was pleased; hence he called him "a man after his own heart :"* and of him the Divine testimony was borne, that he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.t So Jesus Christ is a king in whom God takes the utmost complacency. He is a man after his own heart, in a higher sense than David ever could be. He is approved of God in all he does a king of his own appointing. "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion." From his dominion the honour of Jehovah eminently results, and he approves of his people in him and on his account. David was a type of Christ, II. In the manner in which he became possessed of his kingdom. This is true, 1. Of the time and circumstances of the investment. God calls things that are not as though they were. To his infinite mind the end is present with the beginning, and his plans and designs embrace all the intermediate circumstances with regard to which he "worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."+ "He is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working." To us, however, who can only judge of events as they transpire, and then but very imperfectly, while we know little or nothing of the connection which one may have with another, there are many things mysterious and * Acts xiii. 22. + Eph. i. 11. † 1 Kings xv. 5. apparently contradictory. Thus, at the time Samuel was commissioned to anoint David, the kingdom of Israel, over which he was to reign, was held by another, who, although disapproved by God, on account of certain parts of his conduct, had been chosen by him, and had rendered himself popular among the people, yet by a series of events, many of them painful in their nature, he was made to see his power wane, and the kingdom gradually alienated from him. Just so it is with respect to the kingdom of Christ. To sway the sceptre over the people of God he was chosen from eternity, and to carry out this great design of the council of heaven he entered the world. Hence it was said of him, when his birth was announced, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David." And he himself declared that he was a kingto this end he was born, and for this cause he came into the world, that he should bear witness unto the truth: but at the time he was installed in his office, those who were to constitute his subjects were governed by anotherSatan, the god of this world: the prince of the power of the air had been permitted to make all the human race his vassals, and to rule them with despotic sway. At first, and during the whole of his residence on earth, there was but little prospect of his succeeding to greatness: yet, like David, even then, amidst all the obstacles that presented themselves, he encouraged himself in the Lord his God. It was a long * Luke i. 32. † John xviii. 37. time after David was anointed before he succeeded to the throne of Saul; and many and great were the troubles to which he was subject. How fitly does this circumstance represent the struggles which the gospel has to endure until its final triumph comes! Yet Christ's universal dominion is announced, and his throne spoken of as already established; and of the increase of his government there shall be no end.* David was a type, 2. With respect to the tenure by which he held his kingdom. A covenant of royalty was made with him and his family. Thus, at a time when the affairs of the Israelitish nation were in a state of repose, the prophet Nathan was commissioned first to discountenance David's design of erecting a temple for the Most High; and at the same time to announce to him the purpose of the Almighty to build up his family, and establish it for ever. "And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies: Also the Lord telleth thee, that he will make thee an house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.-And thine house, and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever."† This covenant is referred to in the 89th Psalm, 19-21, as a source of comfort to the house of David, which, at the time it was written, was in a depressed condition: "Then thou spakest * Luke i. 33. † 2 Sam. vii. 11-16. in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him. With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him." 35-37: "Once have I sworn by my holiness, that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever; and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven." The seed here immediately referred to is, doubtless, Solomon, and in him the words were literally fulfilled. He was the son of David, and built God a house. His kingdom was established at least during his reign, and in him all the other parts of the prediction were minutely accomplished. Nevertheless, it is evident, that spiritually, the words refer to Christ, of whom, in regard to the covenant of royalty, David was a distinguished type. Not only does this appear from the circumstance that there are many things in the psalm which cannot be fairly applied to David, whose family did not always continue to fill the throne; but this covenant is referred to by the prophet Isaiah, chap. lv. 3-4, in a way showing that it could not be confined to David, or any ordinary person bearing his name. The same scripture is quoted by the Apostle, Acts xiii. 34, and again in Heb. i. 5, and said to have reference to the resurrection of Christ: "And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more, to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David ;" and so Peter in Acts ii. 30, says of David, "Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption." "Here, then, we have an incontestible proof that the covenant with David had Messiah for its object, that Solomon was a figure of him, and that the Scripture hath sometimes a double sense."* "The person of whom the promise remained to be fulfilled," says Dr. Smith, "is represented as a new David, a son of God, a king exalted by God his Father, to a dominion such as David and his posterity never knew; an empire of universal extent, conferring the greatest blessings upon its subjects, gloriously displaying the majesty of Divine perfections, and destined to continue to the end of time."† Christ is the person whom God has chosen ; he has taken him from among the people-the spiritual David. With him the covenant of redemption is made for himself, and on behalf of his church and people. All believers are his spiritual family. David was a type of Christ, III. In the opposition with which he had to contend. 1. It was entirely unprovoked by him; while, on the contrary, he did everything in his power to acquire the confidence and obedience of his subjects. A change in the succession to a kingdom is Bishop Horne on Psa. lxxxix. 3, 4; p. 384. + "Messiah." |