The Golden Years

THE GOLDEN YEARS

1 Kings 2:1-11 (KJV)

Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man;

And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:

That the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.

As a preacher of the gospel, I have had the opportunity to be at side of quite a number of people as they approached their last days on earth.

I well remember being with my great grandfather just before he passed.

Grandpa Baker had dementia and I do not recall ever knowing him when he was in his right mind.

I was pastoring in Astoria when my Nana Baker fell and broke her hip in Longview and Grandpa and Nana had to go into a nursing home because she was no longer able to care for the two of them.[1]

They were in a room together the first time I went to visit them.

Nana was used to being the one who was visited and did all the talking – well, mostly complaining.

·   She was upset that she had to be there

·   She was upset at my Grandfather for allowing them to take her jewelry off her

·   She was upset at my dad because he laughed too much

I visited with her but could not help but see my great grandpa in his bed.

He had his hands folded over his chest as he rocked back and forth crying “Pain, Pain, Pain.”

When I left I went to the nurses’ desk and asked them if they could do anything to make him more comfortable.

They said they could not. That his heart was enlarged and just barely beating. That he should have died already but, for whatever reason, he did not want to go.

I drove home to Astoria terribly bothered by that.

The next day I drove back to Longview and asked the nurses if there was any way to move my Nana out of the room so I could be alone with my great grandfather.[2]

The nurses, agreed, took my Nana to another room and left me to be with Grandpa Baker.

He was exactly as he had been the day before.

I had learned from other hospital visits that those who are in a coma are thought to be able to hear people speak to them so I pretended that my Grandpa could hear me.

I held onto his hand and went through the plan of salvation.

When I was finished I prayed the sinner’s prayer and then asked my Grandpa, “If you prayed and asked Jesus to forgive your sins and save you, would you squeeze my hand real hard?”

He squeezed my hand firmly, then relaxed, stopped rocking and stopping crying “Pain.”

He passed away just a few hours later.

I have watched people who have faced their last days:

·   With fear

·   With dread

·   With panic, fighting for their very last breath

I have witnessed those who faced the same days:

·   With joy

·   With hope

·   With peace, longing to be in the presence of the Lord

The Bible tells us something of King David’s last days in this life.

It seems fitting to me to end this series on the heart after God, by considering some of what the Bible reveals about David’s heart in his final days on earth.

There are three passages I want to draw to your attention.

First,

I. DAVID HAD A HEART OF GRATITUDE

2 Samuel 23:1-8 (KJV)

Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,

The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.

The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God.

And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain.

Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.

But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands:

But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place.

These be the names of the mighty men whom David had: The Tachmonite that sat in the seat, chief among the captains; the same was Adino the Eznite: he lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time.

I won’t take the time to do it just now, but if we were to read to the end of this chapter we would find the names of thirty men whose exploits in battle next to David made them or renown.

David was certain to show appreciation to each of these men and to list their names, forever preserved in the perfect, inspired and eternal Word of God.

Anita and I have commented often that we want to learn, as we grow older, to be thankful and appreciative.

A person seems to go through this series of transitions as an adult:

·   We think we can take care of ourselves, but we really can’t.

·   We get to where we can pay our own bills and make a way for ourselves

·   We have others who come to depend upon us to help them care for themselves

·   Those we have helped get to where they don’t need us as much any more

·   Those we have helped get preoccupied helping others, and we feel loss and loneliness

·   We need help and those we have helped may not be in a position to give us all the help we want.

When that day happens we have a choice; will be remain appreciative or will we get upset that we don’t get our way any more?

I think one of the most important things David did for himself, as he got older, was to remember to express appreciation for those who served alongside him in earlier days.

Notice the Bible does not say that these mighty men were doing those exploits at this time – they had done them before.

Some of them were dead.[3]

Still, David remembered them with fondness.

A man after God’s own heart is appreciative and thoughtful, not angry and resentful.

Notice secondly,

II. DAVID HAD A HEART OF MERCY

1 Kings 2:1-11 (KJV)

Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die; and he charged Solomon his son, saying,

I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man;

And keep the charge of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses, that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself:

That the LORD may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on the throne of Israel.

Moreover thou knowest also what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of Ner, and unto Amasa the son of Jether, whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.

Do therefore according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoar head go down to the grave in peace.

But shew kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table: for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom thy brother.

And, behold, thou hast with thee Shimei the son of Gera, a Benjamite of Bahurim, which cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim: but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I sware to him by the LORD, saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword.

Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou art a wise man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him; but his hoar head bring thou down to the grave with blood.

So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.

And the days that David reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in Hebron, and thirty and three years reigned he in Jerusalem.

David had the fortunate opportunity to hand the reigns of the kingdom over to his son, Solomon.

He knew who it was that was to replace him and he was privileged to walk the nation through the transition, even living some time after Solomon became king.

One of the responsibilities David had, as he progressed through this transition, was to access Solomon of some “special circumstance” personalities.

Some of them were men that David warned Solomon about

Joab, his general, 

had always been loyal to his cause but never to his king.

David had been patient and merciful with Joab, but was certain that Solomon would have to judge him

The sons of Barzillai

This man came to David’s comfort when he was chased out of Jerusalem by his son, Absalom. Barzillai, was likely passed away by this time, but David urged Solomon to shew kindness to his children out of respect for what their father had done.

Shimei, the Benjamite

Whereas Barzillai had brought food and drink to David and his men as they fled Jerusalem, Shimei, kicked dust in his face and cursed him.

David was merciful to him at the time and, once he was restored to the kingdom, continued to show Shimei mercy. But David knew Shimei’s heart was not right and told Solomon he would have to bring judgment upon him too one day.

I’m going to be honest with you, I wrestle a little bit with this one in the flesh.

I wonder if David didn’t “do Solomon dirty” leaving him to have to deal with 

·   Joab, 

·   Shimei and his brother 

·   Adonijah, who tried to steal the kingdom from him.

If David were a strong leader, wouldn’t he have cleaned up his own mess and left Solomon a clean slate with which to work?

Here is the conclusion I come up with:

The heart after God gives every possible soul, every possible opportunity to receive mercy.

I don’t believe David ever took his eyes off of these men.

I think he was capable of executing judgment the very first day it was necessary

But he was willing to suffer:

·   With their disloyalty

·   With their backbiting

·   With their sow discord

·   With their criticisms of him

So that they would have every chance to become men with a heart after God on their own.

Think about this,

Every one of us knows that forgiveness and mercy are very difficult gifts to extend.

That is especially true when the one we are merciful to is unkind to us in return.

·   It is hard to be merciful

·   It is unnatural to be merciful

·   It oftentimes seems illogical and dangerous to be merciful

But mercy is exactly what God would do.

He patiently holds out His hand of mercy until it is impossible to hold it out any longer.

Our world tends to view God as soft, impotent and irrelevant. They scoff at Him, saying, 2 Peter 3:4 (KJV)

… Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

God’s mercy today should not be mistaken for impotence.

2 Peter 3:9-10 (KJV)

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Isn’t God’s mercy demonstrated by His willingness to save people to their dying day?

A heart after God is merciful until the last possible moment.

Notice finally

III. DAVID HAD A HEART TO SEEK GOD

1 Chronicles 22:5-19 (KJV)

And David said, Solomon my son is young and tender, and the house that is to be builded for the LORD must be exceeding magnifical, of fame and of glory throughout all countries: I will therefore now make preparation for it. So David prepared abundantly before his death.

Then he called for Solomon his son, and charged him to build an house for the LORD God of Israel.

And David said to Solomon, My son, as for me, it was in my mind to build an house unto the name of the LORD my God:

But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build an house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.

Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.

He shall build an house for my name; and he shall be my son, and I will be his father; and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.

Now, my son, the LORD be with thee; and prosper thou, and build the house of the LORD thy God, as he hath said of thee.

Only the LORD give thee wisdom and understanding, and give thee charge concerning Israel, that thou mayest keep the law of the LORD thy God.

Then shalt thou prosper, if thou takest heed to fulfil the statutes and judgments which the LORD charged Moses with concerning Israel: be strong, and of good courage; dread not, nor be dismayed.

Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the LORD an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto.

Moreover there are workmen with thee in abundance, hewers and workers of stone and timber, and all manner of cunning men for every manner of work.

Of the gold, the silver, and the brass, and the iron, there is no number. Arise therefore, and be doing, and the LORD be with thee.

David also commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying,

Is not the LORD your God with you? and hath he not given you rest on every side? for he hath given the inhabitants of the land into mine hand; and the land is subdued before the LORD, and before his people.

Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD.

I made mention of this months ago, when I preached on David’s desire to build the Temple.

David was told He could not build it. 

He was told that responsibility would fall to his son.

Rather than getting upset about it, David spent the rest of his life saving money and resources so his son would have all he needed to do the work.

Now here he is, at the end of his life.

He is giving Solomon those last few instructions as he passed the mantle over to him and concludes by saying, 

1 Chronicles 22:19 (KJV)

Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God; arise therefore, and build ye the sanctuary of the LORD God, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and the holy vessels of God, into the house that is to be built to the name of the LORD.

A heart after God’s never quits seeking the Lord and urging others to do the same.

Conclusion

In David’s senior years he had:

·   A heart of appreciation

·   A heart of mercy and

·   A heart for seeking the Lord

None of us knows what a day holds. We might have years of golden years or we might not.

·   We might be in good health until the day we go home

·   Or we might struggle physically or mentally.

I can tell you what I pray for myself as I approach those golden years.

·   I want to be cheerful and appreciative of others, especially my children and church

·   I want to be forgiving and kind and

·   I want to be on fire for God

All the days of my life.

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[1]They were both in their mid 90’s at the time.

[2]I knew my Nana would dominate any conversation we had and would not allow me to speak with Grandpa Baker.

[3]Uriah the Hittite was, for sure.