We have seen that David fled to Ramah and dwelt with the prophet who had retired in sorrowing faithfulness from the scene and associations from which David was now driven, and surely Ramah must have been a scene of mourning then, as in later times “a voice was heard at Ramah, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning.” David and Samuel doubtless mourned together deeply and sorely over the misrule of Saul, who, relentless as Herod, pursues David even here. But when he attempts to intrude on their retreat, the spirit of God subdues him, and David, apparently unprotected, is taught at the opening of this new and sorrowful path how distinctly God can shield him. But he is not yet prepared to relinquish his former position without a struggle, and he leaves Naioth to seek Jonathan and ascertain from him whether it is irretrievable. (Chap. 20.) They meet—a signal is agreed upon, which confirming Saul's implacability, David's fate is sealed, and he, emerging from his retreat and one with Jonathan, gives vent to the agonizing sorrow of a full heart. Still self-possessed and courteous on approaching Jonathan, he “fell on his face to the ground and bowed himself three times, and they kissed one another and wept with one another until David exceeded.” What a scene was this! what a wrench! The last link which bound David to the useful and once glorious scene in which he lately moved, is broken. Bereft in a moment of all he valued and loved, honor, position, service recede from his view, and even the companionship of the heart that remained faithful to him. He must henceforth give up his public career, his relationship to the king, his valiant service to the people against their enemies, the love and sympathy of Jonathan. He must retire to obscurity and, as it seemed, uselessness; and we all know what it is to human nature to relinquish what it has expected or possessed—how difficult to return with any contentment to its former condition. And for what cause was all this? None, but the unjust and deadly hate of the ruler of Israel; and unless David discerned, as we do, that there was another cause, that God himself was setting the springs to work in order to educate and qualify him for future greatness, he must have been overwhelmed; for the conflict with the lion and the bear, with Goliath and the Philistines, were as nothing to this. Great must have been the desolation of that hour; and when the blessed Jesus wept over Jerusalem, surely sorrows of the same order, though surpassingly deeper and holier, harrowed his tender heart. David and Jonathan part with an oath and undisturbed attachment between them; but their lives diverge. David, the rejected king, must suffer awhile, and find other companions for his sufferings and rejection; while Jonathan must “return to the city,” his father's house, with which he cannot break the link. Then the whole scene has also its typical aspect—the true David in his rejection, and the Jewish remnant, which neither suffer nor reign with him.
Chapter 21.—David was now cast in complete reliance on God, and his first act after the wrench which we have been considering is to go to the high priest; for the soul, taking the place of dependence, turns ever without distinct consciousness as to its motive to God's recognized testimony on earth for continuance and help. I believe that whenever we take the place of exile in the world for the Lord's sake, however ignorantly, that we instinctively seek the Church as God's established witness on earth. Thus David in principle does the same, though we may justly censure his untruthfulness to Abimelech; but seldom does the new man act that the old man in its effort to co-operate does not betray weakness and moral degradation. He receives from Abimelech both bread and a sword (the very sword of Goliath, a remembrance of his first public victory), and he at the moment typified the place the Lord occupied in Israel, when His disciples were driven to appease their hunger by rubbing the ears of the standing corn as they passed through it. But how the mere human type breaks down when the strain is too great, and thus displays in fuller distinctness the perfection of the divine yet human antitype. He supplies the broken and lost link, and at the same time disciplines the mere human vessel in its failure into association and sympathy with His own path. And now David fails still further. So great is his fear of Saul, though with the trophy of his victory over the giant in his hand, that he deserts the land, abandons the place of privilege, and flees to Achish, king of Gath! But just fed and armed from God's sanctuary, he yields to unbelief and leaves the Lord's inheritance! But unbelief always leads us into the sorrow which we peek to avoid, and from which we learn eventually that faith would have preserved us.
The servants of king Achish soon recognize him, and David's next expedient is to feign himself mad! How humiliating! But now it is that his soul becomes solely occupied with God and all the previous discipline bears fruit. It is necessary for him not only to see all he prized in the world fade away before him, but he must also feel that he himself is personally humiliated, and then it is that the full nature and value of the resources of God are appropriated. It is at this moment that the spirit of God passes though David's soul the sweet, confiding notes recorded in Psa. 34, “He will bless the Lord at all times.” He exclaims, “I sought the Lord, and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears.” Through bitter trials he had reached this blessed utterance, and in the same spot, so to speak, does the spirit of God still utter it for every one who will pass that way. Driven out of the world, humiliated in himself before men and in his own eyes, denouncing his own “guile,” he can now say, “The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants, and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.”
Chapter 22.—David leaves Achish chanting the thirty-fourth Psalm, and escapes to Adullam. He is once more in the land, though it be but a cave; and there not only his own house, but all that were in distress, or in debt, &c., congregate to him. Having learned the place of dependence for himself, he can become a center and guide for the poor of the flock, whose hearts did not own the rule of Saul; and they can follow his faith, considering the end of his conversation. Why David placed his parents with the King of Moab I cannot say, unless he desired to escape from their influence and fears. (We know how our Lord had to rise above his parent's counsels.) While in this cave he utters three psalms—cxlii., hi., and lvii.—the latter, I think, after he was joined by the prophet and priest. He expresses full confidence in God “until these calamities be overpast,” though at the same time sensible of the dangers with which he is surrounded. His “heart is prepared,” therefore he will “sing and give praise.” We naturally shrink from trials and sorrows, but when we find ourselves like David, enjoying the resources that are in God, which our trials have caused us to have recourse to, we remember no more the path of affliction which led us thereto.
Psa. 52 is David's utterance when he hears of Doeg's conduct. He sees God's discipline in all his sorrow: “I will praise thee forever, because thou hast done it.” How the Spirit of God was converting every trial into an occasion for engaging his soul with the deep chords of spiritual song and the day of glory! If Paul in Arabia was caught up to heaven, surely in the cave and the wilderness the outcast David was hearing in his soul the sublime strains of God's victory over every foe. He not only heard the harpers harping with their harps, but his own heart was attuned of God; and the divine music cheered the spirit of the rejected king.
Keilah is the next page in this interesting history, chapter 23. Whatever be the pressure or trial of our own position, if we are in the spirit and condition of soul answering to Psa. 57, we could not hear of the distress of any of God's people, which we could alleviate, without being ready to aid them. Consequently, when it was told David, “Behold the Philistines fight against Keilah, and rob the threshing floors,” he inquired of the Lord, saying, “Shall I go and smite these Philistines?” And the Lord says “Go smite the Philistines and save Keilah.” The man of real might and experience in God's succor, appeals to God before he embarks in anything. David's men try to discourage him from it, and, after he had mastered his own heart and its sorrows, he must learn to be superior to the unbelief of his associates. He inquires yet again; and a further assurance being given him from the Lord, he goes down to Keilah with his men, and is completely successful; he saves the inhabitants. But this was only to bring about another order of trial and exercise of heart for him. Once more his services are unrequited. Saul goes down to besige Keilah, and David inquires of the Lord as to whether the men whom he had just delivered from the Philistines, will deliver him up; and the divine answer is, that they will. And here let us mark the difference in David's mode of inquiry in this and in the first instance. (Ver. 1-4.) It does not appear that he made use of the priest when seeking counsel as to relieving Keilah; but here, when “he knew that Saul secretly practiced mischief against him,” and he wanted to know what should be his own line of action with reference to it, he says to the priest, “Bring hither the ephod;” and thus he makes the inquiry. This difference is interesting. In the first instance, it was a simple question as whether he should or should not serve others; and, without questioning his motives, he has only to turn to the Lord for direction; but when our own interests are concerned, we are much more likely to be led by our own will, and to lack singleness of heart and purpose. We never are outside Christ, but in serving others we are directly acting with Him; whereas, when it is in any wise a question of self, we need to realize our full acceptance and to sift our motives; and here the priesthood comes in. But in either case the answer is prompt and distinct; and it is most instructive to note the manner of the intercourse between David and the Lord; what confidence and simplicity there was between them. David asks his plain simple questions, and the Lord answers as plainly and distinctly. He had no resource but in God; and this condition he was learning more and more in each stage of his life. Any soul in the Lord's presence, and truly reliant on Him, would experience the same. The simpler such a soul is, the more is it qualified for great and exalted service. The one great with God is he who can devote all his energies according to God's counsel to aid and serve others, but whose dependence is entirely on God, proving that his resources place him above recompense from those whom he serves. It is plain that we are not told all the services which David rendered, or the experiences which he passed through. I suppose a specimen of each particular line is recorded for us. That of Keilah I should designate, as “how the rejected king serves this people without requital;” and this is necessary discipline for him, nay, for any one who will walk with the true David through this evil world.
David now goes “whithersoever he could go” (verse 13), and eventually remains in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. Here Jonathan comes to him, and “strengthens his hand in God,” fulfilling that vision of faith which he had expressed in Psa. 142, “The righteous shall compass me about.” How graciously the Lord cheers us by human sympathy when we have entered the wilderness only depending on Him! How sweet to the soul to realize these instances of His compassion for us! But the cheer and encouragement of Jonathan's visit is soon checkered by the uncalled-for hostility of the Ziphites, who, in order to please Saul, inform him of David's retreat. Whether it was on this occasion, when the treachery of the Ziphites was first known to him, that he uttered Psa. 54, or subsequently, it is immaterial to inquire: what is interesting for us to know is the state of his mind at the time, and this the psalm discloses. “Strangers had risen up against him;” but he can add, “Behold God is mine helper.” Fully was this realized. Just as Saul and his men had succeeded in compassing him about to take him, a messenger comes, saying, “Haste thee and come, for the Philistines have invaded the land.” David is delivered, and the spot is commemorated by the name of “the rock of divisions.”
We may continually remark, that it is after this manner that the power of man is rendered ineffectual. Man can never contend with two distinct enemies, and he is obliged to let one escape in order to encounter the other. David has been taught in this strait, when all hope was well nigh gone, how easily and simply the Lord can deliver him. It is very important for high spiritual attainment to be led experimentally in these various expositions of God's care of His servant, so that, “strong in the power of His might,” he may be able to say, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me.” This is another distinct lesson for David during the period of his rejection. At Adullam and the wood, he is provided with companions and sympathy; at Keilah, he is permitted signally to serve, and baffles Saul by not depending on the recipients of his service; in the wilderness of Maon, when almost in the hand of the enemy, he escapes through the Lord's interposition. Thus variously and wonderfully was he learning the ways of God in an evil and hostile world; and according as he learned, was the better qualified to lead and rule God's people in such a scene.
His antitype—the blessed Lord Jesus—needed not such instructions. He knew what was in man, and He alone is truly Lord and King. But David is a fine specimen of the human vessel, with large capacities and ready mind, to receive the divine mind and ways. His circumstances vary very much, but whenever he was true to his lesson, dependent on God, he is in the right path.
After a short respite in the strongholds of Engedi, David is again sought after by Saul, who now goes out against him with 3000 of the chosen men of Israel. No longer content to pursue after him singly, he, with an organized force and deadly purpose, persists in his design. David must endure this pressure, but in the end he shall know that the greater the violence urged against him, the simpler and more effectual are the means used of God to deliver him. Saul was defeated at Keilah by its being abandoned by David; he was foiled at the Rock of Division by the invasion of the Philistines; and Most ingloriously is he defeated at Engedi by the moderation and loyalty of David, to whom he owes his life. Little did he know, in the malice of his heart, how, by entering the cave, he thrust himself into the grasp of his desired victim; or how deeply he was to be humbled, morally, by the contrast between them which this scene evinces; the generous elevation of one in its superiority to evil and enmity blazing forth in such vivid colors as to draw forth the acknowledgment of it from the lips of the persecutor, who is made so conscious of his own comparative abasement, that he for the moment sues favor from, and acknowledges the title of, the fugitive, whom, with all his royal power and chosen army, he had come forth to destroy. As for David, by acting in grace instead of vengeance, he maintained God's principle of action toward the world, which now lies under the sin of having rejected its rightful King.
Chap. 25. presents us with another line of experience. And here we shall find that David for a moment forgets the lesson of the power of grace which he had just so remarkably acted on and illustrated—a warning to us of the treachery of our nature, and how it may betray us into a very contrary line of action to that which we have only a moment before displayed. And still further, it teaches us that we are more likely to fail in grace toward one whose friendship and gratitude we have a title to reckon on than to an open enemy. David is so irritated by Nabal's ruthless conduct, that he prepares to take summary vengeance on him, but is diverted from this avengeful course by the most interesting event and association which is ever known to God's servants in this Christ-rejecting world. Abigail is in type the Church; and regarding David in his typical relation to the Lord, she is his compensation in the day of his rejection for all he had lost in the kingdom. She is with him where even Jonathan cannot follow him; and after becoming his wife and companion in suffering, she shares his throne and glory. But we have also considered David as the faithful servant, not perfect like the Lord, but under God's discipline and training; and in this aspect the influence of Abigail on him typifies that of the Church, whose position and sentiments, when made known, suppress all notions of vengeance. Nabal is the old Adam, spare or Abigail's sake; but when Nabal dies, David owns Abigail in the closest relationship; she who not only on first acquaintance provoked and confirmed in his soul the blessed and dignified path of grace which became him in his rejection, but who also gladly shared with him his toil and sorrow. Thus the wilderness of Maon was an eventful scene for David; just as it is a great day in our lives as Christians when the Church, as to her calling and nature, is first made known to us. For many a servant of God who feels the usurpation of professed religion as David did in the person of Saul has not found the Abigail—has not so learned what the Church is in the mind of Christ, as to find therein an interest, sympathy, and companionship, as well as a support in the path of grace in passing through this world. As Abigail was a green spot in the wilderness to David, so the Church is the only green spot for the heart of Christ or His servants now on earth, the center and object of His interest.
It is very necessary, while studying the lines of instruction in which God educates His servant, to keep in mind that these lines are always in relation to the place for which the servant is destined. David is now only preparing for his great sphere of service; and previous to entering on it, it is necessary that he should know the ways and grace of the Lord in several distinct lines.
We have just seen how the Lord helped and cheered him in the wilderness in a manner most unexpected to him, the whole circumstances unfolding in a remarkable way the Lord's tender and abounding love. If Adam required the company and help of Eve in the garden of Eden, how much more did David an Abigail in the desert! But “the greater the need, the greater the boon;” and this David's soul must have acknowledged. But after this bright moment, the waters of persecution again encompass him. (Chap. 26.) Saul, instigated by the Ziphites, again pursues him into the wilderness; which plainly intimated to David that the desperate issue was at hand. To the spiritual man oppressed by the world there is always given a very clear perception of the state and condition of the power brought against him. This grace is now given to David. He reconnoiters Saul and his army, understands what his own course should be, and having sought a companion, forthwith entered on it. And for what object? Simply to show that though his enemy was in his power he would not injure him. “Saul lay sleeping within the trench, and his spear stuck in the ground at his bolster,” &c., when David and Abishai approach. The latter would have killed the sleeping king, in the power of nature, but David interposed, alleging very distinctly and solemnly his confidence that God would be his avenger. The only trophies which he takes are the spear and the cruse of water, which indicate the true nature of the exploit. The spear (the implement of war) was returned, but we do not hear that the cruse was. Saul a second time acknowledges David's victory of grace, and in reply to his expostulation says, “I have sinned; return, my son David; for I will no more do thee harm, because my soul was precious in thine eyes this day.” What evidence had been accorded to David in this transaction of the mighty power of God! What authority for that sentiment which he uttered after his final deliverance: “He sent from above; he took me; he drew me out of many waters.”
But, alas! when our greatest deliverances take place, we are often least sensible of the mercy vouchsafed. The very ingratitude for it provokes a reaction, unless we are so humbled and broken as to be occupied in magnifying the Lord, instead of dwelling on ourselves and our own insufficiency. Having been in the Lord's hand, unless we abide there, subject to Him in praise, we are the more sensible of our own powerlessness. Now, powerlessness with faith binds us the more to God, as the sure rock of our strength and the fountain of supply; but powerlessness without faith always drives us to seek human succor: and after great deliverances we often make a false step, partly because we have got out of the energy of that faith which the pressure required, and partly because our nature would escape from the restraint which faith entails—it wishes to get into circumstances where faith will not be required. Thus David, after this great moral victory over Saul, becomes a prey to his own feelings and fears (chap. xxvii.), and says in his heart, “I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul; there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines,” &c. This idea was in positive contradiction to the language he had so lately uttered to Saul. But how soon one forgets the convictions of faith when one confers with nature! Just before he had said, “So let my life be much set by in the eyes of the Lord, and let him deliver me out of all tribulation.” But now he is so desponding, that he expatriates himself from the Lord's inheritance. “And David arose, and the six hundred men that were with him and passed over unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath.” We have seen that once before he had sought refuge with Achish, and was glad to retire from it in humiliation. Why does he go there again'? He now practically exemplifies the most peculiar and necessary discipline that any one can be subjected to. Whatever be the first cause of our failure at our start, even though surmounted at the time, it is sure to beset us again, and, if we be not effectually delivered from it, in a more bitter and desperate form. This is necessary; for if that particular line of my nature still flourishes, surely divine discipline must be directed to the subjection of it, for nature, though summarily expelled, is sure to betray itself again and again, until it be worn out: and therefore when an exposure recurs again (necessary because it has not been thoroughly mortified), it is always met by a severe chastening. David ingratiates himself with Achish, and obtains Ziklag from him. It is wonderful how the Lord allows his servants to work out their own devisings; but after they had been corrected and have seen the end of them, he advances them to greater and higher service, provided they have been in principle true to Him. Deep as was David's failure here, I believe this was the case with him. We never hear that he worshipped false gods or forgot that Israel was God's people. He deceived Achish, and thus morally degraded himself; but he was true in principle to God, and when his nature was subdued, he was delivered from his humiliating position into open and active service. Ziklag was the last touch of the master-hand that was preparing him for the throne, and must therefore be especially interesting to us. He goes there in unbelief, tarries for more than a year, ingratiates himself with Achish by false representations, and even essays to join him in battle against Israel, which act we must from his former course consider that the lords of the Philistines rightly interpreted! for however he could deceive, he never would have taken the sword against his own people, except with the intention to aid them eventually. This they forsee, and Achish is reluctantly obliged to decline his services and lead him away. And now being delivered from this false and painful position by the Lord's indirect interpositions, discipline follows. While this duplicity had been going on, judgment falls on Ziklag, and David and his company return to find it burned with fire, and their wives, sons, and daughters taken captive? We now know what David did not know at this distressing moment, that the same God who was then so sorely chastening him was preparing the kingdom for him, for the very same hour Saul was being slain on Mount Gilboa; but David was not fit for the throne or any such tidings, until he was chastened and brought into real dependence on God. The first and last step to the throne is dependence, and the only title for it which God owns; consequently, at Ziklag, David is more humbled and deserted than at any other period of his life; for not only was his own sorrow poignant on account of his great loss, but (as is the case in all great sorrows) the whole of his past history must have intensified his misery; and, in addition to this, the greatest blow of any, his old and attached followers speak of stoning him. Such a moment he had never known before, and never knew again. His enemies (the Amalekites) had baffled him and were beyond his reach; and what is more fretting to the man of might than to be circumvented without opportunity of avenging oneself Truly he was under the arrows of the Almighty, and made to feel the chastening rod for having committed himself to so false a position as that outside the land or place of privilege. Human help or support there was none? on the contrary, danger and conspiracy surrounded him: God chastening him, his friends incensed against him, his enemy unreachable. But what was the result? “David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.” It is deeply interesting now and again to turn to the Psalms and listen to the breathings of his heart in the varied circumstances, the narrative of which is given in the history of his life. We find that Psa. 56 was uttered in the distress of his soul, entailed by his wrong and humiliating sojourn in Gath; and whether or not it was at the period we are considering, it is an utterance fully expressive of what he must have passed through. Bereft of all human trust, he turns to God, though in the full consciousness of his own failures. “In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do unto me. Thy vows are upon me, O God: I will render praises unto thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling?” It is a blessed thing to have received at any time a right knowledge of God; for if we have, when our failure is paramount, we shall then best know that God is our only resource, although His chastening be very sore, and we be forsaken and helpless. There is no fear for David now; he has “awaked,” and he shall “have light.” (See Eph. 5:1414Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. (Ephesians 5:14).) “Bring hither the ephod,” he says to Abiathar, the priest; for when the soul re-enters the path of faith, it is specially conscious of the necessity for acceptance; and now he has got into his old line of confidence, and doubtless with renewed energy. As at Keilah, he inquires of the Lord, “Shall I pursue after this troop? shall I overtake them?” And He answered him with peculiar assurance and encouragement, “Pursue: for thou shalt surely overtake, and without fail recover all.” Thus in a moment has the earnest soul recovered itself with God. “So David went, and the 600 men that were with him;” but 200 remained behind at the brook Besor, from faintness. The path of faith always tests our strength, and every embarrassment only presents an opportunity for some greater display of the grace which is sustaining us. This contretemps gives rise to a “statute for Israel unto this day,” and one fully characteristic of the grace which at the moment was blessing the pursuers.
David fails not: wise and gracious as well as strong (as the man walking according to God's counsel ever is), he can turn every incident to account. The almost famished Egyptian commands his attention; on any ground he ought not to have neglected him, as we in our haste are too ready to do; and had he done so, he would have lost the proper clue to the desired end. The recruited Egyptian guides David to the camp of his enemies, and he smote the whole troop, recovered all they had carried away, rescued his two wives and all; “there was nothing lacking, David recovered all.” And now, returning to the brook Besor, he exemplifies how a soul in the enjoyment of grace, flushed with its glorious exploits, will know how to testify of that grace to others. He overrules the selfishness of the natural mind, and proclaims that divine principle: “As his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike. And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.” What a monument! What a commemoration of the last hours of David's rejection! and what a herald, morally, of the reign about to open! This ordinance has a momentous meaning; it embodies the principle by which the Church is now, by its members, morally affected; it is the offspring of the victorious but uncrowned David; the place which our Lord now holds towards His people here. And this ordinance conveys to us the principle on which each member in the body is dependent on the other for loss or for gain, It is new and wonderful, but worthy of the hour in which it was enacted. It is the Holy Ghost and not merely life who unites in one body the members of the absent Lord, and makes them dependent and inseparably one from the other. May we apply our hearts unto wisdom, that we may understand the deep things of God.
We have now reached the completion of the third course or circle of David's eventful life; and the close of that wonderful process of moral preparation which was necessary to qualify him for that high and glorious position for which he was so early destined and anointed. His entrance thereon we must defer considering for the present.
(Continued from page 109.)