THE SERVICE OF SONG
[p. 311] THE SERVICE OF SONG
1 Chronicles 16:35, 36; Ephesians 3:20, 21
RSS It is striking that you get the same thought in both these passages. In the former in a way the climax of the Old Testament is reached — in Jerusalem, and in the latter of the New Testament — at Ephesus. 1 Chronicles 16 follows upon David’s bringing up the ark to Jerusalem (one of the greatest events in his life), and he hands to Asaph and his brethren a psalm to thank the Lord which closes thus, “And say, Save us, O God of our salvation, And gather us, and deliver us from the nations, To give thanks unto thy holy name, To triumph in thy praise. Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, from eternity and to eternity! And all the people said, Amen! and praised Jehovah”. Then Ephesians 3 closes with the words, “But to him that is able to do far exceeding above all which we ask or think, according to the power which works in us, to him be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages, Amen”.
GWH The last words of the psalm are, “from eternity and to eternity”.
RSS God evidently gets His place in both these scriptures, in connection with the service of praise.
JT It leads to an inquiry as to the setting in which we find praise, or what you might call temple service, in the Scriptures.
RSS Do you mean the conditions and surroundings?
JT Yes, in the Old Testament it would appear that up till the time of David, as far as Jehovah was concerned, wilderness conditions existed. He said to David that from the time they came out of Egypt he had walked with them in a tent and in a tabernacle. He had walked with them till that time.
RSS And David’s exercise was that he dwelt in a house of cedar, but the ark of God was in a tent.
JT Yes. For God, the circumstances that existed were wilderness circumstances. The staves of the ark were not drawn out until it was set in the temple; therefore there is very little as to God’s portion up till this time, corresponding, doubtless, to the history of our souls.
RSS And we were noticing too that there is very little said about singing until we come to this psalm. As we know, David was “the sweet psalmist of Israel”, 2 Samuel 23:1.
JT After they got out of Egypt there was a song; “Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song” (Exodus 15:1); but we may say there was very little that was subjective. Miriam’s singing, I suppose, represented the subjective side, but she died and it ceased.
RSS So it is rather interesting that in the very next chapter after the record of Miriam’s death, we read of another song. In Numbers 20 she dies, and in chapter 21 we have, “Spring up, O well”.
JT That refers to the Spirit. There is a new beginning; but as yet it is scarcely for God. It is “Sing ye unto it“
RSS What would that mean?
JT Simply recognition of the Spirit, I think. It was not yet what God sought. It does not go typically beyond what the Spirit is to us. In John 4, the worship of the Father is spoken of in addition to the living water.
RSS We may notice Deborah’s song, but I do not know if there is any other until we come to this.
JT There is no temple worship until we come to David. Psalm 90 may be noted, but evidently it was incorporated in the Book of Psalms by David or someone after him. There is no provision in the [p. 313] wilderness for a worship of song really, nothing is said as to the worship of song while Israel was there and one might say that that condition existed right up to the days of David. David, at the end of his days, gives utterance to what are called, “the last words of David”. He says, “David the son of Jesse saith, And the man who was raised up on high, The anointed of the God of Jacob, And the sweet psalmist of Israel saith”, 2 Samuel 23:1. It is the introduction of a discourse and the ground of it is, first of all, that he was the son of Jesse — of humble origin; then he is raised up on high, and anointed by God; that is what God had done for him, but what he is, is the “sweet psalmist of Israel”. God raised him up and anointed him, but he was not a mere overseer, he was the “sweet psalmist” himself, so that he speaks on that ground. His last words are on that ground, and I think it is in that connection that he is called a “man of God”, 2 Chronicles 8:14.
RSS It is very remarkable that a king should order the service of God; that this had been in God’s mind, and that he takes precedence of priest, prophet and all.
EJW In that connection, is it not rather significant that he is clothed with a linen ephod on this occasion? In the end of the previous chapter (1 Chronicles 15:27), we find David in priestly array.
JT He takes the place of head in Chronicles. The ark being the supreme interest of his heart seems to qualify him morally for all that follows here.
HG In regard to what David sets forth, and what the ark sets forth, what would answer to it? We have been speaking about praise and singing, consequent upon the ark finding its place. What would answer to what you get at the beginning of this chapter in a practical way as amongst ourselves?
RSS Before that good question of yours is [p. 314] answered, we might read a few verses at the end of chapter 15, verses 25 - 29, and the beginning of chapter 16, verses 1 - 9.
JT I think the ark here represents Christ in His own place. As He has that place God secures what He seeks. What we see in David really merges into the ark, so to say. As He has His place, we really reach what we might call temple worship.
HR Does the Supper at all suggest the recurring moral condition that is referred to here? I mean to say, the ark being established in the affections of the saints?
JT Well, I think the Supper is intended to maintain Christ in His place amongst His people. If He has not that place there may be a certain outgoing, a giving of thanks to God for what He has done, His benefits, but we come short of worship. We come short of that which God is really seeking from us.
GWW That word in Psalm 22:3 was to be fulfilled, “thou that dwellest amid the praises of Israel”. The ark must be in its place, and so with us, unless the ark is in its place in our souls there is not moral appreciation of it as the foundation of praise in the heart. Is that the idea?
JT Quite. No doubt the Lord alluded there to the well known position of the ark in the Mosaic system, or the David system — that is, the dwelling there amid the praises of Israel. But now that Christ has gone through death and has risen God dwells in the assembly, amid the praises of the assembly. There is a transference — at least the citing of it in Hebrews would show it was the assembly that the Lord had first in His thoughts. There is a transference from the praises of Israel to the praises of the assembly. Hence, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee”, Psalm 22:22. There they are [p. 315] now secured.
RSS Do you think that in Psalm 22 the expression “assembly” is exactly the church?
JT I am referring to the quotation in Hebrews. It is the word “assembly”.
RSS Yes, there it would be, and refers to the church. It is putting an interpretation on the word. It says “congregation” in the Psalm.
AFM Do we not find what you have been speaking of in Ephesians 3:17? “That the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts”. Is not that a parallel with what you have been speaking of? He is in the hearts of the saints.
JT Yes, so in verse 35 we read, “Save us, O God of our salvation, And gather us, and deliver us from the nations, To give thanks unto thy holy name, To triumph in thy praise” The psalmist had the right thought — that they should be “gathered together”.
GWH You were speaking a moment ago about temple service. They had passed under the hand of David as Lord, and had been saved from their enemies, but now it is that they might praise God in His temple.
JT Yes, I think it brings into great evidence what David was. He was the sweet psalmist of Israel, and his psalms show what a great acquaintance he had with God, what a great knowledge of God he had, and, as knowing God, he knew what God sought; so that if you compare him and his psalms with John 4, you may see how God gets His place. The Lord explains to the woman that the Father sought worshippers, and how they should worship Him; so that one can understand how the Lord would set forth in pattern the divine worship. Hence, after the Supper they sang a hymn. He sings with them, and they would, in that way, get the idea. There was the pattern of what would be established for God in the power of [p. 316] the Spirit.
GAT I like the word “together” in the thirty-fifth verse. I think the Spirit of God has a good bit more for us in it than we appreciate really. The desire is here expressed that the people might be gathered together, and in the New Testament we are exhorted not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. Would you connect them?
JT Yes, it was a great feature of the assembly at the outset that, “all that believed were together”, Acts 2:44.
HG I am not quite clear in regard to the ark being brought up to Jerusalem and connecting that with Ephesians 3:14 - 15, where Paul bows his knees “to the Father [of our Lord Jesus Christ], of whom every family in [the] heavens and on earth is named”. Does Jerusalem contemplate the praise, so to speak, of the universe? It is a question of Christ being placed in the affections of the saints in that position so that what they accord to Him now in affection and praise the whole universe will give Him later; is that the idea?
JT I think so. Hence Ephesians, I think corresponds with Jerusalem.
RSS Viewed in what aspect?
JT Viewed as the centre on earth of light and government.
HG Because he speaks of the breadth and length, and depth and height, it seems as though the whole vast system of which Christ is Head and Centre is before his own soul; and besides it would be before the souls of the saints. It gives a wonderful expansion to one’s thoughts in regard to Christ.
GAT I would like to get hold of what the motive is that brings us together and causes the song.
JT I think it would help us to get clearly in view that whatever giving of thanks or praise there may be in the wilderness has to do with our side of things. It honours God and God accepts it, but in order to arrive at God’s side of things we must see that Christ first has His place. There is no doubt that He has it, that God has placed Him in heaven. There is no doubt about that with any of us, but the question is whether He has His place with us, and hence I think what our brother remarked is important, that the Supper secures this to us. It is at least intended to secure it that the Lord should have a place; that He should dwell in our hearts. In Colossians 1:27 it is, “Christ in you the hope of glory”: but Ephesians 3:17 is, “that the Christ may dwell, through faith, in your hearts”, which means that it is not only that you love Him, but He is in your heart in relation to God, and what God has in His mind. Hence it is by faith.
BTF Would you say true worship is only reached when the ark has reached its rest?
JT That is quite clear here. Christ must have His place.
WCR Jonathan loved David for what he did, but Ruth loved Naomi for what she was to her, what she was in herself. Thus often with us, we love Christ for what He has done for us, that is prominent in our minds and introduced often by us; but is your thought that we should have appreciation of Christ for what He is in Himself?
JT That is right; that suggests a great deal, because those who love like Jonathan love at a distance. There are those who (to use a telephonic expression), are “long distance” lovers and their fellowship is of the same character. It is long distance fellowship. That is, they are content at a distance both from Christ and from the saints, and they seem to be able to subsist at that distance. The remarkable thing about Joab’s house was that it was in the wilderness. With Jonathan, you have artillery (the more exact translation is “weapons”, which imply action at a distance). His communications [p. 318] with David before their final separation were in connection with this. Now I think those who love at a distance, are those who love Him because of what He has done for them. Jonathan was evidently one of those, whereas Ruth was not like that. With her it was, “Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God; where thou diest will I die, and there will I be buried”, etc., Ruth 1:16 - 17. Nearness, and only nearness, could satisfy the heart of Ruth.
LTF The leper that returned would express it. The nine went their way, but he returned to “give glory to God”, Luke 17:18.
WCR Ruth said, “Do not intreat me to leave thee”, Ruth 1:16.
HG Later she lies at the feet of Boaz on the threshing floor; she took a lowly place, but she would be near him.
JT It becomes an important question as to fellowship, and why we are in fellowship, as to whether it is the fruit of the Spirit’s activities, because coming into fellowship means you want to be near Christ as among His people; you must be where He is. If it is not so, you may have love, but it is such as to be content at a distance. The worship of God is never reached by those who love in this way.
GAT What would you say is the cause of the long distance, also what is the cure?
JT Well, in Jonathan’s case he evidently never judged the evil of his father’s house, he never judged his associations. He knew David was injured and loved him. Like many a person in the so-called “systems” they would not allow a word said against Christ, but then they associate with those who do not love Christ. Jonathan associated with those that did not love David, although he loved him.
AFM Were not natural comforts his last snare? When he left David the first time, he goes to the [p. 319] city, 1 Samuel 20:42. When he came again to David, to strengthen his hand in God, and proposes a place with David next to him in the kingdom, he leaves David in the wood and returns to the comforts of his house (1 Samuel 23:16 - 18), while the mighty men stayed with David and shared the discomfort.
Rem But Jonathan died on mount Gilboa with Saul.
GWW There were those who went down to David and said: “Thine [are we], David, And with thee, thou son of Jesse: Peace, peace be to thee! And peace be to thy helpers! For thy God helps thee”, 1 Chronicles 12:18. David received them. They came into fellowship!
JT And Ittai is another beautiful example of one who would be with the object of his affections. “Thou didst come yesterday” (2 Samuel 15:20) said David. He was a recent convert, so to speak, and David gave him the opportunity of remaining in the city, and in that way avoiding the discomforts of rejection but no, he would be with David. Ittai answered: “[As] Jehovah liveth, and [as] my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be”, 2 Samuel 15:21.
RSS Jonathan’s was a downward course. If he could not have brooked being away from David, everything would have been right. The difficulty is we are satisfied with being at a certain distance, and I suppose that the Lord measures that distance with every one of us. We are all at a certain nearness — I will put it that way — but some of us are at a good deal more of a distance than others, and it comes out in many ways. It comes out in prayer. When a brother gets up to pray I think you necessarily gauge in your soul how near that man is to the Lord, not what is expressed. The simplicity of it very often is the result of nearness to [p. 320] the Lord.
JT So the end of chapter 15 shows typically the affection for Christ that marks those in the assembly, I think. It says of David that he was “clothed with a robe of byssus”, and “all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah with shouting, and with sound of the trumpet”, etc., 1 Chronicles 15:27 - 28. And David danced and played. We see here, in type, those who are truly lovers of Christ, and delight to see Him in His place. Now there is one there who is despising, that is Michal. It says, “Michal the daughter of Saul looked through a window, and saw king David dancing and playing; and she despised him in her heart”, 1 Chronicles 15:29. It is sad to be a distant lover, but it is a terrible thing to be a despiser of a lover of Christ — to despise such an one as that!
RSS I think the great secret often of our getting on is appreciating those that do love Christ. Our brother, Mr. Raven, used to encourage us to keep the company of spiritual men. This is the very opposite of it. That is the way we surely get on, and I think you can gauge a person in this way very well. Another way of gauging people is to find out if they appreciate the thing that is good, the thing that is right, and the thing that is spiritual. Though you may not be spiritual yourself, if you appreciate those that are, that is one way of getting spiritual.
JT Yes, here is one who is closely related to David, and yet she despises him for his interest in the ark.
GWW The despising spirit did not just come into the house at that moment, but the bringing of the ark discovered it. It was there, and the moment the ark got its place the terrible spirit that was there came into view.
JT It is a very searching thing because it is when an excess of spiritual energy appears, latent opposition is brought [p. 321] into evidence.
EJW It reminds one of what you get in John 12. Mary anoints the Lord and the house is filled with the odour of the ointment, and that brings out an element that does not appreciate it at all, but rather the contrary. Judas comes out and exposes himself by his attitude toward it. It would seem to correspond very much with Michal here, and is that which no doubt we must expect ourselves.
RSS “Why was this” waste?
GWW But every fresh appreciation that we get of Christ will bring light into our souls, which enables us to meet opposition of this kind, and deal with it as David dealt with it. ‘Very well’, he said in effect, ‘that spirit shall be unproductive’. He condemned that spirit to unproductivity. He said in principle, ‘There shall be no repetition of that’. That spirit shows itself when there is a fresh appreciation of Christ in the heart, and it has to be relentlessly put on one side.
JT She is a despiser. “Behold ye despisers”, Acts 13:41. It is an element that often arises where you get excessive spiritual energy. It has been there all the time, but until a certain spiritual movement takes place it is not discernible.
BTF Was it because David had resigned for the moment his kingly position that she despised him?
JT He had taken the place of a priest really; he was clothed with a linen ephod. He took a humble, yet appropriate place in the presence of the ark.
HG On one occasion Michal saved his life.
JT Yes; there, no doubt, she was governed by natural affection. There may be a natural regard and respect for a servant — perhaps on account of acquired fame even among the Lord’s people, but when it becomes a question of [p. 322] wholehearted devotedness to Christ and delight in Christ, this nature cannot endure.
LTF Was that expressed in his dancing?
JT That is what it says here, When she “saw king David dancing and playing”, 1 Chronicles 15:29. She saw him do it. But the window was between her and him. She was not identified with the scene of Christ’s glory.
LTF There was excess of spiritual energy before her.
JT It is put in that way. She was not at the meeting, so to speak. She looked out of the window.
AFM Would you connect this with Luke 15, the “elder son”?
JT Yes. He “would not go in” (Luke 15:28), she would not go out, we may say. Neither would have part with those who appreciate Christ.
GAT Speaking about the ark like this, have you in your mind that it is a type of Christ amongst His people now?
JT It is. That is the point, I think, in Ephesians 3, but it is so important to see the qualification of David — how he qualified to become head; and here his headship is not exactly to order the kingdom, but to order the service of Jehovah.
GWH Are we not slower in apprehending His service as Head than as Lord?
JT Very much slower, because headship, whilst it is an immense gain to us, has in view the accomplishment of what God has in His mind. God has certain things in His mind to be accomplished. The woman of Samaria said, “I perceive that thou art a prophet”, and, “I know that Messias is coming, who is called Christ; when he comes he will tell us all things”, John 4:25. She had that much light. But it is not only that He tells us all things, He accomplishes all things. Hence the importance of being available to Him. So you find in the chapters that follow this, things are all available to David. The Levites, thirty-eight [p. 323] thousand of them, are all available, 1 Chronicles 23:3. Christ is now in His place, and so the service of God is established.
DR Would that answer to Zechariah 6, the priest sitting on the throne, ordering everything in the priestly service?
JT Here it is more a king in a priest’s position; there a priest in a king’s position; in a way, priesthood is greater than kingship. But there is a connection in the passages. In Zechariah he builds the temple of the Lord.
WB-t I was thinking David had gone through great exercise. He had been afraid to bring up the ark according to the thirteenth chapter; and then the house of Obed-edom is blessed. Subsequently David brings up the ark. Would you say a little on that?
JT Well, he lost considerably in not taking the ark up at first, but then he was quick to discern his loss. He found out that the Lord blessed the house of Obed-edom, and he wanted his house and the whole kingdom blessed. Hence the wisdom of bringing up the ark.
WB-t I was thinking the house of Obed-edom was not great enough for the ark. He would bring it up to the place that had been prepared for it in the city of David.
BTF Is your thought that we do not reach Ephesians 3, until we come to the temple, and the ark in the temple?
JT No, we do not. That is what is in view in Ephesians 3.
WB There is a great difference in the spirit of David here. He was afraid of the ark before. It says they brought it up “with joy”. There is a good bit of that in the Psalms; there must be spiritual joy if there is to be any worship.
JT He learned his lesson, and this helped [p. 324] to qualify him as head. We must see that we are available to the Head. I want to be available to the Head, and what you find here chapter after chapter is how everything needed for the worship of God is available to David.
RSS You said a moment ago that we noticed here how David qualifies for headship. You did not follow that remark up.
JT I think his qualification is seen in the great appreciation he has of the ark. He had learned what was suitable to it. He is set for what is of God. The ark represented what was of God. That was his great desire from the outset of his life.
“We heard of it”, he says, “at Ephratah, we found it in the fields of the wood”, Psalm 132:6. And God was associated with it in his mind. “Arise, Jehovah, into thy rest, thou and the ark of thy strength”, Psalm 132:8. That was what was in his mind, and he is alluding to that here. He has reached his thought. The ark is in its place and now, “Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power”, Psalm 110:3. “All the people said, Amen!”. So everyone is available to David from this time onward.
RSS And what you mean by qualifying, was just expressed in the Psalm from which you quoted (Psalm 132), which, I suppose, referred to the time when he was tending his father’s sheep. And beginning with that point, he is now qualified. It had taken many years.
JT But we see he has reached it now. When he went first to bring the ark up he was not fit; he really was ignorant of what was becoming to Jehovah, you might say, but now, delighting himself in the ark, he delivers this psalm first, he makes his first great contribution — not here of gold, silver or iron, but of a psalm. That is a wonderful contribution. He delivers that first. It is his psalm. This was something greater than the gold, the silver and the [p. 325] iron that he provided with such liberality later on. This is the first great contribution to the new system.
Ques What do you mean, please, by being available to the Head, as applicable to us?
JT What is seen here is that authority (in the king) had been effective — it had brought about subjection. This the Lord effects in us by the Spirit. As we are thus subject to Christ, we are available to Him as Head.
AFM I am wondering how Asaph and his brethren were qualified to sing. The point of our meeting is to reach a climax of praise, as I understand it, and I would like to know how we are brought to that point. You were saying it is brought about by subjection to Christ.
JT It is. Chapter 25:4, gives the names of the sons of Heman, and verse 6, says, “All these were under the direction of their fathers Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman, for song in the house of Jehovah”, 1 Chronicles 25:6. That is a typical group of Levites. They were “under the hand of their fathers .. for song in the house of Jehovah”.
HG Your thought is, in connection with headship, that the great thing is to be sensitive to divine impulse; is that the idea?
JT Yes; one has no will of one’s own in the matter. One has no pet hymn nor tune. One has his psalm. That is the thing to have. If one has a psalm — has an experience — which is put into words, this reaches the ear of God. That is the idea. This first great contribution of David’s presents the idea to us.
WB-t It was his own composition.
DR Would that answer to what goes on in the assembly: “To offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ”?
JT That is it. Our brother alluded to Mary in John 12. She had the box of ointment. We do not know how long she had had it, but she had it,
[p. 326] and the Lord says of her in that passage, “Suffer her to have kept this for the day of my preparation for burial”, John 12:7. She had kept it.
WB-t What is your thought about keeping it?
JT It shows that one has a certain thing before one, as David had. Mary had a certain thing in her mind. She knew the Lord was going to die. She was intelligent, and she kept this box for that moment. John is the only one that says she kept it.
AFM She did not use it for Lazarus.
Ques Is a hymn for the benefit of the brethren, or for God?
JT For God, it should be a contribution for the occasion in a general way. It should express worship. It says here (verse 7), “Then on that day David delivered first this psalm”. It was his great contribution at the beginning.
BTF Is a psalm generally in connection with wilderness experience, and God’s goodness in that respect?
JT It may be the result of any experience with God. We must be sure that it is our experience with God. There is much experience that is not with God, which is not suitable for a psalm at all.
RSS One of the psalms illustrates that. The writer says, “This is my weakness”, Psalm 77:10. He was going through an experience not spiritual. I think we go through a great deal of experience and exercise of mind and heart not spiritual at all.
JT Our chapter (1 Chronicles 16) is a typical psalm. It says “David delivered first [this psalm] to give thanks to Jehovah through Asaph and his brethren. Give thanks unto Jehovah, call upon his name; Make known his acts among the peoples. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, Meditate upon all his wondrous works. Glory in his holy name: Let the heart of them rejoice that seek Jehovah. Seek Jehovah and his strength, Seek his face continually”;
[p. 327] etc. That is the idea of a psalm. He delivers it to Asaph and his brethren. We have to note the working out of headship in the service of God.
GWW Are you conveying the idea that his former experience in attempting to bring up the ark prepared his own soul for the production of this psalm?
JT No doubt; it was the outcome of his experience with God. He had learned God through experience. It is very interesting to compare David’s writings with Solomon’s writings. Solomon’s are largely the product of observation. I mean, he did not go through things so much, but he was a great observer, a great student, and the Spirit of God uses him to that extent. He spoke three thousand proverbs — wise sayings — founded largely on observation, and a thousand and five songs; whereas the Spirit does not give us more than one song, and perhaps one-tenth of his proverbs; but nearly all are founded on observation.
RSS He spoke of trees, from the cedar of Lebanon, to the hyssop, etc. Just as you say, it was from observation. That is a very interesting point.
JT With David it is different. Of course he was observant, but he went through things.
GWW About this time in David’s history, he built his house, we are told. May we take Psalm 30 as an example of the experience through which he had passed? It is titled, “A Psalm of David: dedication-song of the house”. At the end it says, “Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing; thou hast loosed my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; That [my] glory may sing psalms of thee, and not be silent. Jehovah my God, I will praise thee for ever”, Psalm 30:11 - 12. He had been in mourning and in sackcloth. His sack-cloth had been put off and his mourning had been [p. 328] turned into dancing and gladness. He gives expression in the psalm to the experience through which he had passed.
JT It makes the house Hiram built for him all the more suggestive. I mean the love that provided it.
MLH As head he delivers the psalm to Asaph and his brethren. Say a word about that.
JT I was going to show how headship works out; it is seen in David placing the psalm in proper hands (chapter 5:7), in the hands of the qualified musician. I apprehend that it is requisite that the music should be in accord with the psalm. I think you will find there is more in the way of inscription on headings in the earlier psalms than you find in the later ones. I think David was concerned that what was to be for God should reach Him through proper channels. Transferring that to Christianity, I think everything must pass through the hands of the Lord Jesus, whether it comes from God to us, or whether it goes from us to God; and as we go on with the Lord we recognise that, and we come to know what suits Him. These leaders in song here, Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun, acquired efficiency, no doubt, through acquaintance with David, and so should we by acquaintance with Christ. There is not a bit of good in what you say but what He takes account of and although nine-tenths may be unsuitable, the Lord takes account of the one-tenth and presents it to God, but it is a poor thing to have Him occupied in any way with what is unsuitable.
GWW In the burnt offering the crop and feathers of the birds were flung into the ashes.
JB You ascribe wisdom to Him. David was able to take account of the Levites and everything under his hand. He was wise enough to do so.
WCR Our brother alluded to the birds offered [p. 329] in the burnt offering. What was the thought that the birds were not divided?
JT They were so small. One’s contribution is so tiny there is not much in it to go around.
GWW But the tiny bit that was acceptable reached the altar, and what God could not find any pleasure in, the priest wrung off and flung into the ashes. That, I suppose, refers to the human side that gets mixed up with what we have to say about Christ. In that way it does not get through to God.
JT I think so; the will is in it. The head is “pinched off” It is not slain in the ordinary way. It shows that one’s own head is at work, I think.
Ques What about the crop?
GWW I suppose the undigested thoughts — an admixture of what is purely human. The whole thing is flung into the ashes.
JT What we are apt to be proud of naturally is cast into the ashes.
GAT Is that why we are told to examine ourselves and so let us eat?
JT Yes; there must be self-judgment — the disallowance of our wills. Now to go on to Ephesians. There is a beautiful connection between these verses we read and Ephesians 3. I have no doubt that Paul, in a way, is the sweet psalmist of Christianity. It is very beautiful to dwell on his doxologies in his various epistles, and this one in Ephesians is necessarily of the highest order. At the closing of each of the first four books of Psalms you will have observed a correspondence with verse 36 (1 Chronicles 16): “Blessed be Jehovah the God of Israel, from eternity and to eternity! And all the people said, Amen! and praised Jehovah”. In Psalm 106:48 it is, “Let all the people say”, whereas here it is “All the people said”. That is, they were all in accord with what [p. 330] was presented.
AFM The Psalm is prophetic, and so the desire is expressed that all should say, Amen. Say just a word as to the last six psalms. They begin with praise to the Lord and end with it.
JT One is struck with the stream of praise seen in the ending of the Psalms, how the divine thought is reached; the end is, “Let everything that hath breath praise Jah”, Psalm 150:6.
CWW Praise to Christ too, who is the Man of God’s purposes, is really seen there. He is supreme. The evil man has disappeared and God’s Man alone occupies the scene, and every breath breaks forth in praise.
EJW I was thinking of those closing psalms as giving us the proper character of a psalm as you were thinking of it — the divine thought of it as being an ascription of praise to God.
JT Yes. In the New Testament, in that psalms and hymns and spiritual songs are grouped together, you have suggested varied Christian experience. In this way others get the benefit of the experience that we have in the power of the Spirit. The result of all our experience, however, should be for God. It is a poor experience that does not issue in that way.
WHF A psalm would be individual, would it not? Giving out a hymn in the morning meeting ought to be the expression of the company, not only of the person who gives it out.
JT It is very nice to see that Romans 7 (which is a great experience, and that which most of us go through, more or less, if we are to be for God) issues thus: “I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord”. A fine ending of an experience!
DR Would that answer to Psalm 4: “In pressure thou hast enlarged me”?
JT Yes. I think your thought in Ephesians 3 is to show how God is the end of everything?
RSS Yes, and that everything flows out from our hearts to Him. “But to him that is able to do far exceeding above all which we ask or think, according to the power which works in us, to him be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages”. That is a wonderful ascription of praise. It is the outgoing of his heart in the light of all that has been unfolding.
JB Is that connected with verse 14: “I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”?
JT God is in view; “That ye may be filled”, it says, “even to all the fulness of God”. “And to him”, etc.
RSS That is, his prayer ends in an ascription of praise.
JT Yes, he bowed his knees, but it ends in this: “To him be glory in the assembly in Christ Jesus unto all generations of the age of ages”.
RSS At our morning meeting, perhaps it begins with a prayer, but it should end with the highest note.
JT On “my stringed instruments”. (Compare Habakkuk 3:19).
RSS I think it is most essential to bear that in mind.
EJW It is like the worshippers in Ezekiel’s temple; it was enjoined upon them that they were not to leave by the same gate they went in. They must go out by a different gate than the gate they went in at, Ezekiel 46:9.
GAT A number of years ago we used, as a rule, to pray for the gospel in the evening at the morning meeting. Would you think that would be bringing it down to a low note, or would it be a high note?
JT That would be going out by the same gate you came in!
WCR You cannot assume to close the meeting, can [p. 332] you?
JT No, you leave it. The assembly is the Lord’s. You do not close the door and put the key in your pocket. You leave that in His hands. Do you agree with that?
GWW Yes, I think we have to get a little more sense of what it is for Him to have His right place in the administration of things in the assembly. Samuel stood over the prophets, 1 Samuel 19:20. The Lord must get His right place in connection with His administration in the assembly; He is the Minister to take charge of the divine services.
RSS So you do not give out a hymn on your own impulse.
GWW It is an impropriety.
HG Mr. Stoney once asked a brother why he gave out a certain hymn. He said it was because he had it on his heart, and Mr. Stoney asked why he did not keep it there.
MLH Say a word about everyone having a psalm, etc.
JT That fits in with what has been said. You have it, but wait on a suitable opportunity. You do not give it out just because you have it.
MLH Where did you get it?
JT Through experience with the Lord. Mary, as we remarked a moment ago, kept the box. The Lord had been there before, but she did not use it. She evidently had it before but kept it for a special purpose — His burial.
WCR It will not spoil though you keep it.
HG There are two things you desire: to be intelligent and at the same time to hold yourself apart from lawlessness. In this way you are sensitive to divine impulse.
GWW That is practical.
WB-t As regards headship, I think the difficulty with us has been to see the two types of Christ operating at the same time. The ark is evidently [p. 333] the greater type, but you have the type of Christ in David also, as head.
JT The thought in the ark merges in David as head. You see, the ark represents all divine interests — it represents God really — but there is very little said of it in this book after this point, and this shows that the two types merge into one. From this chapter (1 Chronicles 16) onward, headship is prominent. As we give Christ His place, that is, the ark installed, we come into all the good of the wisdom that is in Him.
RSS In David as a type, is there not a transference from his position as king, in which he brings about subjection, as you were saying, so that when he orders things, it is not exactly as king — although, of course, it is the king that does it — but as head?
JT That is what I thought, and that is what we see in this book from this chapter onward.
RSS He orders things in the house of God more as head.
JT As head. It is hardly ever mentioned there that the Lord told him to do things. He does them himself. It is a question of the wisdom of David.
RSS Like Moses in Deuteronomy.
WHF In the assembly it is the Head that gives influence.