(4) THE SURE MERCIES OF DAVID
([p. 101] 4) THE SURE MERCIES OF DAVID
2 Samuel 23: 1 - 7; Acts 17: 31; Hebrews 1: 7 - 9
The last words of a great man are generally of moment. He cannot have much before him in connection with this world; and is in measure free from being swayed and prejudiced by motives connected with worldly advantage. When a man comes towards the close of his life, he reviews his pathway, and you can therefore attach importance to his last words. Here we get the last words of a very distinguished man. He was raised up of God; God took him from the sheepfold and raised him up on high, set him in a distinguished place in the political firmament. God had a garden here upon earth, which consisted of a number of nations, in the midst of which God ruled. Israel was by far the most distinguished nation, and David the most distinguished man. He was the anointed of God, and ruled by divine right. Then he was the sweet psalmist of Israel; and Scripture gives us his last words. I think that we may fairly attach importance to them; they are pregnant with meaning, and well worthy of consideration. The interesting part is that, while he has to admit the failure of his own house, “Although my house be not so with God”, yet his refuge was in the fidelity of God. This is a great thing for us; most of us would be prepared to admit that our houses are not perfect with God; we could not find unalloyed satisfaction in our houses; still, there is a refuge for those who are in the fear of God; we can count on His fidelity: “He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure”.
[p. 102] I point out one thing in regard to David. In the historical books of Scripture David is the central point. The ordinary links of the people with God had previously broken down. The priesthood had failed; Eli had died; the ark had been taken by the Philistines. Then it is that David is raised up of God. He was “the beloved”; that is the meaning of his name; he formed a fresh link of the people with God on the ground of sovereign mercy. That is excessively important. The kingdom properly comes in with David; Saul was set aside from the outset. The kingdom really means the intervention of God in the rights of mercy. I do not think people sufficiently connect the idea of mercy with the kingdom; but that is what the kingdom is to us, and its purposes and intention is the bringing of man under the moral sway of God. Nothing else than mercy would do this. If man is to be brought under the moral sway of God, it must be through the expression of God’s rights in mercy. There could be no kingdom of God except in mercy, and so it must be based on redemption. Men are all under death, under the curse of God; and unless redemption had come in for a foundation, there could be no kingdom of God at all. You will see how that comes out in connection with Christ.
I say one thing in regard to David: he was the expression of the mercy of God. He was raised up in a very special way. At the beginning of his history in connection with the people he adventured himself against the giant Goliath, and killed him. It was the intervention of God in mercy on behalf of His people. But there is another very important point connected with David; he was raised up of God to bring the ark to Mount Zion. God would not allow the ark to remain among the Philistines; He smote them in the hinder parts and put them to a perpetual shame; and David brought the ark to [p. 103] Zion. Zion was the place where God saw fit to dwell. They celebrated the establishment of the ark with the song, “His mercy endureth for ever”. I think all ought to be able to see that the kingdom was the expression of God’s rights of mercy in regard to the people. God retired into His rights and raised up the kingdom in David, to bring the people under the moral sway of God thus made known. Nothing very much was effected in that day; yet the kingdom went on for many years.
Another thing marked David; he appreciated the mercy of which he was the expression. That he was the expression of God’s mercy there can be no doubt, he came in when there was no help for the people except in the mercy of God; but in the history of David it is evident that he appreciated the mercy of which he was the expression. I refer to these things because they make it evident that David looked on, and the kingdom looked on, to One who was much greater than David. The ways of God did not terminate with David; and the promise to David, to which God pledged Himself, was that of his seed He would raise up One to sit upon his throne. You have to read Psalm 89 to get the idea of the sure mercies of David. The sure mercies of David have pledged God to the restoration of Israel in the world to come. You will find that the prophets go on the ground of the sure mercies of David.
The utterance that we get here on the part of David is evidently prophetic; he was just about to pass away, and he reviewed his course. I have heard it said that when a man is drowning, in a moment all his life passes before his view. So it was with David, and the effect of it was that David could not find satisfaction in himself or in his house. David speaks here prophetically, by the Spirit of Jehovah, of the ruler among men. In a [p. 104] certain sense David himself had been a ruler among men; but he had not fulfilled what was spoken of here. “He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God”. As a matter of fact, David on more than one occasion proved himself lawless. David was really a man of faith and beloved of God; but when he came to the zenith of his power he proved that there was lawlessness with him. David was brighter in the day of adversity than in the day of prosperity. In adversity he shines, in prosperity he fails. Now he that rules among men must be just, or righteous, ruling in the fear of God. He should be as the light of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds. One cannot doubt for a moment that this points to the Sun of righteousness. What do you think will bring in the morning without clouds? I think the Sun will do it. In the physical world we see the beneficent effect of sunshine on the earth after rain. This scripture looks on to the time when the Sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in His wings. Before that the earth will come under very pernicious influences morally; there will be the combination here of all the influences of evil; then the Sun of righteousness will rise and disperse all.
The moment the Lord Jesus came into this world He presented the kingdom of God, for He presented the rights of God in mercy. The law of God was in His heart, but He presented the rights of mercy, that men might be brought under the moral sway of God. You remember Mary Magdalene; the Lord cast seven devils out of her in the rights of mercy. She had no particular claim on God for that, but the Lord exercised the rights of mercy, with the effect that she was brought into the kingdom, the moral sway of God. So with the woman in the synagogue who had been bound eighteen years; the Lord released her; He exercised the rights of [p. 105] mercy, and the woman was brought under the moral sway of God. In the case of the ten lepers: they were all cleansed, but nine of them never came into the kingdom; still God secured His tithe; the tenth came back and glorified God, he was subdued by the mercy of God. You must remember that the kingdom is God’s assertion of Himself in the rights of mercy.
Now I say farther in regard to that, Christ appreciated the mercy which He expressed. He delighted in mercy, and in the exercise of it. The Lord never conferred any benefit grudgingly. He Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. It has been said by a very intelligent servant of God that Christ bore in His spirit what He took away by His power; and if He felt the ills under which men suffered, do you not think that He appreciated God’s mercy towards man? I am sure everybody would be prepared to allow that.
When we pass on we find that, in the mercy of God, the Lord laid the foundations of the kingdom in redemption. The mercy of God must rest on redemption, because man lay under liabilities to God, and they, of necessity, had to be met. Redemption came in; Christ by the grace of God tasted death for everything. Now God has appointed a day in the which He will judge, not only Israel, but the world, in righteousness. The ruler among men must be righteous. God is going to govern the world in righteousness, in the rights of mercy; and He has given assurance of it in the resurrection of the Man whom He has appointed. This is a wonderful thought to my mind; it shows me that God will establish the kingdom on the basis of resurrection, so that man may have a footing there. If the kingdom were established on the old ground of nature, death would be there, and the curse. God has been pleased to establish the kingdom on [p. 106] the basis of resurrection, through redemption, in order that man may have a place there, and so He has given assurance of the kingdom to all men, in that He has raised Jesus from the dead.
We have come now to the truth of things, the Sun of righteousness and the kingdom. As to the character of it, I quote a verse in Hebrews 1, “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity” (lawlessness). Christ proved Himself to be just. He delighted in righteousness; He loved every acknowledgment of the rights of God, whether it were in law or in mercy.
Now I trust you will be able to see how far the prophecy of David has been fulfilled. David looked forward to One not only positionally greater, but morally greater than himself; One who could be said to be righteous, the Sun of righteousness, rising with healing in His wings, bringing in the morning without clouds. The expression is beautiful. I want you to contemplate Christ in that light. We have come into the kingdom, under the moral sway of God; it has been established in the hearts of believers in the power of the Holy Spirit, so that the scripture can say, “The kingdom of God is ... righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit”.
I turn to verses 4 and 5, the sure and everlasting covenant. Christ was the sure and everlasting covenant which God made with David; the sure mercies of David meant Christ. In Acts 13 the apostle Paul quotes that expression in confirmation of the truth of a risen Christ. In the case of David, and of the Lord Himself, there was the appreciation of the mercy which they expressed. Christ was the perfect expression of the mercy of God. When the Syrophenician woman appealed to the Lord on [p. 107] the ground of mercy, she got what she desired; so with the blind men: the Lord gave them their sight. On the other hand, He was the covenant of God. The sun in the heavens is a kind of covenant between God and man; at all events, a rainbow is, and the recurrence of day and night. But, after all, the great pledge of God’s mercy and goodness toward man is a risen Christ. It is in principle very much like the bringing back of the ark. Israel had forfeited everything by their folly in taking the ark into battle; then God gave the ark back to them in the sovereignty of mercy. God had established a covenant with man in the fact of Christ having become man; but man broke the covenant; they crucified Christ, and now God gives Christ back to man in resurrection, on the ground of redemption.
It is a great point to apprehend that everything is assured; we have not only got the perfect expression of God’s righteousness and mercy, but the appreciation of that righteousness and mercy in a man; Christ is perfect in His appreciation of all that which He has Himself expressed. I believe that to be the security of the universe. God has secured a Man in whom everything is effected. That is the covenant, “ordered in all things, and sure”. I can say, my house is not so with God; there are many things we have to deplore, looking back on our own path; yet, after all, God has ordered and established with us a covenant, ordered in all things, and sure. I can turn my eyes away from my imperfections, and those of my house, not only to the revelations of God, but to that Man in whom the appreciation of mercy is perfect. We can say much more than David, that Man has been pleased to give us living water, in order to conform us to Himself. What is all our desire? It is Christ. I am sure no one can look upon himself with anything like unalloyed satisfaction. But if I look at Christ, He [p. 108] is the Mediator between God and men, perfect in the appreciation of the mercy of God, and having the capability and power, in virtue of redemption, of communicating living water to conform us to Himself.
I turn to Revelation 22: 16, 17. That passage is extremely beautiful in connection with what I have said in regard to David. The Lord says, “I am the root and the offspring of David”. David saw Him as his offspring; but now the truth comes out that He is the root of David. He was the root of David morally. Then He says, “And the bright and morning star”. He does not say, I am the Sun of righteousness, because He has not yet come out in that light. Then He says, whosoever is athirst, let him come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. The ruler among men must be just; He is the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning Star; He will appear as the Sun of righteousness, and bring in the morning without clouds; but in the meantime He imparts living water, to conform us to Himself. I do not think anybody need be disappointed at being a failure. I little dreamt forty or fifty years ago what a failure I would find myself to be. If people get disappointed in themselves, it only proves that they do not know themselves. God never expected to find anything in you. What He works in you is the appreciation of Christ. I can esteem Him as the everlasting Covenant, the One who came to express the mercy of God, and who appreciated the mercy that He expressed; and He has given living water, to conform us to Himself. Now we have another spring; we have the nether as well as the upper spring, that is the covenant ordered in all things, and sure; Christ cannot fail. There is not only grace with Christ, but power. He has power to subdue all things to Himself. Christ can touch a [p. 109] man like Saul of Tarsus, and he gives in, in a moment, like Jacob. Then Saul could not find much satisfaction in himself; but Christ subdued him, brought him into the kingdom, and communicated to him living water: Saul was conformed to Christ, he says, “For me to live is Christ”. I think people have not sufficiently contemplated Christ on two sides. They have apprehended Him as the expression of the mercy of God, but have failed to appreciate Him as delighting in the mercy which He expressed.
I refer for a moment to verses 6 and 7. The truth is that there are the sons of Belial. There are those who are irreconcilable. I do not expect that all men are going to believe the gospel. What then? The irreconcilables, when they prove themselves such in the apostasy and the setting up of Antichrist, will be thrust away and come under the judgment of God; they will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. That is what David prophesied. He was the sweet psalmist of Israel, yet he could speak of very solemn things. You will find many a bitter word in the Psalms, because there are those upon earth who are sons of Belial, and irreconcilable to God. All will come out in due season.
Now I think we ought to have profound delight in the thought of the Sun of righteousness. Think of God bringing to an end the terrible confusion and lawlessness in this world. All the noxious and poisonous influences which affect men in the world will be dispelled by the advent of Christ. He is just, and will rule in the fear of the Lord; and the fear of the Lord will be the great ruling principle in that day; when men universally will be brought under the influence of the mercy of God. We can look forward to that day. But it is equally a comfort to think that, in the consciousness of our [p. 110] failure, we can fall back upon the certainty of God’s covenant. If you ask me where that covenant is, I point you to Christ as Man. He knows perfectly well all our infirmity. He came in contact with all kinds of people; but He never made anything of their failures; one was as good as another to Him, or as bad. It was just a question of those who were subdued by the mercy which He expressed; then He could give to them living water, to conform them to Himself. What came out in those who immediately surrounded the Lord — Peter, and many another — was weakness, lack of intelligence, and faithlessness. Peter thought he had some good in himself; he would not deny the Lord, though all the others might. He had no power of faithfulness, and the Lord knew it. Then the Lord communicated to Peter the living water, to conform him to Himself. It is such a comfort to think that Christ expects nothing in us. He is going to work everything in us. He will not have a bit of you and a bit of Himself; He is going to displace you morally, and conform you to Himself.
It is a great thing to apprehend Christ as the covenant that cannot fail, ordered in all things, and sure. This hope was the comfort and stay of David when he was about to pass away, and the same is really much more true in regard to us, because the covenant has come in; hence we understand its terms better than David could.