THE CHIEF MUSICIAN
THE CHIEF MUSICIAN
1 Chronicles 25:6 - 8; Revelation 22:16 - 18
I have in mind in reading these scriptures to point out that the end of our wonderful dispensation will be equal with its beginning, if not in quantity or extent, certainly in quality. We see the same thing in the end of the Old Testament. Certain features appeared which were particularly pleasing to God, of which He speaks more appreciatively perhaps than of any previous manifestation of His work, bringing in the suggestion of sonship. He says of certain ones who feared Him and who thought upon His name, and who spoke often one to another, that they should be His when He made up His jewels (that is, what is most precious, most valuable in His account); and He should spare them as a man spares his own son that serves him; Malachi 3:17. That was what was in His mind in calling Israel out of Egypt at the outset: “Let my son go that he may serve me”, Exodus 4:23. The end of that dispensation thus accorded with the beginning; and as the time of the Son whom He would call out of Egypt drew nigh, the remnant were putting on a character in agreement with His.
And so I have selected this well-known passage in Revelation because it introduces David. David, I need not say, stands for much in Scripture; but he stands for what is best, and most spiritual, and most refined in the Old Testament, and thus in him we are reminded of quality. In him was developed that which would bring out the deepest and most refined spiritual feelings, whether of sorrow or of joy. He represents the great subject of music in the Old Testament which spiritually is calculated to appeal [p. 193] to the deepest and most refined spiritual feelings of saints. It is therefore an important element in the Scriptures; whatever it may be in a literal sense, it undoubtedly is intended in the Scriptures to convey to us that which appeals to our deepest spiritual feelings, and these are intended to be for God. I need not say I am making no reference whatever to those natural feelings that are produced by the music of this world; I am speaking entirely of what is legitimate, what is of the Spirit, and what God seeks from us.
So we are at once introduced to this subject in the history of David. The first commendation of him after he is anointed is that he was a musician; he could play well. I apprehend, therefore, that this is in view in the Lord’s presentation of Himself to us in these last days. He says, “I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star”. The assembly would understand as in the company of the Spirit — for that is the viewpoint — what these references imply; the root referring to Him as the divine source of all that is best and most delightful to God, and then the offspring — that worked out in our Lord as Man in the most extraordinary variety of circumstances, particularly in suffering. The first refers to the gospel of John, with which the Holy Spirit would make us familiar, so as to fortify us against all attacks on the Lord’s Person; the second refers to the gospel of Matthew.
An understanding of these two gospels would enable us to enter into the force of the Lord’s announcement here: “I am the root and offspring of David”.
In the gospel of John we are in the presence of the Person of Christ; it is a question of His Person, that He is the root of all that is of God — the root of David. The Holy Spirit would detain us there, so that we should have a due estimate of Christ, hence His [p. 194] challenge in chapter 9 to one who was cast out. When Jesus heard that they had cast him out He says, “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?” He answered and said, “Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?” “Thou hast both seen him”, the Lord says, “and he it is that talketh with thee”. John 9:35 - 37. The Person had come down and was there talking with him. “And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him”. John 9:38. That is the idea conveyed in the root of David. The offspring brings out that of which He is the root; all that is of God, but particularly what is best and deepest in the way of spiritual feelings and affections.
I hope to come back to this presently, but meantime, I wish to point out certain features in the ministry of David which I believe must be understood if these holy feelings, which go to make up that which God values most highly, are to appear in the people of God at the end. Of light, I need not say, we are not wanting, thank God! but light is not feeling, nor is it affection. David sets the way for us in both these respects. We see in him depth of feeling in suffering, corresponding with what is briefly touched on in the New Testament, for we must go to the Old for the detail; but we have touches in the antitype, as in our Lord saying, “Now is my soul troubled”. John 12:27. Think of the depths of feeling as He contemplated the cross! He says, “What shall I say? ... Father, glorify thy name”. John 12:28. God values those statements. How much there was for the Father in those expressions! what depth of feeling in trouble in His beloved Son, who can say? In the midst of it He challenges Himself, as it were: “What shall I say?” — a suggestion to be noted in having to say to God in our feelings. He immediately says, “Glorify thy name”, and the answer from heaven was, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again”. John 12:28. But how much entered into the glorification of that name in the way of sorrow,
[p. 195] in the way of feeling in our Lord Jesus Christ! And again, He says, as the thought of our place in heaven comes before Him, His servants engaging Him with their service and its success, “In this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” and then He “rejoiced in spirit”. Luke 10:20,21. In thinking of the companionship in heaven, according to the dignity conferred upon us, our names being written there, He rejoiced in spirit, and thanks the Father that He had hid these things from the wise and prudent and had revealed them to babes; it was pleasing in the Father’s sight. You see thus how experience was being made in our Lord’s wondrous history. The heart is touched as one dwells on Him “who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death”, Hebrews 5:7. Think of the Lord of glory in that condition and attitude, and compare the shallowness of our feelings! And then we are told He was “heard because of his piety” — manhood in its perfection on earth in the place of suffering.
We thus see how the Old Testament opens this up, expands it for us, enlarges upon it, and we find, as I said, this feature of music and song in David, who says of himself, “David, the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel”, 2 Samuel 23:1. These last words of David convey to us what his ministry was in this respect; and a most remarkable thing appears in him, the combination of military with the musical features. They must go together. If we are to reach the blend that God seeks in these last days, that refinement of feeling and affection which a bride suggests, as in the passage I read, we must understand the combination of the military and the musical features in David.
[p. 196] And now what I would touch on briefly is the reference to garrisons in David’s military undertakings. It will be recalled that he essayed to build a house. God accredits him with the motive, but reminds him that that was not within his province; that the builder of the house must be appointed by Him, and that he must be a son, and not only a son, but he must be God’s Son. David humbly submits, and enters into the sanctuary of the Lord and sits down there before the Lord; 2 Samuel 7:18. This is a very fine example, especially after correction, to enter into the house of Jehovah and to tarry there! You gather up impressions there as to what is in the mind of God, not only of what He says, but the whole atmosphere breathed in conveys impressions of the divine mind. As there, David says nothing about his building the house; he was now adjusted in this respect.
After this, the scripture says, he subdues the Philistines (chapter 8); you see the relation of the house with the military service. You cannot have the house with the Philistines, for they stand in the way; they stand right athwart every divine operation, in so far as they may. And so we have a history of subjugations, of the most extraordinary military prowess in David, for that was his business, not building the house. At times he fulfilled it with remorseless severity, but he cleared the ground, and then we are told that he garrisoned Syria of Damascus, and Edom; 1 Chronicles 18:6,13. These represent particularly dangerous elements, in which, although outwardly they may be subject, yet inwardly there is hereditary opposition to what is spiritual. Both Syria of Damascus and Edom refer, I repeat, to certain hereditary elements that are most dangerous, which although outwardly subdued, can be held in check only by a garrison. We can hope to be kept from these elements only by a garrison, that is to say, by a permanent [p. 197] military check, as it were, which is seen here as a garrison. David did that, and it was necessary.
And then, right through to the end of his career, we find attention to this particular service. I am not referring to certain failures; the point was clearing the ground, and the ground was cleared of the enemies referred to in an earlier chapter, and after doing so, he devoted himself to the service of the house. It is the end of the period. We are told in an earlier chapter (1 Chronicles 23:1) that he was old and feeble, and that he appointed Solomon to be king; that is to say, you have the merging, in the most skilful and unselfish manner, on the part of this great servant of God, of all the experience which he had with the new order of things which was about to be inaugurated in the person of his son. His son was young and tender. Applying this to our dispensation, which is typified by David and his regime, it is not to die out in old age; that thought must be banished. It is the merging of all that experience may have acquired with that which is fresh and young and energetic. That is how the dispensation will end.
And so you find in this chapter that “David and the captains of the host separated for the service those of the sons of Asaph and of Heman and of Jeduthun who were to prophesy with harps, and lutes, and cymbals”. Thus the military are now engaged in the provision whereby the best feelings of Israel are to be secured for God. As a time of peace prevailed they were concerned that God should have His portion and that it should be of the very best. We shall be tested, I believe, in respect of what I am saying, because there is so much lightness and shallowness with us, but God is demanding the very best, and He is affording the facilities whereby that is to be secured. Of military activity, there has been much, and there will be. We need not hope for any lessening of the pressure; we have a wily foe to contend with, and as [p. 198] the days of the end draw near we may be sure of increasing effort. So you find the military captains of the host with David are concerned here about the number of the levites, for in David’s regime everything is brought into order as things are handed over to Solomon. The wisdom and experience in David merge in the new order of things; that is to say, there is to be freshness, the vigour and energy of youth, and so “the Levites were numbered ... and their number ... man by man, was thirty and eight thousand”, 1 Chronicles 23:3. That is an appeal to maturity, and development in the brethren, and each has his own value.
Then as to their work they are divided up, so many to preside over the work of the house of Jehovah, so many for the service of song, and so many to be doorkeepers; 1 Chronicles 23:4,5. “Of these, twenty-four thousand were to preside over the work of the house of Jehovah; and six thousand were officers and judges; and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised Jehovah with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith”. You will notice how the levites, that is to say, the saints viewed as servants, are engaged in bearing the burden of things; and this applies to every one of us, brothers and sisters alike, and it is worthy of note that the number of musicians was equal to the number of doorkeepers. I apprehend the allusion is to the exclusion now of all mere religious sentiment and feeling in the service of God. “The doors were shut ... for fear of the Jews”, John 20:19. There is much of that kind of thing — natural feelings, sentiment — mingling with the Spirit, which is obnoxious, and the doorkeepers would shut it out. And you will see, moreover, throughout these chapters, the constant reference to the number twenty-four as well as to twelve, that is to say, David typically is dealing with the people of God as related to the testimony, and [p. 199] as possessed of the divine nature, for whatever be the service, we can never hope to be under the Lord’s hand, under His direction, save as we understand these numerals. They have reference, essentially, to the divine nature in us. I stand in relation to the brethren in love, and I am only thinking of the Lord and His testimony. What He may do in His infinitely wise manipulation is His matter; it is mine to be subject, and to fall into line, and to see that every part of the kingdom, every department, is governed by that principle. How can we hope to get through unless there be the principle of affection, unless we take our places in relation to one another as in the Lord’s hands for service? The hand of a man is intended to manipulate, and so it is that these were in the hand of David and in the hand of the officers appointed by him for the service of God. We are to be at the disposal of the Lord, for His infinitely wise manipulation, in order that the service should go on and that God should have the best, and that the saints, should have the best there is for them.
Now that is how the matter stands, and so in chapter 25 the military are brought into it — “the captains of the host”, showing that although in the field and exposed to the rigours of war, they have not lost the sense of what was due to God in His house; for the warriors and the levites are the same people in the antitype. And what I would say to young brothers and young sisters is this, “Thou therefore, my child ... take thy share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” 2 Timothy 2:1 - 3; it does not say ‘in fighting’; no, the point is suffering in warfare; take thy share in it. It is intended to give tone and lustre to us, not hardness, nor callous hearts which often mark soldiers, but tenderness and patience. “What sufferings happened to me in Antioch, in Iconium, in Lystra”, 2 Timothy 3:11 said the great soldier and leader in conflict.
It is a “good soldier” 2 Timothy 2:3 who is to look after the house, and things of the house, and the vessels of the house. Let God have the best there is; that is the great end in ministry; it is for God, hence you find these three men, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, and their children. We are brought down now to two hundred and eighty-eight persons, because it is a question of refinement in music. That is a number that may be manipulated numerically — twice one hundred and forty-four, it is double twelve times twelve. I am not dealing with mathematics, I am dealing with what is spiritual, with what the Holy Spirit presents to us, and what we are working up to. The greatest expression of it, the most concrete expression of it, is in the heavenly city — a perfect cube governed by this numeral. What can it be but divine love operating so that every member is under Christ, available under His hand? That is what it is; it is the simple working out of love amongst us, hence you get the names of the heads of families, the names of the sons of these musicians. And then they are all under the direction of their fathers for song; that is to say, there must be the principle of rule. We need not be afraid of the young brethren. It is a question of moral weight in the elders that is the solution of it. The young, of course, have to judge themselves, have to bind on humility, and be subject to the elders; but then the solution of difficulties that often arise between the elder and the younger lies in moral weight and power in the elder. Every one of these sons was under his father. One man is said to have fourteen sons and three daughters (verse 5) — a large family! It is brought in here just to emphasise the family element and the moral weight in the parent, in the father.
And now you find there are two hundred and eighty-eight of them, perfectly divisible so as to be manipulated by the Lord, and it says “they cast lots, ward against ward, as well the small as the great, the teacher as the scholar”.
[p. 201] There is perfect order in the passage. The fathers of these families have the moral weight. But now we come to what belongs to God, the actual exercise of song, of music and of musical instruments, that is, that all that is best in the people of God should be brought out for God. They cast lots, and in casting lots in Scripture we are in the presence of divine sovereignty. It is what God determines now; it is not a question of my age, or my learning, but the teacher and the scholar, the small and the great. The lots are cast, and the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord; Proverbs 16:33. He knows what is going on beneath in everyone of us, and He brings that to light. But all are perfectly divisible, and in perfect unity; they are in sets of twelve, as you will notice. Thus we see what we have got in the assembly of God, and that, as I understand, leads up to the end, that is to say, to the bride. “The Spirit and the bride say, Come”.
Thus this mutual state of things makes room for the sovereign action of God by His Spirit, so that all that is best comes to light and is available. What a blend, therefore! And so when the Lord says, “I am the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star”, the immediate answer is, “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come”. What is the bride but the answer to the very best in Christ in feelings and affections? The Holy Spirit has brought her thus (what toil, what service!), but He has brought her: “the Spirit and the bride say, Come”; she speaks as well as the Spirit; and she speaks in answer to this presentation of Christ, which suggests all that is best and finest for God. That is what Christ is; He is the embodiment of all that is of God; and when you come to the assembly as of Him, it is all that is best and most refined spiritually. Think of what the Spirit has had to deal with in us, what rough, coarse [p. 202] things He has had to subdue in us! Think, too, of what the saints have had to encounter, what treatment at the hands of this world! And now look at all the glorious perfection of Christ, at all that is best in Him — the root and offspring of David. It is not development in Him, beloved, for He is the root of it, and all that He was in manhood morally He brought into it. He is a divine Person, but it was set forth in Him as Man here; I mean to say, He was in manhood all that of which He was the root; it was set out in Him so as to be attractive; He entered into every possible circumstance of suffering in working it out as the offspring of David. And now it is there in Him in glory for us. Does it not appeal to us? It appeals to the Spirit and the bride, so that, as I said at the outset, you have the very best at the end; it corresponds with what was at the beginning. The assembly values with the Spirit what is presented in Christ as He announces Himself as “the bright morning star”.
May God lay it upon us to think more deeply, to dig more deeply, and to discern the superficiality there is; not that one blames others more than oneself, because it is the actual state of things. The Lord would work to bring about depth of feeling, whether it be of sorrow or of joy, feelings according to God. God accepts this; and the music is to bring all that out, so that God should have His part.