It is an affecting and solemn truth presented to us by scripture, to which we desire that our thoughts may ever be fully subject, that our God has, through our transgression, been separated from His due place, as over the work of His own hands; that this world which is all His handy work, has acknowledged another god and prince. (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)., 1 Cor. 4.) Since the day when the Lord God walked with Adam in paradise, he has had no abiding place among us. He has visited the earth in divers manners, to bring mercies to His chosen in the midst of it, but when His errand of love has been finished, He has, as is said, “gone His way”) again. (Gen. 18:3333And the Lord went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place. (Genesis 18:33).) He would, it is true, have found a place among His chosen Israel, but He was even by them too speedily disowned, and His tarrying there proved to be but as that of a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night. (Jer. 14:88O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night? (Jeremiah 14:8).) “The ox knoweth his owner,” said the God of Israel by His prophet, “and the ass his master’s crib, but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.” (Isa. 1:33The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. (Isaiah 1:3).)
But the Lord’s title to the earth of course stands unimpeachable; “the cattle on a thousand hills are His, the earth, and the fullness thereof;” and accordingly in one way or another, He has been making continual claim to it in the face of the usurper, so as to express his purpose of finally taking it into full possession again. This indeed was so clearly intimated by the first promise, that the whole creation is represented as hoping and waiting for it. (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), Rom. 8:19-2119For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 20For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 21Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:19‑21).) And so in the day of the kingdom of our God, these hopes of the creation shall not be ashamed, for the “heavens shall then rejoice, and the earth be glad, the sea and the fullness thereof; the field shall then be joyful and all that is therein: the floods, and the hills, and the trees of the wood shall rejoice before the Lord.”
By tracing for a while, the dealings of the Lord with this world of ours, we may discern the ways in which the has been pleased since the day when man sold himself and his inheritance into the hand of a strange lord, thus to claim the earth as His. When the giants of old had finished the antediluvian apostasy, corrupting the earth and filling it with violence, doing with it as if it were their own; the Lord asserted His right by judging that generation as oppressors and wrong-doers. (Gen. 6:1-131And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. 3And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. 4There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. 5And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 8But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. 9These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. 10And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 11The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 13And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. (Genesis 6:1‑13))
Then in the new world He witnessed His title to the earth by making man the tenant of it under Himself, delivering it into the hand of Noah, under express condition imposed according to His own good pleasure. (Gen. 9:1-71And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. 2And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. 3Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. 4But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. 5And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. 6Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. 7And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein. (Genesis 9:1‑7).) And again, when these children of men, doing the deeds of their fathers, affected independency of God their rightful Lord, as they did in the matter of Babel, He again asserted His right in the way of judgment, scattering the confederates over the face of the earth. (Gen. 11:1-91And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. 4And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 5And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. (Genesis 11:1‑9))
But the Lord in His fruitful sovereign wisdom had now another mode of continuing His claim to the earth. This scattering of the nations from Babel, He so orders as to have respect to His setting up one of them as the future witness of His name and rights. (Deut. 32:8, 98When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. 9For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. (Deuteronomy 32:8‑9)) And in the meantime He separates the father of this nation to Himself, (Gen. 12:11Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee: (Genesis 12:1)) making him also personally the witness of the same truth—that let the people imagine what vain things they might, Jehovah, and He alone, was “possessor of heaven and earth.” (Gen. 14:18-2218And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. 19And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: 20And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. 21And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. 22And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, (Genesis 14:18‑22))
Accordingly then, when in due course of providence Abraham’s nation was manifested, the Lord who had chosen them to be His witnesses, puts them into possession of a portion of the earth, to hold it under Him their Lord; thus showing that He who took what portion He pleased, had title to the whole; as He says, “Ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine.” (Ex. 19:55Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: (Exodus 19:5).) And Israel thus established as God’s people should have continued in the midst of, but separated formally from the nations, reflecting the light of God’s glory as king of all the earth. But again and again they revolted, and rejected Jehovah Christ, from being king over them. The nation first, (1 Sam. 8:77And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. (1 Samuel 8:7).) then the house of David, (Isa. 8:1313Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. (Isaiah 8:13), Jer. 21:1212O house of David, thus saith the Lord; Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. (Jeremiah 21:12)) give up their testimony to God, and at length the wicked husband-men cast the heir himself out of the vineyard, and slew him. (Matt. 21:3939And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. (Matthew 21:39))
Abraham’s seed thus refused to do the works of Abraham, and then Abraham’s God abandoned their laud, leaving the boar out of the wood to waste it, and the wild beast of the field to devour it. But the Lord has had pity for His holy name, which the house of Israel and profaned among the heathen, and has called forth another witness to the glory of it. By the voice of heralds He is publishing “Jesus and the resurrection,” opening the kingdom or heaven and the Father’s house to all believers, and letting all men know, that the kingdoms of the world are become His, and that all things are to be put under His feet again. (Heb. 2:88Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. (Hebrews 2:8), Rev. 11:1515And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 11:15))
But how is the kingdom of the world to become the Lord’s? and how is His presence to be preserved among us? We can prepare Him no habitation or dominion, for we have been found unable even to retain that which in His love He once committed to us. The Lord then must, and so He will, prepare Himself a place over and among the children of men, so as to secure His presence and authority (O blessed expectation) from ever being clouded or denied again.
When the Lord took Israel of old, as we have seen, to be His peculiar people, of course He prepared Himself a place among them —the tabernacle first, and then the temple. The tabernacle was but a moveable pavilion; there Jehovah dwelt as between curtains, and walked as in a tent, refusing with infinite grace to enter into His rest while His Israel sojourned from one nation to another people. (2 Sam. 7:5-85Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? 6Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. 7In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar? 8Now therefore so shalt thou say unto my servant David, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I took thee from the sheepcote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over my people, over Israel: (2 Samuel 7:5‑8).), But the temple was fixed; for when Israel was brought into the land of their covenant, and all their enemies had been reduced, then the Lord would enter into rest among them. In their affliction, having been afflicted, He would now rejoice in their joy; (Isa. 63:99In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. (Isaiah 63:9).) and He whom the heaven cannot contain, seated Himself in the midst of His chosen nation.
But where was the honored spot? Who of us that clings with all desire, as, if we be saints, we at least should, to the hope of God’s restored presence and kingdom in this world, that would not but know something of it? I speak not of what travelers have told us of it, but how the oracles of God mark it out. And from them we ‘learn this simple story’ of it, that it had been the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite; and was the place where the angel of God stayed his destructive course through the city of Jerusalem, whither he had been summoned by the sin of the king and the people. It was this spot which became the place of the temple, and most fitly so, as we shall see, if we can a little more narrowly survey the ground as it is spread out before us by the Spirit of God, in 1 Chron. 21:1-61And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. 2And David said to Joab and to the rulers of the people, Go, number Israel from Beer-sheba even to Dan; and bring the number of them to me, that I may know it. 3And Joab answered, The Lord make his people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord's servants? why then doth my lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel? 4Nevertheless the king's word prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed, and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. 5And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword. 6But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them: for the king's word was abominable to Joab. (1 Chronicles 21:1‑6). “And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel. And David said unto Joab and the elders of the people, go number Israel, from Beersheba even to Dan, and bring the number of them to me that I may know it And Joab answered, the Lord make this people an hundred times so many more than they be; but my Lord the king, an they not all my Lord’s servants? why then doth my Lord require this thing? why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel? Nevertheless the king’s hand prevailed against Joab. Wherefore Joab departed and went throughout all Israel, and came to Jerusalem. And Joab gave the sum of the number unto David; and all they of Israel were a thousand thousand, and an hundred thousand men that drew sword; and Judah was four hundred threescore, and ten thousand men that drew sword. But Levi and Benjamin counted he not among them, for the king’s word was abominable to Joab.”
At the time when this scene opens, the sword of David and of Israel had been victorious over all their enemies. The Philistines had been subdued—Moab had brought gifts—garrisons were put in Damascus, and the Syrians, as also the Edomites, had become David’s servants. With all promised blessings the house of God’s servant had been blest, and naught of the goodness of which the Lord had spoken to him had failed. “The fame of David went out into all lands, and the Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations.”
But Satan, we here read, too soon serves himself of all this; and Israel proves again, that man utterly without strength, is unable even to hold a blessing. The gifts with which their gracious Lord had thus endowed Israel, and which had been ordained for their comfort and His praise, became, through the craft and subtlety of the devil, an occasion to them of self-congratulation and pride, as to Adam of old. (Gen. 3:1-81Now the serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? 2And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: 3But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. 4And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. 7And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 8And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:1‑8)) For David’s heart in all this was moved by the old He – “ye shall be as gods.” Anything for poor
fallen man but the living God!— “Nay, but we will have a king to reign over us,” said Israel to Samuel of old, rejecting Jehovah Christ, “that we also may be like all the nations.” (1 Sam. 8:19, 2019Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; 20That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. (1 Samuel 8:19‑20).) But the Lord will not give His glory to another—none have ever forsaken Him and prospered, as it is written, — “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many, and in horsemen because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord.” (Isa. 31:11Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord! (Isaiah 31:1)) “The Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose.” (Isa. 30:77For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still. (Isaiah 30:7).) David here, like Hezekiah afterward, in the pride of his heart, would exhibit his magnificence, and like a child of this world, in the unbelief of self-confidence, would survey his resources.
The infatuation in which David was sunk, is marked by the fact of Joab expostulating with him; for though a man of blood and eminently one of the children of this world, as all his policy bespeaks him, yet wiser far in his generation, locking riot to the ungodliness so much as to the impolicy of this purposed wickedness of the king, Joab at once discovers that which his master refuses to see.
The whole system of Israel by this national transgression, was now defiled and tainted, and ripe for severity or judgment; this pride was the giving up of God, and God would have been dealing righteously, had He at once laid Israel aside, as He did Adam in such a case— “dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
1Ch. 21:7-147And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel. 8And David said unto God, I have sinned greatly, because I have done this thing: but now, I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly. 9And the Lord spake unto Gad, David's seer, saying, 10Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. 11So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Choose thee 12Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me. 13And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let me fall now into the hand of the Lord; for very great are his mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man. 14So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men. (1 Chronicles 21:7‑14). “And God was displeased with this thing; therefore he smote Israel. And David said unto God I have sinned greatly because I have done this thing: but now I beseech thee, do away the iniquity of thy servant, for I have done foolishly. And the Lord spoke unto Gad, David’s seer, saying, go and tell David, saying, thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David and said unto him, thus saith the Lord, choose thee either three years famine; nr three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me. And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait; let me fall now into the hand of the Lord, for very great are His mercies: but let me not fall into the hand of man. So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel, and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.”
For nine long months the pride of the king’s heart deceived him; (2 Sam. 24:88So when they had gone through all the land, they came to Jerusalem at the end of nine months and twenty days. (2 Samuel 24:8)) as alas! lust had before dimmed his eye for the same time. He had too long walked in the ways of his heart and in the sight of his eyes; but after his hardness and impenitency was but treasuring up unto himself wrath against the day of the righteous judgment of God now about to be revealed. Sinners should be stopped in their course by the remembrance that God, though He suffers long, “has appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness.”
But David, as a child of God, might be tempted, overtaken in a fault, and thus brought to shame and grief, but could not be left impenitent. (Luke 22:3232But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. (Luke 22:32).) And so Israel as God’s nation, could not be consumed, because God’s gifts and calling are without repentance, (Rom. 11:2929For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. (Romans 11:29).) because His compassion towards them could not fail. (Lam. 3:2222It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. (Lamentations 3:22).) Their transgressions were to be visited with a rod, and their iniquity with stripes, but the divine loving-kindness was not to be utterly taken from David and his nation. (Psa. 89:3333Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. (Psalm 89:33).) Correction is ever in covenant love. “You only have I known of all the families of the earth, and therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.” (Amos 3:22You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. (Amos 3:2).) To walk comfortably and without interruption as in an even path, we must walk watchfully as with the Lord. Had David walked still in his integrity, and humbly with his God, he would have been spared this discipline; but now “he must hear the rod,” And he is required to choose the rod; by this, much grace might be exercised in his soul; he would by this be brought to consider well the fruit of his transgressions, and thus be more humbled and broken in spirit, and he would also have occasion to encourage himself afresh in the Lord who was slaying him, as we find he did.
But corrected he must be, and that too, just in the place of his transgression; having boasted of his thousands, his thousands must be diminished. God would now number to the sword whom David had numbered to his pride. And so, the day of the Lord is to be upon every one that is proud and lifted up. (Isa. 2;12.)
In this verse we have the threshing-floor of Ornan first brought within view, a mean spot in itself, but destined of the Lord to be the joy of the whole earth; the place of the glory, the rest of God and His Israel. It presents itself to us at once, as the witness of that blessed precious truth, which is the sure ground of all our hopes, that with our God “mercy rejoiceth against judgment.” (Jam. 2:13.) The whole system of Israel had, as we have observed, exposed itself to the severity or displacing judgment of the Lord; He might have broken it at once as a vessel wherein was no pleasure, He might have taken away His vineyard from His unthankful and wicked husbandmen; but “mercy rejoiceth against judgment” in the bosom of their God: He repents Him of the evil with which His people “because of their transgressions and because of their iniquity were now afflicted,” and He commands the destroying angel to stay his hand by this threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite.
Here the same mercy displays itself as that which shone out on ruined condemned Adam in the garden. He had there no plea to plead with the Lord, all that remained for him was to fly and be concealed, if that were possible; when in the bosom of the Lord mercy rises over judgment; and He decrees that “the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head.” (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).) Often do the scriptures as here, present our covenant God and Father, opening as it were, His own heart, and showing His thoughts to His people how kind they are; as he says within Himself concerning the husbandmen of His vineyard, “what shall I do—I will send my beloved son.” (see also Jer. 3:1919But I said, How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations? and I said, Thou shalt call me, My father; and shalt not turn away from me. (Jeremiah 3:19)) O that we may drink at this fountain of Israel, the love of the Father—the spring head of all the healing waters that visit us.
1Ch. 21:16-1716And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. 17And David said unto God, Is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, O Lord my God, be on me, and on my father's house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued. (1 Chronicles 21:16‑17). “And David lifted up his eyes, and saw the angel of the Lord stand between the earth and the heaven, having a drawn sword in his hand, stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders of Israel, who were clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces; and David said unto God, is it not I that commanded the people to be numbered? —even I it is that have sinned and done evil indeed; but as for these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand I pray thee, O Lord my God be on me and on my father’s house; but not on thy people, that they should be plagued.”
David as yet was not given to read the secrets of his God and Savior; the grace that was rejoicing in the bosom of his covenant God over him, was not as yet opened to him; all that he saw was the fearful agent of death and ruin hanging over his city and people. And O how often an afflicted soul is thus reduced, how often does the eye fix itself on the cloud that darkens all around, without a single glimpse of the bright and peaceful heavens that He beyond it, not knowing or refusing to know
“The clouds they so much dread,
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on their head.”
“If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:99If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9).) The relief for David in this dark hour is announced by the angel of destruction: the eater himself yields meat, the strong man sweetness: the law itself prophesied of Jesus who was to displace it, as here the altar was to displace the angel who directed it.
An altar needs a priest or an accepted worshipper; the Lord would not have directed the one, if he had not provided the other, “The Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering.” (Gen. 4:44And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: (Genesis 4:4)) His person was first accepted, and then his sacrifice; and here the Lord’s readiness to receive an offering at the hand of David, was the pledge that David himself, through mercy rejoicing against judgment, had been received, and his iniquity put away. If the Lord had been pleased to kill him, he would not have received a burnt-offering or a meat-offering at his hand. (Judg. 13:2323But his wife said unto him, If the Lord were pleased to kill us, he would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have showed us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these. (Judges 13:23).)
1 Ch. 21:19-2619And David went up at the saying of Gad, which he spake in the name of the Lord. 20And Ornan turned back, and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. 21And as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David, and went out of the threshingfloor, and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground. 22Then David said to Ornan, Grant me the place of this threshingfloor, that I may build an altar therein unto the Lord: thou shalt grant it me for the full price: that the plague may be stayed from the people. 23And Ornan said unto David, Take it to thee, and let my lord the king do that which is good in his eyes: lo, I give thee the oxen also for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering; I give it all. 24And king David said to Ornan, Nay; but I will verily buy it for the full price: for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without cost. 25So David gave to Ornan for the place six hundred shekels of gold by weight. 26And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called upon the Lord; and he answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt offering. (1 Chronicles 21:19‑26). “And David went up at the saying of Gad which he spake in the name of the Lord. And Ornan turned back and saw the angel; and his four sons with him hid themselves. Now Ornan was threshing wheat, and as David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out of the threshing floor; and bowed himself to David with his face to the ground. Then David said to Ornan, grant me the place of this threshing floor, that I may build an altar therein unto the Lord; thou shalt grant. it me for the full price, that the plague may be stayed from the people; and Ornan said unto David, take it to thee and let my Lord the king do that which is good in his eyes; lo, I give thee the oxen for burnt offerings, and the threshing instruments for wood, and the wheat for the meat offering. I give it all. And king David said to Ornan, nay but I will verily buy it for the full price; for I will not take that which is thine for the Lord, nor offer burnt offerings without cost. So David gave to Ornan for the place, six hundred shekels of gold by weight: and David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, and called upon the Lord; and He answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt-offerings.”
These verses present to us David’s thankful believing acceptance of the mercy revealed to him. He received not the grace of God in vain. He at once went up at the saying of the prophet, while Ornan and his sons hid themselves from the angel. Here we may observe, that while no flesh can stand naked, as in its own resources, before the Lord, yet that sinners may come fully up to His heavenly presence in the power of simply believing in His grace. Ornan and David here illustrate this; Ornan had not the grace of the Lord revealed to him, he knew nothing of the altar that was to be set up in his threshing-floor, and therefore as nakedly a creature in the sight of God, like Adam before in such a case—he hid himself. But David knew the remedy which mercy rejoicing against judgment had provided, and therefore he dares to stand, though shamed and humbled; without distraction he fulfills his appointed service, he purchases the threshing-floor, prepares the altar, offers his offering, and calls upon the Lord. The sword still unsheathed has no alarms for him now; believing, he is not ashamed or confounded; he stands to see God’s salvation; his soul is brought simply to be a receiver of grace which God Himself brings nigh to him. Hence we see in all his action, no disturbance or motion of the flesh, but all is the assurance and quietness of faith resting in the word of the Lord. And the Lord gives him his answer before he calls, and hears him while he is yet speaking. (Isa. 65:2424And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. (Isaiah 65:24).)
The reconciliation was complete; being justified by faith there was peace for David with God. As the accusings of the adversary, the demands of the law, the complaints and howlings of conscience, are all and forever to be silenced by the voice of the blood of sprinkling, which tells us that with our God “mercy rejoiceth against judgment;” so, as soon as David had trusted in this grace, as soon as he had built his altar in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, where mercy had thus rejoiced, the angel of destruction puts up his sword again into the sheath thereof, at the commandment of the Lord.
David was given grace to interpret the writing on the Jebusite’s floor. That mystic sacred plan had brightly reflected the glory of forgiving love; there he had seen that with his God, “mercy rejoiceth against judgment”—the oft repeated but ever sweet and blessed truth. Close therefore by this floor he keeps. The corn which his faith had trodden out there was the finest wheat, the very fat of the kidneys of wheat; and having tasted it, he dared not to forsake his own mercy; having fed at an altar whereon had been spread for him the dainties of a Father’s love, he could not return to serve the tabernacle. (Heb. 13:1010We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. (Hebrews 13:10).) He had not feared to prepare his altar in the angel’s presence, but he does fear now to return by the way of the angel’s sword. “This is the house of the Lord God,” said he of Ornan’s floor, “and this is the altar of the burnt offering of Israel.” (1 Chron. 22:11Then David said, This is the house of the Lord God, and this is the altar of the burnt offering for Israel. (1 Chronicles 22:1).) His heart, by the Spirit, who ever witnesses to grace, was knit to this spot; and he proceeds at once to make preparation to link the name of the God of Israel inseparably with it also. What Moses had given them should be no more remembered or sought unto: in grace the system should be set and confirmed; and Israel and their God should meet forever where mercy had rejoiced against judgment.
Here, with David we also meditate for awhile, and trace our interest in all this precious truth. Our souls, if we are saints of God, will breathe, “If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquity, O Lord, who shall stand? but there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared,” —or worshipped. (Psa. 130:33If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? (Psalm 130:3).) All service of the name of our God comes of this; and our thankful acceptance of forgiveness, sealed as it is to all who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, is our entrance into His temple, our assumption of that character in which alone we can do service in the heavenly temple, that is, of pardoned sinners. We are to know no affection at variance with such a character. None else gives full glory to God. We stand in presence of a mercy-seat, before a throne of largest richest grace, and yet of brightest untainted righteousness, because blood in which God smells a savor of rest is upon it, through which He can be just, and yet let mercy rejoice against judgment. (Gen. 8:2121And the Lord smelled a sweet savor; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. (Genesis 8:21), Rom. 3:2626To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. (Romans 3:26), Eph. 5:22And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savor. (Ephesians 5:2)) “The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb” are the temple in our heavens— “salvation to our God,” is the burden of our worship there, “blessing, and honor, and power be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.”
And as mercy through the Lord our righteousness has thus “raised us up, and made us sit in heavenly places,” (Eph. 2:66And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: (Ephesians 2:6).) so in the day when “all Israel shall be saved,” mercy shall in like manner rejoice in the lower parts of the earth. As the Church is now set in grace, so will the people then be. That covenant, and that alone, which takes away sin through the deliverer, shall establish them as it now establishes the saints; “for all are included in unbelief, that God may have mercy upon all.” (Rom. 11:20-3220Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: 21For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. 22Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. 23And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. 24For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? 25For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: 27For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. 28As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. 29For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. 30For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 31Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. 32For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. (Romans 11:20‑32).) Ex. 3220And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it. 21And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them? 22And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. 23For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him. 24And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf. 25And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:) 26Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him. 27And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. 28And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. 29For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to day to the Lord, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. 30And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the Lord; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin. 31And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. 32Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. (Exodus 32:20‑32);34, exhibits this truth, and most interestingly presents Israel as drawn forth from their standing under Mount Sinai, to take their stand in the last days in and under Christ. And their last tenure of the land by grace, will be the accomplishment of the promises made of old to their father Abraham; for the land and its accompanying blessings were given to him and to his seed, not as through the works of the law, but by promise or grace. The closing scene of that lovely portion of the divine word gives us the same truth in mystery. Moses veiled typifies Israel as they now are, and the flesh under law, or in blindness of heart. (Isa. 6:1010Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. (Isaiah 6:10).) Moses unveiled typifies Israel as they shall be; in the spirit under Christ, or in the light of liberty of the new covenant; (Rom. 11:27, 227For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. (Romans 11:27)
2God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, (Romans 11:2) Cor. 3:26.) and when the heart of the Jewish people shall thus “turn to the Lord,” and the nail shall be taken away, this turning of Israel to Jesus shall be followed by the unveiling of the nations, or the life of the world. (Isa. 25:66And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. (Isaiah 25:6), Rom. 11:1515For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? (Romans 11:15))
Thus in the end shall all be established alike by grace, not only the children of the resurrection in the Father’s house in the heavens, but Israel and the nations, “from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same,” on earth.
“Mercy shall be built up forever.” (Psa. 89:22For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens. (Psalm 89:2).) “With everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, (Zion) saith the Lord thy redeemer;” and then shall Zion’s children be many, and her seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and the redeemer of Israel shall be called the God of the whole earth. (Isa. 54:1-81Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. 2Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitations: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes; 3For thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. 4Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. 5For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. 6For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. 7For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. 8In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. (Isaiah 54:1‑8).) The Gentiles shall be embraced in the same mercy, for as it is written, “In thee shall all nations be blessed;” as it is written again, “Rejoice ye Gentiles, with his people.” (Rom. 15:1010And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. (Romans 15:10).) Thus shall the whole earth be the extended floor of Ornan the Jebusite, and he the altar and dwelling place of Him with whom mercy has rejoiced against judgment. Thus shall our God show the rich fullness of His wisdom, providing a way whereby He can be just and yet the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus—whereby He can preserve the righteousness of His throne in all its brightest glory, and yet allow mercy to rejoice against judgment, seat Himself again in the earth as in His temple and kingdom; mercy with righteousness, peace with truth shall rear that temple, and uphold the kingdom; His shall all things then be, not only by title, by creation, but by purchase—His “peculiar treasure,” His “purchased possession.” Thus will the Lord fully repossess Himself of the kingdom of this world, and walk again among the children of men; the saints who have acknowledged Him while absent, shall be acknowledged in His glory; “the righteous shall see it and rejoice, and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.” (Psa. 107:4242The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. (Psalm 107:42))