THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST IN DAVID (3)
[p. 272] THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST IN DAVID (3)
1 Samuel 24; 1 Samuel 26; 1 Samuel 30
JT In mentioning chapters 24 and 26, I thought it would be well to note the spirit of David towards Saul, as having him in his power in the cave; that is, he had it in his power to slay his adversary, but instead of taking advantage of his opportunity he spared his life; and in doing so he exhibits such a spirit that even Saul himself is affected; so much so that Saul weeps and recognises that David should be king. It is said that “Saul went home”. For the moment he is so affected by the spirit of Christ in David that his enmity to David is dislodged, and instead of returning to the city to renew his position, he went home. I think that is worthy of note, because it frequently happens that in difficulties we are placed in similar positions, and we are tested as to whether we take advantage of an opportunity to damage one who opposes, or to exhibit the spirit of Christ, and overwhelm him with grace.
JM A very real victory that!
JT It was a very remarkable triumph; it was the first real victory that David achieved in regard of Saul personally. He had not been able to impress him, or rather, hitherto Saul was unimpressionable.
RL Would the Lord’s way with Saul of Tarsus illustrate it “Why persecutest thou me?” (Acts 9:4).
JT It was the same spirit.
RL The same spirit marked the Lord in resurrection as was manifest in the days of His flesh.
JT In chapter 26 Saul had renewed his hostility, and a similar circumstance occurs, the result of which is that Saul says to David, “thou shalt do great things”. He not only acknowledged that he had sinned against him, but that David should prevail and do great things. It seems to me that these two [p. 273] chapters furnish a wonderful opportunity to Saul to recover himself, if recovery were possible. You feel that in dealing with the brethren you want to recover them if recovery is possible, and if it is impossible such exhibitions of grace to them will soon bring this to light.
WH David may have had his own judgment as to Saul, but he acted towards him in the spirit of grace.
JT Quite so, so that his hand should not be upon Saul. As far as David was concerned, it was overcoming evil with good, and that is the greatest moral victory.
WL He recognised that Saul was the Lord’s anointed.
JT And in that regard it is of great importance that we should all have respect to what God has recognised, whether it be in a brother, or in anything that God regards in this world, whether it be government or dignitaries, or whatever it be. It is not David’s spirit towards the Philistine powers that we have here; he was actuated by another spirit towards them. Saul had been anointed, and David respected that.
Rem Like the apostle Paul in his attitude to the high priest in Acts 23.
JT Exactly. “I wist not, brethren, that he was the high priest” (verse 5). The apostle piously regards Jerusalem and the priesthood as still outwardly owned by God. It is a very wholesome lesson in countries like this where the radical spirit is apt to manifest itself; the radical spirit is very objectionable to the mind of God. The order of God in government is that there should be dignitaries. There are those having authority, those having positions for good, and positions that are owned of God, and the godly man respects them.
WH “Render to all their dues” (Romans 13:7).
JT Yes; the epistle to the Romans teaches recovery, and one great element in a recovered man is that he has regard for everything that God has instituted; he takes things as God has set them here, and has respect for them; whereas in Colossians and Ephesians government is all under Christ. In Romans “the powers that be are ordained of God” (chapter 13:1).
SM That would help many who take up an extreme attitude and say that it is either heavenly or not of God at all, and disregard government in that way. There are many on that line.
JT Well, it is a line God abominates.
EM As the spirit of Christ forms us we will give everything its true place. I was thinking of the verse in 2 Timothy 1:7: “God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind”.
JB Is it on that line that Michael is introduced in Jude?
JT Yes; when disputing with Satan he did not bring a railing accusation against him, although the dispute was over the body of Moses. He said: “The Lord rebuke thee” (verse 9). So it was with David as to Saul he says, “The Lord shall smite him”, or “he will go down to battle and be slain”. “The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the Lord’s anointed”.
SM It is a helpful line, because it recognises the lordship of Christ, and brings Him in in that way, instead of putting oneself forward.
JT Yes, it makes room for God. If God sets up a man, or a thing, it is not for you to set it aside; but what is to be noticed in these two chapters is, that David’s spirit triumphs.
JM It seems to me that is the important point. The spirit which David manifests in connection with those things, and that requires spiritual power.
EH [p. 275] If it would not be out of place, will you give it an application for us as to how we look upon each other as saints?
JT Well, the saints are all anointed; they have the divine stamp upon them; “he who has anointed us is God”. Hence in a general way, we should have regard to the saints in that light, so that if there be will in any one of them, as is possible, the lesson is here that the superabundance of the spirit of Christ in those that are walking in that spirit brings about repentance in the failing one, if such is possible. In Saul’s case repentance was transitory. It seems to me that he had been given space to repent and failed to do so in the true sense, as Thyatira in Revelation 2. Thyatira is the fourth assembly addressed and represents that phase of the assembly in responsibility that had the place of the candlestick. The Lord, before removing the candlestick, gives her space to repent, “and she will not repent” (verse 21). So with Saul here; he had a great opportunity to recover himself in the presence of the true king. Instead of David using arbitrary authority in dealing with him when he had him in his power, he acts in grace towards him. When David had finished speaking, Saul says, “Is this thy voice my son David”. The power in which David spoke touched him, and broke him down for the moment. He had thus proved the power of David’s spirit. If it were possible for Saul to repent and recover himself in a spiritual way, he would have done so. Now if this be the case of one amongst us whom the Lord has signally used, the necessity for this spirit in us is all the more evident.
WL Would the possibility of repentance you were speaking of, or otherwise, depend upon the moral foundation laid in the soul? Some people seem more capable of self-judgment and repentance than [p. 276] others.
JT It depends, as you say, on the foundation that is already in the soul. In any instance in which a brother has a place amongst God’s people it is almost a certainty that at some time he has deserved it. As a rule, the judgment of the saints is correct. They may be deceived for a moment, but generally speaking, the Spirit of God has a place amongst them, and so everyone finds his level. Therefore, if any brother has a place accorded to him, I do not mean an official place, but what is merited, it is sure that it has been duly merited, and although he may fail there is special need that he should be treated with respect and regard; so that it is “the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” as Paul says in Philippians 1:19, that is always needed; and that is always available; the supply is infinite.
WL So that in dealing with one another we should never lose sight of the anointing.
JT That is the thought, that you should not regard the saints as common.
JM It seems to me that even with Saul’s second failure to be recovered David’s spirit is not affected by it; he does not judge him. That is what is wanting with us; we may get tried with each other and fail to persevere in grace.
JT So that as space is given for repentance we should see that the space is filled with grace. Thyatira had abundant opportunity to repent, to recover herself; but it is said, “she will not repent”. That was definite. Therefore, the Lord casts her into a bed. There was no hope of recovery.
JM One feels that is where we are tested.
JT I think so; it is in the ability to keep one’s spirit right and to make room for God to act.
AD David gained a great victory.
JT It is a great moral victory, if one is able to rule one’s own spirit in meeting opposition, as Paul says, “If thine enemy hunger, feed him; ... for in so [p. 277] doing thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head” (Romans 12:20). Coals of fire. It seems as if nothing would bring a brother down quicker than that.
SM It is a good thing to get well converted.
JT It is a good thing to get a good start, because if you do not you are liable to be deformed spiritually. The more a deformed child grows the more the deformity appears, if it is not rectified.
SM David must have had a great sense of forgiveness in his heart.
WH What David says seems to set forth what he was.
JT Yes, it is the spirit of the man. So with Stephen, “they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit with which he spoke” (Acts 6:10). They might have been greatly interested in the mastery he had of the Old Testament Scriptures, but it was the spirit and the wisdom in which he spoke that affected those who heard.
JT In chapter 30 we have David in a new circumstance. It is not Jonathan or Saul now. A great calamity has befallen David, a calamity such as was calculated to overpower the man; and, added to that, the people spoke of stoning him. What is he going to do now? It seems to me that David is brought into these circumstances to be an example for us. “He encouraged himself in the Lord his God”. Not that he did not feel the calamity, “he wept until he had no more power to weep”; and, added to that, there was the distress because of the people being disposed to stone him. Perhaps the keenest pang of all was, that as he reflected on the previous year, he would have to own that he had in a sense turned aside; he had been about to go off with the Philistines against the people of God, to fight against the people of God. A group of things centre in that one circumstance sufficient to overwhelm any man who did not have divine support.
[p. 278] EH How did he get into these circumstances?
JT I think he got into them by neglect. Ziklag had been given to him; it had been, so to say, his own garden which he had not kept. Now the Amalekites succeeded in capturing all and burning the city, it was a terrific catastrophe.
EH Was it the want of separation?
JT I think so. He should not have been with the Philistines in their attack on Israel; it was not his place. I only refer to that as one of the elements of the sorrow, an element which David well knew and felt.
WH He might have reflected that if he had been faithful all would have been preserved.
JT Quite so. Now the true man is seen in these new circumstances. He has been victorious in other circumstances; how is he going to be in this? He finds resource in God; “he encouraged himself in the Lord his God”. That is the resource for us when calamities befall us; when bereavement and distress from other causes come upon us, we know where to turn.
EM The people wanted to stone him. Was it in consequence of his neglect?
JT Very likely. But it only shows how the saints generally are apt to regard things. It was not that there was will, it was the overpowering influence of the situation. On a previous occasion he had repaired to Ramah, to the prophet, but now he goes direct to God. It is his knowledge of God that is his stand-by here.
RL He did not lose confidence in God.
TMG I have often thought of the apostle in the prison and how he writes to the Philippians, in reflecting on his past history. He had a good deal to depress and discourage him and to cast him upon himself, but he was cast upon the Lord.
EM And so, too, in Jerusalem when he had [p. 279] been cast into prison, the Lord stood by him (Acts 23:11).
JT He said later, “The Lord stood by me and strengthened me, and I was delivered from the lion’s mouth”. I think that Philippians is a remarkable epistle as the outflow of a heart which knows God in pressure. It is the Christian’s psalm book. The Psalms give us David’s experiences in pressure; Philippians is like that; it is the outgoing of a heart in pressure, and anyone comparing Philippians with the Psalms would see the difference between the Old Testament saint and the New. Paul is set before us as a model. He says in Philippians 3:17, “you have us for a model”. A man’s psalm expresses himself. If you can get a man’s psalm you can tell just what the man’s measure is. A hymn is more a celebration of God. A psalm is an expression of what you have gone through with God.
JM What is a spiritual song?
JT It is not a sentimental song; it is composed by a spiritual man.
JM How would you distinguish between them?
JT A hymn is an ascription of praise to God. The Lord Himself joined in one; it says, “they sung an hymn”. It is an ascription to God, not exactly on account of what He has done, but of what He is. I think a hymn is very closely allied to worship. We are told in 1 Samuel 30 “and David encouraged himself in the Lord his God”. I think that is rather expressive of his knowledge of God. It is not as yet God’s intervention that is encouraging him; it is rather the confidence which flowed from his knowledge of God. But then immediately he asks the priest to bring the ephod, and he inquires. God is inquired of by him. A very beautiful picture! He is a subject man.
JM It is only a heart that knows God that stands in [p. 280] a difficulty.
JT You will find that a good many of David’s psalms are dated, showing the circumstances with which they tally. If you get the psalm that tallies with a circumstance like this you get the attitude of the man’s soul Godward, and God has His portion in that psalm.
JM In that way you see the movement of David’s soul?
JT Quite so. Well now, having settled the matter as it were with God, all that follows is detail. When one encourages one’s self in God and receives an answer to one’s prayer the difficulty is morally settled. But another element arises which had not been touched on earlier, namely, the sons of Belial in David’s company; that is a new element to be reckoned with. They would deprive the weak one of the gain of the victory. That would never do for a man like David.
J.M. Will you apply that?
JT The saints must get the benefit. We are to support the weak. “Him that is weak in the faith receive ye” (Romans 14:1). He is to be received, but not to the settling of doubtful questions; he is a brother, and a brother for whom Christ died; that gives him a value, however weak he may be.
SM There is nothing official about David.
JT Well, he was an official, of course, but he is greater in his spirit that in his office. The first psalm is greater than the second. The first psalm is the godly man; the second the official man. I think we get the godly man here in David, the man who has the right spirit.
RL How do you account for the sons of Belial getting into company with David and his men?
JT Even in the Lord’s own company there was one who had a devil; it is very remarkable that the Lord goes on with him. He gives Judas the sop at the end. Judas’ heart should have been broken in seeing how the Lord acted in such grace.
RL I was wondering if it would have any reference to what we get in Jude and Peter?
JT Yes, but only for the moment. They are not able to show their hand yet; they are simply beginning to move. David has power over them yet; in fact he calls them his brethren.
RL Would they be reckoned amongst the six hundred?
JT They were, as far as I see. It is the grace side with David. David did not put Joab to death. There were many who deserved death, but he left it with Solomon to execute. At this juncture David made a statute. I think it is the first statute that David made, and it is a very fine one. It ought to be written in letters of gold amongst us, that he that abides behind is to share alike with him who goes into the conflict.
TMG How do you apply that?
JT Christ has died for everyone of the brethren, weak and strong. So that if there are those who cannot go out into the conflict they are not to be deprived of the spiritual gain of it. That is the statute in Israel. The idea of a statute is that it is fixed; it is permanent, and it was not a local bye-law; from that moment it was permanent and fixed in the ways of God. There is a moral reason for it. There are things that hinder souls from going into the conflict, such as what we get in Romans 14, the weak brother; he is not to be burdened with certain things, but then you are to be careful of him and look after him.
WL Is your thought that one section of the meeting is not to isolate itself from the other, but there is to be a moving [p. 282] together?
JT Quite so, so that if there are those that have to take up the care it is not to be exclusive; it is not to be on the ground that all the saints have not part in it, because they have part in it. The angel of the assembly is the abstract idea of responsibility. Hence every saint in the meeting, in some sense, should have part in everything.
JM I was thinking if the Lord gives gift to any individual it belongs to all; and there will be light for us if this is recognised. Here the hearts of those who remained behind were with David, but they were not able to go.
JT Quite so; we get the contrast to this in Judges 5, where certain ones held back and did not go into the conflict; they had power and did not go; but this in Samuel is a case of weakness.
AA These sons of Belial seem to be selfish; selfishness marks them.
JT Yes, that marks them. Their case is hopeless in that way. They are “sons of Belial”; they were governed by another influence than that of David.
SM What you have called attention to should help us greatly as to two things that we suffer from; one from those who are not exercised to contribute, and who should be exercised; and others who think that everything falls upon them.
JT That is exactly what brings about the clerical principle.
TMG The laity and the clergy.
JT I think the failure of the assembly at the beginning was that there were those who were content to hand over their responsibility to others. “So thou also hast those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes” (Revelation 2:15). It is likely that the Lord is there attending [p. 283] to clerical tenets; the principle of the clergy and the laity became established early amongst the saints.
EM In the case here of those who fainted, their hearts were set on the conflict, but they were not able for it; so that if we face our responsibility, though we may not be strong enough to take it up, yet the spiritual gain is distributed to ALL.
JT That is the “statute” that is made here for all times.