Learning to Keep a good order in the Kingdom of God, walk with God, and have God’s Presence

We need to learn from the pattern of David to be one with God, trust in God, enjoy Christ as the good land to the point of bringing in the kingdom of God, keep the proper order in the kingdom of God, and not avenge ourselves but accept God’s sovereign arrangement even when we’re persecuted and despised.

David was a very positive pattern to us, unlike Saul who, though he was chosen and anointed to be king first, did not care for God or His kingdom.

Saul was selfish and wrong to the uttermost; he cared for himself and his monarchy and did not want to accept that David was to be his successor; rather, he wanted to make sure Jonathan, his son, would be king.

Saul disobeyed God and thus rebelled against Him, and God gave him up.

Because of this, God gave Saul up and left him alone, without God’s blessing; Saul was left like an orphan, with no provision of help when trouble came.

As we read the record of the history of Saul in 1 Samuel we need to consider what are the life lessons we can learn, the spiritual principles we can take heed to, and the holy warnings that we should pay attention to so that we may be the proper persons in God’s economy who enjoy Christ as the good land for the kingdom of God.

We may think that we are not as bad as Saul, but all these things are in us, and unless the Lord is merciful to us, we can fall in the same situation.

Especially in the matter of our seeking and our prayer before the Lord, we need to pray not only for our benefit but even more, pray for God’s kingdom and care for His benefit and interest on earth.

We may have needs and there may be some pressing situations, but our prayers should be aimed at God’s interest and not at our needs.

May the Lord save us from our selfishness in seeking the Lord and in prayer, and may He save us from seeking our own interest, even from seeking to build up our own kingdom inside of God’s kingdom.

May we allow the Lord’s light to shine on us, expose anything of selfishness, ambition, seeking our own interest, rebellion, and disobedience to God, and may we say Amen to His shining.

It is in His light that we see light, and only when He shines on us and exposes these matters can we really see what is in us, repent, repudiate them, and join ourselves to the Lord in what He wants to do today for the kingdom of God.

May we be saved from being God’s enemy by our rebellion and disobedience to God; may we be brought into the enjoyment of Christ as the good land until we bring in the kingdom of God and live in the church life as the kingdom of God today.

Keep a Good Order in the Kingdom of God, not Avenging ourselves, and be One with God for His Purpose

1 Sam. 16:1, 12-13 shows that God was chosen and anointed by God through Samuel to be the king of Israel; in David, God found a man after His heart to rule over His people.

After David slew Goliath, he was praised by the women of Israel as higher than Saul (18:7), but this didn’t get to his head. Saul was bothered by the women’s praising of David higher than Saul, but there was no indication that David was proud or that he became ambitious for the kingship.

He was a man after God’s heart, and he learned to keep a good order in the kingdom of God. After David was anointed to be king and before he was enthroned, he went through seven years of persecution from Saul; this was a period of trial for him.

While he was under trial, he did not rebel against God’s anointed, Saul, nor did he raised his hand to kill Saul, though he twice had the opportunity to do so.

This shows that David kept a good order in the kingdom of God, for he knew that it is God who anoints and sets up kings, and the current king is God’s anointed one, no matter what his outward condition was.

We need to realize that, though we may not agree with the character and deeds of those who are in positions of power, God set them there, and we need to respect them as God’s anointed ones.

Especially in the church life, we may see certain things in the elders, and we may not agree with this or that thing that they do or say, but we need to learn to keep a good order in the kingdom of God (1 Sam. 24, 26; Rom. 12:3).

We need to learn not to avenge ourselves, even though it seems that we have the opportunity to do so; God is the One who avenges us in His time and in His way.

We need to think of ourselves so as to be sober-minded, not thinking of ourselves higher than we ought to think but according to the measure of faith that God has allotted to us.

God has allotted each one of us a certain measure of faith, and it would be presumptuous and even crazy for us to think that we have the same measure as the apostle Paul.

Even though we may think we know so many things, we went to the training and to many conferences, we served the Lord so much and have a great experience in the church life, we need to realize we have a certain measure of faith, and the Lord has set a proper order for the time being in the church life.

We need to be sober-minded and learn to keep a good order in the kingdom of God. When David heard of Saul’s death he did not rejoice but rather, he sang a dirge praising and uplifting Saul to the uttermost (2 Sam. 1).

David learned much concerning not avenging himself but denying himself for the fulfillment of God’s purpose; he was a man according to God’s heart (1 Sam. 13:14).

We need to learn to not avenge ourselves or try to work things for our own benefit but rather, we need to be a man according to God’s heart and cooperate with God for the fulfilment of God’s purpose.

Like David, we need to trust in God and walk according to His sovereignty in all our trials (1 Sam. 17:36-37; 23:14-16; 30:6-10).

Even when we’re in trial, when we’re persecuted or in suffering, we need to seek God’s leading.

We need to be one with God and behave according to God, not seeking to avenge ourselves but rather, live in oneness with God.

The key to David’s success and his being a man according to God’s heart was that he lived in oneness with God.

In everything he did, he checked with God; when he didn’t check with God, he failed.

In our Christian life, we need to check with the Lord concerning all things, treasuring His presence, His smile, and His leading.

We are here not for ourselves or for our own interest; we’re here to be one with God and live a life for the kingdom of God to come in on earth.

On the negative side, we need to deny our interests and our self, and on the positive side, we need to seek the Lord’s leading, be in His presence and remain in the organic union with the Lord.

He is sovereign in all that He arranges around us – all things, persons, matters, and situations work out for good, for we love the Lord and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28-29).

May the Lord make us men after God’s heart, those who live in oneness with Him and trust in God, walk with God, and do everything one with God, keeping a good order in the kingdom of God and not avenging ourselves.

Lord Jesus, make us those who are according to Your heart. We aspire to be men according to God’s heart who deny themselves and live in oneness with God. We are not here for ourselves, Lord, but for You and for Your purpose. We choose to deny ourselves and be one with You for the fulfilment of Your purpose. We want to learn to keep a good order in the kingdom of God and never avenge ourselves but rather, trust in God and live in oneness with God. Keep us in our mingled spirit today. Keep us turning to You, checking with You, and conversing with You in all things, even when we’re in suffering or in trials. Lord Jesus, we want to be those who are one with God and who behave according to God. Our trust is not in ourselves but in You. Do in us according to what You want to do to make us persons according to God’s heart who bring in the kingdom of God on earth today.

Having an Increasing Enjoyment of Christ, Walking with God, and having His Presence to be in the Kingdom of God

David’s pattern shines before us as we read the books of 1 and 2 Samuel; he was a typical model of a genuine child of Israel in the enjoyment of the good land promised and given by God to His chosen people.

He trusted in God and walked with God according to His leading and instruction. He expected to remain in the good land and share in Jehovah’s inheritance and serve Him (1 Sam. 26:19), and he realized that God’s desire is to have a house on earth.

David enjoyed God and the good land to such an extent that he achieved the highest level, the level of kinship in the good land according to God’s heart with a kingdom that became the kingdom of God on earth.

Our enjoyment of Christ as the good land has to increase day by day until we bring in the kingdom of God on earth.

We need to daily learn to enjoy Christ as the reality of the good land and remain in Christ, having a share in His riches and partaking of Him.

We need to trust in God and walk with God day by day, following His leading and instructions.

As we enjoy Christ as our God-allotted portion of the good land day by day, we will reach the stage in which our enjoyment of Christ will increased, be enlarged, and be strengthened to become the kingdom of God.

We should not leave the enjoyment of Christ; we should not allow anything to interfere with our enjoyment of Christ.

On one hand, we need to keep a good order in the kingdom of God and be one with God, and on the other hand, we need to have an increasing enjoyment of Christ, trust in God, and walk with God for the bringing in of the kingdom of God.

May we learn to be one with God in everything to the point that what He has is ours, and what we have is His.

Amen, may we live one spirit with the Lord in all things until there’s no discrepancy or difference between us and Him; may we express Him in all things.

David was established by God to the uttermost to be king, and his kingdom became the kingdom of God; he built Zion as his stronghold and Jerusalem as God’s city (2 Sam. 5:9).

As David became greater and greater, Jehovah the God of hosts was with him (v. 10); he had God’s presence.

As we enjoy the Lord and serve Him, we need to have the assurance that we have His presence. His presence is everything to us.

We may be able to do many things, but the most precious thing of all is to have God’s presence, His smile.

A sign of our true following of the Lord for the fulfillment of His economy is that we have His presence (1 John 1:6-7).

When we sense that the Lord is not with us in deciding to do something or going somewhere, we need to be careful and consider our way.

In everything we do today in the church life in the Lord’s recovery, we need to take care of the sense of the Lord’s presence in our spirit.

Our sincere trust in God and faithful walk with Him will qualify us to enjoy the riches of the all-inclusive Christ to a high level, even to the level of the kingship according to God’s heart for the bringing in of God’s kingdom.

May the Lord gain persons like David among us today, those who are according to God’s heart having an increasing enjoyment of Christ, living in God’s presence, and bringing in the kingdom of God on earth.

Today the Lord is working to recover what was lost and is missing in today’s worldly Christianity, and we are here for His recovery, for what He wants to do and gain in us and among us.

Lord Jesus, keep us faithfully walking with You and sincerely trusting in You to enjoy the riches of the all-inclusive Christ to a higher level. Amen, Lord, we are here for You and for the fulfilment of Your purpose. May we have an increasing enjoyment of Christ until we reach the level of the kingship according to God’s heart with the kingdom of God coming in among us. Recover us, Lord, to Your original intention; recover anything that has been lost and is missing until we are up to Your standard. We treasure Your presence. We want to live according to the inner sense of the Lord’s presence in everything. Amen, Lord, keep us following the Lord for the fulfilment of God’s economy to have His presence, His smile, in all things.

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. 131-144 (by Witness Lee), 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.
• Hymns on this topic:
  – I dwell with the King for His work, / The work, it is His and not mine; / He plans and prepares it for me / And fills me with power divine. / So duty is changed to delight, / And prayer into praise as I sing; / I dwell with my King for His work / And work in the strength of my King. (Hymns #904)
  – God’s Kingdom on the earth is now / His sovereign government within; / ’Tis Christ Himself in us to live / As Lord and King to rule and reign. / His life with His authority / Enthrones Him now within our hearts / To govern all our words and deeds / And regulate our inward parts. (Hymns #942)
  – One step I see before me, / ’Tis all I need to see, / The light of heaven more brightly shines / When earth’s illusions flee; / And sweetly through the silence comes, / His loving, “Trust in Me!” / Oh, blissful lack of wisdom, / ’Tis blessed not to know; / He holds me with His own right hand, / And will not let me go, / And lulls my troubled soul to rest / In Him who loves me so. (Hymns #711)