I invite you now to open in God's word to 2 Samuel 23, page 275 of the Bibles, the Pew Bibles provided for you underneath the seats in front of you. We're coming to a conclusion of the books of 1 and 2 Samuel that we've been studying for a number of weeks now and this is the next to last passage that we'll be looking at, 2 Samuel 23. We have seen how these final chapters of 2 Samuel are reiterating or recapitulating, recounting for us the main themes of the books of 1 and 2 Samuel. In a sense, it's like a little epilogue saying, just in case you missed it, here was the point. So that's very helpful. We can go back and correct ourselves if we weren't catching the point before. Here, 2 Samuel 23 probably echoes, it seems to me, echoes 2 Samuel 1 to 10. This picture of David finally coming to his throne and reigning in glory in a kingdom. that is a picture of the consummated kingdom of God. So with that, let's look at 2 Samuel 23. It's really two major sections. The first section is this final song of David, basically a song of his coronation and his enthronement, and then a list of his mighty men. Hear now the reading of God's holy word. Now these are the last words of David, the oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man, who was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the sweet psalmist of Israel. The spirit of the Lord speaks by me. His word is on my tongue. The God of Israel has spoken. The rock of Israel has said to me, when one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light. Like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth. For does not my house stand so with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure, for will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire? But worthless men, or like all the thorns that are thrown away, for they cannot be taken with the hand, but the man who touches them arms himself with iron and the shaft of a spear, and they are utterly consumed with fire. These are the names of the mighty men whom David had. Joshabashibeth, a Tachimanite, he was the chief of the three. He wielded his spear against 800 whom he killed at one time. And next to him among the three mighty men was Eleazar, the son of Dodo, the son of Ahohai. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle. And the men of Israel withdrew. He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary and his hand clung to the sword. And the Lord brought about a great victory that day. And the men returned after him only to strip the slain. And next to him was Shammah, the son of Eiji, the Herorite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the men fled from the Philistines. But he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked a great victory. And three of the 30 chief men went down and came about harvest time to David at the cave of Adullam. when a band of Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim. David was then in the stronghold and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. And David said longingly, oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate. Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried and brought it to David. But he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the Lord and said, far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives? Therefore he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did. Now Abishai, the brother of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the 30, and he wielded his spear against 300 men and killed them and won a name beside the three. He was the most renowned of the 30 and became their commander, but he did not attain to the three. And Banea, the son of Jehoiada, was a valiant man of Kabziel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two aerials of Moab. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. And he struck down an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Banea went down to him with a staff and snatched the spear out of the Egyptian's hand and killed him with his own spear. These things did Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, and won a name beside the three mighty men. He was renowned among the 30, but did not attain to the three, and David set him over his bodyguard. Asahel, the brother of Joab, was one of the 30. Elhanan, the son of Dodo of Bethlehem, Shammah of Herod, Elika of Herod, Heles, the Paltite, Ira, the son of Ikish of Tekoa, Abiezar of Anathoth, Mebune, the Hushethite, Zalman, the Ahohite, Meharai of Netopha, Heleb, the son of Baena of Netopha, Itay, the son of Ribai, of Gibeah, of the people of Benjamin, Benea of Pirithon, Hidde of the brooks of Geyash, Abai, Albon, the Arbethite, Asmaveth of Behurim, Eliahab, Eliba, sorry, the Sheolbonite, sons of Jason, Jonathan, Shammah, the Herorite, Ahaim, the son of Sherar, the Herorite, Eliphelet, the son of Ahaspai of Maaca, Eliam, the son of Ahithophel of Gilo, Hezro of Carmel, Peirai the Arbite Igal, the son of Nathan of Zoba, Banei the Gadite, Zilek the Ammonite, Nehari of Beeroth, the armor bearer of Joab, the son of Zeruiah, Ira the Ithrite, Gareb the Ithrite, Uriah the Hittite. 37 in all. As we prepare to take some time to meditate further on God's word, let's go before him in prayer and ask him to help us as we do. Heavenly Father, we do thank you and praise you for this opportunity to be gathered here together to hear your words as you speak. Lord, give us hearts to hear. Give us attentive ears to listen. May you soften our hearts and enable us by your spirit to hear the truths that you would have for us, the truths of The reality of sin in this world and the hopelessness that we are in left to ourselves, but the same reality that on the flip side is a message of hope as we humble ourselves and turn to you in faith and receive the promises. of your forgiveness, of your grace, of the everlasting blessings that you've prepared for us in your kingdom. And so we pray that you'd use these words this morning to work a mighty work in our hearts and our lives, bringing us to faith, nourishing our faith and strengthening us to live lives following Christ. In his name we pray, amen. Well, yesterday I attended the funeral of a friend's daughter. She was only 40 years old, and she seems to be one of, really, the many who, in recent years, have lost hope, given in to despair and taken their own lives, part of a broader, what we could call a crisis of hope. Carol Graham, a writer and researcher for the Brookings Institution, has written a number of scholarly articles on this topic and has summarized her work. And as she does so, she says, we currently have a crisis of premature deaths caused by suicide, drug overdose, and alcohol-related diseases. All the consequences, she says, of high levels of despair. She says the single most consequential component of subjective well-being is hope, and it's exactly hope that seems to be being lost all around us. Graham defines hope as this. She says, it's not simply the belief or feeling that one's circumstances will get better, that's just optimism. Rather, hope is that optimism combined with the belief that one has the agency to make things better. So what's her solution? Well, she suggests the government to get involved, government to develop ways to track hope, despair, and well-being, study its effects, and maybe find ways to address it. on a broader scale. She also encourages community leaders to offer mentoring to young people to help them cultivate a sense of hope and give opportunities for older people to volunteer, which gives meaning and purpose to life and to walk in nature. Apparently that helps us have hope, to walk in nature. The problem I have is reading through Graham's analysis of the situation, is that she says hope is having both the confidence that circumstances will get better and the agency to make them so. But that's simply a description of a hope that we can have for this life. I mean, in the end, we all face a grave reality that isn't getting better, and that's death, the end. Sadly, I think the reason for this hope crisis is because we believe that death is all there is. That more and more as a society, we're abandoning the only true hope that can be found, and that is the hope that is offered in the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ that we find in God's word, the Bible. This hope that though this life is fraught with trouble and suffering and sin, that God is building an eternal kingdom of glory, of beauty, of wonder, of peace, and he invites us to join others on the narrow path that leads there. A path that is through faith and following Jesus Christ. Now what does all this have to do with 2 Samuel 23? I think it has everything to do with 2 Samuel 23 because to be moved or drawn to pursue a goal, to walk, especially walk a narrow path to this kingdom hope, we need a vision. of what that hope is, of what awaits. You know, like Pilgrim's Progress, where he sets off on his journey to Celestial City, having heard about the city, and how great and glorious and grand it is that that vision of the future is what motivated him to walk through many hardships and trials and tribulations, and yet to continue and press on. We need a vision of what this kingdom that we're headed to is like, and that's what 2 Samuel 23 is all about. It describes for us a little picture and a little image, a little snapshot of the character of the consummated coming kingdom of God. And as a reminder, this is, part of this epilogue that I think maps very well onto what comes before. And so if we connect this passage, 2 Samuel 23, with a section of 1 and 2 Samuel, I would argue that it mirrors or echoes the section of 2 Samuel 1 to 10. And what we notice there is that section was all about The King, the one after the Lord's own heart, finally coming to reign as King over the kingdom, bringing the glory and the power and the might and the wonder, a little picture of what the consummated kingdom of God looks like. And as we see that idea echoed and reflected here in 2 Samuel 23, what we see is that this passage shows us the character of the consummated kingdom's space, the consummated kingdom's subjects, and the consummated kingdom's sovereign. And those are the three points I want us to consider. The consummated kingdom's space, subjects, and sovereign, and how they're characterized here. First of all, the character of the consummated kingdom's space or place. And we see this in the first section in David's last words in verses one to seven. This hymn of coronation that David sings, reflecting on his having been raised to kingship by the Lord, the fact that God has given him the Davidic covenant, the promise of a lasting eternal kingdom, as he does in 2 Samuel 7. And look what he says in verse one now. These are the last words of David. We know he had other words, but these seem to be the last prophetic, the last oracles of David, or maybe a hymn that he wrote or sang or reflected on at the very end of his life. The oracle of David, the son of Jesse, the oracle of the man who was raised on high, notice he didn't raise himself on high, he didn't rise on high, he was raised on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob. The sweet psalmist of Israel, or as your note says, or the favorite of the songs of Israel. And this section seems to mirror specifically, maybe even more tightly, 2 Samuel 1-7, where the Lord finally establishes and raises up David and establishes his kingship and brings to an end the strife, the conflict, the unrest that troubled him all the way in his rise to the throne, finally reaching this place of victory and rulership and power and glory as he settles in Jerusalem. And what we saw when we were looking at those passages is what we see here. that the kingdom of God that is coming, the consummation kingdom of God is a space, is a place full of justice, full of peace, where God reigns by his word and blesses by his king. That's how we could summarize this picture that David paints in this final oracle. But if we drill down and we look at the details of this oracle of David, it's a little further, we got a few sub points here, and that is, how do these verses picture the place, the space of this consummation? First of all, it's a place that is emptied of evil. Utterly emptied of evil. Now that's at the very end of his song. He talks about being raised on high, being established, the glory of a king who exercises justice and rules in the fear of the Lord, then at the end, there's a but. but worthless men are all like thorns that are thrown away. For they cannot be taken with the hand, but the man who touches them arms himself. He can't be taken by the hand. You don't take worthless men and bring them to be a friend, to walk alongside you. Instead, he who touches them arms himself with iron. The picture is putting on an iron glove so that you don't, get pricked by these thorny, worthless men, and a shaft of a spear, and they are utterly consumed with fire. There's this reality that there are two kinds of people, and one is not welcome in this space. Evil, worthless men, those characterized, admired, and lost in their sin and wickedness. are not part of this consummation kingdom and this space that David characterizes here. Of course, we saw this in David's ascent to the throne. He had to vanquish all sorts of usurpers and opponents to his rule. And then once enthroned, he had to clear the kingdom of his enemies, which he did. The consummation kingdom is characterized by being emptied of evil. And isn't that how John sees it in the book of Revelation? Is he at the very end of, inspired scriptures, he sees this final vision, the glory that awaits. And what does he say in Revelation chapter 21? The same sort of thing, that the kingdom is one emptied of evil. Listen to this. Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man, he will dwell with them, and he They will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And he who is seated on the throne said, behold, I am making all things new. But, but, verse eight, Revelation 21, eight. As for the cowardly, the faithless, The detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. Two spaces. One, the consummation kingdom of God, empty of evil. What a vision. I have a friend who used to work for government intelligence. And he doesn't go into detail because he's a good government employee and is faithful to the promises that he's made. But every now and then he'll share how he reflected on his time. They had to do all sorts of spying and surveillance He said there was constant work to be done and most Americans don't even know that it's going on and they don't need to. But it has to be done because evil never rests. There are constantly those plotting ill will for their enemies. Imagine living in a world emptied of evil. What a place. That's the character of the coming kingdom space. The second characteristic of this space of the coming kingdom, the consummation kingdom of God, is that it is a place, a space that is lush with life. Lush with life. Human flourishing. Peace. Not peace like just absence of war, but peace like the biblical shalom. richness, fullness, beauty. And we see that in verses three to five. The God of Israel has spoken. The rock of Israel has said to me, when one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, the description of David at his best, a description of the kind of king that God has promised for his kingdom. He dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth. For does not my house stand so with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For will he not cause to prosper all my help? and my desire. The images here are powerful images of blessing, prosperity under a just rule of God's chosen king who rules in the fear of God. He's like light, sun. He's like rain. Why those two things? Well, because those are the two resources necessary to enable human life to flourish on earth, water and sun. That's what God's king is likened to here. That's what his kingdom is like to a place where the sun never sets, where the rain always comes in due time. He says this kingdom is a place lush with life because it is secure. It prospers because it's under this everlasting covenant. As a culture, in our day, in our world, A culture where we seem to no longer be operating much under the fear of the Lord. We're terrified of losing the sun and losing water. Climate change, nuclear war, artificial intelligence, all these things are these existential threats are now things of great fear. But the consummation kingdom has no such concerns. It's a place of promised permanence, emptied of evil, lush with life. And third, it's grounded on God, on his word, and on his king. I say that because at the very center of David's poem here, and it's one of these structures we've talked about before, a sandwich structure, and so at the center, It's meant to draw your attention to it and see it as the center of whatever's being talked about. Here, the kingdom's space is being discussed, so what is at its center? At its center is God speaking. Look at verse two. The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me. His word is on my tongue. The God of Israel has spoken. The rock of Israel has said to me, when one rules justly and so on. The Lord's word is introduced and then God speaks. That's the center of his kingdom. At the center of the consummation kingdom of glory is the word of God or God speaking a word of blessing through his king. Friends, isn't that the same picture we get in Revelation? The picture of the very word of God, Jesus Christ, as the Lamb of God slain to take away the sins of the world in the center of New Jerusalem. In the center providing its light and from whom come the waters. That's the picture of Revelation 22. It's also the picture that's there in Revelation 21. I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light. And its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will nations walk. Kings of the earth will bring their glory. And down to chapter 22, the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne. of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it. His servants will worship Him. They will see His face. His name shall be on their foreheads, and night will be no more. They need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. How do you apply this first point, this vision of the space of this consummation kingdom of how it's characterized? the space, the place we long for that is emptied of evil, that is lush with life, that is firmly grounded and secure, which it can only be when it's founded and grounded on the word of God's promise and on his glorious king. That's the vision that we're given for our future, the promised hope we have that God lays out for us, that's foreshadowed in David's reign and fulfilled in the coming Consummated reign of Jesus Christ, our King. Are you ready to have your mind blown by that reality? This is a little poetry that's given to us to picture it, but it falls so far short. And we see that when we go to Revelation, and the images that are used to describe just often sound foreign and strange. It's because it's so glorious, you can't quite put it into human words. That's the character of the consummated kingdom's space. What about its subjects, the second point, its subjects? Well, not only do we have here a vision for the character of the consummated kingdom as a space, a place of peace and justice, but we also have a picture of it being full of glorious subjects who are no less than mighty conquering heroes. That's what the rest of the passage is about. And this is so significant because, you know, don't we all feel like the friends who are around us often say, A lot about us? Kids, it's kind of why you wanna be part of what you think is the cool kids crowd, because you think somehow if you're surrounded by them, it makes you look good, and that's the idea here. David, as this glorious king, to have the glory that he has, it must be reflected in those around him, and it is. These are mighty men. These are his elite troops, the king's special subjects, and they come in a set of three, which is the cream of the crop, and 30, who are the cream of the crop of all the rest. That's how it's divided up here. And if we ask ourselves, okay, what are these subjects like? How are they described? How are they characterized? I would argue, again, there are three ways they're characterized. First of all, they're characterized as conquerors, as victors, mighty warriors who win. Look at verse eight. These are the names of the mighty men whom David had, Josheb, Josheb, Beishebeth, a Tachimanite. He was the chief of the three, and we find out why. He wielded his spear against 800 whom he killed at one time. Wow, only Samson is said to have killed more in the Bible. He killed apparently 1,000, at least he claimed to in one sitting. No wonder Joseph is the chief of the chiefs. Think about it, if you had 100 of Joshebs, you could, with 100 Joshebs, you could defeat an army of 80,000. But there are more, verse nine. Next to him, among the three mighty men was Eliezer, the son of Dodo, the son of Ahohai. He was with David when they defied the Philistines who were gathered there for battle, and the men of Israel withdrew. He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary and his hand clung to the sword. It's frozen in place. And the Lord brought about a great victory that day and the men returned after him only to strip the slain. They didn't have to come back and kill those who were dying on the battlefield. He just had to strip them. That's the idea. What a victor. And then it goes on. Verse 11, the third. And next to him was Shammah, the son of Agee, the Herorite. The Philistines gathered together at Lehi, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils. You know, the kingdom's only as safe as you can grow a garden, plant a garden, and have it not be destroyed by marauders. And Shammah, Shammah's the guy you want protecting your field. Look at this. There's a plot of ground full of lentils. And the men fled from the Philistines, but he took his stand in the midst of the plot and defended it and struck down the Philistines, and the Lord worked a great victory. What's the point? These guys are not just heroes who fight hard. They are victors, conquerors. No wonder the kingdom has placed a space of peace and safety with conquerors like this. as its subjects, right? But they're not only conquerors, they're also deeply committed and devoted to their king. And we see this in this powerful vignette about David that comes in verses 13 and following. Look at those. And three of the 30 chief men, Now we don't know if this is saying that the three that just were described, or some other three that were mighty among the 30, went down and came about harvest time to David at the cave of Adullam, when the band of Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim. Now, we don't know exactly when this happened, but probably it happened around the time of 2 Samuel 5, which is what we're echoing here, right? Because it tells us about a time when the Philistines were camped in the valley of Rephaim. And David was then in the stronghold and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. Now Bethlehem's the city David grew up in, it's his hometown. And it's teeming with Philistines. David's hiding out in a cave. And David said longingly, oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate. And commentators say David's not there, you know, trying to goad his men to go get some water. He's not there probably, literally, wishing he could have water. He's longing for what all that would represent. That Bethlehem would be safe in Israelite hands. That he could go back there and visit his relatives from time to time. Drink the water of Bethlehem that probably he grew up drinking, that had its own distinctive flavor. And remember all the joys of childhood. All that's being robbed from him now as he's enmeshed in this battle with the Philistines. That's probably what he's longing for, but his men. Take him literally. Look at how committed, look at how devoted they are to their king. The three mighty men broke through the camp of Philistines. They couldn't just walk up and grab it. They had to fight their way in. And drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate and carried and brought it to David. That's about a 26 mile hike there and back. But he wouldn't drink of it. He poured it out. And you think, what? They must have been shocked. They must have been so annoyed. We got that for you to taste and to drink. He poured it out to the Lord. He said, this gift is worthy of being an offering, a drink offering to the Lord, and poured it out and said, far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I drink the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives? Therefore, he would not drink it. These things the three mighty men did. And notice, not only are they committed and devoted to him, David, their king, but he shows the same devotion to them. He recognizes the sacrifice, the risk of their lives. And he said, you know what? I'm not gonna take their lives lightly enough. I don't deserve the kind of honor they're trying to give me. You, Lord, deserve that. And so he gives their offering. So the subjects here are characterized as conquerors, committed to their king. And third, throughout, they're characterized as being utterly courageous. Utterly courageous. We see this as we read on through the list. Verses 18, now Abishai, the brother of Joab, we know this guy. And we know this guy had courage. He's the guy who went with David and headed right into the Philistine camp and grabbed the spear, I'm sorry, he went with David, not the Philistine camp, Saul's camp, grabbed the spear of Saul with David. This guy was fearless, courageous, but look at what he does here. He was chief of the 30, he wielded his spear against 300 men and killed them and won a name beside the three. He was the most renowned of the 30 and became their commander. But this Abishai who we know is so courageous, he didn't attain to the three. Those guys that we just talked about, they were even greater than he. They were all so courageous. Look at Banea. Banea, the son of Jehoiada, was a valiant man of Kabziel, a doer of great deeds. He struck down two aerials, and we don't know exactly what these are. Different options are there in your notes. He also went down and struck down a lion in a pit on a day when snow had fallen. Yeah, snow had fallen. It's freezing cold. You can't get good footing. And he goes and takes care of a lion even. in that sort of situation. And he struck down an Egyptian, a handsome man. The Egyptian had a spear in his hand, but Bnei went down to him with a staff, snatched the spear out of the Egyptian's hand, and killed him with his own spear. These things Bnei, son of Jehoiah, did, and won a name for himself beside the three mighty men. He was renowned among the 30, but he did not obtain to the three. David set him over his bodyguard. The snowy lion killer, that's the guy you want to be over your bodyguard, don't you? And then the list goes on. We're not going to read through all these names. It's hard enough to do it once. Let's not do it twice. Probably all of these guys were famous in their own day. Kids. For the early readers of this text, it probably sounded a little bit like, and then there was Superman, and then there was Batman, and then there was Spider-Man, and then there's Iron Man, and then there's Ant-Man, and whoever your favorite superhero is. That's what this sounded like. These were real life, though, real life superheroes that lived among God's people. The implication is that all these subjects of David, this list of names, they each have their own stories of courage, of commitment to him, of conquest. So what should we do with a list like this? How do we apply this second point of the characterization of the subjects of the consummated kingdom? Well, first of all, I think let's be comforted by it. The Lord not only provides a mighty king, but he provides mighty subjects who can win his battles too, who can fight alongside us and with us and for us. Imagine living in Israel at this time, in Bnei, the snowy lion slayer is your next door neighbor. you wouldn't be too worried about what happens at night, right? He's got me covered. Or maybe you're somebody who would like to be like B'nai, and you're like, he can teach me a thing or two. Your kids go to the same school. That would be a place you'd feel confident, safe, at peace. We should also recognize here that this characterization of the subjects of David's mighty men who are specifically listed here is actually a characterization that is to be true of all of us as servants of God in some capacity. Spiritually speaking, we're all called to courage, a courage of faith as we stand like lion slayers against the devil who prowls around like a roaring lion as 1 Peter 5 says. We are all called to this kind of a commitment and devotion to our king, like these three men, unnamed men, who run off to Bethlehem. We're called to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, all our strength. It means we're willing to put our lives on the line to serve and follow him. We are called to courage, to commitment. We are called to be more than conquerors, Paul says in Romans 8. As we fight the spiritual battles of this life, You know, that's the promise throughout Revelation, as Revelation is really specifically a whole book that's oriented or focused on our future hope, and it keeps saying over and over again, to the one who conquers, I will give this consummated kingdom of glory. That's a challenge. How can we rise to it? Well, the answer is just like these men did. Yeah, sure, they were courageous. Sure, they were committed. Sure, they conquered, but look how. Verse 10, talking here about Eliezer, the son of Dodo. He rose and struck down the Philistines until his hand was weary, his hand clung to the sword. And the Lord brought about a great victory that day. Verse 12, this is talking about Shammah. But he took a stand in the midst of the plot of lentils and he defended and struck down the Philistines and the Lord worked a great victory. So the call here as we look at the characterization of the subjects of the king as we see in them a call to us to be characterized in similar ways. It's not a call for us to be Dwayne the Rock Johnson's physically or spiritually. No, instead we're called to lean on the Lord and to find him is the one who makes us courageous in faith, who cultivates in us a commitment, a love for Him, a devotion, as we simply love Him back, as simply we are devoted to Him after He has first devoted Himself to us. We are called in Him. to be more than conquerors. That's how Paul says it in Romans 8, where he's talking about being more than conquerors. What is it that he says, starting in verse 31, he says, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? See, that's how we're more than conquerors, by God fighting with and for us, by God giving the victory. And then down in verse 35. Well, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? All these battle imageries, all sorts of stuff we've seen in these mighty men of David. As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. So that's the character of the kingdom, the consummation kingdom's space or its place, the character of the consummation kingdom's subjects, and third and finally, the character of the consummation kingdom's sovereign or king. See, the question we should ask here with this vision of the consummation kingdom is this glorious space full of glorious subjects, we should ask, how do I get in? How can I be part of that? Especially since most of the people, the largest number of people mentioned in this chapter aren't part of that kingdom. 800 Philistines plus 300 is 1,100 on my counts, and there were more. Here, the people, the subjects of the kingdom are only maybe 40. It says 37 at the end, but yeah, David and Joab is mentioned and a few others, and maybe you get up to about 40. How can I be part? of that kingdom? How can I have that kind of kingdom as my hope? And friends, the answer is by knowing the sovereign of that kingdom, the king of glory. Who is the king of glory? Who's the sovereign who rules this consummated kingdom of God? Friends, it's not David who's ruling here, but it's David's greater son. Jesus Christ. And we see this as we look through this passage. We step back and we see all this glory shot throughout. We can imagine the nostalgia this might have engendered in those who lived through this time. We can imagine the longing that it might have cultivated century after century for those who lived through Israel's history as it marched on. A kingdom eventually divided, northern and southern. A kingdom that eventually had wicked king after wicked king after wicked king leading. Not a king like David, but kings like Saul and worse. A kingdom, the north of which fell to the Assyrians, the south of which fell in exile to the Babylonians, led off into exile. We can imagine the Israelites reading this and thinking, if only we could get back there, to that kingdom of David, full of those courageous, conquering subjects. But on closer read, we must recognize that such sentiments ought to have been challenged by a closer reading of the text. Because while this passage does paint a beautiful picture of power and glory in this image of the consummated kingdom, did you notice how it ends? You read through this list, Superman, Iron Man, names that we can't pronounce, but clearly these guys that are renowned. And then verse 39, the last name mentioned. The last of David's 30 mighty men in this list of names, Uriah the Hittite. And all of a sudden, the worst of David's sin, all the worst of David's failure in his reign comes pouring back into mind, the lust. the adultery, the lies, the murder, the betrayal of one of his most loyal, devoted subjects. It's such a clear reminder. As great as David's kingship was, it could only ever serve as a picture, shadowy picture at best, of the consummation that God has promised, that he promises to David. in such grand and glorious categories as we see here. And as we reel from that realization, we can go back over the passage, and as you do, you realize, oh, we should have gotten hints of it before Uriah. Hints that not all was perfect in David's kingdom, that David himself did not rule justly always, that he did not always rule in the fear of the Lord as he declares in verse three, and we see this in the repeated mention of Joab. Joab! who is the general of David's armies, who's over all of these guys, and yet all he gets named for, he's not even counted as one of them. He just gets named as one who's a reference to his brothers. Abishai, the brother of Joab. Asahel, the brother of Joab. It's like he's been excommunicated because of his brutality, his violence, his disobedience of his king. And then there's verse 34. Eliam. the son of Ahithophel. Oh, I've heard that name before, Ahithophel. Well, Eliam, Bathsheba's dad, another one of David's mighty men, commits adultery with his daughter. And Ahithophel is the one who then sides with Absalom to lead in Absalom's rebellion. No, friends, the ultimate glory of the kingdom space and subjects is dependent on the sovereign. And because of David's sin and failure, he can't be the forever perfect king. And that's how this whole passage is meant to cultivate in us and in God's people throughout the ages a longing. Not for a bygone kingdom in the Palestine, a kingdom of Jews under the rule of David, but it's meant to cultivate in us a longing for a coming kingdom. that covers the whole world, that is full of every nation, tribe, and tongue, and under the kingship of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the great David's greater son, a king like him in all the ways that David was a man, like after the Lord's own heart, every way in which David was a man after the Lord's own heart, Jesus is, but he's not like David in all the ways that David fails, betrays, sins. Like David here, Jesus had his own mighty men, loyal troops. While David had 30, Jesus only had 12. While David's were mighty warriors, Jesus were 12 fishermen and a tax collector. His 12 didn't fight the Roman Empire, but they did do wonders nonetheless, healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead, even converting pagans. the faith in Jesus Christ. They went out in war, they won people for the kingdom of God rather than destroying them. And we're called to join in this apostolic ministry of victory as we attend to God's word, as we continue in prayer, as we hold fast to the faith. Like David in the midst of battle, Jesus had a wish, had a longing. Not for a little cup of Bethlehem spring water, But he had a longing that the Father take the cup of his wrath away from him. And rather than granting that wish, the disciples fell asleep while praying and then fled when it got too hard to follow. Unlike David, who himself eventually betrayed his loyal servant, Uriah, Jesus is the king who was betrayed by one of his servants and one of his friends, Judas Iscariot. And then Jesus, as king, humbled himself and did the work of these mighty men. These mighty subjects of David. He did the work that he calls us to follow him in, but he did it first and foremost. He stepped forth into battle alone, waging war with the ultimate enemy, sin, Satan, and death, drinking the cup of God's wrath to its dregs on the cross so that he could become a source of living water for us as he pours forth his spirit. on all who have faith in Him and leads us by the Spirit to eternal life, leading us out of the darkness of sin and misery into the light of His kingdom. And Jesus did all this to win for us a hope so that His kingdom could be one where people who are sinners by nature, like you, like me, like David even, could come under the glorious kingship of Jesus Christ. don't have to be banished and removed like the Philistines here, so that the kingdom can be emptied of evil, but we can actually, we can be emptied of evil. As we come to faith in Jesus Christ, as we're conquered by him as our king, as we're forgiven by him, as we're cleansed by his blood, as we're sanctified and welcomed into his kingdom, because he has loved us and called us and worked a great victory in us and through us, we can have that hope. Thanks be to God. May we praise his glorious grace. Let's close in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this picture we get of what lies ahead. Lord, how we thank you that it's not just a picture that we look back on, but one that as we look back on, we realize was meant to point us forward. How we thank you that in Jesus Christ, the King has come. How we thank you that he's at your right hand, that he's building, he's preparing the space for us to dwell with him in glory forever. And we pray that you'd give us hearts of faith to lean into this truth. That you'd fill us with hope as we look ahead. That you'd fill us with that prayer, come quickly, Lord Jesus. And that you might answer that prayer soon. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.