OR,
THE RESPONSIBLE MAN, AND THE MAN OF
GOD'S CHOICE.
Now the aged prophet's chief service was finished. He had witnessed the rejection of the priesthood in the line of Ithamar. He had seen the failure of the king for whom Israel had asked. He lived to anoint the king whose throne shall never pass away, though for a time it has been overthrown. Himself the link between God and the people during the transitional state between the manifested failure of the priesthood, and the raising up of the king of God's choice, he lived long enough to see the commencement of the train of events which yet await its full accomplishment, when the faithful priest shall walk before God's anointed forever. (1 Sam. 2:3535And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind: and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before mine anointed for ever. (1 Samuel 2:35).) Thenceforward, on three occasions only, does Samuel figure in the history (chaps. 19, 25:1, 28.), though he judged Israel all the days of his life. In this we may trace something analogous to the condition of things in the days. of John the Baptist. At first, the one on whom all eyes were fixed, and to whom the crowds turned, he ceased to occupy the same prominent place after that the Lord had been baptized of him in Jordan. (John 3:2626And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. (John 3:26).) His work went on till his imprisonment stopped it; but, as he beautifully declared, speaking of the Lord, “Me must increase, but I must decrease.” Similarly the prophet, under whom Israel had been victorious at Ebenezer, retired into comparative privacy after he had anointed David to be king. To Saul, as king, he had given directions. To David he gave none that we read of, but left the public stage free for the display of the deeds and victories of the son of Jesse, whilst he carried on his less obtrusive service of judging Israel, till death terminated his mortal career. Henceforth two men are prominent in the history, both anointed by God to be kings over Israel; the one Saul, that is, “asked,” who, as his name may serve to remind us, was raised up when the people asked for a king; the other, David, that is, “beloved,” whose name may remind the reader that he was a special object of divine favor.
David, anointed by Samuel, now becomes the instrument by which God is to work in power. The Spirit had come in power upon Saul. (1 Sam. 10:1010And when they came thither to the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. (1 Samuel 10:10).) He now came in power upon David (chap. 16:13), and left Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. God had not made Saul king without giving him power for his work. Rejecting Saul, He raised up David, and fitted him in a similar way for His service, for God never sends anyone to warfare at his own charges. We must, however, make a difference between these two men. The Spirit coming on any person in the manner the historian has described, for the same term, òÀìÈä is used with reference to Saul and to David, does not of necessity imply a constant endowment of spiritual power. In Saul's case, the Spirit thus came on him, in chapter 10: 10, and chapter 11: 6. In David's case the Spirit came on him from that day and forward. Was Saul, then, less well furnished than David? By no means. As long as he was under probation God bestowed the Spirit in power whenever he needed it. But knowing what the instruments were, God dealt with each accordingly. Now a sad spectacle presents itself. The one who had been entrusted with temporal power on earth, and not deprived of it, actuated by an evil spirit from the Lord, is led, as the sequel shows, into direct personal antagonism to the man after God's own heart, and seeks to use his authority to take away David's life. Into man's hand God, after the flood, put the sword of government, and has never withdrawn it. How has he used it? He has wielded the sword of justice to put to death the holy One and the Just, and to stop, if possible, the spread of God's truth. The power given of God has been used against God. A diabolical course of action certainly. But such a state of things was not permitted, till man had shown insubjection to God. In Saul's case, this demoniacal possession was not allowed, until he had manifested disobedience to the divine command. Yet, guilty as he was, and therefore deservedly suffering, God was willing to show him mercy, till he rejected it. But who was able to cope with the evil spirit, and to set free the king of Israel—for a time at least—from its influence? None but David, the son of Jesse. He alone could minister to the king in this matter, as he alone could conquer the giant. When he played before Saul the evil spirit departed from him (chapter xvi. 28), a type, surely, in this of Him who could cast out demons when none else could (Mark 5:44Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. (Mark 5:4); Luke 9:4040And I besought thy disciples to cast him out; and they could not. (Luke 9:40)); but only a type, for the Lord could give His disciples authority over evil spirits to cast them out, David could authorize no one to soothe the son of Kish.
At Saul's court David played. When his presence was no longer required there, he returned to his original occupation of keeping his father's sheep in the wilderness. (Chap. 17:15.) He knew his place, and kept it; and in his place learned about God in a way others had not, and the lesson thus learned fitted him for future usefulness. In these different conditions his ways commended him. At the court, in the camp, and with the sheep, he conducted himself wisely and well. Nevertheless, till God took him out of his original calling, David returned to his humble occupation of a shepherd. Was time thus spent time thrown away? Who would say that, as he reads Psa. 8? which describes lessons learned, it would seem, during the night season. Who would say that he had wasted his energies in the sheepfold, when he experienced as a shepherd the deliverance of God? Now the time arrived, and the occasion arose, for which God had been training his servant in the wilderness.
In Ephes-Dammin, where subsequently David and Eleazar, the son of Dodo, the Ahohite, successfully withstood the onslaught of the Philistines (1 Chron. 11:1313He was with David at Pas-dammim, and there the Philistines were gathered together to battle, where was a parcel of ground full of barley; and the people fled from before the Philistines. (1 Chronicles 11:13)), the power of the uncircumcised received a check at the hand of the stripling son of Jesse. The Philistines stood on a mount on the one side, and Israel on a mount on the other, with the valley of Elah between them; and there went out of the camp of the Philistines a champion, Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span, that is, about nine feet nine inches in stature, and he defied the armies of Israel. From before him they all fled. In his presence Saul, and even Jonathan, felt themselves powerless. For forty days he defied Israel—a pitiable spectacle indeed—challenging any one to single combat, with servitude, as the penalty to be meted out to the conquered foe. The crisis had now come—the question was fairly put. Israel, if their champion were beaten, were to be servants to the Philistines; the Philistines, if Goliath was slain, offered to be servants to Israel. No longer, then, would the enemy admit of a compromise. Victory or servitude, and that without hope or prospect of any end to it. Such were the terms on which Goliath proposed to meet a champion from the children of Israel.
How bold in his words, yet how really apprehensive of danger, did he show himself to be! Why all that armor, the helmet, the coat of mail, the greaves of brass on his legs, with a javelin (ëÌÄéãÉåï, Josh. 8:1818And the Lord said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear that is in thy hand toward Ai; for I will give it into thine hand. And Joshua stretched out the spear that he had in his hand toward the city. (Joshua 8:18)), not a target, of brass between his shoulders, and an armor-bearer with a shield going before him? What thought had Goliath taken for the safety of his person! Encased in scaly armor, and with a shield to cover his whole person borne before him—in such attire, but not till he had taken such precautions, did this giant challenge the Israelites to single and mortal combat. Appearances were all in his favor; his height was imposing, and his armor would seem to defy penetration. But these precautions surely indicated a want of confidence in himself, and a fear of those he contemptuously called the servants of Saul. How bold the enemy can be before those who are afraid of him! And “when Saul and all Israel heard the words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.” And no wonder, for unless God is brought into such circumstances, what can feeble man effect? For forty days this went on. A fall period of probation Israel passed through; but as yet no one was found to take up the challenge. The people were made to feel their own powerlessness. When this had been realized, David, sent by his father, entered the camp. He saw the giant. He heard his words. He witnessed the abject terror of the men of Israel. All were afraid but David, the youth, who viewed the matter in the right light.
Offers had been freely made by Saul to any man who would meet the giant, and kill him, of freedom for his father's house in Israel, and the king's daughter for his wife, and enrichment with great riches. The people, to whom David addressed himself in the camp, were well acquainted with them, yet they failed to nerve one single man to volunteer for such a perilous service. And no wonder. For what are promises of temporal favors and earthly enjoyments for one who has to face, as he thinks, certain death to earn a title to possess them? Such sink into insignificance in the presence of the power of the enemy, and with death confronting the man. But David looked at the matter in another light. The servants of Saul Goliath termed his opponents. To defy Israel had Goliath come, said the people, addressing David. He, however, remembered who Israel really were, namely, the armies of the living God. In this strain he answered them, and in the same strain he spoke to Saul. He sought to rally all Israel, that they should no longer be afraid. Could the armies of the living God be overthrown? Could death triumph in such circumstances? The very language he used—and it was the simple truth—should have settled the question for Saul and for Israel, as it was already settled for him. The armies of the living God were Israel, whom Goliath defied, and he, the champion, the terrible one, was but an uncircumcised Philistine.
With David, then, it was not a question how things looked to man, but what the things were in God's sight. He viewed things in the light in which God viewed them, and all was clear and certain for him, the man of faith. “Let no man's heart fail because of him,” David said to Saul; “thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” This was the language of faith, not the bravado of a boaster. Goliath was only an uncircumcised Philistine, he had not the token of God's covenant on his person. (Gen. 17:1111And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you. (Genesis 17:11).) But all this was lost upon Saul, He looked at David, took note of his youthfulness, and attempted to discourage him. All right, if David had been going in his own strength; but if the contest really lay between God and the enemy, what mattered youth and inexperience in war? The living God must conquer him who terrified His people with the dread of death. So David knew, and in God's strength would he meet the giant. For God was his God. He had proved His delivering power at the sheepfold. There he had received that training which fitted him for the combat. The lion and the bear, which had robbed his father's fold, he had slain single-handed. What better than the fate of those unclean beasts could the uncircumcised Philistine have meted out to him, seeing he had defied the armies of the living God?
Armed with Saul's armor, David assayed to go, for he had not proved it; but the armor of man's devising, since the conflict really lay between God and the enemy, encumbered the man of faith. So, putting it off, and furnished only with offensive weapons provided by God, the five smooth stones out of the brook, he went forward to the encounter. The Philistine moved forward, preceded by his armor-bearer. David went to meet him, with God for his shield. Goliath disdained him, and cursed him by his gods, vaunting of his ability to give his flesh to the fowls of the air, and to the boasts of the field. Boasting in word, attempting, too, perhaps, to terrify David by cursing him, this was all that the enemy could do. David heard his boastful language, and replied with becoming spirit, “Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee, and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands.” Confident was the Philistine, as confident was David. Yet how different was the spirit of the latter from that of the former Goliath boasted of his strength, “I will give thy flesh,” &c. David trusted in the Lord; “the Lord,” he said, “will deliver thee into mine hand.” To Goliath he speaks of Jehovah. To Israel and to Saul he made mention of the living God. Each term was in keeping with the circumstances in which David was placed. To rally Israel and Saul, he reminds them of the living God. Answering the boastful Philistine, he speaks of Jehovah of hosts as the God of the armies of Israel. The living God could not be overcome by the power of death. Jehovah of hosts, who has power in battle, could not be subdued by the champion of God's enemies. In His name, then, David, stripling though he was, would go forward, and felt sure of, the victory.
With the sling and the stone Goliath was conquered. The weapon needed was not far off. In the brook which ran between the two armies the stone was found that laid low the champion of the uncircumcised, and silenced forever his boasting. All his armor proved unavailing to ward off the death-blow: even the shield borne before him by his armor-bearer did not intercept the stone. God provided what was wanted, and it was found to be all-sufficient. A principle we have here of wide application. God does provide the weapons wherewith, if called upon, His people may meet those opposed to Him. The Lord promised to provide them. (Luke 21:1515For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. (Luke 21:15).) So Stephen proved the Lord's faithfulness to His word, when His enemies were not able to resist the wisdom and spirit by which he spoke. (Acts 6:1010And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake. (Acts 6:10).) In this he does not stand alone, for the Lord still cares for His people.
David had said that he would cut off Goliath's head. A vain boast it might have sounded, for there was no sword in his hand. He did it nevertheless. The giant's head was severed by his own weapon, a foreshadowing, surely, of that of which we read in Heb. 2:1414Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14). The combat over, the Philistines fled, and Israel pursued them to the gates of Ekrom and Gath, their two nearest cities. Israel spoiled the Philistines, but David was contented with Goliath's head and Goliath's armor. The armor he put into his tent (Luke 11:21, 2221When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: 22But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils. (Luke 11:21‑22)), the head he carried to Jerusalem, here mentioned for the first time in connection with God's king, but in perfect keeping with the order of events. For the one who has the power of death must be vanquished ere the kingdom can be set up in power. So Jerusalem, the place of the throne, only comes into notice in this history after the death of the enemy of God and of His people. And now a question arises as to David's parentage. Whence was he? Saul asked. To Saul it was unknown; to Abner likewise. And none answered the question, till David himself told Saul of his father. Some in the camp knew who he was, but his parentage was not openly proclaimed till after the death of Goliath. (Compare with this Rom. 1:44And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: (Romans 1:4).)
Henceforward David was to be famous. His name was never to be forgotten. Israel remembered his victory, women celebrated it in song (1 Sam. 18:6, 76And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music. 7And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. (1 Samuel 18:6‑7)), and the enemy never forgot it. (Chap. 21:11; 29:5.) As for Jonathan, he loved him as his own soul. They were knit together in love at once. It could not be otherwise. Jonathan, who had smitten a garrison of the uncircumcised, could not but be drawn to David, who had conquered Goliath. And nothing Jonathan had was too good, in his eye, for David to be invested with. Of all that had distinguished him before the people he had divested himself, that David should be arrayed in it. Saul, actuated by human thoughts, which completely shut out God, pressed on David the use of his armor before he met Goliath. Jonathan, after the victory, invested David with his robe, his garments, his sword, his bow, and his girdle. Saul thought to shield the person of David from the blows of the giant. Jonathan gave to David, in token of his admiration and his love. In him we see that putting aside of self which is the fruit of divine grace.
Jonathan was occupied with David. Saul eyed him from that day and forward. To him he was an object of jealousy, to Jonathan of admiration. What caused this difference? The songs of the women put Saul in the second place. This the king could not endure. So jealousy took possession of the unhappy monarch, and urged him to a course, which his better judgment, at times, condemned, but from which he never really turned. From this time, till Saul's death, David experienced his bitter enmity, and the history which sets this forth divides itself into several distinct portions. From chapters 18:9-19:17 we have David, as yet at the court and in the camp. From 19:18, 21:15, we see him a fugitive from his home. Chapters 22-26 describe his life, trials, and escapes in the land of Judea, and chapters 27-31 exhibit him as an exile with the Philistines, dwelling at Ziklag, until Saul's death. Many must have been the lessons that he learned of God's goodness in sustaining him and delivering him during these years, in spite of his failures. And during this period of his life many of his psalms were probably composed. Thus God has made his trials, as He did the imprisonment of Paul, to redound to His own glory, and to the instruction and comfort of His people in all succeeding ages.
Whilst at the court, and in the camp, God, in a marked way, watched over David, and raised up friends where they might not have been expected. Twice did God preserve him from being struck by the king's javelin. (Chap. 28:11.) Removed by Saul from the court, he was transferred to the camp, where he behaved himself wisely, and the Lord was with him. In the camp, and on the battle-field, he by his conduct gained the hearts of all the people; but this only made Saul the More afraid of him. So, wishing to compass his death, without directly imbruing his hands in David's blood, Saul made him acquainted with the dowry he wanted, ere he could become the king's son-in-law, by marrying Michal, Saul's daughter. Outwitted in his diabolical plan of thus compassing David's death, for David slew of the Philistines just doable the number required, and, being still victorious in battle, Saul charged Jonathan and his servants to kill him. Here, again, the unhappy monarch's purpose was defeated, for Jonathan befriended him, and a third personal attempt on David's life (chap. 19:10) proved as unsuccessful as the other two. What folly to fight against God! But what power can the enemy exert over a man! Attempting next to have David assassinated in his own house, the wretched man's daughter, Michal, took part against her father. After that, following David to Samuel's house at Ramah, the Spirit of God is seen to be superior to the spirit of evil, since Saul himself is once more found among the prophets. The power of the enemy was powerless before the Spirit of God. The king, so often led by the demon, is, however unwillingly, and to his own confusion, controlled by the Holy Ghost. Neither man nor devil can prevail against God. Into what a dreadful position, however, can a vessel drift which once was used of God! Once endowed with power by the Holy Ghost to work for the deliverance of Israel at Jabesh Gilead, the same spirit has at Ramah to counteract the murderous intentions of this unhappy man.
The second portion of the history of David in trial has commenced. He has become a fugitive. But at what a juncture to fly from Naioth Saul's intentions were certainly manifested, but God's sheltering care and power were as clearly evidenced. How irrational is unbelief, and God may demonstrate it to our confusion. David fled to Jonathan, and told him, what Jonathan could not as yet credit, that nothing short of his death would satisfy the king. The opportunity for testing the accuracy of David's statement was speedily afforded Jonathan; but clearly it was not of the Lord that David should put into Jonathan's mouth a story destitute of troth. In this we see the man apart from the type, and whenever henceforth, in his exigency on account of Saul's enmity, he trusts to his own inventions, invariably have we to mark how untruthfulness characterized him. Born in sin, a transgressor, too, we see illustrated in David what it is to be the man of God's purpose, in whom the divine plan was to be carried out. He did not deserve the honor and greatness, being only a type of Him who is worthy of it all. As a man we can trace in him the taint of the fall, but, despite his failings, God's purposes connected with him are carried out. Had God dealt with him as He did with Saul, on the ground of responsibility, would he have remained the head of a dynasty which is never to end? A saint he was, but a sinner likewise; and, when left to himself, how low did he sink! Yet his throne will be established forever. (Isa. 9:77Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah 9:7).) As a type of the Lord, David stands out apart from all. But as an illustration how God's purposes can be carried out, despite the failure of the instrument, in this, thank God, he is not alone.
But to return to the history. Jonathan and David together in the field, the former knowing full well who was to be the future king, makes the latter swear to show kindness, not only to him, but to his seed after him. Jonathan sees nothing beyond the establishment in power of David's throne. (Chap. 20:14, 15, 42.) In this he was right. There will be nothing on this earth to supersede it. But how little could it have appeared to outward eyes that the fugitive, as David had now become, was to sit upon a throne, and that the house of Saul should be indebted to his clemency for preservation from death! Jonathan, too, though he expected to see David commence his reign, did not expect to survive him. David would abide when Jonathan would be here no more. (Chap. 20:14.) The covenant then made David kept. In the zenith of his glory and greatness he remembered it, and his kindness to Mephibosheth was a proof of it. (2 Sam. 9) And later on, near the close of his reign, he acted upon it, in sparing Jonathan's son from being hung by the Gibeonites for Saul's slaughter of the Hivites, in his zeal for Israel and Judah. (2 Sam. 21:77But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the Lord's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. (2 Samuel 21:7).)
Leaving Jonathan, David fled to Nob, and, by his deceit there, was the cause of Ahimelech's death. (1 Sam. 22:2222And David said unto Abiathar, I knew it that day, when Doeg the Edomite was there, that he would surely tell Saul: I have occasioned the death of all the persons of thy father's house. (1 Samuel 22:22).) At Gath he feigned himself mad. After that he is found in Moab, whither he had taken his aged parents, to place them under the protection of its king. In these movements, had he the guidance of God In asking such a question, are we sitting in judgment on a fellow-creature as those who would have done better? God forbid. Placed in similar circumstances, failure on our part might be just as conspicuous, and equally inexcusable. What led to such failure?—this is the question for us. The answer to this lies on the surface. David had left God out of his calculations. How often may we be in danger of doing the same?
But his visit to Nob calls for more than a passing notice. Ahimelech, at David's request, gave of the show-bread to him and to his men, which by the law was assigned, only to the priests. The condition of things in Israel was abnormal, for the anointed of God was persecuted. “He had need, and was an hungered, he, and they that were with him.” (Mark 2:2525And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? (Mark 2:25).) His act was clearly allowable under the circumstances. It showed what was the state of matters in Israel. It showed, too, that God would not allow anything to stand in the way of the carrying out of His purposes, which at that time were inseparably bound up with the preservation of David in life. For little as it was, doubtless, then, and certainly was afterward, understood, the providing for the wants of the Lord's anointed and his company, was a matter of no small moment to God. (Compare with this portion of the history Matt. 12:8, 48For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. (Matthew 12:8)
4How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the showbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests? (Matthew 12:4); Mark 2:25, 2625And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? 26How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the showbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? (Mark 2:25‑26); Luke 6:8, 48But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. (Luke 6:8)
4How he went into the house of God, and did take and eat the showbread, and gave also to them that were with him; which it is not lawful to eat but for the priests alone? (Luke 6:4).) Men could not put the Lord's anointed, and those with him, into straits for the supply of their necessities by rejecting Him, and then attempt to use God's institutions to prevent those wants being met. No divine ordinance was to stand in the way of God's anointed, and those with him being cared for by God. But though David evidently acted in this abnormal way in accordance with the mind of God, his story told to Ahimelech we must not justify, nor his flight to Achish, king of Gath, with the sword of Goliath in his hand. Think of the conqueror of the giant a fugitive in Goliath's native town, and with his sword I There dissembling, for fear of the Philistines, so as to be dismissed by Achish as a madman, he leaves his territory for the cave of Adullam, not far off. He has now reached his lowest condition. A fugitive from house and home, he finds shelter in a cave for himself and his men.
(To be continued.)