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SERMON XVI.

THE SOUL'S ONLY REFUGE IS A COVENANT

GOD.

2 SAMUEL Xxiii. 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.

In the first verse of this chapter, it is written, "Now these be the last words of David ;" that is to say, the words which next follow were the last words prophetically spoken by him. "Now these be the last words of David: David the Son of Jesse said; and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob and the sweet Psalmist of Israel, said." This is the preface of Samuel to the words of David. Then spake David as he was moved by the Holy Ghost, who, by a divine influence, guided not only the spirit of his mind, but the words of his lips. "The Spirit of

the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God: and he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain." (verses 2-4.) This is a prophecy of the kingdom and government of Messias, and it appears to me designed not barely as a prophecy, but a consolation, the substance of which was a solace and support to David at a most important juncture, viz. when the measure of his days was nearly filled up. On the strength of this he reposes his soul. "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." Though my house, my kingdom, and my conduct, have not been such as above described, a morning without clouds, yet when He reigneth who shall come after me, all things will be well ordered and sure. His kingdom shall be established in righteousness and equity and truth: according to God's everlasting covenant; the everlasting covenant of God, which had been to David his support in life, and his only consolation in death.

To the above prophecy you may observe there

is a twofold preface, one by Samuel, the other by David. And though they both look the same way, they wear two different aspects. They both direct us to God, as the God of Jacob, viz. a covenant God; but Samuel introduces David in typical resemblance of Christ, concerning whom he was about to speak, in words which the Holy Ghost teacheth, while David describes the golden sceptre of Messiah's reign, who was at once the surety and the substance of that covenant. Consider attentively the words of Samuel: "David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said." Here you see Christ in the type. David was obscure in his origin, a son of Jesse, chosen from among his brethren, "raised up on high," and anointed by the God of Jacob, or of Israel, to be their prophet, priest, and king. Christ grew up as a tender plant, a root out of a dry ground; he was the rod that should come out of the stem of Jesse, chosen from among the people, and highly exalted above all men. King of kings and Lord of lords, the annointed of the Lord, to be the Prophet, Priest, and King of his church and people. Thus arrayed, as it were, in typical garments by Samuel the prophet of the Lord, David is led out by the Holy Ghost, to behold Christ in the everlasting counsels of God. Christ

his seed according to the flesh, who should become the incarnate Son of God, with the key of David upon his shoulders, the badge of power, the ensign of royal pre-eminence and rule attested to him, by the Three persons in the Godhead, the Trinity in unity. "The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God." Here is Jehovah the Father: "the God of Israel said;"Jehovah the Son; "the Rock of Israel spake to me:"—and Jehovah the Holy Ghost; "The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue." Upon which David utters what the Lord spake to him, and proclaims the righteousness, the stability, the glory of Messiah's reign, and of all those who are under his governance. Upon that, in the face of all his past miscarriages, and in the midst of all his misgivings, David stays his soul. "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.".

We have traced the progress of the grace of God through the various stages of David's life, we are now to inquire what it works, and what it effects for him in his death. It has carried him through the conflicts and struggles of a perilous

and eventful warfare, and now we shall find that it issues in a glorious triumph. And that is characterized not only in the case of David, but of every other member of the house of David, every believer, by a complete prostration of the sinner, and an entire recumbency on the covenant mercy of God in Christ Jesus.

First. It seals the conviction on the believer's mind, that there is no help to be found for him but in the covenant of a gracious God.

Secondly. It stays his soul on the truth and faithfulness of God revealed in that covenant. Thirdly. This crowns the work of grace with joy and gladness.

I. It seals the conviction on the believer's mind, that there is no help to be found for him but in the covenant of a gracious God.

Death is always terrible to the wicked! It is under all circumstances a solemn thing! The troubles and sorrows of this life are met and sustained, because they pass away: "heaviness may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." But the launch of an immortal spirit into the realms of an unchangeable and a neverending eternity of bliss or woe; this brings with it serious reflections, solemn thoughts. Death gives things their true characters, and calls them