David’s life is both an encouraging and a warning to us so that we may be right with God in our relationship with Christ and not suffer the loss of Christ as our enjoyment or the governmental chastisement of God due to our treating others severely or criticizing them. Oh, Lord Jesus!
The first part of David’s history is so encouraging, for he was a man according to God’s heart from a young age; therefore, he was qualified to bring in the kingdom of God with the proper kingship.
Also, he had a heart for the Lord to build His house, and though the Lord told him that he will not build God’s habitation, David still cooperated with God by preparing the builder, the site, and the materials for the building.
However, the last part of David’s life is a holy warning to us, healthy food which may not taste that well but is full of nutrition and antibodies for our spiritual health.
From the history of David we see that, due to the two great sins he committed (numbering the people and adultery and murder in the case of Bath-Sheba), he fell under God’s governmental hand.
David restored his fellowship with God very quickly, for he had a deep and thorough repentance, but God’s discipline continued even after his death (v. 15-20:26).
It is a serious matter for us to fall under God’s governmental hand (2 Sam. 12:10-14).
We may be able to repent and confess our sin/s to the Lord, but His governmental hand will be on us, even on our family after we die.
Through the confessing of his sins, David’s fellowship with God was restored, as revealed in Psa. 51; however, due to his failure many evils – including incest, murder, and rebellion – took place among his family, under the governmental hand of God.
This is very sobering to us in our fellowship and relationship with Christ.
May we heed the holy warnings and eat the healthy food presented in God’s word so that we may be kept in the lane of God’s eternal economy, right in the center of God’s economy.
The holy warnings in the word of God are like lanes that keep us on the right path.
God exercised a severe punishment upon David because his sin was very evil; the source of the unprecedented evil in David’s family was his indulgence in the lust of the flesh.
This shows that, though we may die, God’s chastisement and His governmental dealing with those who love Him may even affect our children.
Remaining in Christ and being in a Proper Relationship with Christ to have a Glorious Ending
David’s story, especially the latter part of his story, is full of holy warnings for our Christian life and experience.
We need to heed this solemn alarm and warning in our relationship with Christ, realizing that what we are, what we desire, what we intend to do, and how we behave have very much to do with our remaining in Christ and participating in all of His unsearchable riches for our enjoyment.
If we are not right with God in what we are, desire, intend to do, and behavior, if we don’t have a proper relationship with Christ, we will suffer the loss of Christ as our enjoyment.
In His economy, God gave us the all-inclusive Christ to be our dwelling place and our all-inclusive land to be everything we need for our enjoyment.
However, if we do not have a proper relationship with Christ and are not right with God in what we are, what we do, what we desire, and how we behave, the all-inclusive Christ will vomit us out of Himself and will not allow us to enjoy Him any longer (Lev. 18:25; Rev. 3:16).
When the land is defiled, God visits its iniquity upon it, and the land will vomit out its inhabitants (Lev. 18:25).
This is similar to what Rev. 3:16 says of the church in Laodicea; the Lord said that He is about to spew them out of His mouth because of their lukewarmness.
Eventually, David not only became old but was also fading away; his life had a good beginning, like the bright rising sun, and his life with his career became like the sun shining at noon. He was going on so well, in such a positive way.
However, his indulgence in lust (2 Sam. 11:1-27) spoiled his career and caused his bright life to fade like the sunset in the evening, so that in his old age there was nothing bright, excellent, or splendid (1 Kings 1:1-4; cf. Deut. 34:7; Gen. 48:14-16; Prov. 4:18).
It is very sorrowful when we read the story of David’s old age and ending. It is nothing like how Moses or Jacob ended their course.
When Moses went to be with the Lord, he was one hundred twenty years old, his eye was not dim, and his freshness had not left him.
If we read this verse with the glasses of God’s economy, we will pray that we would also end in the same way.
We want to have a single eye for the Lord all the days of our life, and we want the freshness of His presence when we finish our course on this earth. Amen!
Similarly, Jacob, before he ended his course, blessed everyone around him. When he started, Jacob was holding the heel of his brother, for he wanted to be number one.
If he would have succeeded in coming out first, he would have lost the blessing, for the blessing was to the younger.
And at the end of his life, it is marvellous, Jacob’s supplanting hands became blessing hands.
He blessed each of his children with a prophetic word, and he even blessed Pharaoh. He realized that it is God who shepherded him all the days of his life until then.
May we be those who enjoy God and have a proper relationship with Christ, enjoying His shepherding and remaining under His blessing.
May our life be as in Prov. 4:18, like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until the full day.
Until we go to meet the Lord, our path should be brighter and brighter.
Lord Jesus, we love You. We open to You concerning what we are, what we desire, what we intend to do, and how we behave in our Christian life. Keep us in a proper relationship with Christ, enjoying Him with His unsearchable riches. Save us from not being in a proper relationship with You. May our eye be single for You all the days that You measured out to us here on this earth. May the freshness of Your presence be with us day by day until we finish our course, however long it is. Dear Lord Jesus, may our path be brighter and brighter until the full day, until we go to meet the Lord!
The Christian Life is a Life of Learning God’s Government – we Reap what we Sow
We need to realize that our Christian life is a life of learning God’s government; we reap what we sow, so the more generous we are to others, the more generous God will be to us.
But if we are mean and severe to our brothers, God will be mean and severe toward us (Gal. 6:7; 1 Thes. 5:14-15; Luke 6:36-38; Matt. 7:1-2).
When others are sick or in trouble, we shouldn’t criticize them but rather, we should help them.
In 1 Thes. 5 Paul says, Admonish the disorderly; we need to admonish those who are idle, lazy, busybodies, busy with everyone’s else business except God’s business.
We need to admonish the fainthearted, those with a little soul, who don’t have much capacity to take in certain things.
We may be such ones sometimes; we may not have much capacity to take in certain things, so we need to be admonished.
May we sustain the weak – those who are weak in spirit, weak in the soul, weak in the body, or weak in faith.
Some saints may be weak in spirit, soul, or body, and we should not be critical of them; that’s not the time to criticize them but to support them.
We must learn to be generous and forgiving persons; if we are severe toward others, God will be severe toward us (6:15; 18:23-35).
May we avoid criticizing, condemning, or speaking about others in a light way, for our criticism and careless comments about others often become a judgment upon ourselves.
We may see someone who, out of his weakness, does something or behaves in a certain way; we should not condemn or criticize him but seek the Lord how to help him.
We may think someone is very peculiar and even rebellious, but we should not criticize or condemn him but rather, pray for him, and ask the Lord in fellowship how to help him.
There are many brothers who have failed miserably today for one reason only: they have criticized others too severely in the past, and many of their weaknesses today are the very weaknesses that they have criticized in the past.
May the Lord save us from exposing or criticizing others’ weaknesses; we have our own weaknesses, and if we criticize others, their weaknesses may become ours.
We have been called not to criticize, condemn, or “shed light” on others’ failures or weaknesses; we are blessed people who should always bless and not curse, always minister grace and never criticize.
We have been called to bless others; as blessed people, we should always bless others so that we may inherit the blessing, knowing that what we bless others with, we inherit ourselves (1 Pet. 3:8-11; Matt. 10:13; cf. Num. 6:22-27).
And the unique blessing in this universe is the Triune God Himself; we have been called not to criticize or condemn or expose others’ faults but to enjoy the divine dispensing and dispense the Triune God into others as their blessing.
When we have a proper relationship with Christ and are under the divine dispensing of the Divine Trinity, we will dispense Him into others.
This is for their experience and enjoyment, and this builds up the Body of Christ and consummates the New Jerusalem as the ultimate building of God into man and of man into God.
Lord Jesus, grant us to learn God’s government in our Christian life and realize that we reap what we sow. May we be one with You to be the generous ones, those who are not mean or severe to our brothers but generous toward them. Save us from exposing others’ defects and weaknesses; may we be kind toward the weak ones, praying to supply them and not criticize them. Amen, Lord, may there be much admonishing in love among us so that any weak or disorderly one would be supplied. May there be no criticism among us; may we learn to rather bless others so that we may also be blessed. Amen, Lord Jesus, keep us under Your divine dispensing so that we may dispense the Triune God into others also for their experience and enjoyment for the building up of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem!
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, Collected Works of Watchman Nee, vol. 50, “Messages for Building Up New Believers (3)”, chs. 40-42, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization Study of 1 and 2 Samuel (2021 winter training), week 6, entitled, Spiritual Principles, Life Lessons, and Holy Warning seen in the History of David.
- Hymns on this topic:
– Walk in the light, thy path shall be / Serene and clear and bright; / For God, by grace, shall dwell in thee, / And God Himself is Light. (Hymns #658)
– Built up in love together, / Not one would criticize; / To perfect one another, / We all would exercise. / Each one from self delivered, / The natural life forsakes; / In grace each trained in spirit / The Body-life partakes. (Hymns #867)
– We cannot be channels of blessing / If our lives are not free from all sin; / We will barriers be and a hindrance / To those we are trying to win. / Make me a channel of blessing today, / Make me a channel of blessing, I pray; / My life possessing, my service blessing, / Make me a channel of blessing today. (Hymns #928)
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