A STRANGE place this in which to find a type, or figure, of Christ’s present place in glory! A strange person, too, this despised and persecuted David, in whom to find a figure of the Son of God, the Saviour of sinners! And a strange company, moreover, this motley crowd of low, disreputable men, debtors, distressed, and discontented ones, in which to find a figure of those who are the very members of the body of Christ now, and who ere long will be His bride! Yet so it is, blessed be God.
Observe three things here―the place, the person, and the people, ―things of much interest in the narrative itself, where the cave of Adullam, and David, and the four hundred, are the leading features before us; but things of much deeper interest in the spiritual scene that answers to this, where Christ in the glory is gathering sinners to Himself. And the parallel runs right through the story, presenting the gospel most clearly and blessedly for us. Certain people are gathered into a certain place. To whom are they gathered? on what principle? and for what purpose?
David had been anointed as king instead of Saul, even while the latter was allowed to remain on the throne. Saul, therefore, true type of man in the-flesh, hated David, and sought to kill him; but David fled from him, and took refuge in the cave of Adullam. He was a fugitive and an exile there, yet entitled to a throne, and waiting for it. Sheltered thus in obscurity, he gathers round him a band of men as soldiers, but of such a stamp that surely there never was a royal regiment like it anywhere, either before or since. They were the very scum of the people―good-for-nothing, worthless fellows, without character, or occupation, or the means of procuring either, They were outcasts, who were so painfully conscious of their condition that they were glad to accept shelter in David’s cave, and place themselves under his control and care; and he received them, yea, gathered them, and became a captain over them, and positively made them his body-guard. Once associated with him thus, they were his, and he was theirs. They had nothing, and looked for nothing, apart from him. David was everything to them―their commander whom they obeyed and cleaved to in time of peace, rendering every power they possessed to him, and deriving all they needed from him. In war they followed him, fought by his side, and laid down their lives for him. They shared his perils and hardships, his sufferings and reproach, as well as the honors and rewards of his exploits. His success was theirs; his defeat would be theirs. He took them, and they took him, absolutely, unconditionally, “for better for worse.” Practically he and they were one. David’s ruined, ragged, wretched crew found in him the head of a new creation. Their union with him made them new creatures, in a sense, gathered on new ground, where all things for them were of David. To David, therefore, were these four hundred gathered.
And now observe the parallel between David and Christ. He, David’s Lord as well as his Son, was God’s anointed king of Israel. But before taking His throne He was despised and rejected, persecuted and hunted to death, even the death of the cross, and banished from the earth, the appointed scene of His reign. But God raised Him from the dead, took Him up into glory, and said to Him, “Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” He is therefore now in the glory of heaven, but in the same character as David in the cave of Adullam; and a blessed thing indeed it is for us that He is there; for He is occupying this interval (more than 1800 years now) in gathering out a people for Himself from this mass of sinners, who shall be His partners in glory and honor and power forever. And who are these? The very counterparts of David’s men in a spiritual sense—sinners, who are so thoroughly conscious of their lost, ruined, and worthless condition in the sight of God, having neither character, merit, nor place before Him, that they are willing to come to Christ, as David’s men came to him, and acknowledge Him as Saviour, Leader, and Lord. To Christ therefore are sinners being gathered now.
But let us look at the terms used to describe these men. Are they not strikingly applicable to those unsaved ones of whom Christ speaks as “ye that labor and are heavy laden”? Are not such veritably “in debt, in distress, and discontented”? I think so, and I trust you will too, dear unsaved one, and will come as such to Him at once.
You are a debtor to God, a great debtor, and doubly a debtor; first, because of His kindness to you; and, secondly, because of your sin against Him. Just think of the former for a moment; think how He has daily loaded you with benefits; think of His countless gifts to you from the first moment of your existence, your breath, your food, your raiment, your health, your reason, your skill, your home, your friends, yea, all that has combined to make you what you are today. He has watched over you too, and preserved you from numberless perils. And more, far more than this, He has sought to save you, by the sacrifice of His own Son, from the fearful doom of an eternal hell. Moreover, He has given you His word to tell you all this, and His Spirit to strive with you, and has borne patiently with you thus far despite your ingratitude and sin; so that you are this day a monument of His mercy, still left, where Christ waits “to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him.” Oh, what love! OH, WHAT LOVE! How can you resist it? How can you hesitate to admit that you are His debtor? You cannot, I am sure. Oh, rather say, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord,” (Ps. 116.) Yes, to accept yet another favor from Him, to make the debt still greater by taking His salvation, is the only way to have it canceled so as to satisfy and glorify Him.
Then again, dear friend, remember what a mighty debt your sins have involved you in. Who can count them, or estimate them aright but God? And who can pay the debt? Only One, the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world, the One who “bore our sins in His own body on the tree.”
“Our sins’ full weight must fall.
Upon the sinless One;
For nothing else can God accept
In payment of that fearful debt.”
The One who alone could bear them is the One who really did, bear them.
“In love Himself He gave
To pay the debt we owed;
He bore the penalty of guilt,
When on the cross His blood was spilt.”
Will you not then acknowledge the debt you owe, accept the payment He has made, and rest your ransomed soul on Him?
But you are in distress too, are you not? If conscious of being so deeply in debt to God, there will, I am sure, be distress of soul on account of your sins. You are troubled because of them, perhaps trembling sometimes at the thought of death, of judgment, of eternity—shrinking from the face of the Judge who you know must punish unforgiven sin, and fearing lest any moment may hurry you into His presence. A painful experience this, no doubt, and yet one full of hope and promise that your distress will drive you to the Captain of your salvation.
And if in debt and in distress, I am sure you must be discontented at heart, discontented with this wretched world, and all its bitter disappointments, its faithless friends, its paltry pleasures, having a secret desire for something better. Well, dear friend, seize the happy assurance that these are the very qualifications for Christ as they were for David of old. They are the very signs Christ is looking for, and that prove you to be the object of His search. Were you not characterized by any of these you would not be the one He is seeking to save. Oh, come then at once to Him who is waiting to play the part of David to you, and who only asks that you believe in Him! Come to Him, and trust in Him, and according to your faith it shall be unto you. We see now on what principle sinners are gathered to Christ, that of being lost, helpless, and hopeless ones, to find their all in Him.
But, On what ground are they gathered? First, on the ground of salvation; perfect deliverance from all their debt, their distress, their discontent. All vanished the moment David’s men became his. He gave them position, power, property, according to his own. Thus enriched by him, they lived for him. They were saved in the fullest sense in association with him. As long as he was safe they were safe, as he says to Abiathar, in verse 23 “Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life seeketh thy life: but with me thou shalt be in safeguard.” So with Christ: “Because I live ye shall live also.” “As He is so are we in this world.” And so with the sinner that comes to Christ. The change is complete. It is no longer what he was, or where he was. He is now “in Christ,” and “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God.” He is saved from everything against him, introduced into everything for him, and endowed with everything in his favor, and this forever too. What a wonderful salvation he gets who is “lifted up as a beggar from the dunghill, and set among princes, and made to inherit the throne of glory!” Is it not marvelous’ and yet true for every believer in Christ during this day of His rejection.
Secondly, he is gathered on the ground of separation. In the most complete sense belonging to and identified with their captain, David’s men were of course separated from everything that he was separated from. “His brethren and all his father’s house” were the only ones that went down to David in the cave Adullam. With them it was they joined themselves. From all else they were separated. This is evident as to them. Why not also as to us, who are gathered out to the name of the Lord Jesus from everything that He is separated from? And is it difficult to ascertain what this is? Ah! if we only knew Him better, His very excellencies would so attract us that we should be detached from everything unsuited to Him, and devoted to His interests, “spirit, soul, and body.” Nor would this separation be regarded as a duty so much as a privilege and an honor. If we only valued Him more, we should appreciate being separated to Him, no less than being saved by Him.
Once more observe that those who surrounded David were gathered to him on the ground of service. And so with those who come to Christ. “He died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him who died for them and rose again.” What a blessed thing that those whom He has saved for heaven may serve Him on earth, and with the promise of reward too! “Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.”
Let us never forget that with David’s four hundred, salvation, separation, and service, all went together; and so it is with Christ’s now. Receive Him then, dear friend, receive Him, and with Him all He brings you into. And may it then be your constant, unceasing care to enjoy the salvation of Christ, to maintain the separation of Christ, and to abide faithful in the service of Christ in every possible way until. He comes.
T. L.