Progress of Redemption #09 — David Shirley

The Davidic Covenant and the Heart as God's Throne

We come to the third major time that God speaks. We've been looking at the need or the occasion for why God is speaking at this point in history. Then the content, what does he say? The method of revelation, how does God speak?

And the response that he requires, what does God expect his people to do? And now, as we look at the Davidic covenant and the poetic books, the third major time God has spoken, we'll look at Job and Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon.

And the question we ask first is, what could possibly be the need at this time for God to speak? They have a theocracy, the grace of God. They have the law of God. They have the house of God. And so what is the need?

This need came when the theocracy was at its highest glory. God is ruling his people in victory and in prosperity. But the need at this time is that these truths, that the reality of God should come and abide in men's hearts and lives.

The word in the heart. Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. The heart for God is the great need at this time. And certainly we can see the relationship between the Davidic covenant and the poetic books.

The whole thing about being a descendant of David, according to the flesh, the Davidic covenant was so that Christ could sit on the throne of David. Romans 1 .3. And if we go back again and check the genealogies in Matthew 1 and Luke 3, and how Christ came through Nathan and not through Jeconiah or Jehoiachin.

So when you think about royal authority, being able to rule on the throne, that's the issue of the Davidic covenant. And you begin to look into the poetic books. The theme in the poetic books is that the heart be the throne.

And that God rule in your heart. And so at this time of the theocracy, it's very possible for things to be externally well, but internally were men's hearts ruling for God. How well we remember that in 1 Kings 11 .4, Solomon's heart was not perfect like David's heart.

His wives had turned his heart away from following the Lord. And so this is the need for the heart to be ruled by God. The content, as we look through the poetic books, because they're in poetic form, they are the inner experiences of these five different men in different areas of life.

For example, when you read Job, you see the heart of a man named Job. During this time of suffering and questioning, you read Psalms and you see the heart of a man, perhaps David more than others, but also the heart of the people of God in various circumstances.

As they live and walk before God, the heart is revealed. The inner experiences involved in these circumstances of life are revealed. In Proverbs, you see the heart of a man of God as he wisely faces the practical affairs of life.

In Ecclesiastes, you will see the heart of a man of God as he seeks meaning. And as he seeks that meaning outside of God, he expresses his heart. And then in the Song of Solomon, you see the heart of a man of God in the marriage relationship, or if you so desire, you might say in any intimate relationship, but specifically the marriage relationship.

So the content also has to do with the heart. We will come back and look at the content in a few minutes, but we've looked at the need and we've looked a little at the content in general. Now, let's think about the method through which God is expressing himself.

The Poetic Books as Living Testimonies

In these poetic book, it's in the form of a testimony usually. It seems that it's not God speaking, but rather man is speaking. And yet it is God speaking, but he's actually speaking in the experiences of a man who has in his heart what God wants to communicate.

And so the method that he chooses is sort of the living epistle method. And so they're just as much God speaking as when God is speaking at Sinai. They're just as inspired for all scripture is inspired by God.

In Acts 1 .16, we read, Brethren, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was God to those who arrested Jesus. So these things that David expressed were prophetic in the sense that it had to be fulfilled and it was spoke concerning Judas.

In Acts 4 .25, we read again, Who by the mouth of our father David, thy servant did say by the Holy Spirit, Why did the Gentile rage and the people imagine vain things? And so as David is expressing these experiences, he has in his heart what God wants to communicate.

In Hebrews 4 .6 and 7, it says,. The presence, therefore, remains for some to enter and to rest. And those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience. Again, he sets a certain day today, saying through David, So long afterward, in the words already quoted today, when you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.

And so David is speaking about the heart and God is using a method so that these experiences are experiences that all of his children can relate to. So when David says things like the Lord is my shepherd, God is speaking through him and that experience because God wants us to trust him as our shepherd.

So this is the method that we'll see as we go through the content of the books. The method of living testimonies. Now, what response does God require? He wants us to make these our very own words, to pray them, to sing them, to find expression in them.

And that's why he gave us almost every experience in life is covered here. And we can find expression through these poetic books in a way that we won't find in any other type of scripture. Let's just think about the subject of the book of Job.

Job and the Mystery of Human Suffering

The problem of human suffering, the inequality and the injustice that we see in life has raised this question from the beginning. We come into life, we have absolutely nothing to do with bringing ourselves here.

But as we grow up and our eyes begin to open, we look around and there's this question mark. What's it all about? And the older we grow, the more we see the inequalities, the injustices. And the question grows bigger.

And we often are thinking, you know, how could a good God make a world like this? And yet when Jesus comes, we see the most righteous, holy and just man that's ever been in this world. And yet he was the greatest sufferer that's ever been in this world.

He was a picture of God's suffering with his creation. And so we shouldn't have any problem believing that there's a good purpose in suffering. For Jesus learned obedience through the things that he suffered.

And as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13, 12, we see through a glass darkly now. But then we're going to see face to face. We only know in part now. And then we're going to know also as we are known. And so here is Job.

And he says he knows the way that I take. That is, God knows the way that I take. And when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. There's a race set before us. Job was a real person, obviously, because Ezekiel 14, 14 says that though these three men, Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they should deliver but their own souls.

So Ezekiel refers to Job along with Noah and Daniel. He wasn't just a parable or a made-up person, but he was a real person. And perhaps the oldest book that we have in the Bible, and it deals with certainly the oldest question that's been around, why do the godly people suffer?

Well, when Jesus was here, his disciples in John 9, 2 expressed that they thought that suffering was the result of sin. But Job gives a completely different reason for that. Job was being honored by God.

It was true that God could actually trust Job to remain faithful to him in spite of everything. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could learn to thank God in all the things that happened to us? Well, the story here of Job is pretty much a simple one.

It opens with a scene in heaven and then tells how Job fell from prosperity into poverty. He loses everything. And then there's a discussion between him and his four friends. He's got Eliphaz, who's kind of a religious dogmatist or a Pharisee.

And then his friend Bildad tries to just give him these little cliches and worn-out platitudes. And then Zophar, his friend, comes along and he sort of has all the right religious answers. And Elihu, who is just a youth, comes.

But finally, God speaks. And Job answers, at last, in a very humble spirit, and the problem is solved. That's sort of the story in a nutshell. And we see Satan has the most shallow view of all. He says that the only reason people serve God is because it pays riches and honor to serve God.

And that Job was just serving God because he was selfish. And when his prosperity ended, he would no longer be a godly man. And so God is going to allow this view of Satan to be tested. Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, who pretty much had the same view, they said that the unrighteous suffer because of their sins.

And the righteous are rewarded because of their righteous life. And so they reasoned that Job must have sinned. And so the suffering was the punishment for the sin. In Job 4, verse 7, they said, Whoever perished being innocent.

But Job just couldn't accept the accusation of his friends. He knew his heart was true, and he showed them that their confession was false, and he pointed out that there were a lot of wicked people in the world that prosper.

And so if your premise is true, then righteous people should be prosperous, and wicked people should be poor. But look how many wicked people are prospering in the world. Well, Elihu comes along with a far more eloquent discourse, and he defends God in it, and he sees in the afflictions that come to us in life the chastisement of a father who cares for us and loves us.

And so suffering was God's discipline to bring his sons back into fellowship with him. And suffering was sent sort of to keep us from sinning to begin with. But that didn't explain the reason of suffering in Job.

God's Revelation to Job

So the Lord comes, and he explains to Job that, for one thing, when we come to the end of ourselves, then God can lift us up. If you read Job chapter 29, you'll find 52 different times the personal pronoun I, my, or me.

It almost reminds you of reading Romans chapter 7. God wants the trials of our faith to work in and through us, to work patience. He wants to bring out the goldest by fire to reveal the character in our lives so that Job is being intensely tested here.

But he says in Job 13, 15, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. You just wonder, even today, how much hangs upon your faithfulness to God. How much is weighted there in terms of the future. If you're faithful to God, the things that he's going to do.

And so we know from the New Testament when Jesus came and he died on the cross, the most righteous man that's ever lived and suffered greatly with our sin. And so the righteous suffer with the wicked today because sin fills the world with misery.

And it's just a natural consequence of sin. The godly man, as well as the sinner, is going to suffer because of the sin that's in the world. And so don't make the mistake of thinking that all suffering was God's way of punishing sin.

Because it wasn't. So sin is obviously the result of suffering as part of a result of our sin. But Job was walking with God in integrity, in his heart, as was said in Job 1, 5. His conscience was right towards God and God trusted Job.

Therefore, he assigned this problem of suffering to him. And we learned that truly whom the Lord loves, he does chase him. And it's only the gold that's worth putting in the fire. James said, count all joy when you fall into diverse temptations, knowing this that the triumph of your faith will work patience in your life.

So God doesn't give us great gifts just to please ourselves. He doesn't give us great faith just to have faith. But the chief end of all men is to glorify God. And when we see Jesus Christ, we see someone who pleased not himself, but someone who came not to do his own will, but he came down from heaven to do the will of his father, who had sent him in to glorify God.

And so through this, Job was broken. He was melted down and he was softened to the point he could say, the hand of God hath touched me. God maketh my heart soft. And this is the need in all the poetic literature is we're getting to the heart and his heart is softened.

I wonder if you ever sing the little song, Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me, melt me, mold me, fill me, use me. I hope you know what you mean when you're saying that. But Job never really saw himself until he saw God.

It was a vision of God himself that actually completed the work in Job and brought him to the dust. And then you hear God speak to Job. And Job 40 verse 2 says, How are you going to try to instruct the God of the universe when the wisdom of man is only foolishness with God?

And so we hear Job answering in verse 4. Behold, I am vile, I'm absolutely worthless. I will lay my hand upon my mouth. But God kept dealing with Job till he came to the very end of himself and we read in Job 42, 3 through 6.

Therefore have I uttered that I understood not things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.

And so Job is chastened. He's softened as the servant of God. And yet there was hope in his heart. So much so that Job was able to say that I know that my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.

And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I'm going to see God. He had a tremendous hope in what God was going to do through Christ. And so he answered that question. If a man dies, shall he live again?

Well, Jesus emphatically said in John 11, 25,. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And so Job was a perfect and upright man, one that feared God and eschewed evil. That is, his moral conduct was impeccable.

He had that beginning of wisdom to fear God. He was straight in every way and he was complete. And so God was able to say of him in chapter 1, verse 8,. There's none like him in the earth. What an honor God gives to him.

So watching as he's stripped of his wealth, as his children are taken away, his health is gone, and he loses his wife and finally even his friends. And so let's take just a closer look at the sections in the book of Job here.

Satan's Limits and God's Sovereignty

First we see that Satan could do quite a few things to a man. For example, in Job 1, Satan was able to bring up the hosts of the Sabaeans and the Chaldeans and have them carry away the oxen and the asses and all the camels of Job.

It's pretty influential. Satan was able to slay the sheep by lightning falling from heaven. He was able to cause the wind to kill Job's children. And he was able to even smite Job with boils. And as Ephesians 2 -2 describes him, he is the prince of the power of the air.

But, thank God, there are limitations. He's mighty, but God's almighty. And he can break through only where God allows him to. And verse 10, that's made clear. There's no suffering or thing that can come to us from Satan except what the Father allows.

And so, Job 38, verse 8 and 11 says,. This great creator is never going to let us be tempted above that which we're able. He'll always make a way for us to escape. As it says in 1 Corinthians 10 -13. So, remember that Satan can only strike where he's given permission.

Well, he strikes and Job rinses his clothes. He feels the grief and the sorrow. And he should. We're told not to despise the chastening of the Lord, but to be exercised by it. And so, even if it comes through an evil agency, we still must submit to it.

And know that somehow God's going to use it for our good. Jesus wept. And he doesn't destroy our emotions. Jesus told the women of Jerusalem to weep for themselves and for their children. Loss and sorrow are just part of life.

And all the things that we possess are transient. Matter of fact, we're losing something every moment that we live. Some of you are losing hair. Others of you, just your cells are dying in your body. And this is going on.

We can't stop and weep over everything that we're losing. And it's a hard lesson to learn that we live on in spite of all of our losses. And that there's really only one thing that's necessary. And that is God.

That is to know Christ. Nothing else is necessary. But God puts us in the fire. And yet, he's the one that's going to watch us while we're in the fire. He's going to try us personally. He himself. And when the fire's burned long enough, he's going to pull you out.

And so, God is the one that actually comes in chapter 1 verse 7 and speaks to Satan. And he says, you know, where are you coming from? And we hear the answer from going to and fro in the earth and from walking up and down in it.

And, you know, just think of the endless restlessness of evil. And we should be sober. We should be vigilant because we have an adversary, the devil. And as a roaring lion, he's walking about seeking whom he may devour.

And he says, well, that's where I've been. Just walking around the earth looking for prey. Well, God says, well, have you considered my servant Job? And you wonder why. God brings up the issue. Considered.

In other words, have you been trying to find a flaw in him? Have you been trying to find anything wrong with him? And Satan says, well, yeah, I guess I've seen him. Does Job fear God for nothing? You know, he's trying to find out exactly why this fellow is so perfect.

And Satan comes to the conclusion there's a reason. Hast thou not made a hedge about him and about all that he hath on every side? Which was true. And have you not blessed the work of his hands? And his substance is increased in the land?

That's true. Satan says, well, then put forth your hand now and touch all that he hath. And he's going to curse you face to face. Well, it's not so much Job that's on trial here, but it's God. Is God able to keep that which we've committed unto him against that day?

Yes. As 2 Timothy 1 .12 says, absolutely. God is able to do it. And he can make a way even when there seems to be no way. And God will keep us from falling. And he can present us faultless before his presence with great glory and rejoicing.

And so God allows the test. And he says, okay, it's fine. Just take everything away from Job and we'll see what happens from there. And so he did. And now when the trials come, I'm sure Job didn't understand the meaning of all that was happening in his suffering.

We're not going to always understand what God is working out in our hearts. It's like in most battles, in most wars. Unless you're able to stand back and have all the information, it's hard to understand what's happening on the battlefield.

And we're definitely in a war. And we're on a battlefield. And we're wrestling with this spiritual forces and wickedness in high places. But we can be sure of this, that there's a reason and there's a value to everything that God allows.

And that all things are working together for good for those that love God and to those who are called according to his purpose. And so in many ways, Job is a perfect example of that commentary in Romans 8 .28.

Because no matter what's happening, God is working things out. So don't always try to find the reason for your trials. You won't always understand all the experiences of life that you go through. Man's never going to find the answer to all of God's dealings because God's ways are past finding out.

And so remember, you can never walk before God and try to lead a godly life without having Satan being your accuser. Trying to find fault with you. Trying to weight you down. Trying to vex your spirit and to hinder you in every way.

And we see here, Job is a perfect and prosperous man. He's a praying man. He's popular with everyone. And he's being proven in the fire. But once this happens, note what happens with his friends. It seems like everyone has a reason to offer as an explanation for the experiences and problems of life.

Job's Friends and the Limits of Religious Clichés

And so Job was rich in friends. No doubt because generally when you lose everything and you lose your wealth and health and your position and your family, you don't have many friends left. But these were friends who came and they stuck through the adversity with Job.

And you're impressed when you read it. They just came and sat for seven days and they didn't say anything. They were just there. And sometimes when people are suffering, that's exactly what they need.

Just someone, not so much to come and offer reasons for everything, but just to be there. And they'd probably been better off if they would have just kept their mouth shut the whole time and just stayed there and been there for him and let him know they were there.

And that's one of the values of doing things like hospital visitation because there are people who benefit by you just being there. You don't have to go answer all their problems and explain everything about life.

But just being there with them means something to them. And at least you can say this, instead of going and talking about Job, which is what most people do in the churches today, they at least came and talked with him face-to-face.

With the God that we had more of that. Well, it didn't prove to be that great of a comfort in the long run. Job is crying out from the ashes, I can't understand what's going on. It just doesn't seem right.

His wife says, well there's something wrong, your religion's a failure, curse God and die, which literally means say goodbye to God. It's the voice of despair. She just says there's no answer there, God doesn't have the answer, just say goodbye to God.

Then Eliphaz says, well God never makes a mistake, what have you done to bring this on yourself? And then Bildad says, well God's just, so just confess your sin. And Zophar says, well God's all wise, he knows what's in man, there must be something there.

And Eli who really kind of says the wisest thing of all, he talks about how good God is, and that we should look up and trust him because he is God. And he may be causing this thing in order to keep you from sinning.

So anyway, Job speaks and says in verse 42 and verse 2, he says, I know that God thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withheld from thee. And then he makes that confession, I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye sees thee.

Wherefore I behold myself, I count myself out, and I repent in dust and ashes. He comes to that point where there is the victory of submissive faith. And he knows that only God understands what's going on here in his life.

And the very greatest part of the book, chapters 38 to 42, where you have God gloriously revealing himself. And God says, who can do all these things except myself? And as so often is true, when Job comes into the presence of God, he forgets the little speech that he had thought up.

There is no arguing with God, he just gets flat down on his face and begins to repent in dust and ashes. Because that's the only place you are going to really learn God's lessons, is on your face with your mouth shut.

It's interesting when Daniel received that final fourth vision in Daniel chapter 10, the same thing happened when the angel came to him. And Daniel is on his face, on the ground, and he says he's done.

He just has his mouth shut. And then God touches, you know, allows him to be touched. And he's on his hands and knees, and then he tells him to stand upright. And he's standing there trembling, and he gets the vision of God.

Because he's trembling before God, humble. And that's the place to learn our lessons. When Isaiah saw God, he saw himself as he really was. And he fell on his face, undone, and cried out, I'm a man of unclean lips.

So we want to measure our life by his life. And if we do, if we're conscious of God, we're going to collapse. And we're going to be on our face before God and feel as Job did in our hearts. And at that point of humility, total confession of sin, and acknowledgement of who we are, then God's going to commission us to serve him in a new and vigorous way.

The Psalms and the Expression of Christian Experience

So this book, in many ways, is an illustration of Romans 8 .28. When you read of the patience of Job, you just think, that's wonderful. How he was able to hold on to the testimony of God. And you see the end of the Lord is pitiful and merciful.

And how the morning of joy follows that night of sorrow, because he trusted in God. So Job found God in all of his trouble. And as God reveals himself, we discern that our finite minds are not going to be able to comprehend the infinite mind of God.

And so the lesson of the book seems to be that Job, because of the patient endurance of his sufferings, in the end, he comes to see God. And he's rewarded in the end with greater prosperity, with greater blessedness than he ever had at the first.

So he can say in Job 23 .10, he knows the way that I take. When he's tried me, I shall come forth as gold. I wonder how many races have been won because of the heart. How many athletic events have been won because of the heart.

Satan's charging, well, Job's heart's not right. And he served God for protection and for profit. And his friends are saying, well, whoever perished being innocent. So Job maintains that his heart is right before God.

And so it's a heart issue. And we know God trusted Job. He trusted him to be put into fire so that he could have been proven. And so God's examining him. He says, take everything away. And we'll see if he has a singleness of heart.

Take everything out of his life. Have him lose everything. And we'll see how holy he trusts God. If there's only one thing that's needful. If nothing is necessary but Christ. So we simply trust that God's ways are past finding out.

And so we hold on to that testimony of God. And so God's able to say there's nobody like this guy. His heart is pretty right on. And so I'm going to allow him to go through this test. So it's a wonderful thing to see God get the glory and to see him worshiping God in the end.

And we see in Job the kind of trust that God wants his children to have. That kind of trusting heart in every circumstance of life. And so the Lord doesn't answer all the insistent questions. He doesn't explain.

But he does give to that suffering, anguished spirit such a sense of his own divine greatness. That is God's greatness. That when you see God the questioning ceases in the simple peace of submission to God.

A heart broken and contrite. Sitting at the feet of God wanting nothing other than God himself. Oh that our testing might bring us to this kind of faith for God's glory. And so if we look at the book of Psalms.

We see a similar thing in that we see the heart of a man of God before his God. In all and in every circumstance we can possibly think of in life. They are Psalms of the heart. In fact David who's called the sweet psalmist of Israel was a man after God's own heart.

And we need to be able to express our consciousness of God in every circumstance of life. To give God glory, to worship God. And so we're talking about the Psalter here which is the solid gold of Christian experience.

Every human experience is related to God somehow. And the Psalms give expression to these deep experiences and all these innermost feelings. They go from the pits of despair to delights of the abundant life.

In Psalm 37 it's delight yourself in the Lord. Find real fulfillment. Your spirit's created to enjoy and to serve God. So set your heart to delight in him. And this is acceptable worship before God when it comes from your heart.

You're going to rest and be satisfied forever. Because the nature of his seed is in you. And his spirit is going to lust to the point of envy. To the point where you delight to do God's will. And so no man, no devil, no circumstance.

Nothing can stop you from delighting in the Lord if it's in your heart to do it. And in Psalm 42 you see as the deer panteth for the water brooks. You will have to drink or you'll have to die. You just instinctively like the deer seek the river of water.

And the next best thing to live in you might say. And it's even better than living is his loving kindness. The light of his presence. To know those pantings and longings. To have the insatiable desire for God within your heart.

That's life. It's not just religion and formality. But a living, moving, abiding and close relationship with the living God. And so there are these special promises to fervent, eager appetites. David fainted for a lack of the presence of God.

He said a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. Like a gazelle leaping gracefully and will not rest short of the streams. Then not for a sip but for a thirst quenching drink of that water. Not for a sprinkle but a submerging, a baptism of God and of his spirit.

We would see Jesus in all of life. And I tell you, God wants to satisfy us with his own life. So as we read through the Psalms, we see the reflections of hearts there. We see creation. We see the imprecatory Psalms.

There's deep feelings of righteous indignation there. We see the problem of evil. The confession of sin. Prayers of men in distress. Praise to God for his majesty and for the reign of God. God's word and how perfect it is.

So many things that are found in the Psalms. There's not an experience in life hardly that can't be found there. And so the same thing again in the Proverbs. We see the heart of a man as he's wisely facing practical affairs of life.

Proverbs and Wisdom for Daily Life

It's sort of a detailed instruction book on how God's people ought to think and live. And the primary teaching method is by contrast, the word but is found over and over again. And there's a contrast between God and man there in Proverbs.

Between time and eternity. Between truth and false. Between wealth and poverty. Between purity and impurity. Justice and injustice. Pleasure and misery. And so even in social relationships, you've got the master contrasted with the servant.

The rich with the poor. The husband with the wife. The parents with the children. And so there are all these contrasts that are being made. And it covers every topic you can think of. From wisdom to sin to the tongue to wealth to pride to love to pleasure to success to temperance to morals to youth.

Just everything's in there. And so God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much and largeness of heart even as the sand that is on the seashore. And that's what God gave Solomon. So wisdom being the key, but what is it?

Where is it that the fool can say in his heart there is no God? And so the purpose of the book is that we might receive the instruction, the wisdom, the justice of God. And to know that it's really a matter of the heart.

So we trust in the Lord with all of our heart. As Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 says. We don't lean on our own understanding. We have a definite attitude of heart to follow God and to trust God. We also have a definite attitude of heart not to lean on our own understanding.

In all our ways we acknowledge him and he directs our path. And he says keep your heart with all diligence. Put a watch over it. Put a password on it. Because out of it are going to flow all the issues of life.

Begin by fearing Adonai. The beginning of true knowledge is to fear the Lord. That's a heart matter to make him Lord. Because as Proverbs 21, 2 says. Every man's way is right in his own eyes. But the Lord weighs the heart.