2 Samuel 1:23
Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives.
It was very lovely and pleasant of David
to say so. He had no hesitation, of course, in saying this of his beloved
Jonathan, every memory of whom was very pleasant, like a sweet strain of
music, or the scent of the spring breeze; but he might have been excused for
omitting Saul from the graceful and generous epithets he heaped on the
kindred soul of his friend. But death had obliterated the sad, dark memories
of recent days, and had transported the Psalmist across the dream of years
to Saul as he was when he was first introduced to him. All that could be
said in praise of the first Hebrew king was crowded into these glowing
lines-the courage, martial prowess, swiftness to aid those who required
help, his pleasantness and courtesy in address.
This is the love of God, which He
breathes into the hearts of His children. They become perfect in love, as He
is. “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.” It is Godlike for His children to love their enemies,
bless those who curse them, and pray for all who despitefully use and
persecute them. Is such love ours? Do we forbear from thinking evil? Do we
look on the virtues more often than the failures of our friends? Do we cast
the mantle of forgiveness over the injuries done to us, and dwell tenderly
on the excellences of our foes? Such is the love which never fails, but
endures when faith has turned to fruition, and hope has realized its dreams.
We need most of all a baptism of love.
A piece of clay will become fragrant if placed in contiguity to attar of
roses. Let us lie where John did, on the bosom of incarnate love, till we
begin to love as he.
2 Samuel 2:4
The men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king.
Thus was David anointed a second time.
Hitherto he had been the leader of a troop; now he became king of his own
tribe: and his kingdom clustered around the ancient city of Hebron.
Typically, we learn that our blessed
Lord will be acknowledged King of His own people, the Jews, before He is
accepted by the world at large. Now, His kingdom is in mystery-it is in the
Adullam stage. Men are gathering to Him from all quarters; but as yet the
world does not recognize it in their political calculations. But ere long
the Jews will recognize Him as King, and then we may begin to expect His
enthronement over the populations of the globe. When they repent and are
converted, times of repenting will come to all the world.
Experimentally we are taught, that as
each new department of our life unfolds, we should give Christ a fresh
coronation. The attitude which we took up years ago, of complete
consecration, must be applied perpetually to each fresh development of
experience. Each new step should be characterized by a definite waiting on
God, that there may be a fresh enduement of power, a recharging of the
spirit with His might. Was He King in the cave, then be sure to acknowledge
Him as such, now that you are called from obscurity into the glare of noon.
Whenever God says, by the circumstances of your life, Go up; always kneel at
the feet of Jesus, saying, “Lord, in the very little I found my joy and
strength in serving Thee only; and now, amid the greater responsibility and
publicity of my life, I desire to be Thy earnest, simple-minded,
whole-hearted follower.”
Have you anointed Jesus as your King?
Do not fail. Remember how near of kin He is.
2 Samuel 3:1
David warred stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul warred weaker.
The war between the flesh and the
Spirit is long, but the end is sure. As the Baptist said of Jesus, so must
the flesh say of the Spirit, He must increase; I must decrease. Sometimes,
in the long strain of the war, our spirit dies down. Will the bugle never
cease to ring out its alarm? Will the assaults never come to an end? When
shall we be able to lay aside sword and breastplate, and to enter the land
of rest? Oh to be able to say with the Apostle, “I have fought the good
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith”!
Yet take heart. The assaults diminish
in frequency and strength in proportion as they are faithfully resisted.
Each time you resist success fully you will find it easier to resist. The
strength of the vanquished foe enters the vanquisher.
Moreover, ultimate victory is secured.
“Whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the victory
that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the
world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:4–5).
It makes a great difference to the soldier, when he belongs to an
All-Victorious Legion, and serves under a Captain that never lost a fight.
And there can be no doubt as to the issue in your heart or mine. “He must
reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.”
At any moment we may look for the
sudden collapse of a great portion of the confederacy of evil, which has so
long menaced us; as when Abner suddenly came to Hebron to give in his
adhesion to David. What a huge piece of cliff fell that day into the sea!
Expect the sudden collapse of evils which have long troubled you.
2 Samuel 4:9
As the Lord liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all adversity.
It was the midday of David’s life,
and, looking back, he saw how good the Lord had been to him. Step by step
God had brought him up out of a horrible pit, and from the miry clay,
setting him upon a rock, and establishing his goings. What need was there,
then, that men should interfere to hasten the unfolding of the Divine
purposes? It had been his lifelong habit to wait. Whatever he needed he
looked to God to supply. Whatever difficulties blocked his path, he looked
to God to remove. Whatever men stood in his way he looked to God to deal
with them. Twice in the wilderness he refused to take Saul’s life. He had
executed the Amalekite because he claimed to have slain Saul on Gilboa. And,
in pursuance of the same policy, he could have no complicity in the act of
the murderers of Ish-bosheth, even though they made his way clear to the
throne of Israel.
Let God redeem thee out of all thine
adversities. Do not lose heart or hope. Do not put forth thy hand to snatch
at any position or deliverance by an act which might afterward cause thee
shame or sorrow. “Trust in the Lord, and do good. Roll thy way upon the
Lord. Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. Rest in the Lord,
and wait patiently for Him” (Psalm 37:3-7, r. v.). He who turns glaciers to
rivers that pass away, will remove all thy difficulties and perplexities. He
shall cause thee to inherit the land. He will promote thee in due time, and
give thee to see thy desire upon thine enemies. He who redeemed thy soul by
His most precious blood cannot fail thee, however long He may tarry.
Remember that He ever liveth, and loveth, and reigneth.
2 Samuel 5:13
And David took him more wives out of Jerusalem.
This is terribly disappointing!
According to the ideas of the surrounding nations, the greatness of a
monarch was gauged by the extent of his harem. But the law of Moses put
severe restraint on the multiplication of wives, “that his heart turn not
away” (Deuteronomy 17:17). It seems as though the soul of David sank into
sensual indulgence and luxuriance. It lost much of its early hardihood and
strength in consequence; and at this period of his life those seeds were
sown, which in after years brought forth such a plentiful and terrible
harvest of anguish, murder, and impurity in his family.
Few of us realize how much our
character owes to the stern discipline to which God subjects us. The only
way to keep us healthy and vigorous is to send us many a nipping frost, many
a keen northern blast. The bleak hillside breeds stronger natures than the
warm sheltered valley. The difference between Anglo-Saxon and Negro is
largely wrought by temperature and soil. The campaign, with its strain on
every power of endurance, trains better soldiers than the barracks. As David
was a stronger, better man, when hunted like a coney in the rocks of Engedi,
so are we braced to a nobler life, when all things seem against us.
Few of us can be trusted with unbroken
happiness. God is compelled to withhold what the flesh craves. But where
prosperity has shone on your path, be very careful not to abuse it. Consider
it as indicating God’s loving trust in you. He would rather convey His
lesson in sunshine than in storm. But walk carefully and humbly, looking to
Him constantly for daily grace, and never relaxing the girdle about the
loin.
2 Samuel 6:3
They set the Ark of God upon a new cart.
This was their mistake. The Divine
directions were explicit that the Ark of the living God must be carried on
the shoulders of living men. There would have been no stumbling of oxen, no
swaying of the Ark to falling, no need for Uzzah to reach out his hand, if
only this simple direction had been obeyed. This breaking forth of God was
to recall men to simple absolute obedience to the rules and regulations that
had been so explicitly laid down in the Levitical code. It could not fall
into disuse without grave loss to the entire people. Better that one life
should be sacrificed for disobedience than that the whole nation should be
impoverished for the relaxation of that ancient law.
We are fond of bringing new carts to
God. At every birthday we build the new cart of good resolution, and place
thereon the Ark of God. We will be different, and on our fresh endeavors the
Lord of Hosts shall ride; but we must drive, and if needs be, steady the
Ark. Ah! it is not long before the oxen stumble, and Uzzah who drives is
smitten to the dust of death.
God wants, not new carts, but the
living shoulders of consecrated men. We must live for Him, surrendering
ourselves to His service; not driving, but being driven; not conducting, but
being impelled; not imposing our thoughts on Him, but being willing to
submit ourselves absolutely to Him. There is no need to fear God, if only we
will obey Him, and in obedience discover the laws by which we may approach
and serve Him. Then the power which otherwise flames forth to destroy will
become the useful servant of our faith, and we shall be able to undertake
great things for God.
2 Samuel 7:25
Do as Thou hast said.
This is the voice of a childlike
faith.
Note what led to these words.— Nathan
had just unfolded to the King all the purposes of God’s heart toward him.
That He would establish his throne, deliver him from his enemies; and set up
his dynasty to succeed him— this and much else. David’s heart was full of
joy and gladness— he knew that God would not run back from His word; but He
felt none the less the duty of claiming the fulfillments of these
guarantees. So it is with all the promises of God; though they are Yea and
Amen in Christ, it is requisite for us to put our hand on them; plead them
before God; and claim their fulfillment with appropriating faith.
Notice the attitude in which David
uttered these words.— “He sat before the Lord.” Was not this the position of
rest and trust? On another occasion, he lay all night upon the earth (2
Samuel 12:16), in an agony of prayer, because not sure of God’s purpose, and
hoping to turn God by the extremity of his anguish. But there is a
marvellous alteration in the tone of our prayer, so soon as we can base it
on the declared purposes of God. We enter into His rest; we put ourselves in
the current of His purposes; we sit before the Lord.
Mark the blessedness of communion with
God.— It is as a man talks with his friend. We are not required always to
kneel when we pray, or to con over a certain form of words; we can sit and
talk with God, catching up His words as they fall on our hearts, and
reflecting them back on Him in praise, and prayer, and happy converse. All
true prayer originates in the declarations of God’s love, to each of which
we answer, Do as Thou hast said.
2 Samuel 8:11
The silver and gold he had dedicated of all nations which he subdued.
David might not build the temple, but
he was bent on making provision for it. Indeed, Solomon had never been able
to do as he did, unless his father had gathered these stores of gold and
silver. Thus other men labor, and we enter into their labors; but the
accomplished building is credited by God to each. He does not forget David
when Solomon’s temple stands complete. The reward is proportioned to each
man’s service, according to his share.
It is a glorious thing when we not
only defeat our foes, but get spoils out of their overthrow which we can use
for the service of God and man. It is as possible for us as for David. Out
of our failures, temptations, mistakes, let us get the power of helping and
directing others. In death Jesus won the keys of death and Hades, and the
power to become a merciful and faithful High Priest; and now He ever liveth
to make intercession for His people (Hebrews 7:25).
But the main lesson of this chapter is
the foreshadowing of God’s purpose, that Gentiles should contribute to the
building of His Temple. What was literally true in the case of the Temple of
Solomon, is spiritually true of the heavenly Temple, the Church. From every
nation, and kindred, people and tongue, souls are being gathered, who form a
spiritual house, a holy Temple in the Lord. The whole world is destined to
contribute to that structure, which is being prepared secretly and
mystically, but shall ere long be manifested in its full glory. It is very
interesting to get this suggestion from the chronicles of a nation so
exclusive and haughty as the Jews. “They shall come from the East and
West....”
2 Samuel 9:7 (9a)
Thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.
Four times in this chapter we are told
of the lame man eating bread at the royal table. But what are these facts
recorded and repeated for, save to accentuate the infinite blessings which
come to us through the Divine love?
Mephibosheth had done nothing to merit
the royal favor. Not a word is said of his being well-favored and
attractive. So far from that, he was lame on both his feet, and probably a
sickly invalid. In his own judgment he was worthless as a dead dog. His
state was impoverished; no deed of prowess could win David’s notice; he was
almost entirely at the mercy of his servant, Ziba. In these respects there
are many analogies to our own condition in the sight of God. We are lame
indeed; and, so far as we are concerned, it is quite impossible that we
should ever win the Divine regard, or sit at His table among His sons.
But between David and Jonathan a
covenant had been struck, which had provided for the children of the
ill-fated Jonathan (1 Samuel 20:14-16). It was because of this sacred
obligation that Mephibosheth fared as he did. Look away, child of God, to
the covenant struck between God and thy representative, the Son of His love.
It is idle of thee to seek to propitiate the Divine favor, or earn a seat at
His table; but if thou art willing to identify thyself with thy Lord, and to
shelter thyself in Him by the living union of faith; if thou canst base thy
plea on the Blood of the everlasting covenant— then the provisions of that
covenant between Father and Son shall be extended to thee: and because of
God’s love to Jesus thou shalt sit at the Divine table, and be regarded as
one of the heirs of the great King.
2 Samuel 10:12
The Lord do that which seemeth Him good.
Israel was arrayed against
overwhelming odds. To human sight it must have appeared very improbable that
Joab would be able to hold his own. However, he made the best arrangements
he could; exhorted his men to be of good courage and do their utmost; and
then piously left the issue to the God of battles.
There are times in all lives when the
case seems desperate. How can we meet with ten thousand him who cometh
against us with twenty thousand! Heart and flesh fail. What resource is
there, then, save in the flight of the lonely man to the only God? It is for
God to act, since the help of man is vain.
In your personal straits.— When
patience is exhausted; when the last handful is taken from the barrel; when
complicated trials meet and hem you in; when the iron gate and the keepers
before the door appear to render escape impossible— then look up, God is
marching with reinforcements to your aid.
In your work and war for God in the
world.— We too often act and speak as if success were to be won by the
forces that we may be able to bring into the field, whereas God asks us for
nothing more than fidelity and the right disposition of such forces as we
can command; He will do all the rest.
In your outlook on the conflict
between good and evil.— It is quite true that there appears to be an
infinite disparity between the one and the other. But there are other forces
in the field than appear. There is another host of which God Himself is
captain. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord lifts
up the standard. “There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth
upon the heaven to thy help.”
2 Samuel 11:1
David tarried still at Jerusalem.
Ah! fatal dalliance in the arms of
sensual ease! It led to David’s undoing. It was the time of the year when
kings generally went forth to the fight; and in earlier days David would
never have thought of leaving to Joab or others the strain and stress of
conflict when there were hard knocks to give and take. Indeed, on more than
one occasion his followers had remonstrated against his exposing the Light
of Israel to the risks of the battlefield. But now he sends Joab and his
mighty men to fight against Ammon, while he tarries securely at Jerusalem.
In this fatal lethargy he betrays the deterioration of his soul. Already the
walls were broken down, and entrance into the citadel was easy. We are not
surprised to learn that as he sauntered lazily on his palace roof in the
sultry afternoon he was swept away before the rush of sudden passion, and
took the poor man’s ewe lamb to satisfy the vagrant, hungry impulse which
suddenly came to him.
Beware of hours of ease! Rest is
necessary; times of recruiting and renewal must come to us all; nature
positively demands re-creation; but there must be no neglect of known duty,
no handing over to others of what we might and could do ourselves, no
tarrying behind the march of the troops when we should go forth with them to
the battle. Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. Be most on
guard when not actively engaged against the enemy. One unlocked gate may
admit the foe to the citadel of the life, and rob you of peace for all
after-days. The luxury of the plains of Capua was more fatal to the soldiers
of Hannibal than the passage of the Alps.
2 Samuel 12:29
And David went to Rabbah, and fought against it, and took it.
Victory might seem to have been
forever forfeited after so great a fall. We could not have been surprised
had we been told that from this time onward the course of David’s conquests
had stayed. And yet this thought would be a misconception of God’s dealings
with the penitent. Where there is true contrition, confession, and faith, He
not only forgives, but restores; He not only restores to the enjoyment of
His favor, but reinstates in opportunities of usefulness. So Jesus not only
met the apostle who had denied Him, and put him back into the old position
of happy fellowship, but gave him a commission to feed His sheep and lambs.
We have sometimes met backsliders who
have doubted the possibility of their forgiveness; or, if they have realized
this, they have never dared to hope that they could ever be what they had
been. And so long as faith refuses to believe in the perfect work of God’s
love, it must inevitably take a back seat. Let us seek for such an entire
faith in God’s forgiving and restoring love as to dare to believe that we
are put again into the old place, and allowed to anticipate the same
victories as aforetime. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John
1:9).
Directly David said, “I have sinned,”
in the flash of a moment Nathan said; “The Lord hath put away thy sin”; and
when Joab sent tidings that Rabbah was about to fall, David was permitted
the honor of its final capture, though it had been associated so closely
with Uriah’s death. Where sin abounds grace superabounds, and reigns through
righteousness. Dare to believe this.
2 Samuel 13:31
Then the king arose, and tare his garments, and lay on the earth.
Throughout the incidents of this
chapter, the soul of David touched the bottom of the sea of anguish and
remorse. The circumstances narrated were in themselves sad enough; but there
was a more bitter element in them for David, because he knew that they were
the harvest of which his own sin was the seed. Here began to be fulfilled
the sentence of God through Nathan, ‘‘The sword shall never depart from
thine house.”
He had broken up the peace of
another’s home, and peace had quitted his home, never to return. He had
defiled the purity of Uriah’s wife, and the purity of his own daughter had
been trampled under foot. He had smitten Uriah, and now Absalom had murdered
Amnon. Through those awful hours when the entire fate of the whole of his
family seemed trembling in the balance, he drank to the dregs the cup of
bitterness. Oh, how true are the apostle’s words: “Whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall be also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh
reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap
life everlasting.”
Sin resembles the Australian weed,
which when once it is sown in the waters will spread with such rapidity as
to spoil their beauty, and choke their flow. We must distinguish between the
penal and natural results. The penal were borne by Christ for us all, and
are remitted forevermore; but the natural remain even to forgiven penitents,
as they did to David. Still, God’s grace may transmute them into blessings,
and cause pearls to grow where before there had been gaping wounds. Ask God
to take in hand the natural consequences of your sins, and make them means
of grace and ennoblement.
2 Samuel 14:14
Yet doth He devise means that His banished be not expelled from Him.
The means that David devised were
really inadequate. He allowed his heart to dictate to his royal sense of
justice and rectitude, and permitted Absalom to return to his country and
home without one word of confession, one symptom of penitence. The king was
overmastered by the father; and the result was disastrous. It shook the
respect of his people, undermined the foundations of just government,
slackened the bands of every family in the land, and confirmed Absalom in
his willful and obstinate career. “What!” said he to himself, “does my
father bid me come back without conditions? Does he demand no confession or
reparation? Then he condones my sin.”
Let parents be warned. If your
children disobey, and violate the rules of your home, you have no right to
treat them as you did before, until they have owned their sin. You must
insist on penitence, confession, and reparation, though it take hours or
days or even weeks of suffering and pleading to bring it about.
Into what relief does David’s mistake
throw God’s way of forgiveness and salvation! Had he acted as David, and as
so many wish us to believe, He would have reinstated the human family in the
Paradise of His love without waiting for the work of the Mediator; or the
confession of the prodigal. By the arbitrary exercise of His sovereign will
He might have wiped out the record of our sins without our concurrence. But
it would have been to the irreparable undoing of man. Hence it behoved
Christ to suffer, by His blood making an atonement for our sins, and by His
Spirit bringing us to penitence and confession.
2 Samuel 15:26
Here am I, let Him do to me as seemeth good unto Him.
There is the patience of hope. We love
to gird ourselves in the vehemence of our self-will, to go where we choose,
to rule the lives of others; but as the years pass and our pride is humbled,
the sinews of our strength slackened, and the radiance of early prospects
overcast, we are willing to hand ourselves over to our Father, saying,
“Behold, here am I; let Him do to me as seemeth good unto Him.”
It was thus that Isaac was passive in
the hands of Abraham. It was thus that Jesus spoke to His Father, “I come to
do thy will, O my God.” It was thus that the maiden who was blessed above
women, answered the angel’s message. It was thus that Paul, when urged not
to go up to Jerusalem, avowed his willingness to live or die, as the Lord
might choose.
God is ever working upon us through
circumstances; and, as in the present case, sometimes He overrules the
plottings of wicked men to fulfill His Divine purpose. His will is sometimes
brought to us in a cup which a Judas holds to our lips. How blessed to be
able to say, as we go forth to meet our Father’s will, Behold, here am I!
and to look beyond the plottings and machinations of our enemies to One who
loves us infinitely. Whatever He permits must be good. Good, if driven as an
exile from our home; good, if exposed to the revilings of a Shimei; good, if
the heart breaks in bitter tears. All must be good which the good Lord
permits or appoints. Many were the afflictions of David, but out of them all
he was delivered. When he had learned the lesson, the rod was stayed. God
did not take away His mercy from him. Thou too art in His hands, and He will
certainly bring thee again, and show thee the city and His habitation.
2 Samuel 16:14
The king and all the people came weary, and refreshed themselves there.
A Great weariness falls often on our
souls. We are wearied because of the greatness of our way, and inclined to
say there is no hope. Memory tires us, perpetually casting up the record of
past unfaithfulness and transgression. The bitter way of the natural
consequences of sin is toilsome and difficult to the feet. We faint before
the averted eye of former friends and the pitiless criticism of foes.
Longings for a vanished past, for life and love, for purity and peace, grind
heavily in the soul. Our King has known something of human weariness, though
not from all the sources that cause it in His subjects.
But amid the presence of our weariness
the voice of God may be heard saying, “This is the rest wherewith ye may
cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing.” There is rest for
weary souls beneath the shadow of the cross, in the sight of which the
burden rolls away. There is rest and refreshment as we sit in the banqueting
house of Christ’s manifested and realized affection. There is refreshment as
we eat of His flesh and drink of His blood; as we yield our will to His; as
we sit with Him in heavenly places. We assuredly find Him to be “a hiding
place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a
dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (Isaiah 32:2).
There is no hill Difficulty without
its arbor; no desert without its oasis; no sultry heat without its shadow of
a great rock; no weariness without its pillow; no intolerable sorrow without
its solace; no weariness without its refreshment; no failure of man without
a very present help in God.
2 Samuel 17:21
Arise, and pass quickly over the water.
The water of Jordan may serve as an
illustration for our position. Our David has passed over the waters of
death, and in doing so has taken us with Him. There is a sense in which in
the morning light of Easter Day all who believed passed over with Him, so
that “by the morning light there lacked not one of them that was not gone
over to Jordan.”
We all hold the doctrine of
Substitution: Do we sufficiently realize that of Identification? Not only
did Jesus die for us, but we died with and in Him. In Him, as the true
Noah’s Ark, the whole Church passed over the Jordan of death from the old
world to the new. There are some who do not understand that in the purpose
of God we are already standing on resurrection ground. Across the water we
can hear the murmur of the world, and detect its corruption; but we are the
inheritors of the world in which there is no death nor corruption nor the
dominion of sin. When a man realizes this he no longer braces himself up to
meet death, because he knows that in the person of Christ he has left it
behind forever.
What is true, however, in God’s
purpose should be the aim and goal of our daily striving. To us there comes
the unceasing call, “Arise, and go over Jordan.” There is always a thither
and a hither side for every experience and act. We may always do as the
world does; this is to stay on the death side. We may always do as Christ
does; this is to pass over to the risen and living side. Reckon that you
have died, and mortify the deeds of your body. “And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin; but the spirit is life because of
righteousness.”
2 Samuel 18:22–23
Wherefore wilt thou run? ... Come what may, said he, I will run. (r. v.)
Joab did not love David, as Ahimaaz
did, and could not understand what made the young man so eager to carry the
tidings. Doubtless Ahimaaz and Cushi entirely misinterpreted the heart of
David, and thought that he would be glad to hear that the rebellion was
stamped out, and Absalom was dead. And it was because of the pleasure which
he thought to give his king that the swift-footed son of Zadok pleaded for
permission to run. What though there would be no reward, or that it would
fall to the lot of Cushi, who had already started at Joab’s command— that
mattered not, the love of David constrained him.
How often that question of reward is
thrown at the servants of God. It is one of the favorite taunts of the
world; as Satan said of job, that we do as we do because we are paid. “Doth
Job serve God for nought?” And nothing so startles men as disinterested
service. They cannot account for it; but it wins their respect. “Reward or
no reward; recompense or none; smiles or tears, come what may, let me run.”
That is the spirit that becomes a Christian, and convinces the world. “The
love of Christ constraineth us.”
Ahimaaz outran Cushi. The one was a
volunteer for love’s dear sake; the other, a bond-servant, doing as he was
told. Love loaned wings to his feet, and speeding past his fellow bore him
first into David’s presence. So God’s will is done in heaven: “The cherubim
ran and returned like a flash of lightning.” So God’s will is done on earth:
“They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to
bring His disciples word. And behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail!”
2 Samuel 19:42
The King is near of kin to us.
There are two derivations for the word
king: one from the word can— the king is the man that can do things; the
other from the word kin— the king is closely related to us, of our kith and
kin. In either case, there is a beautiful meaning, as touching our Lord and
Savior. He is King, because He has overcome our enemies, and can overcome.
He is King, because He has taken on Himself our flesh and blood, and has
forever made us one with Himself. The King is our kinsman. Our kinsman is
King.
It is very comforting to know how
really our Lord has identified Himself with us. The Gospels are full of the
wonderful story. His kinship was manifested, in—
His Prayers.— He bade us speak to God
as our Father; in that marvellous possessive pronoun, not only linking us
all to one another, but including Himself in our petitions, save when we ask
for forgiveness.
His Infirmities.— “We have not a high
priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.” His
hunger and thirst; His weariness and exhaustion; His suffering unto death
all accentuate the closeness of the tie between us.
His Temptations.— “In all points
tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” The avenues through which the
tempter could approach Him were those by which He assails us also. No
temptation took Him, but such as is common to man. So to every, lonely
soldier of His He draws near, saying, “Be of good cheer; I have passed
through it all. I am your brother in the fight; I feel for you with a quick
sympathy; the glories of my throne do not alter my true-hearted love.”
2 Samuel 20:2
The men of Judah clave unto their King.
We are reminded of the exhortation of
the good Barnabas, that with purpose of heart the converts of Antioch should
cleave unto the Lord. This is the test of a true faith. We often come to the
dividing of the paths. We stand on the watershed of the hills: that way
leads back to Moab with its fascinations; this on to Canaan with its
spiritual attractions. Orpah and Ruth must choose. Each is equally profuse
in speeches and tears; but the ultimate test of love is whether they will
stay or go. Which will cleave to the widowed Naomi? She is the truest lover;
her fidelity will attest the fervor and strength of her affection. Orpah
kissed her mother-in-law, and returned to her people and her gods, while
Ruth “clove unto her.”
We must cleave to Jesus, in spite of
the derision of the multitude. We must be prepared to stand with Him when He
stands alone, or goes forth alone to die. We must be willing to stem the
mighty tide of the world which has left Him and pours past us. Though all
forsake Him, yet we must cleave.
We must cleave to Jesus, in spite of
the rebellion of the flesh. Our whole nature may sometimes rise in
insurrection, demanding some for bidden fruit. It is no child’s play then
for the lonely will to stand by itself in unshaken fidelity and loyalty; but
it must.
We must cleave to Jesus when He seems
to rebuff us. Only those who can stand so sharp an ordeal, are exposed to
it. But sometimes we are called to pass through it as job, that angels may
learn how Christ’s lovers cling to Him, not for His gifts, but for Himself.
2 Samuel 21:1
Because he slew the Gibeonites.
The Gibeonites were under the
protection of a special covenant, which had been entered into between them
and Joshua. That covenant was the outcome of a ruse on their part. But since
it had been most solemnly made by the leaders of Israel, it held good. The
fact of their deceit and chicanery could not absolve Israel from the oath
which had been passed for their safety. For centuries the provisions of this
covenant had been observed, till Saul invaded them, and slew the Gibeonites.
This was a grievous sin, which, according to the religious light of the
time, seemed to demand blood; and David proposed to atone for blood by
blood. Nothing but blood could atone for sin so black and dark.
We are also protected by a covenant,
into which the Father has entered with the Son, not for our worthiness or
merit, but only because He would. The provisions of that covenant engage to
take us to be His people, to remember our sins no more, and to make the
Divine law the object of our love (Hebrews 8). And the argument is
irresistible, that if man is so mindful of a covenant as to feel that its
infraction is a sin which can only be expiated by blood-shedding, it is
impossible to suppose that God will ever run back from His.
O my soul, thou mayest rest secure in
this here is an everlasting rock; this foundation shall suffice thee
forevermore. Thou art in the Son of His love. Though thou art sinful and
evil, yet thou art included in the covenant which is more lasting than that
of day and night. Jesus has met its conditions on thy behalf, and has
undertaken to secure thy obedience and holiness.
2 Samuel 22:36
Thy gentleness hath made me great.
The triumph of God’s gentle goodness
will be our song forever. In those far distant ages, when we look back on
our earthly course, as a grown man on his boyhood, and when the words of
this Psalm shall express our glad emotions, we shall recognize that the Hand
which brought us thither was as gentle as our mother’s; and that the things
we craved, but failed to receive, were withheld by His gentle goodness. Our
history tells what gentleness will do.
The Apostle besought the Corinthian
converts by the gentleness of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:1). Though there were
abuses amongst them that seemed to call for stringent dealing, he felt that
they could be best removed by the gentle love which he had learned from the
heart of Christ. The wisdom which is from above is gentle as well as pure;
and in dealing with the sin that chokes our growth, it is probable that
gentleness will do more than severity. The gentleness of the nurse that
cherishes her children; of the lover to her whom he cherishes above himself;
of the infinite love which bears and endures to the uttermost— is the
furnace before which the foul ingredients of our hearts are driven never to
return. We might brave the lion; we are vanquished by the Lamb; we could
withstand the scathing look of scorn; but when the gentle Lord casts on us
the look of ineffable tenderness, we go out to weep bitterly.
That He has borne with us so lovingly;
that He has filled our lives with mercy even when compelled to correct; that
He has never altered in His tender behavior toward us; that He has returned
our rebuffs and slights with meekness and forbearance; that He has never
wearied of us— this is an everlasting tribute to the gentleness that makes
great.
2 Samuel 23:4
As the light of the morning when the sun riseth, a morning without clouds.
The dealings of God with man are
compared to morning light, and the sprouting of tender grass in the sunshine
that follows rain. The one may refer to youth, and the other to age. In each
there is sunlight: in the one case it is before the clouds have gathered; in
the other after they have dispersed.
Clouds.— There are many different
sorts: the cirrus, like platines in the sky; the cumulus, in heaps, like the
summits of distant mountains; the strata, or long bars; the nimbus, heavy
with showers. There is a counterpart for each in human life, without which
we should miss much of t
