Constant advancement is what God calls us to, ever pressing into the upward calling in Christ Jesus. And in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, we've been seeing that God calls us upward in every area of life, even in things like politics, which is what we're going to look at today in 2 Samuel chapter 23. Now this is a passage that's obviously out of order because it's going to continue to talk about David and some of the things in his life. But it's out of order very deliberately to highlight the importance of this passage. Here God's word. Now these are the last words of David. Thus says David, the son of Jesse. Thus says the man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob and the sweet psalmist of Israel. The spirit of the Lord spoke by me and his word was on my tongue. The God of Israel said, the rock of Israel spoke to me. He who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God, and he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, like the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Although my house is not so with God, yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire. Will he not make it increase? But the sons of rebellion shall all be as thorns thrust away because they cannot be taken with hands. But the man who touches them must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear, and they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place. Amen. Father, we pray that you would anoint my bringing of the word and each one of us as we hear and interact with that word. And may the thoughts and meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight through Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, the first thing that we notice in this passage is that these are the last words of David, and very typically the last words, when they're a planned speech, are considered to be very, very significant and important words by the person who is making them. And then the fact that the author of 2 Samuel is putting this up a ways, out of order, indicates that he's doing something important with this passage as well. It's something that he thinks is very critically important. So before we dive into the text, let me place it in its literary context. Now we've already seen that chapter 22 and the first seven verses of this chapter are the heart of a four-chapter chiasm that the author has been laying out. Now I guess I should define a chiasm for you. A chiasm is a Hebrew literary device where instead of like in our modern Western format, we tend to put the theme sentence, you know, at the beginning of the paragraph. If there's a paragraph chiasm, the theme will be right in the middle or we'll put a theme paragraph at the beginning of a chapter, whereas if there was a chapter chiasm in Hebrew, you would find that central theme right at the beginning. So it's an A-B-C, C-B-A kind of a structure with the C representing the very heart and the most important part of what he is talking about. Now, after you've looked at the chiasm structure under the introduction to your outlines, you can throw that away. Oh yeah, I forgot to bring the outlines. I totally rewrote the sermon last night, so it doesn't matter anyway. You would have had to throw the outlines away. But what I was going to say is if you saw that chiasm under your outline, you would notice that the beginning of chapter 21 parallels the end of chapter 24. And the list of heroes in chapter 21 parallels the list of heroes in chapter 23. And then the song about kingship, David's kingship in chapter 22 parallels this song about kingship in chapter 23. And all four chapters give important lessons for the culture wars that we are facing. Okay, the beginning and the ending sections show the various ways in which even Christian cultures can become a stench in God's sight, can become an offense to God, and how we can undo that. You see, when David, who was a friend of God, had two times in even his reign, when God is offended and he's bringing discipline into a kingdom, we should not be surprised when the same things happen in our culture. The B sections of the chiasm deal with how imperfect heroes, okay, there's all of these long list of heroes, how imperfect heroes can advance the cause of Christ even though it's imperfectly being advanced. God can use them and we're going to be seeing important lessons from those. It's an issue of direction, not perfection. But the heart of the chiasm is found in these two songs that celebrate how even imperfect kings can serve the Lord. Now, the song in chapter 22 was especially celebrating, and it was David praising God for his faithfulness and his gospel and his grace that had been working through his own kingship. And then this chapter, the first seven verses, is applying the same kind of gospel principles to any king that may be out there in the future. Neither, and I think really the way that this is structured, the whole four chapters, it shows us how we ought to approach these culture wars through grace. It helps us to have balance in the cultural mandate. Neither David nor his men were perfect exemplars of God's law, and so they demonstrate the need of grace in politics. And they show us how to apply the gospel to politics. And yet all of the passages rigorously hold David and his whole administration to the law of God, and they hold the entire country to the law of God. Just as one illustration, in chapter 24, God is going to kill 70,000 citizens because of the sin of David. You know, David was numbering Israel. And people think, what in the world is going on there? Why would God judge 70,000 citizens when it's David's sin? That doesn't seem fair at all. But we talked about Junius Brutus's book, A Defense of Liberty Against Tyrants. He goes through this and many other passages. And he shows that the citizens cannot wash their hands of David's sin because they have a responsibility to this civic covenant. They are directly accountable to God to how they relate to their king. And if they don't hold their king accountable, then God says, you are part of the guilt. You're going to share in part of the guilt, and we'll get to that in a little bit. I don't know how many Sundays, I won't make any promises, but we'll get to that passage later. But in any case, chapters 21 through 24 give, I think, very, very important lessons for kings and citizens as we approach election time. We must keep both grace and law in view when dealing with politics, and otherwise we will go to extremes on either end of the spectrum. Well let's take a look at the first section, verses one through five. It's a two-part sermon. Hey, first time in ages you guys got a two-part sermon. A lot of sub points, but two-part sermon. And the first part is really talking about how God is calling our nation to unashamedly be one nation under God. under his law, unashamedly. A few years ago there was a lawsuit brought by Newdow, I forget his first name, against the Congress, and the claim of this fervilous lawsuit was that the words that we have on our money in God We Trust is unconstitutional. Well, it really is nonsense. But whatever you think about the Constitution, that ought to be true. We need to trust in God, have our full faith in God, and submit ourselves as a nation to God. Now, first of all, we find that God raises up rulers. Who put David on the throne? Look at verse 1. Thus says David, the son of Jesse, thus says the man raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob and the sweet psalmist of Israel. Now he's going to be wording this in a way where we cannot dismiss it as being a theoretical, idealistic thing that nobody's going to be able to measure up to. Now he's describing King David, the son of Jesse, okay? He was not a perfect king. But his heart was loyal to the Lord, but he had major mess-ups in his life. And the reason he is a good role model for us is because we're sinners just like David was, and we can relate to God's grace and even overcome some of the sinful obstacles to godly politics if we will do just as David did. And I think that this passage warns us against perfectionism. that some people take toward politics, but I want to first of all demonstrate that there are some minimum qualifications that David sets forth. And we can't write these off and say, oh yeah, yeah, that's a perfect, but we don't have an ideal perfect world. No, we're talking about David, who was not a perfect candidate, and yet he says these are the minimum that we need to be at least shooting towards. First is the issue of calling. Whatever else David was, he was anointed by God and he was raised up on high by God. God called him to office. Just as an uncalled man should not serve in the office of elder within the church, an uncalled man should not serve within the office of the state. Okay, any office in the state. Now sometimes they do. And until they are impeached as being unqualified, the office still must be respected. But this issue of calling, I think, is a very important one when we are choosing candidates. Has God really called him? What was the name of our speaker yesterday? Marshall Foster. Can't believe it that I couldn't think of that. Marshall Foster, you know, is quoting from Daniel Webster, and you read the area that he was quoting from, and he said this issue of calling is a mandate of scripture. It's absolutely important, and that's why he said, as for himself personally, he could not vote for anybody that was not a Christian, okay? But not just a Christian, a Christian who was called to office. It was very, very important to him. Romans 13 speaks of a legitimate civil magistrate as one who was a minister of God and a servant of God. Now, the word for servant is the ordinary word for servant, diakonos, what you would call a deacon. But the word for minister in verse six is the word we get liturgy from, liturgos, and it was a word that was used for priests and is very much tied up in this idea of calling, calling to office. And his usage of that term indicates That a legitimate ruler is a ruler who has been called to God to be a minister to God Every bit as much as I have been called by God to be a minister to you as his people So it implies calling and there are some people in government who have the office, but they shouldn't because they aren't called, they're not qualified, and until they are impeached, we should respect their office, but even citizens should consider the issue of calling. It's implied in the word anointed in our chapter here, it is applied in the word laeturgos in Romans chapter 13. Now the second thing that is implied in our verse here is accountability to God. An elder is held accountable by God for how he handles the flock. How is he treat them? We're going to be answerable to the way that the church is run before the Lord and it's an awesome responsibility because those who are teachers are going to receive a far greater. My mind is not giving their far greater. Accountability. Yeah. Anyway, we will be judged much more severely than others will be. So if he's accountable to God, he must be a spokesman for God and not for special interests. OK, that's that's the point here. He must be a spokesman for God, even though he serves man. His ultimate calling is to serve God in his office. So there's calling. There's accountability that is implied. But if God raised him up and God appointed him, it also means that God is his authority, okay? And it's more than just a theoretical authority above the king. Now, what do I mean by a theoretical authority? Well, that would be a king who says that his word is God's word, but he's unable to prove it. Okay, this is what the king of England did when he advocated the doctrine known as Rex Lex, you know, where the king's word becomes law. If he tells you to stand on your head, you better stand on your head because he is the representative of God. Now, he wouldn't call you to stand on your head because it would begin to appear how ludicrous that would be. But in theory anyway, whatever the king commands, it is God commanding, but there's no objective You know, revelation, he can point to to say why what he is commanding truly is coming from God. You just got to take his word for it. OK, that would be a theoretical concept. There's no way of proving what he says to be. Well, the Puritans show that this claim was nonsense in the scripture because the scripture disapproved of many, many things that kings commanded and even commanded citizens to disobey their kings when their kings commanded them to do something And there's many other arguments that the Puritans had, but they also pointed out it's really ludicrous on the surface of it because it's so nebulous and theoretical that there is no substance to it. There's no way of testing whether or not that theory was true. And so the very idea that God raised him up and anointed him implies that David was accountable to obey his superior by obeying his word. If the king can do anything he wants and there is no law above him, then God's really not his superior, is he? Now there's a fourth thing implied in these words, and that is that the king's own authority, if it is a legitimate authority, is a limited authority, a delegated authority, and an authority that is specified by God and not by his own imagination. The king is not a God himself, so he has to derive his authority from somewhere else. He has to derive it from God. So automatically, Implied in these words is that it is a delegated and a limited authority. This keeps the state from deifying itself. Well, if we took it all seriously, the first four implications of this passage for rulers, then I think we would try to elect, at a minimum, Christians. We'd try to do that. And did you know that this was the pattern in most of the states long, long after the Constitution was ratified? Delaware required the following oath of office after the ratification, long after the ratification of the First Amendment. I do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed forevermore, I do acknowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be given by divine inspiration. Now that was required in Delaware until 1792. I would love to see the ACLU talk about that. Well, they might say that that was just one state that somehow got away with it, but look at some of the other states. Maryland's Constitution of 1851 required of public officials, quote, a declaration of a belief in the Christian religion. You could not even be in office if you held the ACLU's position on the First Amendment. In 1876, almost 100 years after the Constitution was ratified, the North Carolina Constitution still stated and still enforced, quote, that no person who shall deny the being of God or the truth of the Protestant religion or the divine authority of the Old or New Testaments, or who shall hold religious principles incompatible with the freedom and safety of the state, shall be capable of holding any office or place of trust or profit in the civil department within this state. And Pennsylvania and other states had similar requirements. And it just shows you how far we have fallen. Now, we're holding up a model here that some people think is such an impossible model to follow. That's the reason I'm quoting these quotes. These things continued on for a long, long time, even after some of these states were beginning to not be as Christian as they should have been, but it was still enforced. And so this is something that is achievable. It's not just an idealistic pipe dream that is out there. Now, back to our passage. Verses two through three show that God speaks to those whom he calls. Well, it makes sense, right? If he's calling somebody to do something, he's going to tell them what to do, right? He speaks to those whom he calls. David says it's not enough to acknowledge that God has appointed public officials. Those public officials need to listen to God. They can't just say, okay, I'm appointed and I'm going to do whatever I want to do. No, they got to listen to God. and God does speak through the scriptures. Anyway, look at verses 2-3, "...the Spirit of the Lord spoke by me, and His word was on my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me." So He spoke by me, that would be His prophetic function, He spoke to me. This would be through other prophets and the scriptures that he heard. So he was a prophet, he received divine instructions on occasion, but by far the vast majority of the times he was being spoken to by God through the scriptures or through prophets like Nathan and others who came along. Either way, he was willing to listen. Now that phrase, hear what the Spirit says, is used in front of quotations of Scripture. You know, in the New Testament, it'll quote a Scripture and say, hear what the Spirit says, or the Spirit has said, okay? So it can apply to a direct revelation such as, David received on behalf of the nation. It can receive a direct revelation from Nathan to David or it can speak to any revelation that God gave in the scriptures to David and other kings. And it's not just Israelite kings. Proverbs 8, 15 through 16 has personified wisdom speaking and saying, by me kings reign. and rulers decree justice. By me princes rule and nobles and all the judges of the earth." He didn't say all the Jewish judges, all the judges of the earth. If those we elect into office are to rule effectively they must listen to God. And so Deuteronomy 17 says that every king was to be familiar with the Bible. In fact, I'm going to read that section for you from Deuteronomy 17 because this says that reading Scripture and reading it regularly was a precondition to ruling in the fear of God. Okay? It's a precondition to the later points that we're going to be seeing that a king must be just. He must rule in the fear of God. Okay, so this is Deuteronomy 17, 18 through 20. Also it shall be when he sits on the throne of his kingdom that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book and it shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life that he may learn. It's not just at the beginning of his reign and then he forgets about it for the next 30 years. Now he's got to read it all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes and that his heart may not be lifted up above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom." Now can you imagine how long it would take to write out by hand the first five books of the Bible? There's a lot of words, a lot of words in the Pentateuch. And you might think, well, a king's just way too busy to be able to do something like that. Surely God's going to be OK with a scribe doing it for him. And the scribe can report, OK, it's done. You're in. You're okay. No. God did not allow for that. He wanted the king to write it out personally so that his heart could interact with every word of the Pentateuch and he would not miss any precept that God had given to him. He wanted that word to grip him. He wanted it to be a part of him. And not only was he to write it out one time, he was to let that word dwell with him every day of his entire life. He was to be saturated in the word of God. It's a precondition to proper ruling. They got to be conversant in the scriptures. Next, God is the only security of our nation. It's not the military. Not a balanced trade agreement. It's not good treaties. It is God. In verse 3, David says, the rock of Israel spoke to me. A rock was a natural fortress as well as being a strong foundation. And so this is another feature we should look for in candidates to office. Do these candidates find their own personal security in God or in idols? Very, very important question. Psalm 33 verse 12 says, blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. Now our money still declares in God we trust, and I think we used to trust in God. It's a lie now, but I think we used to trust in God. And Benjamin Franklin warned Congress that their only security was as they trusted God. Now to me it is a shameful rebuke that it takes an unorthodox person who was tempted by deism. He wasn't a pure deist and he became a little bit more orthodox, but he was never orthodox. It's shameful that it takes a person like Benjamin Franklin to warn the Congress that they had better be trusting in God rather than in themselves. You know, there are a lot of orthodox Christians he was rebuking. And we need a rebuke as well when we think that we can run a country leaving the scriptures out of it, making it secular, and still have the blessing of God upon him. Anyway, here's Franklin's words. In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for divine protection. Our prayers, sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us who are engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending providence in our favor. And have we now forgotten that powerful friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need its assistance? I have lived, sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured, sir, in the sacred writings that except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain. that build it. I firmly believe this, and I also believe that without his concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel." Well, brothers and sisters, we actually live in a Tower of Babel. We live in a Tower of Babel time, and God's judgment is imminent. And if there is not a turnaround of our country, we are going to be in trouble. And this is why we cannot just be laxadaisical in our prayers for our nation. This is why we cannot be laxadaisical in our efforts to try to influence our nation. We can't do much. Dr. Fugate and I had our first meeting this past week with a pastor who was very well received. But we're wanting to go all around Nebraska, trying to convince pastors of the importance preaching the whole counsel of God even as it applies to controversial subjects like politics. And begging these pastors to be in prayer about the important issues. Taking on the idols that are facing our nation. We are living in a crisis situation. The tipping point is here. And I would encourage you to pray for us that God would give us success. That God would give us hearing ears. And that God would raise up others to do things. We have no idea what God is going to do with what we're doing. We say, duty is ours, results are in God's hands, but we've got to reach out and do something. Well, David goes on to say in verse three, he who rules over men must be just. I want you to notice that word must. If you have a candidate who is the lesser of two evils but is still unjust, God says you should not choose him. Okay? Just write in a candidate. Pragmatic considerations cannot trump God's must. He who rules over men must be just. Now, who defines justice? Obviously can't be the state because God criticizes states for being unjust. Who defines justice? It's God. Through what? Through the scriptures. Okay? So this is not just advice for who rules over ancient men. I want you to notice how universal this is. He who rules over men must be just. And if God's law is the definition of justice, we are in trouble in the United States of America. The ancient church father Augustine said, without justice, what are states but great bands of robbers? Now we gave the Fuller quote of that a number of Sundays ago where he went into great detail and showed this actual quote where there was a bandit who was taken by the emperor and the bandit said, hey, I'm not doing anything different than you're doing. You just are a bigger player on the field. He didn't say it exactly that way. But I think this is a very important quote, and he's not allowing the state to define justice. The definition of justice comes from outside of the state. Let me repeat Augustine's quote, because it's a very important statement on civics. Without justice, what are states but great bands of robbers? Do you feel robbed by the state? I certainly do. I definitely do. But Augustine's point was that if God does not limit government with biblical principles of justice, then there is no limit to the tyranny that the state can engage in. He becomes, you know, the definition from which you cannot appeal, basically. Ultimately, only Christ, the King of Kings, is perfectly just, but it is by His grace that He enables rulers to rule in justice. Isaiah 42 prophesies of Christ saying, Behold, my servant whom I uphold, my elect one in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon Him. He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He will bring forth justice for truth. He will not fail. It's a lot to be discouraged about, isn't there? Jesus ain't discouraged. He says, He will not fail nor be discouraged till He has established justice in the earth and the coastlands shall wait for His law. Now the mention of discouragement shows that there is opposition in this world to Christ's justice but gradually over time Christ will establish justice in the nations of the earth and it has to come from His grace or it will not happen. The only thing really that's going to be lasting on earth in our lives personally, in our families, in this church, in the state, anywhere, the only thing that will be lasting is what has come from heaven. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. How does that happen? Thy kingdom come, right? Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. If that's not happening, then all of your labors to try to establish something political are in vain. They are in vain. It's got to be heaven invading earth through, yes, us weak, miserable creatures, just like these other heroes that we're going to be looking at in this chiasm. They were weak, they were sinful, yet they were sold out to Christ and Christ's grace worked through them in advancing the cause of Christ on planet earth. Was it then? No. It was Christ's kingdom coming on earth as it is in heaven, His will being done on earth as it is in heaven. For a king to be pleasing to God, he needs both justification and sanctification. God must see the king as positionally perfect in Christ, and then he is, by his grace, making him, by sanctification, more and more conformed to the perfection of Christ. But it's through Christ that the scriptures over and over again indicate that it's through Christ that kings reign, okay? So it's Christ's reign as prophet, priest, and king that all things are being accomplished on Earth that are going to be of any significance, any lasting value upon planet Earth. In other words, the gospel is needed for any ruler to rule a right. Now our founding father said that this republic would stand only so long as the people are a moral people. Well I would go way beyond that and I would say it'll only be pleasing to God as long as Jesus is its Lord and Savior. The following words are inscribed on the Department of Justice building in Washington, D.C. Justice in the life and conduct of the state is possible only as it first resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens. Now we could go a step further and say it can only reside in our hearts, that's sanctification, if we are already standing in Christ's righteousness. That's justification, okay? So brothers and sisters, we've got a lot of work before us. before God is going to be pleased because we do not have justice in the state of Nebraska. We do not have justice in our nation. The evil of homosexuality is called good, and God blasts all of those cultures that call evil good and good evil, that call light darkness and darkness light, and that is what is going on on a daily basis in our nation, the IRS. And the other agencies are unaccountable. Land is confiscated from farmers. We live in a topsy-turvy world in which there is no justice. And the reason is because we've abandoned the law of God. Do not expect justice if the law of God has been thrown out of the courts and out of the schools and out of every aspect of our public life. You cannot have justice without God's definition of justice, which is the law of God as it's given in Scripture. New Jersey used to have on its official seal Righteousness exalteth a nation. And the rest of the verse says, and sin is a reproach to any people. Well, our text goes on to connect justice with the fear of God. And so the third part of verse 3 says, he who rules over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And I believe this is probably the most fundamental problem in America. Our nation has no fear of God. Rulers and judges have no fear of God. And even many Christians who are in political office fear their constituents far more than they fear Almighty God. Some of you have McGuffey's readers in your homes, and I was taking a glance at the one in our library. In his fifth eclectic reader, he says, erase all thought and fear of God from a community Selfishness and sensuality would absorb the whole man The two go hand in hand a man without the fear of God will eventually fall into any sin Proverbs 16 verse 6 says by the fear of the Lord one departs from evil and we see people going to Washington just as an example who when they're first being elected they're opposed to homosexuality and by the end of their term they are a supporting, even aggressively supporting homosexuality. And you wonder, what has gone on in their lives? Well, they have no fear of God, or at least they fear man much more than they fear God. And so when they're around this group, they fear us, the conservatives who are putting them into power, and they play to what? Please you. When they're over here in Washington, D.C., they fear the negative opinions of people who are speaking in favor of homosexuality and against them. Because the fear of man is the idol that grips their hearts, they're going to be changing. It should not be a surprise at all. And the only remedy for the fear of man is an even greater fear of God. And so David says, he who rules over men must be just ruling in the fear of God. It's not an option for any ruler, and that ought to inform our voting. This is why Patrick Henry, whom I consider to be one of the most consistent of the debaters at the Constitutional, well, he wasn't at the Constitutional Convention. He critiqued it, right? But he was one of the most consistent Christian debaters of that time, one of my heroes. He was an anti-federalist. You know, the Federalist Papers were pretty good, just as a side note. But if you want to get real good, look at the anti-Federalist Papers. You want to get real, real good, you know, read some of the early colonial writings. Wow, they will blow you out of the water on some of the things that they had to say. And I think that Pastor Peter Allison kind of introduced us into that subject yesterday. But anyway, here's what Patrick Henry says. It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great nation was founded not by religionists but by Christians. It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A true patriot as well as a genuine leader must always take the higher ground of what? must always take the higher ground of God's law when confronted with the evils of man's law. Now that's an interesting phrase there. He is saying some civil laws are evil, must be opposed. We're not being faithful to Christ if we do not oppose those laws. That was Patrick Henry. So he said a true patriot as well as a genuine leader must always take the higher ground of God's law when confronted with the evils of man's law. Government is not the enemy, for it is ordained of God. The enemy to freedom is tyrannical government that presumes to take the place of God." And I say, amen. Bring it on. Patrick Henry, I mean, this is really a fundamental issue. Do rulers fear God? And this is becoming more and more my prayer request. Lord, make the rulers to tremble. Bring such judgments that they will tremble at your word, that they will fear your name. Without the fear of the Lord, we can never be restored as a godly republic. And I believe Our republic was blessed beyond measure because we did have generations of people who feared the Lord. Okay, next point. Blessing comes to a nation that is under God in very concrete, measurable ways. And it only comes upon a nation that is characterized by the things that we've just gone through. So look at the beautiful description of blessings promised in verse four to such kingdoms. and kings and he shall be like the light of the morning when the sun rises a morning without clouds like tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. That's a poetic description of blessing and happiness that God will give when rulers rule in the fear of God with justice. Now I fear that the blessings that America has enjoyed for so long will soon run out unless the Lord brings our nation to repentance. Daniel Webster said in the early 1800s, if we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper. If we in our posterity shall be true to the Christian religion, if we and they shall always live in the fear of God and shall respect his commandments, we may have the highest hopes of the future fortunes of our country. If we in our posterity neglect religious instruction and authority, violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle with injunctions of morality, and recklessly destroy the political constitution which holds us together, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity. Pray that our nation will embrace not just the blessings but the whole package. You cannot have the blessings without the whole package. Now, we are living still on the fruits that came from the godly roots, but those roots have been so withered up, we're going to lose the fruits as well. Next point. David brings a hint that even he himself had not lived up to the description of a king that's just been given here. Verse five says, although my house is not so with God, yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant. Now if you have an ESV Bible you will notice that it says the exact opposite of what I have just read to you. And I've looked at the Hebrew and I'm kind of mystified by how they got to the exact opposite. But they say, for does not my house stand so with God? And I might say it's the very opposite of what David said and what God himself said in 2 Samuel chapter 7 when he gave this covenant that he is talking about here. God spoke of chastening David's house with a rod of men and the blows of men. And David said, Who am I, O Lord God? What is my house that you have brought me thus far? He knew that he had not been living up to God's expectations as a king. In that chapter, it speaks of God's mercy on David's house, and 2 Samuel 7 makes it crystal clear that apart from the gospel of Jesus Christ, and Acts quotes that passage in 2 Samuel 7 and applies it to Christ, apart from the gospel of Jesus Christ, unless God saw David as united with the King of kings and the Lord of lords, you know, ruling through David, apart from that, he would have been rejected. And again, he needs the gospel if he is to rule in a way that is pleasing to God. So David is not saying that he's been blessed because he's been so good, because he's been so faithful. No, that's the way three translations translate it. Let me give that. Here's some versions that word it the way it should be worded. I'll just skip over the others. New King James Version says, although my house is not so with God, yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant. The ASV, verily my house is not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant. Web translation, most assuredly my house is not so with God. yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant." Knox paraphrases this rather loosely, what worth has my kindred in God's sight that he should make an everlasting covenant with me? Now what difference does it make how you translate that? Well, first of all, I think the others are bad translations. But anyway, it does make a big, profound difference to me. This is a statement that brings comfort and some hope for our nation. God's mercy rests upon kings and nations who submit themselves to his rule. It is mercy, not what we deserve is mercy. We have sex scandals in Washington, but so did David. But the difference is David ran to the gospel. Now he did it rather slowly. And he almost got dethroned as a result, right? But he ran to the gospel. We have chapaquidics in Washington, but so did David. We have lies and deceit in Washington, but so did David. We have oppression in government, abuse of spending, overtaxation, but so did Solomon, David's son. God recognizes that even in government, we are not perfect, and the only way he can bless governments is through the mercies of Jesus, who alone is the perfect King of Kings, Lord of Lords everything in life needs to be seen through the eyes of Jesus including the government there is no sacred secular dichotomy all of life must be put under Jesus now even with the gospel we're gonna see in chapter 24 he was secure in Jesus but in chapter 24 there's still discipline for his ungodly ruling right so even with the gospel there is loving discipline that comes from the hand of God so don't think today that things are hopeless. The Davidic Covenant that David speaks of here brought tremendous encouragement to the Reformers because it means that God can rule and God can bless nations despite imperfections if they will confess their sins like David did. If they will turn to the Lord like David did. if they will look to his scriptures like David did. See, what God is interested in is a covenantal relationship with Christ. Are we a nation willing to covenant with him, willing to have him rule over us? Verse 5 indicates that salvation and the gospel must be applied to politics. Although my house is not so with God, yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. For this is all my salvation and all my desire. Will He not make it increase? And that increase, I believe, speaks to sanctification and growth in the application of God's law and gospel in a ruler's life. Will He not make it increase? Now, what are the alternatives to such a total submission to King Jesus? Not very good. Look at verses 6 through 7. But the sons of rebellion shall all be as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands. But the man who touches them must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear, and they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place. This is the destiny of all rebel rulers." Now, I'm not going to spend a lot of time on these verses, mainly because I quit writing at 11.30 last night. When I got up at 4.30 this morning, there just wasn't enough time. You're probably glad since it's, what, 1205. But there are some quick, quick points that I want to make as application from these verses. First of all, I think it's worth asking if your vote is promoting a son of rebellion when God wants him thrust away. David says in our passage there can be no neutrality. We are either for Christ or we are against him. Now certainly he's a merciful king. Certainly he has blessed our nation richly despite our repeated sins against him. But there comes a time when he says, enough is enough. He says, but the sons of rebellion shall all be as thorns thrust away. So it's not enough for you to vote for a person who has the best economic plan, or who can debate the best, or who has the best plan for some pet project that you like. If you are voting for a man who is a rebel against Christ's kingdom, who is determined to destroy Christ's laws, You are voting for thorns destined for God's judgment. And if Christ wants them thrust away, how on earth can you think you are pleasing Christ with your vote when you are choosing such a thorn for a ruler? You don't embrace a thorn. A thorn hurts you. He goes on to explain. because they cannot be taken with hands. Why can't they be taken with hands? Well, in the physical realm, it's obvious. You take a thorn by your hands, that thorn goes right through your hand. It hurts you, right? But in the political realm, the same is true. And so the answer to liberal humanistic politics is not conservative humanistic politics. They are both thorns to be thrust away, and I think we've seen it in America. You've seen the squabbling between the Democrats and the Republicans, and both of them give us the same thing, okay? They've both advanced collectivism and statism, which is one of the biggest idols that needs to be destroyed in America, and we're hurting for it. We've got to get back to a scriptural perspective on politics. The conservative and the pragmatic approach to politics has not worked. We have tried it for how many generations? It has not worked because it violates God's spiritual laws of harvest. If you insist on planting thorns, you're going to keep getting more thorns. I don't care whether they're conservative thorns, liberal thorns, Marxist thorns, they're thorns! And thorns must be thrust away. Now, of course, when he speaks about hands, he does imply that humans are involved and we're kind of fallible. We make mistakes when we choose rulers, you know? And so our hands are involved both in impeaching and in bringing in, in choosing. They're involved in that. But God wants our judgment of evil men to be the same as God's judgment of them. But the man who touches them must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear, and they shall be utterly burned with fire in their place." In other words, once kings turn into rebels, it is very rare that they turn good again. Only judgment, interposition removes them. They won't step down on their own. And when citizens are unwilling to get rid of their treasonous kings through lawless means, God has to resort to providential judgments. And he often uses humanistic man to judge humanistic man. He used Babylon to punish Judah. And then he used Persia to punish Babylon. Then he used the Greeks to punish the Persians. Why? Because they wouldn't repent, right? And so there is very literally these swords, these wars that come, and many times wars are judgments that come from God's hand. Now, I'll hasten to remind you that judgment by the sword is not a foregone conclusion. Remember David's statement, although my house is not so with God, yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant. King Josiah, Hezekiah, and others turned from the paganism and radical paganism of their fathers, their parents, and returned to the Davidic covenant spoken of in verse five, God's covenant over politicians. Nebuchadnezzar is another example. The Davidic covenant gives a basis for mercy in the face of political rebellion. Now we may grow hopelessly depressed as we look at the state of affairs in America, but remember that politics is not your savior. And there have been several times in past history when things, honestly, they have looked worse than what we're facing. People think, how could they be worse? Yes, they've looked far worse than what we are facing. Things were actually worse than this in England prior to the time that God raised up Wesley and Whitefield and many historians believe that if it had not been for that first great awakening, they would have had a bloody revolution just like France did. God had mercy because there was repentance that came and transformed society. That is why 2 Chronicles 7 says, it is the church which is key to averting God's judgment upon a government. If my people who are called by my name, that's the church, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways. Then I will hear from heaven will forgive their sin and heal their land. So we are in a time of crisis and the only hope for our nation, I believe, is another reformation such as we have never seen before. A reformation of church, a reformation of culture that I do think that there is hope. There is hope if we will repent like David, pray like David prayed, return to the scriptures as the foundation for politics as David returned to the scriptures, and if we will insist on only choosing rulers that meet the criterion of this song. You might not have very many candidates to vote for. Don't worry about it. You've done your responsibility. The duty is ours. The outcome is God's. But let's seek to do everything that we can to advance his cause. Amen. Father, we thank you for your word, even when it steps on our toes, even when it hurts us, because we want to be more like Jesus. His life to be lived through us. And we desire, Father, that His life would be lived through Christian magistrates, Christian judges, those in the legislatures, in the executive office, those who are in the sheriff's positions. We desire that Jesus would live His life through these people, bringing illumination of their understanding so they can see how the Scriptures apply. Pouring forth your gospel grace into their hearts father, please bring about a reformation in the Church of Jesus Christ that pastors Might be pastors indeed accountable to you preaching your whole counsel, unafraid of what people think, seeking by your gospel and by your law to bring the kind of conviction that is needed. In ourselves, Father, we feel weak, and yet your word is not an idle word. Your word is sharper than any two-edged sword, and we have a trust in it. We want to bring it into the public sphere. We want to bring it into our families. We want to bring it into every corner and nook of our lives and see it doing its marvelous work. And so we pray, by your word, you would examine our hearts, stir them up, and give us a faith and a hope to expect great things from you and to attempt great things for you. And we pray this all in the strong name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.