I Kings 2:2

"I go the way of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew theyself a man;"

We have been looking at David's death over the last several chapters, starting in II Samuel. DAvid has had several sections over these chapters that are entitled, 'The Last Words of David'. He had his last words with praise, thanksgiving and pray unto theLord; he had his last words to the kingdom of who should be king, Adonjiah or Solomon? And now his last words to Solomon, as king, and to his son. This is a verse of instruction for him to live and be. It has seemed to die on the general part, of the older generation imparting last words to sons, daughters and grandchidlren. The Lord blessed these words and I would see a need to return to this. As I ask of many a church people, if this ever took place in their life; well over 90% was never left with a lasting word to impress or guide them. Could this be why the next generation continues to go away from God instead of to Him? This is also another reason of so much regret that people live with because they never say what ought to be said before it is too late. I go the way of all the earth - word study, to go and way; What way? the way of all the earth, which is death. AGe and years have taken their tolll and life is ebbing low. David had had a rough a life; running from Saul; fighting the Philistines, Assyrians and Ammonites and the other enemies of the Lord; his own family stress and strain over their iniquities. All these take a toll upon the physical health and life of a man. He was 70 years old and God spoke in the Psalms, 'if' your life be 70 and 'if' it be 80 year old. Too often that verse is not quoted right and leads to the false impression. The Lord had said that the years of man shall not surpass 120 years old. We are all 'going' this way, each day, each hour, each minute, each breath brings us closer to our last one. 'The wages of sin is death' and sin is eating away at our bodies as an agressive cancer. Life is not cherished as it should be. It is a gift from God to bring forth glory and honor unto Him. He imparts His grace for our life to be more than what we could ever make of it. And the reason that we have those that rise above is due to a Holy Father Who imaprts His hand of mercy and grace. David had lived that life, a life as a tesimony to the blessings and faithfulness of God. He was now at the end of that 'special' life and knew that God Who was the giver of life, now would be the taker of that life. It is the fact of our reality; and apart from being like Enoch or Elijah, which I haven't seen any likethem, we will all go the same way to death. So let us live, like we are dying and that death may be today. Make the most of life, lest you be like the unprofitable servant, who took his talent and went and buried it; making nothing for his master. We must give an acouunt of every thought, word, task and experience, live it unto the LOrd and in the Lord. Be thou strong therefore - this life is not easy and requires strength to live it right; Too many a soul has perished in the way, over come by the world and its ways. Death came early for some. Others, aborted babies, never even began, it is oh so hard to live. To anchor ourselves in being strong, it must be unto the Lord. For from the Lord is all strength and ability. He Who holds our breath is able to give unto us that which we need. Even those that labor to be strong physically, emotionally, and every other way, perish. Let our life be found in Him, Who is perfect stregnth. Let faith, patience, hope and waiting upon the Lord teach us that in ourselves is no good thing; but in Him is all the ways of lliving. Even DAvid Brainerd and Robert Murray McCheyne, who were only 29 years old when they died, lived a full life and has spoken for centuries to the church, for they was strong in Him. Shew thyself a man - a man that leaves a legacy by trusting and walking with the Lord; DAvid had left his mark upon humanity forever, because he was a man after God's own heart. Those that rise the highest among the sons of men are those that shew themselves men in God. For He is able to build up or tear down. Too many men try to live like their fathers, live like their idols, live like someone else, be strong in the Lord and in the pwoer of His might and shew yourself to be a man of God.