David Setting Forth Christ in the Work of His First Coming.

David As a Type of Christ.

"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 among them: I the Lord have spoken it" (Ezek. 34:23,24).

That David was a type of Christ is evident from the Messiah's being called David in our text, and in other places, as Jer. 30:9, Ezek. 37:24, Hosea 3:5. That these predictions do not relate to David literally, is evident from his having been dead for several hundred years before they were delivered; and that they had reference to the Messiah is acknowledged by the ancient Rabbins, as well as by Christian commentators. See ^7oseph and Benjamin," Vol. II, p. 307 David is seen as a type, first, setting forth Christ in the work of His first coming; second, setting forth Christ in the work of His second coming; third, setting forth Christ as the Shepherd.

David Setting Forth Christ in the Work of His First Coming.

David was born of humble parentage in the little town of Bethlehem. God sent Samuel to "Jesse the Bethlehemite" (I Sam. 16:1), after His rejection of Saul, to anoint a king, for God provided Him a king among Jesse's sons. And the son whom God chose was a keeper of the sheep. ''He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds" (Ps. 78:70)^ Christ, too, was born of humble parentage in the same little Bethlehem. ''Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king" (Matt 2:1), and Mary "wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn' (Lk. 2:7). David, the one destined for the kingship of Israel, and Christ, the Messiah, who shall yet be manifested as the King of Glory (Matt. 19:28), came into the world in humble and lowly surroundings.

David felt the Spirit of God with him when, as a lad, he was set apart for God's work. ''Samuel took the horn of oil, and annointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward '' (1 Sam. 16:13). Christ felt the power of God with Him when, as a lad, He was in the temple. Separated from his parents, they sought Him and found Him in the temple with the doctors. As ''His mother said unto Him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us?'' He answered, "Wist ve not that I must be about my Father's business" (Luke 2:48, 49)? And to this impelling motive He adhered till He said, "Father, I have finished the work that thou gavest me to do."

David came to his brethren when the Israelites were writhing under the taunts of the powerful Philistines. Jesse sent David with an ephah of parched corn and ten loaves to the camp of his brethren, and David came to the army and saluted his brethren. As he talked with them, Goliath came forward and defied the armies of Israel. "And all the men of Israel fled from him and were sore afraid. David spake to the men that were by him, saying, * * * who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God" (i Sam. 17:23; 24,26)? Christ came to His brethren when they were writhing under the scourge of sin. The angel of the Lord said of Christ when he foretold His birth, "Thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins" (Matt. 1:21). They were under the curse of sin, lost and undone; for Christ said, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt. 15:24).

David, trusting in God for power, overcame the Philistines. "David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail him because of him, thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine/' The Lord will deliver me out of his hands (I Sam. 17:32, 37). And as David approached Goliath, he disdained him and cursed him, but David said, ''Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel '' (I Sam. 17:45). And God delivered the giant into his hands. ''So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone.'' Christ trusting God for power overcame sin. "He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (I Jno. 2:2). To overcome sin and Satan, "He gave his life a ransom for many;" "for without the shedding of blood there is no remission" (Heb. 9:22). But at all times did He trust in His Heavenly Father for power. "Therefore doth My Father love Me," said Christ, "because I lay down my life, that I might take it up again. No man taketh it from me, but 1 lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and 1 have power to take it up again. This commandment have I received of my Father" (Jno. 10:18). As He proclaimed, "I have come to do Thy will," He realized that "Power belongeth unto God " (Ps. 62:11).

David was rejected and banished by his own people (Israel). Saul became jealous of David when he heard the people praise him, and David had to flee for his life. Jonathan said to David, "Abide in a secret place, and hide thyself." "So David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel to Ramah, and told him all Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naioth " (I Sam. 19:18). All through the life of Saul, David had to seek his safety and had only a few followers, "His brethren and all his father's house * * * and everyone in distress and everyone that was in debt, and everyone that was discontented " (I Sam. 22:1, 2). He was even pursued after the death of Saul by Saul's followers. Christ, also, was rejected by His own people (Israel). ''He came to His own, but His own received Him not'' (Jno. 1:11). ''His citizens hated him., and said, we will not have this man to reign over us'' (Lk. 19:14). A murderer was preferred to the Prince of Life, "Not this man, but Barabbas,'' was the general cry (Jno. 18:40).

A man whom the Israelites chose as king reigned in David's stead. For "man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" (I Sam. 16:7); so the people chose Saul to be king as is related in the tenth and eleventh chapters of I Samuel. Even after God rejected him, they still clung to him until he was destroyed by death. And one whom this world has chosen as god reigns instead of the true King. Christ speaks of him, saying, "The Prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me "' (Jno. 14:30); he draws men after himself with power lest they believe in the glorious gospel of Christ. "If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them'' (II Cor. 4:3, 4), He will continue to blind the eyes of the unbelieving world until overcome and "cast into the lake of fire" by the power of God (Rev. 20:10).