1 Kings 2:1-4 WORDS TO LIVE BY

We see here that King David is on his death bed, / He declares that he is going the way of all the earth!! Interesting phrase

A) David is recognizing the FACT that ALL of us are going to die / Stats on death are impressive : 10 out of 10 !!!!

B) It is interesting that dying is something that we rarely think about !!!!

We usually think that death is something that happens to someone else

1) Story about a Swedish couple that was constantly fighting.... Life was one big battle

After years of trying to get along, the wife prayed: “Lord, we know that it’s not right that Ollie and I fight as much as we do. We’re such a poor witness to you. You know how hard we’ve tried to stop fighting. Lord, the ONLY solution to this is that You’re going to have to let one of us die. It’s the ONLY way we’ll stop fighting. So Lord, I pray that You’ll take one of us, and when You do I’ll move in with my sister.”

C) Although we might not think of death pertaining to ourselves, the Bible says Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die but after that the judgment,

D) In other wards The Bible says that one day we are going to meet God & we should be prepared to do that!!!

1) There are certain things that we should have in order –

2) Question are you Prepared to meet the Lord – think about that – Answer that Question later on of how you can be prepared

So as David is on his deathbed he is giving his last words of advice to his son Solomon

A)His last words are challenging words/ these are Words to live by

Where it says that David CHARGED Solomon, it means that he was giving a command...... “Solomon, do this”

A)But the word CHARGED also means to set in order/ He wanted Solomon’s life to be SET IN ORDER

B) Indeed, these are WORDS TO LIVE BY/ Words to ORDER our lives by

So let’s take a close look at the words of David

1) 4 things that I want us to note this morning Concerning these words that David spoke to his Son!!!!

1^ST OF ALL NOTE THAT THEY WERE BIBLICAL

A)What David shares w/ Solomon is very similar to what the Lord spoke to Joshua & the Children of Israel in Josh. 1 – Before promise land

A) New Land / this was a New King: New Reign

⁶Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. ⁷Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. ⁸This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

B) David, who was a man who meditated in the Word of God, found these words to live by from the mouth of God

1) How do you form opinions / How get direction/ where Look answers ? Ophrah / Psychologist/ Buddy at work / girls get together for coffee w/ ?

C)David wanted the BEST for His son, so He defers to what God has to say to man about life/ We should do the same for ourselves

D) That should be the Standard for our lives when we are desiring what is best for us & also for those that we love those whom we desire the best …..

1) Give them what God has said about life in His Word / Guide book !!!

E) David tells his son what God had made very plain: “Follow the Word & you will have life”

¹Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;²But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. ³ He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.

So first of all David’s Charge was Biblical – 2^nd it was Natural – Be strong & PROVE yourself a Man

A)That is the desire of every father for his son – He would Grow up to be a Man / That he would be proven -

B) Every parent desires that their kids would grow & become mature / responsible adults: Prove they can handle responsibility

1) Sometimes one of our kids will – say Mom Dad I am never going to leave you I am going to live w/ you forever !!!

C) Precious when they are 6 & we will say That is great w/ us – you can live w/ us as long as you want!!!!

1) But in reality: We know that it is best for them that someday / for my son .. Aaron 18 / for girls when 30 they need to live on their own

D) They need to make that transfer from being a Dependant Child to being a Responsible Adult

What is the Natural Desire of a Parent is also God’s Desire for his kids

A)He wants to see His kids grow / mature / become Stable in their Lives

He uses terms like: Mature/ Stable / established / Built up

B)He does Not want them to be being tossed by different winds of Doctrine /

Not going up & down emotional roller coaster of highs & lows

1) It grieves me when I meet People who have gone forward or are Constantly making recommitments – But never Growing / No Stability

C) If they are saved at all – they are severely immature Spiritually

1) Like having a kids 10yrs old still in Diapers - / Grieving – because they are missing out on the life that God wants for them

D) God wants His kids to be constantly growing – becoming more mature / more spiritually fit

But What is different in the Spiritual from the natural is : As parents we want our Kids to grow up to be less dependant on us

A)God wants his kids to become more dependant on Him / True Spiritually maturity is seen in how Dependant someone is on the Lord

B)We come into the Christian life dependant on ourselves or on something else{ We have spent yrs doing our own thing / making own decisions

1) Following our Will our Desires – but when we come to Christ – we need to submit our wills to Him -

C)And As we grow up in the Lord : become more & more dependant on Him

1)The more Dependant we become on the Lord the more useful we will be

Hebrews 5

¹²For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. ¹³For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. ¹⁴But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

D) The mark of a mature Child of God is that He takes the word of God believes it / Know it / Live it / Make it a part of His life

1) Shape how He thinks / how He acts/ What his priorities are going to be / How he relates to others is all going to be determined by God’s Word

E) So 2^nd thing David’s words were natural David is saying: Be strong.... prove yourself a man / Be all that God intended a man to be

3^rd thing to note: David’s words were Insightful 1 Ki 2:3 And keep

THE CHARGE of the LORD your God,{ NOTE 2 THINGS

A)KEEP = having a hedge about your life – Keep something in Place/

to guard; to protect, attend to, take heed, observe, preserve, regard,

B) Solider Keep watch over the fort { Guarding it / he is protecting it/ or a young girl having a keep sake box {For her special things

1) The commands of God’s word are to be so precious to us/ that we would Keep them Close to our hearts /

C) Or like a Solider on Guard against anything that would seek to infiltrate our lives that would be contrary to God’s word !!!!

THE CHARGE = specific ordinance, duty /

A)God had special rules for those men who are leaders / He has a special Charge for the kings

B) Foreseeing the day when Israel would desire a king like the other nations, God placed in the Pentateuch a special CHARGE concerning kings

Deu 17:16- 17 ¹⁶But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’ ¹⁷Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.

C) The Reason for this was God didn’t want the kings to be dependant on anything but Him for their Satisfaction & their Needs

1) Unfortunately, Solomon did NOT KEEP [to hedge about (as w/ thorns), didn’t guard; or protect, didn’t take heed, or observe that charge

D) He multiplied horses (Chariot city in Meggido) / Silver was as common as stones in the day of Solomon 1 Ki 10:27 And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones,

1) He multiplied wives (Some Pagan) who turned his heart from the Lord

E) Read Eccl – testimony of this man who had it all – Empty : VANITY

So there was a Specific Charge given to Solomon as a King /which He ignored !! God given to you a Specific Charge: You need to do this

A)But there was also a GENERAL CHARGE V.3 to walk in his ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, His judgments, & His testimonies

A) In essence, David is saying: “Keep the WHOLE Law of God

B) The statutes had to do with man’s approach to God within the Tabernacle, and later the Temple worship

1) Solomon was to make sure that he NEVER tried to approach God on his own terms, but rather came to God on God’s terms

C) The commandments were the 10 comm. {guidelines to live by

1) The JUDGMENTS were the standards by which those in a place of judgment were to respond to different situations

D) The TESTIMONIES were the testimony of God concerning what God would do for the person who walked in His ways

1) and what He would do to the person who did not walk in His ways

PT. David was telling his son “Son, God has told you the way that He wants you to live, now you must CHOOSE to LIVE in that way”

A)That is a Choice that all of us have to make YOU must choose whether or not you are going to live God’s way, or live your own way....

B) To walk in the spirit or to give into the LUST OF the flesh

1) Jesus put it this way !!!

Mat 16:24- ²⁴Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²

^{Listen to the Rational for such a Demand}

²⁶For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

The way of the world is to live after your flesh/ Do whatever satisfies or appeals to your Fleshly appetites & Lust

A) Lust, is the craving for salt by a man who is dying of thirst.

B) Some Indulge in Perversity/ Immorality in various forms – parties / porn. / drugs /

1) Others Lust after Possessions – More Stuff / Others Lust for Power or Prominence

C) Our World says Get what you can..... You only go around once. But Jesus asked: “What have you truly gained if you get EVERYTHING that you want, but lose your soul?”

NOTE: Here we see why David charged Solomon to be STRONG

A)Living after the way of God takes strength, because living God’s way will lead you directly into FACE of the world/

B) It is like riding your BIKE against the Wind /Swimming upstream / Going against the Grain

1) It takes strength to go against the course of this world

And there are very few people that are walking in the way of God

C) Jesus put it this way:

Mat 7: ¹³“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. ¹⁴Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

D) THAT is why David associated STRENGTH with walking in the way of the Lord / ANY whimp can walk in the ways of the world

1) But it takes a man or woman of strength to walk in the way of the Lord because it is DEMANDING and NARROW

We have a need for Strengh – But God has supplied us w/ that strength if we will just tape into it!! Tom Children Ministry – Vacuum

Isa. 40:31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength;They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

A)Power to Soar – definitely – but it is rare that we soaring / Power to Keep on Running – Yes needed / Power to Walk {Day to day

B) HS in us / Indwelling & Empowering { Tap into that Power – Know it

1) Walk in it – stand in it – not the Power of Our Flesh

C) HS in us Convicts us or instructs us in something – once we take a step in that direction – He Supplies us w/ the Power to carry it out

1) Judges 6:34 The Spirit of the Lord clothed Himself w/ Gideon

D) Using the life of Gideon as His Clothing the Spirit of God was able to achieve thru him a mighty victory over Israel’s Enemies

1) He desires to do that same thing in our Lives – Look to Him / Dependent upon Him / walk in accordance w/ His leading

So we see here that David’s words were Biblical – Natural / Insightful

We also have noted the need for strength { OT lacked

A)4^th & final thing we want to note is David’s words contained a Promise v.3b-4

v.3-4 that you may prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn;

⁴that the LORD may fulfill His word which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul,’ He said, ‘you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.’

B) David tells Solomon to do these things because he KNOWS that the Lord will keep His Word and bless him

1) Cause & affect type of thing – Life of Blessing

C) There is a RICHNESS & DEPTH of life that comes from walking w/ the Lord ¹⁴Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life,

The Lord calls us to go against the grain / to run in the opposite direction of the world

A)Our Decisions in life are to be determined by His Leading / His way / His Will / His Word

B) He supplies the Power & He Promises a Blessing to those who would live that way!!!

C) Now Satan is constantly trying to Contradict the Lord’s Word & tries to get us to doubt God’s Promise

1) Satan ALWAYS suggest that God’s WORD is designed to KEEP you from an abundant life

D) He did it first in the Garden of Eden “God gave you this commandment because He wants to keep YOU from being a god” He does it today

1) “God isn’t fair in telling you that you shouldn’t commit adultery....He just wants to keep you from something exciting”

E) NOTE: When you buy into the lies of Satan you experience MISERY and heartache and suffering

1) Then you begin to wonder: “Why is my life such a mess?”/ Is your life a Mess? Have you bought into Satan’s Lie

Listen to what the psalmist said about the Law of the Lord

Psa 19:7-8; 10-11 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: thecommandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes..... More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

A)God’s word is Clear & there lies there in the promise of great blessings to those who follow it God will ALWAYS be true to His Word

The question is whether or not we will be true to Him

A)IF you purpose in your heart to walk in His ways, THEN you will find that God will provide you with the strength

Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

B) WORDS TO LIVE BY- The choice now lies with YOU - Will you live by the Word of God, or will you go your own way?

C) So I close today w/ this Question: Is your life Set in order ? I deal w/ that when I am a little older – closer to death { Donna Brother

1) David wasn’t telling Solomon to prepare to die – Solomon was a young man

D) David was giving His Son instructions on How to live/ so that when His life was all said & done He would have something of eternal Value to show for it !!!!

WHAT ABOUT YOU!!!!!