The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 239

Before the mountains were set fast his "delights were with the sons or men." The rurpOBe and, speaking in human phrase, the plan of redemption were in the original order; and hence Chrisl's coming was, 11s it wer~ to redeem his own pledge, to keep his own vow, to fulfil the covenant. "Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me." Virtually he wns " slain before the foundation of the world ; " for all that happened was consequent on "the eternal purpose" (Eph .•iii. 11), though not in violation of human freedom (Acts ii. 23). II. A DEFERRED FULFILMENT. We have seen that some years elapsed, not only after the vow, before any ostensible steps were ta.ken to fulfil it, but also after David came to the kingdom. In this t.here is no cause for reflection on his sincerity. Provi- dence has many things to bring about in a monarch's wise policy, and he may have to wait till events are ripe. for certain lines of action. Here, on a small scale, we have an illustration of the apparently deferred fulfilment of the merciful undertaking of our Saviour. Generations passed ere the set time had come when he could, consistently with the wo:kin~ ~ut of other issues, s_'!'bordinate or co-ordinate, come to "perform the mercy promised m the past (Luke n. 72). Now that we have the complete history of David, we can see the propriety of his not taking measures for the elevation of the seed of Jonathan while his work of consolidation was incomplete; and so now that we have the foll recorcl of the Old and New Testaments, we can see the wisdom of the manifestation of the covenanted grace being deferred till the "fulness of time" (Gal. iv. 4). Many threads were being woven by the hand of Providence to meet in the revelation of Christ. III. A SEARCH FOB THE FALLEN. David inquired after the seed of Jonathan and Saul. The sons of the distinguished were in obscurity and, in a social and political point of view, lost. As compared with the position once held by their father and grandfather, they were indeed degraded and outcast. Their splendid inheritance had vanished. They had to be sought out. How trnly their relative social condition represents our spiritual condition is obvious. We have fallen far below the original state of our great ancestor. The effect of sin on man, in so far as it touches his relative social position in the enduring spiritual world, is to lower him, to render him inferior to the holy beings who constitute the members of the eternal kingdom of God, "Thou ha.stfallen by thine iniquity" (Hos. xiv. 1). The mission of Christ, in one aspect of it, is said to be a search for that which is lost-an effort to find and rescue from degra- dation and shame those who are living below their proper position in the spiritual life (Luke xv. 3-10, 32; xi.x. 10). This is true of tbe race; and his work considered as "finished" on Calvary is an effort to find out and save mankind. It is also true of us as individuals that Christ does, like the good shepherd (John x. 16; cf. Luke xv. 4), search for us. He follows us in our wanderings, comes near to our loneliness, and calls us by his Word, his providence, and his Spirit. IV. A YEARNING coM.PASSION. "Is there not yet any of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God unto him?" (ver. 3). How this reveals the deep longings of the [heart I David is not satisfied with the desire to show ordinary attentions to the fallen house; he must show such kindness as God would show. 'l'he thought of Jonathan evidently brought up again the old love; and it must, if possible, pour itself forth in some unwonted form. There can be no question that, in the regal and better qualities of his life, David illustrates the more perfect King who comes to reign in righteousness and save the poor and needy. This strong yearning compassion was conspicuous in our Lord in the days of h!s flesh, when he was seeking a lost race. In this he is unapproachable. It appears in his deeply pathetic tone whenever referring to sin and sorrow, in his patient uuwearying toil, in his pleadings with the weary !\nd heavy laden, iu his looking with c?mpassion on the people as she~p ~tho~t a sh~pherd, in his tears over Jerusalem, and in the sweet and gentle suhm1ss1on with which he drank the cup in Gethsemane, and poured out his life on the cross. Overflowing love I A.nd be is the same now (Heb. xiii 8). His life, sufferings, and death were the revelation of a permanent character, and therefore of an ever-yearning compaBBion for the fallen. V. A GBAorous BEABING. Mephibosheth trembled in the presence of David, and ww; overcome by the sense of hie own unworthiness (ve~s. 6-8). No dou~t he was i;urprised at 1'.lcb wondroUB conduct on the part of the king as to send for him. But Ctt. IX. 1-13.] THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. 245