We need to learn from the story of David to never go the way of the indulgence of the flesh but rather, pursue Christ with those who love Him, be safeguarded from the lusts of the flesh, and follow the inner sense of the Lord’s presence as we live the church life.
On one hand, David is a very good pattern to us in the way he kept a good order in the kingdom of God, remained one with the Lord in spirit, trust in God, enjoy Christ as our God-allotted portion, and seek the interest of God for the kingdom of God.
On the other hand, we need to receive the holy warning regarding the indulgence of the flesh and the lusts of the flesh, so that we never trust ourselves nor indulge in the lusts of the flesh.
David was a model of a genuine child of Israel who enjoyed the good land to the uttermost, even to the point of the kingship to bring in the kingdom of God.
We need to be such ones; we need to be those who trust in God and walk with God according to His sovereignty and according to His leading and instructions.
Even as we pass through trials and tribulations, when things are not for us and people persecute us for the sake of the Lord, we need to trust in God for His sovereignty.
We need to follow the Lord’s leading and seek to have His counsel, and His instructions, and we need to remain in the enjoyment of Christ.
No matter what happens, no matter how much we fail and what our condition is, we need to continue to enjoy the Lord and remain in the enjoyment of Christ as the good land.
May the Lord keep us enjoying Him day by day to such an extent that what we are is His and what is His is ours.
May we advance in our walk with the Lord to the point that His heart’s desire becomes our heart’s desire, and what He wants to do is what we want to do.
As believers in Christ and members of the Body of Christ, we need to seek to be one with the Lord and remain in the organic union with Him.
Even when we fail the Lord and sin, we simply need to come back to the Lord, repent, and have a genuine turn to Him.
In ourselves, we can’t follow the Lord nor can we fulfil His purpose, but He is in us, and when we turn to Him, He in us can do what He wants to do, and we can live the Christian life and the church life.
May we sincerely walk with God and trust in Him so that we may enjoy Christ to the uttermost in our daily life, and may we seek not our interest but the Lord’s interest so that we may be those through whom He can bring in the kingdom of God on the earth.
Seeking to have the Inner Sense of the Lord’s Presence and the Outward Confirmation in our Environment
After the death of Saul, there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David; but David became continually stronger, and the house of Saul became continually weaker (2 Sam. 3:1).
God established David as king with his kingdom exalted for the sake of the people of Israel, the people of God (5:6-25).
Even more, David became greater and greater, and Jehovah the God of hosts was with him (v. 10).
David had the presence of God, and in everything, he sought to have the counsel of God and His leading.
We need to have the inner sense of the Lord’s presence and also the outward confirmation in our environment in all things.
When we have God’s presence, we have everything; without God’s presence, whatever we have amounts to nothing, for God’s presence is everything to us.
May we never lose God’s presence; rather, may we seek to live according to the inner sense of life and peace so that we may have His presence with us in all things.
If in any matter we don’t have the inner sense that the Lord is with us, we must be careful and reconsider our way (1 Sam. 16:14).
We may do the right thing, we may think we’re on the right path, but if the inner sense of the Lord’s presence is weak, if we don’t sense Him being with us and we don’t have His smile, we need to return to Him.
In the Lord’s recovery, whenever we do anything, we must take care of the sense of the Lord’s presence.
As seen in 2 Sam. 5:11-12, we all need to learn the lesson of caring for the inward presence of God and the outward confirmation in our environment.
In Gen. 34 Jacob settled in Shechem; he was supposed to Bethel, but he settled in Shechem. And many things happened in Shechem because Jacob didn’t go to Bethel but settled there.
Eventually, after many unfortunate things happened to Jacob and his house at Shechem, he moved to Bethel – he was even forced to move there, and there he remained in the Lord’s presence.
We need to learn the lesson of caring for the sense of the Lord’s presence in our spirit, and checking with the environment to see the confirmation.
The Lord’s presence is everything to us, and we care not merely for the outward success or “green light” in the things around us – we want His smile.
He wants us to remain in fellowship with Him and abide in this fellowship; it is in the fellowship with the Lord that we can live Christ and live the church life.
And He is in us; He is the divine life in our spirit, giving us a sense of the Lord’s presence or the lack thereof.
May we learn the lesson of remaining in our spirit, remaining in fellowship with the Lord, so that we may have the inner sense of the Lord’s presence.
And may we remain open to the Lord as He confirms things in our environment.
Sometimes He arranges things in our environment to stop us and bring us back into a closer and most intimate fellowship with Him; may we heed the Lord’s inner sense and may we pay attention to what He does around us.
Our Lord is a real and living person, and our Christian life is a learning to live in fellowship with Him and in oneness with Him.
Lord Jesus, we love You and we open to You in all the daily things of our Christian life and church life. Save us from not abiding in fellowship with You. We treasure Your presence, Lord. We treasure the sense of the Lord’s presence within us, for Your smile is so precious to us. Keep us in fellowship with You, dear Lord, in all things. And keep us open to see what You are doing in our environment so that we may have the confirmation of Your work. Amen, dear Lord Jesus, may we learn the lesson of caring for the inner sense of the Lord’s presence and the outward confirmation in our environment.
The Lusts of the Flesh can Destroy us: Making a Strong Resolution of Heart Never to go the way of the Indulgence of the Flesh
Besides all the positive things we can learn from David as a pattern of a man according to God’s heart, we all need to learn from him on the negative side that the lust of the flesh is a devastating element that can destroy us.
If such a godly man as David could be seduced, how can we escape (1 Sam. 11:1-27; cf. 2 Tim. 2:22; 1 Cor. 6:13, 18).
David attained to great things in his spiritual pursuit, but he indulged in the flesh, and the lust of the flesh caused him to have a great failure.
Regardless of our attainment in our spiritual pursuit, it is possible for any of us to commit such a sin.
We should read the account of David’s failure in a serious way in the Lord’s presence and be warned of the indulgence in the flesh, which is a serious thing. David was tempted simply by a glance, and then he failed to restrict himself.
Spiritually speaking, we may have high attainments, we may be constituted with the truth and do great works for the Lord, and we may have great knowledge of the word of God and the ministry.
But our flesh remains the flesh, and our indulgence in the flesh can cause us to have a great failure.
All the saints, especially the young ones, should search their hearts and make a strong resolution of heart to never go the way of the indulgence of the flesh (Judg. 5:15-16).
In the history of the people of Israel, we see that Gideon had great attainments and did a great work for God, but he failed to restrict his flesh, and he had seventy sons with many women.
However, Samuel was one who was restricted in his flesh, and he did not fail in this respect.
When we come to David, by the time he was enthroned at 30 years of age, he already had six wives; he failed to restrict his flesh. Oh, Lord Jesus!
As those who learn to follow the inner sense of the Lord’s presence, may we be before the Lord concerning this matter.
May we learn from the failure of David to never trust our flesh but rather, tell the Lord, Lord Jesus, I love You, I need You, and I receive You.
When we open to Him in this way, He will be our Savior and our dynamic salvation.
It is only the Lord from within us that can save us from the lusts of our flesh; we can at best cooperate to restrict the flesh, but it is by the Spirit that we can put the flesh to death.
As the pneumatic Christ, He will save us, preserve us, and protect us from the contamination of this age, so that we may keep the glory that we have attained.
May we flee youthful lusts by not putting ourselves in a situation where we know there will be a temptation, and may we pursue Christ with the saints.
We need to be very careful in our contact with those of the opposite gender, not trusting ourselves when we are with them.
If such a godly man as David could be seduced, we need to be warned and not indulge in the flesh even a little.
For example, as a brother we may need a ride to the meeting and a sister can give us a ride; it may seem that nothing is wrong with this, but we should avoid such situations.
When we fellowship or talk to someone of the opposite sex, it is good to do it not in a private room but in a place where there are other people, just to be covered.
We shouldn’t trust ourselves; we should think we’re strong and firm with the flesh but rather, we should trust in the Lord and flee youthful lusts.
As godly persons, we should not be loose in contacting the other sex; regardless of our attainment in our spiritual pursuit, it is possible for any of us to commit such as sin as David.
The history of Christianity is filled with examples, but in the past and in the present, of brothers who are greatly used by God but failed to restrict their flesh and had a great failure, and all their spiritual attainments were terminated. Oh, Lord!
The account of God’s punishing of David is written as a warning to us today (1 Cor. 10:11).
The evil concerning sex is very contagious, and we should not think that we are exempt from the lusts of the flesh.
May we have a strong resolution of heart to never go the way of the indulgence of the flesh but rather, open to the Lord and experience Him as our Savior and our dynamic salvation.
Lord Jesus, we love You, we need You, and we receive You! We take You as our Savior and our dynamic salvation. We trust in You, dear Lord, and we don’t trust in ourselves. We trust in You as our Savior to save us, preserve us, and protect us from the contamination of this age. Amen, Lord, we want to flee youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, peace, love, and joy, with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. We choose not to go the way of the indulgence of the flesh but remain in spirit and refuse to indulge in the lusts of the flesh. Oh Lord, shine on us and expose the flesh. Keep us enjoying You with the saints and staying away from the indulgence in the flesh!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, a sharing by brother Ed Marks, and portions from, Life-study of 1&2 Samuel, pp. 217-220, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of 1 and 2 Samuel (2021 winter training), week 12, entitled, Spiritual Principles, Life Lessons, and Holy Warnings concerning the Enjoyment of the Good Land Seen with Five Major Figures in 1 and 2 Samuel.
- Further reading on this topic: What 2 Timothy 2:22 Says about Fleeing Lusts and How It Applies to Us Today, via Bibles For America.
- Hymns on this topic:
– We’ll dwell with the King for His work / And work thru each day of the year. / Perhaps ere it passes, the King / In glory Himself shall appear. / Oh, then in some closer embrace, / Oh, then in some nobler employ / We’ll dwell with the King for His work / In endless, ineffable joy! (Hymns #904)
– But flee youthful lusts, / And pursue righteousness, / Faith, love, peace / With those who call / On the Lord out of a pure heart. (Scripture song)
– Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / In the spirit seek His face; / Ask and listen in His presence, / Waiting in the secret place. / Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / Fully opened from within, / With thy face unveiled, beholding, / Single, pure, and genuine. (Hymns #784)
About aGodMan
