Part 14 (1/2)

”And David girded his sword upon his aro; for he had not proved it And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them And David put them off him” Happy deliverance from the trammels of human policy! It has been observed, and iant, in actual conflict, but when he was te hirace, he rejected it, and thus left himself entirely in the Lord's hands, and we knohat security he found there This is faith It leaves itself in God's hand[13]

[13] How often it happens that the child of God or the servant of Christ, harnessed with human devices for his work, finds himself burdened and hampered with these trammels to obedience and faith Let therace, and the soul cast upon God finds at once the joy and liberty for the service and energy of faith

[Ed]

And, my reader, may we not apply this with much profit to the case of a poor helpless sinner in reference to the forgiveness of his sins? I believe we may Satan will tempt such an one to seek so that will detract frolory of the Son of God as the _only_ Saviour of sinners Now to such I would say, It matters not _what_ you add to the work of Christ,--you , surely circu an ordinance of divine institution; yet the apostle says, ”Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circuain to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen frorace” (Gal v 2-4) In a word, then, we must have Christ _alone_; ant no more, we can do with no less If our works are to be put in with Christ's, then He is not sufficient We dishonor the sufficiency of His atoneht of our oith it, just as David would have dishonored the Lord by going forth to meet the Philistine champion in Saul's armor Doubtless many a so-called prudent man would have condemned what seemed to hi; indeed, the more practised a man was in human warfare, the more likely would he have been to condemn the course adopted by the man of faith But what of that? David knehom he had believed; he kneas not rashness that was leading hiness and ability to meet him in his need

Few, perhaps, in Saul's army knew the weakness of David as realized by hih all eyes were fastened upon hi much self-confidence, yet we knohat it was that buoyed up his heart, and gave firmness to his step as he went forth to meet the terrible foe We know that the power of God was there just as manifestly as when the waters of the sea were divided to make a way for the ransos the power of God into action, nothing can stand in the way

Verse 40 shows us David's armor ”And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put the which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine” So, we see, David did use means; but what means! What contempt does David cast upon the ponderous ar must have contrasted with Goliath's spear like a weaver's beam! In fact, David could not have inflicted a deeper wound upon the Philistine's pride than by coainst hi?” said he It iant; he was an ene him with the weapons of faith ”Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shi+eld: 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 my handthat 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”[14] Here we have the true object of the ht have a glorious testimony to the power and presence of God in the midst of His people

If David had used Saul's armor it would not have been known that the Lord saved not by sword and spear--his warfare would just see little prolory to Him from whom the victory came[15]

[14] For the important distinction between the expressions, ”Lord” and ”God”--Jehovah and Elohim--see ”Notes on the Book of Genesis,” chap

ii

[15] It is interesting to observe David's address to Goliath He does not say, ”I co and a stone_” No; but, ”in the name of the Lord of hosts” With him, it is not the means, but ”the Lord of hosts” on which he fixes his eyes

Faith ever honors God, and God ever honors faith David, as has been already remarked, put himself into the hands of God, and the happy result of so doing was victory--full, glorious victory ”David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew hinificent triumph! Precious fruit of sie the heart to cast away fro to the only true source of power David washis brethren fro threats of the uncircumcised Philistine; he had come into their midst, from the retireh the anointed king of Israel; he had gone forth single-handed to ation; he had laid him prostrate, and made a show of him openly; and all this, be it remembered, as _the servant_ of God, and the servant of Israel, and in the energy of a faith which circuained by a single blow--no enerals--no prowess of soldiers No; a stone fro by a shepherd's hand, settled the whole matter It was the victory of faith

”And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled” How vain are those hopes which are based on the perishable resources of flesh, in its greatest apparent strength and energy! Who that saw the giant and the stripling about to engage in conflict, but would have treht that all theand a stone? Yet see the end The champion of the Philistines fell, and with him all their fondly-cherished hopes ”And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines” Yes: they one out before them, to deliver the powerfully by the hand of one who, but whose ht well attract every heart

But amidst the many thousands who beheld the victory, we read of one whose soul was drawn forth in ardent affection for the victor The htless must have been struck with admiration of the victory; and, no doubt, it affected individuals differently At such tihts of many hearts are revealed” Some would envy, some would admire; some would rest in the victory; some in the instrument; some would have their hearts drawn up to ”the God of the arst them with a draord in His hand But there was one devoted heart as powerfully attracted to _the person_ of the conqueror, and this was Jonathan

”And it ca unto Saul, that _the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David_, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul” (Chap xviii 1) No doubt Jonathan participated most fully in the joy of all in the triumph of David; but there was more than this in it; it was not merely the triumph, but the person of the triumphant one that drew out the deep and ardent affections of Jonathan's soul Saul ht selfishly seek to retain the valiant David about his person, not because of love for his person, but sinify himself Not so Jonathan; he _loved_ David David had rereat blank in his heart The challenge of the giant had, as it was each day repeated, developed the poverty of Israel The eye ed up and down the ranks in search of one able towords fell on their ears, ”_all_ the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid” ”All”; yes; all fled, when they heard his words, and saw his size Terrible was the blank, therefore, left in the heart on this solemn occasion; and when a beloved one appeared to fill up that blank, onder that Jonathan's whole soul was drawn out in genuine affection for that one And be it remembered, that it was David himself, and not his work only, that touched Jonathan's heart He admired his victory surely, but his personapplication to the true David

That we are warranted insuch application will, surely, not be questioned The whole scene, from first to last, is too remarkable to admit of a question In Goliath we behold the power of the enee From this power there was no ht be repeated froht the solehout the myriads of Adam's fallen posterity, ”It is appointed unto ment;” and the only response which man could yield was, like Israel's response in the valley of Elah, dish fear of death, all our lifetie” This was man's response The need was felt--the void unfilled The hu, and yearned in vain The claiment frowned in the distance, and man could only trerace, a deliverer has appeared--One hty to save, the Son of God, the true David, the Anointed King of Israel and of all the earth He has s of the heart But hohere? when? By His death on Calvary, in that terrible hour when all creation wastransacted Yes, ht, and the victory won There it was that the strong man had all his armor taken from him, and his house spoiled There, justice had its ut of ordinances, which was against us, was nailed to the tree There, too, the curse of a broken laas forever obliterated by the blood of the Lauilty conscience satisfied by the same

”The precious blood of Christ, as of a la for the believing soul The poor trelorious issue thereof, and behold all the power of the enelorious Deliverer, and feel the heavy burden rolled away fro spirit The tide of divine peace and joy may flow into his soul, and he may walk abroad in the full power of the emancipation purchased for hiospel

And shall not one thus delivered love _the Person_ of the deliverer?--not merely the work, but the Person? Ah! how can it be otherwise? Who that has felt the real depth of his need, and groaned beneath the burden of his sins, can fail to love and adore that gracious One who has satisfied the one and removed the other? The work of Jesus is infinitely precious; it meets the sinner's need, and introduces the soul into a position in which it can contemplate the person of Christ In a word, then, the _work_ of the Saviour is for the _sinner_; the _person_ of the Saviour is for the saint: what He has _done_, is for the former; what He _is_, is for the latter

But thereof Christ while the heart is cold and remains unacquainted with His person In the 6th chapter of John, we find athe Lord Jesus rounds, and He is constrained to tell them so: ”Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek Me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled” It was not for what He _was_ they were seeking Hie; and hence, when He applies to their hearts the searching statement, ”Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, there is no life in you,” we read, ”Many of His disciples went back, and walked noHis blood, is, in other words, the soul finding its food, its satisfaction, in the offering of Hiospel of John is a developlory of the Incarnate Word who is presented to us as ”the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world” Yet the natural heart could not receive Him thus, and, therefore, ”many went back, and walked no more with Him” The majority could not bear to have this truth pressed upon theht of God: ”Peter answered and said, Lord, to whoo? Thou hast the words of eternal life; and we believe and are sure that Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” Here we have the two things, viz: what He _had_ for theive, and He was the Son of the living God; by the former, the sinner is drawn to Him; by the latter, the saint is bound to Him He not only meets all our necessities as sinners by His work, but also satisfies our affections and desires as saints by His person

This train of thought has been suggested by the deeply interesting and touching intervieeen David and Jonathan, when the conflict was over The many thousands of Israel had raised the shout of triumph, and pursued the Philistines to reap the fruits of victory, while Jonathan was delighting himself in the person of the victor ”And Jonathan stripped hiave it to David, and his garirdle” This was love, pure, simple, unaffected love--undivided occupation with an attractive object Love strips itself for the sake of its object David had forgotten hiation, and now Jonathan would forget himself for David

Reader, let us re of true Christianity Love to Jesus makes us strip ourselves; and, we may say, that to strip self to honor Jesus is the fairest fruit of the work of God in the soul

”Talk they of reat morality is love to Thee”

Very different were the feelings hich Saul regarded the person and work of David He had not learnt to forget himself and rejoice to see the work done by another It is the work of grace to be able to do this We all naturally like to be or to do soht of Thus it ith Saul; he was a self-is of the maids of Israel: ”Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands”

Saul could not brook the idea of being second He forgot how he had treh cowardly he would fain be counted brave and valiant ”And Saul eyed David from that day and forward” Terrible eye!--the eye of envy and bitter jealousy

We shall have occasion to trace the development both of Jonathan's love and Saul's hatred, as we proceed in this work, and h other scenes

NOTE--It requires a very sinedly in the fruit of another's labors as in that of our own hands Had the glory of God and the good of His people filled Saul's heart, he would not have spent a thought upon the question as to the nulory This was the secret of his envy and jealousy Oh, what sacred rest, what true elevation, what perfect quietness of spirit flows from self-renunciation, such self-renunciation as results fro the heart wholly occupied with Christ! When we are honestly seeking the prolory we shall not be careful as to the instrument