John Gill Commentary 2 Samuel 23

Now these [are] the last words of David
Which refer not to the psalm in the preceding chapter, but to what follows; not the last words he spoke, for he said many things afterwards; for the advice he gave to Solomon, and the instructions to him about building the temple, were delivered after this time; but these were the last after he had finished the book of Psalms; or the last that he spoke under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, or that he delivered out by way of prophecy;

Though the Jews ^F6 will not allow him to speak by the spirit of prophecy; they own he spoke by the Holy Spirit, which they distinguish from prophecy; but the Targum calls these words a prophecy, and takes them to be a prophecy of the Messiah, and of things to come, as undoubtedly they are, paraphrasing them thus;'' `these are the words of the prophecy of David, which he prophesied concerning the end of the world, concerning the days of consolation that should come;'' this is observed to excite attention, the last words of dying men being usually regarded and remembered:

David the son of Jesse said ;
he began with his descent, which was comparatively mean, in order to illustrate the distinguishing goodness of God to him in his exaltation:

and the man [who was] raised up on high ;
from a low estate to an high one, from the sheepfold to the throne, to be king over all the tribes of Israel, and a conqueror, and head of the nations round about him:

the anointed of the God of Jacob ;
who was anointed king by Samuel by the order of the God of Jacob; and which was an instance of his being the God of Jacob or Israel, and of his care of them, and regard unto them, that he anointed such a man to be king over them, as well as it was an honour to David:

and the sweet psalmist of Israel ;
who composed most of the psalms and hymns of praise for the people of Israel; invented and set the tunes to them to which they were to be sung, and the instruments of music on which they were sung; and appointed singers to preside, and lead them in that part of divine worship, singing psalms and hymns; and very sweet were the psalms he composed as to the matter of them, and very sweet and delightful to the ear was the music in the manner of singing them: it may be rendered, who was "sweet" or "pleasant [in the] songs of Israel" ^F7 , his warlike exploits and victories being the subject of them, (1 Samuel 18:6 1 Samuel 18:7) ;

said ;
as follows; for all that goes before are the words of the penman of this book, drawing the character of David; in which he was a type of Christ, a branch out of the root of Jesse, highly exalted, and chosen from among the people, anointed to be prophet, priest, and King; and who sweetly expounded the psalms concerning himself, and ordered them to be sung in the churches, and of which he is the subject, and may be said to be sweetly held forth in them, see (Luke 24:44) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F6: Maimon. Moreh Nevochim, par. 2. c. 45.
• F7: (twrmz Myen) "jucundus psalmis", Montanus; "suavis in canticis", Vatablus; "amoenus psalmis", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

The Spirit of the Lord spoke by me
The psalms and songs he composed were not the fruits of his own genius, but were written by him under the inspiration of the Spirit of God; by whom holy men of God, the penmen of the Scriptures, spoke, even as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, of whom David was one, being a prophet; see (Acts 1:16) (Acts 2:30) ; so the Targum here, "David spoke by the spirit of prophecy of the Lord:"

Or spoke "in me" ^F8; what he spoke was first internally impressed upon his mind by the Spirit of God, and then he expressed it with his tongue, as follows:

and his word [was] in my tongue ;
not only the matter of his psalms was indited by the Spirit of God, and suggested to his mind; but the very words in which they are delivered were given to him, and he was directed to make use of them, and did.

FOOTNOTES:

• F8: (yb) "in me", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius.

The God of Israel said
To David, or by him; he who was the covenant God of Israel literally considered, and is the covenant God and Father of the whole spiritual Israel, and who is owned, believed in, and worshipped by them:

the Rock of Israel spoke to me ;
the same with the God of Israel in other words, who is the strength and security of Israel; or the second divine Person, the Son and Word of God, is meant, who is often called a rock in Scripture; and is the rock on which the Israel or church of God is built, and in whom it remains safe and firm, the gates of hell not being able to prevail against it; and so here is an instance and proof of a trinity of persons in the Godhead; the God of Israel, Jehovah the Father; the Rock of Israel, Jehovah the Son; and the Spirit of Jehovah, as in (2 Samuel 23:2) , who is Jehovah the Spirit:

now what was said by these three divine Persons to David, and by him, and concerning himself as a type of the Messiah, follows:

he that ruleth over men [must be] just, ruling in the fear of God ;
which is a character every king among men ought to have, administering justice to their subjects; ruling not only according to the laws of the land, but according to the law of God; having his fear before their eyes, and acting with a view to his honour and glory, whose vicegerents they are, and to whom they are accountable; they should rule with gentleness and humanity, considering they are men, and not brutes, they rule over. Agamemnon in Homer is often called "king of men". This character, in all respects, was found in David, (2 Samuel 8:15) ; and may be here given as an instruction to his son and successor, Solomon;

and is in all respects applicable to the Messiah, who is a "ruler" or King by the designation of his father; a ruler "over men", even over all men, yea, over the greatest of men, King of kings, and Lord of lords, and especially, and in an eminent sense, King of saints; and he is "just", a King that reigns in righteousness, righteous in all his ways and works, and particularly just as a King, as well as in all his other characters, see (Jeremiah 23:5Jeremiah 23:6) (Zechariah 9:9) ; and upon whom, as man and Mediator, the Spirit of "the fear of the Lord" rests, and under the influence of which, as such, he has acted, (Isaiah 11:1Isaiah 11:2) ;

so the Targum applies these words to the Messiah thus,``the true Judge said, he would appoint to me a King, who is the Messiah, who shall arise and rule in the fear of the Lord:'' and they may be rendered, there shall be "a ruler over men, just, ruling in the fear of God"; or ruling, appointing, ordering, and directing the worship of God, and the ordinances of it under the Gospel dispensation, as Christ did, see (Matthew 28:18–20) .

And [he shall be] as the light of the morning, [when] the sun
riseth, [even] a morning without clouds
That is, such a ruler that rules in righteousness, and in the fear of God; he is the light and glory of his people, who guides and directs them, makes them cheerful and comfortable; his administrations are pleasant and delightful, and promise a growing and increasing happiness to them, like the morning light and rising sun; and there are no clouds, nor forebodings of dark times, affliction and distress, coming upon them, but all the reverse: and with Christ these metaphors well suit, who is the true light that shines, (John 1:9) ; the morning star, (Revelation 22:16) ; the dayspring from on high, (Luke 1:78) ; the sun of righteousness, (Malachi 4:2) ; and light of the world, (John 8:2) (9:5) ; his going forth or appearance in human nature, at his incarnation, was as the morning, (Hosea 6:3) ; the first discovery him to Adam, after sin had brought a night of darkness on the world, was as the dawn of the morning; and this light like that of the morning increased, fresh and clearer discoveries of him being made to the patriarchs afterwards; and though as yet the sun was not up, and it was not a morning without clouds, yet the discoveries then made brought joy with them, as to Abraham and others, and were a sure sign of the sun rising.

When Christ appeared in the flesh, the sun of righteousness then arose, and scattered the darkness of the night, both in the Jewish and Gentile world; introduced the light of the Gospel to a greater degree than it was under the legal dispensation, and made the Gospel day; which was not only like the morning light, growing and increasing, but was as a morning without clouds, without the darkness of the ceremonial law, the shadows of which now disappeared; and without the storms and tempests of the moral law, its curses being bore and removed by Christ; and without the frowns of divine wrath, reconciliation and satisfaction being made by him.

And this is all applicable particularly to the government of Christ, which is delightful and grateful to his people, serviceable and beneficial to them, under which they enjoy great peace and prosperity; and which will more and more increase, and stilt be more glorious and illustrious, see (Psalms 72:7Psalms 72:8) (Isaiah 30:26) . A learned writer ^F9 has observed, that in an ancient manuscript the word "Jehovah" is inserted and read thus,`and as the light of the morning shall arise Jehovah the sun,' which clearly points to Christ the sun of righteousness; and be it an interpolation, it gives the true sense of the words: a glorious, beautiful, and illustrious person is described in Ovid ^F11 by the same figure as here:

[as] the tender grass [springing] out of the earth by clear shining
after rain ;
which springs up the faster, and is more flourishing after a shower of rain, and when upon that the sun breaks out and shines clearly: or "from clear shining from rain" ^F12 ; that is, the springing of the tender grass out of the earth is owing partly to the rain which falls in the night, and partly to the sun rising in the morning, and the clear shine of it: this may denote the fruitful and flourishing estate which a good and righteous ruler over men is the happy instrument of bringing his people into; and may be applied both to the incarnation of Christ, when he grew up as a tender plant, or as the tender grass, mean in his original and descent, weak in himself as man; and yet this fruit of the earth was excellent and comely, beautiful and glorious, and the springing of it owing to the favour and good will of God, and his coming was as the latter and former rain to the earth, (Hosea 6:3) ;

And to the government of Christ, and the benefits of it to his church and people; who flourish under it the light of his grace and favour, and through rains of Gospel doctrines they are blessed with: or "than clear shining, than rain"; Christ is more beneficial to his people, who are comparable to grass for their meanness, and weakness, and number, than the sun and rain are to the grass in the field.

FOOTNOTES:

• F9: Dr. Kennicott's State of the Hebrew Text, Dissert. 1. p. 468.
• F11: "Talisque apparuitilli" Metamorph. l. 14. Fab. 16. ver. 767.
• F12: (rjmm hgnm) "a splendore, a pluvia germen de terra", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus.

Although my house [be] not so with God
So bright, and flourishing, and prosperous as the government of the just ruler before described; or is not "right" ^F13 with God, meaning his family, in which great sins were committed, and great disorders and confusions brought into it, as the cases of Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah showed; or "not firm" or "stable" ^F14 , through the rebellion of one, the insurrection of another, and the usurpation of a third; yet he believed it would be firm and stable in the Messiah that should spring from him, promised in the everlasting covenant;

though the Jewish writers understand this of the firmness and stability of his kingdom and government: "but my house is not so" like the morning light, which increases by little and little, and like the morning, which sometimes is not cloudy, and sometimes is; sometimes the sun shines clearly, and sometimes not; or like the tender grass, which is sometimes flourishing, and after withers; but so is not my kingdom, it is a perpetual one, given and secured by an everlasting covenant; and such certainly is or will be the kingdom of the Messiah:

yet he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all
[things], and sure ;
or, "for ^F15 he has made" the covenant by which the kingdom was settled on David and his seed was a covenant that would continue for ever, and would be kept, "observed", and "preserved"

for [this is] all my salvation :
all depends upon this covenant; the safety of David's family, and the security of the kingdom in it, and to his seed, till the Messiah came, depended on the covenant made with him respecting that; and the spiritual and eternal salvation of the Lord's people depends upon the covenant of grace; which was contrived, formed, and settled in it, in which the Saviour is provided, and the persons to share in his salvation are taken into it and secured, with all blessings both of grace and glory:

and all [my] desire ;
to see it fulfilled; as it is the desire of good men to be led more and more into it, to see their interest in it, to have the blessings and promises of it applied unto them, and to be saved by it, and not by the covenant of works; and there is all that in it that a believer can desire to make him comfortable here, or happy hereafter; and it is what gives him delight and pleasure in all his troubles:

it may be supplied he is, as well as "this is", and be applied to Christ, the ruler over men, described, (2 Samuel 23:3 2 Samuel 23:4) ; with whom the covenant of grace is made, in whom is the salvation of men; he is the author and the only author of it; in whom it is complete and perfect; "all" salvation is in him, and which they can claim as theirs; to whom is "all [their] desire"; and in whom is "all [their] delight", as it may be rendered; on account of the glory of his person, the fulness of his grace, and his suitableness as a Saviour; whom they desire to know more of, and have more communion with:

although he made [it] not to grow ;
though there may not be at present any growth of outward prosperity, or of inward grace, or even of the produce of the earth, (Habakkuk 3:17Habakkuk 3:18) ; though the horn of David is not yet made to bud, or his family in growing and flourishing circumstances, or the Messiah, the man, the branch, does not yet shoot forth, though he certainly would; or, "for shall he not bud forth" he shall, (Jeremiah 23:5) (Zechariah 3:8) (6:12) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F13: (Nk al) "non recta", Cocceius.
• F14: "Non est re firma", Vitringa in Jesaiam, c. xi. 1.
• F15: (yk) "quia", Pagninus, Montanus, Piscator.