THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST IN DAVID (1)
THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST IN DAVID (1)
JT We are accustomed to refer to David in connection with his prowess as a warrior, as a type of the Lord, but perhaps the spirit that marked him is not so often pondered on. The Lord said to Samuel that He would provide a king from among the sons of Jesse the Bethlehemite, and the spirit that marked David from the outset was in keeping with the choice. It tends to verify the principle in the Scriptures that it is the second that is usually established; for example, there was the first covenant and the second covenant; the first man and the second Man. “That was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:46).
SM It evidences the resources of God.
JT Yes, He was not shut up to the first man.
WH The second is marked by the spirit of Christ.
JT Yes, that is what I thought. “That was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual”.
EM Do you connect that with the anointing?
JT Yes. The man anointed was suited already to be anointed. The whole scene in connection with David’s selection and anointing was marked at the outset by natural sensibilities and instincts; the natural test was so very real that even a man like Samuel came short. The scene was marked not by hostility to what was of God, but being governed by natural feelings, the spiritual was wanting. Even Samuel himself was affected.
JM Do we not often see that amongst the people of [p. 252] God?
JT The fact that Samuel did not escape it makes it serious for every one of us. “How long wilt thou mourn for Saul”, the Lord says to Samuel, “seeing I have rejected him”. He was behind in this way. Samuel was not up to the mark, and arriving at Bethlehem, he looks on Eliab, and says, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him. The eldest son being thus regarded indicates that Samuel, for the moment, was governed by natural principles.
EM He looked at the outward appearance.
JM Is it not remarkable that David was not on the scene at all?
JT That shows that Jesse, and the whole household, in fact, were governed by the natural: they did not make room for divine sovereignty.
JPW David was the eighth son. What is indicated in that?
TMG The resurrection man; one outside the order of the first man.
JT Yes, outside the order of nature. How the natural intrudes itself in our calculations?
RL The thought of the seventh would point to perfection; if there was anything in the flesh it would be in the seventh.
JT Yes; seven were allowed to pass before Samuel. I think this would give the order of nature the fullest possible opportunity if there was anything to be found suitable in it. The Lord says to Samuel, “The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart”. That was a very keen rebuke for Samuel. The apostle, in writing to the Corinthians, says, “are ye not carnal, and walk according to man?” (1 Corinthians 3:3).
RL Was David sanctified amongst the sons of Jesse? It is said in verse 5, “he sanctified Jesse and his sons”.
JT Samuel did not know about him evidently; he was simply left out. Three names are given; and [p. 253] then it goes on to say the seven sons of Jesse passed before Samuel, and he says, “The Lord hath not chosen these”. It is very remarkable how David was simply left out.
WH Would you say the spirit of Christ was not characterising the company, and so they could not discern rightly?
JT Quite so; while we are on natural lines we are devoid of light and discernment. However, where there is reality God comes in, as we see here.
Rem It is Samuel, of course, who writes these things against himself.
JM Where there is no will and there is reality, there is room for adjustment, and there is adjustment.
JT Yes. There was not any will with Samuel. I think the word he received, “The Lord seeth not as man seeth”, pulled him up and set him on right lines. And one makes a very good recovery who has been nurtured as Samuel had been. The Lord graciously sets him on the scent, as it were, and he rejects this one, and this one, and this one, right on to the seventh. He did not say the second time, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him”. I dare-say they were all primed for the occasion; but the scene is pretty much like a meeting as we speak, a season when we come together specially; and the question is whether we come together on natural or spiritual lines. If we come together priding ourselves on what we know, we are on the wrong line; but one often sees in a meeting that the Lord comes in and checks things, and then we get on the right lines. We are made to feel how entirely we are dependent on the Lord in our meetings. There should be subjection; and if we wait on the Spirit He comes in and makes Christ prominent. There may be a good many negatives before you get there, but you are set on the right [p. 254] line.
WH A good deal depends on giving the Lord His place.
JT I think Samuel had been accustomed to hear the Lord. He began in that way as a child; so he had a practised ear. It is very searching that even with the experience of a man like Samuel this could occur. He came to the meeting mourning for Saul, and he was at a disadvantage in that way, not that he did not know, because the Lord had told him why he had rejected Saul.
TMG David’s occupation at the moment indicated the spirit that marked him; he was keeping his father’s sheep.
EM It was not official.
JPW Is it verse 11 that you bring in in connection with the meeting: “We will not sit at table until he (David) comes hither”?
JT Yes; there is no rest till Christ is brought in. However much may be said, there is really a standing attitude until Christ has His place.
JM That seems to introduce headship in a way.
JT Yes, I think so. If Christ has His place you get the good of Him as Head. David was anointed in the midst of his brethren, and the sons of Jesse never looked so well, I am sure, as when David was anointed in their midst; and Eliab had to take his place amongst the rest.
SM Do you connect the thought of the meeting with the seven sons?
JT The scene as a whole, Samuel and Jesse and the household. It was a special occasion.
SM There were seven there ready to fill the position.
JT Yes, apparently all were ready; and they were all ennobled now, being the brethren of a man like David.
TMG Until that man was brought in they were not much.
JT [p. 255] Till then it was a negative affair. It was a mercy it was negative, or David would never have been brought in. If you see a natural line taken up in a meeting, the exercise should be to check it. The prophet is checked here by a very distinct word from the Lord. “The Lord seeth not as man seeth”. David anointed in the midst of his brethren is a very fine scene. Saul was not anointed in the midst of his brethren; it was a very small affair compared with this, although, of course, very wonderful in a way. Saul had been looking for the asses, and had not found them; Samuel sent the servant on before them and took a vial of oil and poured it on Saul’s head. It was a private affair, but this is not; the man that is to abide is anointed in the midst of his brethren.
RL Were you going to say something about his occupation?
JT Well, it was suggested he was keeping sheep; that is a very excellent occupation for a Christian, looking after the Lord’s sheep. I have been interested in the difference between the ministry of the leading servants in the New Testament. In their letters you have indicated the features of their ministry. Peter says that the saints had been as sheep going astray, but were now returned unto the Shepherd and Overseer of their souls; indicating that he had answered to the Lord’s commission; he was the minister of the circumcision, and his service had been effective; the sheep had returned; he found them going astray, and they had returned. Now, however little one has to do, the thing is to do it effectively. Coming short, in Scripture, is absolute failure: “I have not found thy works complete” is the message to Sardis in Revelation 3:2. You have another instance of coming short in the foolish virgins of Matthew 25; they were short of oil. Well, they were just as badly off as if they had never made any [p. 256] profession, or indeed worse. It is a serious thing that there should be a shortage.
TMG How do you apply that?
JT In our service there is very little completed; as a rule, there is a great want of completeness. The reference in Scripture, however, is to those who are not genuine, who have not the Spirit.
JM The gospel by Mark is a contrast to that. In Christ’s service how perfect and complete everything was!
TMG “He does all things well” was the testimony.
JPW What is the cure for incompleteness? Is it to make use of what one has?
JT Yes; you hold what you have in exercise. “To every one that has shall be given, and he shall be in abundance; but from him that has not, that even which he has shall be taken from him” (Matthew 25:29). We trifle with things so, that sacred things become almost common. The five foolish virgins had no oil. If you apply it spiritually, it might be said that they had not obtained what was available. The cry, “Behold the Bridegroom; go forth to meet him!” found them without oil.
EM You look at the wise virgins as having the Spirit, but were not in the good of it?
JT We may have the Spirit, and be without exercise, hence we go to sleep.
JPW Does not the anointing mean that the person anointed is completely and wholly for God?
JT God has committed Himself wholly to him. As soon as David arrived the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he”. There was no delay; Samuel did not have to consider. “Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren; and the spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward”.
TMG God claimed [p. 257] him.
JT Yes. And now Samuel virtually says, “I can go home”. David is on the scene as having the spirit of the Lord upon him.
WM Samuel retires. It reminds one of John the baptist when he said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
JPW Is it a sort of public acknowledgment of David, because before that he had been walking with God, and he had slain the lion and the bear?
JT This is the public acknowledgment of him. There is always a long history before that important time comes when a man is honoured publicly. The Lord Himself was 30 years old before He was anointed.
TMG “Him hath God the Father sealed” (John 6:27).
RL Is there any significance in these three eldest sons following Saul in the next chapter and David returning to the sheep?
JT I was thinking of that. They quarrel with David when he goes to see how they fare. Eliab says, “I know thy pride and the naughtiness of thy heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle” (1 Samuel 17:28). Whereas the cause was really that Jesse had sent him with provisions for them. He was simply doing what came to his hand in subjection to his father; and he was morally perfect in what he was doing. Eliab was thoroughly wanting in his discernment of what was morally perfect.
Ques Could you give an application of the mission on which Jesse sent David? “Look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge”.
JT It seems to be what the Lord would exercise each of us about. How our brethren fare; how they get on. Just as Joseph had been commissioned, as you will remember. It seems as if Jesse had come round to the spiritual side. He saw what David was fitted for.
Rem “Their pledge” would be the response to what he [p. 258] brought.
JT That there was a sort of receipt given to him, some evidence that they got the benefit of his service.
Rem An answer; but, as a matter of fact, he did not take their pledge.
JT Certainly there was no response to him, except in the way of reproof. They really persecuted him, but the Lord vindicated him. It is very beautiful to see in the word how a man is taken up according to his qualifications; and I think it is evident in chapter 17 that Jesse was brought round to the spiritual; he saw what David was fitted for.
Ques Has it any application now?
JT Well, it comes out in our meetings. You see it where Christ becomes increasingly prominent amongst the saints. David’s brethren were never so dignified as when David was anointed in their midst.
EM That is to say, we take pleasure as we see Christ in one another.
JT Yes, you see Him honoured like Mordecai, who was great amongst the Jews and acceptable to his brethren.
TMG The man whom the king delights to honour.
JT “He was great among the Jews and accepted of the multitude of his brethren, seeking the wealth of his people and speaking peace to all his seed” (Esther 10:3). That is how Christ gets His place, and then great gain follows that. The spirit of David begins to manifest itself when he is summoned to serve Saul, because he was not oblivious to what it meant. He is willing to do anything; his spirit submits to this; and the estimate that the servant had of him is worth noticing. The servant said, “Behold I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite that is cunning in playing and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war and prudent in matters, and a [p. 259] comely person, and the Lord is with him”. Whoever that servant was, he had formed a right estimate of David.
JM What do you say about the evil spirit that came on Saul?
JT It is a very solemn thing that the Lord should deal judicially in this way with a man, but it only brings out, I think, the wonderful character of David’s spirit; he thinks nothing of Saul’s behaviour, but simply goes and serves, for Saul is still in the place of the anointed.
SM An evil spirit from God. Why from God?
JT By and by the Lord will send a strong delusion. It is not only that men are ruined as rejecting Christ, but that God shows that their case is hopeless. The spirit of David here is a type of the spirit of the Christians of the early days and shows how, that in spite of the perverseness of the Jews, they went on ministering and manifesting the spirit of Christ to them. It shows the patience of God. I think Saul had a new opportunity here in the spirit of Christ being brought so near to him; and before the spirit of enmity got such a place in his heart, it is said that he loved David. It is the spirit you have that tells upon people; that is the point; and when you have to do with people who are perverse, then you are tested as to what spirit you are of. I think it is wonderful to see how Stephen had the spirit of Christ; at the extreme moment of his persecution he kneels down and prays for his persecutors. I do not know of anything except Gethsemane and the cross that expresses more moral power than is seen in Acts 7. Think of what that man suffered, and yet how unruffled was his spirit!
JM The Old Testament scripture says, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city” (Proverbs 16:32).