E. Wilson, 1998
Gathered to David, at Jerusalem
“And David assembled all the princes of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies that ministered to the king by course, and the captains over the thousands, and captains over the hundreds, and the stewards over all the substance and possession of the king, and of his sons, with the officers, and with the mighty men, and with all the valiant men, unto Jerusalem.”
Princes, captains, stewards, officers, mighty men, valiant men — all are gathered to David at the place of God’s appointment.
Do we value the Person? The Psalmist did when he wrote, “my soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God” (Psalm 84:2).
Do we value coming together, being gathered to the Lord Jesus Christ? To remember the Lord, for learning, and for prayer?
Attracted to the Person of Christ
“And king David stood up upon his feet, and said, Hear me, my brethren and my people! I had in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of Jehovah and for the footstool of our God, and I have prepared to build.“
The Lord Jesus is not ashamed to call us ‘brethren” – one of His own. “Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee” (Hebrews 2:12). He values our company. He loves us.
David is open to telling his brethren and his people what is on his heart – what he wants to accomplish. Has the Lord told us what is on His heart, and what He plans to do? Yes, He has! You and I have the privilege of being in communion with Him. “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing I do?” No!
He requires obedience on our part. We will not know the mind of the Lord unless we are acting in obedience to the Word of God. Then we will now. We cannot know the mind of God if we are going on in a self-willed course.
Glories Which Meet in Christ
But God said to me, Thou shalt not build a house unto my name, for thou art a man of war, and hast shed blood.
Each of the Old Testament saints has varying features which characterize them, and when these are observed, we can see types of our Lord Jesus. What does David’s life set before us? It sets before us the idea that one day great David’s greater Son is going to return to this world and He is going to clear this scene with the sword of judgment, that the Sceptre of Righteousness (pictured in Solomon) will reign from the river to the ends of the earth.
With the Old Testament Patriarchs we see — Dominion in Adam; Government in Noah; Fatherhood in Abraham; Judgment in David; and Royalty in Solomon — but IN CHRIST all of these glories will meet and shine together!
New Testament Language in Type
“And Jehovah the God of Israel chose me out of all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever; for he has chosen Judah to be the prince; and of the house of Judah, the house of my father; and among the sons of my father he took pleasure in me to make me king over all Israel. And of all my sons, (for Jehovah has given me many sons,) he has chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of Jehovah over Israel. And he said to me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts; for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be his father. And I will establish his kingdom forever, if he be firm to do my commandments and mine ordinances, as at this day.“
“Chosen“, the language of Ephesians, chapter 1
“The kingdom of Jehovah,” – They were the Lord’s people. Right now, the Church belongs to Him – we are God’s people. We cannot love God and despise one of His own.
We are not under the law; however, there are principles of God that never change. Are we going to continue on with a rejected Christ outside of the mentionings of men and the unscriptural order that we see all around us that has been devised by men? The thing that will keep us is for our hearts to be attached to the Man in the glory.
To Be Preserved and Kept
“Keep and seek for all the commandments of Jehovah your God; that ye may possess the good land, and leave it as an inheritance to your children after you forever. And thou, Solomon my son, know the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind; for Jehovah searches all hearts, and discerns all the imaginations of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cut thee off forever.
To be preserved and kept, we must keep meditating on His great love for us.
“For Jehovah searches all hearts, and discerns all the imaginations of the thoughts” = He sees our thoughts from afar off (Psalm 139:2).
“A perfect heart” = an undivided heart (a heart with unmixed motives). The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
“If thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cut thee off forever.” — It was like that under the law. But the principle does not change in this way – “Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord” (Hosea 6:3). We will enjoy communion with Him, and with one another (and to be a help to one another) as we continue to abide in Him, the source. It is good for us to be occupied with His great love, and then obediently do those things that are pleasing to Him. When we are in the Word of God, we are in His presence — and we ought to be getting into the Word of God to find out His mind for the pathway.