God's Word, and I direct you
this morning to words that we find in 2 Samuel, in chapter
23, and the 5th verse. 2 Samuel 23, 5. Although my house be not so with
God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and sure, For this is all my salvation and all my
desire, although he make it not to grow. And I want us really
to consider the beginning and the end of the verse, although
my house be not so he got, and although he make it not to grow. And to say something with regards
to David's confession of his sin as we see it, in these words. Of course, the middle of the
verse says before us where David discovered his comfort in the
everlasting covenant. And we were thinking really of
that covenant last Lord's Day when we looked at those verses
in Isaiah 55, three to five, and I spoke last Lord's Day morning
on that covenant in terms of the sure mercies of David. but it's the same as we have
here in the very heart of this verse. Yet he hath made with
me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure. And we sought to say something
last time with regards to those who are really the parties of
this covenant. I said that as the covenant is
an everlasting covenant, so those who have entered into it, the
parties themselves must be eternal. In fact, it's a covenant made
on behalf of David by Christ. And we said that David here is
a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is certainly so when
we look at the previous verses in this 23rd chapter. David is
referred to in the opening verse as the anointed of God, the sweet
Psalmist, of Israel, and verse two, the Spirit of the Lord spake
by me, and his word was in my tongue. Well, surely in that
verse we have a statement that primarily speaks of the Lord
Jesus Christ himself. He whom God hath sent speaketh
the words of God, for God giveth not the Spirit by measure, Unto
him we read at the end of John, chapter 3, words spoken in reference
to Christ. And so even here in the Old Testament,
in the second verse of this chapter, we clearly see David to be one
who is a type of Christ. And I remarked last week how
those words in Isaiah 55, 3 concerning the sure mercies of David are
applied quite specifically to Christ by the Apostle. Paul preaching there at Antioch
in Pisidia in the 13th chapter of the Acts, as he speaks of
Christ and speaks of the resurrection of Christ, very much the theme
of apostolic preaching. They constantly in the Acts are
bearing their testimony to the truth of Christ's resurrection. And what do we read in that record
of Paul's Sermon, Acts 13, 32, he says, We declare unto you
glad tidings, that the promise which was made unto the fathers
God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children, in that he
hath raised up Jesus again, as it is also written in the second
Psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. 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. The sure mercies of David,
the everlasting covenant. It is that covenant that God
has made with himself, that covenant, that interdictarian covenant,
the great covenant of grace. And we also spoke last time of
the properties of that Covenant, though it's stated quite plainly
in this verse, it's an everlasting covenant, it's an ordered covenant,
it's a sure covenant, or that covenant of grace which we have
revealed to us in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. What
a covenant it is. And all things therefore that
come into the lives of those who are in Christ, can rest in
this covenant. We know that all things work
together. To them that love God, to them who are the call according
to his purpose, the properties. And then also last time we did
speak of the provisions that God has made in this covenant. And David declares it quite clearly
here. This he said, this covenant,
is all my salvation and all my desire. All of salvation is in
the covenant. Neither is there salvation in
any other. Christ is the only name under
heaven given amongst men, whereby we must be saved. He is the Savior. And that salvation is by the
grace of God. If by grace, then it is no more
of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. If it be of works,
it is no more of Grace, otherwise work is no more work. Grace and
work, they're mutually exclusive, one of the other, and that salvation
is a salvation all of grace. It is the sovereign grace of
God that we have in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. All my salvation, says David,
and all my desire. Or can we say sincerely with
the Psalmist, whom have I in heaven? that there is none upon
earth that I desire beside thee. Is that where our desire is?
All my desire is before this is, David, and my groanings are
not hid from thee. Well, these are some of those
matters that we sought to bring before you last week concerning
this great covenant, this everlasting covenant, the covenant of grace,
but looking now at the immediate context here, taking up the words
that we have at the beginning and the end of this fifth verse. Although my house, be not so
with God. Although he make it not to grow. What is David doing? He is making
his confession, he is acknowledging his sin. And so first of all,
to look somewhat at the confession of David. And it concerns, of
course, evidently, his family. And we read that solemn passage,
David's sin, his great sin, in the matter of Bathsheba, his
adultery, and also his murder. And we saw something of the faithfulness
of the prophet. When Nathan at God's bidding
comes to speak through him. And now the words of the Prophet
come home to his heart. And God, as it were, touches
him, handles his very conscience. And that solemn words that was
spoken by the Prophet there in chapter 12, verses 10 and 11.
Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house. Behold, I will raise up evil
against thee, out of thine own house. Those are the words that
we have there in chapter 12, and we only have to read on in
the following chapters, and I suggest you might do that, see how God
is true to his word, true to his threatenings. But the God
who is true to his threatenings is also true to his exceeding
great and precious promises. But David came to David, and
I think I remarked last time on the matter of David's daughter,
Amon, and her brother. Rather, Amon was the brother,
of course. Tamar was the daughter. Now,
Amon loved her, or protested his love to her, but it was really
nothing more than a lusting after her. And then he forces himself
upon her. And what he protested to be his
love turned to an intense hatred. And we have it there in chapter
13 and verse 15. Then Amnon hated her exceedingly,
so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than
the love wherewith he had loved her. And Amnon said unto her,
Arise, be gone. how he dismisses her having forced
himself upon the girl. It was a wicked thing. It's the
sword of God in the house, in the family of David. And now her brother Absalom is
so incensed and he arranges for the killing of Amnon. And then subsequently we have
the record of Absalom's terrible rebellion against his father,
David, stealing the hearts of the children of Israel. We have
it there, chapters 15 and the following chapters. And David
has to flee from Jerusalem. His life is under terrible threats,
but eventually Absalom's rebellion is overthrown. But how it cost
David so dear, he loved Absalom. He loved Absalom. awful cry of
lament at the end of chapter 18 when he receives news of the
death, the overthrow of Absalom's rebellion. The king was much
moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as
he went, thus he said, oh my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom,
would God I had died for thee, oh Absalom, my son, my son, how
he cost David, the consequences, all of this, the consequences
of David's awful sins. And then even after the death
of David, when we go over into the first book of Kings, we see
how whilst it was Solomon who was to become the king, it is
Adonijah who seeks to seize the throne. There in verse five of
first Kings one, Adonijah, the son of Agnath, exalted himself,
saying, I will be king. He prepared him chariots and
horsemen and 50 men to run before him and so forth. And you can read there of the
end that comes to Adonijah as Solomon has to be established
as the king. Although my house be not so with
God. how the sword never departed
from David's own family. But looking at these words, can we not also understand them
in a more personal sense with regards to David? It's not just
what happens with his children. How about David himself? Didn't David feel his own sinfulness,
his own failings as a sense in which this reference to my house
may be understood in terms of David himself, his own body. In the New Testament, with regards
to our bodies, Paul speaks of the house of this tabernacle
and mortality. I'm thinking of the words that
we have there in the fifth chapter of the second epistle to the
Corinthians. Quite striking words, I believe,
there in the opening verses of 2 Corinthians 5. We know that
if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we
have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens. Or in this, we groan earnestly,
desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven. If so, be it that, being clothed,
we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle,
this earthly body, this earthly house, do groan, being burdened. Not for that we would be unclothed,
but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. So there is that sense in which,
in Scripture, we see this reference to the house can be understood
in terms of our mortal bodies. And I think of this here with
regards to what David is saying in the verse before us today. He says elsewhere in the Psalm,
Psalm 101, I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. I will walk in my house with
a perfect heart. He has a desire then to live
a holy life. And yet how David is ever aware that he is full of sin, that
his body is full of sin. And again, it comes out in some
measure in the book of Psalms and the language that we find
David using in reference to himself there in Psalm 38. And he speaks
as if his body is covered with some loathsome disease, some
sort of leprous disease. Look at what he says, Psalm 38
through, there is no soundness in my flesh because of thine
anger. For the sword shall not depart
out of thy house, David. There is no soundness in my flesh
because of thine anger, neither is there any rest in my bones
because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone
over mine head as an heavy burden. They are too heavy for me. My
wounds stick and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I
am troubled, I am bound down greatly, I go mourning all the
day long, for my loins are filled with the loaves of disease, and
there is no soundness in my flesh. This is David's psalm to bring
to remembrance. Not just Psalm 51 being that
psalm that we associate with his repentance after the affair
of Bathsheba and Uriah, but Psalm 38 surely is also applicable.
How David feels his sinfulness, how he clings and cleaves to
his very body, to his own nature. And he is aware, clearly, of
sins of the flesh. He's adultery with Bathsheba,
and his murder of Uriah, her husband, and he laments over
these things. Oh, David is so conscious then
of his own fighting the sin that is bound up with
his fallen nature. And David, besides this, when
we think in terms of his body, he also knew what it was to have
to endure trials and troubles, just like Job. What does Job
say in the midst of all those strange dealings that God had
appointed for that godly man? Job 19, 12, his troops come together,
and raise up their way against me, and then camp round about
my tavern." We felt that God was surrounding him with trouble,
surrounding his life, his body, with trouble. That's the language
of Job. It was also true in David's experience. He's so often. In his early days,
how he has to constantly flee from the raging of King Saul,
he thinks there's but a step between him and death. And what
is this man learning in all of this? Well, his only hope is
in the Lord God. His only hope is in God's covenant. And here you see in the verse
before us, we see the strength of that little word yet. Although
my house, be it his family, be it himself, and the sins that
he's guilty of in his own life, although my house be not so,
we've got yet. Yet he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. For this is all my
salvation and all my desire, although he make it not to grow. It's the comfort of the covenant
that David must look to as he comes to acknowledge his many
sins. Again, I refer to that verse,
I think I made reference to it last Lent, Psalm 74, 20, the
prayer of respect unto the covenant. For the dark places of the earth
are full of the habitations of cruelty. How we have to look
constantly to that God who is the God of the everlasting covenant,
that God who is even in our day, in the midst of all the strange
things that are happening throughout the earth, yet God is fulfilling
his own great purpose. And that purpose, as it has been
revealed to us here in the Word of God and in the Gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ. David's confession then. But David, as I have said and
sought to emphasize, is one who is evidently a type. He's a type of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so, can we not see the Lord
Jesus Christ here? We know the connection, as we've
said many times, the very name that's given, David, the beloved. And it is the Lord Jesus Christ
himself who is the son of the father, in truth and in love. This is his glory, the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. And God says it there
in the gospel, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. How the Lord Jesus Christ reminds
us of that relationship that he has with the Father there
in the 8th chapter of the book of Proverbs, where we read of
the wisdom of God. And it is Christ who of God is
made unto us wisdom, as well as righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. And what does Christ say as wisdom?
Then I was by him, as one brought up with him. I was daily his
delight, rejoicing always before him. And we have the words of God in the prophet Jeremiah.
Jeremiah 23, 5, God said, Behold, the day is come that I will raise
unto David a righteous branch, and the king shall reign and
prosper and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. This
is God's promise. Ultimately, the promise centers
in the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And you can think of the language
of another prophet, Ezekiel, there in chapter 34, where God,
through his servant, is rebuking the shepherds of Israel. Those
men holding those offices, be they prophets or priests or princes,
they were to be the shepherds. and they failed so miserably,
and God rebukes the shepherds. The prophecy of Ezekiel 34 is
very much against those wicked men, but then in the midst of
that prophecy, what does God say? Verse 23, I will set up
one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant
David, he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd, and
I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David, a Prince,
a Mulder. I, the Lord, have spoken it."
Or it's the Lord Jesus Christ said who is given this name of
David. He is the Good Shepherd. Just
as David himself, of course, as a youngster, was a shepherd
boy. Christ says in the Gospel, I am the Good Shepherd. The Good
Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. And so, here, we must
recognize that the words that we're considering do belong ultimately
onto Christ, although my house be not so with God. What does the Lord Jesus Christ
see in his people? What does the Lord Jesus Christ
see in his body? That body which is the church,
he is the head of the body. the church? Well, you will not
have the answer to that question in the Song of Solomon. And there
in chapter 6 and verse 13, what will you see in the Shulamite?
As it were, the company of two armies. Well, this is the mystery
of the life of the child of God, the company of two armies. This
is what the Lord sees in his church, this is what the Lord
sees in the individual believer. And what the Lord sees, the company
of two armies, is what the church and what believers also confess
with regards to themselves. Again, there in the song, chapter
one and verse five, I am black but comely. Oh, that's the child
of God. Black, when we think of what
we are, when we think of our sin and yet comely, calmly in
the Lord Jesus Christ. The believer is one who is a
partaker of the divine nature. There is that seed, that seed
that has come with the new birth, that seed that cannot sin, that
one who is born of God. It's never that new nature that
sins. No, the flesh lost it against
the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these two are
contrary, one to the other, and ye cannot do the thing that ye
would. Or the believer, those who make
up the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, black but covenant, two
armies, that conflict, that inward conflict. And now the Apostle
Paul is such a remarkable pattern of those things. We're all aware
with the content of Romans chapter 17 and how it speaks of the believer's
strange experience, the good that I would, I do not, the evil
that I would, not that I do, or wretched man that I am. Who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? Although my house
be not so with God, although he make it not to grow, this
is of the believer's lament, he's not making that progress,
that growth in grace that he longs and yearns for. Why is
it so? Why is it so? Because the Lord
will teach his people increasingly their complete and utter dependence
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. As John Kent says in the hymn,
all to make us sick of self and fond of him. We become sick of
our self and we therefore become ever more desirous of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Or how we want to and we want
to know him, how we long that we might yet conform more and
more to his blessed image. The language again of the prophet,
there in Hosea 13, 9, O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself,
but in me is thy hope. And this is what David has to
learn, all his hope can only be in the Lord his God. What
can he present of himself? when he looks to his own life,
when he looks to his own offspring, his own family. Although my house
be not so with God, although he make it not to grow, all he
can do is look to that God, that God who is faithful in that covenant,
that everlasting covenant, that covenant of which the Lord Jesus
Christ is the surety. Oh, he is that one who has come
and stood in the very low place of his people. He has taken to
himself all their sins, and in the covenant he answers for his
people as he should. All their debts become his. He
pays the dreadful price. He dies, and he dies just for
the unjust to bring these sinners to God. He comes as that one
who is the great mediator. of the New Covenant. And so here
might we again this morning behold the Lord Jesus Christ. And God,
he is here, he is everywhere in the Word of God. The Lord
be pleased then to open our eyes that we might behold him and
that we might see him in this particular text. May the Lord
be pleased to own his Word to us today. Amen.