There is a saying often used in the world: "Actions speak louder than words." It is usually quoted when people have seen someone who is naturally quiet but performing a way of life which they respect, or, by contrast, someone who talks a lot but is not a very good example. The saying really is only an echo of many Scriptural principles: "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves"; or, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works". That shining light is not only the preaching of the gospel, but the way in which we live. It is very easy to talk about duty and faithfulness but it is much more difficult to illustrate it by a wise way of life.
The great Scriptural examples of faith spent much more time doing the will of God than talking about it, or even exhorting others to do it. The supreme example of a life well spent, of course, is Jesus; but, as we might expect, in the life of David we have the character of Jesus reflected beforehand.
We propose to dwell for a little while upon some of his thoughts. We say his thoughts because we believe that in the record of his life there are very few examples of what he told others they should do. Rather is David's life a record of his own struggles to obey God's word and to love Him.
In the Psalms we have his reactions and his reflections on his own experiences of trying to please God, and how they affected his own attitude towards God. David had no easy life. Sometimes we forget that he was not one of those who knew from early childhood what his destiny was to be. The line of David did not become prominent historically until he had, as it were, forged the pattern of a God-fearing king. Looking back we can discern the development of God's purpose through the line of Judah long before David. For example, the words of Jacob: "The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come." But David could not know in his boyhood that he was to be the one who would forge that link.
In his boyhood as a godly and reflective young man, he had no reason to believe that God had chosen him especially as the channel through which His promise would be developed. After all, even if it were to be through Jesse, he had several older brothers. When we think of David, there is no question of his character-development having come because he knew his special privilege and the work which was to be assigned to him. His early inclination to godliness came from his reactions to his early teaching in the Law, his recognition of God's greatness and wisdom and power, and the privileges He had given to all His chosen people Israel. In his own little way in his boyhood he had sought the Lord in prayer. As he faced the dangers of the life of a shepherd boy, he was not afraid of the ferocity of the animals which attacked the sheep. He asked for God's help and in that trust he went forward, alone, and without human support.
How many of us, as we look back upon our young life as boys and girls, ever had to spend so much time alone as David did? Did we ever bear the heavy responsibility of the property of our family, yet without the moral support of father, or of adults at hand to appeal to for help? David said to Saul: "Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: and I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him." "The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine." He was not boasting of his bravery, but pleading his faith in the protecting hand of God in a righteous cause. His trust in God took fear away from him—a fear which the mighty soldiers of Saul's army could not overcome in themselves. But by the time he came to that crisis he knew his destiny; he had been singled out. called from the flock to be anointed by Samuel, and he knew that his times were in God's hand.
Although Providence was at work, David still needed strength of purpose and courage to make decisions. And in this he had the confidence which comes alone from a full assurance, not only of God's power, but of His willingness to protect. Because he had an understanding of the ways of the Almighty he manifested not only faith and courage but also patience. Perhaps that is even more difficult. He had to wait for his work to be expanded. While Saul was alive he had to accept me fact of jealousy and hatred, of threats on his life, and to take it without desire to retaliate.
How difficult it must have been for David to live as a fugitive, surrounded by men he would not have chosen! He would have loved Jonathan as a companion, but God denied him this comfort. Who then were his companions? "Every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt. and every one that was discontented, ... and he became a captain over them." Would we like to be in charge of a mob like that? But here were the circumstances forced upon him by fleeing from Saul, and they were his companions day and night. Their attitude to life. their conversation and their moral standard were so different from his; but he endured them all and turned it to good account. He was never influenced by their thinking, but he reminded men continually of God's ways. In time he began to soften them and to mould them, so that eventually some were able to take part in his kingdom.
Eventually, in patience, he obtained the kingship. Yet as king there is no trace of self-confidence or pride. True, he was a man of war, but he was tender and thoughtful. He allowed others to take the glory, and he recognised that all he had came from God.
It was as he sat in his house, successful and comfortable, that his thoughts turned again to his Maker. "See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains." It was probably about this time mat Psalm 18 was composed. Notice how in the Psalm he acknowledged God's care for him: "He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me. They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the Lord was my stay. He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me" (v, 16-19).
These are not the expressions of a proud man but a statement of fact; an acknowledgment that it was God's care towards him which had placed him in this position. He had done his best and God blessed him for it: "The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me" (v.20). That is it! That is the power of example. You see, he does not tell us what to do. But for our benefit he exposes to us his own thoughts on his own experiences. This is the man after God's own heart. "For I have kept the ways of the Lord. and have not wickedly departed from my God. For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me" (v.21-22). Here is the key to his godly life—keeping God's commands ever before him. "I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity. Therefore hath the Lord recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight" (v.23-24).
David is set before us as a man of consistent faith and obedience. Whatever his circumstances —in boyhood, in attending at the king's court, in his home life, as a fugitive, or on the throne— through it all we can discern a clear, unsophisticated trust in God and a genuine, open endeavour to keep His commandments. The exhortation is obvious and the encouragement is clear from his life. It is a consistent walk that counts. It is only by consistency that we can hope to triumph over the temptations of our own nature, to have the assurance of Divine guidance and the inner peace and happiness which comes from a real trust in the Father.
We must not be "fair weather brethren and sisters in Christ." How prone we are to make excuses for our failings—there always seem to be extenuating circumstances. But David made no excuses. When he failed he said: "I have sinned," and God forgave him. He had acquired a wonderful appreciation of the God he served, and understood what the Almighty wanted from him. "With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright; with the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward" (v.25-26).
Do we see our Heavenly Father like that? If so, we know what He wants of us. It means developing characters in conformity with the way in which God will treat us. It means that we must practise mercy, uprightness, purity and humility. Actions do speak louder than words, and by his example David has shown us how we should do the same. May we in our lives have that same confidence in the Almighty which he had: "As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him" (v.30).
J.C.W.