“Then David rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. 11. He had reigned forty years over Israel – seven years in Hebron and thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 12. So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his rule was firmly established.” NIV
When I read these verses this morning, it occurred to me that all things, good and bad, come to an end. That’s how I decided on the title: “Nothing Lasts Forever.” The Bible gives us a full account of David’s activities. David was a great warrior, and a great king. He was anointed king by Samuel while still very young, and after years of running from King Saul, became the king himself. He wrote a good many of the psalms during his lifetime and had some great experiences with God. Another side of David is seen when he commits adultery with Bathsheba, has her husband killed and tries to lie about it, until confronted by Nathan the prophet. With all of the great things that he did and all of the unrighteous things that he did, David’s life came to an end and Solomon reigned in his place. What can we learn from this? We can learn that no matter what we accomplish in life, it will come to an end. David’s accomplishments made a great impact on Israel and the surrounding nations, but in the end he died and left it all. This does not mean that David’s accomplishments came to an end necessarily, but it does mean that his personal impact died on the day he died. He would have no more say about what went on in Israel. This is true of all humankind. For example, we still have the impact of the accomplishments of Thomas Edison, but there came a day when he left it all and went to his eternal destination. We can learn that we need to make our lives count for something beyond ourselves while we are still alive. With all of his faults, David did some great things in his life that can impact our lives today. Take for example, Psalm 23. This psalm has had a great impact on my life, both in preaching and in living. I go to Psalm 23 again and again to feed my soul when it needs feeding. Wouldn’t you hate to think that you lived your whole life and left nothing of value behind you? By “value” I do not mean valuable things, but valuable influences, valuable lessons, valuable memories and valuable morals. I have conducted funerals of all kinds of people over the fifty-three years that I have been in the ministry. The funerals of people who left great spiritual values behind often became celebrations of lives well-lived. However, I have conducted funerals for people whose lives counted only for themselves. They could be rich or poor, but there was always a lingering sadness with both family and friends. Do not make the mistake of thinking that I judged any of those people. Where they spend eternity will depend on whether or not they put their faith in Jesus, and it is not in my power to pronounce them saved or unsaved. I don’t know what took place between them and Jesus before they died. All I can speak about is the fruit that they left behind. "We can learn that we need to “make hay while the sun shines.” This means, of course, that we should do things each day to make our lives better, and to have a good influence on the people that we encounter in daily life. We need to heed the advice that Paul gave the Ephesians in Ephesians 5:15-16: “Be very careful then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise. 16. Making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.” (NIV) I can give no better advice than that. None of us will ever live fully up to this text, but we need to be aware that our lives are being observed by God and people. David lived and David died. We live and we will die. The question is what are we doing in the time that we have to draw closer to God, live a good life and leave a positive influence behind when we depart. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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