Part 17 (1/2)
[21] Not exactly the ”life of _faith_,” but the life of saints The conflicts and trials so general in the people of God, while they testify to faith within, result froainst the Spirit in the child of God It is of this Gal v 16-25 speaks Were the ”walk in the Spirit” a constant thing with us, the lust and warrings of the flesh would be kept under--kept in the place of death, where God has assigned the flesh The apostle could say as to hi of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus ht be made manifest in our mortal flesh” (2 Cor iv
10) [Ed]
There is a considerable difference in the way in which the return of the ark is recorded in Samuel and in Chronicles; in the one we have the simple state through which the soul of David passed during the ti the ti under the effects of his ownDavid, saying, The Lord hath blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertaineth unto hiht up the ark of God froladness” David learnt that so far froh fear, it was really his privilege and blessing to be near it In 1 Chronicles xiv, we find David in conflict with the Philistines, and obtaining victory over theainst the Philistines? and wilt Thou deliver them into my hand? And the Lord said unto him, Go up; for I will deliver them into thy hand So they came up to Baal-perazim; and David smote them there Then David said, God hath broken in uponforth of waters: therefore they called the name of that place Baal-perazireat difference between ”a breach” and ”a place of breaches” God had made a breach upon Israel because of their error in reference to the ark; but as to the Philistines, it was not ether in a place of breaches; and David ht have learnt what a poor example he had follohen he, like them, made the cart to carry the ark And he did learn his mistake, for in chapter xv we read, ”And David made him houses in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent
Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites; for them hath the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God, and tothe chief of the fathers of the Levites, he says, ”Sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that yeup the ark of the Lord God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it For _because ye did it not at the first_, the Lord our God ht Him not _after the due order_”
Thus had David learned by the ”breach” upon Uzza He was brought to see that to follow in the current of hts was contrary to ”the due order” None can teach like God When David rong, God made a breach upon him by His own hand He would not allow the Philistines to to do this: on the contrary, He allows David to see them in a place of breaches, and enables hi forth of waters Thus God taught, and thus David learned, as ”the due order,”--thus he learned, as it were, to remove the ark from the new cart, and place it upon the shoulders of the Levites, whom the Lord had chosen to ht to cast aside human traditions, and follow, in simplicity, the written word of God, in which there was not a word about a cart and oxen to carry the ark ”_None_ ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites” This was very distinct The entire etfulness of the Word, and following the example of the uncircumcised, who had no capacity to understand the mind of God on any question,the ark
But in what a wonderfully gracious way did the Lord teach His servant!
He taught him by victory over His enemies! Thus it is the Lord frequently leads His children into the apprehension of His mind, when they vainly seek to follow in the track of the men of this world He shows theht David his ht him God's due order: by the former he learnt the folly of the cart and oxen; by the latter he learnt the value of the Levites, and the place which they held in the service of God He would not allow His people to depart froht have remained to the end in the house of Obed-edo it up, and take up God's way
”So the priests and the Levites sanctified the up the ark of the Lord God of Israel And the children of the Levites bare the ark _upon their shoulders_, with the staves thereon, _as Moses colorified in all this, and He could therefore give real joy and gladness, strength and energy There was noof oxen--no ; the truth of God was dominant, and the power of God could act There can be no real pohere truth is sacrificed There may be the appearance of it, the assumption of it, but no reality How can there be? God is the source of power, but He cannot associate Hih ”David and all Israel played before God with all their ht,” there was no divine power God's order was shut out by the huement, and all ended in confusion and sorro different is it in chap xv There is real joy--real power ”It came to pass, when _God helped the Levites_ that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bullocks and seven rams And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the ers” In a word, this was a scene hich God could consistently connect Himself He did not help the oxen; He did not help Uzza; the oxen had not borne the ark, of old, through the waters of Jordan; neither had they borne it round the walls of Jericho No; it was on the shoulders of the Levites that God had put it, and His order is the only happy one It ment; yet it will ever have the stamp of Divine approval, and this is abundantly sufficient for every faithful heart David was enabled to bear the sneer of contehter of Saul, because HE WAS ACTING BEFORE THE LORD Hear his fine reply to her reproach: ”It was before the Lord, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel; _therefore will I play before the Lord And I will yet be ht_” Precious deterrace
Base in our own eyes--happy in God Humbled to the very dust in the sense of our own vileness--lifted up on high, in the sense of the grace and loving-kindness of our God
The reader will remark that 1 Chronicles xvi is just the development of the spirit breathed in the above quotation It is the hiding of self and the setting forth the character and ways of God In short, it is a song of praise, which one has only to read to be refreshed thereby I would only direct the reader's attention to the last verse, in which he will find the four great characteristics of the people of God fully set forth ”Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us frolory in Thy praise” The Church of God is a _saved_ co We cannot answer to any of the other characteristics in this copious verse, until we know ourselves as saved by the grace of God, through the death and resurrection of Christ
In the power of this salvation the Church is gathered by the energy of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven The true effect of the Spirit's operation will be to lead into fellowshi+p all who sub His order is not isolation, but blessed association and unity in the truth But if there be ignorance as to salvation, our gathering together will not be to the glory of God, but rather for the promotion of our own spiritual interests, as it is terrounds without the assurance of being perfectly saved by the precious blood of Christ This is not the Spirit's round of what He has acco God, is the rock on which the Church is built It is not agreeious views that constitutes church-fellowshi+p, but the possession of a common life, in union with the Head in heaven
Now, the more this divine unity is realized, the more e enter into the next characteristic presented to us, viz, _separation_: ”and deliver us froh called to witness for Christ in it All within the Church is to be under the government of the Holy Ghost; all outside alas, is morally under the lordshi+p of Satan, the prince of this world
Finally, we have the Spirit of a worshi+ping people: ”That we ive thanks to Thy holy na at Salvation, association, separation, and worshi+p are all connected together The Church, breathing the atmosphere of God's salvation, is led by the Spirit into holy and happy fellowshi+p, and thus being separated unto the Lord Jesus, without the ca thanks to His name
CHAPTER VII
DAVID'S HOUSE AND THE HOUSE OF God
2 Sa in which the narrowness of the hurace Legalisives self a place, andwhich God will not allow ”No flesh shall glory in His presence,” is a decree which can never be reversed God ive all
When the psalmist inquired, ”What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits?” the answer is ”_I will take_ the cup of salvation” The way to ”render” to God is to ”take” yet ely fro recipient of grace glorifies God far ospel of God's grace co Hence God reat Actor in redeh Hisof Jesus Christ once for all;” and by the Spirit's power alone is the sinner quickened into life and believes the glorious and peace-giving tidings of salvation
Now, this stops hteousness It excludes boasting, for we cannot boast of e are but the unworthy recipients How happy should all this race which blots out all our sins, sets the conscience at rest, and sanctifies all the affections of the heart! Blessed forever be the Fountain frouilty sinners!
The 7th chapter of 2 Sarace The Lord had done much for His servant David; He had raised hih elevation, and David felt this, and was disposed to look around him and survey the precious mercies which, in rich profusion, strewed his path
”And it ca sat in his house, and the Lord had given hi said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains” Observe, ”David _sat in his house_” He was surrounded by his own circu for God; but, again, he was in error as to his thoughts of building a house for Jehovah The ark ithin curtains, truly, because the ti-place God had ever moved in the fullest syed in the furnace of Egyptian bondage, He was in the burning bush; when they were treading their long and dreary journey across the burning desert, His chariot traveled in company with the walls of Jericho, He was there as a man of ith a draord in His hand, to act for, and in sympathy with, theether While they toiled, He toiled, and until they could rest, He would not rest But David desired to build a house, and find a resting-place for God, while there were both ”enemies and evil occurrent”
This could not be It was contrary to the thoughts and counsels of the God of Israel ”It caht_, that the word of the Lord ca, Go and tell My servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build Me a house for Me to dwell in?--whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the tiypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle” The Lord would not allow another sun to rise without correcting the error of His servant He sets before his toward Israel and toward hiht a house or a rest for Himself, but had wandered up and doith His people in all their wanderings, and been afflicted in all their afflictions ”In all the places wherein _I have walked_ with all the children of Israel, spake I a ith any of the tribes of Israel who, Why build ye not Me a house of cedar?”
What lovely, what soul-stirring grace breathes in these words! The blessed God ca people He would set His foot on the sand of the desert, because Israel was there; He caused His glory to dwell beneath a covering of badgers'
skins, because His redeeht not a house of cedar; it was not for that He had come down to visit His people in the hour of their affliction in Egypt; He had coive_, not to _take_; to dispense and minister to His people, not to exact from them True, when the people had put themselves under a covenant of works, at Mount horeb, God had to test them by a ministration which was characterized by the words ”_do_” and ”_give_;” but had they only walked in the power of God's original covenant with Abraham, they would never have heard such words uttered in connection with the terrific thunders of Mount Sinai When God came down to redeem thee; when He bore theht theh the sea for His ransoypt in the depths; when He showered down ush from the rock; when He took His place in the pillar of fire by night, and the pillar of cloud by day, to guide thes for the they could _give_ or _do_; but si love, and the covenant of gracetoward therace; tras; refuse His mercies; stone His prophets; crucify His Son; resist His Spirit! Such were their actings, fro, the bitter fruits of which they are now reaping, and shall reap, until they are brought, hurace
By bringing all these past ways of God in review before David, the Lord taught David histo build Him a house ”Shalt thou build Me a house? whereas, etc Now, therefore, so shalt thou say to My servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee fro the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel: and I ith thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut off thine enereat nareat that are in the earth
Moreover, I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforeties to be over My people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies