THE LORD DOMINANT AS SON
[p. 407] THE LORD DOMINANT AS SON
2 Samuel 12: 24, 25; 1 Chronicles 22: 11; 1 Chronicles 23: 1 - 6; 1 Chronicles 29: 22 - 25
I intended, dear brethren, to speak of the Lord’s sonship, believing that these scriptures are intended to develop the thought of His sonship, not in its abstract relations, but as applied and as becoming dominant: and I may remark that in reading these scriptures I bear in mind that Scripture is not intended to be merely historical. Commentators generally work out the Old Testament scriptures in historical settings, whereas their bearing is always present and moral; certain events are selected for certain purposes and are arranged by the Spirit of God with such skill as to produce a certain impression, which faith receives and which the Spirit uses for instruction and formation. So that instances such as I have read of omit much that curiosity would wish to know, and indeed which a historian would supply, whereas the Spirit is taken up with our souls in His writing; whatsoever was written was written for us, as we have so often remarked. In recording for us the birth and naming of Solomon, the Spirit intends to produce in our minds the thought of Christ as Son. We begin with Him properly in His Solomonic character in this verse in 2 Samuel; not that Solomon is not named before, he is; his birth is referred to earlier anticipatively, but here it has actually occurred. Moreover, the fight of Solomon as a son was presented to his father without naming him, at least so far as the record goes; and it produced an effect on king David which I would just touch on for a moment so that the same effect may be produced, in a general way, in our minds now.
He had in his heart to build a house for Jehovah,
[p. 408] and conveyed his mind to Nathan, a prophet and trusted friend. It drew out from Nathan sympathetic confirmation of David’s thought. But that night the word of Jehovah came to Nathan to remind him that he had been a little premature in his confirmation of David’s thought. Indeed, dear brethren, we always need to hold ourselves open for correction in this way, though it be but mild, gentle correction. It is always well, when we speak of great matters, to say in the language of the Lord Jesus, “What shall I say?”. That is what He said at a critical moment. Nathan did not say that; had he thought the matter over perhaps he would not have said anything to David, but reserved his judgment; but he said, “Do all that is in thy heart; for Jehovah is with thee”. He had to be corrected; and he immediately goes to David and tells him, in the word of Jehovah, that he is not to build the house. Light is thus introduced negatively: one thing is clear, David is not to build the house. But then we get positive light brought in in a beautiful and forceful way: ‘Thy seed’, Nathan says to David, ‘shall build the house’, without naming him, but the important thing at that moment was that he was to be Jehovah’s son, David’s seed indeed, but Jehovah’s son. Nowadays people tell us He was Jehovah’s son first and David’s seed afterwards. The two things go together in the truth; that is, sonship is concurrent with incarnation; Jehovah says, “I will be his father, and he shall be my son”. A flood of light is conveyed and received; this is an example for us as to how light is received and acted upon. David makes no complaint, no effort to change the mind of the Lord; he definitely allows the rightness of it, and goes inside the house, or whatever it was, and sits before Jehovah. He sat there as if he was at home there, the word might mean ‘tarried’ there, with his soul full of light as to the mind of God, which is, indeed, the only acceptable way in which to sit in the [p. 409] presence of God. We are not to be there in darkness and uncertainty, but in the light of His mind, and particularly His mind as to the sonship, the dominant sonship, of the Lord Jesus. And so David sits there and speaks beautifully to Jehovah, fully accepting the position.
Now that is the basis of all that follows in regard to Solomon. It may be extended backward to the eternal counsels of God, and forward to the present position of the Lord Jesus in heaven and in the house of God. However much David understood the light he received, as we see it now, it may be carried backward into the divine counsels before the world was, for He predestinated us unto sonship before the foundation of the world, through Jesus Christ to Himself; and it may be carried forward to the present moment, when Christ is exalted in heaven, and is over the house as having built it as Son. It was David’s throne, that is the great foundational idea; it is what is laid in my soul. God operates subsequently in His own way according to what is laid thus. So it was with Peter, the foundation was laid in his soul, the Father having revealed to him that the lowly Man he had been with here, Jesus of Nazareth, was the Christ, the Son of the living God; and that foundation awaited the superstructure, which has now come about; the Lord Jesus, that is the Son, says, ‘I will build it’.
Well, the birth of Solomon is presented first as actually present, but in a small way. We have to view the types thus, not only in their literality as referring to a babe born, but in connection with the place the Son may have in our souls. It may be very small, or it may be very great, as I hope to show in 1 Chronicles 29. The thought that God has in His mind is that it should be very great and dominate every one of our souls, and dominate the house of God, that is, in a practical way. And so as Solomon is born, David names him, using a word of great significance, ‘Solomon’ (meaning ‘peaceful’). It was certainly said reflectively by David, for he needed that his soul should be bathed in peace with God after the harrowing experience he had been through; but the suggestion applies today, in this very town. How the brethren have been lacerated by conflict, and need to have their souls bathed with peace, implied in the name ‘Solomon’; that is, in Christ. For the great word in Isaiah about Him is, “Unto us a child is born”, here, today, in this town; “unto us a son is given, ... his name is called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace”. It is called that now; how often we have proved it everyone who has had to do with Jesus in his service and walk here can verify that His name is Wonderful. He is Wonderful to most of us, I am sure. And then Counsellor: how we need counsel. The Lord is ready to give it even to poor Laodicea with its callous, careless worldliness, how much more to those who love Him and seek to keep His commandments, how ready to furnish all the counsel that is needed. Counsel is a most important matter, in the sense of advice from Him who can give it with certainty. Mighty God is another thought touched on in that chapter-all that is mighty is behind His counsel; in refusing His counsel we miss His might; as accepting His counsel His might is ready for us. The Father of Eternity — that is One who has long experience in fatherly care, the everlasting arms, it is not a mere name abstractly given, but it expresses a practical service: “I will be to you for a Father”, 2 Corinthians 6: 18. He takes on all that belongs to a Father, as we get throughout the gospels, the expressions ‘son’, ‘child’, ‘daughter’; He takes on all the cares of His people. And then finally, Prince of Peace; we may well be peaceful in the acceptance of such a blaze of glory. David begins with ‘Solomon’, and it was, no doubt, balm for his soul at that time.
[p. 411] He calls him Solomon; but that is not enough; and I mention it now, dear brethren, because peace coming into our souls has to be confirmed prophetically. It is one thing when a flash of light comes in and relieves us, and another thing to have that confirmed and amplified prophetically. So that we have a mission, the sending of Nathan. Jehovah loved the child, there could be no doubt about that, but “he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, for Jehovah’s sake”. We have to connect Jehovah with Jesus in the house as Son, Jehovah’s part in Him, not only our part, but His part. The name Jedidiah is not employed by the Spirit later, but it is an established thing now. Jehovah has His part in that little bit of light you have in your soul of Jesus as the Son of God. Jehovah loved him; He has even a claim on that. How balancing that is, dear brethren, in the house as here now, what Christ is to me, but what He is to God. God added to the name Solomon, Jedidiah, for He loved him. Well now, you can see what progress there is; we have a real Solomon now, not simply a promised one; and we have not come into the house really unless in a sense that things are realised. Christianity is not simply a question of promises; it is a realm of realities, of things that have come to pass and are made real to us by the power of the Spirit of God, for He is no less than a divine Person: God dwells here ‘in Spirit’. As He spoke “in Son”, as we are told in Hebrews 1, so He dwells here “in Spirit”: it is a divine Person in each case.
So in chapter 22 we have an increase in this thought. I do not think Solomon is actually mentioned between these periods, indicating that much has to be gone through before we come to the thought of manhood. He is young and tender yet, but in manhood. Now we have David handing over formally the commission to build the house. He says, ‘It is yours to do’.
[p. 412] David did not have the direction to do it. And that raises a point that may be worth mentioning in regard to these types in which David figures so much. We have first the great thought of Deity: God, God in His supremacy in the heavens; secondly we have the ark of the covenant, denoting the power of God here in mysteriousness, in outwardly humble circumstances, but it is the power of God in those circumstances. Then we have David, who is sometimes God in a representative sense, at other times he is just a believer, and at other times he represents royalty, a great thought which we are not to put far away from us; it belongs to us; and, fourthly, we have the Son; that is to say, Christ known in that relation. It is not so much power, although power is there, of course, for He is declared Son of God with power; but it is the dignity of Christ, and the affection and all that goes with the glorious title of Son which He has taken with God. These four things are to be kept in mind. I am speaking now to show you how He becomes dominant in these settings. So that the commission to build does not belong to David, but to the son, as if God would shut out all else in the building; for in truth, dear brethren, building is by love. It is enjoyed when we come to what sonship really is, that relationship in which love shines out most attractively. In John 17 we read that the Lord says to His Father, “I have made known to them thy name, and will make it known; that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them and I in them”. Now I want you to look at that verse; it is that kind of love, not simply covenant love but the love of the Father to the Son, that is to be in our hearts. That is what enters into the building. It is love that is eternal; it goes right through into eternity in the building. “And I in them”: we love Him with that kind of love, a great thought, one that I know little about myself, but I see it. That is the Lord’s final thought in that [p. 413] wonderful chapter, and you can see what it means; it goes right through.
Well then it says, “My son, Jehovah be with thee, that thou mayest prosper, and build the house of Jehovah thy God, as he has said of thee”, 1 Chronicles 22: 11. You see how perfectly David had the thing in his mind, shutting out all selfishness. If I allow any little bit of selfishness in my heart, I am dislocating things in relation to the house of God. David had the truth beautifully poised in his mind. And then in the next chapter it says that “David was old and full of days; and he made Solomon his son king over Israel”. Now all through this part I may further observe that the idea of the son is passive, not active, but waiting to be active. In other words, it is a question of whether we will allow it to become active; and gradually the way is made for Solomon to become active. David is, as it were, giving way; he would make him king while he was yet alive. Have I done that? In my relations in the house of God, have I set Him up instead of myself? That means entire self-abnegation in me. Not that David loses anything; he is still king. The Lord will not rob us of our dignity; greater dignity would be in keeping with Himself, for His dignity is infinite. The greater my dignity according to God’s mind, the greater place He has. He towers infinitely beyond the greatest dignity. The greater dignity I have the more ready I am to let others be dignified. The Lord as Priest is so great. He has passed through all the heavens; who can tower up there? No one. He has got His place; that is the point. As He gets His place in me He displaces me; He is to become greater and greater. That does not mean that I am getting any less; as a son I do not need to. And so David makes him king as he becomes old; that is to say, the son is on the throne, but not yet sitting; we do not get that until the end, when the son becomes active in his [p. 414] place and is predominant in it. Now you have peace and joy and love unhampered, and so David immediately gathers the princes and priests and Levites; for in these circumstances you must have the son for the service of God, it is not to be in the hands of mere officials now, it is the glorious blessed benign influence of the son pervading all. David is making room for it: that is the point. The instruction in all this is, am I making room for it? It is waiting, and ready to come in. I may effectively shut it out if I am allowing my own will or having myself before me. The first book of Chronicles shows how effectively this is brought in; and what a glorious time they had. I could say much about the ordering of the courses of the priests, and so forth. How wonderful it was that David carried all this out when he had become old and feeble; but it is a question of the power of God. If Solomon is even only partially dominant, you see, we have all this.
In the last chapter you find that Solomon is made king the second time, and they “anointed him to Jehovah to be prince”. Now they have a word that has a great place in the house of God. It is a question of the dominance of the Son, His authority as Son in the house. He has been waiting all the time. As David put him on the throne, how he would fill the people with admiration! Have we all made Him King the second time? It is your turn now. I may have been shutting Him out by the action of my will, cherishing some other object-now it is my turn to make Him King the second time. They anointed him to Jehovah to be prince; they put their hands on him as if to say, ‘Jehovah, You have loved Him all these years, now we put our hands on Him in relation to Thee as the Father’s delight’: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I have found my delight”. So they anoint him to Jehovah, and also Zadok the priest. The two thoughts run together, Zadok alluding to the [p. 415] kind of priesthood that has been proved in the sufferings of David, the kind of priesthood that will come out by and by, according to Ezekiel. It is the priesthood that attaches to the Son as anointed unto the Lord. Now what a time the brethren will have! And, dear brethren, it applies to the smallest gathering as it did to the thousands of Israel, or to Pentecost, and as it will apply when the Lord Jesus comes in as King and Priest. What a blessing He sheds upon us as we let Him have His place, give Him full sway as Son. It says Solomon sat on the throne; now you have him acting. He takes his place; He will take it as we afford it to Him. It was on the throne of Jehovah, no less than that, a great position. And, moreover, it is instead of David his father; he has the full place now. The point is that full place is to be made for the Son. And it says he prospered. David said he would prosper. That is the climax of the subject, royal majesty. The next book tells us what he did. How important it is that in our little way we should make way for Him; He is Son now. He says of Himself, The Son abides in the house for ever. He has built the house and He is Son over it, and our wisdom is to let Him have full sway, resigning our wills and purposes in regard to ourselves. What glorious times await us as we are submissive!