- Sermon Notes
- Scripture
A Legacy Worth Living
2 Samuel 19:31-40
As we continue in our study of 2 Samuel this morning by picking up in chapter 19 verse 31, we are going to look specifically at a man who we were already introduced to in 2 Samuel 17, a lesser-known man in the whole of Scripture, but one who showed us some powerful keys to a legacy worth living as we understand some of the detail of his life and posture toward the king.
Barzillai is the name of the man. His name means “man of iron,” or “ironman.” His legacy biblically surely had similarities to iron, unwavering in his loyalty to the king, and a man with a strong testimony and legacy. From his story, we will see and consider personally, “a legacy worth living.”
Read: 2 Samuel 19:31-40(a)
Illus. Live Long.
When we think of the term legacy, it can be easy to quickly set our minds on a legacy left behind. But this morning, I want to look at the reality that one’s legacy comes from their life, and from the way they live out their days. Your legacy is your story in the making.
Please think about your legacy because you are writing it every day. – Gary Vaynerchuk
As we go verse by verse through the text this morning, we will look at the life of Barzillai, who lived a legacy worth living, and though little known amongst the many and more prominent people listed in Scripture, still, he left a legacy for us to seek after and see.
- Honor The King in All Things
2 Samuel 19:31-34, Now Barzillai the Gileadite had come down from Rogelim; and he went on to the Jordan with the king to escort him over the Jordan. Barzillai was very old: eighty years old; and he had provided the king food while he stayed in Mahanaim, for he was a very great man. So the king said to Barzillai, “You cross over with me, and I will provide you food in Jerusalem with me.”
- This meeting between David and Barzillai has a backstory that goes back to chapter 17 of Second Samuel.
- The context of this text is David’s departure and then return to Jerusalem.
- David had fled the city of Jerusalem in chapter 15 after his son Absalom turned against him and sought to attack and take David out.
- Absalom had stolen the hearts of the people of Israel (15:6) and had turned many against him. Absalom stirred up the people and put together an army from another city in Israel.
- David had built a palace and had set up his kingdom in Jerusalem, but upon learning of the coming attack. David fled to the wilderness until he got to a city called Mahanaim, over 60 miles away.
- While many had turned on David, others remained loyal to him, knowing that he was God’s chosen king for Israel.
- David and those who remained loyal to him camped in Mahanaim.
- At that particular time, David was at a low point. He had left his palace and throne in Jerusalem, his son had turned on him, and many in Israel had taken their loyalty from him and given it to his son Absalom.
- As he left the city, he was being cussed at cursed, lied to, and taken advantage of. David was tired and at one of the lowest points in his life.
- It was at that point, at the end of chapter 17, that he came to Mahanaim, and there, he was met by a few good men who brought food, beds, and household items to the king and those who were with him.
- They heard about what was going on with the king; they knew there was and would be hunger, need, and exhaustion in the wilderness, and so they went to offer what they could to him.
- Barzillai, also known as “Ironman,” was one of the men who met him, providing generously what he could for him.
- Up to this point, that was all we knew about him. But now we learn more.
- From verse 31, we know that David is entering back into the city, and Barzillai came to escort him.
2 Samuel 19:32, Barzillai was very old: eighty years old; and he had provided the king food while he stayed in Mahanaim, for he was a very great man.
- Barzillai is noted as very old at this time in his life, at 80. While some in the early Old Testament lived much longer, in David’s day, the average lifespan was 70 to 80 years.
- Here we are also reminded of the things Barzillai gave to the king, and we learn he was a “very great man.”
- NKJV translates it this way, “He was a very rich man.” NIV translates it, “He was a very wealthy man.”
- From his wealth, he honored and gave to the king.
- The window we get into his life displays a life that honored the king, here specifically seen through his generosity.
- At nearly the age of 80, when David left the city, he would not have been able to enlist in the army and go fight for and alongside David, but he supported him by giving, and scholars have noted how essential that provision was for him and his people.
- To honor is to show respect, reverence, or high esteem.
- Barzillai showed this to the king; it is part of his legacy, and spiritually, this is something important for you and me.
Revelation 4:11, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
Romans 11:36, For from Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
- The Bible gives many ways in which we are to honor the Lord our King…
- In Isaiah 29:13, we learn that people can honor the Lord with what they say, and we are directed to the importance of honoring the Lord with our hearts as well.
- From Deuteronomy 6:13, we know that we are to honor the Lord by worshipping Him only.
- In 1 Samuel 2:30, we learned that if we honor the Lord, He will bring honor and blessing to us.
- 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, glorify and honor God with our bodies.
1 Corinthians 10:31, Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all things for the glory of God.
Proverbs 3:9-10, Honor the Lord from your wealth, and from the first of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine.
- Barzillai displayed a legacy of giving, of generosity to the king.
- Interestingly, Proverbs 3:9-10 comes after one of the most famous verses in the Bible about trusting the Lord with all your heart. Certainly, one of the more challenging aspects of trusting the Lord centers on how one handles money.
Illus. Well done.
“The world is poor because her fortune is buried in heaven, but all her treasure maps are of the earth…” – Calvin Miller
Illus. No problem.
Proverbs 11:25, A generous person will be prosperous, and one who gives others plenty of water will himself be given plenty.
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” — Winston Churchill
“It’s not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived.” — Helen Walton
- Barzillai was a rich man, a wealthy man who gave generously to the king; he honored him with his wealth, and in verse 33, after having previously given to David when he was fleeing the city, the king returns and says to Barzillai, “Cross over with me and I will provide you food in Jerusalem.”
- The king had provisions for him and a place for him in his kingdom.
- Give Right Standing the Priority in Your Planning
- Barzillai has exceptional character. He ministered to David the king in his time of need, and as David gets ready to cross over the Jordan on the way to Jerusalem, Barzillai simply wants to congratulate him, to cheer him on as he heads home, and David says, “You come with me, I want to take care of you!”
- After David told Barzillai to cross over with him and that he would provide for him, Barzillai responded to him…
2 Samuel 19:34-37, Barzillai said to the king, “How long do I still have to live, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? I am now eighty years old. Can I distinguish between good and bad? Or can your servant taste what I eat or what I drink? Or can I still hear the voice of men and women singing? Why then should your servant be an added burden to my lord the king?
- As Barzillai responds to the king, he does so with a recognition of his mortality.
- He asks the question: How long do I still have to live? I am eighty years old now.
- Then he gives a list of ways he sees things changing in his life through a series of questions: Can I distinguish between good and bad? Can your servant taste what I eat or drink? Can I still hear the voice of men and women singing?
- He continued, “Why should I be an added burden to you?”
- He knew he was near the finish line and was asking David these questions about his life in light of his death.
2 Samuel: 19:36-39, Your servant would merely cross over the Jordan with the king. So why should the king compensate me with this reward? Please let your servant return, so that I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother. However, here is your servant Chimham; let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what is good in your sight.” And the king answered, “Chimham shall cross over with me, and I will do for him what is good in your sight; and whatever you require of me, I will do for you.” All the people crossed over the Jordan and the king crossed too. The king then kissed Barzillai and blessed him, and he returned to his place.
- Barzillai recognized his own mortality, that he was in the last stretch, and in his response to David, he shares where he is at, and tells him he won’t be of service to him in Jerusalem; his desire was just to head home and live out his last days in peace.
- It is striking, Barzillai was right with the king; he recognized his own mortality and knew he could and would die in peace.
- David heard what Barzillai had to say, blessed him, and he returned in peace.
- Barzillai was right with the king; he was headed home in peace. He knew that he was close to death, and he knew as he went that he had right standing with the king; he was going to go in peace.
- Barzillai’s response to David is important for you and me as well.
- He asks the question: “How long do I still have to live?”
- David, hearing his words, understood what he was saying, and he blessed him.
Psalm 39:4, “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure.
Psalm 144:4, Lord, what is man, that You look after him? Or a son of man, that You think of him? Man is like the breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
Psalm 90:10, As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years, yet their pride is only trouble and tragedy; for it quickly passes, and we disappear.
Illus. Different 80.
James 4:14-15, Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away.
Illus. Reality.
- Barzillai did not know how long he had left, but he knew he had a right standing before the king; he had confidence in the fact that he was at peace with the king and had his blessing.
- Death can be a sad thing, but death is overcome when you have peace with the King.
Romans 5:1-2, Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we celebrate in hope of the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 5:21, He made Him who knew no sin to be sin in our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
- Barzillai displays to us a legacy of one who was in right standing with the king, and as he went home to die in his own city, near the grave of his parents, he went his way in peace.
III. Choose the One True King for You and Your Family
- While Barzillai recognized the end of his own life and the peace he had personally achieved by choosing loyalty to the king, one thing he also does in these verses is leave a legacy to his son, whom he will leave behind.
2 Samuel 19:37, Please let your servant return, so that I may die in my own city near the grave of my father and my mother. However, here is your servant Chimham; let him cross over with my lord the king, and do for him what is good in your sight.
- Responded that he would take Chimham with him…
2 Samuel 19:40, Now the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him…
- Chimham is believed to be the son of Barzillai. David would show kindness to him, and in 1 Kings 2, when David died, he instructed his son Solomon to show kindness to the sons of Barzillai.
- Barzillai left a legacy of choosing the king for his family.
- His son saw his devotion to the king in his actions, intentions, provisions, and admission…David was king.
Psalm 145:4, One generation will praise Your works to another, and will declare Your mighty acts.
Deuteronomy 6:4-12
Joshua 24:14-15, But if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Proverbs 22:6, Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he grows older, he will not abandon it.
Illus. Training up.
2 Samuel 19:31-40