If Jacob when he died foresaw the fate of a family, and Joseph the fate of a nation, David saw, and rejoiced to see, the destiny of mankind. His dying eyes were fixed on that great advent which changed the old world into the new world in which we live, on the dawn of that new Christian day which has come to the earth like the clear shining of the sun after rain and clothed it in fresh, tender green.
Whether it was so designed or not we cannot tell, but in the sacred record the last words of David fall brokenly from his lips, as though uttered with difficulty and pain. They sound like the murmurs of a dying man struggling for breath, who nevertheless has somewhat of the utmost moment to say, and nerves himself to gasp out the more weighty words and phrases, leaving his hearers to piece them together and spell out their meaning. For convenience' sake we may divide them into a prelude and a revelation.
I. The prelude. The opening words point back to an antique prophecy, the prophecy of Balaam on the fate and glory of Israel (Numbers 24:3-4). His oracle corresponds with Balaam's, but it also contrasts with it. David's vision is no cloudy and imperfect glimpse of a star and sceptre; he sees the King, the true King of men, and the new day which the King will make for men.
II. He sees in the future the ideal Ruler, the true Divine King who was to arise on the earth. In sweet, pure figures the kingdom of Christ passed before the mind of David. When the true King came, the darkness in which men sat would be over and gone; the rain of tears, falling because of the tyranny of man to man, would cease. His hope was based on the "everlasting covenant" which God had made with him. On His word, His promise, His covenant, the dying king bases his hope for his house and for the world.
Congregationalist,vol. i., p. 88.
References: 2 Samuel 23:1-7. S. Cox, An Expositor's Notebook,p. 115; J. G. Murphy, The Book of Daniel,p. 33. 2 Samuel 23:4. J. Van Oosterzee, Year of Salvation,vol. i., p. 13.