“And they made Solomon, the Son of David, King the second time; and anointed him unto the Lord to be the chief Governor, and Zadok to be Priest. Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord, as King, instead of David his father, and prospered, and all Israel obeyed him.” (1 Chron. 29:22, 2322And did eat and drink before the Lord on that day with great gladness. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him unto the Lord to be the chief governor, and Zadok to be priest. 23Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him. (1 Chronicles 29:22‑23).)
IT is both for the glory of the Lord Himself, and for the comfort of the soul of the Believer, to know how all the purposes of God were laid in Christ before the foundation of the world. Christ was, as one has said, the foundation of all the divine counsels—the first idea, if I may so speak, in the mind of God—the Alpha—the beginning of the ways of Jehovah. (Prov. 8:2222The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. (Proverbs 8:22).) He was given, it is true, in due time for the Church, but the Church from everlasting had been given to Him, and not He to the Church. “The man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man;” (1 Cor. 11:88For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. (1 Corinthians 11:8).) and therefore we hear Him saying, (touching His body the Church,) “Thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.” (Psa. 139:1616Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. (Psalm 139:16).) So also we read of “the eternal purpose, which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord;” and again, of “His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began;” and many like passages, So as to the Savior Himself, His sorrows and glories were all prepared of old. His sorrows, as the Lamb of God, were written “in the volume of the book;” and it was by “the everlasting covenant” that all His glories were secured; for by it, as the pledge of them all, was He brought from the dead, the Great Shepherd of the sheep. (Psa. 40:77Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me, (Psalm 40:7), Heb. 10:7, 13:20,)
But these His sorrows and glories were not only thus in covenant from the beginning ordered and secured, but they were also presented—in types and shadows—before the faith of His elect, when ages and dispensations had begun their course, and as they were rolling onward. Thus the sacrifices which have been offered continually since the fall of man, as is commonly known, set forth His sufferings—The tabernacle and temple, with their furniture and services, variously exhibited Him. There was no speech or language in them, but faith heard in all the wondrous tale. And it was this which made “the house of the Lord” the scene of the ancient Believer’s sweetest joy; for he there beheld, as in a glass darkly, “the beauty of the Lord.” (Psa. 27:44One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple. (Psalm 27:4).)—in the temple he inquired after Jesus.
But not only in things like these was He set forth, but persons from time to time were raised up of God to present Him in different features.
In Eden, Adam, as lord of the creation, as the sleeping man, as the husband of the woman, set Him forth variously. After the transgression and loss of Eden, the promise of the Seed of the woman, made Him known in a general way as the great object of faith and hope; and then the different glories which were prepared for Him as this Seed, this Bruiser of the serpent, were gradually and successively unfolded in various persons.
But I would here turn aside for a moment to inquire how we are to trace out and search for the Lord Jesus, the Christ of God, in the Scriptures. We know He is to be found there abundantly, and indeed this is the formal reason for searching them; as He says. Himself, “Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they that testify of me.” (John 5:3939Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. (John 5:39).) “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” “He wrote of me,” says the Lord speaking of Moses: and again, in company with two of His disciples, “Beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” The Scriptures, as the Jews judged, were the depository of life; (John 5:3939Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. (John 5:39).) and in this they judged rightly. Their error was; that they mistook the place in the Scriptures where the life lay; they thought that it lay in the law which had been given to them, so that life was theirs exclusively. (Rom. 9:3131But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness. (Romans 9:31).) But we know that it rather lay in “the testimony of Jesus,” who is the life. (John 5:4040And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. (John 5:40). 17:3. 2 Cor. 3:1717Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Corinthians 3:17).)
Where then, it may be asked, in the Scriptures are we to find Jesus? by what rule are we trace Him? To this I would say, there is a special gift to teach conferred on some, (Acts 13:11Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. (Acts 13:1); Rom. 12:77Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; (Romans 12:7); Eph. 4:1111And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; (Ephesians 4:11).) and their duty it is to stir up that gift for the common profit; but beside this, the Scriptures are given for the learning of all the saints, and the mind that is most spiritually exercised, will be the ablest and most skillful in searching them, and Jesus in them, so as neither to lose a trace of Himself, nor to mistake any other for Him, (Heb. 5:11-1411Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. 12For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. 13For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. 14But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. (Hebrews 5:11‑14).) I would say also; we are not told beforehand in every place where He is, but are commanded to search; but we are told beforehand in some places where He is, that our further search may in some measure be graciously and divinely directed. And above all, we should remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom—a single eye the surest pledge of a successful search; (1 Cor. 3:1-3; 14:20; 11And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? (1 Corinthians 3:1‑3)
20Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men. (1 Corinthians 14:20)
20Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? (1 Corinthians 1:20) Peter 2:1.) for he that doeth the will, shall know of the doctrine, and “the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him.”
But let us know this first, that God the Spirit, the witness of Jesus, must be trusted supremely in the search to keep our feet and guide our eye. When a sight of the distant land was given to Moses, it was given to him by the Lord Himself, from the mount to which the Lord Himself had previously led him. He neither chose his point of observation, nor directed his own eye. It was the Lord who did it. (Deut. 32:49; 34:149Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession: (Deuteronomy 32:49)
1And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan, (Deuteronomy 34:1).) And so with us now, through the Spirit; He it is who shows us things to come; His guidance of our feet, His direction of our eye are needed, while in Spirit we search out and survey the great and excellent things concerning Jesus and His glory, in all the Scriptures. Had Moses stood on lower ground than Pisgah, where God had guided him, he would not have seen all the land; had not God Himself directed his eye, he would not have distinguished Gilead from Judah, or the city of palm trees from Zoar; and so as the Lord the Spirit now graciously leads and teaches us, in such measure shall we, to the profit of our souls, behold the glory of the Lord in the Scriptures. (2 Cor. 3)
“To look upon the works of nature, and to look into the ways of nature, are very different things.” So to take up merely the materials of Scripture, and to enter into its hidden wisdom, are different: the law has its shadows, prophecy its spirit, the mysteries their wisdom, and history its allegories; but we may miss these things. Moses looking from Pisgah on the distant land, would not have looked on it aright, had he not seen it as the inheritance of Israel, though it was really then the possession of the Gentiles as to its condition at that time it was the Amorites’ land, but in the counsels of God it was Immanuel’s land, and so Moses surveyed it; and so is Scripture to be surveyed. To the eye of faith the victories of David and throne of Solomon are the victories and throne of Christ. “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
It is little to say to Him “the law of thy mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver;” we can know but little of the sweetness of that true honeycomb, should it cost our souls an effort to join in that utterance with the Psalmist. But we should learn also to say, may thy testimonies O Lord be my counselor, as well as my delight! by these may thy servant be warned, and in the keeping of them find great reward!
For my present purpose then, in searching out the glories of the Lord in the Scriptures, I would begin with Noah, who manifestly was His type in one very glorious character. The prophecy that went before upon Noah was this—“This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed.” (Gen. 5:2929And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed. (Genesis 5:29).) This introduced Him as the remover of the curse from a corrupted earth, and as the Rest, consequently, of those who had been doomed with pain of sorrow and sweat of brow, to eat of it and to till it. Now what sweet unfoldings, by way of type, of the still hidden glory of Christ have we here! Here is shown to is a pattern of beautiful things yet to come, but which in their day shall be fashioned accordingly. Here we see Christ, the true Noah, Heir of the new earth, when, as we read, “there shall be no more curse,” having all things therein delivered into His hand—the cattle upon a thousand hills; the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea owning Him as Lord, and His name as Governor made excellent through all the earth. For thus it is to be, when the gates lift up their heads to Him, and the earth and its fullness shall be His. (see Psa. 820Put them in fear, O Lord: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah. (Psalm 9:20) & 24)
Again, in further process of time, it pleased Him to make another of His glories known. In the person of the Patriarch Abraham, we have him before us as the Father of the household of God; as it is written, “Behold my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a Father of many nations, neither shall thy name any more be called. Abram; but thy name shall be Abraham, for a father of many nations have I made thee.” Now this promise was to Abraham’s seed—that is, Christ, as we learn from the Epistle to the Galatians. The Lord Jesus Christ is, really, the Father of the many nations. And so the time will be when He shall be manifested in this character, when He will gather His households around Him like flocks of sheep, when He shall be revealed “the Father of the everlasting age,” and when those to whom He has given life, shall be with Him, and He shall say, “Behold I, and the children whom God hath given me.”
Thus in Noah we see Jesus as Lord and Heir of the earth and its fullness, and in Abraham as Head and Father of the whole family of God, two bright dawnings of His predestinated glory and kingdom, when a rich demesne shall be spread out beneath Him owning His lordship, and happy households gathered about Him knowing His fatherhood. But we are still to look for the glories of His own person in the midst of all this. These we shall find in the combined dignities of the King and the Priest, two personages which are therefore made very familiar to us in Scripture. Moses and Aaron were united in order to present them together; as were afterward, though in feebler lines, (for the memorials of Christ were much effaced through the world’s increasing evil,) in Zerubbabel and Joshua.
But the fullest expression of Christ’s priestly dignity is given to us in the person of Phinehas, and that of His royal honors in Solomon. Phinehas stood in an evil day. Israel had joined himself to Baal-peor, and the heads of the people must be slain ere the anger of the Lord that was then kindled, could be turned away. Phinehas rose up from among the congregation, and executed the judgment, and thus made atonement for the people. The Lord then spake to Moses, saying, “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy; wherefore say, behold I give unto him my covenant of peace, and he shall have it and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood, because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel.” (Num. 25:11-1311Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. 12Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: 13And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel. (Numbers 25:11‑13).) So also Christ, the true Phinehas, was glorified to be made an High Priest by Him that said unto Him, “Thou art my Son, today have I begotten thee.” He took not this honor unto Himself, He rather learned obedience by the things that He suffered, through which, as Phinehas, He made atonement and turned away wrath; but He has been “called of God an High Priest after the order of Melchisedek.” He is the Priest of the Most High God, the only Mediator between God and man. Aaron is nothing, and Levi is nothing, and Phinehas is nothing, Jesus is the Priest; in His hand alone the blessing is laid, and by Him is it ministered.
But while He is thus the Priest, He is King also: “a Priest upon His throne”—the true Melchisedek; and Solomon, as we have observed, sets Him forth the most brightly in His royal honors. Unto Solomon the whole earth sought, and brought every man his present; and so all nations whom He has made, shall come and worship before Jesus, when He shall take the dominion under the whole heaven, and a kingdom that shall break in pieces every other kingdom, and stand forever.
But here we desire to be somewhat more particular, and to take a close view of this “King in His beauty.” Would that the sight were more transforming even now, through the power of faith But surely we can at least say, that we do long to see the Man of sorrows thus; we do desire to see one of His days, wherein He, that once bore the curse for us, shall bear the glory, and that forever and ever.
In order fully to see in Solomon the type of Jesus the King, we must previously meditate on his father David; and David and Solomon thus combined, will constitute a very full and beautiful type of Him “with whom we have to do.” And while I write these words, I taste something of the sweetness of them—what marvel is it, beloved brethren, that we can speak of Jesus the Son of God, as of Him with whom we have to do. But so it is, grace has made it so; and we may therefore well take leave of all thoughts and desires that are not associated with Him.
There is one feature in the character of David, which marks him in every scene through which he passes, from the time that we see him as the shepherd in Bethlehem, to the time of his delivering up of the throne of Israel to his son Solomon. He was at all times and in all scenes the servant. It mattered not with him what the sphere of labor might be, this was his character. As a suitable introduction of him as such, we find him in the beginning of his history, slighted and forgotten, even his father esteeming him not. He was the youngest of his father’s sons, and (scarcely putting him among his children, but rather treating him as a servant,) his father says of him to Samuel, “behold he keepeth the sheep.” (1 Sam. 16:1111And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. (1 Samuel 16:11).) From this place of scorn and neglect, however, he is drawn forth by the signal favor of God and anointed to the throne of Israel but the virtue of this anointing was still in everything to keep him as the servant. Whatever in his conduct is opposed to this, is properly not of himself. It is this which gives him throughout his character—not doing his own will, or seeking his own glory.
Thus as soon as he was anointed, this grace at once manifests itself in him. He is called up to the royal city to wait on king Saul, and as the wise charmer by the charming of his harp, to allay the evil spirit that had visited the king from the Lord. (1 Sam. 16:2323And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. (1 Samuel 16:23).) From this service we find him returned to the care of his sheep at Bethlehem; (1 Sam. 17:1515But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. (1 Samuel 17:15).) and when again called forth, it was only in like manner to be the minister of others. It was not, as his brother injuriously judged, that the pride and naughtiness of his heart led him to the battle with Goliath and. the Philistines in the plain of Elah; he went at the bidding of his father to carry provisions to his brothers in the camp, the servant of their necessities; but when he arrived there, occasion showing itself to him, he at once offers himself as the servant of Israel’s necessities, and of Jehovah’s glory. The Lord had been dishonored, and His people threatened, and this was “the cause” that moved David to say to Saul, “thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” The promised honors and riches that were to be his who killed Goliath, were not that which moved him: for after the victory we do not find him claiming them, flattering and splendid as they were, (the very things for one who sought to glorify himself,) but we hear him saying “who am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law to the king;” and we see him becoming again the king’s harper; thus instead of seeking his own glory, ministering to others in the humblest service that might be appointed him. (1 Sam. 18:10-1810And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand. 11And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice. 12And Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul. 13Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people. 14And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him. 15Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him. 16But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he went out and came in before them. 17And Saul said to David, Behold my elder daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife: only be thou valiant for me, and fight the Lord's battles. For Saul said, Let not mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him. 18And David said unto Saul, Who am I? and what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son in law to the king? (1 Samuel 18:10‑18))
Again, in all his sufferings at the hand of Saul, we discern nothing but the same spirit of submission that never sought its own rights or avenged its own wrongs. He yields to the enmity of the king. He retires from court, and dwells in dens and caves of the earth. He willingly loses sight of himself altogether, doing service if called on as the soldier of Israel and the king, but leaving all the profit and honor of his service to them. He would not dare to harbor the thought of avenging himself upon his persecutor. Rather than touch the Lord’s anointed, he would be “a partridge in the mountains” all his days. Though conscious that he had been appointed to the throne of Israel, he would make what promises, enter into what covenants the rival house of his enemy pleased, careless how this might tend to exalt them and abase himself. (see 1 Sam. 20:17; 23:18; 24:2217And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul. (1 Samuel 20:17)
18And they two made a covenant before the Lord: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house. (1 Samuel 23:18)
22And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold. (1 Samuel 24:22).) And when his enemy fell, and his own sorrows were thus to end, and way to the throne was made plain before him, he had no heart to rejoice in those his own advantages—he looked not on his own things, and knew nothing but grief at the fall and dishonor of the Lord’s anointed. “Tell it not in Gath,” says he, “publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.” (2 Sam. 1:2020Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. (2 Samuel 1:20).) The messenger of the tidings did not understand David. He judged that he brought joy to David, and that he should have received a reward for his pains; but David is filled only with the sad vision of Israel’s dishonor, and the sin of this Amalekite in lifting his hand against the anointed of the Lord. “The world knoweth us not,” says one speaking as the elect of God; and this was now illustrated in David and this Amalekite; their griefs are not our griefs, nor their joys our joys.
But we have to trace the servant-character of David still further, for no change of scene or circumstance has power to work a change in the character of the energy of the Spirit of God that was in him; scenes and circumstances, change as they may, serve only to set forth this character more brightly. And indeed; Beloved in the Lord, this is that which alone can end in the reward of the kingdom. Nothing but service here shall be honored hereafter; as it is written, “Whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister, and whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall be servant of all.” And again, “If any man serve me, him shall my Father honor.”
We find David then on the throne; having received it however, not at his own will, but called to it by the Lord Himself. But what was the way of David now? why just what it had been before; just what had signalized him when his hand bore the shepherd’s crook, the harp, or the warrior-sling; just that which had marked him in the caves and holds of the wilderness now marks him seated on the throne of Israel; he is still, and that only, the servant, doing Jehovah’s pleasure alone, and seeking only His glory. He gives himself no rest. He does not pause in his course till the enemies of the Lord and of His people submit themselves; he pursued and. destroyed; and turned not again until he hail consumed them. (2 Sam. 22:3838I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; and turned not again until I had consumed them. (2 Samuel 22:38).)
And the time of peace, as well as the time of war, was the time of service with king David; at home or abroad he is the same; and therefore not only in the field is he seen pursuing the enemy, but in the city we hear him saying, “Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed, I will not give sleep to mine eyes nor slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.” (Psa. 132:33Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; (Psalm 132:3).) Accordingly he makes preparation, and brings up the ark of the Lord God, which had lain neglected through the days of Saul (1 Chron. 13:33And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we inquired not at it in the days of Saul. (1 Chronicles 13:3).) to its place in the midst of the tabernacle, which he had pitched for it. He waits on it himself. He offers his burnt offerings and his peace offerings there. He blesses the people in the name of the Lord of hosts; and as a girded servant, he makes them to sit down to meat and serves them. (2 Sam. 6:1919And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. So all the people departed every one to his house. (2 Samuel 6:19).) He dances before the ark in the joy of one who knew only the joy of ministering to the praise of another; and he would be more vile than thus, and base in his own sight, and willingly be put among the abjects, so that he might but duly fulfill his service as the minister of the glory of Jehovah, and of the joy of His people. And in the end unwearied in serving as at the beginning, he purposes to build an house for this ark of the Lord. “See now,” he says to Nathan, “that I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.” His zeal in this was somewhat without knowledge, but it was the zeal of one who desired to serve fully. And when forbidden to build the house, (for reasons which we shall consider presently) in his trouble he prepares for it (1 Chron. 22:1, 41Then David said, This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel. (1 Chronicles 22:1)
4Also cedar trees in abundance: for the Zidonians and they of Tyre brought much cedar wood to David. (1 Chronicles 22:4).) gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, timber also and stone; and provides and hires all manner of cunning men for every manner of work. And not only this, but he gives patterns of all things to Solomon, patterns of the cherubim, the courts, and the treasuries, He numbers and distributes the Levites into courses for the service of the house, and settles the order of the sons of Aaron. He appoints the offices of the singers instructed in the songs of the Lord; settles the divisions of the porters, the officers, and the judges, the captains of the several months, and the princes of the tribes. And when all his service is ended, and nothing remains but to reap the fruit of it, and the glory and kingdom for the which all these things had been prepared, he retires—he ceases to be, when he must cease to serve. The throne in Jerusalem was no more to him than his shepherd-tent at Bethlehem; in both all his desire was to fill, as an hireling, his day. And now having come to the evening of his day, (“for man goeth forth to his work and to his labor until the evening,”) he retires. He will not glorify himself. “Take with you,” says he to his officers, “the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon my own mule, and bring him down to Gihon, and let Zadok the Priest, and Nathan the prophet, anoint him their king over Israel, and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon: then ye shall come up after him that he may come and sit upon my throne, for he shall be king in my stead, and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah.” (1 Kings 1:33-3533The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon: 34And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon. 35Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. (1 Kings 1:33‑35).) He gives up the throne which his hands had established, and all the honors of it; these were nothing in his account—he had finished his work and service, and that was everything to him.
Thus the moment that all was ready for the full display of the glory, he disappears; he had sown, and would have another now reap; he had labored, and was willing that another should now enter into his labors. He made Solomon his son king over Israel. In the assembly of the princes and captains, with the officers and mighty men at Jerusalem, Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king, instead of David his father, and all Israel obeyed him, and all the princes and mighty men, and all the sons likewise of king David submitted themselves to Solomon the king. (1 Chron. 29:2424And all the princes, and the mighty men, and all the sons likewise of king David, submitted themselves unto Solomon the king. (1 Chronicles 29:24).)
Thus we have in this blessed man the perfect pattern of a servant; he was the servant who would not go out free, but would serve forever. (Ex. 21:1-61Now these are the judgments which thou shalt set before them. 2If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. 3If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. 4If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself. 5And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: 6Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever. (Exodus 21:1‑6).) Such was David; but in Solomon we see another thing altogether. Solomon was one who entered into another man’s labors; he reaped where another had sown; he enjoyed by inheritance the honors and the name which David in his trouble and service had gotten. In the sight of Israel the Lord magnified Solomon exceedingly, and bestowed on him such royal majesty as had not been on any king before him. He passed all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom, and all of them sought his presence, and God made the name of Solomon better than David’s name, and his throne greater than David’s throne. (1 Kings 1:4747And moreover the king's servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed. (1 Kings 1:47).) For David did the Lord. call His servant, but Solomon He called his son, saying, “I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a son.” By inheritance he obtained a better name than his father. As heir of the fruit of David’s toil, Solomon appears before us full of peace and prosperity; not as David had been, the scorn of others, but the boast and joy of his people, and the very center of the world’s attraction, his fame going abroad into all the earth.
And with this better name was reserved for him the honor of building the house of God, for that work is to be regarded rather as honor than as service, an honor too great for David the servant, but reserved for Solomon the son, as God said to David, “Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father.” (1 Chron. 28:66And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. (1 Chronicles 28:6).) As before He had said to Nathan, “Go and tell David my servant, thus saith the Lord, thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in; I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons, and I will establish his kingdom; he shall build me an house, and I will establish his throne forever, and I will be His father and he shall he my son.” (1 Chron. 17:4, 134Go and tell David my servant, Thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not build me an house to dwell in: (1 Chronicles 17:4)
13I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee: (1 Chronicles 17:13).) Other reasons it is true, appear in the mind of God. for hindering David from being the builder of the house; as for instance, in David’s time the children of Israel had not come to their rest, the kingdom was still unsettled, and the people were in the attitude of being girded for service or harnessed for war, and the Lord refused to enter into His settled habitation while His people were thus. In all their afflictions He had been afflicted, and in their wanderings He had walked in a tent and in a tabernacle; and till He had planted them in their ordained place, He would Himself enter no house of cedar. (1 Chron. 1713I will be his father, and he shall be my son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee: (1 Chronicles 17:13)) Again, David had shed blood abundantly, wars had been about him on every side, but his son was to be “a man of rest,” rest was to be given him from all his enemies round. about; peace and quietness were to be unto Israel in his days; and then, but not till then, would the Lord arise into His dwelling-place. (1 Kings 5:3; 13Thou knowest how that David my father could not build an house unto the name of the Lord his God for the wars which were about him on every side, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. (1 Kings 5:3)
3So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. (1 Kings 1:3) Chron. 22:8-10; 28:3.) But beside all this, I say it was because Solomon was the son, as we have seen, that the building of the house was reserved for him. The house was the sign of constancy and abiding, as it is written, “the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the son abideth ever.”
Solomon’s was the time dreg. No enemy remained for him to conquer, no preparations by trouble and toil were left for him to make; he sits down full of honors and peace. And his was the time of joy also. Then for the first time did songs break forth from the midst of the congregation of Israel. Moses of old had appointed sacrifices, but no songs bad. been heard in the tabernacle. David had ordained the singers, given them their charge, and settled them in their course, but all this joy was prepared for Solomon; it was in the house that he had builded, that the priests, the trumpeters, and the singers, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, with their sons and brethren, first awakened the praises of Jehovah in Israel. Above all days in Israel was that day joyous, when they began to sing to the Lord, “For He is good; for His mercy endureth forever.” (2 Chron. 5:1313It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; (2 Chronicles 5:13).) And glorious we may say above all was the cloud, which then filled the temple. This was a sample of the Solomon days: nothing was there but joy and glory. The priests could not stand to do their usual service, for the glory had displaced them. No sacrifices could then be bound to the horns of the altar, for nothing but the fruit of praise and joy was there, thanksgivings were heard and the voice of melody only. And in this Jehovah rested—the joy of His Zion had now come, and He that inhabits the praises of Israel filled the place with His presence. (2 Chron. 5:12-1412Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets:) 13It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; 14So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God. (2 Chronicles 5:12‑14).)
Now these things which we have been tracing in David and Solomon are shadows of better things; “the body is of Christ.” Christ is the great ordinance of God; “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy;” the promises made to Abraham were really to his seed, which is Christ; the exhibition of grace in David, and of glory in Solomon in like manner, are really and fully all of Christ. (Gal. 3:1616Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ. (Galatians 3:16); Heb. 1:55For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son? (Hebrews 1:5).) And thus throughout; all these highly favored ones were only witnesses of the things that should be found in Jesus. This was their joy, to wait, with their various testimony, upon Him. (see John 3:2929He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled. (John 3:29).)
We have seen in David the servant-character fully exhibited. We have tracked him from the field of the shepherd to that of the conqueror, from the court of the king to the holds in the wilderness, and from thence up to the throne, and have marked this one character throughout. And so was it perfectly and throughout in the blessed Jesus, the true David. Before the foundation of the earth he gave Himself to service, as in the volume of the book, as it is written of Him, “Lo I come to do thy will O God.” While manifest in flesh, He ever was seen as having come forth not to be ministered unto but to minister, not to do His own will, but the will of Him that sent Him. He could say at all times, “I seek not mine own glory.” He emptied Himself, and the form that He took was that of a servant. He refused to know Himself, saying, “my goodness extendeth not to thee;” and again, “why callest thou me good?”
There was always (save when the testimony for which He stood on the earth would call on Him for a while to stand confessed in His divine glory) this hiding of Himself. Thus when invited of His mother to display Himself at the marriage in Cana, He says to her, “Woman what have I to do with thee, mine hour is not yet come.” When challenged by His brethren to show Himself to the world, He replies in like manner, “my time is not yet come.” (See John 2 &7.) When He had been doing His wonted wonders of grace, and the people were astonished, His disciples desirous that He should be magnified in the eyes of the world, say unto Him, “All men seek for thee,” but His only answer was that of a servant, “Let us go into the next towns that I may preach there also, for therefore came I forth.” And such was He on the earth throughout. A body had been prepared for Him, His ear was opened, and like David, He had but to finish the work that was given Him to do.
And He was perfect in this through every stage. As a child He was subject to His parents, fulfilling all righteousness as such; and when anointed of God, like David, He still came forth only to serve, whether it were the Father’s glory, or our necessities. As towards the Father, whether in solitudes by night, or in labors by day, the Father might still pronounce upon Him, “Behold my servant.” He fulfilled His day, ever working the works of Him that sent Him; the vows of His God were upon Him, and He did all until He was entitled to say “It is finished.” He was obedient unto death. And as towards us, He was always waiting on our necessities; He “went about doing good;” every sickness and every disease among the people, every city and every village in the land knew Him thus—none sought His help in vain.
And here we would turn aside for a moment to see this great sight, the necessity for all this humiliation of the blessed Son of God. Surely it was because He had to undo the mighty mischief which our pride, had wrought, when we sought, being tempted, to be as God. (Gen. 3:55For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:5)) and this could be done only by the Highest emptying of Himself; and the Brightness of the glory of God being manifest in flesh and veiling Himself in the form of a servant. Adam the creature had sought his own glory, but the Son of God emptied Himself of His. To be as God, though a creature of yesterday, was the daring design of the first man, to take the form of a servant, though in the form of God, was the willing humiliation of the Second; and thus the attempted dishonor to God by the one, was abundantly repaired by the other.
And this humiliation of the Son of God was marked, not only through His life and ministry, (as we have been noticing somewhat in detail,) but in the person that He had previously assumed, (being in the esteem of men nothing better than “the carpenter, the son of Mary,”) and also very strikingly in His death, which He subsequently accomplished at Jerusalem, in all the circumstances of it, as well as in the fact itself. The demands made upon Him then were just what the fallen creature in his pride would naturally have made. “And they that passed by reviled Him, wagging their heads, and saying, Thou that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save thyself, if thou be the Son of God come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders said, He saved others Himself He cannot save, if He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.” (Matt. 27:39-4239And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. 41Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, 42He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. (Matthew 27:39‑42).) But these demands, such was the perfectness of His service and subjection, Jesus the Son of God utterly resisted, He had before this met the same temptation immediately from Satan Himself, He met it now at the hand of man. Satan had sought to have Him glorify himself; (Matt. 4:66And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. (Matthew 4:6).) and man moved by the pride that had been the old transgression in the garden, now sought the same, but he was found faultless, Satan and man came and had nothing in him. Thus was He “crucified through weakness.” Everything that the pride of the fallen creature would scorn and reject and count as weakness, was in Him; but in this was God’s delight and honor; for a Son of Man thus, in the loss of reputation and life, in the cross and its shame, met all the rebukes and enmity of man’s pride and apostasy; “for thy sake I have borne reproach,” might Jesus say to the Father, “the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me.” And oh what a savor of rest with God must all this have given to His blood!—the satisfaction of it we know (and this is our comfort) entered so deeply, that “the Lord said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake.” (Gen. 8:2121And the Lord smelled a sweet savor; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. (Genesis 8:21); Eph. 5:22And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor. (Ephesians 5:2).)
And thus also, can He, a Son of Man, bold glory and a kingdom in righteousness. In His person, throughout His life, and by His death, as we thus see, He has given its answer to all the pride and assumption of man, and He can therefore take the honor of dominion which man has forfeited, and hold. it again in righteousness. He has loved righteousness and hated iniquity; His throne shall therefore be forever and ever. He was once crucified. through weakness, yet He liveth by the power of God. now, and the kingdoms of the world shall be His hereafter. And should not we, Beloved, be ready to be “weak in Him,” accounted of the world vile, if it will, that our present life may be more in the power of the same God, and our coming glory, glory at the hand of our God in company with the once (nay the still) despised Jesus.
But not only was He thus the perfect servant, both of the Father and of sinners, while here among us, even unto death and all its circumstances, but now in heaven the Son of God is waiting on us; as He said when leaving His Church, “Lo I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” How with them, but as using His title to all power for them? as it is written also in Mark, “And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them,” But not only as working with them thus in their ministry, but He serves in the heavenly Temple, continually making intercession there for us, washing still His disciples’ feet, till He present them faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. And even then, when He comes forth from this His sanctuary on high, commissioned make His enemies His footstool, it will be as the servant of the glory of God that He will come forth, He will not fail nor be discouraged till He has set judgment in the earth. (Isa. 42:1-41Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 2He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. 3A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. 4He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. (Isaiah 42:1‑4).) And more wondrous still, when this is done, and the enemy and the avenger are stilled, He will wait on those who shall then be found His faithful watching saints, for “He will gird Himself and make them to sit down to meat and will come forth and serve them.” (Luke 12:3737Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. (Luke 12:37).) And at last, in the midst of the throne, He will forever feed them, and lead them unto living fountains of waters. (Rev. 7:1717For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. (Revelation 7:17).)
Thus is He the true David; no change of scene or circumstance working any change in His character as the servant of Jehovah’s glory and of His people’s joy. The perfectness of all this could not have been duly set forth in David, had David hesitated for a moment to retire when the time for the revelation of the glory of His throne and kingdom had come. But, as we have seen, He did not; when David ceased to have service to do, David would be no more—his right hand knew no cunning but this. And so with Jesus, who emptied Himself, and took upon Him the form of a servant; He glorified not Himself; “not my will, but Thine be done” was ever His word. But God has highly exalted Him as Solomon, and given Him a name which is above every name, at the which every knee shall bow, of things in heaven and things on earth, and things under the earth. God has said to Him, “Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.” He has crowned Him with glory and honor now, and will put all things under His feet hereafter. He will bring Him forth the second time into the world, and all the angels of God shall worship Him. On His thigh and on His vesture shall His name be written, “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” To Him whom men despised to this servant of rulers, kings shall see and arise, princes also shall worship, all nations shall call Him blessed. His throne shall be forever and ever; the oil of gladness shall anoint Him above His fellows, and the God of the whole earth shall He be called.
The King shall be seen in His beauty then: He shall bless the people like Solomon, and sustain them in all their necessities, (2 Chron. 6) on His breastplate and on His shoulders bearing their names continually. And like as Solomon builded cities, and fenced them with walls and bars, so that “all Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig-tree, from Dan even to Beer-Sheba, all the days of Solomon,” so, says the King by His prophet, “My people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings and in quiet resting places.” (1 Kings 4:25; 225And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, all the days of Solomon. (1 Kings 4:25)
25And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him that he died. (1 Kings 2:25) Chron. 8:4; Isa. 32:1818And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places; (Isaiah 32:18).) The word of knowledge was with Solomon, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore; was given to him; and the spirit of understanding to discern judgment; so upon the greater than Solomon shall the Spirit of the Lord rest, “the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth.” (Isa. 11:2-42And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; 3And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: 4But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. (Isaiah 11:2‑4).) And Zion shall then be in her beauty also. King Solomon made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars as the sycamore trees that are in the vale for abundance; but when the glory of the Lord rises upon Zion, she shall shine in fullness of beauty—every land shall deck her forth—gold from Sheba, and incense, the treasures of Midian and Kedar, and the glory of Lebanon shall be there. “I will make the place of my feet glorious,” says the King; “for brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver.” (Isa. 92The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined. 3Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil. 4For thou hast broken the yoke of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in the day of Midian. (Isaiah 9:2‑4)) And upon her citizens shall the blessing be again pronounced, “Happy is that people that is in such a case, yea happy is that people whose God is the Lord.” (2 Chron. 9:77Happy are thy men, and happy are these thy servants, which stand continually before thee, and hear thy wisdom. (2 Chronicles 9:7); Psa. 144:1515Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord. (Psalm 144:15).)
Such, and far beyond the range of our thoughts, will be the Kingly glory of our Beloved; but these features of it we gather from the typical times of David and Solomon, upon which we have been now meditating, and which we would now in closing, thus further and distinctly present.
First—It is to be the kingdom of the Son—it is the Son and not the servant who is to establish and inherit it, as we have already seen, the house was built by Solomon and not by David. It is therefore to have the value of the Son upon it and about it, and this is everything to us; for this is the charter of its stability and joy. Its stability, because it is not to be committed to the fallibility and weakness of a servant, as we read, “the servant abideth not in the house forever,” but it is to be set in the strength of the Son, and shall therefore abide forever; for “the Son abideth ever.” This kingdom cannot therefore be moved: “the earth and the inhabitants thereof are dissolved,” says Jesus the King, “I bear up the pillars thereof;” and in token of this stability, the pillars of Solomon’s house were called. Jachin and Boaz. Its joy, because the full and unspeakable delight of the Father in the Son shall rest on the kingdom that is His; and in token of this joy, the Lord said of the house that Solomon had finished, “Mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.” And what must the repose of the creation be, when thus dwelling in the light of the Father’s favor? when the complacency, which He basin the Son of His love, is thus beaming and resting on everything; as the precious ointment on the head went down to the skirts of the garments, and the light that from between the cherubim gladdened the High Priest on his entrance into the holy place, fell with equal luster on the names of the twelve tribes which he bore upon his breastplate then.
But secondly—Throughout the kingdom there shall be a constant remembrance of “the Man of sorrows;” as everything in the Temple, the stones that fitly framed it together, the gold and the silver, the brass and the iron all spake increasingly of David; for David. in his trouble had prepared them all. (1 Chron. 22:1414Now, behold, in my trouble I have prepared for the house of the Lord an hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and of brass and iron without weight; for it is in abundance: timber also and stone have I prepared; and thou mayest add thereto. (1 Chronicles 22:14).) The 132nd Psalm is Solomon’s pleading with the Lord to arise into the rest which He had prepared for Him, and to fill it with glory and blessing, on the ground of his father’s afflictions. “Lord, remember David and all his afflictions,” says he; and upon this ground he prays, “Arise O Lord into thy rest, thou and the ark of thy strength; let thy priests be clothed with righteousness and let thy saints shout for joy; for thy servant David’s sake, turn not away the face of thine Anointed.” The afflictions of David were thus known amidst the glories of Solomon, and so the Limb that was slain shall be in the midst of the throne. As our fallen earth bears upon it everywhere the trail of the serpent, so will the kingdom wear the traces of the blood of the Lamb. The tabernacle and all vessels of ministry were sprinkled with blood; and so the heaven and earth, the true tabernacle or place of meeting, with all things that are therein, shall have the memorials of the crucified Jesus about them; for “blessing, and honor, and glory, and power unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb,” shall be heard from the heaven, and the earth, and the sea together. (Rev. 514And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever. (Revelation 5:14);12, 13.)
And lastly—The kingdom shall be the place of thanksgiving and praise, and God, even our own God, shall accept this worship, and rest in it as His honor forever. As when the temple was finished as we have already noticed, and the ark was in its place under the wings of the cherubim, and everything was in due order; “it came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets, and cymbals, and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, For He is good, for His mercy endureth forever, then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.” (2 Chron. 5:13,1413It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; 14So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God. (2 Chronicles 5:13‑14).) So in the kingdom, all shall be displaced to make room for the glory, all be silenced but the ceaseless unwearing song of joy and praise. Praise is now too much checked and hushed by our own thoughts upon God and His ways; faith not being at all times ready to interpret His works aright; but then the whole scene will awaken praise, for nothing will be seen, nothing heard that can of itself hinder praise—our own thoughts will be forever silenced, and God in the love of the Son will be seen and heard all around, and everything shall therefore be then full of praise. And indeed this our faith should ever now anticipate; let faith displace our own thoughts, and we shall then, even now, be giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, and thus in spirit begin the praise in the joy of the kingdom. For praise from the heavens, and praise from the earth; praise by the angels in their hosts, and praise by kings of the earth and all people; praise from the heaven of heavens, and praise from the mountains and hills, beasts and all cattle, shall gladden and surround Him, whose name alone is excellent, and His saints who love Him, and His people who serve Him, shall be satisfied forever and ever.