(1 Sam. 17:1-291Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. 3And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. 4And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. 6And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. 7And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. 8And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. 9If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. 10And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. 11When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. 12Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem-judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul. 13And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul. 15But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 16And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. 17And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren; 18And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. 19Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. 21For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army. 22And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren. 23And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them. 24And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. 25And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. 26And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? 27And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him. 28And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. 29And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? (1 Samuel 17:1‑29))
As I go about, I meet with many professing Christians who scarcely ever look into the Old Testament. They call it "the Old Bible" and seem to look upon it as they look upon a thing of the past. This is a great mistake. There is but one Bible, made up of two Testaments, the Old and the New. And we must not set up one against the other. The Old Testament is inspired as fully as the New. It is “Scripture” equally with the New Testament. And the Apostle Paul writes that "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine" (2 Tim. 3:1616All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (2 Timothy 3:16)). The Old Testament Scriptures were written for our profit, and Christians suffer loss if they neglect them.
The Old Testament is like a great picture-book. And in the New Testament we have the living realities of all those pictures. It is a book of types and shadows. The New Testament contains the antitypes and substance of these types and shadows. Thus what is enfolded in the Old Testament is unfolded in the New.
Now the life of David abounds with typical incidents, and may God, by His Spirit, open them up to our souls as we glance at them one by one. This seventeenth chapter of First Samuel contains a series of animated scenes.
First of all, we have two companies or classes of people. "And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them” (vs. 3). The Israelites were the people of God; the Philistines were not His people. And so it is today. Before God there are but two classes—the saved and the lost. One class has been converted; the other class still treads the downward road. One class has become "the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus;" the other class is still, as by nature, "the children of wrath" (Gal. 3:2626For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:26); Eph. 2:33Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. (Ephesians 2:3)).
There is no middle class. Scripture makes that plain. Listen: "He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already." And again: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" (John 3:18, 3618He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18)
36He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. (John 3:36)). You are a believer or an unbeliever; you are free from condemnation or condemned already; you have everlasting life or the wrath of God abides upon you. Which is it? Some say, "I'm on the fence." That cannot be because there is no fence! A valley lay between the Israelites and the uncircumcised. And God has put a distance that no line can measure between His people and the world.
In this hand I hold a counterfeit dollar. In the other is a genuine one. I have no third hand, and I do not need one, for there is no coin between the two. True, some counterfeits may have more silver in them than some others, but if they lack the stamp of the government mint, they are not true coins. And you are saved or lost tonight. Don't begin to tell me of your goodness, your character, etc. New birth puts the stamp of heaven upon God's saints. And if this is lacking in your case, you are lost as much as any thief or murderer. In a certain sense, your character and goodness have some value. I do not mean a saving value. Every bit of silver is of some worth in the counterfeit. But the "one thing lacking" is not a certain amount of silver in the make-up of the coin, but the stamp of the government of the United States. And so it is with you, if unconverted. You are no real child of God at all. It is not a question of your goodness or your badness. Whether you are of the very cream of society or help make up the scum of civilization, "ye must be born again" (John 3:77Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. (John 3:7))!
Quaint John Berridge had this legend chiseled on his tombstone:
“Reader, art thou born again?
Remember, no salvation without a new birth.”
We notice next that each of these companies had a leader: King Saul was leader of the Israelites; Goliath of Gath seems to have been captain of the Philistines. And as there are two companies only in this world, so each of these two companies has its leader. The Lord Jesus is the Leader of His own redeemed. He is called "the Captain of their salvation" (Heb. 2:1010For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. (Hebrews 2:10)). And the devil is the "god and prince of this world" (2 Cor. 4:44In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4); John 14:3030Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me. (John 14:30)). "No man can serve two masters" (Matt. 6:2424No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. (Matthew 6:24)). There are only two, Christ and Satan. If you are unsaved, Satan is your master. If you are converted, you give Christ that place. The human race has been divided in two companies. These companies each stand ranged beneath the leadership of either the Son of God or the devil. One party stands beneath the black flag of hell; over the other floats the golden "banner of love." And you, my friend, are standing under one of these two banners. But which one?
We remark again that there was war between the Israelites and the Philistines. There can be no honorable alliance between the Christian and the unbeliever. There is not exactly enmity between them, but there must be no fellowship or agreement. In the very beginning we have a hint of this. "God divided the light from the darkness" (Gen. 1:44And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:4)). And the Apostle Paul, writing to the Ephesians, says: "Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord" (Eph. 5:88For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (Ephesians 5:8)). The Lord God said to the serpent in the garden; "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed" (Gen. 3:1515And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. (Genesis 3:15)). The Church and the world are not to walk together. "Can two walk together except they be agreed?" asks the herdsman-prophet of Tekoa. "No,'' answers the Apostle of the Gentiles; "for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel [or unbeliever]?” (2 Cor. 6:14-1514Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? (2 Corinthians 6:14‑15)). The world agrees to reject the Son of God. Can the Church agree to this? The Church has agreed to own the lordship of Christ. The world refuses to do this. How then can there be fellowship or agreement? There can be none! As daylight and darkness, as heat and cold, as fire and water, so are "the children of God" and "the children of this world." This important subject will come up again before us as we go along, and so I leave it here.
Next we notice the champion, the terrified and the conqueror. Goliath is the champion, the Israelites are the terrified, and David the shepherd-boy becomes the conqueror.
First we have the champion. He was a mighty giant, more than nine feet tall. He wore "a helmet of brass upon his head" (1 Samuel 17:55And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. (1 Samuel 17:5)), and was armored with "a coat of mail"—like a monster turtle. He was thoroughly prepared to fight, and "the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam." His legs and shoulders were thoroughly protected, and the weight of his armor and his spear's head were something enormous. In all his pride and power, he stands and cries defiantly for a man to fight with him. None dare accept his challenge. "When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, “they were dismayed, and greatly afraid" (vs. 11).
I take Goliath here to be a sort of representative of Satan wielding "the power of death." A massive sword is in his hands with which he terrifies the Israelites. Though terrified, they were Jehovah's people as a nation, and they stood in outward nearness and relationship to Him. Now, in Hebrews 2:14-1514Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; 15And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:14‑15), we are told that Satan, before the cross, had "the power of death," and that God's Saints, "through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." That passage throws a flood of light upon this chapter. Unconverted men and even unestablished Christians fear to die. Now, why is this? One verse from the New Testament supplies the answer. "The sting of death is sin" (1 Cor. 15:5656The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. (1 Corinthians 15:56)). Conscience accuses. Men fear to die, because they know that they are sinners and that God must punish sin. Their conscience tells them this, however indistinctly, and the Bible tells them plainly when they read it. As a result, they seldom read it. Newspapers and novels are crowding out the word of God. But Scripture says, "The wages of sin is death," and "after death the judgment.”
But it is saints that we have pictured by the terrified here—children of God who do not know redemption. Unconverted men may tremble at the thought of death, but this is not the devil's work. He wants to keep them unconcerned. He hates to see them get alarmed about the "King of terrors." He blinds their minds and tells them not to be afraid. He would fain persuade them that they are "alright" or that there is no God, no judgment and no hell. And if you are unconverted and have no fear of death, it is just because you are deceived and kept asleep by Satan. May God awaken your conscience before it is too late! Before Christ died and sins were put away, God's people were afraid of death, even the best of them. See good king Hezekiah. The prophet Isaiah announced his death, and he turned his face to the wall and "wept sore" (Isa. 38). All of them feared death, more or less.
They longed to reach a good old age and wished to ward off death as long as possible. Jacob complained to Pharaoh of the shortness of his life. None of them had that confidence that we may have since Christ has come and vanquished death and Satan. In the presence of death, they were like "Saul and all Israel" before Goliath—"dismayed and greatly afraid.”
Now the conqueror comes upon the scene. It is David, and he slays the giant. Throughout this section of the Word of God, he is a striking type of Christ.
We now consider, first, the retirement that David enjoyed; second, the refreshment that he brought; third, the reproach that he suffered; then the reward that he was promised.
First, we have the retirement that David enjoyed. Where was David all the time that the champion of the Philistines was frightening Israel? At his father's house in Bethlehem (vs. 15) and far from the scene of strife and battle, he was enjoying the calm and quiet of his father's house. And tell me, where was Jesus all the time before He came to earth to be the "Man of sorrows"? In His "Father's house" on high, above the sun. Let me quote a verse or two from the first chapter of John's gospel. It begins, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made" (vss. 1-3). There you have the answer—He was "with God." There He had the homage of all heaven. Archangel and angels, cherubim and seraphim—all bowed low in adoration at the feet of God, the Son! Do you know the blackest blasphemer God lets live? It is the man who denies deliberately the eternal deity of Jesus. I say and say with joy and triumph in the language of the Holy Ghost, "the Word was God." Isaiah "saw His glory," and he "spake of Him." He says: "I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple." And the seraphim covered their faces and their feet, and cried, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts." This is their Creator, even the eternal Son of God (Isa. 6).
There is a magnificent passage in the eighth chapter of the book of Proverbs. It is wisdom personified that speaks, and Christ is "the wisdom of God." "The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: While as yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When He prepared the heavens, I was there: when He set a compass upon the face of the depth: when He established the clouds above: when He strengthened the fountains of the deep: when He gave to the sea His decree, that the waters should not pass His commandment: when He appointed the foundations of the earth: then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him: and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him; rejoicing in the habitable part of the earth; and My delights were with the sons of men" (Prov. 8:22-3122The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. 23I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. 24When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. 25Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: 26While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. 27When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: 28When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: 29When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: 30Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; 31Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. (Proverbs 8:22‑31)). Christ was in His Father's bosom just as David, the shepherd-boy, was in his father's house.
But David leaves this place. His father sends him to his brethren. And Jesus left His place of bliss on high and came to earth. He was the sent One of the Father. "God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)). And again, "The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world" (1 John 4:1414And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. (1 John 4:14)). The world was lost and ruined, yet God loved the guilty sons of men. And He evidenced His love by giving Jesus. "In this was manifested the love of God toward us," John writes, "because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (1 John 4:9-109In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:9‑10)). And notice, too, that though David's father sends him to his brethren, he went willingly. "David rose up early in the morning” (1 Sam. 17:2020And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. (1 Samuel 17:20)). He did not hesitate or start with lagging footsteps. He was not driven, but went gladly. And Jesus, though sent of God, came willingly. He says Himself, "The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:1010For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10)). Paul writes, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Tim. 1:1515This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15)). It was His mighty love that brought Him down. It was His love that, like a mighty magnet, drew Him to the cross. Love made Him willing.
What is that love to you? How many of you have opened your hearts to that love? How many have believed and been wooed and won by such well-proven love? "The love of Christ, which passeth knowledge” (Eph. 3:1919And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. (Ephesians 3:19)). It passes knowing fully and it passes rightly telling, too. The tongue fails and lips prove all too feeble to tell out such love. Perhaps some of you have never known Christ's love. Let me tell you how a man once learned that love. The late sorrowful Spurgeon was once preaching to a vast audience in Exeter Hall. When the audience had left the building, a solitary man of advanced years was found weeping in a seat in the rear of the hall. The floor at his feet was wet with his tears. Someone asked him what part of the sermon it was that had so affected him. "Ah," he sobbed, "I am partially deaf and did not hear the sermon. But when they sang that hymn, ‘Jesus, lover of my soul,’ it was too much. I said, 'If He so loves me, why should I live any longer at enmity with Him? It's such love that makes me weep.’"
Oh, sinner, may that love touch you! Live no longer as an enemy of Jesus. He has never been your enemy! He loved you even unto death. May your poor, cold heart be opened to that love, ‘As the rose to the golden sunshine.’ Christ came from heaven to win rebel hearts. No man ever loved like He does!
“Son of God, Thy Father's bosom
Ever was Thy dwelling-place;
His delight, in Him rejoicing,
One with Him in pow'r and grace.
Oh, what wondrous love and mercy!
Thou didst lay Thy glory by,
And for us didst come from heaven,
As the Lamb of God to die.”
Notice, too, the time that David left the retirement of his father's house. Verse 16 says that the Philistine "presented himself forty days." Immediately, in the following verse, David's father sends him. Now, the number forty in the Word of God denotes the time of trial or testing—man's testing. I will give a few examples. Moses was forty years in the court of Pharaoh, forty years in Midian, and forty years the leader of God's people, Israel. He was forty days and forty nights in the "mount of God." The Israelites were tested forty years in the wilderness. And the Lord Jesus, the second Man, was tested and tried for forty days in the wilderness. And all the time before Christ's advent, man was on trial. This lasted forty centuries—four thousand years. He was first tried in Paradise, (the Garden of Eden) and failed. He believed the devil's lie, in preference to the truth of God, and was driven from the garden. Outside of Eden, he was under conscience, left to himself without God or the Scriptures. The flood, the confusion of tongues and the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah all witness man's utter failure under conscience. This lasted more than twenty centuries. Then for fifteen hundred years, God had a people under law. He took them, a nation of slaves in Egypt, and brought them unto Himself. He established them in the garden-spot of all the world. There they had a temple, priests, a ritual and, best of all, the Holy Scriptures. But they utterly failed to keep the law, and when Jesus, their Messiah, came into their midst, their hearts were full of murder and hypocrisy. The trial of the human race ended with the presence of Jesus in the world. He only came when man had failed and done his worst.
The Apostle Paul refers to this. He says: "When the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman" (Gal. 4:44But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (Galatians 4:4)). The "fullness of the time" was the end of man's probation. Now he is no longer on trial—His trial is over. Hebrews 9:2626For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:26) refers to this same time: "But now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." It is not the end of the world, but the end of the age or ages, of man's trial and testing. Then Jesus came.
And how did Jesus come into this world? Just as David came unto his brethren—loaded down with blessings.
Next we have therefore the refreshment David brought. His father did not send him empty-handed. "Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren; And carry these ten cheeses" (vs. 17-18). Now, the good things David carried to the camp are like the temporal blessings Jesus brought to Israel. He raised the dead; He made the blind to see and the deaf to hear; He made the tongue of the dumb to sing and the lame man leap as an hart; He satisfied the poor with bread. He came freighted with grace and blessing, and right and left with lavish hand, He freely gave these good things to the poor and needy.
And why do you think it speaks of "ten loaves" and "ten cheeses"? I will tell you what I think. Israel had ten commandments. If they kept them they were promised earthly blessings. If they broke them they were cursed. And they always broke them, every one, and only earned a curse. But Jesus came to them in grace and brought, as it were, a double blessing, of which they were utterly unworthy, while so deserving of the curse of the insulted and broken law. How precious are these pictures! Oh, for more appreciation of the One of whom they so loudly and so sweetly speak!
But did men care for Jesus when He came? No! He was reproached and refused. This is pictured in the reproach David suffered. When he came into the camp, he met with reproach. "And Eliab, his eldest brother, heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle" (vs. 28). He is suspected and misunderstood. He was not wanted there. They were glad to get his loaves and cheeses. I am sure of that. They cared for them, but not for David. And when Jesus came, men took His temporal blessings. They were glad to get the "loaves and fishes." They were willing to have their sick and dead raised up. But they did not want Jesus Himself. "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not" (John 1:1111He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (John 1:11)). "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not" (John 1:1010He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. (John 1:10)). He was rejected from the very first. When He was born, "there was no room for them in the inn" (Luke 2:77And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7)). "All Jerusalem" was "troubled" at the tidings of His birth. Herod "sought the young child's life." In the very beginning of His ministry, at "Nazareth, where He had been brought up," He was refused. They "were filled with wrath" "and thrust Him out of the city," and would have cast Him headlong over the precipice. He was refused everywhere and at every turn.
“He came, the heavenly stranger,
A Man of humble birth;
Born in a lowly manger,
Few cared to know His worth.”
How it must have grieved and wounded David to be reproached as he was. Eliab's cruel taunt must have stung his sensitive heart to the very quick. And it was His rejection and reproach that made the blessed Son of God "a Man of sorrows" here. Israel would not have Him. He knew He was not wanted.
At some time or other in our lives, we have all been in places where we knew we were not wanted. And it is one of the keenest of all sorrows. The Lord Jesus felt this sorrow everywhere. Some places people did not even care to take Him in. He said on one occasion, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay His head" (Matt. 8:2020And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. (Matthew 8:20)). Isaiah had foretold "His lonely life of sorrow here below." "He hath no form nor comeliness;" he says in behalf of the remnant who refused Him, "and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men, a Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted" (Isa. 53:2-42For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. (Isaiah 53:2‑4)). "He went about doing good," and never spoke an unkind word. "Never man spake like this Man," the officers said who had been sent to take Him.
But He said, "They hated Me without a cause." They were His "enemies wrongfully." He said again, "I am become a stranger unto My brethren." "They that sit in the gate speak against Me; and I was the song of the drunkards." "Thou hast known My reproach, and My shame, and My dishonor." And last and saddest of all, "Reproach hath broken My heart" (Psa. 69).
David's reproach is a faint foreshadow of all this. Twice Eliab speaks of David's coming "down." He did not know that David came to seek his welfare. And so with Jesus. Men did not know what brought Him down from glory. They did not know He came for their eternal welfare. They did not know He came to die. David came to slay the giant and deliver Israel. And Jesus came to vanquish Satan and deliver men from his power and from the "lake of fire.”
Ah, friend, don't refuse this Savior! He came, and, blessed be His name, He bled and died for your eternal welfare. Receive Him now. Just say, "If He so loved me, a sinner, and suffered so for me, I will put my trust in Him. I will no longer shut my heart against Him. Lord Jesus, be my Savior now!"
“Lamb of God! when we behold Thee
Lowly in the manger laid;
Wand'ring as a homeless stranger
In the world Thy hands had made;
When we see Thee in the garden
In Thine agony and blood,
At Thy grace we are confounded,
Holy, spotless Lamb of God!”
But now we come to the reward that David was promised.
"And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? Surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him" (1 Samuel 17:25-2725And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. 26And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? 27And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him. (1 Samuel 17:25‑27)). The reward promised to the man who killed the Philistine was a threefold one—great riches, freedom for his father's house, and a bride. And David slew the giant, so he was entitled to this great reward. And Jesus at Calvary triumphed over sin and death and Satan, and must be rewarded for His victory.
The first thing is "great riches." Paul speaks of the "unsearchable riches of Christ." These He won by the conquest of the cross. He was always rich, as God, of course. Nothing can be added to His riches or His glory in this view of Him. But as Man, He has been here on earth and won high honors—crowns that shall rest upon His blessed brow throughout eternity.
This illustration has been given. There is a mighty prince who, by his birth, has come into possession of vast treasures and estates. These he has by natural inheritance. They are his because of who he is. But he goes forth as a warrior, and, conquering everywhere, wins additional wealth and glory such as he would never have possessed had he remained at home. What he has done secures these for him. Now he has a two-fold glory—one essential and the other acquired. And thus it is with Jesus. As the eternal Son of the Father, He has a glory all His own. It is His essential Godhead glory in which no creature can have part. But as Man in this world, He has won honors, glories and riches such as He can and does share with His own redeemed and loved ones. Such are the riches He has won. And with these "great riches," He enriches all who trust Him as their Savior. "All things are yours," the Apostle says. Again he says, "For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich" (2 Cor. 8:99For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)). "He was rich," it says, yet for our sakes "He became poor." Now, how did Jesus become poor? It may be asked. He became poor in several ways. He was poor in this world's goods. His parents were poor. At His circumcision, they took advantage of the special provision made "in the law of the Lord" for the poor. Too poor to afford a lamb, they offered in its stead "a pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons" (Luke 2:2424And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. (Luke 2:24); Lev. 12:88And if she be not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtles, or two young pigeons; the one for the burnt offering, and the other for a sin offering: and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall be clean. (Leviticus 12:8)). He was a carpenter's son, without an education (John 7:1515And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? (John 7:15)). And on one occasion He did not possess a penny, even. He had to say, "Show Me a penny" (Luke 20:2424Show me a penny. Whose image and superscription hath it? They answered and said, Caesar's. (Luke 20:24)). As He went about fulfilling His ministry, "certain women" "ministered to Him of their substance" (Luke 8:2-32And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, 3And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance. (Luke 8:2‑3)). And His poverty continued to the very end. His coat, for which the soldiers gambled, was such as only the poorest wore. "It was without seam, woven from the top throughout" (John 19:2323Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. (John 19:23)). So literally He was poor. And He became poor in another sense, too. He was the rightful heir to the throne of Israel, yet (for a time) He gave it up so that we poor Gentiles, through His poverty, might be made forever rich. The wealthiest of men are wretchedly poor without Christ. And the saint, possessing Christ (and with Him everything), is immensely rich, even though compelled to toil for daily bread.
I remember a friend telling me once of a wealthy nobleman. He possessed extensive estates which nearly all lay in a valley. His own residence was also there. In this valley, a poor, though happy and consistent, old Christian also lived. He supported himself by breaking stones on this nobleman's estates. One day, the nobleman came down with a very serious sickness. One night he was very low. The physicians shook their heads and held out little hope. That night the nobleman dreamed an angel came to him and told him that the richest man in all the valley would die that night. This terrified him. "My time is come," he thought, "for I am by far the richest man in all the vale." His conscience was aroused, and he passed a terrible night of mental agony. Every moment he expected the summons that would usher him into eternity. But the night passed and morning came. He was still alive and the fever had taken a turn for the better. All day long he lay wondering at his dream. Could it be, after all, the product of a fevered and disordered brain, and not a message from God at all? He began to think so when word was brought to him that the old Christian stone-breaker had died the previous night. "Ah, now I understand it. My dream was true. The richest man in all the vale did die last night. But it was not I, with all my worldly wealth, but that godly stone-breaker, 'rich in faith,' and 'rich toward God'” (James 2:55Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? (James 2:5); Luke 12:2121So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:21)). Do you have these riches, friend? If you have Christ, then you possess untold treasure!
"In Christ" the believer has everything. His apprehension of it is another thing. Suppose I am a poor beggar, and, by a relative heretofore unknown to me, I am left a fortune. I receive it thankfully. It is mine the moment I receive it, though I am utterly ignorant of its value. But it is all mine, I know, so I proceed to a quiet corner and there open the papers and, step by step, learn what is mine. I count and add, and as I do so, I am amazed at the wealth my benefactor has left me. Now, the moment a sinner receives Christ by faith, He has everything! "All things are yours" is as true of him then as it was of the Apostle Paul when He wrote at the gate of heaven, "I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." And searching the Scriptures and learning the blessedness of all who believe is like the beggar counting out the riches of his inheritance. Christians who do this enjoy their heavenly riches.
So never mind how poor you are in this world's goods, dear fellow-believer. The Apostle says: "As poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things" (2 Cor. 6:1010As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. (2 Corinthians 6:10)). And the Lord Jesus says to His suffering saints in Smyrna, "I know thy ... poverty, (but thou art rich)" (Rev. 2:99I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. (Revelation 2:9)). He, as we sing, "shares all He possesses with His loved co-heirs." Believers are said to be "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ" (Rom. 8:1717And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. (Romans 8:17)). May some poor sinner be made rich tonight.
Next there was freedom for the conqueror's father's house. Henceforth it was to be a house under special honors. They may represent the elect of God. All who come to Christ are given Him of the Father. They have been "predestinated unto the adoption of children." They were by nature and by practice slaves of Satan and of sin, but they have been set at liberty. Christ died that they might be free. By His glorious victory over death, He obtained freedom for every member of His "Father's house.”
The unconverted are slaves of Satan. The Lord Jesus says to Paul, when He commissions him for his work, that the Gentiles were to be turned "from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God" (Acts 26:1818To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. (Acts 26:18)). The Colossians were delivered "from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son" (Col. 1:1313Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: (Colossians 1:13)). Satan rules outside the kingdom mentioned here. All outside this kingdom are under the power of Satan. Baptism will not put you in this kingdom; the human rite of confirmation does not do it; taking the sacrament cannot effect it. To "enter into" or even "see" this kingdom, "ye must be born again" (John 313And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. (John 3:13)). If unconverted, you are Satan's servant. He holds you in the iron bonds of lust and sin. And he pays his subjects bitter wages. "The wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)).
Hear an oft-told parable. There was once a certain tyrant. Among his wretched subjects was a blacksmith. One day this poor blacksmith was ordered into the tyrant's presence. "Go to your forge," said the tyrant, "and make a chain link. Make it strong, and bring it to me. I will give you wages for your work." So the blacksmith went to his forge and made the link. He brought it to the tyrant who ordered him to make another like it and to fasten them together. He returned to his forge and did as he was bidden. He was ordered by his master to continue making links until a chain was made. Every day he hoped to get his wages. At last the chain was finished. "Now," said the cruel tyrant, "you shall have your wages." He ordered his guards to bind the miserable blacksmith with the chain his hands had fashioned, and had him cast into a dungeon. The parable is this: That tyrant is the devil. The blacksmith is yourself, if unconverted. Every sin you commit in the service of Satan is like a link to the chain that is to be fastened about your soul as you are cast into the darkness of hell forever. "Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness" (Matt. 22:1313Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 22:13)), seals the sinner's final doom. May God save any present here from a fate so awful! Christ alone can set the sinner free.
“He breaks the power of reigning sin,
And sets the sinner free.”
I read some time ago a newspaper account of a skeleton found in a cave in the Indian Territory. On the bleached wrist bones of the skeleton were a pair of rusty handcuffs. They told a tale: the man had died in bondage. And I thought of men dying with the devil's manacles of sin upon their souls. Oh, poor soul, there is deliverance for you! Jesus, by His death, acquired the right and power to set the captives of the devil free. "Only believe." Paul once groaned out in agony, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Then he looked to Christ, the great Deliverer, and exclaimed: "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Rom. 7:24-2524O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin. (Romans 7:24‑25)). "Thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins" (Matt. 1:2121And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)). "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31)).
Last of all, the man who killed the Philistine was to have a princess for a bride. Saul's daughter was to be given in marriage to the happy man. And Christ, by His victorious death, has obtained for Himself a bride—the Church. The Apostle says, speaking of the Church under the figure of a wife: "Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it" (Eph. 5:2525Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; (Ephesians 5:25)). Christ's bride is "the assembly of God, which He has purchased with the blood of His Own" (Acts 20:2828Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. (Acts 20:28), JND). This is the Church I believe in, and of this blood-bought Church I am a member. People sometimes say, "What Church are you a member of?" I say, "The only Church there is." "That sounds like bigotry," you say. I reply that it is not bigotry; it is the Bible. "What is the name of this Church?" perhaps you ask. I answer, "It has four names." "Four names?" you say. "Indeed, what are they?" It is called in the first epistle to Timothy, third chapter and fifteenth verse, "the house of God." It is called in the first epistle to the Corinthians, third chapter and seventeenth verse, "the temple of God." It is called, in the same epistle, twelfth chapter and twenty-seventh verse, "the body of Christ." And in the Revelation, twenty-first chapter and ninth verse, it is called "the bride, the Lamb's wife." It is richly endowed, and firmly established; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. This is the only Church of which we read in Scripture.
I am finished for this evening. Tomorrow evening we will see how David meets and slays the Philistine, if God permit.