1 Samuel 16; Psalm 100; Romans 6

May 27: Israel continues to await God’s man, the Messiah. Saul certainly looked the part, but although he was made a new man, he continued to have too much dependence on the flesh. He represents what James says about the “double-minded” (<g1374> dipsychos, “double-souled” James 1:8; 4:8) man, from whom God took His Spirit. By tying the spiritual anointing of David with the departure of the Spirit from Saul, we see that the real power to do what is right comes from Him, and not from a man of impressive flesh or pedigree. We see the surface and God looks all the way into the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7) A key revelation during David’s reign is the Davidic Covenant, which has all the guarantee on the side of God. Psalm 2 must have been written in light of this Covenant, which anticipates the “heathen” peoples becoming part of the Son’s possession. Romans 6 gives us the way of escape when we're feeling that divided loyalty, walking in the flesh too much: forsake the way of idolatry by acknowledging that the deeds of the flesh bring shame and death, reckon ourselves dead to sin, yield to Christ that we may be profitable servants and loyal children of the kingdom.

1 Samuel 16: Despite being the youngest of the brothers, David is called “a mighty valiant man, and man of war” by one of Saul’s servant in this chapter, and he becomes Saul’s armorbearer. We’ve already seen the actions of Jonathan’s armorbearer, that such a person becomes the rear-guard of a leader in battle, and as such is not just a foot-soldier but plays a key role in the battle. How, then, do we reconcile Saul’s words to David in 1 Samuel 17:33? “thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth?” It could be simply meant to be a comparison in the ages of the two men: David may have been only 16-20 and Goliath in his thirties, presumably. By comparison, David is but a youth. It’s also possible that elements of these accounts are out-of-order chronologically: the previous chapter represented the final rejection of Saul as king, and sets up this chapter by looking forward to the neighbor of Saul’s that is better than him. (1 Samuel 15:28) Did the anointing of David follow that event chronologically? Or is it more of a thematic arrangement in order to effectively tell the story of God’s role in the monarchy?

Psalm 100: Does “all ye lands” imply that the Jews understood the rest of the world to be “other sheep” belonging to God (John 10:16)? I’m not sure how clearly they understood, but under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that’s what the Psalmist wrote, and this kind of language in the Old Testament gave writers of the New Testament the basis for outreach to the Gentiles.

Romans 6: What is the point being made in Romans 6:14, that “…sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace?” The point about baptism representing Christ’s death and resurrection, our death to the old life and being raised to walk in the new is clear. But Paul has taken pains to demonstrate that the law does not save and actually makes sin more obvious, more offensive by virtue of it being not just objectively wrong but trespass of an established standard. How is being under grace rather than law a reversal of the dominion of sin? The next verse contains a hint: “shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace?” He then makes the case to the redeemed: “what fruit did you have in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.” (Romans 6:21) If, then, we are liberated from the penalty of sin by the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ, and we are given a new life with access to the power of the Spirit (Romans 5:5), what remains is the will, which must be surrendered daily. (Even more often: constantly!) He is making this argument to persuade readers to do exactly that. Seen rightly by a renewed mind, the rational appeal of sin should be gone: it leads to shame and death. Now that our end is everlasting life, to be profitable servants, our fruit must be the pursuit of holiness. Soon enough, that’s going to be the most important thing, and that for eternity.