THE GATES OF ZION
[p. 327] THE GATES OF ZION
Psalm 87:2; 1 Samuel 30:22 - 25; 2 Samuel 1:11,12; 2 Samuel 5:6 - 10; 2 Samuel 6:12 - 14; 2 Samuel 6:17 - 19
I have in mind to dwell on “the gates of Zion” tonight, as representing the nature of God as it works out amongst His people, in the way of bountiful service or administration; for “God”, it says, “loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7); and it is this cheerful giving, particularly in a spiritual sense, that characterises “the gates of Zion”.
In order to bring this out, I wish to show, from the scriptures read in the books of Samuel, how the divine nature, from this point of view, enters into Zion. I may say at once that I speak of Zion from the standpoint of the hearts of God’s people. God has taken possession of our hearts, as in Romans, by shedding abroad His love in them by His Spirit. That is an initial movement on God’s part — what He goes back to later in order to develop His purpose in the hearts of His people, His great administrative thought. His love being there holding the ground by the Spirit, He takes them up in relation to His sovereignty, our hearts thus becoming of immense importance; they are the sphere in which God operates first for our deliverance, and then for the setting out of what He is. And in order that He should be fully set out thus, according to His sovereign purpose and love, He links us up with heaven, so that we are regarded as “the assembly of the firstborn who are registered in heaven” Hebrews 12:23.
Having said that, I want to show, in David, how Christ operates. I speak of him for the moment as a type of Christ. In the two books of Samuel we have a life-size picture of David. The history is not so [p. 328] full in Chronicles; there he is viewed in connection with the temple, looking on to the coming day. Whereas in Samuel it is the person of David — not so much the official David as the personal David. In order to understand the official position of Christ, we have to understand Him personally. So David is said to be a man after God’s heart. This is the great problem to be worked out. It begins with the heart of God. We are dealing with hearts. Saul was the choice of the people; David was God’s choice. God remarked, in making His choice, that He looked not on the outward appearance, but on the heart. And as David is anointed, we have his name for the first time in Samuel, meaning ‘beloved’; indicating at the very outset that that man had found a place in His heart.
I need not enlarge on that, beloved friends, in regard to Christ; how John presents Him as becoming flesh, and dwelling “among us”; he says, “we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with a father” John 1:14. He saw Him in relation to the Father. And again He says, “the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him” John 1:18. He is in the bosom of the Father! That is to say, Christ is in the heart of God. He was loved before the foundation of the world, it says (John 17:24); but John alludes to Him as become flesh, and that He is in the bosom of the Father. Thus the whole problem to be worked out in hearts begins in the heart of God. The One who declares God is in His bosom. At His baptism we have the announcement from heaven, “Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I have found my delight” Mark 1:11. It is as if God had been looking for it, and now He has found it in Him. Again on the mount of Transfiguration the announcement is made, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight: hear him” Matthew 17:5. God thus shows the kind of Man that had found a [p. 329] place in His heart. He was attractive to God — infinitely so! Ever so, of course, in His divine Person, but now as become Man.
Now, the next thing to consider is, How is God to get into man’s heart? for that is what He has in mind. His desire is wondrous! He approaches men in the same blessed attractive Person as had found a place in His bosom: the One who was delightful to God! Now you will find in regard to David, that whilst God did not look on the externals, but on the heart, the Holy Spirit gives us the externals in 1 Samuel 16, “he was ruddy, and besides of a lovely countenance and beautiful appearance” 1 Samuel 16:12. Samuel had said to Jesse, “Send and fetch him; for we will not sit at table till he come hither” 1 Samuel 16:11. And as he arrived, the Holy Spirit gives the picture: “He was ruddy”, that is to say, full of life, “and besides of a lovely countenance and beautiful appearance” 1 Samuel 16:12. From an external point of view he was to be attractive to men; and as attractive to them he was to find a way into their hearts, so as to have a place there. And he did.
But not only was he so to the external appearance, he was beautiful in moral qualifications. Saul needs a man to stand before him to play on the harp, and one of his young men describes David. It is not now a description, as in the earlier part of the chapter, it is a description given by the Spirit from the lips of a young man. It is indeed delightful to think of a young man describing the beauty and attractiveness, in a moral sense, of Christ in David. He says to Saul, He is “skilled in playing” 1 Samuel 16:18. That is to say, not only is he beautiful to look upon, but he has got the power of entertaining. How the world bids for young people to entertain them! The placards in every city call attention to the power of entertaining that is in the world. Did you ever think of the power that Christ had to entertain?
And then he says, “he is a valiant man and a man of war” 1 Samuel 16:18. Not only can he entertain, but if it be a question of truth, or a question of doctrine, or a question of principle, he is valiant, he turns not aside for any. He is a man who knows the art of war. And moreover he is skilled in speech; he can speak and command the intelligence of the people of God. “Never man spoke thus, as this man speaks” (John 7:46) was said of Christ. He spoke with authority, and not as the scribes; He was skilful in speech.
And then he was “of good presence” 1 Samuel 16:18. It is not now exactly that he was beautiful to look upon, but there was power in his presence. Some of us here know what the presence of the Lord is; there is power and blessing in it. How the littleness of the natural mind would be hushed, completely silenced, in that presence as He appeared to them after His resurrection! He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve, and later on He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; He was seen of James, and last of all He was seen of Paul. What a presence! what blessed influence in that presence! And it was so as He was here in humiliation; no one could be near the Lord with any kind of exercise without being impressed with His marvellous presence; even a Pilate, sitting upon his judgment seat. Think of the dignity with which He appeared before Pilate, and the high priest, and Herod! In their inmost hearts they must have felt the superiority of that presence.
And then, finally, it says of David that the Lord was with him. These traits of Christ are depicted for us here, that He should find a way into men’s hearts. He has been doing it all these centuries, He has been wondrously effectual in entering into men’s hearts; He would use them through their hearts, through their intelligence, through their affection; He would have us wholly, and for the most exalted service conceivable — to form Zion; that which had its roots [p. 331] away back in eternity, before the world was; that which God intended to set up in His people — His own nature, His own wisdom. Is it not attractive?
David would take the stronghold of Zion, and as he is owned by all Israel, he goes to Jerusalem. He had already brought the head of the giant there, you will remember, after he had slain him — a testimony to his warrior power. The head was there; that is to say, he had annulled him that had the might of death. By dying Christ would free us, to have us, to use us in this exalted service. He destroyed “him who has the might of death” (Hebrews 2:14) in order to set at liberty all those who “through fear of death through the whole of their life were subject to bondage” Hebrews 2:15. And now, in due course, as anointed by all Israel, David goes to Zion, and he takes the city. The Jebusites are called “the inhabitants of the land”; not merely the inhabitants of that city, they were the inhabitants of the land. They represent the power of Satan through his emissaries controlling men’s hearts, “the spirit who now works” (the ruler of the authority of the air) “in the sons of disobedience” Ephesians 2:2. We have all been under that influence; but the Lord has taken Zion. David comes up to the city, and they ridicule him; they ask him can he overcome the lame and the blind? thinking David could not come in there. But David, it says, took the stronghold of Zion. There is nothing said here about Joab. We have here the type of Christ taking possession of His Zion in His own might, in His own attractiveness. Joab is mentioned in 1 Chronicles 11, where it is said that he repaired the city. The city has reference to the future, but what we have here is the stronghold of Zion which David takes; and as taking it, names it as the “city of David”.
How every true lover of Christ recognises his part, as it were, in that city! It is not simply what has come down to Him by way of heritage, He has [p. 332] acquired it by His own prowess; we have yielded it up to Him. “So David dwelt in the stronghold, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from the Millo and inward”. I am dwelling on this, beloved brethren, so that you may understand the importance of “the gates of Zion”. The building is inward. If I may introduce here, what I am entitled to do, the whole gospel of John treats generally of the inward operations of Christ. You will find in all those who follow Christ and recognise Him, in John, that the trend is inward and upward; leading to a heavenly position spiritually. The saints are brought to it gradually, so that, in the last chapter, the doors are shut. It is not an outward movement in that chapter; the disciples were in a private place, and the doors were shut; their service was inward and upward. The message had been sent to them by the Lord, “I ascend to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God” John 20:17.
Well, David built inward. I want now to show you certain principles that he carried in there. In 1 Samuel 30 we have, I think, his first statute. A statute is a fixed principle; a principle not to be repealed. I mean from a spiritual standpoint. I just dwell briefly on the circumstances of this, so that we may understand what entered into Zion in David. For all these things are carried forward, and accumulated by David in the city of Zion. Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God and it is for us to find these glorious things. They are spoken.
Now you find that, after the great victory recorded in 1 Samuel 30, David returned to the two hundred that had remained behind, who could not go on with him. It was not that they would not go, they could not go. It was not for want of will. There are those who will not go after David, and there are those who would go, but cannot. There is a very great difference between the two. David came to them, and he [p. 333] saluted them. We are now in the presence of Christ. What magnanimity! And there was tender consideration for weakness, which always marks the priest. They had not been able to cross the brook Besor — the word is really ‘torrent’ — they could not go over the torrent Besor; meaning that it was difficult to pass over; it was an obstacle over which they could not pass on account of weakness, not on account of will. God will not brook our wills; He has no interest whatever in the wills of His people, save to break them; but He is sympathetic with our weaknesses; He will bear with us, and will show that they in no wise disqualify us from sharing the fruits of the victory. David salutes them as he comes near.
But now come out wicked men and men of Belial; they resented this; listen to their speech: “Because they went not with us, we will not give them aught of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart” — they have accomplished nothing, they did not go to the battle; let them take their wives and children, and be gone! The Holy Spirit calls them “sons of Belial”; the Holy Spirit calls them by that name! David did not. Why are they “sons of Belial”? Because they would not recognise and bear with the weakness of their brethren, and because they would shut them out. Listen again to what they say, “Let them take their wives and children, and depart”. Think of that! Think of the callousness manifested! They are ready to surrender two hundred brethren on account of these brethren’s weakness. “Let them depart” — without food, or anything else — let them take their wives and children, and go! Where is the love of God in them? Not an atom of it. Then David speaks; he says, “Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which Jehovah has given us”. He calls them “brethren”! We are now on the side of grace. It is a picture of [p. 334] the grace of God overcoming evil — the spirit of Christ shown in consideration of weakness.
And so David makes it a statute in Israel: “as his share is that goes down to the battle, so shall his share be that abides by the baggage: they shall share alike”. Mark you, he dignifies them; he does not call them weak ones, though that is what they were; he credits them with abiding by the stuff. And so it may be with fathers having something in their care, or mothers looking after little ones — whatever is legitimate — so the word applies if they cannot go. But, if any could go, and would not — that makes a very great difference. God knows which. Whatever the spoil — and there is spoil where the people of God are moving on by the Spirit — whatever the spoil, you get your share; and the Scripture says the statute remains unto this day; whatever the date of the writing of the book, that statute was recognised by the Spirit of God; it remained; I hope it does with us!
Well, the next great principle is in 2 Samuel 1, and it is in keeping with this. What you will observe is that David is at Ziklag; that is to say, he is in the sphere where this statute was formulated, and he is going to add to it; he is building up a code of principles, involving a right spirit; a spirit cultivated by the epistle to the Romans, and other epistles, a spirit by which we overcome evil with good. That is the spirit. And so David was at Ziklag; and on the third day a messenger comes to him, thinking that he was bringing good news for him, that is to say, good news for the flesh. (The flesh is always at cross purposes with the Spirit, however amiable and philanthropic it may be.) David, the spiritual man, said to him, “Whence comest thou? And he said unto him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped. And David said to him, What has taken place? I pray thee, tell me” 2 Samuel 1:3,4. And then the messenger [p. 335] rehearsed the news of Saul and Jonathan being slain; as much as to say, It will be good news for you; your way now opens up to the throne! But what does David do? He “took hold of his garments and rent them; and all the men that were with him did likewise. And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until even for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of Jehovah, and for the house of Israel; because they were fallen by the sword”. It was a mournful day; it was not a day of exultation, it was a day of sorrow! We cannot afford to regard our brethren, however opposed, if they are lost to us, without sorrow.
Now that is what David sets up here. He sets an example. His enemy, bitter to the last degree, was slain, but David is above that; he is not thinking of the malice of Saul; he is thinking of God. How this bears him above the malice of the flesh! He recites his feelings, they were from his heart. Saul and Jonathan! he grieved for them. Saul was anointed with oil, and he could not but respect him; and so, beloved brethren, we must respect the Spirit by which our brethren have been anointed as with oil; whatever their attitude towards us, the grace of God enables us to regard whatever is of God in them. David wept, and he rent his garments.
Now you will see how all this is added to what we dwelt on in speaking of 1 Samuel 30; and thus we have what is a sure guard against resentment or jealousy. The believer in the light of David is superior to it; he has always the victory, he is always overcoming evil with good.
Now I wish to carry all this forward to chapter 6. David now becomes, not exactly a type of Christ, but a type of the believer. He sees the ark now; and the ark, as it were, supersedes him. It is a question of spiritual apprehension. The ark was in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom, and all his household; and [p. 336] David would share in this blessing. Wherever Christ is entertained, God’s blessing is sure to be. And although we may have these wonderful principles of which we have been speaking, they of themselves do not make up Zion. You cannot have Zion fully without Christ. So that now it is a question of bringing the ark into the city of David, that is to say, a position acquired by the mighty prowess of Christ. And “when they that bore the ark of Jehovah had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatted beast”, as if to say, I am coming near now to the most spiritual conception — Christ in Zion. He says in effect, ‘There must be no stumbling now’. It was true that the oxen had stumbled in the cart (it was a Philistine idea), but there must be no stumbling now. Stumbling is possible even with the most spiritual, as you see with David; but he had learned his lesson. It is now a question of carefulness. Of all the creatures of God, I suppose the steadiest tread is that of the ox. David, we are told, offered oxen and fatlings here. As we draw near to Christ with spiritual conception, surely it behoves us to tread carefully, to choose our steps, so that there may be no stumbling, no mis-steps taken.
After those who carried the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, David sacrificed. This alludes, I apprehend, to what goes beyond our ordinary exercises, the exercises of a man in his conscious weakness; this goes beyond that, and prepares for something else. In this instance, there must be much preparation if we are to enter into the apprehension of Christ in Zion. It is a wholly spiritual thought — “six”. I apprehend, would mean, “When I am weak, then I am powerful” 2 Corinthians 12:10. “Most gladly therefore will I rather boast in my weaknesses, that the power of the Christ may dwell upon me” 2 Corinthians 12:9. The power of Christ is the six paces, as I understand it. It is a question of power. We need power, as the apostle says, “For this reason I [p. 337] bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ... that he may give you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power by his Spirit in the inner man; that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts, being rooted and founded in love, in order that ye may be fully able to apprehend” Ephesians 3:14 - 18. We need strength for that. It is a question of spiritual ability to apprehend Christ. That Christ should dwell in your hearts by faith, is a marvellous proposition. So you see that after the six paces, David prepared for following on; he offers the oxen and the fatlings; and then he dances. He was exercised that there should be no slip; that every movement of his after the ark should be spiritual, should be governed by his intelligence. As the apostle says, “I will sing with the spirit, but I will sing also with the understanding” (1 Corinthians 14:15). And again, “I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray also with the understanding” 1 Corinthians 14:15. Every movement is right as controlled by spiritual motives and intelligence. And so David dances with all his might.
What comes out in this is the spirituality of the man, and how there is no reserve. When you are reserving anything from God you are in very bad company — in the company of Ananias and Sapphira. I do not say I am as bad as they were, but that is the company I am in, if I am reserving anything from God.
David dances with all his might, and, as an additional safeguard, he was girded with a linen ephod. The ephod is a priestly garment, par excellence. He was girded with a linen one; it denoted sobriety. Linen has the effect of reducing the heat, in contrast to wool. He says virtually, If I dance with all my might, I am not without sobriety. As Paul said, “I am not mad, most excellent Festus, but utter words of truth and soberness” Acts 26:25. He was not a bit affected by natural sentiment, as he wished that [p. 338] king Agrippa and all the rest should be as he was, except his bonds. So David danced with all his might, girded with a linen ephod.
One might say much about poor Michal, but that is not what I have before me. She despised David. You see nature is hopeless in these matters. Your nearest according to the flesh may become your greatest enemy when you are on spiritual lines.
Now I want just to finish with David’s administrative bounty; because these acts are cumulative. “They brought in the ark of Jehovah, and set it in its place, in the midst of the tent that David had spread for it. And David offered up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah”. The ark is now set in relation to the purpose of God; and David now deals out to all Israel, “both men and women”. Mark the individualising of the passage — to every person in Israel; and then, to both men and women! We can understand it spiritually; the Lord knows each of us by name. But here is a question of the bounty that marks the gates of Zion; he deals out to every man and woman in Israel “a cake of bread, and a measure of wine, and a raisin-cake”. Besides that, he blesses all the people; he is now again representative of God; a type of Christ. The present time is a dispensation of blessing, and if we are blessed, we are to be a blessing, so that instead of cursing we are blessing. That is “the gates of Zion”. God loves that. He loves it above all the habitations of Jacob.
Well, dear brethren, that is what is set out before us, and it is workable at the present time. God loves it now. He brings the idea down to one person; He “loves a cheerful giver” 2 Corinthians 9:7. But “the gates” is the collective thought; it is a question of what the saints are, collectively, with Christ in their hearts; Christ known in the assembly as Head of it, as enshrined in it, as blessing it; so that what He is shines out in [p. 339] our relations with one another, and with all men. The second letter to the Corinthians points it out in regard to material things. But I am not thinking of that just now, I am thinking of higher things; the wealth, the unsearchable riches of Christ, which are to be administered at the present time from the gates of Zion.
May God bless His word!