Tech, on a cold November day. My roommate had already left for Thanksgiving break, and I was sitting there reflecting on early college experience. Three months earlier, I had confidently walked on to the cross country team, dreaming of glory, and now I was facing the reality that I was one of the slowest guys on the team, and my college sports career was probably

over. I was a pre-med major, but I was struggling badly with chemistry. And even though I had never had problems making friends in high school, I felt lonely and isolated in college. It was disappointment on almost every level. And it hurt.

How about you? Are there ways that your life hasn’t turned out the way you thought it would? Of course! Because life is (everybody?)…hard.

So I’m telling you what I told our staff on that Monday morning earlier this year: expect life to be hard. My dad always taught me: so much of life is determined by your expectations. So expect life to be hard. Don’t be surprised when you experience mistreatment and loss and failure and disappointment, like David. Don’t fall into self-pity or anger. Expect it.

Is everybody thoroughly depressed yet?

Now: if I were a stoic teacher—if I were teaching stoicism—the message would end right here. “Life is hard, so quit your complaining, suck it up, and get out of here.” Thank God I’m not teaching stoicism. Thank God there’s a second half of the sentence, and I think we’re all ready to hear it—don’t you?

It’s true that life is hard, but here’s the rest of the sentence:

…but God is good. Oh man, that changes everything. Can we say that whole sentence together? Life is hard…but God is good. Amen.

In the early days of my ministry, my mentor for preaching was Earl Comfort. In case you didn’t know, Earl was the Senior Pastor here from 1970 to 1995. Shortly after he retired, he came back to speak at a funeral, and he read 2 Corinthians 4:17… For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. It’s the image of an old-fashioned scale—you know, with the two plates hanging from chains. So at the market, the merchant would put a 1 kilogram weight on one side, and on the other side they’d put the corn or wheat or whatever you were buying, until the two sides balanced out. So the verse is saying, “Take all the troubles of this life, and put them on one side of the scale. All the mistreatment and loss and failure and disappointment in your life—they all go on one side. Boom. And I’ll never forget Earl looking at the congregation and saying, “I hope you have something to put on the other side of the scale.” Because there is something. It’s something big enough and glorious enough to outweigh all the pain of this life. It’s the goodness of God. It doesn’t erase all the stuff on the other side, but it outweighs it. It overshadows it and overwhelms it.

For every hardship he encountered, David discovered that the goodness of God outweighed it.

In the face of mistreatment, David discovered that God is sovereign. Which means he’s in control. He takes the mistreatment we receive, and he masterfully turns it for good. I love the illustration Philip Yancey uses. When he was younger he was a decent chess player. But after high school, he put the game aside. Twenty years later, someone challenged him to a game of chess. He didn’t know what he’d gotten himself into. Here’s what he wrote:

We played a few matches, and I learned what it’s like to play against a master. Any classic offense I tried, he countered with a classic defense. If I turned to more risky, unorthodox techniques, he incorporated my bold forays into his winning strategies. Although I had complete freedom to make any move I wished, I soon reached the conclusion that none of my strategies mattered very much. His superior skill guaranteed that my purposes inevitably ended up serving his own.

Perhaps God engages our universe, his own creation, in much the same way. He grants us freedom to rebel against its original design, but even as we do so we end up ironically serving his eventual goal of restoration.

If I accept that blueprint—a huge step of faith, I confess—it transforms how I view both good and bad things that happen. Good things, such as health, talent, and money, I can present to God as offerings to serve his purposes. And bad things, too—disability, poverty, family dysfunction, failures—can be redeemed as the very instruments that drive me to God.

I love that analogy. For David, it meant Saul’s mistreatment wouldn’t get the last word. God would use it to build up David and prepare him for his future kingship. And for us, it means any mistreatment we receive can be redeemed. It doesn’t mean God has caused the mistreatment—God is never the author of evil. But it means he’s brilliant enough and powerful enough to turn it for good. And when you believe that, you can truly say, “Life is hard, but God is good.” He’s sovereign.

In the face of loss, David discovered that God is present. David lost his friend Jonathan, but remember what Jonathan had helped David to do? When David was on the run, Jonathan came to him and helped him find strength in God. Little did he know how much David would need that skill in the days to come. That was the last time David and Jonathan were ever together, and shortly after that, David found himself in a terrifying situation. He and his men came back to their camp, and they realized that all of their wives and children had been kidnapped. And David’s men were so distraught, that they turned on David and considered stoning him. And 1 Samuel 30, verse 6 says: But David found strength in the Lord his God. At a moment when most of us would crumble to the ground, David drew strength from the presence of God.

Listen, if you’re experiencing loss right now, Satan desperately wants you to feel alone. I promise you, you are not. God is right there with you. So trust him. Talk to him out loud. And he will strengthen you. Because yes—life is hard—but God is good. He’s present.

In the face of failure, David discovered that God is forgiving. After David’s epic failure of adultery and murder, he wrote Psalm 32:

1 Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the one whose sin the LORD does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.

David wasn’t just technically pardoned for his sin; he said, “I am blessed.” The Hebrew word for “blessed” can also be translated “happy.” Happy is the one whose sins are forgiven! You know, when you’ve been caught in a sin, like David was, it can feel almost like death. And it’s good to have feelings of conviction and remorse and grief—that means your conscience is working. That’s part of repentance. But David reminds us that it won’t always feel dark. Because of the forgiveness of God, people who fail—even great failures like David—can have a future that’s blessed and happy. So if you’re struggling with shame and regret, you know life is hard. But God is good. He’s forgiving.

And in the face of disappointment, David discovered that God is better. When David’s dream of building the temple was shattered, God replaced that dream with a better dream. He said, “David, you’re not going to build me a house; I’m going to build you a house. The house of David—the royal

line of David—will continue forever.” It was an amazing promise, but here’s the thing: David wasn’t around to see it! He saw his son, Solomon, take the throne, but then he died. So David had to take it on faith that God would be faithful to his word and replace David’s disappointed hopes with something better.

When I look back on that day in November 1985, sitting on my dorm room floor, the disappointment was so raw. But now I see how God used it. I see how God was knocking down the idols I’d been clinging to—my athletic ability; my academic ability; my social success—everything I was building my life on got removed, so God could replace those with himself and draw me to himself and call me to serve him. It was miserable then, but now it all makes sense. If you’re feeling the sting of disappointment right now—disappointment with yourself or with others—choose to believe that God has something better. Even if you can’t see it right now—choose to believe. Because life is hard…but God is good. He’s better.

I’m going to be very honest: this is not the way I was planning to end the David series. When I left for vacation two weeks ago, I had a totally different message written. All buttoned up, so I could enjoy my vacation. And then we had this crisis in our youth ministry. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized it wasn’t the right message. Because I needed to help our people begin to process this news in light of God’s truth. I needed to connect the Word of God to the pain that I know some of you are feeling. So I got up on Thursday and started writing a new message.

And as I prayed and wrote, I realized that David’s life has everything to do with what we’re going through. Because David learned that life is hard, and this is hard. But in the midst of life’s hardness, David discovered that God is good. And we better realize the same thing. Because when we believe that, it will make all the difference in how we walk through this.

If you’re having trouble believing that God is good—either because of what I shared earlier, or maybe something completely different—if you’re struggling to believe God is good—you need to remember what we have said every single week of this series: the story of David is really not about David. The story of David is in the Bible to point us forward to the true and perfect and ultimate David, Jesus Christ.

So if you’re doubting the goodness of God, look at Jesus. Look at the cross. Because on the cross, Jesus faced the hardest thing in our place. As he was dying, he cried out, Eloi, eloi, lama sebachthani? “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And the heavens were silent—no answer—because Jesus was being ripped apart from the Father as he took the judgment that we deserve. That is the hardest thing anyone has ever done. And because Jesus did that for us—yes, our lives are hard—but we will never have to face that hard thing. And because he faced the ultimate hard thing for us, we can be positive that he’ll walk through all the other hard things with us.

If you’re doubting the goodness of God, look at Jesus.

But don’t just look at Jesus on the cross. Look at him as he is today. In the very last book of the Bible, in the very last chapter, Revelation 22:16… “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” See, David was a king, but Jesus is the King—capital “K.” He is the risen, exalted king—with nail scars in his hands, reigning in heaven. And he is the one who will walk with you through all your hard things, and he will walk with our church, through all of our hard things. So there’s no need to fear.

Brothers and sisters, this life is hard. But God is so, so good.

Rise for prayer, closing worship…