1 Chronicles 29:26-30: a reflection

26Now David the son of Jesse reigned over all Israel. 27The time that he reigned over Israel was forty years; he reigned seven years in Hebron, and he reigned thirty-three years in Jerusalem. 28He died at a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor; and Solomon his son reigned in his place. 29Now the acts of David the king, first and last, behold, they are written in the history of Samuel the seer, and in the history of Nathan the prophet, and in the history of Gad the seer, 30with all his reign and his might, and the events that involved him, Israel, and all the kingdoms of the lands.

This passage records the end of David's reign and life in a single, weighty summary: He died at a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor. David's life had been far from perfect; his failures were real and grievous. Yet the summary of his end is one of fullness, a life lived out to a good old age, full of days, ending in honor. For all its faults, his was a life directed toward God, and it finished well.

Notice how David's life is summed up: full of days. He did not merely live a long time; he lived a full life, a life that reached its proper completion, ending in honor. His failures had been real, but they had not defined or ruined the whole; his life, taken as a whole, was one directed toward God, and it came to a good and full end. A life lived toward God, even with its faults and failures, can finish full and well.

That is a hope and an aim for our own lives. We may fear that our failures have spoiled our lives, that we cannot finish well after we have fallen. But David's life, full of failures, ended full of days and honor, because through it all it was directed toward God. A life is not ruined by its faults if, through them, it is turned toward God and returns to him. Aim to finish your life full and faithful, your days spent toward God, so that whatever your failures, your life as a whole is directed to him. It is not a flawless record that makes a life full at its end, but a life turned toward God; live yours toward him, and by his grace finish full of days.

Lord, David, for all his real and grievous failures, died at a good old age, full of days, riches, and honor; his life, taken as a whole, was directed toward you, and it finished well. Give me that hope and aim for my own life. I may fear that my failures have spoiled my life, that I cannot finish well after I have fallen. But David's life, full of failures, ended full of days, because through it all it was turned toward you. A life is not ruined by its faults if, through them, it is directed to you and returns to you. Help me aim to finish my life full and faithful, my days spent toward you, so that whatever my failures, my life as a whole is turned to you. It is not a flawless record that makes a life full at its end, but a life turned toward you; help me live mine toward you, and by your grace to finish full of days.