Scripture Reading: 1 Sam. 18; 1 Sam. 19; 1 Sam. 20; 1 Sam. 21; 1 Sam. 22; 1 Sam. 23; 1 Sam. 24
I love the books of 1 and 2 Samuel because they contain many stories that are illustrations of real lessons in life. In the long section concerned with David's being persecuted and tried by Saul, there are two striking points — God's sovereignty and David's taking the lessons of the cross. My burden in this brief message is to speak a word regarding these two points.
The first striking point in this portion of 1 Samuel is God's sovereignty. It is crucial for us to have a vision of God's sovereignty. As the sovereign One, God is above everything, behind everything, and in everything.
On the one hand, God prepared David to be a man according to His heart for His kingdom. On the other hand, God prepared a Saul to perfect David by testing him and putting him on trial. Saul was produced and prepared through God's sovereignty. Without Saul, David would have been greatly lacking in perfecting. David's father and brothers did not care very much for him. David received only a limited perfecting through his experience with the lion and the bear. The greatest part of David's perfecting took place through Saul. Under God's sovereignty, Saul was an excellent perfecter.
In His sovereignty God not only prepared Saul to perfect David but also prepared Jonathan, the son of Saul, and Michal, the daughter of Saul who became David's wife, to help David. Apart from the help rendered by Jonathan and Michal, David could not have endured being persecuted and tried by Saul. The sovereign God prepared David and, for David's sake, He also prepared Saul, Jonathan, and Michal.
The second striking point in this section of 1 Samuel is David's taking the lessons of the cross.
Although David was persecuted and suffered so much, he never fought, reacted, or responded. Using the New Testament term, he was always under the cross. He bore the cross every day under any kind of situation. He did not complain, criticize, oppose, or condemn. He was just under the cross to suffer the dealing.
The New Testament speaks of bearing the cross, but who is able to do this? Philippians 3:10 indicates that the strength for us to bear the cross is the power of Christ's resurrection. We have One who is not only resurrection power — we have One who Himself is the resurrection (John 11:25). He is our Jonathan and our Michal. He is much greater than Jonathan and Michal, and He is nearer to us. We have a Christ who is in us. While we are bearing the cross, actually we are not the ones who are doing this. The Christ who is within us is the One who bears the cross.
In the New Testament there are two crucial "ins." The New Testament revelation emphasizes the fact that, on the one hand, Christ is in us (Rom. 8:10; 2 Cor. 13:5; Gal. 2:20; 4:19; Col. 1:27) and that, on the other hand, we are in Christ (John 14:20; 15:4; Rom. 6:3; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:17; 12:2; Gal. 3:27-28). How wonderful it is that we are in Christ and that Christ is in us! The entering of Noah and his family into the ark, a type of Christ, illustrates that our Christ today is enterable. However, this illustration is limited, because although Noah could enter into the ark, the ark could not enter into Noah. We therefore must go on to see that Christ is not only the enterable One — He is also the entering One, the One who has come into us to live in us and to bear the cross within us.
As David was taking the lessons of the cross, he enjoyed God's provision. Jonathan was a type of Christ as God's provision, and Michal was a type of God's provision. We have seen that when David was persecuted by Saul, he did not react in a negative way, and he did not complain, condemn, criticize, or oppose. The only thing he did was flee. As God's provision to David, both Jonathan and Michal helped David to flee. Without them, David would not have had a way to escape from Saul (1 Sam. 20:1-42; 19:11-18). Eventually, David "graduated" from his trials under Saul. If God had graded David, He surely would have given him the highest mark.
Under God's sovereignty, David took the lessons of the cross. Because of this David eventually was not a loser but a gainer, not a sufferer but an enjoyer. Whereas David became the winner, Saul was the loser and also the sufferer.
The situation should be the same with us today. We need to learn two vital lessons — the lesson of God's sovereignty and the lesson of taking the cross with the power of resurrection. If we would be quiet, remaining in a situation under the cross, we may apparently be the losers and the sufferers, but actually we are the gainers and the enjoyers. The more we learn the lessons of God's sovereignty and of taking the cross, the more we will be the gainers and the enjoyers.
We need to read the books of 1 and 2 Samuel with a view of God's economy. In particular, we need to have the view of one who sees God's sovereignty and who has received the grace to learn to suffer under the cross while enjoying all the provisions afforded by the processed, consummated Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
In the New Testament we have the pure revelation, but we do not have very many illustrations. However, the books of history in the Old Testament, especially 1 and 2 Samuel, contain many stories that actually are illustrations of the New Testament revelation. There are a number of lessons that we cannot learn adequately without these illustrations. As we read the stories in these books, we need to pray with Paul that "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory," would give us "a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the full knowledge of Him" (Eph. 1:17). If we have such a spirit, then in the record concerning David's trials under Saul we will see the Triune God, the cross of Christ, and the power of His resurrection.
