In the books of Samuel and Kings we have the histories of David and. Solomon; there they are considered historically; but in Chronicles they are to be considered in their moral and typical character, whether as showing forth the Lord Jesus, or His saints.
Did you ever meditate on the difference between David and Solomon? David teaches you of grace, and Solomon of glory. Grace is illustrated through David’s whole course; he was a poor shepherd boy, despised by man, a stripling. Samuel asks Jesse, “Are here all thy children?” The right man, was well nigh passed by; but Samuel says, “send and fetch him, for we will not sit down till he come hither.” This was the Lord’s anointed, chosen by grace, when despised by man; sustained by grace, when destroyed by man; and ultimately when set on the throne of Judah, kept there by grace. There is more still, He was chosen, anointed, sustained, and raised to the kingdom; but, besides that, when he had fallen, he was restored by grace, but by grace through righteousness he was restored—that was grace; but the sword never departed from his house—that was righteousness. When defiled, he was kept to the end and suffered to depart in peace. This indeed was grace.
Solomon teaches us of glory. He had never been a despised shepherd boy, nor like a partridge hunted upon the mountains. We catch our first sight of him on the throne. The tale of glory is less affecting than that of grace; we live in the midst of scenes more affecting than those of glory, more sweet than eternity can tell.
Again, in David we have the warrior king, in Solomon the peaceful king. If David views the surrounding nations, he finds them enemies, and sallies forth against them, sword in hand. Solomon, from the quiet dignity of his palace, accepts their homage, and is honored, and sought unto by them. Lastly, David is the servant, Solomon the son. First Chronicles gives you David the servant; second Chronicles, Solomon the son.
Now, these combinations often occur in Scripture, and the more we are let into the secret of the dispensations, the more we can enjoy the Word. For instance, Enoch gives us heavenly stranger ship, Noah earthly blessing, Moses, on Pisgah, takes us to, heaven, while Joshua follows, taking possession of the land. Elijah, again, is the heavenly stranger, and Elisha the man of the earth. These things show unity of purpose throughout the whole book, and prove that God’s own principles and purposes have been always before Him. His book is no mass of confusion, with a bright thought glittering here and there. It has a well-defined, premeditated character, framed for eternal blessing. David illustrated the blessing of God in His servant. Solomon sat in the fruit of David’s labors. Jesus, in His first coming, was the Servant; in the second coming He will be manifested the Son. Was He not always the Son? Most assuredly was from all eternity. But He came as a servant, and when He comes again shall He not serve you? Surely He “will come forth and serve,” but it will be in the character of the Son. In all these combinations of which we have spoken, from Enoch and Noah, David and Solomon, we are in company with the Christ of God.
Having thus prefaced the history of David, we shall commence at the thirteenth chapter of 1St Chronicles, and divide the subject into four distinct parts, the first of which will suffice for this day’s meditation, and will carry us to the close of the sixteenth chapter.
At the end of the twelfth chapter we find David established in full blessing; by the unanimous voice of the tribes, he is anointed king in Hebron with hosannas! It was an intoxicating moment, more so than any we have known, yet we can understand it: we know that it is easier to gain a victory than to use it. The use is more moral, and the gaining of the victory more, so to speak, physical. David, in his humiliation, had gone from strength to strength, but in his day of triumph he got restless, and summoned his captains to bring home the ark from Kirjath-jearim. How could he think of entrusting the ark to his captains? Ah! there it was, he had just been amongst them, the favorite of the nation; it was a moment of intoxication, and David was thrown off his guard. Very, very natural.
But there was besides this act of the flesh, a very beautiful one of the Spirit. It was the desire to bring home the ark; never had Saul attempted it. It might have lain at Kirjath-jearim forever for him, but David desired to bring it back. The Spirit and the flesh were acting together. The flesh demanded of the captains, and set the ark upon a cart; the Spirit had set David’s heart on haying God with His people, and made him resolve that his throne should be where God was. How wonderful to see these two agents working together in one act, and to trace each as clearly as if the other were absent. Cannot we often see this in our own doings? “The flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh,” and “these are contrary the one to the other.” (Gal. 5) This is a vivid instance of the complex nature in the saint of God. If the carelessness of the flesh puts the ark upon a cart, and commits it to the care of the captains, it is the earnestness of the Spirit that desires to bring God back to His people, and cares not for the kingdom in His absence. If God be not king, neither will I be!
But, let me ask, will God form an alliance with your carelessness? He could as easily join with your lusts! The Word had commanded that the ark should be carried on the shoulders of the. Levites, and if David prefers a new cart, God will vindicate His own Word. (Num. 4:1515And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation. (Numbers 4:15).) To touch the ark was, for any but a Levite, judicial death. Uzza touched it, and he died “before God.” It could not be otherwise. “Hath God spoken, and shall he not make it good?” You will say, perhaps, it was a venial fault in David. I grant you, indeed, it was very different from the matter of Uriah the Hittite. But can God be as indifferent as I am about His own word? We think the Levite and the cart equally suitable; God thinks differently. He surely pities me, but He never complies with my ignorance. The idea of the ark on a cart! Could there have been greater carelessness of Scripture, yet where is there more beautiful energy of the Spirit than the desire to have the ark of God at home? Now David quite misunderstood the dealings of God; “he was displeased.” He was quite in a sulk about the death of Uzza. After all my hilarity and my merry-making in the presence of God, after all my desire to bring the ark borne, is this all I get? David allows the ark of God to pass into the hand of a Gentile. (Chapter 13:13.) Have you not sometimes felt in a sulk, out of humor with God? Has He ever crossed a day of your festivity, and with, so to speak, rude foot dashed all your joys to the earth? David sulkily judges that God has, without reason, interfered with his spiritual enjoyment.
As we go through the fourteenth chapter we find the Philistines assembled against David, and he applies to God to know if he should go against them I God says, “Go, and prosper.” And again they come against him, and again he asks, and again God says, “Go, and prosper;” think on this. If we were but familiar with the Word we could never be puzzled as to what to do in any emergency. Here is a man out of temper yet coming back to God! Have you not seen this at home, a shadow in the family, yet they are thrown together still? Now, God does not deal with David’s temper. He melts all the sulkiness clean out of him, by heaping coals of fire on his head. This is what you must do; you must not be overcome of evil. God overcomes evil. He does not resent the ways of His children, but gives sulky David victory over the Philistines. God takes coals of fire and heaps them on David’s head, and melts the sulkiness out of him God never tells you to do anything that He does not do Himself. He tells you to love your enemies and give them food, and He does it Himself. He tells you to overcome evil, and He does it Himself. Here it is. The consequence is, that David finds out his mistake. I see how it is, he says, “none ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites” (chap. 15: 2). It was late in the day to discover the mistake; but David had to say, “Perez-Uzza,” at his own door at last. Blessed moment, in which I find myself wrong and God right! I can bear to find out that I am wrong—to find that God was wrong, would be eternal ruin. No doubt it is very humbling to discover that I have been sulky, unwarrantably sulky, and with God; but then no two things more sweetly combine than broken-heartedness and joy. You cannot be truly happy unless you know a broken heart. You may have pastime; but joy in God demands a broken heart I do not speak of the measure but of the fact. How can you be happy in God’s presence, unless you know that you are a sinner?
David no longer sulks with God, he blames himself now, though God has never upbraided him. Was the prodigal upbraided when he returned broken-hearted? And when Jesus spoke to the woman of Samaria, did. He reproach her? One beam from Sinai lie let fall to discover to herself her condition, but the moment she saw herself, He had done.
The ark was in Obed-edom’s house. The Lord blessed Obed-edom for its sake, and used this blessing to melt David. The process works the cure; David discovered it all now. Poor foolish David, how like ourselves you were.
We all blame God when the mischief is at our own door, but, He restoreth us, and leadeth in the paths of righteousness, for His name’s sake.
David calls Aaron and the Levites. He is now with God. You may have your moments of spiritual merriment. They may be with God, and not with Scripture. If not they will all pass away! David brings no cart now; he calls the house of Aaron and the Levites! Ah, brethren, “I commend you to God.” Is that all? Nay, I commend you to God, and to the “Word of his grace.” Devotional feelings won’t do, you must get the illumination and seal of Scripture.
“Because ye did it not at the first” (v. 13). I do not blame David a bit for putting. blame on the Levites; they ought to have resented it. They ought to have protected the purity of the house of God. The Levites in Uzziah’s days, were more faithful; when he dared to go into the sanctuary they forced him out. “Go out of the sanctuary;” (2 Chron. 26) “It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense.” And Uzziah was angry, and became a leper.
In the fifteenth chapter we have the great preparations that were made to bring home the ark; there is neither stumbling or smiting now. All is right with the Scriptures as well as with the piety of the mind, and the ark is safely brought to the tent prepared for it.
In the sixteenth chapter David steps into millennial days, and gives us, as it were, a rehearsal of them. David has singers; Moses never prepared a song for the tabernacle; David does for the temple, and delivers it into the hands of Asaph and his brethren. There had been a burst of music on the banks of the Red Sea, Moses and Miriam answering each other, but there was no music for the tabernacle. There could not be, for Israel was not at rest. The songs of Asaph could not be awakened till David had prepared for Solomon. Then they could rehearse the songs of the kingdom. Can you do it? The kingdom is not yet come, but you can be tuning your cymbals about the door! David does it, and puts in the hand of Asaph a composite song, made up of patches of various psalms, where Israel leads the praises and the Gentiles join the chorus. “O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever.” Aye, whatever may have been the depths of wickedness, whatever the impious apostasy, the kingdom will be the witness of this-that God’s mercy has prevailed! We have, seen David restored; can anyone enter the kingdom without being restored? Rare it would be indeed, for grace reigns through righteousness. Does David ask if he may sing his songs to God? Does he ask liberty to do so? No, he knows his title to praise his God, and you should know your right to—tune your instruments about the gates of heaven, till they burst asunder, and you join the shout of the kingdom, “Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever!”