THE SERVICE OF CHRIST IN LEADERSHIP (4)

THE SERVICE OF CHRIST IN LEADERSHIP (4)

1 Samuel 16: 11 - 13; 1 Samuel 17: 37; 1 Samuel 25: 14 - 17; 2 Samuel 24: 10 - 17

SMcC In considering further the feature of the service of Christ in leadership, we come to David. David is both a type of Christ and a type of the Spirit of Christ among the saints. We have been noting all through the enquiries that linked with this thought of leadership is the administrative service that is linked with the care of the flock; as we have seen, every man that God seems to use is marked by this feature, having peculiar care for the flock. These passages have been read because they bring David before us, as we might say, in a singular way. What he is behind the scenes. Perhaps we need to know more about this side of the truth, because there is such a tendency with us to like what may be taken account of in a spectacular way in public. But these passages ought to be a great encouragement to us, especially the younger men and women, and to all of us, as to how David is marked from the earliest by this great feature of care for the sheep, for the flock. It seems to be something that is in David’s constitution; and whatever position he is in, it comes out, what he thinks and feels on this line, as having the sheep at heart. Another thing that is to be noted is that David represents a side in the truth that peculiarly promotes unity among the saints. He becomes a great rallying point in the testimony. His name means “beloved”. We get the love side running through David. We get the service of God coming into view in David. But underlying all is this great thought of care for the flock. As it says in the first passage that we read, “And Samuel said to Jesse, Are these all the young men? And he said, There is yet the youngest remaining, and behold, he is feeding the sheep.” That is a feature that comes into view in David and goes right through in his history, and it is a feature that we might emulate. The Lord Jesus, as we noted in the prophet the other night, coming into the position, speaks of, “The poor of the flock”; He fed them; so that we should be encouraged in view of what is before us in the subject of David, to take account of this important feature.

ENJ Is that seen in New Testament setting in Stephen and others who were occupied in caring for the saints, and who received quick advancement?

SMcC Yes. God would take us on as we are prepared to put our hand to do what is to be done, whatever it might be.

JHH The first recorded victory of David, I suppose, is where he slew the lion and the bear. Did that mark him all the way through? I think I have heard it said, that he never lost a battle, especially in the unifying of the saints in meeting the enemy.

SMcC These passages that we have read deal with what is basic in David. He never departs, we might say, at least in principle, from this feature which runs through all the way; and it underlies the great principle of the throne, of rule and administration.

GJG It is said of David in Psalm 78, “he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and led them by the skilfulness of his hands.” I was wondering if integrity of heart bears upon the inward side that you were speaking of?

SMcC Integrity is a great thing, a very important thing; integrity of heart; especially when it comes to the saints. Of course, we should be marked by integrity of heart in business; it is a poor thing if there is not integrity of heart in our business. It is a great thing that there should be uprightness in our business, in our houses; uprightness in all our dealings; integrity of heart before God. It is a prime feature; but with David, it is peculiarly marked in his relation to the sheep.

SL This matter took place in private; no one saw, as it were; but heaven took account of the fact, how he slew the lion and bear, and ventured his own life to save the flock.

SMcC The one that slew Goliath in public was the one that dealt with the lion and the bear in secret. Many of us, perhaps, are much more concerned about how we appear in public than we are about what we do in private, our links with God, and our trust in God secretly, behind the scenes.

PB So that when Jehovah speaks to Samuel in regard to Eliab he says, “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the young men? And he said, There is yet the youngest remaining, and behold, he is feeding the sheep.” And then Samuel immediately says, “Send and fetch him; for we will not sit at table till he come hither.” Samuel gets an impress of the kind of man that is acceptable to Jehovah?

SMcC And there is only one man that will do for God, that is Christ; and we want to make room for Christ, and the spirit of Christ amongst us. It is a remarkable thing that in relation to Eliab God says, “I have rejected him.” He says the very same thing about him as He says about Saul, saying, “I have rejected him.” God says the same about this elder brother of David. The one that would set David aside, make out that David was proud and naughty in heart, when David was really instrumental in the liberation of the people of God.

JHH You spoke in your opening remark about what would be spectacular publicly. Would it be too strong to say that perhaps Samuel himself had to be delivered from this? Perhaps it might be that we ourselves have to be delivered from what might be spectacular in public?

SMcC We all know the flesh, and what our hearts naturally are prone to; but God is helping us to see in this chapter what is of value in His sight, what He is making way for. It is a new vista opening up here, a new administration is coming into our view, a new character of things that involves the bringing together of Israel and Judah in unity. There is a good deal of weakening process that has to be gone through, as the history will show, but God is indicating to us here what is in His mind to make much of.

JD Would what Paul says in Acts 13 correspond? “I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who shall do all my will.”

SMcC And that is a great thing for the young men and young women to see, because David is a young man here; what God is taking account of; not exactly the amount we absorb in the way of mental knowledge and capacity with regard to the truth, which has its place, but whether with it there is this care for the sheep behind the scenes.

GWB Is that why the heart comes so prominently into it? God looking upon the heart.

SMcC Yes. “Jehovah looketh upon the heart.”

ENJ It is often humbling in our own localities that the Lord has to pass by so many of us before He comes to one who is able to carry out what He has in mind. It says here that Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel.

SMcC I think we all have to learn, in that way, that what supports rule and administration according to God, lies basically in what we have been considering in these men that have been before us. It is a basic feature.

JC There is a grouping of gifts in Ephesians, “shepherds and teachers,” do you think we are more fond of teaching than we are of shepherding? Do we need help on that feature?

SMcC Well, the teaching is important, because we need teaching, the brethren need teaching; it is an important element; but we need shepherding, we need the shepherds; and the coupling of them together in Ephesians is important, because it involves the care for souls.

WJB Would you say that if a brother does not love the brethren actively and practically, he has not received the truth rightly, and therefore he is not qualified to teach?

SMcC Well that would be the point, that the whole thing lies in our regard of the saints, and what we are unofficially, we might say, behind the scenes. Not exactly what we are before others, but what we are behind the scenes, what we are basically, that God can take account of in care for His interests here.

GB Would a word in Genesis 46 fit in with what you have in mind? Joseph instructs his brethren what to tell Pharaoh, when Pharaoh shall say, “What is your occupation?” They had been occupied with cattle from their youth until now. The thought is, as to what our occupation is.

SMcC It marked Joseph’s brethren. It runs right through the scriptures, this matter of what we might call an inherent desire to care for the saints. It seems to mark all whom God takes up in His ways, in sovereignty.

CW I was wondering if the reference in John’s epistle would apply, “I have written to you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one”?

SMcC Well, that would enter into it. The word of God abides in them. They are strong. So that we want to make room, as it were, for what there is in the young men, in that light.

NBS There was this evidence of life and attractive appearance with David; does that spring from what is healthy within, spiritually speaking?

SMcC It is a question here of what is constitutional, what is working out from within. The care of the sheep seems to run right through David’s life; even in the Psalms. You cannot help but feel in reading Psalm 68 and other Psalms of David, that only one that had the link with the sheep and the flock that he had, could write in that way.

JC The shepherd holds the flock together as one. Is the matter of unity necessary, before there can be either feeding or progress?

SMcC Well, the first thing that is said about David is that he is feeding the sheep. That is the first thing that is said about him here. He is feeding the sheep. Not that he is leading them, exactly; that comes into view later; but he is feeding the sheep. That is, that he is maintaining this line of administrative service, service much needed amongst us; feeding the sheep.

ENJ The word to Samuel, that he was feeding the sheep, seemed to be sufficient; he says, “Send and fetch him; for we will not sit at table till he come hither.”

SMcC As if Samuel would say, “if that is the feature that is marking him, we want him in.” “Send and fetch him; for we will not sit at table till he come hither.”

JNG Does the development of spiritual personality lie rather in our relations in caring for the saints, than public service?

SMcC Well, of course, it enters into public service too; and the importance of this side is to be noted, because David was remarkable in public service. We are to take full account of that. We are not decrying that side, or minimising it in any shape or form, but stressing the importance of this basic side, underlying all rule, government, and administration.

PRP Did this feature come to light in a peculiar way in Mr. Darby in his expression, “to serve unnoticed, and work unseen”?

SMcC He was marked by peculiar care for the saints. Think of the journeys he took to these parts when as yet there was nothing much apparent; and to America when there was nothing at all, no meetings, he took the journey that pioneered the way in relation to the truth.

JD Would not what underlies all this be our knowledge of God and our secret history with God? I was thinking of what David says later to Goliath; he speaks of Jehovah of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel.

SMcC So that God operates here as in verse 12; Jehovah says, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” God is bringing to our attention what He is committing Himself to, as it says, “And Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren.” A great view to faith as to what comes in subsequently, and David becomes the great rallying point.

JD Would what is said of Christ in Hebrews help as to this, “Thou hast loved righteousness and hast hated lawlessness; therefore God, thy God, has anointed thee with oil of gladness above thy companions.”?

SMcC David is a great type of Christ in that relation.

JD I was thinking of the supreme place that God gives Him. Here He is anointed, is He not, in the midst of his brethren? Samuel had been previously told to anoint “him whom I name unto thee.”

SMcC So Samuel is brought into line with God, in now committing himself to what God is bringing into his view, a new character of things, a new phase of things in God’s way, that God is honouring. The horn of oil would suggest what is marked by the presence of the Spirit.

FW Is it really a question of the character of the person upon whom the Spirit can come? There is an inward work of the Spirit first, before the Spirit can come upon him in power as verses 11 and 12 indicate?

SMcC So that the Spirit is not just coming upon him arbitrarily. It is the personality that is there, that has been developed along this unofficial line, secret care for the flock. It is a basis as it were, for the Spirit coming upon him.

FW Is it to draw our attention to that, that we have verse 14, “And the Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul”?

SMcC Yes. To throw into relief the striking contrast; the Spirit of Jehovah came upon David, and then it says that He departed from Saul. It is rather significant that that follows immediately after His coming upon David.

CEJ In Psalm 89, the word says, “I have laid help upon a mighty one; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him.” But “I have laid help upon a mighty one.” He was already a mighty one before he was taken up. Would that be right?

SMcC Very good. We are reminded of that too in Gideon - “Thou mighty man of valour.” There was a basis in the man although outwardly timid; you would not think, perhaps, that there was much to Gideon externally, because of his timidity; yet God addresses him as a mighty man of valour. And so David is alluded to as one that is mighty here. It helps us to see where mightiness lies. It does not lie in ability to convince the brethren by external prowess merely, it lies in what we are constitutionally and basically in our links with God.

JD Would you say that what comes out here is the moral excellence that is seen in David? It speaks of him as being ruddy and of a lovely countenance, and beautiful appearance, before anything is said about his exploits.

SMcC So how important it is in care meetings and the like in matters of administration, that room should be made for David, what David represents. We are so inclined to make room for the principle of Saul in every one of our hearts. He has to be judged in every one of our hearts. But God is signifying that what He is committing Himself to is the principle of David; Christ and the spirit of Christ among the saints.

JHH Would you say that perhaps from verse 6 to verse 10 might suggest a local company, with David not getting his place?

SMcC That is, he is not of enough account to be brought in, according to their way of reckoning; he does not mean much in this matter. These other ones seem to be the whole thing; while the man that is doing the work in secret, he is outside of the picture, you might say, until God brings him in.

PB Would you say that if the spirit and power of the anointing comes upon us, we shall readily see that God has rejected this legal and official system that has been connected with Saul?

SMcC Yes, I think so, I think we have to see in that way, what God commits Himself to amongst us; for every one of us to see in our own hearts what He is setting aside; and to see what is marked by the anointing, the presence of the Spirit, in this way.

CTMcC I was wondering if Isaiah 42: 1 - 4 bears much on what you are saying? “Behold, my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighteth! I will put my spirit upon him,” and so on.

SMcC So that the Lord is helping us at the present time, when we no longer have the active service of one who has helped us so much, as to where we are substantially; where we are in relation to all we have been the product of; where we are in regard to the truth substantially? That is the side of things that is coming out in David.

EMW Would you say something as to the exercise with us that we correspond to what Samuel says, “We will not sit at table till he come hither”?

SMcC It is interesting, the matter of table, because the table is a great administrative thought in the word of God.

FE Would you say a word as to lovability, as set forth in David? His name means “beloved.”

SMcC All the ones we have been looking at, Joseph, and Moses, and David, were loved among the people. There were features of lovability with them, and it is important that we should be marked by that, because it was seen pre-eminently in the Lord Jesus. How lovable He was to the Father! And what a place He gained in the affections of the disciples!

LPJ Having in mind the passage we looked at yesterday, would you say that we need to have spiritual discernment? It was the priest who said, “Why then have ye left the man behind?” Do we need to have priestly discernment to discern these features?

SMcC The priest would discern them. The remarkable thing is that it is the prophet here that has to be helped in the recognising of David. You might say, those that are serving on the prophetic line, as Samuel, they are the ones that have to be helped on this matter as to recognising David. God helps the prophet to come to it. And it says, “Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah,” as if that completed the exercise for him, immediately David was anointed, and the Spirit came upon him.

JGH Things do not really go forward until David comes in, do they?

SMcC They do not. And when David comes in, we find as the history develops in 1 Samuel that everything converges on David; the prophet, the priest, every vital element, seems to pass over to David, while Saul, unjudged in his heart, goes on till we get the full result of degeneracy with him.

JHH Do we see where David is very early appreciated in verse 18 by this young man who could describe him the way he does?

SMcC It shows that David must have been known. He was known by someone. Someone had observed him. It is a great thing that we should understand that we are under observation, just like Timothy was under observation; he had a good report of the brethren. It is a great thing that we should have a good report of the brethren.

BJG Why is his name mentioned in verse 13, when it says the Spirit of Jehovah came upon him? He is referred to as a young man until then, but when the Spirit of Jehovah comes upon him his name is mentioned?

SMcC I think it is to intensify the thought of the beloved. And it points to maturity and youthfulness with David, as the Spirit of Jehovah comes upon him.

JHH Had you anything else in mind to speak of as to what we say about the brethren?

SMcC Well, it is an important thing, I think it runs all through David’s history, his right regard for the brethren, his confidence in the brethren. Every man or woman that is with God will always have confidence in the brethren, in the people of God. Even supposing conditions concretely may seem to deny the justness of that, every man or woman who is with God will be marked by confidence in the brethren from the standpoint of the work of God.

ATG Does he take account, in that regard, even of the work of God in Saul, in speaking of him as the Lord’s anointed?

SMcC Well, it is remarkable how David would not lift his hand against Saul. Saul is a type of the flesh;

he never seems to improve, he never seems to get help, whatever the circumstances he may be in, he remains basically the same; but David, recognising the anointing upon him, never would move against him, never would take an unfair advantage, showing what a great man David was.

PB Do you think that the women who came out of all the cities and said that Saul had slain his thousands, but David his tens of thousands, would represent the subjective work of God in all the cities, in recognising what is substantial in leadership in persons?

SMcC It would stress the subjective side, would it not? You do not find the women ever coming out in relation to Saul, but they do come out in relation to David.

KAW You have referred to confidence again. Could you help us as to what would promote and maintain confidence?

SMcC The work of God. The more you are with God, the more confidence you have in the work of God. And even supposing persons may go awry, you have confidence in the work of God. That is what comes out in chapter 17: 34, “And David said to Saul, Thy servant fed his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and also a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I seized him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant smote both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.” That is, the whole of 1 Samuel 17 breathes of confidence, the confidence of David in God. That He would bring His people through.

JHH And then, just another word on the thought of confidence. When we see what the Lord is doing in our city, should we not have confidence without reserve?

Not the “whereas,” “nevertheless,” and so on, that is sometimes heard? Should it not be complete confidence that the Lord is among His people, and He is going to bring us through?

SMcC In John 21, the Lord takes up Peter, goes into matters with him, and leaves the sheep with him, puts them in his care, having the confidence that Peter would tend them well, as he did tend them well, in the Acts.

WJB So that we know that basically the brethren are right, and the Lord is with them. If there be a temporary deflection, they will surely come round to the truth. Is that right?

SMcC That is it. And that is the ground that we should see the importance of taking, in relation to any matter. That is the ground that Paul took with the Corinthians. Look through the second letter, and count the times he mentioned that word confidence. He was confident in them. It is remarkable to see that it underlay all his movements toward them.

GJG Would a sense of the mercy of the Lord in taking up any one of us, help us there? Paul says that God counted him faithful. Would that help us, so to speak, to have confidence in our brethren? The Lord has had confidence in us.

SMcC So that when we come to chapter 17, we get added thoughts to the matter of the feeding. David said, “Thy servant fed his father’s sheep”; and then he goes on to describe what was operating in relation to the lion and the bear. But David says, “I went after him.” David did not say, “I waited for God to come in and deliver,” David said, “And I went after him.” What a field of service there is on this line, where the work of God, as it were, may be attacked by the enemy, souls may be attacked by the enemy, and the practical need of administrative service in this way in delivering such.

GWB So would this stand in contrast to the hireling feature referred to in John 10, as set out against what the Good Shepherd did?

SMcC Yes.

PB It is interesting that in verse 35 he speaks of delivering the lamb out of the mouth of the lion and the bear, but in verse 37 he says, “Jehovah who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” Does it suggest that David had really put himself in the place of the lamb. Is that not a great mark of confidence in relation to leadership and the people of God?

SMcC It is, and it is interesting how the lion and the bear seem to merge, because it says, “there came a lion, and also a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock.” That is, they both are together apparently in this matter, and David says, “And I went after him,” (not after them) “I went after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I seized him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. Thy servant smote both the lion and the bear.” But he is dealing with the thing in concentrated form. They are both the same thing apparently, and operating as to this matter of the flock, and a lamb out of the flock.

EH What do you see in the expression, “And I went after him.” We might think he had done very well, to have delivered the rest of the flock, but he is not satisfied with that?

SMcC Well, it shows what a valued man David was. He did not take into account the smallness of his own strength, he took into account God, “Jehovah who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” That underlies this great administrator, the history of this great administrator, one of the greatest administrators of the Old Testament. It underlies his whole history.

GGB Have you anything for us in that it was a lamb that was taken, not a sheep? And David was concerned about the lamb?

SMcC Because it represents the potential side of things in relation to the flock, because if the lambs do not come, where will the flock be?

RCMcC So is David thinking both of the lamb and of the flock?

SMcC That is the point. It is out of the flock. He specifically mentions that. It is the flock that is being attacked, but it is a lamb out of the flock that is seized.

JHH Is it not wonderful to see how David knows when to attack and take the offensive?

SMcC I am sure that we will be more efficient administrators, more efficient in the way of rule and influence among the people of God, if this thing enters into our history. You hear about care meetings, where unnecessary time is spent in settling matters, in different parts of the world, and you wonder about it. If we were more with God in these matters, we should be more efficient in the way of working out the truth in relation to rule and administration.

EH Does it mean that David rose up in moral dignity against this power that had seized this defenceless lamb?

SMcC He did not rise up and go after Eliab, when Eliab said, “thou art naughty, I know thy pride and the naughtiness of thy heart,” David did not rise up and go after him. He rose up and went after the enemy that was endangering the wealth linked with the flock. David was with God in all these matters; he says, “Jehovah who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” I think we want to see the importance of this practical confidence in God, so that it affects every department of our lives.

JC Is that the source of the confidence; consciously moving with God?

SMcC Yes. How important it is in our earliest days that we should know how to spend time with God, so that our confidence increases with God. How important it is that the young ones coming on should have to do with God in secret, have to do with God in prayer. F.E.R. said that if he had his time to live over again, he would spend more time in prayer.

PB In regard to what you said as to the lamb taken out of the flock, and the lion and the bear, how would that apply practically today? How would those who have a care of the flock recognise that kind of feature that would carry away the young amongst us?

SMcC Well, I would think that the principles of the world, or whatever might be suggested in the lion and the bear, are operating against the flock, against what the saints are locally, in their local position. It may be a young person, as suggested in the lamb, some tender feature of the work of God; but the attack is against the flock. That is what is involved in all these matters. David sees the necessity for going after it, in this way.

CTMcC Does David’s alertness in this show us God’s way in making the flock a safe place?

SMcC Now that will bring us on to our next passage, to see how safety lies within the realm of David’s administration. Not yet official, it is still the moral side in 1 Samuel 25, because David is not on the throne. And so it says, “one of Nabal’s young men told Abigail, Nabal’s wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out in the wilderness to bless our master; and he has insulted them. And the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we companied with them, when we were in the fields.” Notice this, “neither missed we anything.” Then it says, “They were a wall to us both by night and day, all the while we were with them feeding the sheep.” Now this is a remarkable thing, because it shows that what David was constitutionally, is operating in the position that he is in here, in the matter of protection and care, as if his very regime, unofficially, is operating on this line, in the protecting of things.

JD I would like to ask in regard to the previous scripture; it says, “thy servant” twice. Is this the feature that would really preserve, taking on the spirit of Jesus in bondmanship, serving by love?

SMcC Paul says to the Corinthians, “and ourselves your bondmen for Jesus’ sake.” We need to take on that spirit. A great thing for any who serve, to remember the greatness of these that they serve.

ENJ You are thinking now in this section that there are many coming out in David’s features, “they were a wall to us”?

SMcC Yes. While Saul is on the throne, the kingdom, you might say, is Saul’s. He is on the throne. But morally the kingdom is with David. Officially it is with Saul, but morally it is with David; and the principles of the kingdom are operating in David’s presence and those that were with him, in the way of protection.

JD So that those who were with him, were those who had been attracted to David, because of the moral features that are seen in David? I was thinking of chapter 22.

SMcC What is to be noted is that as soon as Abigail comes into view, we get all this brought up. As soon as the assembly in type comes into view, we get this remarkable allusion to the power of the kingdom, operating morally in David and those that are with him in the protection of property.

PB So that no one is hurt, and nothing is missed in David’s administration here?

SMcC What we are to learn is to see how the principle of the kingdom is working out through the assembly in our day. That is, as soon as the assembly comes into view, as in Matthew, the great operations of the kingdom are stressed, especially on the line of preservation and protection.” Neither missed we anything,” it says. “And the men were very good to us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we anything, as long as we companied with them, when we were in the fields. They were a wall to us both by night and day, all the while we were with them feeding the sheep.” It is the practical power of the kingdom, unofficially, operating in protection here.

PB And Abigail is the moral complement of what David is administratively here?

SMcC Well, what she represents to faith is the assembly. She brings the assembly to mind; just as Abigail was necessary to David at this point, so the assembly is necessary to Christ at this point.

EH Is this one of the principles of practical righteousness?

SMcC Yes, that would enter into it. Romans, while developing the truth of the kingdom, and how it operates morally, specially towards the hortatory section at the end, makes reference to business; reference is made to practical uprightness. It is a great thing that there should be righteousness in all our dealings. The Gospel would promote that. It is really the kingdom working morally. If you get persons that are not right in their business, the question is as to whether the kingdom has its proper way with them morally.

FW So you have joy in the Holy Spirit then.

SMcC The kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

PRP In Acts 5, it is a secret and a hidden matter in the main.

SMcC Exactly. While we have a crisis here, where the truth is in danger, where things are at a critical juncture, the power of the kingdom is operating unofficially in the protection of certain things.

RCMcC The things that are protected are both the sheep and those feeding the sheep; is that the point?

SMcC Well, exactly. Of course it is alluding to Nabal, but abstractly you see we are thinking of the principle of what is there.

JHH In Corinthians, it says, “Railed at, we bless; persecuted, we suffer it; insulted, we entreat: we are become as the offscouring of the world.”

SMcC Very good. That shows the moral basis of all power in the testimony. It is a question of what we are; what we say enters into it, but then what we are as formed in the features of the kingdom. David and his men express the whole idea of the kingdom morally, in what they were and how they acted.

NBS This young man has an appreciation of that, has he? He says, “David sent ... to bless our master.” He learned this as having to do with David.

SMcC Exactly, and it is this thing that moves Abigail to haste, as if the assembly would understand what is involved in this kind of regime, and the necessity for it being preserved. So she acts to hold up David, just as the assembly in principle is holding up Christ at the present time in relation to the saving and protecting power of the kingdom now. Soon He is going to resume the sword again.

JHH I notice that from verse 25 to verse 31 Abigail calls David “My Lord,” twelve times. Is that remarkable?

SMcC It is very remarkable. It shows that not only do we have what is basically right in David, but we have what is basically right in Abigail. She is a woman of worth; a woman of quality.

Now we must refer to 2 Samuel 24. We see how what is basic in David comes into view in relation to this great crisis, and how the sheep are in his mind. That is, it is the shepherd heart of David that is wrought upon.

David is not a type of Christ exactly here. He is a type of any one of us, and especially a type of failure in leadership, at this juncture. But what it says in verse 10 is that “David’s heart smote him after he had numbered the people. And David said to Jehovah, I have sinned greatly in what I have done; and now, I beseech thee, Jehovah, put away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly. And when David arose in the morning the word of Jehovah came to the prophet Gad, David’s seer, saying, Go and say to David, Thus saith Jehovah: I impose on thee three things; choose one of them that I may do it unto thee.” And then lower down in verse 17, when David accepts coming into the hand of Jehovah, he says, “David spoke to Jehovah when he saw the angel that smote among the people, and said, Behold, it is I that have sinned, and it is I that have committed iniquity; but these sheep, what have they done? Let thy hand, I pray thee, be on me, and on my father’s house.”. All this brings out what David is substantially and basically, and I think that is what the Lord would help every one of us in regard to.

CK I was going to ask, David has had a long history here, has he not? He is not too great to listen to the prophet, to accept what the prophet says to him.

SMcC I think it is a feature of David that he was always ready for the prophetic word. You love to see that among the saints. What an evidence we have had of it. The readiness of the saints to hear the truth; David was marked by that and we are all to be marked by it.

JHH I was wondering if perhaps you had in your mind, that if we have substance we are adjusted more quickly. David has gone on in his soul’s history. Perhaps this is one of his quickest adjustments, quicker than before, quicker than the two previous adjustments.

SMcC The more we are with God in our histories basically and foundationally, the greater will be the readiness to accept adjustment.

JC The difficulty ofttimes is that we manoeuvre to save our wretched reputation, instead of considering for the flock.

SMcC Well, it shows here how that David, in all the anguish of soul that he was passing through, never forgot the saints; he did not forget the sheep. They were, as it were, an integral part of him in his thoughts and outlook.

ENJ Would you say a word as to iniquity here, “put away the iniquity of thy servant.” He says, “I have sinned,” but then he asks that his iniquity be put away. Would you say something as to that, please?

SMcC Well, he says, “It is I that have committed iniquity.” That is, he shows how his will had really operated in the matter.

ENJ Is that the cause of a good deal of trouble? We have the scriptures, and we have the ministry as to things, and yet with the knowledge of that and having it in our possession, we still do things that are not right, which really amounts to iniquity, does it not?

SMcC Yes. So that the sheep come before us as characteristically leadable persons. They are not exactly persons that are marked by will. They represent the saints from the aspect of the work of God in them.

PB It is very touching what you say in regard to David. Saul had on different occasions said that he had sinned, but basically he only had his own self-preservation in mind; but David has the sheep in mind, and his words are touching, are they not? “Behold, it is I that have sinned” and so on; “Let thy hand, I pray thee, be on me, and on my father’s house.” He even brings his father’s house into this, matter.

SMcC And immediately we read, “And Gad came that day” - that day, not a year after, or six months, or two years, or ten years. “Gad came that day to David, and said to him, Go up, rear an altar to Jehovah in the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite. And David,

according to the saying of Gad, went up as Jehovah had commanded.” You can see the greatness of David in these matters, and how the threshing-floor is secured, and the service of God is promoted through this.

FW Does this show the basic quality of David’s leadership, in there being true love in his heart for the flock?

SMcC It comes out in his deepest distress, just as in Ziklag, so here it comes out in his deepest distress. If I have got myself before me, however carefully I guard it, if I am thinking of preserving myself and my reputation however carefully I guard it - it may be five years, or ten years that I may carefully guard it - it will come out in some way or another; but if I am going on with God, as David went on with God in secret history, having his links with God on a moral basis, well, what is basic will come out. This love for the sheep.

FW Does J.B.S.’s remark as to the quality of a horse illustrate it?

SMcC Tell us something more about that. He had some remarkable illustrations.

FW I think J.B.S. said that the quality of a horse is seen in the way that it gets up after it has fallen.

SMcC Very good indeed. That is David all the way through.

JD Would not this help us as to having matters quickly settled, as we are with God about them?

SMcC Yes, and to go forward with the service of God, to go forward with the truth. It is not that David is to be down there all the time, but that the service of God has to go forward.

JD Is not that a great encouragement, that God is going on, and He would have us go on in spite of all the failures that may come in, as we are with God in self-judgment? We should be quickly recovered?

SMcC Just so.