David Dancing Before the Ark Because of His Election

David Dancing Before the Ark Because of His Election

DELIVERED ON LORD'S DAY MORNING, JULY 1, 1888,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of
Saul came out to meet Da vid and said, How glorious was the king of
Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids
of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovers
himself! And David said unto Michal, It was before the Lord, which
chose me before your father and before all his house, to appoint me
ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel: therefore will I play
before the Lord. And I will yet be more vile than thus and will be base
in my own sight: and of the maidservants which you have spoken of, of
them shall I be had in honor." 2 Samuel 6:20-22.

DAVID had been soaring up on eagle's wings. Perhaps never in his life
before had he so enjoyed the public worship of God. He had forgotten
everything in the delight of bringing the Ark of the Lord home to his
own city where he had prepared a tabernacle for its resting place. He
had thrown himself into the gladsome service of the Lord that day. Nor
had he been alone in joyful adoration–all the people had been
unanimously with him in honoring Jehovah, the God of their fathers. It
had been a high day, a day of days, such a day as the nation had not
enjoyed in all its history.

The king came home to bless his household, wishing that all his family
might share in his joy. Exactly at that moment his wife, Michal, Saul's
daughter, who had felt disgusted at seeing her husband dressed like a
common Levite and leading the way in the midst of the common people,
came out to meet him, full of furious scorn. Her language to him must
have acted as if a man had thrown a pail of cold water into his face.
With sarcastic words, villainously exaggerating what he had done and
imputing to him what he had never done, she scolded the man she had
scorned. How he must have felt it for the moment! We need not wonder if
some have thought that his answer was somewhat bitter. Remember that
David was not Jesus but only David.

Always suspect some danger near when you perceive too much delight. It
may sound like a paradox, but it is true, and experience proves that we
never seem to be so near meeting the devil as when we have just met our
God. When our Savior had been on the Mount of Transfiguration with His
disciples, He met, at the foot of the hill, a father with a child
possessed of the devil! Whenever you enjoy a season of peculiarly close
communion with God and are full of very high joy, be on your guard. The
very worst side of the world will be turned towards you when you have
been nearest to the eternal Throne.

Probably Michal had never spoken so to David. But then David had never
danced before the Ark of the Lord. Here stood the man of God confronted
by one whose feelings were the very opposite of his own. Like an
iceberg, she crossed the path of this great vessel and chilled it like
an Arctic winter. This led David to reaffirm and yet more plainly state
his faith in God. As many of the choicest words of our Lord Jesus were
brought out of Him by the Pharisees, so one of the choicest statements
of electing love that David had made was brought out by the sarcasm of
Saul's daughter.

I hope it will be for our profit this morning to consider it. David
justified what he had done by God's choice of him. If he had arrayed
himself like a Levite and danced with all his might before the ark in
the presence of the common people, he said, "It was before the Lord,
which chose me before your father, and before all his house, to appoint
me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel: therefore will I
play before the Lord."

Dear Brethren, there is a great power in the truth of election when a
man can grasp it. When he knows for himself truthfully, and by
indisputable evidence, that the Lord has chosen him, then he breaks
forth in songs of Divine adoration and praise–then is his heart lifted
up and he pays a homage to God which others would not think of paying.
The Lord

Jesus has manifested Himself to him as He does not unto the world. And
therefore he acts towards the Lord Jesus as the world can never act and
does what the world can never understand.

I am going to speak to those of you who believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, for you are chosen–faith is the sure mark of election. If you
believe in Jesus and are resting in Him, this is the token that God has
chosen you from before the foundation of the world. For no man yet ever
had a true faith in Christ without receiving it from God and that gift
from God is the token that He will give all other saving gifts, and
that He has chosen that man to eternal salvation. The effect upon you
of your knowing your election of God will be similar to the effect
which it had upon David when he knew that the Lord had chosen him to be
the ruler over Israel.

I. What effect had this doctrine, this experience, this inward
conviction upon David? First, IT MADE GOD THE LEADING THOUGHT WITH
DAVID. I believe that in every case where a man is inwardly persuaded
of the Holy Spirit that the Lord has chosen him out of the world, the
sure and certain effect is that the Lord stands out to him in a clear
light and becomes to him the greatest force in his life, the chief
motive power, the main thought of his mind. Observe how David said to
Michal, "It was before the Lord." And all through the chapter you
constantly read that David did this and that "before the Lord."

In the fourteenth verse we read, "And David danced before the Lord with
all his might." It will be so–God will be realized in every passage of
our life. Has the Lord chosen me to be His own? Then I see the hand of
the Lord in my parentage, in my birth, in my bringing up. I see the
hand of the Lord in my calling out from the world and in my conversion.
I see the Lord in His Providence, in His preservation of me from the
paths of the Destroyer. In fact, everywhere I see the Lord.

You will notice in the whole teaching of the Puritans, great believers
in this doctrine of Divine Choice, that they saw God's hand in
everything. The laws of nature they knew very little about, but the
Presence of God they knew a great deal about. And to my mind we have
made a very poor exchange when we have given up the Lord for His laws
and when the whole bent of our philosophy has been to teach us that God
is much further off than our fathers thought. I love still to see God
when I wake and watch through the day and believe that I see Him in all
that happens.

In a thunderstorm I hear the voice of God and I see His Glory in the
flames of fire. I love to think of God as sending us the genial shower
and the cheery sunshine. I know it is all resolved into natural law but
I am simple enough to see God rather than the law. The man who believes
that God has chosen him, from that moment, beholds a living God in
nature, in Providence and in Divine Grace–in fact, the Lord becomes
everything to him.

This was especially the case with David in his devotion. David that day
worshipped God in spirit and in truth. A great many people, when they
go up to the assembly, are very particular about their bonnets or their
garments. Somebody might, perhaps, notice their bonnets and this
thought weighs heavily on their hearts. I have known people say that
they could not go to a place of worship because they had not proper
things to go in, their clothes being evidently a great consideration.
What a turning aside from God to the tailor! Often people sit in the
House of Prayer and profess to worship but they are noticing who is
there and who is not there. And any little slip in the preacher's
language is a welcome diversion to them.

They think of anybody and anything rather than God. It was not so with
David–to him the Lord was All in All in worship. He said to himself,
"I am King of Israel but that I may avow myself to be the true servant
of Jehovah I will put on a linen garment today, like a common Levite."
This he did "before the Lord." The Lord, who searches the heart, knew
what David meant by his dress, by his playing upon the harp and by his
leaping and dancing in the midst of the people. It was "before the
Lord" that he showed his excessive joy. And if others happened to be
there as spectators, he did not repel them but he did not restrain
himself.

If the Lord accepted him and his offerings and his praises, he would
have all that he wanted, whether the multitude or the princes of Israel
accepted him or not. The man who believes that the Lord has chosen him
unto Himself will worship the Lord alone and will neither idolize the
creature, nor even cast a side-look upon him when he is adoring his
Maker. It is ours to worship always and to worship none but Jehovah. I
adore Jehovah. I take His Book in my hand. I read it believing it to be
inspired. And while so doing, I do not sit as a judge but as a
disciple. I do not criticize but I adore.

I look up to Christ on the Cross and I worship God in Christ Jesus–I
do not quibble about the righteousness of substitution but I adore the
wisdom and the Divine Grace which are displayed therein. He that
believes that God has chosen him feels so high a regard for God that He
becomes his All in All. He says, "This people have I formed for
Myself." And we reply, "This God is our God forever and ever."

The effect of this Truth of God upon David was also that, as the Lord
had become the great influence of his life and the great object of his
adoration, so He was to him his supreme Lord. Mark well the language of
the twenty-first verse– "The Lord which chose me to appoint me ruler
over the people of the Lord." David did not say, "Over my people"–he
acknowledged that they were not his people but Jehovah's people. He was
only lieutenant-governor–the Lord was still the great King of Israel.

O dear Friends, if you have a due sense of God's choice of you, you
recognize that Jehovah is your Lord and King. You are mindful of your
stewardship. You admit that you are God's servant. If you have
property, it is not yours but His who has chosen you. If you are placed
in office in Church or State, still the Lord, who has chosen you, has
sovereign rights over you which you acknowledge in your daily life,
only grieving that you fail to be perfectly obedient and that when you
have done all, you are still only an unprofitable servant.

Complete subordination to God is the desire of every man who delights
in being chosen of the Lord. Oh, that we could practice it more and
more! Those who are chosen are the Lord's portion and are not their own
to live unto themselves. Those who hope to be saved by merit, work for
themselves that they may win their wages. But those who have received
the gift of God, which is eternal life, live unto the Lord, alone, that
they may show their gratitude for His royal love. Our hearts are stout
before men but in the Lord's presence we bow in the dust. The words of
others we test and weigh but at the Word of Jehovah we tremble.

Every man who recognizes himself as chosen of God will loyally serve
the glorious Lord who has chosen him. It is not ours to follow our
wills, wishes, or whims–but ours to fulfill our life's mission at all
costs knowing that He who has appointed us has an absolute right to do
as He wills with His own.

The great system known as "The Doctrines of Grace" bring before the
mind of the man who truly receives it, God, and not man. The whole
scheme of that doctrine looks God-ward and regards God as first and the
plan of salvation as chiefly arranged for the glory of the Most High.
If you believe that everything turns upon the free will of man, apart
from any purpose of God, you will naturally have man as the principal
figure in your landscape. But if you believe that there is a choice on
the part of the Lord, then God will become prominent in your thoughts.
If you look to be saved by your own works you will, of course, think
much of yourself.

If you believe your faith and your repentance to have come to you
without the work of the Spirit of God, you will think well of yourself.
And if you believe that your future perseverance depends upon your
unaided self, you will look to yourself for everything and you will
rely upon your own wisdom and strength. The doctrines which are not of
Divine Grace lead you away from God and throw you upon self.

On the other hand, if you fully believe the doctrine which Jonah
learned in the belly of the great fish–"salvation is of the
Lord"–then you will trust in God, hope in God, love God, worship God,
serve God and God will be even unto you as the rising sun, shining more
and more in your heart unto the perfect day. I do pray that God may be
great and greatly to be praised in the heart of everyone of us. May we
serve Him with gladness and come before Him with thanksgiving. For we
are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

II. Secondly, IT WILL CREATE IN US A PROPER DISREGARD FOR HUMAN
OPINION. I have already told

you that in his worship David did not allow the opinions of men to
weigh with him. He worshipped "before the Lord," and there he left it.
Men might judge him mad, as Michal seems to hint that he was. Or they
might condemn him as fanatical, extravagant and rabid–but this was as
the chaff of the threshing floor to him. If any despised him in their
hearts he was not moved. So long as he knew that his heart was right
before God and that his worship was accepted of God, he would let
others commend or censure at their own sweet wills.

God's chosen servant is not the servant of men. He could not serve two
masters and he does not try to do so. He goes about his Master's
business with a holy liberty of soul, for his bonds are loosed towards
man. He does not seek honor from the many. You remember Saul and what
he said to Samuel. Samuel turned away from him in indignation and was
about to leave him when Saul laid hold upon him and said, "Honor me
before the people." That was the great idea of

Saul's mind. "Honor me before the people. Let the people think well of
me. O Prophet of God, do not disgrace me in the eyes of the multitude,
but let the people still have me in esteem."

David sought not the honor which comes from men. It would have struck
some minds that if the king wore the ordinary garment of a Levite, if
he mixed with the crowd, if he became one of the people, if he walked
in procession with them, if he even led them in the holy dance, then
the common crowd would say in their hearts, "Is this a king? Why should
we obey a man who is one of ourselves?" Potentates surround themselves
with pomp and keep themselves apart– that they may have glory in men's
eyes. But it did not occur to David to provide against such a danger
when the glory of God was concerned.

The populace might think as they pleased of him–he was the elect of
God and therefore he did not consider his standing with the people. In
the Presence of God it became him to abase himself and he did so,
whether it was good policy or not. Kings before God are only men–and
however bright their crowns or high their thrones–when they worship,
they must lay aside their trappings and affectations of superiority and
must bow before Jehovah in the dust. So King David did and in doing it
he had no fear lest the multitude should hold him in the less esteem. O
child of God, have a holy disregard of that Vox Populi which is
profanely said to be Vox Dei–but which once cried, "Crucify Him,
crucify

Him."

David did not even consult the judgment of the few. Of course he had
around him a little set of special people, the elite of Israel, who had
great reverence for royalty and all its dignity. Michal was the
representative of these. Looking out of the window she looked down upon
David in a double sense, for she could not bear to see a king dressed
as a servant, a king dancing before the ark. She thought him
light-headed and frivolous, if not distinctly mad. No doubt there are
particularly nice and dainty people who will censure God's chosen if
they live wholly to His praise and they will call them eccentric,
old-fashioned, obstinate, absurd, and I don't know what besides.

From the window of their superiority they look down upon us. Suppose
they do. They may wait until it is their turn to look up and that will
come sooner than they think. The man who says, "God has chosen me," can
afford to let others think and speak after their own nature. It is his
business to take his stand separately and deliberately and distinctly
to do what he believes to be right and let the many or the few do as
they will. Beloved, the Doctrines of Grace put the very idea of
honoring man out of court with us. Go and listen to certain preachers
and hear how they enlarge upon the dignity of human nature.

My friend Dr. Pierson, who prayed just now, has accepted very little of
modern teaching upon that point. For he confessed unto God that we were
worse than the worms we trod upon. What do you say to that? We are not
very dignified creatures according to that statement. And I fully
endorse it. Dignity of human nature? Dignity of flesh which goes to
corruption and the worm? Let those who will, extol the creature of an
hour–I glorify the Creator, who is everlasting. Fallen human nature
deserves no praise. It is not easy to find terms humiliating enough to
describe the degradation into which sin has brought us, and the
helplessness in which sin has left us, and the need of Sovereign Grace
to save us from perishing forever.

If any think that we should magnify man, we are of another mind. We
wonder that the Lord should be mindful of him and visit him. The Lord
of Hosts will not endure that man should magnify himself. For He has
purposed to stain the pride of all glory and to bring into contempt all
the excellent of the earth. Proud man-worshippers will despise you if
you hold to the Doctrines of Grace–they want something novel–and so
they sneer at you as a piece of antiquity. Be content to be
old-fashioned–God's choice of you is older than the fashions–and if
that stands, you may well stand by the truth of it.

Some will despise you for your simplicity and insinuate that you are
destitute of culture and science and are repeating exploded dogmas only
believed in by the illiterate. This refutes itself. For the truly wise
never show contempt of others. After all, God's Truth is more profound
than all the speculations of men. "The foolishness of God is wiser than
men." Hold to God's Truth, challenge it who may. If you find a doctrine
in God's Word which flatters human nature, let me know of it. I find
therein great Truths which lay our nature among the diseased, the
condemned and the dead. But none which sing our praises.

The Scriptures tell us that we must be born again and called out of our
spiritual graves by a miracle. They also tell us that we are not saved
by our works and that "it is not of him that wills, nor of him that
runs but of God that shows

mercy." We are saved by Divine Grace and Divine Grace alone. And that
Divine Grace is free and sovereign according to that wondrous word, "I
will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will have compassion on
whom I will have compassion." So, you see, the effect of this doctrine,
when it is really grasped is to set the Lord on high in the soul but to
put human opinion in a lower place.

III. Then, thirdly, A SENSE OF ELECTION CAUSES A LOW OPINION OF SELF.
David said, "I will yet be more vile than thus and will be base in my
own sight." David would more and more abase himself before the Lord. He
felt that whatever Michal's opinion of him might be, it could not be
more humbling than his own view of himself. Brother, if any man thinks
ill of you, do not be angry with him. For you are worse than he thinks
you to be. If he charges you falsely on some point, yet be satisfied,
for if he knew you better he might change the accusation and you would
be no gainer by the correction.

If you have your moral portrait painted and it is ugly, be satisfied.
For it only needs a few blacker touches and it would be still nearer
the truth. "I will be base in my own sight." This was well said.
Perhaps if David had carried it out more fully and had been rendered
watchful thereby, it might have saved him from his great fall. A sense
of electing love will render you base in your own sight. I will tell
you why.

First, you will never understand why the Lord has chosen you. Often
will you sing–

"What was there in me that could merit esteem, Or give the Creator
delight? "It was even so, Father,'I ever must sing, 'Because it seemed
good in Your sight.'" The more sure you are of the Divine choice and
the better you understand it, the more will you enquire–"Why me?"

I dare say David, in a few quick thoughts, reviewed his former estate.
He saw himself as the shepherd's boy keeping a few sheep in the
wilderness. He saw himself fetched home all in a hurry because Samuel
had asked for him. The Prophet had come to anoint one of Jesse's sons
and each one of the big brothers imagined that he, himself, must be the
Lord's chosen. But his hopes were quenched as the Prophet cried,
"Neither has the Lord chosen this." David must be brought in.

What a change from the shepherd boy with a crust in his wallet, to the
king who "dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of
Israel, as well to the women as men, to everyone a cake of bread and a
good piece of flesh and a flagon of wine"! David could not remember the
change without feeling that he was unworthy of such goodness. Is it not
the same with us?

Then the king remembered the dangers and troubles he had experienced.
Oh, that some persons who talk so proudly could but know a little of
the rough side of life! Hunted like a partridge on the mountains,
bearing his life in his hand for many a day, David had at last passed
out of persecution and had become the accepted king of all Israel!
Because the Lord had chosen him, He had helped and saved him from the
hand of all his enemies. His bitter experiences made him wear his
honors meekly.

Brothers and Sisters, if you have had a tried experience you will look
back upon it with deep gratitude and self-abasement. The tears will be
in your eyes as you sing of judgment and mercy and abundantly utter the
memory of His great goodness. I cannot exalt myself, nor talk of my
works, my prayers, my desires, my seeking of the Lord, or anything that
is my own. For my salvation was all of Divine Grace and the Lord worked
all my works in me. The doctrine of Distinguishing Grace sinks us, and
our experience in connection with it sinks us. We cannot lie low enough
before the Lord.

David's high position must have made him feel lowly when he knew to
whom he owed it all. When a man prospers little by little he may become
used to it and grow proud. But when the Lord heaps on His bounties we
become like Peter's boat, which was so filled with fish that it began
to sink. Well may we be humbled by the great mercies of the Lord.
"Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we
should be called the sons of God." A little while ago we were heirs of
wrath even as others. How could the Lord adopt such poor creatures? I
cannot make it out.

I, that once loved sin, am now made to hate it. I, that was a stranger
to God and to His service, am enriched with access to the Throne of
God. I, that was without strength, have now Grace to do all things
through Christ that strengthens me. Oh the greatness, the unspeakable
greatness of almighty love! Brothers and Sisters, if this does not
humble you, then you are not really Believers. If you have really
obtained the mercies of the Covenant through the Lord's gracious choice
of you, the knowledge of this fact will lay you low and keep you there.
Your cry will be, "Why me, Lord? Why me?"–

I once had a dear Friend, a man of God who is now in Heaven, a
clergyman of the Church of England. His name was Curme and he used,
with a pleasant smile, to divide his name into two syllables and
say–"Cur me," which in the Latin signifies, "Why me?"

"Why was I made to hear Your voice, And enter while there's room;

When thousands make a wretched choice, And rather starve than come?"

All the while David had a deep sense of his personal unworthiness. He
did not know his own heart fully–no man does so. But he knew enough of
himself to make him base in his own sight. For he could never think
himself worthy of the choice of God and all that it involved. Our heart
adores and wonders as we think of the election of God. As we rise in
the assurance of the Divine choice, we sink in our valuation of
ourselves.

IV. A SENSE OF DIVINE ELECTION FOSTERS A FEELING OF HOLY BROTHERHOOD.
There is David arrayed as a common Levite. He is down among the people
and he is leading them in the holy dance before the Ark of the Lord.
David, why, you ought to have had too much self-respect to be acting
so! Kings should keep themselves to themselves. Dignities should be
worn with decorum. Yes, but David does not feel that he is in the least
degraded by associating with the people of the Lord.

It is wonderful how democratic the Doctrines of Grace are and how
aristocratic they are, too. The chosen are all kings and when we mix
with the poorest of them we are kings with kings. Free Grace strips the
proud but it adorns the humble. If we can fare as God's people fare, we
are well content. We despise not one of the least of Christ's little
ones. David was the Lord's servant, like the rest of them and he was
not ashamed to show it. No, he rejoiced that it was so and said, "O
Lord, I am Your servant. I am Your servant and the son of Your
handmaid; You have loosed my bonds." Specially had the bonds of pride
been broken from him and he had been made to feel it a joy to be
numbered with the least of the people of God.

David honored the most humble of the Lord's chosen. For when Michal
talked about what the handmaids of his servants would say, he answered,
"Of the maidservants which you have spoken of, of them shall I be had
in honor." To be esteemed by them was a cheer to him. I would rather
have the esteem of the maidservant who loves the Lord than the respect
of her mistress who is a stranger to the Divine life. It is better to
have the love of the poorest man in the workhouse if he is a child of
God, than to have honor from the most eminent of those who know not the
Lord.

We do not measure you, my Hearers, by the amount of your money or the
breadth of your acres–to us there are only two classes–the Lord's
people and the Lord's enemies. To which class do you belong? If you are
not among His believing people, may the Lord have mercy upon you and
bring you to His feet. But if you are among the heirs of Divine Grace,
we value you above the gold of Ophir. How beautiful it is to see the
learned and the illiterate, the great and the lowly made one family by
the Grace of God! It is marvelous what power this has had in the
Christian Church.

And I pray its power may be felt more and more until everything like
caste and class is abolished in the Church of God and we shall become
Brethren, indeed, and of a truth. As the chosen of God, our names are
written in the same book, we are redeemed with the same blood, we are
called by the same Spirit, we are quickened by the same life and hope
soon to meet in the same Heaven. This is the true confederation, the
union of hearts in the common Lord. As the elect of God, we break away
from the world, but we come together in one body in Christ.

V. I have been quick upon that point, for time is flying with six wings
and I want to dwell a minute upon this point.

A SENSE OF BEING CHOSEN OF GOD STIRS A DESIRE FOR THE SERVICE OF GOD.

Such service will be personal. Look at David. He must serve God
himself. He cannot let the priests and Levites do it. He must take a
turn as a Levite himself. Lots of people allow their ministers to serve
God for them, or they subscribe to societies that by means of a
committee they may serve God secondhand. The man that God has chosen
must have a personal religion and he must offer a personal service. The
woman who had had much forgiven did not come to Peter and say, "Please,
Mr. Peter, I have an alabaster box of ointment–will you at some proper
time or other be pleased to pour it upon the Master?"

No, she must break the alabaster box and pour out the ointment herself.
David cannot be satisfied with all that priests and Levites can do for
him. He must honor the Lord Himself. This personal service will be
cheerful. "David went and brought up the Ark of God from the house of
Obededom into the city of David with gladness." Who should be so

glad as God's elect? If the Lord has chosen me, He has put a chime of
bells into the belfry of my soul. Let the slaves who are earning their
salvation serve Him with gloom and terror. As for me, to whom salvation
has been freely given, I must come into His Presence with thanksgiving
and into His courts with praise.

The oil of gladness which is poured upon our Lord Jesus as our Head
runs down to the least and lowest of us. If you are really chosen of
God you will take pleasure in what you can do for Him. Your duty will
be your delight. You cannot do enough for your Lord. You are always
wanting to do more when you have done most. And gifts which you can
present and deeds which you can perform are the greatest enjoyments of
your life.

This service will be in connection with the great sacrifice. David
served God by offering sacrifices. All along the way by which he
brought the ark he left a track of blood, the blood of appointed burnt
offerings and peace offerings. If you serve God aright, you will be
forever remembering the Cross and the substitutionary death there
accomplished for our redemption. You will only hope to be accepted in
your work of faith through the one great Sacrifice for sin. We need
more of Jesus in all that we do for our God.

This service should be thoughtful. David set to work and wrote Psalms
in honor of the Lord that chose him. He who loves God will take a turn
at almost everything. He will sing and bless and pray and preach and a
thousand other things, if he can. I would not like a string of my harp
to rust. You do not know what is in you yet. Try to do something more
for your Lord. Write sonnets to the praise and glory of His wondrous
Grace if you can.

This service must be obedient. David was careful that day in bringing
back the ark into the tent in a proper manner. Everything was done
according to Law. The chosen of God feels bound to be careful of the
will of Him that chose him. If God commands a thing, it must be done.
It may be that he belongs to a Church which does not see it. But if he
sees it, he does not excuse himself by the blindness of others. If he
believes that the Lord has commanded a thing, although it is said to be
non-essential and secondary, he obeys. God's precepts bind His chosen.
They delight to run in the way of His Commandments.

This service should be practical. See what David did to show his love
to God. He fed the people of God. Was there ever such a flock? I do not
know how many millions there were but David fed them all. "Feed My
sheep," said Christ to Peter. David fed the flock committed to his
charge that day. Brethren, let us look after the sheep and the lambs
and never weary of giving them food convenient for them. The Lord has
chosen us on purpose that we may feed His people.

This service must be seen at home. If you are chosen of God you will,
like David, bless your household. You will long to see your sons and
daughters brought to God. Oh, how you will cry to God, even as Abraham
did–"O that Ishmael might live before You!" How glad you will be if
your child turns out to be an Isaac! There will be family prayer in
your house if you know that God has chosen you. For the Lord might say
of you what He said of Abraham–"For I know him, that he will command
his children and his household after him."

It is one of the marks of God's people that they never set up a tent
without building an altar. There is no roof to a house if daily prayer
is neglected. Saints will have God in the house for their children and
their servants as well as for themselves. May the Lord's choice of you
impel you to His constant service.

VI. Now I come to my last point. A SENSE OF DIVINE ELECTION WILL EXCITE
SACRED ENTHUSIASM. David had an inward delight in God. God was his
exceeding joy. Personally, I have overflowing joy in the doctrines of
eternal, unchanging love. It is bliss to know that the Lord has chosen
me. When I am down very low in spirit, I crave for those old books
which, like the Lord Jesus, are full of Grace and Truth. You who are at
ease in Zion can do with the chaffy modern theology. But when your
heart is heavy, and especially when your conscience is under a sense of
sin, you will want these two dishes on the table–Free Grace and dying
love–and you cannot do without them.

We must have an atoning sacrifice and Free Grace to make us partakers
thereof. I cannot give up the Doctrines of Grace, for they are my life.
I do not so much hold them as they hold me. The five fingers of the
great Doctrines of Grace have enclosed my heart. I can die. But I
cannot deny the imperishable Truth of God. The doctrine of the eternal
choice gives forth joy as myrrh and cassia give forth perfume May you
all know it!

In David's case his inward peace boiled over in holy excitement. Before
the ark he was singing, he was harping, he was worshipping and at last
must show it by the joyful motion of his body. His body danced because
his soul danced. It was a way of worship well known in Oriental
countries but we do not find it adopted, except when Miriam took a
timbrel

and went forth with the daughters of Israel, saying, "Sing you to the
Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider has He
thrown into the sea."

As Michal would not come to lead the way, as she ought to have done,
David did it himself. I think I hear him as he sings and shouts and
sings again. I think I see him throwing his whole soul into the joyful
motion with which he expresses his exulting joy. Election sets the soul
on fire with enthusiastic delight in God. Certain doctrines would not
make a mouse move one of its ears. But the grand old Doctrines of Grace
stir our blood, quicken our pulse and fill our whole being with
enthusiasm.

They make me "feel like singing all the time." Free Grace wakes me up
at night and makes me wish that I were a nightingale. And all day long
it makes me wish that I were an angel, that I might never cease my
praise. O my Friends, let us praise the Lord–

"Come, give all the glory to His holy name, To Him all the glory
belongs; Be ours the high joy still to sound forth His fame, And praise
Him in each of our songs." If my salvation were of my own working, I
might fitly praise myself. If I had a finger in it, I might justly
praise that finger. If I reached Heaven by my own might and merits, I
might justly throw up my cap in the golden streets before the cherubim.
But, Brothers and Sisters, it is all of Divine Grace from first to
last–and therefore we exult and rejoice and leap for joy as we praise
and bless the name of God!

To conclude, David felt so exultant that he wished everybody to know of
his joy in God. He told all the crowd around of his delight in God. And
he sang that day, "Declare His Glory among the heathen, His wonders
among all people." They speak of the narrow, selfish spirit of the
Hebrews–why David had a missionary spirit and often does it flame out
in his Psalms. They say that those of us who believe that we are the
chosen of God are narrow and selfish. We will prove the contrary by our
Evangelistic zeal. The greatest missionaries that have ever lived have
believed in God's choice of them.

And instead of this doctrine leading to inaction, it has ever been an
irresistible motive power and it will be so again. It was the secret
energy of the Reformation. It is because Free Grace has been put into
the background that we have seen so little done in many places. It is
in God's hand the great force which can stir the Church of God to its
utmost depth. It may not work superficial revivals but for deep work it
is invaluable. Side by side with the blood of Christ it is the world's
hope. How can men say that the doctrine of Distinguishing Grace makes
men careless about souls?

Did they never hear of the evangelical band which was called the
Clapham sect? Was Whitefield a man who cared nothing for the salvation
of the people? He who flew like a seraph throughout England and America
unceasingly proclaiming the Grace of God–was he selfish? Yet he was
distinctly a Free Grace preacher. Did Jonathan Edwards have no concern
for the souls of others? Oh how he wept and cried and warned them of
the wrath to come! Time would fail me to tell of the lovers of men who
have been lovers of this Truth of God. This doctrine first makes sure
to the man himself that he is the Lord's and then fills him with a
desire to see myriads brought to bow before the Lord of love.

Oh, that the Lord would speedily accomplish the number of His elect!
Oh, that Christ might see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied!
O my dear Hearers, how I wish that you would all believe in the Lord
Jesus unto eternal life! If you do not believe in Him yet I pray that
you may do so this very day and then this very day you may share with
me the exulting delight that God has chosen you from before the
foundation of the world. The Lord bless you, for Jesus' sake!