2 SAMUEL 22
JT This chapter is practically the same as Psalm 18, except that the first verse of the Psalm is left out. The Psalm is “to the chief Musician. A Psalm of David, the servant of Jehovah, who spoke to Jehovah the words of this song in the day that Jehovah had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies and out of the hand of Saul. And he said, I will love thee, O Jehovah, my strength”, Psalm 18:1. He is recorded in the Psalm as a lover of Jehovah, which enriches the service of God. These are not merely words; they are outpourings by a lover of Jehovah. David omits the profession of love for Jehovah in this chapter. He has come before us in various ways; namely, as a type of Christ, as a type of a saint, and even as a type of a sinner; but it seems as if this chapter is inserted to give us the real David as viewed entirely in relation to God’s work in him. Each of us is variable in his walk and ways, and mixed in his [p. 238] motives and conduct, but there is a sense in which we are viewed abstractly; the flesh and the workings of the flesh are ignored.
AR Do you think that in spite of the chequered history he had, David acquired a knowledge of God through it all?
JT That is the point, to bring out his stature amid all his failures and variations. It is that abstractly which answers to God in the true believer.
ANW Why did the book not close after this chapter?
JT The Spirit of God returns to the actual facts of history, and is particularly quick to bring out the governmental ways of God. It says in the last chapter, “And again the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them saying, Go number Israel and Judah”. (2 Samuel 24:1) He moved David against Israel. That is a remarkable and solemn fact. In Chronicles it is Satan who “stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel”, 1 Chronicles 21:1. The book of Samuel is to bring out the solemn government of God, how He Himself moved David against Israel, to bring out the state of the people.
AFM It says in verse 1, “And David spoke to Jehovah the words of this song”, and in verse 50 it says, “Therefore will I give thanks to thee, Jehovah, among the nations”. There is emphasis laid on the fact that he said the thing and did not sing it. Is there a lack of exuberance about this?
JT “Therefore will I give thanks to thee, Jehovah, among the nations, And will sing psalms to thy name”. That is a resolution. Evidently he is not losing ground as he proceeds. He closes on the top note here; he is gaining ground as he proceeds in this song.
Ques Is it to cause all the people of God to join in the meaning of it that it is placed [p. 239] in the book of Psalms?
JT It is in the book of the service of God, and evidently enriched for that setting, because David says, “I will love thee, O Jehovah, my strength”, (Psalm 18:1) and he addresses the psalm to the chief Musician. He puts it on to the full height of what is due to God in service. You may say many things in meetings like this, but in assembly you omit what is not suitable. The Psalms are necessarily on a higher level because they are set particularly for the service of God, the chief Musician being recognised; and one who speaks to God says, “I will love thee, O Jehovah”, Psalm 18:1. The Psalm is finished and is suitable for the service of God. So Paul says, “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God, and boast in Christ Jesus, and do not trust in flesh”, Philippians 3:3. The idea there is the public worship of God. The book of Psalms would be for that, it has dignity attached to it. We worship by the Spirit.
AR The Lord in adjusting the two on the way to Emmaus spoke to them from the law and the prophets; but when the disciples were together He spoke to them from the law and the prophets and the Psalms. He had in view the service of God.
JT He includes the Psalms because they are on a higher level; they are experimental. In chapter 23 it is a question of David’s last words, carrying with them all the experience of his days. The date of this song or psalm we cannot speak of definitely, save that it must have been late in his life because he was delivered from all his enemies; he particularly mentions Saul, a legal element.
RWS Why is there not more ministry in relation to the Psalms?
JT I suppose we do not understand them. Maybe the Lord will help us now in regard to them. It is a question of whether one is able to say, “I will love thee, O Jehovah” (Psalm 18:1).
ANW There are certain epistles in which the [p. 240] apostle is more given to praise than in others. Does he not exult a good deal more in Ephesians and Romans than in Colossians or Corinthians or Galatians?
JT That is very suggestive. The two normal epistles of Paul are Romans and Ephesians. Colossians, Corinthians and Galatians are corrective epistles and in these the apostle’s spirit would be more bound in the thought of failure. The epistle to the Romans is very remarkable, full of a worshipful spirit, and so is Ephesians. So that this chapter is to be taken account of more as a testimony to the work of God in one man’s soul, ignoring the variableness of his life, and also the sinfulness of it. We have no allusion to his sins; on the contrary he enlarges on his righteousness. It says in verse 20, “He delivered me, because he delighted in me. Jehovah hath rewarded one according to my righteousness, According to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me”. You are impressed with that. He is alluding by the Spirit of God to the effect of the work of God in him. Although he speaks of “mine iniquity”, verse 24, he is not enlarging on that; he says he has kept himself from it, so that it seems to be an abstract view. That is, the saints are viewed by the Spirit of God entirely in relation to the work of God in them, which is really the only basis for the service of God. It is what we are.
AFM Why does he apply it so personally?
JT It is the Spirit of God taking him up to express what he is in relation to the work of God in an abstract way. That is, abstract in the sense that he is not occupied with his sins or his sinful condition, but with the effect of the work of God. The man in Romans 7 does not speak like this. David is delivered and is able to speak to God in this way about himself. It seems to be an important side of the truth for assembly service that we are enabled to take account [p. 241] of ourselves abstractly; not in our mixed condition, but abstractly. Thus we are not intruding ourselves into the presence of God. It is unworthy to push ourselves in in assembly service. God wants us to abstract ourselves and be before Him in that relation.
EAC So that this chapter would be an encouragement to us despite the sorrowful experiences David had had earlier. He is able to speak as he does from a high plane.
JT It is the Spirit of God enabling him to do this. We can speak of ourselves in a spiritual sense, “The spiritual discerns all things”, 1 Corinthians 2:15. We can speak of ourselves abstractly: “Whoever has been begotten of God does not practise sin”;(1 John 3:9) and “even as he is, we also are in this world”, 1 John 4:17. God has gone to great pains to have us from that point of view.
AR What you say requires great spirituality. If I abstract myself and take account of myself thus before God, I must clothe the saints with the same thoughts.
ANW Perhaps we are too introspective. You are speaking apart from any unreality.
JT Quite so. It is only by the constant recognition of the Spirit that we are enabled to judge the flesh. “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day” (Revelation 1:10) is a very suggestive word. How could John say that? He did not introduce any incongruities in himself; he was in a state that excludes all that.
CAM And as in that state, there had been a solemn experience that had caused him to reach this point. What has been said about not being unreal seems to be very important.
JT It is most important, because God is looking into our hearts. He is not thinking simply of what we are able to say, but of what state we are in.
AR “My heart is welling forth with a good matter”, Psalm 45:1.
EAC Are not verses 2 and 3 the basis for David’s [p. 242] ability to express himself as he does in the many experiences further on in the chapter? He speaks of Jehovah as “my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; God is my rock, in him will I trust”. In his experiences he had evidently proved God in these wonderful ways.
JT You must get to the Rock. That is what he stresses here, using the designation several times. You must get down to the foundation. God is that, as seen here; God is underneath. The Lord says, “And I also, I say unto thee that thou art Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and hades’ gates shall not prevail against it”, Matthew 16:18. You get to the bottom of things; that is the principle of this song. The psalm comes almost on to our own ground; and no doubt David’s experiences as recorded in the Psalms account for this. He is able to abstract himself. Unless we come through Romans 7 we shall not be able to do this, the lessons there enable us to abstract ourselves from all else but what is of God. It is due to God that we should do that in order that He might have us before Him as Christ is.
RWS It would seem that is why the Lord brings in worship in John 4. It is due to the Father but due to Him as having this other matter solved.
JT It lies in the Spirit. The Spirit deals with it in a very concrete sense, a fountain of water “springing up into eternal life”, John 4:14. That is the power of abstraction.
Rem All David’s personal failure is out of sight in this chapter.
JT When he comes to the end he is rising in power, so that he says, “Therefore will I give thanks to thee, Jehovah, among the nations, and will sing psalms to thy name. It is he who giveth great deliverances to his king, And showeth loving-kindness to his anointed, To David, and to his seed for evermore”.
[p. 243] Note, it is not, to the king, but, to His king. David was divinely provided for Israel, but God has pleasure in him as in the office. He says he is Jehovah’s king and Jehovah’s anointed. That is attributing everything to God. Paul says to the Corinthians, “Now he that establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, is God, who also has sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts”, 2 Corinthians 1:21, 22. He brings us down to rock bottom as to our state and He is entitled to have those thoughts about us. He has wrought for that purpose.
Rem One’s spiritual success is likely to carry one away.
JT Quite so. The idea of the “rock” is what God is. “Jehovah is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; God is my rock, in him will I trust”. “And who is a rock, save our God?”
JTJr The believer comes to see the great things he has as set free from Satan’s power, and is able to boast in what God is to him.
JT And in what God has in him too: “But we do know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to purpose”, Romans 8:28. It is getting down to rock bottom as to state. God has dealt with it on that principle in the death of Christ.
EAC Will you say something more in connection with the rock bottom position? He speaks of other positions here where he was a man of conflict.
JT “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us”, 1 John 1:8; and yet John says, “Whoever has been begotten of God does not practise sin”, 1 John 3:9. That is the abstract thought. God allows David to speak of himself entirely in relation to His work, and what he is for God, and what God is to him; so that we are really spiritually, from the subjective side, on rock [p. 244] bottom here. It is not a question of doctrines, but of what a man is himself and what God is to him.
AR Would the scriptures in Ephesians 1:4 fit in: “that we should be holy and blameless before him in love”?
JT Yes. We are actually in a mixed condition, but we can reach this in assembly and God is entitled to it. It is an out-of-the-world condition of relationship and being.
ANW Would Psalm 51 underlie the service?
JT Yes, it belongs to the worship of God, and no doubt it would underlie what we have been speaking of, like Romans 7. It is a question of intelligence as to what you would bring forward in the service of God. In Exodus an abundance of material was brought, but in Leviticus you must go to the priest as to how you shall use what you bring. You might own a horse or a mule, which in itself would be of value, but there is no tolerance for that in Leviticus. It is a question of priestly intelligence as to what to present in assembly. We must consider where we are. Leviticus is to show what is suitable under any given circumstances; I must recognise the law in regard of what I am offering.
RWS Otherwise we could give thanks for the good weather, or similar mercies of God.
AFM Why does “his seed” come in here, “To David, and to his seed for evermore”? Is that linked up with the brethren?
JT That would be the thought; the seed of such a man as this.
AR In Leviticus 6 God says to Moses, “Command Aaron and his sons ...”. Aaron and his sons are under authority; they cannot say or do just anything, there is a certain course to pursue.
JT That helps greatly, because Leviticus is perhaps not understood. It is a question of wealth and regulation. Wealth has to be controlled. In [p. 245] our houses we can give thanks for the weather and the like; the sun in the heavens and the stars and the fruit of the earth and the heat and comfort of our houses. We would thus speak to God in wilderness conditions, but we cannot do that in assembly. The priest says, That will not do here. It is a question of the law that governs the thing. God rules out the responsible David that had been sinning and it is the David of divine counsel that speaks to Him in this chapter. Why should I not respect God in that light in the assembly and rule all else out of my mind for the moment, and in priestly power present to God just what He has effected in me?
CAM Perhaps that is the great evidence of being a priest. It is a very remarkable thing that the priestly line has been opened up in Romans. In that epistle the apostle says at the outset: “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is proclaimed in the whole world”, Romans 1:8. If he had not been a priest he could hardly have started this epistle like that.
JT There are many things in keeping with that in Romans, such as, “who shall deliver me out of this body of death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord”, Romans 7:24, 25. It is the priestly line running through the epistle. Again in Corinthians, “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who has been made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and holiness, and redemption”, 1 Corinthians 1:30. We are able to clothe ourselves with that.
AM In speaking of the kings that followed David, it says of them either that they followed as David their father, or they did not follow as David their father. David seems to be the standard by which they are measured.
JT Yes. Viewed abstractly, David is the standard both for royalty and priesthood. The thing is to [p. 246] go on the abstract line, so that we are able, for a little while at least, to rule out all else.
Rem The Lord is viewed as on the cross in Psalm 22, and at that point He is able to praise. Praise flows out from the supper when we have remembered the Lord.
JT “And thou art holy, thou that dwellest amid the praises of Israel”, Psalm 22:3. The praises were already there. “In the midst of the assembly will I sing thy praises”, Hebrews 2:12. When we come to that scripture, the assembly is viewed abstractly; there it is what we are: “For both he that sanctifies and those sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren”, Hebrews 2:11. He has us in that way. The prayer meeting is not like that for it is not an assembly meeting. The assembly meeting is where we should be abstracted in our minds and feelings, and we are often defective in this and miss the great import of the Lord’s presence and service. When we come together in assembly on the first day of the week the Lord’s supper is immediately before us, but having in view that we should go on to this place where we are all of one. We are to be on entirely abstract lines. I do not mean abstract in the sense that there is not something concrete, but in the sense that we are viewed thus in a certain relation. The concrete is there, but we are shutting out something else; we are not in relation to what we are in a mixed condition down here.
Rem “He made as though he would go farther”, Luke 24:28. I suppose the Lord is always leading on to that position?
JT Exactly. In the endings of the gospels He is seen standing; in that particular setting at Emmaus He is sitting down; that was to take the housefather’s place. The housefather would sit at the head of the table. But after He breaks the bread He vanishes. That means that it is now a spiritual [p. 247] matter; the two went back to Jerusalem at that very moment. So that the endings of the gospels are intended to convey to us that the Lord is not sitting, He is on the way and we want to follow. If we follow we shall reach John 20, and that is abstract. In that chapter there is no perturbation at all when He enters, everything is right, save the absence of Thomas. But his absence does not hinder what we are speaking of. Luke gives you the concrete, the mixed condition that was there; but John does not mention anything of that.
CAM We need not be hindered because of the many absentees.
JT We are to be together in relation to the whole assembly on earth. We begin with Romans 7: “So then I myself with the mind serve God’s law”, Romans 7:25. I am master of my mind. “God’s law” here is not the ten commandments, it is whatever there is in the way of regulation. In the assembly I am to be equal to whatever direction there is.
AR In being master of your mind, what are the thoughts you would entertain in such circumstances?
JT There are many, of course. The assembly is a place of wealth where everything is regulated by God. Hence what is said about Leviticus is so important; it is the “law”. You are to have a priestly mind and to know what is suitable.
Ques Does the Lord have assembly service in mind when He says, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou established praise”, Psalm 8:2?
JT Quite so.
Ques Does keeping the feast of unleavened bread help us to abstract ourselves?
JT It does. Paul says, “For this cause I also exercise myself”, Acts 24:16; that is the thing to get hold of. Paul had complete control of himself. He says, “But I buffet my body, and lead it captive, lest after having preached to others I should be myself rejected”, (1 Corinthians 9:27). He kept himself under control, he was master of the whole inward position. The Holy Spirit is with us in that; if you take that line you will be supported. The assembly is the great thing in the mind of God from the beginning, and it will be so eternally.
RWS How does it work out practically when something is presented that is unsuitable?
JT It is a question of priestly power to throw that off. The Lord supports us at such a moment when our priestly sensibilities are alert.
JTJr “Perfected praise” would be part taken that is suitable.
JT “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise”, Matthew 21:16. That would mean that my mind is not full of reminiscences. An old brother converted in later years is not apt to be much in the assembly. The Lord speaks of “babes and sucklings”. The two blind men in Matthew 20 say, “Have mercy on us. Lord, Son of David”, Matthew 20:30. They recognised the Son of David as He was about to enter Jerusalem. They were spiritual at the moment and said what was in keeping with the position. Again in the temple the children, the babes, say the same thing: “Hosanna to the Son of David”, Matthew 21:15. That is the line; the babes and sucklings are the kind in which the Lord can develop the truth. It is for us to take that attitude, “as newborn babes desire earnestly the pure mental milk of the word, that by it ye may grow up to salvation”, (1 Peter 2:2). If a lead is given, the babes and sucklings will move in it.
RWS The tone of the meeting should really increase as the younger brothers come in and take part.
JT The young brothers and sisters coming in from Christian households are, I believe, the best material for the Lord. Their minds are not filled up [p. 249] with evil. The Lord had need of the colt, that is, a young person.
Ques How is it possible to have this abstract thought on the Lord’s day morning when we have had the sense of failure during the week?
JT It is possible in the Spirit: “the water which I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water, springing up into eternal life”, John 4:14. It is the power of the Spirit in you.
ES In Leviticus 21 defects, such as flat noses, etc., are spoken of. Would these things hinder some of us from approaching the emblems?
JT That is the law again. If there are any of these defects you will know what to do, because the book tells you what to do. You may eat the bread of your God, but you do not present it. It is a question of “I myself with the mind serve God’s law”, (Romans 7:25) whatever that is. It is largely 1 and 2 Corinthians. The spiritual discerns all things. If there is a constitutional defect I know that I should not take formal part at all; that is what is meant in Leviticus 21.
AFM Would it be a public matter?
JT Quite so. It is not simply what one has done, but what one is.
AR God showed Moses the whole land from “the top of Pisgah”, Deuteronomy 34:1. This would correspond with the abstract side that we have referred to.
JT That is a good suggestion. You have it also in Balaam’s prophecy. Even in the wilderness it is possible. It is a question of exercise, “For this cause I also exercise myself”, Acts 24:16. If I attain any power it is on those lines, ruling all else out but what I know to be suitable for the moment. In a prayer meeting you may refer to your sick child, but not in an assembly meeting. The assembly is too august. Rule out all [p. 250] that is extraneous.
RWS The emblems would help us to abstract ourselves.
JT We sit down with so many persons — men and women — as is contemplated in 1 Corinthians, and we are in a wilderness position. As we proceed the Lord comes in; He is in another condition. When He comes in the position is changed. Before He comes in we are by ourselves; the Spirit remains with us, of course, and we are in the assembly, but we are actually here as we have come out of our houses to break bread. As the Lord comes in, the more spiritual I am the more I begin to see that the ground is changed. It goes on on those lines until we apprehend Him as the Minister of the sanctuary, and we are His brethren.
AFM That is where discernment is needed.
JT “I speak as to intelligent persons: do ye judge what I say”, 1 Corinthians 10:15. That is how we begin and proceed. “I will sing with the spirit, but I will sing also with the understanding”, 1 Corinthians 14:15. You feel happy and free and you are ready to give out a hymn, and then your understanding says that that hymn is not just suitable now and you desist.
Rem “Yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ”, 1 Peter 2:5.
Rem Even legitimate thoughts that do not fit in are shut out for the moment. This would shut out the thought of responsibility.
JT We have been looking at this book in relation to the history of the assembly, and the public history of the assembly involves a great deal of lawlessness. In the midst of it God has been working, there has been something for God. This song represents that. All down the ages God has been working and there [p. 251] has been some result and He has the real gold. It is a great triumph for God that there is anybody that can abstract himself so as to be before God according to His work in him. This is going to abide.