Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Samuel 16:11
And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all [thy] children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.
11. we will not sit down ] We will not sit round the table for the sacrificial feast.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
We will not sit down … – . literally, we will not turn round to sit at the table.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
1Sa 16:11
Send and fetch him, for we will not sit down till he come hither.
Taken from the sheepcotes
The story of David opens with a dramatic contrast between the fresh hope of his young life and the rejection of the self-willed king Saul, whose course was rapidly descending towards the fatal field of Gilboa. No bad man drifts down the rapids unwarned, unwept; but the Divine purpose cannot stay till such pitying tears are dried. Nor must we cling to the grave of the dead past, whence the Spirit of God has fled; but arise to follow as He transfers the focus of His operation from the rocky heights of Benjamin to the breezy uplands of Bethlehem, and conducts us to the house of Jesse. In the selection of every man for high office in the service of God and man, there are two sides–the Divine and the human: the election of God, and its elaboration in history; the heavenly summons, and the earthly answer to its ringing notes. We must consider, therefore.
I. The root of David. Once in the prophecy by Isaiah, and twice in the Book of Revelation, our Lord is called the Root of David. The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the Book and to loose the seven seals thereof. I, Jesus, am the Root and the Offspring of David; the Bright, the Morning Star. The idea suggested is of an old root, deep hidden in the earth, which sends up its green scions and sturdy stems. Davids character may be considered as an emanation from the life of the Son of God before He took on Himself the nature of man, and an anticipation of what He was to be and do in the fulness of time. Jesus was the Son of David, yet in another sense He was his progenitor (Mar 12:35-37). There are four great words about the choice of David, the last of which strikes deeply into the heart of that great mystery.
1. The Lord hath sought Him a man (1Sa 13:14). No one can know the day or hour when God passes by, seeking for chosen vessels and goodly pearls.
2. I have found David my servant (Psa 89:20). There is ecstasy in the voice, like the thrice repeated found of Luk 15:1-32. And was there not some secret glad response to the Masters call, like that which the disciples gave, when Jesus found them at their nets, and said, Follow Me?
3. He chose David to be His servant (Psa 78:70). The people chose Saul; but God chose David. This made him strong. We are immovable when we touch the bedrock of Gods choice, and hear Him say, He is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name.
4. The Lord hath appointed him to be Prince (1Sa 13:14). Saul might chafe and fret; but from amid the ruins of his waning power the authority of David emerged as a sin from a wrack of clouds, because God willed it.
5. I have provided Me a King (1Sa 16:1). The Divine provision meets every need, silences every anxiety. In some unlikely quarter, in a shepherds hut, or in an artizans cottage, God has His prepared and appointed instrument. As yet the shaft is hidden in His quiver, in the shadow of His hand; but at the precise moment at which it will tell with the greatest effect, it will be produced and launched on the air.
II. The stem of Jesse. We turn for a moment to consider the formative influences of Davids young life. David says nothing of his father, but twice speaks of his mother as the handmaid of the Lord. From her he derived his poetic gift, his sensitive nature, his deeply religious character. To his father he was the lad that kept, the sheep, whom it was not worth while to summon to the religious feast; to his mother he was David the beloved, and probably she first heard the psalms which have charmed and soothed the world. The lad may have owed something to the schools of the prophets, established by Samuels wise prescience to maintain the knowledge of the law in Israel. They appear to have been to Israel what Iona was to the wild tribes of the North in later times. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
The shepherd foreshadowing the king
In the boyish days and deeds of distinguished men, biographers delight to illustrate the adage that the boy is father to the man. In sacred story, the younger child of Rebekah taking hold of his brother by the heel, as if with intent to supplant him; in classical mythology, the infant Hercules strangling in his cradle the serpents sent by Juno to destroy him; in modern history, the schoolboy Napoleon Bonaparte, rearing his snow fortifications in the playground, and teaching his school fellows to attack or defend them–are samples of the shadows of the future that are often projected on the childhood of great men. The early years of King David exhibited more than one instance of this foreshadowing of the future.
I. It, certainly was not by accident, that, when Samuel went to Bethlehem to anoint one of the sons of Jesse as king, the son on whom the Divine choice fell was at the very moment keeping his fathers sheep. His early employment had a direct and Divine bearing upon his later. In some of his psalms–the beautiful closing verses of the 78th, for example–the Divine connection is transparent. He chose David also His servant, and took him from the sheepfolds; from following the ewes great with young He brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart, and guided them by the skilfulness of his hands.
1. As a shepherd, keeping his fathers sheep, the sense of responsibility to another was powerfully called into exercise. The flock was not his own. The servant-feeling thus beautifully called into play, was transferred, in full integrity, to the higher sphere of the kingdom. To the people of Israel he felt that he stood in the same relation as he had occupied to his fathers sheep, and to God in the same place in which he had stood to his father.
2. Further, the shepherd occupation of David led him, from its very nature, to seek the welfare of the flock. Suitable pasture had to be provided; shelter had to be found from the heat by day and from the cold by night; protection had to be secured from wolves and lions; the diseased had to be nursed, the wounded cared for, wanderers bad to be followed, rescued from danger, and brought back to the fold. These were the ideas of duty with which David became familiar as a shepherd. And when his charge was changed, these ideas of duty remaining in his heart, and influencing his public conduct, made him the eminent ruler be became. The welfare of his people was his constant aim. In the view of duty to the flock, all thoughts of fear and danger fled from Davids mind. Self-sacrifice for the welfare of others was the ruling principle at once of the shepherd and of the king.
3. Yet further:–In his office as a shepherd, David had constantly to study the increase and improvement of the flock. It was not enough for the shepherd to keep the flock as he got it. The flock was not properly kept, unless every season brought a great increase to its number, and a large addition to its value. The same thought manifestly influenced Davids kingly administration, he constantly consulted for the progressive improvement and elevation of his people. And in all the higher departments of progress, the same spirit of improvement prevailed. Great warrior though he was, the spirit most congenial to him was that of peaceful development and progress. We cannot omit to add, that the shepherd employment of David, by leading him to give special attention to the weak, the helpless, and the distressed of his flock, trained him for one of the most blessed and Christ-like functions of a godly ruler. What a contrast, the spirit of Davids pastoral and royal office, and of Christs blessed rule, to that of most earthly governors l What a contrast to the spirit of the well-known saying of the most Christian king–Letat, cest moi–I am the State! The Christian shepherd is not the flock, the Christian ruler is not the state. He is Gods servant, intrusted with the rod of authority for the true good of the flock. The more forgetful be is of self, in his anxiety to discharge his trust, and do good to his flock, the more worthy is he of the title of a Christian king. While we speak thus strongly of the devotion of King David to his own people, we must add that in its very intensity, that devotion was not unaccompanied by traces of human infirmity. His love was confined to his own people; and for all beyond that circle, he not only had no warm love, but hardly even the ordinary feelings of brotherhood. It would have been more difficult for a Jew to attain the happy medium, the right equipoise of feeling for the uncircumcised nations around, lying somewhere between brotherly love on the one hand, and bitter hatred on the other. But David gave himself no trouble to find this happy medium. It is a mystery how such tenderness, and such relentless severity, should have been found in the same man. Whatever may be urged in extenuation of his severity, rests on his position as a Jew. For our part, we must ever remember that to enlarge the sphere of kindly feeling is one of the great objects of the Christian dispensation. Let brotherly love continue for the members of the household, certainly; but if ye love the brethren only, what do ye more than others? (W. G. Blaikie, M. A.)
The call of David
David, the son of a man in humble life, and the youngest of his brethren, was chosen by Almighty God to be His special servant–to be a prophet, a king, a psalmist; he was anointed by Samuel to be all this; and in due time he was brought forward by Almighty God, and as a first act of might, slew the heathen giant Goliath. Now let, us apply all this to ourselves.
1. David seemed born to live and die among his sheep. Yet God took him from the sheepfolds to make him His servant and His friend. Now this is fulfilled in the case of all Christians. They are by nature poor, and mean; but God chooses them, and brings them near unto Himself. He looks not at outward things; He chooses and decrees according to His will, and why He chooses these men, and passes over those, we know not. Here we differ from David. He was chosen above his brethren, because he was better than they. It is expressly said, that when Samuel was going to choose one of his elder brethren, God said to him, I have refused him; for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart; implying, that Davids heart was in a better state than his brothers, whom Samuel would have chosen. But this is act our case; ye are in nowise better by nature than they whom God did not choose. God hath chosen all of us to Salvation, not for our righteousness, but for His great mercies.
2. Observe, too, God chose him, whose occupation was that of a shepherd; for He chooses not the great men of the world; He passed by the rich and noble (Jam 2:5). The Angel appeared to the shepherds as they kept, watch over their sheep at night. The most solitary, the most unlearned, God hears, God looks upon, God visits, God blesses, God brings to glory, if he is but rich in faith. One person is a king and rules, another is a subject and obeys; but if both are Christians, both have in common a gift so great, that in the sight of it, the difference between ruling and obeying is as nothing. All Christians are kings in Gods sight; they are kings in His unseen kingdom, in the Communion of Saints.
3. Next, observe God chose David by means of the Prophet Samuel. He did not think it enough to choose him silently, but He called him by a voice. And, in like manner, when God calls us, He does so openly. He sent His minister, the Prophet Samuel to David; and He sends His ministers to us.
4. When Samuel had anointed David, observe what followed. Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. Gods spirit did but come upon David, and visit him from time to time; but He vouchsafes to dwell within the Christian, so as to make His heart and body His temple.
5. Though David reached the gift of Gods Holy Spirit, yet nothing came of it all at once. He still seemed like any other man. He went back to the sheep. The Spirit of the Lord had come upon him, yet it did not at once make him a prophet or a king All was to come in good time, not at once. God the Holy Ghost leads on the heirs of grace marvellously. You recollect when our Saviour was baptised, immediately the Spirit of God led Him into the wilderness. What happened one way in our Saviours course, happens in ours also. Sooner or later that work of God is manifested, which was at first secret.
6. Lastly, then, let us inquire who is our Goliath? who is it we have to contend with? The answer is plain; the devil is our Goliath. By degrees our work comes upon us; as children we have to fight, with him a little; as time goes on the fight opens; and at length we have our great enemy marching against us with sword and spear, as Goliath came against David. And when this war has once begun, it lasts through life. (Plain sermons by contributors to the Tracts for the Times.)
Gods choice and preparation of men
Samuel is the light by which young David reads the handwriting of Jehovah upon the walls of his spirit, learns his destiny, and prepares for his high calling. So the living God in His marvellous mercy hides Himself behind man that not being overpowered by His splendours, we may be won to open our hearts to receive of His fulness and grace for grace. Who of you will be His anointing prophets this day, and go ca this blessed ministry! Care you not for the future of His kingdom? Is there no David whose spirit you can fire by the outshining of your conviction and the best of your enthusiasm for the salvation of men? Seize your privilege, and hand on to unborn generations the gifts of vision and power the Eternal has bestowed upon you!
1. We now ask, why is it that David of all the sons of Jesse, and of all the children of Israel, is elected by the prophet for this special consecration of kingly place and power? The answer, fortunately for us, is as near as it is definite, and as simple and authoritative as it is decisive and Divine. Speaking of Eliab, God says to Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him; for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. There is at once the principle of the Divine choice, and the condition of the prophetic inspiration. David has that inner consecration without which the outward anchoring is an utterly unmeaning and damaging ceremony. The unction of the Holy One has preceded the symbolical oil of the prophet. For though God accepts and adopts human meditation as the principal avenue along which He meets the souls of men, He has many other ways of finding us besides that of a faith-begetting human presence. The Idea of God grows unawares upon our inward sight, and we are learning more and more about Him when no visible teacher is near and no human voice is heard.
2. It were, indeed, the gravest of mistakes to regard this day of consecration as the first descent of the Spirit of the Lord on young Davids heart–
Let no man think that sudden in a minute
All is accomplished, and the work is done.
God does not anoint unprepared men for kingship. The boy is father to the man. Not as a vaunting soldier, not even as a brave patriot, does David go forth against Goliath of Gath; but that all the earth may know–for the fight is a missionarys evangel, and a soldier shepherds apology for God–that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, who does not give victory to mere bulk, or even to military prowess, but to sincerity of heart; to humility, purity, and largeness of soul. Evermore Gods unseen educating ministry goes forward. He is always preparing the worlds kings. True rulers are never absent. We indeed see not their crowns. No sceptre is in their hands. They neither wear kings clothing, nor sit in kings houses. They are with us in our families, despised by their elder brothers, and unrecognised by all; but when the clock of time strikes, and their hour is come, they take their place and do their work, and we are debtors all. The earliest stages of regeneration are unconscious. Visibility is not the measure of reality. The kingdom of God comes without observation. We live months and years before we talk in fluent English. We know not the day of our birth, and we cannot tell what we shall be. The issues of our acts are hidden from us. Alertness of vision, openness to receive the Spirit, will be surprised after a while by a God-sent Samuel anointing you for a higher vocation. But we are not right within. We know it. There is an aching inside us. Our sins look us full in the face. We want place rather than preparation, thrones rather than disciplined ability, glittering crowns rather than true and unfaltering obedience. We crave and pant to be thought somebody, instead of bending our whole will on being as God wills.
3. But David, we may be certain, were he guiding us, would take us another step backward in order to see the building work of God in its earlier stages; for nothing more ineradicably rooted itself in his mind, or found more pathetic expression in his songs, than the immense educational influence of his family and shepherd life. As a boy he was a keeper of sheep, and he never forgot it. The influence of that shepherd life was never exhausted. It was the salt of his career. It fed his humility and inspired his praise; purified his thinking, and sobered and deepened his emotion. It brought him face to face with reality; shut out the crowding and gossiping life of the city, threw him back on his own thoughts, gave him leisure and facility to strip off the shows of things, and get at their heart, developed an inwardness of being that brought peace and power for evermore. Thus David got his education, in the plain everyday uses of life, and was fitted for his consecration to kingship by patient, plodding, and loving service. As Moses led the sheep in the desert before he led Israel out of Egypt, as Gideon received his call to take charge of the hosts of God whilst be was threshing wheat, as the mantle of Elijah fell on Elisha at the plough, as Matthew heard the summons to the apostolate at the tollbooth, so David got his first training for his high place amid the lowly duties of his shepherd life. I suppose we shall learn some day, that the faithful doing of our actual work, the doing it for use, and not merely for gain, from love of God and love of men, is recognised by Heaven as the surest preparation for future promotion and enlarged service. Then we shall have no need to seek change of place, in order to be ready for Gods prophet with his horn of anointing oil, but only to keep our heart right. (J. Clifford, D. D.)
The unlikely selected
Dr. Isaac Barrow, when a lad, was most unpromising. Such was his misconduct, and so irreclaimable did he seem, that his father, in despair, used to say that if it pleased God to remove any of his children, he wished it might be his son Isaac. What became of the other and more hopeful children of the worthy linen draper, we cannot tell; but this unworthy son lived to be the happiness and pride of his fathers old age, to be one of the most illustrious members of the university to which he belonged, and one of the brightest ornaments of the church of which he became a minister. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
He keepeth the sheep; and consequently is the most unfit of all my sons for that high employment. Either therefore he did not thoroughly understand Davids great wisdom and valour, or he judgeth him unfit, by reason of his mean education. And God so ordered it by his providence, that Davids choice might plainly appear to be Gods work, and not Samuels or Jesses design.
We will not sit down, to wit, to the feast.
Quest. How could David be admitted to this feast, being, as it seems, not sanctified with the rest of his brethren?
Answ. 1. It is not strange if the prophet, by Gods direction, dispensed with the ordinary rule, in a person so extraordinary, both for his piety and the dignity to which he was chosen.
2. It is not affirmed that David did sit down with them to the feast, but only that they would not do so till he came. And when he was come, and Samuel had done what he intended with him, David, for aught we know, might depart, and the rest sit down to the feast; for David was not now actually raised to any higher degree, but returned to his former employment; as we read below, 1Sa 16:19.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
11. There remaineth yet theyoungest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheepJesse havingevidently no idea of David’s wisdom and bravery, spoke of him as themost unfit. God, in His providence, so ordered it, that theappointment of David might the more clearly appear to be a divinepurpose, and not the design either of Samuel or Jesse. David havingnot been sanctified with the rest of his family, it is probable thathe returned to his pastoral duties the moment the special business onwhich he had been summoned was done.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And Samuel said unto Jesse, are here all thy children?…. For neither of these being the person God would have anointed king, and yet it was one of Jesse’s sons that was to be anointed, he concluded he must have more, at least one more, and therefore puts this question to him:
and he said, there remaineth yet the youngest; or, “the little one” c; not of a little diminutive stature, for he was a mighty man, a man of strength, courage, and valour, 1Sa 16:18 or of a puerile age, for the Jews say d he was now twenty nine years of age; but that is not likely, he hardly exceeded more than twenty, or was so much; thereabout he might be; but he is so called because he was the youngest son, as we render it:
and, behold, he keepeth the sheep: and from following them, he was taken and anointed king; see Ps 78:70. Some of the greatest of men have been taken from rustic employment, as Moses, Gideon, Saul, and others:
and Samuel said unto Jesse, send and fetch him; out of the field by a messenger:
for we will not sit down till he come hither; that is, at table, to eat of that part of the peace offerings which belonged to the offerer Samuel, and which he had invited Jesse and his sons to partake of.
c “parvulus”, V. L. d Seder Olam Rabba, c. 13. p. 36.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
DAVIDTHE IDEAL SON AND BROTHER
A Talk to Young Men
1Sa 16:11-12
DAVID! He was peerless as a king; but his youth was none the less a promise of his coming greatness. He easily illustrated the adage, The child is father to the man.
So far as I am able, in a short talk, I want to set before you my reasons for reckoning David a son and brother of superior character, and for urging upon young men the imitation of some of his virtues.
HE WAS THE INDUSTRIOUS SON OF THE HOUSE
As for his sisters, we have nothing said concerning them. Let us hope, if such he had, that they were sweet and unselfish girls. But the six brothers were at hand, and apparently at leisure, or on dress parade when Samuel came seeking Israels king.
David was in the field busy with the flock. Good place for a boy to be! If I had my preference, boys would be brought up on farms and spend their youth in difficult, drudging tasks for the sake of moral and spiritual muscle, just as certainly as for the sake of good physical development. The world is over-stocked with boys who, like Eliab, want to be on dress parade, who count themselves quite above humble work, however honorable. If there
is any office of distinction or honor, they are aspirants for that office, but if there is a load to lift, an errand to run, a hard task to accomplish, they make themselves scarce, or look at you with contempt if you suggest such service.
Sons of that sort are a shame to parents. Brothers of that kind are a chagrin to better brothers and a constant trial to sisters. Society itself is sinned against by such young men. They go to fill the ranks of the unemployed, to overstock charity asylums, or else become paupers on the hands of parents, or objects of a successful brothers benevolence, or tramps and even criminals to pester and pilfer the public.
I know of nothing that so incapacitates a youth to fill the office of son and brother as indolence; and there are some boys whose laziness is the largest thing about them. An Irish nobleman is reported to have been riding a country road in Ireland when he saw a fat boy dozing by the way. Which of these roads leads to Macroom, my lad, asked the nobleman. That way, replied the boy, lazily moving the toe of his boot in the direction of the place. Astonished at this act, the lord dismounted, and walking up to the boy, he said, If you can show me a lazier act than that Ill give you half a crown. The boy eyed him a moment, then turning on his side he said, Put it in my pocket, Sir. He has his counterparts, and such boys are a shame to the parents who gave them birth; and a never ending annoyance to Society. The Scriptures say, Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men (Pro 22:29).
When James A. Garfield was a lad he left off the hard days work on the farm to spend his evenings in learning well his lessons, in the light of a pine knot fire. His body was often wearied with the days work and sleep was tempting; but he plodded on. That studious boy was the prophecy of the martyred president.
John B. Gough sagely said, The young man who succeeds in this world must make his own opportunities. He who waits for some seventh wave to toss him on the dry land will find that seventh wave a long time in coming. Youth can commit no greater folly than to sit by the roadside expecting some one to come along and invite it to ride with him to wealth and influence. It matters little what other traits a young man may have, if he is indolent his parents cannot be proud of him, and his brothers and sisters will be constantly embarrassed at the mention of his name. We meet young men every now and then who are leading lives of little worth and each presents as his patent excuse, Well, I havent been favored as others and consequently my failure. Would that such were sensible enough to give attention to what Dr. Bethune said, referring to his own success, People say it is genius; but I tell you it is hard sweat. That is the only secret, sweat!
DAVID AS A SON AND BROTHER ADDED TO INDUSTRY, SOBRIETY
We read in the Bible of Noahs intemperance, of Lots drunkenness, but not of Davids. He kept himself sober. Intemperance is Satans most powerful agency for defeating the superior character.
The bitterest tears that start from the eyes of godly mothers, affectionate fathers, noble brothers and loving sisters are often excited by the demon of drink. They weep their hearts out when they see that devil dragging the son and brother down.
Years ago a bright young Canadian alighted from a pullman sleeper in Chicago. He had come from his good Toronto home. He brought as his stock in trade education, righteous ambition, and considerable cash. Two short years in Chicago and H M lay dead in a dive on South Clark Street. One of the saddest men that ever came to that city while I was pastor there, was TM who came to get the remains of that boy; to learn when he arrived, that the twin demons of drink and lust had so soon effected his temporal degradation and his eternal death. What was his mothers anguish, only God, the angels, and the devil understand. Whether she lives, I do not know; but if she does, I can imagine her sitting in a darkened room after the twilight has passed, with an unspeakable sorrow in her heart; that, if it ever expressed itself at all, would use these words:
It was not on the field of battle,
It was not with the ship at sea,
But a fate far worse than either,
That stole him away from me.
Twas death in the ruby wine-cup,
That reason and sense did drown,
He drank the alluring poison
And thus my boy went down.
Down from the heights of manhood,
To the depths of disgrace and sin;
Down to a worthless being,
From the hope that might have been.
For the brand of the beast besotted
He bartered his manhoods crown.
Through the gate of sinful pleasures
My poor, weak boy went down.
But the sorrow incident to strong drink and related sins, effects not only the sonship, but fraternity as well. I suppose that the father and mother feel a drinking boys degradation and disgrace most deeply, but surely the brothers and sisters, especially sisters, have a sorrow second only to that which the parents know. The average young man does not appreciate his own sister; nor does he imagine the strength of her love. They scrap with one another and sometimes the brother thinks, as I used to do when a boy, Well, Ill be glad if any man ever marries her and gets her out of my way.
Sometime ago the Chicago Herald told a story of a little citizen of that city in illustration of this thought. A boy of six years had long been the pet of the household and had come to suppose that beside him there was none else, when a baby sister arrived. He saw that the situation was changed and that she was getting most of the attention. To add to his chagrin, mother made him wait upon the little one and care for her, and that was a burden. The unhappy boy wondered how he could bring it to an end. One day his father put out a sign which read, Ashes to give away. Inquire within. Fred took note of it; and also of the fact that a man in passing, stopped and read the sign, called for the ashes and carried them away. He summoned his kindergarten education to his assistance and printed, as best he could on a placard, these words which amazed his father when he came home to dinner, A sister to give away. Inquire of Fred.
And yet, the very sister you would like to give away loves you to madness, and would make any sacrifice in the world for your sake if ever there arose a sufficient occasion. I have received some letters from sisters that I wish you young men could read. While I was in Chicago two sisters in Pennsylvania wrote to me many times about a brother who, in that great city, was rapidly going to the bad. Those letters were baptized in their tears and brought to that vagabond boy many messages of love and what spare change they could possibly lay aside, in proof of the same. He was utterly unworthy of such sacrifice, but those sisters made it, inspired by that Divine Spirit which seeks to save.
You may be married some day to the other fellows sister and think her very sweet; but there is a good likelihood that you leave in your own home one who loves you equally well and whose sacrifice in your behalf ought to seal your affection for her forever.
DAVIDS COURAGE ENTERED INTO HIS SUPERIOR CHARACTER
The lion and the bear that came to take kids from his flock found him a fierce foe. Goliath never defied Israel after the day he dared scoff at this lad. Saul, the insane tyrant, only escaped his hands because Davids heart had mercy. His foes were many. His courage never faltered nor failed. The battles of this day are different, and yet they try the mettle of young men just as much. The boy who is not brave enough to strike down the beasts of sensuality that beset him; to hurl deadly stones against the Philistine giants of immorality that tempt him; to out-weigh the tyrants of commerce, the money-mad masters of trade who seek to slay his character and advance themselves on the ruin of his conscience, is doomed.
J. O. Peck says, In the city of New York I was acquainted with a young man whose employer asked him to engage in some crooked business that would be to the advantage of the house. The young man answered, I cannot do that. I will resign my place first. The employer retained him. A few weeks later he promoted him. A few months afterwards he made him the manager of a branch house. Then he started in business for himself. His Christian character was so well known that well-to-do men loaned him money without security, and at the age of twenty-seven he was the owner of a large establishment in New York City with branches in Boston and Philadelphia.
Courage is still the price of character. The devil makes easy prey of the fearful; but from the brave he flees.
You are starting, my boy, on lifes journey
Along the grand highway of life.
You will meet with a thousand temptations
Each city with evil is rife.
This world is a stage of excitement.
Theres danger wherever you go,
But if you are tempted in weakness,
Have courage, my boy, to say, No.
In courage alone lies your safety,
When you the long journey begin.
Your trust in a Heavenly Father
Will keep you unspotted from sin.
Temptations will go on increasing
As streams from a rivulet flow,
But if youd be true to your manhood,
Have courage, my boy, to say No.
That is the authors song to his son; that is the mothers parting hymn; and the dear brother and sister say the same.
It is a great thing to so live as to bring joy to the mother who bore you, honest pride to the paternal heart, and blessing to the brother and sister left behind. The late Dr. Leighton Williams, of New York, said, I rode one day with my honored father in one of the streets of London, Great Ormond Street. As we passed along, he noticed the name of the street and said to me, This street was named for the great Duke of Ormond. That Duke had a son, a very talented and noble fellow, who died before his father. As the great man bent over the coffin he was heard to say, I would rather be the father of that dead boy than of any living son in England*. Said Williams, I felt a lump in my throat. I wondered if I was worthy of my fathers love.
It is a great thing to have a beautiful gracious mother; a great thing to have a great father; but it is a greater thing to be a superior son; a great thing to have honored brothers and virtuous sisters, but for you, the first thing is to be honorable and virtuous yourself. It takes courage to beget such a character. I have sometimes thought that if one were not a Christian, and did not even believe in God, that there ought to be sufficient stimulus in the home relation to inspire him to nobility. For fathers sake; for the sake of mother; for brothers sake, for the sake of sister, I will do the right.
LOVE WAS A LARGE ELEMENT IN DAVIDS LIFE
Eliab could be envious, but not this shepherd lad. Saul could show himself a villain seeking the young mans life, but David loved him still. To Jonathan his heart went out with unstinted affection. For his wife and children there was no limit to his love. When Bathshebas son was sick the tenderness of this mans heart showed itself. When Absalom turned patricide, David only felt for him an overflowing affection.
I have no doubt that his father and mother rejoiced in his fondness. It is easy to believe that the lad left the loving home, braved the dangers of the fields and woods, submitted to the exposures of a shepherds life, and faced the wild beasts from the forest for the sake of satisfying a fathers wish. There is excellent occasion for generous behavior on the part of the average boy. To do something for him whose you are, who sacrificed for your boyhood, and who laid much on the altar of your youth, and who loves you none the less as you grow old, even father; to do something for her who has excelled even the father in all of this, that is every sons solemn duty, and ought to be recognized as a sacred privilege. It wont be long ere that dear man who lives for you is alive no more, and that modest woman will be a buried mother. Any disloyalty, any want of love, would then become a bitter memory.
Rev. John Todd tells that when he was a boy his sick father asked him to go to the drugstore for some medicine. That lad started but fell in with some bad boys and went off to play instead. After a while he remembered himself, hastened to his home intending to tell his father that the druggist was out of that kind of medicine, but the physician met him at the door and said, It is too late, your father is dying now. John Todd never forgave himself for that days selfishness and disobedience. That is a happy home where love reigns; and he is a superior son whose every heart-beat has in it tender memories for the mother and a spirit of obedience and loyalty to the father, fraternity for the brother by blood, and sincere affection toward the sisters every one.
A brother beloved! But not for one instant would I leave you to think that this is love at its best. I believe with Dr. Gregg that Love enlarges the soul, and that the young men who indulge it are the better for the passion. I believe with him that there is nothing grander on earth than a young man through whose being the tide of a noble love is surging; who has all the susceptible intensity, the tenderness, the possession of a fine nature; who is just beginning to look on the sweetness and beauty of love, and is overawed with all that is great and good in the world, whose being is a delicate instrument, played upon by all the touches of the immense universe, and which gives back in response the wondrous music of holy ambitions and Godlike resolves; the young man in whose manhood reason is luminous, self-respect is positive, ideal is lofty, and honor and honesty, and virtue and affection are all in all. He will be a Joseph in the cities of Egypt; he will be a Daniel in the city of Babylon, and by and by he will be a luminous son of God in the City of the skies.
But to be this last, yea even to be the first, he must love God. There used to be a little book in the Chautauqua course entitled, The Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation, which set forth very clearly the thought that men grow into the image of the gods they worship. Those who love or fear and bow down before idols are imbruted, degraded, disfigured, destroyed. Those who love and serve the Lord come to be more and more like Him, more and more possessed of the beauty of holiness. Every son must understand that he is superior in proportion as he worships the Son of God. Every brother must understand that he is beautiful in proportion as he bows before our Elder Brother, Jesus Christ; beautiful in the eyes of father and mother, brother and sister; above and beyond that, beautiful in the eyes of angels and of God. Such lofty love enlarges and enriches the life that now is, and is a perfect promise of the life that is to come.
God understands that, hence He writes to us, Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them (Ecc 12:1). God knows that with young men it is now or never touching the salvation of their souls. Christian mothers and fathers appreciate that in part, hence their earnest prayers.
I would that those of you who are young might understand the same. I have baptized several thousand people in this pool, few old men among them, a very few even had passed their maturity. If tender youth turns from God, it is the least likely of all things that hardened age will turn back to him. I have baptized a good many sons and a great many brothers; I have baptized only a few husbands and a still smaller number of fathers. I plead with you tonight, then, in the language of the Prophet of old, Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near (Isa 55:6).
A few years since a ship was driven on the beach just out of New York. She was a beautiful vessel and had cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Her owners tried every way possible to get her back into the waters repaired and afloat again. Once they succeeded in moving her to a point where they thought her just ready to go on the waves, when an adverse wind swept her back upon the sand and stones and injured her more deeply still. Then they sold her for a paltry price and the new owners tore her to pieces, taking such parts away as they could employ.
It is a good deal so with the immortal craft of human life. The winds of temptation, the tides of evil, are constantly stranding it. Most of the young men present here tonight, who know not God, are aground morally. You know that, perfectly well. You know what rocks you are on, whether of intemperance or of lust, or of profanity or of fraud or of all of these. You know whether the winds of infidelity have stranded you. I plead with you tonight, while the prayers of friends go up in your behalf, prayers of fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, while the Spirit of God breathes upon you the offers of salvation, to spread the sails of your soul to catch that sacred breath and quit the shores of evil, and go out on the sea of Gods mercy and love.
Some of you are almost off the sands tonight; almost on the waves of everlasting love. Let not Satans breath drive you back again. If you do, it means deeper injury. If you do, it means eventual destruction, and in Heaven there will be fathers hunting for their sons in vain, mothers walking the celestial streets in search of those who have not come; brothers and sisters conscious that the family circle has been broken, that the impenitence, indifference or infidelity of one has made it impossible to ever have the home complete in Heaven.
Some years ago, you remember, the Billa du Havre and the Lochearn met in mid ocean, crashed into each other with such force that both went down, and a multitude of men and women were drowned in the deep. The life-saving vessels were quickly lowered and some few escaped to be picked up by other steamers. One of these, a young woman, reaching port, sent back a telegram. She and her brother had started for Europe together and when the anxious parents received this telegram, it read, I am saved, alone. Let us hope that that will not be the history of any in this house tonight; that no father will need to go to Heaven without his children; no mother without her babes; no sister without her brother, to say, I am saved alone.
Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley
(11) Are here all thy children?For a moment the prophet is uncertain. The command from the Eternal Friend to come and anoint the son of Jesse of Bethlehem had been definite, but the sons of Jesse had passed before him, and no sign had been vouch-safed to him indicating that God had chosen one of these youths of whom the father was so fond; so the seer asks, Are these all thy children?
There remaineth yet the youngest.Why David was kept in the background is uncertain. He, clearly, was different to the stalwart band of elder brothers who were grouped round their father. Although fair to look on, his beauty was of a very different type to that of his brothers, probably, compared with Saul and his own brothers, little of stature, with reddish-brown hair and a fair complexion. His father and the men in the village thought less of him than of his dark, tall brothers: at all events, Jesse thought him of too little account to present to Samuel. But, as so often, Gods thoughts are not our thoughts, and in a moment Samuel saw that in the ruddy shepherd boysmall of stature, and held of little account in his fathers househe beheld the future king of Israel.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
(11) And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. (12) And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. (13) Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
How wonderful are the ways and works of the Lord! I pass over several otherwise very interesting circumstances in this account, which might be largely dwelt upon, both in respect to the mind of the prophet, and of Jesse the father, to attend wholly to him, whom the Lord singled out from the rest. And as everything in the life of David is memorable, from the very many views of him, in which he stands forth as a type of our glorious David; it is here chiefly in the opening of his history, I would beg the Reader’s more awakened attention. First then, when we are told concerning him, that he was ruddy and of a beautiful countenance; doth it not suggest to the Reader somewhat of his features, of whom the Church sings so sweetly, when she saith; my beloved is white, and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand. Son 5:10 . And doth not the very name of David, which means beloved, instantly, when known, direct our hearts to him, who is by way of eminency, called the only begotten and beloved of the Father, in whom his soul is well pleased. Mat 12:18 . Moreover, when we see all the sons of Jesse passed by, and the youngest who was so little regarded, as to be sent to the humblest employment in the family, chosen of God and approved; how is it possible to overlook the Lord Jesus, that stone (as the apostle calls him) which was set at nought by the builders, and which is become the head of the corner. Act 4:11 . And when we see the poor, overlooked, and forgotten son of Jesse thus gathered out from among his brethren; surely we cannot but call to mind Jesus, who is introduced in that humble, low, and despised state when entering on his ministry, that even his brethren did not believe on him. Joh 7:5 . Yes! dearest Lord! I would desire to trace even the minutest points of the signalized characters in thy word, which represent thee, somewhat to lead to thee. And as I know, from thine own authority, that thy goings forth have been from of old from everlasting, when thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people: so I behold the outlines of thy sweet features of character, as the Mediator and Redeemer of thy people, in these and numberless other instances marked in thy types and servants. As the Lord designed David to the kingdom; so from everlasting the Lord Jehovah set up our Jesus as the King in Zion. And as David was anointed with the holy oil; so Jesus had the Spirit poured out without measure. Joh 3:34 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Sa 16:11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all [thy] children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.
Ver. 11. Are here all thy children? ] God will say to such as make not a full confession of their sins, Are here all?
There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Are here all thy children? Hebrew “Have the young men finished [passing by)? “This correctly supplies the Figure of speech Ellipsis. App-6. Hebrew. na`ar =
young men. youngest = least. See note on 1Sa 16:5.
behold. Figure of speech Asterismos. App-6.
he keepeth. Saul lost his father’s asses (1Sa 9:3, 1Sa 9:4, 1Sa 9:20). down round.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
There remaineth: 1Sa 17:12-15, 1Sa 17:28, 2Sa 7:8, 1Ch 17:7, Psa 78:70, Psa 78:71
down: Heb. round
Reciprocal: Gen 34:5 – now his Gen 46:32 – shepherds 1Sa 16:19 – with the sheep 1Sa 17:14 – the youngest 1Sa 17:15 – returned 1Ch 2:15 – David 1Ch 10:14 – turned Mat 1:6 – Jesse Mat 20:2 – he sent Joh 7:42 – where Act 7:46 – found
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
ISRAELS SECOND KING
Send and fetch him.
1Sa 16:11
David displays in his personal character that very temper of mind in which his nation, or rather human nature itself, is especially deficient. Pride and unbelief disgrace the history of the chosen people, the deliberate love of this world which was the sin of Balaam, and the presumptuous wilfulness which was exhibited in Saul. But David is conspicuous for an affectionate, a thankful, a loyal heart towards his God and Defender, a zeal which was as fervent and as docile as Sauls was sullen, and as keen-sighted and pure as Balaams was selfish and double-minded.
I. Consider what was, as far as we can understand, Davids especial grace, as faith was Abrahams distinguishing virtue, meekness the excellence of Moses, self-mastery the gift especially conspicuous in Joseph. From the account of Davids office in Psa 78:71-72, it is obvious that his very first duty was that of fidelity to Almighty God in the trust committed to him. Saul had neglected his Masters honour, but David, in this an eminent type of Christ, came to do Gods will. As a viceroy in Israel, and as being tried and found faithful, he is especially called a man after Gods own heart. Davids peculiar excellence is that of fidelity to the trust committed to him.
II. Surely the blessings of the patriarchs descended in a united flood upon the lion of the tribe of Judah, the type of the true Redeemer who was to come.He inherits the prompt faith and magnanimity of Abraham; he is simple as Isaac; he is humble as Jacob; he has the youthful wisdom and self-possession, the tenderness, the affectionateness, and the firmness of Joseph. And as his own especial gift he has an overflowing thankfulness, a heroic bearing in all circumstances, such as the multitude of men see to be great, but cannot understand.
Illustrations
(1) The great lesson to be drawn from this story is that Gods method of working is not ours. We see this in the choice of Samuel rather than of Eli, in the choice of Saul rather than one of the national leaders, in the choice of David rather than Saul, and rather than his elder brethren. Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. It was this same David who prayed, Create in me a clean heart, O God! and renew a right spirit within me.
(2) Greatly astonished must Jesse and his other sons have been to see Samuel pouring on the ruddy stripling the holy oil, and anointing him for whatever the office might be. But it has ever been Gods way to find His agents in unexpected places. Here a great king is found in his sheepfold. In Josephs time a prime minister of Egypt was found in the prison. Our Lord found His chief apostle in the school of Gamaliel. God is never at a loss for agents, and if the men fail that might naturally have been looked for to do Him service, substitutes for them are not far to seek. Out of the very stones He can raise up children to Abraham.
(3) Arise, anoint him, for this is he. It was a new leaf in Hebrew history that turned over at these words. But how little men thought of it! Looking for the Sauls men are apt to miss the Davids. Now here is a completed purpose. God has brought it to pass step by step. There has been an outbreak. In the quietest way possible a new thing has been set apart. But how far back we have to travel if we mean to trace this purpose back to its origin? When Ruth, the Moabitess, said to Naomi, Whither thou goest, I will go, she took the first step in the fulfilment of Gods will for Israel. Jesse, the father of David, was her grandson. A simple resolve to serve God and to choose our company among His people may start us in the way that leads to a throne and a kingdom.
(4) Saul was a man who could not learn. His sin at Gilgal showed how the wind of his temper blew, and then it seemed as if it might have veered, but here we see it set in the same wrong direction. He has not learned from his past failure. When Samuel came to him after the battle, he was perfectly sincere in saying that he had performed his task. He had no intention to deceive Samuel; it was simply that he had not learned the lesson of his former fall, that obedience to God must be unquestioning and absolute. His frank unconsciousness of anything wrong, until he was smitten by Samuels words of irony, shows us Sauls pathetic inability to grasp the meaning of what had gone before. David, too, had many a mighty fall, but he could read his own hearthe could learn, and his power to learn was his salvation; for the soul that stumbles on through life without learning from its falls is doomed.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
David, the Sweet Psalmist of Israel
1Sa 16:11-23
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
1. David the shepherd lad. When Samuel came to Jesse, all of his sons were brought before him, excepting David. The eldest, Eliab, was of the Saul type, but God refused him, saying, “The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”
When David came, he was called from the sheepcotes, where he watched over his father’s sheep. “He was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to.” God said, “Arise, anoint him: for this is he.”
2. David filled with the Spirit. From that time forth the Spirit of the Lord rested on David. The Lord found David. I wonder if God is still looking for men in whom He may confide, and to whom He may commit His work. The people chose Saul, the Lord chose David. Saul served the people, David served the Lord. He is announced as, “David My servant.” How often does God select the very one whom men entirely overlook!
From that day, when Samuel anointed David as king, his whole outlook on life changed. From thence he was to be the “chosen of the Lord.” From that day forward, he was to be anointed of the Spirit.
We delight to see the simple, ruddy-cheeked lad, of unsullied character and simple life, called of God into service-a service that looked beyond David’s own times, and anticipated the “throne of David” established on the Millennial earth.
3. Called to a palace. God moved in mysterious ways His wonders to perform. Saul, in his delirium of doubts and fears, called for a musician to play before him. David was recommended to Saul. And so it was that a note was addressed to Jesse requesting that David might be sent to play before him. From the sheepcote into the splendor of the palace, the youthful David came.
It is amazing to us to see the simple dignity, and the marked wisdom that David displayed in the presence of Saul. Not a word was spoken to King Saul by David as to his appointed successorship to the kingdom. Not an act of David’s ever cast a suspicion upon the haughty Saul, that he was housing the one who was destined to reign in his stead.
Saul loved David, and made him his armor-bearer. With every opportunity David always sought to prove a blessing, and never a hurt to his master. God give us men of the David mold!
I. DAVID AND THE PHILISTINE (1Sa 17:45)
1. Intervening history. David, as Saul’s armor-bearer, must have learned much of the science of warfare. Even before that, as a shepherd lad, David had known much of the deliverance of God, as God had, time and again, helped him in rescuing the sheep from wild beasts, and marauding enemies. All of this prepared David for the great test of faith and prowess which now confronted him.
2. A threefold picture. First, there is the picture of the haughty Goliath. He came day by day to defy the armies of the Living God. He not only boasted his power, but he called upon any man of Israel to match him in a life and death combat.
Second, there is the picture of the stalwart Saul. The man who stood head and shoulder above any man in Israel. The man who was chosen leader of the people. The man, clad in armor with shield, and helmet, and sword. The man who more than once had stirred Israel to confidence by his daring assaults upon the enemy. Where is Saul? he is crouching in fear before the challenge of the giant Philistine.
Third, there is David. The shepherd lad, just come from the sheep. David stood amazed at the fear of Israel. He stood ashamed that no man dared to take up the cudgel against Goliath and for his God. He marveled that no man was willing, even, if need be, at the cost of life itself, to meet the blaspheming Goliath. Therefore David, himself, went forth, clothed in shepherd’s attire, with but his sling and five smooth pebbles for the fray.
3. A victorious contest. Forth to the fight went the lad-borne on with an undaunted faith. He went with a passion for the truth. He went to do, to dare, and if need be to die. He went, to hold up high the Name of his God. He cried to the Philistine-“I come to thee in the Name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.”
It was not David’s skill with the sling that lay the mighty Goliath in death at his feet; David’s faith was the source of his victory.
II. DAVID AND JONATHAN (1Sa 20:41-42)
1. A man who lived and loved another. Jonathan became David’s go-between. When Saul gave orders that David should be slain, Jonathan immediately besought Saul in David’s behalf. He pled with Saul, until Saul saw his sin; and, for the time, was willing to restore David to favor with the throne.
Jonathan became David’s informant. He told David of the wrath of his father, and thus delivered David, again and again, from Saul. The scene of the arrow shooting, and the subsequent meeting of David and Jonathan is most tender. There David entered into a tryst with Jonathan.
2. A vow which was remembered, after Jonathan’s death. One of the greatest verses in the Bible is the one which reads, “Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”
There was found one, a son of Jonathan, by the name of Mephibosheth. David sent to Lodebar, the place of no pasture, and fetched Mephibosheth. As Mephibosheth stood before David, David said, “Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.”
In all of this David was a marvelous type of God in His dealings toward us, for Christ’s sake. Has not the Lord searched us out from the place of no pasture, and brought us unto Himself? Has He not shown unto us kindness for Christ’s sake? Has He not called us to feast with Him continually at His table all the days of our life? Surely we feel like saying what Mephibosheth said, “What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am?”
III. SOME INNER VISIONS OF DAVID’S GREATNESS (1Sa 26:13-15)
1. Saul’s continual seeking of David’s life. Can you imagine Saul-the God-rejected king-sitting upon his throne, while David, the Divinely anointed king, was running for his life? Yes, so it was.
The reality of this sad condition will once more be enacted when antichrist closes his covenant with the Jews, and exalts himself as king; while the rightful Heir to David’s throne, our adorable Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, is still rejected and an alien from the earth.
2. Certain men who went with David in his isolation. As David fled from Saul, there were certain men who joined him in the wilds. The hearts of these men became knit unto David. It was not, however, until after David was enthroned as king, that the men who had gone with him in his isolation and degradation, became comrades with him in his glory.
Is it not also true that those who go with Christ outside the camp, and suffer the shame and reproach of His Name, shall also pass with Him into the glory of His reign?
3. David’s calm and quietness in the hour of his travail. David knew that he was Israel’s destined king. The memorable day of his anointing by Samuel was ever with him. David, however, would not slay Saul even when the life of the king lay in his power. He always patiently abided God’s time. Here is a marvelous lesson for us. The husbandman hath long patience, waiting for the early and the latter rain. Let us also have patience, for the Coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Under no condition dare we press the claim of our heirship, until the time of our reigning with Christ has come.
IV. DAVID CROWNED AS KING (2Sa 2:4)
1. David’s sincere sorrow over the death of Saul and Jonathan. When the news of the battle and Saul’s suicide had come to David, he did not gloat over the death of Saul, as the stepping-stone to his own coronation. David rather cried.
It was, however, for Jonathan that David chiefly mourned. He said, “I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.” In all of this we see the true spirit of David. He could love Saul who had sought his life. This was Divine. Our Lord cried from the Cross, “Father, forgive them.” Our God still has no pleasure in the death of the wicked.
2. David’s anointing as king over Judah. At last the day of God’s blessing had come. The long waited hour of promise had arrived. For seven years and six months David was king in Hebron over the House of Judah. The youth who once watched his father’s sheep had now reached his prime, being thirty years of age.
Owing to David’s kindness toward the slain Saul, he quickly won the hearts of the people, and his reign over Hebron grew into his reign over all Israel. In the days of David, therefore, all the twelve tribes were brought into unison under one king. The throne was transferred from Hebron to Jerusalem, and there Israel entered into a time of conquest in battle, and development at home, that crowned the life of David with glory.
Jerusalem became the joy of the Lord, and the center of the whole earth. We are struck with the words, “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. They shall prosper that love thee.” Even the city that comes down from God out of Heaven bears the name of the “New Jerusalem.”
V. DAVID’S SIN AND REPENTANCE (2Sa 12:9)
It is too bad that a life so beautiful in its character, and so sublime in its faith, should have been marred with sin.
1. David’s sin, an eddy in the stream of a faithful life. It is human to minify virtues, and to magnify sins. We overstate the wrong, and understate the good. We are sorry that David sinned. We are sorry that he did away with Uriah, and married his wife. However, we thank God for David’s sincere repentance.
2. The visit of Nathan the Prophet. Nathan the Prophet came to David and told him the parable of the “Ewe Lamb.” How a man who was rich, and possessed many flocks and herds, slew and dressed a poor man’s lamb for his guests, and spared his own. David was angry when Nathan told him this story, and said, “The man * * shall surely die.” Then Nathan said, “Thou art the man.”
David caught the point of the parable, and it went like a dagger to his heart. God loved David, and yet He did not permit David to sin unrebuked. For two long years David grieved, and sorrowed over his sin.
3. The Psalm of repentance. Psalm fifty-one is the prayer which David offered as he pled for pardon from his sin, and sought the face of his God. It will be well to read this Psalm, to ponder its message, and to weigh its tears. Remember, however, that God heard the prayer of David, and David was able to lie down in peace and sleep.
VI. SORROW UPON SORROW (2Sa 15:23)
1. Absalom and his perfidy. In all Israel there was none to be so much praised as Absalom. From his head to his feet he was perfect in beauty. He also possessed a winsome way with the people. He knew how to bow himself before his father and win his favor. He knew how to sit in the gate, and steal the hearts of Israel away from the father whom he feigned to love.
2. Absalom’s insurrection. Under promise of going to pay a vow unto the Lord in Hebron, Absalom gathered the people of Israel together, had the trumpets sounded, and proclaimed himself as king. Thus he purposed to usurp the kingdom of his father. A messenger told David that the hearts of the men of Israel were after Absalom. Then king David arose, with all his household, and with all the people who rallied to him, and they fled.
3. Over the brook Kidron. All the country wept with a loud voice as David and the people passed over the brook Kidron, toward the way of the wilderness. It was over this same brook that Christ went with the burden of the world’s sin upon His heart.
Having crossed the brook, David went up by the ascent of the Mount of Olives, and he wept as he went up. It was up from this same mount that our Lord, rejected of men, ascended to His Father.
4. The battle. The battle was joined between the armies of David, under Joab, and the armies of Absalom under Abner, David, himself, did not go to the battle. Under the blessings of God, the hosts of Absalom fled, and Absalom, himself, was caught by his hair in the thick boughs of a great oak. There Absalom was slain.
5. David’s piteous wail. When the news of David’s victorious army and of Absalom’s death reached King David, he was much moved; and he went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. As he went up, he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son.”
VII. DAVID’S PSALM OF GUIDANCE (Psa 23:1-6)
It would be a fault to write upon the life of David, without bringing in this matchless Shepherd Psalm. David was not only the sweet harpist, but he also was the writer, under the Spirit of God, of many marvelous hymns of praise.
1. The occasion of the writing of Psalm twenty-three. This Psalm might have been written at any period of David’s life. Personally, however, we love to think of David as writing this Psalm in the more mature days of his king-ship. The aged delight in reflecting upon the period of their youth, so David, grown old, remembered the early days of his shepherding, and, as he thought of his own life with its varied experiences, he cried, “The Lord is my Shepherd.”
2. The universal application of this Psalm. There is something about Psalm twenty-three that fits every life. The little child loves to lisp it at his mother’s knee. The young man, or young woman in the buoyancy of hope, with life’s conflicts coming upon them, delight in saying, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” The man in the prime of his life, facing difficulties and distresses, rejoices as he reads, “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.” The aged and infirm are happy, as they review a long and fitful life, to say, “Surely goodness and mercy [have followed] me all the days of my life.”
AN ILLUSTRATION
BEATEN SPICES
“‘Spices are most fragrant when burnt and bruised, so have saving graces their chiefest fragrancy in hard times. The pillar that conducted the Israelites appeared as a cloud by day, but as fire by night. The excellency of faith is beclouded till it be put upon a thorough trial.’ Herein lies one of the benefits of affliction, it fetches out latent sweetness and light. Certain herbs yield no smell till they are trodden on, and certain characters do not reveal their excellence till they are tried. The developing power of tribulation is very great: faith, patience, resignation, endurance, and steadfastness are by far the best seen when put to the test by adversity, pain, and temptation. God has created nothing in vain in the new creation any more than in the old, hence one of the sweet necessities of trial is to bring forth and use those precious graces which else had been unemployed. God is not glorified by unused graces, for these lie hidden and bring Him no honor; may we not, therefore, rejoice in tribulation, because it fetches out our secret powers, and enables us to give glory to the Lord whom we love? Yes, blessed be the pestle which bruises us, and the mortar in which we lie to be beaten into fragrance. Blessed be the burning coals which liberate our sweet odors and raise them up to Heaven like pillars of smoke. Can we not say this? Then it is time we could, and perhaps our present affliction has been sent for that very end,-that we may learn the way of complete consecration, and be made perfect through suffering.”
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
1Sa 16:11. Behold, he keepeth sheep And consequently is the most unfit of all my sons for that high employment. Either, therefore, he did not understand Davids wisdom and valour, or he judged him unfit, by reason of his mean education. And God so ordered it by his providence, that the choice of David might plainly appear to be Gods work, and not Samuels or Jesses. David signifies beloved; a fit name for so eminent a type of Gods beloved Son. It is supposed David was now about twenty years old. If so, his troubles by Saul lasted near ten years; for he was thirty years old when Saul died. Samuel, having done this, went to Ramah. He retired to die in peace, since his eyes had seen the salvation, even the sceptre brought into the tribe of Judah.