THE FIRST PART: A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
From David to the Captivity
Message Two—David (1)
Scripture Reading: Acts 13:22; 1 Sam. 16:10, 11, 13; 17:47, 49, 51; 2 Sam. 5:6-25; 11:1-27
I. David was the last in the age of the patriarchs and the first in the age of the kings; he ended one age and began another; he was the landmark between two ages—Matt. 1:6.
II. David was prepared as a man according to God’s heart; he was chosen, trained, anointed, tested, and approved by God—Acts 13:22; 1 Sam. 16:10, 11, 13; 17:47:
A. David was chosen by God; David’s family seemed not to care for him, but God was determined to use him, for He had chosen him—1 Sam. 16:1-10.
B. David was trained by God in humility through his circumstances; God purposely caused him to be born as the youngest one, the last one, to make him humble.
C. Samuel’s anointing David with oil was confirmed by the Spirit of Jehovah rushing upon him from that day; this rushing of the Spirit was related not to life for salvation but to power for outward activities—1 Sam. 16:13a.
D. As the sovereign One, God is above everything, behind everything, and in everything; in His sovereignty God prepared David to be a man according to His heart for His kingdom; He also prepared Saul to perfect David by testing him and putting him on trial:
1. Jonathan loved David like his own soul; while the father was persecuting David and plotting to kill him, his son was loving David to the uttermost—1 Sam. 18:1b, 3b.
2. Saul’s persecution of David was so severe that David was forced to disguise himself as a madman; it seemed as if there was no place for him in the land of Christ—1 Sam. 21:12-15.
3. David would not kill Saul but only cut off a corner of Saul’s cloak; David kept the God—ordained order of authority among God’s elect; by so doing, David laid a good foundation for himself to be the king of God’s elect in the coming days—1 Sam. 24:1-6.
4. David was very different from Saul; David knew only to behave and to have his being according to God’s heart; he had no feeling for himself; rather, he knew only to labor and conduct himself for God’s people and God’s kingdom.
5. Finally, David’s God-fearing and God-honoring life subdued the reckless Saul and stopped Saul from pursuing him; in his relationship with Saul, David is a very good pattern for us in the church life today—1 Sam. 24:16-22.
E. After David passed through all the trials and was approved by God, he was crowned by the tribe of Judah—2 Sam. 2:10b-11.
III. David’s being crowned by the people to be the king for the kingdom of God on the earth; with David, God did everything to establish and exalt him and his kingdom—2 Sam. 5:6-25; 11:1-27:
A. David was one with God; what was his was God’s, and what was God’s was his; David and God had only one kingdom—Acts 13:22, 36.
B. David was established by God as king with his kingdom exalted for the sake of God’s people Israel—2 Sam. 5:6-25:
1. David’s kingdom was established by God, for the sake of God’s people—2 Sam. 5:6-25.
2. We need to learn that if we do anything for ourselves, God will not exalt us, but if we live our lives for God’s kingdom and God’s people, God will exalt us for His people’s sake.
3. We need to realize that whatever God does for us and whatever He gives to us should be altogether for our concern for the building up of God’s dwelling place on earth.
C. David typifies the Lord Jesus as a man in His suffering on earth before His resurrection; David’s suffering was for the conquering of the usurping enemies and the gaining of the good land, the ground for God’s building—Psa. 69:1-9:
1. David typifies Christ from His incarnation with His God—man living and sufferings to His death (from the manger to the cross)—Matt. 12:3-4; 22:41-46.
2. David suffered from his youth, yet through his suffering he prepared the materials, gained the proper ground for the building of the temple, and prepared Solomon, the builder, and all the helpers—1 Chron. 21:18-30; 2 Chron. 3:1; 1 Chron. 28:9-11, 20-21.
3. David’s preparation in his affliction, in his trials, and in the victory of his fightings typifies Christ’s rich provision for the building of the church of God in His trials and in His victory in His life of fighting against Satan with his power of darkness—Matt. 4:4, 7, 10; 12:28.
4. David’s preparing of the materials in abundance for the building up of the temple of God typifies Christ’s providing for the building of the church of God with His unsearchable riches—1 Chron. 18:7-11; 22:2-5, 14-16a; 28:2; 29:2-9; cf. Eph. 3:8-10.
5. David charged God’s people that “today” if we hear His voice, not to harden our hearts, but to allow the word of God to divide our soul from our spirit so that we may enter into the all—inclusive Christ as the good land, the Sabbath rest, for the building of the house of God—Heb. 4:7-13.
D. Although David had the opportunity, saw the need, and had the ability to build the temple of God, he stopped when God’s word came to him; his stopping established a twofold testimony in the universe—first, all the work in this universe should come from God, not from man; second, all that matters is what God does for man, not what man does for God—2 Sam. 7:18, 25, 27; 1 Chron. 22:7-19.
E. After all the enemies of Israel were subdued and David was exalted as the king of Israel, David committed a great sin while he was in a peaceful situation; this indicates that whenever we are at ease in a peaceful situation, it is easy for us to be seduced to indulge our flesh—2 Sam. 11:2-5:
1. Ease is a big spoiler; we need to labor, toil, and suffer; Instead of damaging us, suffering is a help to us; we need to be occupied with either laboring or suffering.
2. David committed a willful adultery by robbery, abusing the power of his kingship; this was a real insult to God; David’s great sin nearly annulled all his attainments from the past—2 Sam. 11:4-5.
3. We need to learn of David on the negative side as well as on the positive side; all the saints, especially the young ones, should search their hearts and make a strong resolution of heart never to go the way of the indulgence of the flesh—Judg. 5:15-16.
F. Because David was a man according to God’s heart, even his failures gave God a way to display His far—reaching mercy and heart of love (1 Sam. 13:14); the builder of the temple and the site of the temple both came out of David’s being forgiven of his sins and out of what God did for David—2 Sam. 12:24-25; 24:1-10; 2 Chron. 3:1; Psa. 51:1-2, 10-12, 17-18.
Ministry Excerpts:
IN DAVID IS SEEN ONE DOING GOD’S WILL AND ONE AFTER GOD’S HEART, CONQUERING THE ENEMIES TO ESTABLISH GOD’S KINGDOM FOR THE BUILDING OF GOD’S TEMPLE
David was the last in the age of the patriarchs and the first in the age of the kings. He ended one age and began another. He was the landmark between two ages. Because the kingdom and the kingship began with David, he was the only one to be called “the king” in the genealogy of Christ in the Gospel of Matthew.
David, being the eighth son of his father, was chosen and anointed by God (1 Sam. 16:10-13). The number eight signifies resurrection. As the eighth son, David’s selection by God denotes his union with Christ in resurrection. He was also one who was after God’s heart, establishing God’s kingdom.
Doing God’s Will
Acts 13:36 says, “For David indeed, when he had served his own generation by the counsel of God, fell asleep….” This shows that David’s reign was according to the will of God.
Being after God’s Heart
David was a man after God’s heart (Acts 13:22). God sent Samuel to tell Saul that He had found another to replace him, for He had found Himself a man after His own heart (1 Sam. 13:14). Apart from the sin he committed because of the wife of Uriah, David did what was right in the eyes of the Lord (1 Kings 15:5).
Conquering the Enemies
The children of Israel fought their way step by step into Canaan. After they crossed the river Jordan, beginning from Jericho, they captured the land of Canaan battle by battle and city by city. The warfare did not end until David’s time. It was after David became king that all the enemies of the land were subdued (1 Chron. 22:18).
Establishing God’s Kingdom
After David became king and subdued the surrounding enemies, the kingdom of God was established. From the time when God called Abraham to the end of the age of the judges, the nation that God promised to make of Abraham (Gen. 12:2) had never come into being. This was because the land had not been completely possessed and the adversaries destroyed. Only when God found David the son of Jesse, a man after His own heart, one who fought for God’s interest and conquered the enemies, was the kingdom of God established. (Truth Lessons, Lev. 1, vol. 1, lsn. 11)
For the Building of God’s Temple
God had done everything for David to establish him as king and to exalt his kingdom for the fulfillment of His purpose. At this juncture David began to take thought concerning God’s dwelling place on earth. Whereas he was living in a house of cedar, the Ark, which represented God, still did not have a home (7:2). Unable to bear such a situation, David decided to remove the Ark of God to a permanent dwelling place. This indicates that David’s heart was set on God’s house, God’s habitation. Whatever God does for us and whatever He gives to us should be altogether for our concern for the building up of God’s dwelling place on earth. For God to have a house on earth is a great shame to His enemy, Satan. For generations Satan has been struggling to abuse, usurp, and occupy the earth. As a result, in a sense God has been driven away from the earth. That was the situation at David’s time. However, David was for God; he was one with God and according to God. As a man according to God’s heart (1 Sam. 13:14), David desired to prepare a place where God could settle on the earth. (Recovery Version, 2 Sam. 6:2, footnote 2)
Caring for God’s Ark
When God’s tabernacle was erected, it became the center of the lives of God’s people. Whether in encampment, in movement, in worship, or in battle, the tabernacle was their center. The ark, in turn, was the center of the tabernacle.
Unfortunately, such a condition did not remain very long before God’s people fell and became desolate. The book of 1 Samuel records how the children of Israel were defeated by their enemies to such an extent that even the ark of God was captured (1 Sam. 4:10-11). The captured ark eventually ended up not only in the land of the Philistines but in an idol’s temple. However, God exercised His divine power to preserve the ark and caused the Philistines to return it to the people of God. The Israelites, instead of taking it back to the tabernacle, moved it to the house of Abinadab (1 Sam. 5—7). Thereafter it was transported to the house of Obededom (2 Sam. 6:1-10). Later, David brought God’s ark to the city of David, that is, Mount Zion, a high hill within the city of Jerusalem. It was there that David pitched a tabernacle for God (cf. 2 Sam. 6).
Preparing Both the Materials and the Site for the Building of God’s Temple
David not only cared for God’s ark, but he was also concerned for the matter of God’s habitation. Although he prepared a tabernacle for the ark according to his own desire, he realized that this was only a temporary arrangement. He longed to build a temple for God. In Psalm 132, David swore unto God, saying “Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, a habitation for the mighty God of Jacob”. He then prayed, “Arise, O Lord, into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy strength”.
Although it was in David’s heart to build a temple for God, God told David through the prophet Nathan that, in spite of his desire to do so, the time had not yet come. The enemies were not yet fully subdued and the land was not completely at rest. God then promised him a son, Solomon, who would build the temple for God (2 Sam. 7; 1 Chron. 17). Moreover, God revealed to David by His Spirit the pattern of the temple. Throughout his lifetime, David endeavored, under difficult circumstances, to prepare materials for the house of Jehovah (1 Chron. 22:13-15; 29:1-5). He bought from Oman the Jebusite the threshing floor of Oman (also called the threshing floor of Araunah) as the site for the temple (1 Chron. 21:18-31; 2 Sam. 24:18-25). (Truth Lessons, Level 1, vol. 1, lsn. 11)
ESTABLISHED BY GOD AS KING WITH HIS KINGDOM EXALTED FOR THE SAKE OF GOD’S PEOPLE ISRAEL
David was established by God as king with his kingdom exalted for the sake of God’s people Israel (vv. 6-25). Here we see that David’s kingdom was established by God. Saul, on the contrary, had tried to exalt himself with his monarchy, but he did not succeed. With David, God did everything to establish and exalt him and his kingdom for the sake of God’s people. From this we need to learn that if we do anything for ourselves, God will not exalt us, but if we live our lives for God’s kingdom and God’s people, God will exalt us for His people’s sake.
The history concerning David, particularly the record in 1 Samuel 18:1 through 2 Samuel 5:25, reveals that our God is sovereign. It may seem that He is silent and that He is hiding Himself, but He is everywhere and with everyone. I believe, for example, that God motivated all the lords of the Philistines to complain about David, making it necessary for Achish to send David away. This rescued David from the dilemma of having to fight with the Philistines against Israel. From this we can see that God was doing everything behind the scenes, directing everyone to accomplish His purpose for the carrying out of His economy. Everything, everyone, and every situation were in the hand of the God in whom David trusted. David did nothing, but God did everything behind the scenes. As a result, Saul was put down, and David was exalted. After the death of Saul, “there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; but David became continually stronger, and the house of Saul became continually weaker” (2 Sam. 3:1). Throughout the books of 1 and 2 Samuel we can see that God was moving and acting all the time in every way for Himself, His kingdom, His people, and the accomplishing of His economy. Without anyone seeing or knowing, God takes care of everything according to His will to accomplish His economy (Eph. 1:11).
In His Repeated Victories over the Philistines
Finally, David’s being established by God was seen in his repeated victories over the Philistines (vv. 17-25). When David inquired of Jehovah, asking whether he should go up against the Philistines, Jehovah said to him, “Go up, for I will certainly deliver the Philistines into your hand” (v. 19). David struck the Philistines and said, “Jehovah has broken forth upon my enemies before me like the breaking forth of a flood” (v. 20b). David continued to do as Jehovah had commanded him and struck down the Philistines from Geba to Gezer.
Israel’s two most troubling enemies were the Amalekites and the Philistines. Even before Israel entered into the good land, they were frustrated by the Amalekites. In Exodus 17 the children of Israel fought a war against the Amalekites in a particular way under two leaders—Moses and Joshua. In typology these two leaders signify Christ in two aspects. The people of Israel fought against the Amalekites under Joshua, signifying the Spirit within us, and under Moses, signifying the Christ who is in the heavens praying for us. The pneumatic Christ as the life-giving Spirit, as the reality of Christ in resurrection, is living and working within us, and the ascended Christ is interceding for us. The Amalekites signify our flesh, our most bothersome enemy. We should never think that we can overcome the flesh. However, by Christ as the Spirit within and as our Intercessor in the heavens, this enemy can be defeated.
Israel’s other enemy was the Philistines, who were very close neighbors of Israel. At times they became somewhat mixed up with Israel. Eventually, David, the one who killed Goliath and defeated the Philistines, became friends with Achish, a king of the Philistines. In typology, the Philistines signify the worldly Christians.
The Philistines were very close to God’s people, yet they were worldly and handled the things of God in a worldly way. Consider how they sent back the ark of God. According to God’s ordination, the ark should not have been moved by any means other than by living priests, but the Philistines caused it to be carried on a cart. The ark, which represents God Himself, should never have been carried in such a way. To use a cart and two cows in order to send the ark back to Israel was the worldly way. The Philistines knew something about the divine things. They offered a trespass offering to appease God’s anger, but they did this in a worldly way. Today, we are troubled mainly by these two things: the flesh within and the worldly Christianity in our environment.
Everything concerning David was arranged under God’s sovereign direction to accomplish one thing: the building up of His kingdom in His elect through the proper person. At that time the proper person was David, but today it should be the people in the Lord’s recovery. In every age God has a particular thing to accomplish. In this age, the twentieth century, the particular thing that God intends to accomplish is to recover everything that has been lost and is missing in today’s worldly Christianity. (Life-Study of 1 & 2 Samuel, msg. 21)