GRACE AS PRESENTED IN DAVID (4)
GRACE AS PRESENTED IN DAVID (4)
1 Chronicles 22: 6 - 19; 1 Chronicles 29: 20 - 30
SMcC That which is now before us is very full. The introduction of Solomon serves as another type of Christ. His position on the throne in the last chapter reminds us of the greatness of the present time, that the Lord Jesus is not on His own throne; He is on the Father’s throne. It is a time of grace, and we find a transitional period here, when things are passing over from David to Solomon. Firstly in our own minds this great thought of sonship, linking with the hope of our calling as Paul refers to it in Ephesians, and where we get the expression of the surpassing riches of God’s grace. It is a remarkable expression in Ephesians 2, and the side of things in Solomon brings us to that. We should see in the section that we read, first what David has gone through in his links with God. He has been much before us and one of the things that has stood out has been his links with God, his communion with God. David is restful in relation to what is coming in and setting on this great matter as to sonship as set out in Solomon; and then we note the grace and fulness that enters into the last chapter where we are brought to God in all His majesty, glorious as He is as Head over all. And then we see the wonderful way in which the saints come into the culminating exercises of David in the final section, the great fulness and expansion of glory and happiness, and the finishing way in which David is alluded to, and then the great volume of the ministry that our attention is drawn to in the last two verses. These features may provide a basis for our inquiry at this time.
RAH Would the glory of the position come before us? I noticed as it was being read in verse 23 of chapter 29, “Solomon sat on the throne of Jehovah.” I have not noticed that before - the throne of Jehovah. Does that make it very great in our eyes?
SMcC Yes, exactly. We were referring earlier this afternoon in regard to Amalek that the hand was on the throne of Jah. This is quite different here. God will abundantly shew the wonder of His grace and subjugating power in the Lord Jesus Christ as typified in Solomon. The Lord is on the throne of Jehovah, Solomon is on the throne of Jehovah. Not exactly his own throne, but the throne of Jehovah instead of David his father. One thing is to be noted with the subjugating side, the land is subdued before Jehovah, as we have often had referred to in years past, it is not so much the side of annihilation, but the side of subjugation, the moral sway of God in grace, in the kingdom, subduing, subjugating our wills and our hearts, bringing them under the influence of Christ.
WJB Might we have a little more on this transitional period. It would correspond in some way with the present time, would it?
SMcC Well it would, in regard to the way that sonship is being stressed. It has been so pre-eminently stressed in recent times.
CFI Is the thought of the great economy of grace largely presented to us in the New Testament under figure of the kingdom?
SMcC In the early chapters of the Acts, we can see how the economy of the kingdom is set up - the Lord Jesus at the right hand of God, and the Spirit down here, and the power that operates from these positions, involving that hearts are brought under the moral sway of God in grace.
RJS Paul of Tarsus was subdued?
SMcC Yes, he would be. It is quite evident in his case the power that subdued him.
CFI Are the richest thoughts of grace connected with sonship?
SMcC That is what I thought.
CFI “The praise of the glory of His grace,” the thought is spoken of in the first chapter, “wherein He has taken us into favour in the Beloved.”
SMcC Exactly. So Ephesians is a wonderful letter, bringing us to superlative thoughts, bringing us to the richest thoughts of grace. There are two outstanding features of the truth presented in relation to the saints in Ephesians. One is sonship, which has in view the pleasure of God Himself, and the other is union, the assembly linked with Christ in union, united to the Heavenly Man, resulting in what is delightful to His own heart.
MB Then is the thought of sonship to be apprehended in the Lord Jesus, pre-eminently as to what He is now in the Father’s presence?
SMcC Well, exactly, not forgetting what He was in the bosom of the Father here below, the uniqueness of sonship in the humanity of Jesus in the days of His flesh here. What it must have been to the Father, to have manhood in all its spiritual excellence in Jesus in sonship. As it is said, “the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father.” He came into that place.
CFI I feel the importance of the side of sonship; it takes account of the personnel, does it not, in our individual links and our place in divine purpose, whereas if we think only of the assembly as an entity, we are thinking perhaps of something a little different.
SMcC Yes, it is important to see that in regard to sonship it brings out what the saints are severally, not exactly what we are as an entity, wonderful as that is, and glorious in the eyes of Christ. The assembly is a complete entity for the joy of His heart, but sonship brings out what the saints are severally, each one of them bearing some distinct feature of grace, some distinctive impression of grace.
CAI One has noticed that beloved Mr. Taylor has said that sonship is greater than the assembly.
SMcC There is nothing that goes higher than sonship, as far as the saints are concerned.
CFI Would that imply that the preciousness of the saints to God, what the saints are in this way, is even greater than the company that they form?
SMcC Just so. You mean the company they form as the entity?
CFI Yes, the assembly femininely. We have had a good deal of emphasis upon the thought of the greatness of the assembly, and the company as such, but it has been operating to some extent, one feels, to cause us to overlook the importance of the persons.
SMcC Well, it is important that we should see the greatness of the personnel, and it is important that we should see that the family of sons in this dispensation is the assembly, that the assembly is unique amongst all families in the universe of God, because of the uniqueness of sonship in the assembly. No other family will know sonship in the same way as the assembly knows and enjoys sonship. Each one of the assembly has firstborn dignity and glory.
Rem Does the linking of grace with sonship as you were speaking of it give us some connection between the moral history that we have to face, and the purpose of God, that God has been able to reach His purposes in spite of the moral side?
SMcC Well I think so. I think we want to see the relation between the moral side and the side of purpose. The one serves the other, but the great end is that we should reach sonship, and so it says in verse 8 of our chapter, “But the word of Jehovah came to me saying, Thou hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars; thou shalt not build a house unto my name, for thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.” Now this is not exactly cancelling out the wars of the Lord; they have their place, but we want to see that what is now before God is this matter of sonship, and this influence of sonship in the testimony at this particular juncture.
Rem Does it necessitate a fresh and new view of Christ in our souls, not now on the side of Lordship?
SMcC I think so. David was a valiant man, he was a valiant warrior. You remember how Hushai refers to him as a warrior. He was valiant for God in matters, but that is not the side of things that is linked with the building of the house. It is the side of sonship that is linked with the building of the house.
Rem Does it mean that the conflict is not an end in itself?
SMcC That is it, exactly. That conflict is a means to an end, but we do not exactly rest in the conflict. The conflict is a means to an end - God has a definite end in all the conflict since sin came in, and we are to see that in Solomon he has certain ends reached.
TCH So would you say that sonship in verse 6 is linked with all the greatness that has come in, is it not?
SMcC Yes, exactly, and it is interesting what David says in verse 5 before that, “Solomon my son is young and tender.” Well that is a wonderful touch in regard to this great matter, where the glory of the house is going to be expanded before us, under Solomon, that this thought of young and tender enters into it. It is important to see from Matthew’s gospel, the place that sonship has, preceding the great administrative chapter, chapter 18. You will recall how the Lord anticipated Peter, and how He said in regard to the fish and the stater, to “take that for me and thee.” We have the truth of His own sonship entering into the beginning of the chapter, and then the truth of sonship not only in Him, but in the saints, at the end of the chapter, all bearing on the position in testimony in chapter 18, in the administrative side of things.
MB “Then are the sons free” you are thinking of? and the fact of being free from any other obligation, or anything that might rest upon us?
SMcC Well, it has often been said that we can never rightly carry out administration except from the heavenly viewpoint. That is, Matthew and Ephesians go together, and we can only rightly fill out the Corinthian position from the viewpoint of our heavenly place.
MB So that the sons are free of tribute; they are not under any tribute.
SMcC Exactly, the sons are free.
Rem Would you say what you had in mind in referring to Solomon as being young and tender.
SMcC Well, I think it is to help us to see features that are entering into this latter stage of things, this latter phase of things in 1st Chronicles. You will note in the final phases of the testimony in different relations, that a good deal is made of youthfulness, and in different ones. Joseph as in Genesis, following Jacob, and Joshua in relation to Moses, and now Solomon in relation to David. It is a great thing that young brothers and sisters should see, the prime place that they have in the finishing matters and phases of the testimony.
AJC Would all that has been shown up in conflict make now for common features as serving in this great matter of sonship and building?
SMcC Yes, that would be what David is moving towards, in all his directions here. The conflicts have been many and great, as David alludes to them; but how restful David is in the transition! We want to learn from this, that when it comes to transition, we need to be with God, to be as it were, in the current of His mind. David goes over matters so restfully, and so marked by accepting the word of Jehovah, as he says in verse 8, “The word of Jehovah came to me saying, …” and then what he tells us is a remarkable thing. It is different from what we get when he went in to sit before Jehovah. It is a remarkable word that he gets here, and how he goes over it and calls our attention to it.
EBMcC It has been said recently that the assembly is the expression of Christ here, the nearest to deity of all families, very close indeed. How does that come in with sonship? I quite understand the thought of Son over the house, because He regulates the house, but where the house is, the family is, is it not?
SMcC The house from another viewpoint is composed of the sons. The dignity of sonship enters into the house, that is, the cedars of Lebanon represent what compose the house. It is the house as built under Solomon, expressing the dignity of sonship. It is not the feminine side so much as the masculine side.
CSK Is the reference in Colossians to the Son of His love a happy link with the thought here of a Man of rest, that it is the restfulness of love that is to mark these transitional periods. God would unfold it in that way, would He not, for us?
SMcC Exactly, it is a beautiful expression here - He shall be a Man of rest. It is important to see manhood in restful conditions. It is wonderful to see manhood in conflict in David. Manhood shines in David in conflict, a man after God’s own house. But then God is saying that the house is to be linked with Solomon the son, who is a man of rest.
FRG Is that supported by the end of the 2nd Ephesians, where it speaks of what Christ has done in uniting all in one, having slain the enmity, and then it goes on to say “for through Him we have both access by one Spirit to the Father,” and goes on to the building of the house; “Ye are built together for a habitation of God in the spirit?”
SMcC Well, exactly. All that is opening up the greatness of the house at the present time among the Gentiles; the greatness of what God has in the assembly, as His habitation in Spirit, and the beginning of the chapter stresses the thought of rest. The totality of the work of God is brought before us in the first half of the chapter in an anticipative way, not exactly in an abstract way, but in an anticipative way, and the great thought of rest is stressed, what the saints are as raised up, and made to sit down together, that is, comporting with this thought of the Man of rest. Sonship involves rest among the saints. It is an interesting thing to look through Mr. Darby’s hymns. There are no hymns that are quite their equal; they have their own uniqueness. But one of the things to be noted is how the thought of rest runs through Mr. Darby’s hymns. If you were to count the number of times that rest is mentioned, you might be surprised; and also for instance, expressions like “unalloyed,” “unsullied;” expressions like these pointing to an unmixed condition of things. It is important that we should see that side of things.
Rem They were the breathings of his own soul.
SMcC Exactly.
Rem Attention has been drawn to “He shall be a man of rest.” Are you thinking of the result of the saints in the end of the verse, “and in his days, I will give peace and quietness unto Israel?” Is that how Israel is to come into rest and peace?
SMcC Well, exactly, and just before that, “I will give him rest from all his enemies round about; for his name shall be Solomon.” Think of what the position on high is to God and to Christ. That Christ has reached a place of rest on the Father’s throne.
God has given Him rest, we might say, from all His enemies that harassed Him here below.
MB Is it suggestive, as presented in the Kings, that it is said, that he brought up the ark of the covenant out of the house of David which is in Zion?
SMcC Well, a fuller thought is in mind there; Zion would represent Ephesians, the teaching of Ephesians in relation to God’s full thought; so that the saints in this ninth verse are brought to what Christ has entered as the Man of rest, and as having been given rest, the saints are brought to that.
Rem Peace to those who are far off, and peace to those who are nigh. That enters into the matter does it?
SMcC Yes, exactly.
RGC Does Psalm 72 bear on this? The thoughts of rest there, the abundance of peace till the moon be no more, showing the extensive character of it?
SMcC Yes, exactly.
CSK The effects of reconciliation being enjoyed?
SMcC Well, reconciliation is a very full subject. How wonderful reconciliation is, what it brings about for the pleasure of God, and what it brings about in our links with one another, because if we were in the good of reconciliation, we would have no difficulties with one another. We would be enjoying one another to the full.
Rem Is the diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace connected with reconciliation?
SMcC Well, reconciliation paves the way for a good deal in our relations with God, and in our relations with one another.
EBMcC We are enjoying that which others have had to battle for, and we should take that into account.
should we not, and enjoy too what they have brought in for us?
SMcC Exactly, and so the word for us in verse 17, is “David commanded all the princes of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying, Is not Jehovah your God with you? has He not given you rest on every side? for He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand; and the land is subdued before Jehovah and before his people. Now set your heart and your soul to seek Jehovah your God; and arise and build the sanctuary of Jehovah Elohim, to bring the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and the vessels of the sanctuary of God into the house that is to be built unto the name of Jehovah.” So now it is a question of our setting our hearts and ourselves to seek God, having in mind His service, His house, and His service in the assembly.
CFI And His rest, God’s rest?
SMcC Exactly, that would be in mind in what is mentioned here.
GWB Would what you say point to the Lord’s words to Mary, that she has chosen the good part which shall not be taken from her?
SMcC Well, it is important that we should know the restful side - that sets it out. We shall never get very far on in our souls if we do not know much about the restful side. Restfulness promotes spirituality; as room is made for the Spirit to come in, to fill our minds and hearts with rest thoughts of Christ.
Rem Would you say a little more about the distinction between sonship which we enjoy as the service of God proceeds, the sense of rest imbuing our spirits, and leading on to greater liberation in the service of God, and the spiritual enjoyment of rest in our personal relations with God? We are to enjoy the latter perhaps more individually than we have, do you think?
SMcC The Lord Jesus as Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath. That is, He is the administrator of it, and in all His service to us on moral lines. He would have in mind the thought of our being brought into the sabbath, that our souls might be at rest individually.
WHW Would you think that verse 19 would work out in a practical way amongst the brethren if they thought more of the great things of God?
SMcC That is what I thought, that David is encouraging us now, Solomon being a type of ourselves now, to set our hearts and our souls to seek Jehovah your God. It is remarkable that he does not say “to seek Jehovah my God,” but “to seek Jehovah your God,” as if he is trying to inculcate into our minds thoughts that have been linked with his own experiences in his knowledge of God.
WHW So that it is really a matter of what we are seeking, is it not?
SMcC Yes, exactly. There is the side of what we are brought into by divine powers, the unsurpassing greatness of God’s power, but then there is this corresponding side in the setting of our hearts and our souls to seek Jehovah.
Rem Would you say it is necessary to help the building?
SMcC Well, the great thought in our minds is that there should be a place for God - Jehovah Elohim takes us back to the 2nd Genesis, when God entered into relations with man.
Rem Would that link up with the thought in Psalm 132, “Let us go into his habitation, let as worship at his footstool” and then the invitation, “arise Jehovah into thy rest thou and the ark of thy strength?”
SMcC Yes, that would be what was in David’s mind; that is, the Psalms give us an insight into what David’s exercises were. I believe that the young people should be encouraged - it is a day when they need to be encouraged, they should know what this influence is, this influence that is linked with sonship, and how it operates in this section. Great room is made for every feature of the work of God, in young and old, teacher and scholar alike.
RGC Do we want the young to learn that although they may be only babes as regards growth, according to God’s thoughts they are sons?
SMcC That is the point. You want the young brothers and sisters to get mature thoughts in their minds, so from this viewpoint, they are not babes, they are sons. “Ye are all God’s sons by faith in Christ Jesus.” Sonship is a gift received in the glad tidings.
PB David speaks of what he had prepared for the house of God out of his affliction, but he also speaks of what he had given to the house of God out of his affections. Are those the underlying features of the joy of sonship?
SMcC Yes, indeed, and I think in regard to that it is well for those of us who are younger to remember those who have gone before us in the line of the testimony. God never honours disrespect for age in any one of us. I am not alluding to persons who may sin against the rights of God and get out of fellowship - I am referring to the general thought of those who have been in the testimony before us. Think of David here. What impressions Solomon would get from him. Think of what we have come into; those that have pioneered the way before us, as we think of the wars of the Lord. What we have come into, we might say, in restfulness, because it has been secured for us.
Rem Later on in this book, dedicated things are brought into this matter, are they not?
SMcC Yes, exactly. So that nothing is missed out, what David had prepared in his affliction, and what others had given, everything is brought into what is flowing in the way of a current in these chapters. It seems as if everything is carried that can be carried in this current.
Rem Is there something worth recognising in the next book where the glory of Jehovah fills the house?
SMcC Yes, exactly. God would claim it for Himself. God thinks so much of it that He would claim it for Himself. It is to be noted before we move on from chapter 22 that Solomon is reminded of the ordinances which Jehovah commanded Moses for Israel. That is an interesting thing, and shows that what we are referring to does not exclude the thought of responsibility with us.
Rem I wondered whether you would say something about the command in verse 17?
SMcC Well, I think it is like the Lord Jesus in John 14. He is going on to the Father, to set up and inaugurate the heavenly order of things, and He brings in the thought of His commandments. “If any one love me, he will keep my word.” It is a great thing to keep the Lord’s commandments. I suppose every one of us here would profess to love Christ, but the question would be as to whether we love Him enough. We need to love Him more, and have regard to His commandments, and that is what comes in here, but the commandment is regulating matters. Sonship in that way does not exactly, as we are viewing it in this type, take us out of the sphere of regulation; we are still in a sphere where we have to be regulated by the commanding of Moses, the ordinances which Jehovah commanded Moses, and also David’s commandment.
EBMcC It says, “I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever,” and then again “he made Solomon his son king over Israel.” Would that mean that everything is held is it not - he is king as well?
SMcC Well, that is the point, that control is running all the way through. It is what we might call the authority of love over us in this section.
WHW Would the commandments of Moses bear on the dwelling of Jehovah Elohim?
SMcC The commandment of Moses would involve the law of the house, and Ezekiel refers to it later on, do you think, “The law of the house,” that enters into Matthew 18; sonship is alluded to in chapter 17, then the law of the house comes in in Matthew 18, so we are to be reminded of that. We do not forget the ministry of Moses, because it gives us the law of the house.
Rem Would you say that these things are not optional with us? It is not optional whether we love the brethren, it is the command of the Lord that we love them.
SMcC Exactly, and it is important that we should see the force of the commandments in John’s writings. You would think of all the Gospels that would leave out the thought of the commandments, from the human way of reasoning, it would be John’s. John stresses the love side. The love side is the side that makes room and way for the commandments. Now in the 29th chapter, we find how things are gathered up, and the chapter opens again with a reference to “Solomon is young and tender.” I think there must be something in that, the way David refers to it again, repeats it, as if we are to be reminded of this side of things in the assembly. The need for impressionableness, and freshness with us, because the legal side would lead to hardness, unimpressionableness; that is one thing in Judaism in the Acts that is to be noted, how Judaism leads to hardness and unimpressionableness, but what is linked with sonship known and enjoyed among the saints is impressionableness, as in youth and freshness, the thought of tenderness.
Rem So do you think it is not so much a question of age, as faith?
SMcC Well, that is what I am thinking of in Solomon, that when we come to sonship, we have this side of things stressed. A state of things among the saints that is impressionable, and marked by what tenderness would suggest.
Rem Is that in mind in the 18th chapter of Matthew in the beginning, “Except ye be converted and become as little children?”
SMcC Well, exactly. Matthew has a way of referring to the babes and the children, as suggesting a class of persons, or a state in persons, free from crystallization.
AMcKH Would Galatians 4 help at all, because ye are sons, God has sent out the spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying Abba Father? Would that include the young as well as the old?
SMcC Well, it does, because “ye are all God’s sons.” The youngest believer is a son, just as much as the oldest brother or sister may be here. Sonship is not a question of state; sonship is God’s gift, and precedes the gift of the Spirit. Solomon would have great regard for the experience of David his father.
MB Does the apostle not work on it in the epistle just referred to? You remember he speaks of the first effects of the gospel, and he says where is now the blessedness? But the great point of recovery is sonship.
SMcC Showing that we are recovered to God’s greatest thoughts. Recovery has nothing less in mind than that we should reach God’s greatest thoughts, and sonship is that.
MB You would say that this may be the result of the grace that has reached us in the gospel?
SMcC Exactly.
PB I was just going to ask if you would say more as to that statement you made, that sonship was God’s greatest gift, and it precedes the gift of the Spirit. Would you say more about that?
SMcC Well, it is quite apparent in the teaching in Galatians that it is because we are sons that God gives us the Spirit.
CSK As to this thought of youthfulness, and Solomon being young and tender, would that connect with the thought in Zechariah with the Lord being the Branch or the Sprout, that constant freshness is ever found with Him?
SMcC Exactly. It is a great matter that there should be freshness with us. Think of the greenness and freshness of manhood as seen in Jesus. It involves our links with God. It is a great matter that our links should be right with God; our links in communion with Him.
ABM Is there simplicity and spontaneity which marks the utterances of those who are in the good of sonship?
SMcC Well, exactly. Sonship promotes liberty among the brethren, and it is a great thing that we should have liberty, liberty in the service of God, liberty among the brethren, liberty with one another.
CFI Do you think that individual liberty with the Father, whereby we cry “Abba Father” would greatly help in liberty in the service?
SMcC Well, it would. That is why one was saying that it involves our links with God Himself, in the thought of the Father, that we should have greater links with the Father in view of liberty in sonship.
EBMcC Solomon is young and tender, and yet the work is great. The work is for Jehovah Elohim. The two thoughts are maintained - the youth and tenderness do not do away with the work?
SMcC They do not. It is a question of the greatness of the position that we have come into, but the palace is not for man, but for Jehovah Elohim.
EBMcC We have been called to the greatest things, have we not?
SMcC Well, that is the importance of the presence of the Spirit, is it not? It is to be taken account of in that relation.
JD Is recovery complete here, where it says, “all the congregation?”
SMcC Yes, it is remarkable that we have this answer in the saints; David is concerned about all the saints coming to it, all the people of God coming into it. He said to all the congregation, “Bless now Jehovah your God,” and “all the congregation blessed Jehovah the God of their Fathers,” and this leads into a remarkable fulness of things in which the people of God are sustained in joy. It involves spirituality amongst the saints.
Rem So, does Paul use the same expression when he says in Ephesians 1 “Blessed be the God and Father?”
SMcC Paul was not stereotyped. I suppose the brethren will have noticed how in reading the Synopsis and in reading the Collected Writings Mr. Darby will interrupt a subject, and his soul in richest feelings breaks forth as the truth affects him. I think we want to let the truth affect our souls more. It affects our minds, but we want to let it affect our souls more, the feeling part of us.
MB So that there is a good remark in verse 3 is there, in that connection: “In my affection for the house of my God, I have given of my own property of silver and gold.”
SMcC Exactly. Not now his affliction, but his affection, “for the house of my God.”
GWB Would the truth effective in our souls give us a greater and enhanced view of the glory?
SMcC Well, exactly, and so what it says here, in verse 22, “They ate and drank before Jehovah on that day with great joy.” Now we are to notice that verse, and then it says, “They made Solomon the son of David king the second time.” Now this is another start you might say, a fresh touch in regard to sonship, as seen in Christ, as typified in Solomon; “They made Solomon the son of David king the second time.” But the eating and drinking is an interesting matter, because the Davidic side involves what is constitutional. In Ezra and Nehemiah they came together and they read, they were together three days, and there was the reading of the law, and there was much soul-searching, and feeling in regard to it, but we have another thought in relation to David, (1 Chronicles 12) they were with David three days, eating and drinking. And then we get here, verse 22, they ate and drank. This is a very substantial matter, affecting the saints constitutionally.
Rem What would you say in reference to the joy?
SMcC Well, we need the element of joy. It is very scarce at times, but joy belongs to Christianity, joy in the gospel. We should be filled with joy in relation to the glad tidings, as Luke would have us, and then John would impress us with joy too, in the Father’s world, in the Father’s system of things. The Lord Jesus imparts to us His own joy.
Rem Is that the thought in liberty?
SMcC Liberty leads to joy, yes, it is one of the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians, joy.
EBMcC I was just thinking of David breaking out here in the 10th and 11th verses, the way he breaks out and speaks of Jehovah Elohim. I do not think you find it anywhere else.
SMcC No we do not. We are impressed with what comes in here in its fulness, and then you get “and anointed him to Jehovah to be prince, and Zadok to be priest.” We can see how the moral line is carried along and not forgotten. “Zadok to be priest” is a remarkable allusion here.
Rem Would you say a little more about that?
SMcC Well, I think it shows how the moral glory acquired in matters of the truth lends itself to this wonderful transitional moment, where Solomon - wonderful type of Christ - is before the saints in this way. Zadok is the one who was faithful; he was not carried away by those who sought to make Adonijah king. Zadok was not invited to the feast. He was in the divine current, the current in which God was moving in relation to His anointed.
GRD In referring to making him king the second time, have you in mind that as a result of the exercises that the people have been going through and David’s help for them, they really come to that? The first time was the fruit of David’s commandment was it not, but now the people reach it from their side, do they?
SMcC Exactly, from the standpoint of enjoying things. That is, the ministry has in mind, you see, that we should enjoy things and be affected constitutionally with the prime end in mind, a fresh view of Christ, in all His glory.
ECK Would you say a little more that might help us as to this matter of the truth coming into our souls?
SMcC Well, I think it is a great matter that the truth should affect us inwardly; that it should not just affect us mentally, but it should affect us inwardly, so that the service of God becomes a soul matter, and things too in the testimony become soul matters. Feelings are lying behind the glad tidings, feelings are lying behind the service of God.
WJB It says in Psalm 132, “Let thy saints shout for joy,” and the second time it says, “And her saints shall shout aloud for joy.”
SMcC We are to be reminded of how the saints are affected inwardly, as divine greatness impresses them.
WJB Spiritual exultation is our privilege, is it not?
SMcC It is, that is we have the Spirit. Why should we not exult? Why should we not be filled with joy? When we think that the Spirit is with us and in us in regard to these great matters of God’s throne and Christ on it.
Rem Is that the thought in being not drunk with wine but being filled with the Spirit in Ephesians?
SMcC Yes, it would have in mind what is linked with ourselves is to be eliminated, and room made for the Spirit, to promote this joy that we are referring to.
AMcKH You have in mind something in regard to the 29th and 30th verses - the acts of David? Would that indicate that God is over the matter all the time in view of everyone being brought into the joy of sonship?
SMcC Well, exactly, and so the wealth of the ministry is alluded to. Well might we be reminded of the wealth of the ministry! and well might it raise the challenge with every one of us, as to where we have been, and as to where we are now, in regard to all that has passed over our heads, in our times, I mean, in relation to the abundance of spiritual ministry, as peculiarly marking these closing days.
GRD Would it bear the interpretation that once Solomon is on the throne, that is, the idea of sonship reached, we can look back over the ministry and see much more in it than we did before?
SMcC I am sure we can all say that, that as we go back over the ministry now, the more we enjoy the truth of our heavenly calling, and the more we go back over the ministry, the more we are amazed at the depths of spiritual wealth that is in it, and therefore the importance of reading. If persons do not read, they never make much headway. Now some would belittle reading, as if it would feed their mentality, but, if by the help of the Spirit, we pursue reading as we should, we shall find that heaven will help us. Daniel was a man that read, and heaven noticed it, and we would earnestly appeal to the younger ones with all that they have in their early years, to search out the ministry, read the Scriptures, and read the ministry, now when they have the time and the ability to do it.
PB Would you link up the importance of reading with verse 24 - “And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of king David, submitted themselves to Solomon the king.”
SMcC Very good. I was going to refer to that earlier, and I am glad you brought us back to it. It says in verse 23, “And Solomon sat on the throne of Jehovah as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him. And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of king David, submitted themselves to Solomon the king.” Think of the power in this realm, that brings about all these blessed results. God is in the matter, and you see, that is why we get these movements of each one of them submitting themselves. It is a delightful touch.
EB Would you say that after a conflict, it should issue rightly in an increased appreciation of sonship in Christ and in the saints? That the idea of sonship will become dominant, and the saints will readily submit themselves to what is current at the present moment, and will come into the gain of liberty?
SMcC Exactly, and every conflict, I am sure, would throw into relief Christ in all His glories, for that is the end in conflict, that we should have a fresh view and appreciation of Christ. Conflict is not to make much of man as such but to make much of Christ.
Rem Should the 25th verse be noted?
SMcC Yes, God following this matter. It is an interesting thing that God follows up, speaking reverently, the movements of the people and the princes and the mighty men, and all the sons of David. God comes in behind in verse 25, “and He ‘magnified Solomon’ exceedingly in the sight of all Israel..”
AJC Thinking of the books referred to, they would help us to be balanced. We take up one line of things and become unbalanced. Is that what we urgently need at the present time?
SMcC Yes. It is a great thing to be balanced that we should understand the ministry in its scope and extent, and not get out of balance, and make too much of a particular thing which may come out in relation to a certain set of circumstances, certain features of the truth which have been emphasized at a specific time, in relation to certain exercises.
WHW Is it noteworthy that in the 28th verse it speaks of David, that he died full of days, riches and honour? Would the reference to honour suggest how his unjealous spirit in making way for Solomon only added to the regard in which the people held him?
SMcC Well, exactly. Though David is going out in weakness he is not going out marked by decrepitude of age here. Chronicles would leave an impression on our spirits of the greatness of David in this particular part, and the fulness of what is linked with him and his place in Israel.
Rem Would you say a word about “with all his reign?” Would that allude to the spirit of grace that marked him when he reigned?
SMcC Exactly. “With all his reign and his might, and all the times that passed over him.” What David could tell us about those times, the experiences linked with those times! And it says “and over Israel” - what the saints can tell about times too. And then it says “and over all the kingdoms of the countries,” the great extensiveness of what is involved here.
CCC So what comes before us is the evidence of the basic work of God in its own proper features coming out in the thought of these persons submitting themselves. I was comparing it with chapter 22. It says, “Jehovah has subdued the enemies before His people,” but here there are persons of note submitting themselves. Would you say something as to that?
SMcC It is remarkable how in chapter 22 it is a matter of what God has done, the land is subdued before Jehovah. “He has given the inhabitants of the land into my hand; and the land is subdued before Jehovah and before His people.” It is what God has done there, but here it is the work of God amongst the people of God, amongst these prominent persons, influenced by the realm that they are in, yielding themselves to Christ, as typified in Solomon.
RFC Would that make way for the magnification of Solomon?
SMcC That is just how the truth works out, and that is how matters should work out amongst us. God is going to increase before our view the greatness of Christ and what Solomon represents. We are in the presence of regal matters, regal thoughts, and the more we understand sonship, the greater our thoughts will be, and the more regal our thoughts will be.