Monday 30 May 2016

Psalm: Psalm 92

Background

Last words are often thought of as important -  they arethe parting wisdom of someone who has seen and experienced life.They are often thought to contain the pearl of wisdom that has beengleaned and needs to be handed over to the hearer so they canbenefit from them and build upon them in their own life.

As King David drew near to the end of his life he prepared hischosen heir Solomon to take his place by sharing his last words.The opening verses (verses 1-3) are David's instruction to his sonon how to live his life. His charge is that Solomon stays strongand that he observes the law and is obedient to God's call. If hedoes this then the line of David would continue through him and hischildren, as promised by God (verse 4).

We know from the stories of David that although he was known asa "man after [God's] own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14) he also hadfailings (2 Samuel 11; 2Samuel 24). These mistakes that David had made in his life werethe source of his wisdom. He had messed up and wronged God andothers, and he had learnt some of his lessons the hard way. But hehad also made many good decisions and felt God's presence with himand learnt from those times also.

As we follow Solomon's story from this point we will also seethe good choices he made (1Kings 3:10) but also his mistakes (1Kings 11:1-13). Even with the wise words of his father, Solomondid not always heed them and chose his own path. With the end ofSolomon's reign we see the promise given to David begin to fail asthe kings of Israel and Judah continued to go against the lastwords of David until eventually both kingdoms were taken intoexile.

To Ponder

• What would be your 'last words' to your friends andfamily?

• Can you think of some wise words that have been given to you?What were they?

• Does God teach you more through the mistakes you make or whenyou chose the right path?