THE SURE MERCIES OF DAVID
(mr 03/03/19)
OLUBI JOHNSON

Isaiah 55:3 KJV:  Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.

2Samuel 7:15 KJV:  But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee.

Psalms 89:28-33 KJV:  My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. (29)  His seed also will I make to endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. (30)  If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; (31)  If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; (32)  Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. (33)  Nevertheless my loving-kindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.

In these scriptures above, we see God telling us about the sure mercies of David.

The mercy of God is God’s compassion that causes Him to release a measure of His life UPON men from the air to preserve and deliver them from destruction.

Jude 1:21 KJV:  Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Observe that the mercy of God makes available a measure of the life of God and the scripture speaks of the MERCIES of God in PLURAL, implying many measures of the life of God being released sequentially by the mercies of God.

This truth is also seen in

Romans 12:1 KJV:  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the MERCIES of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Grace releases a measure of the life (Ps.30:5) of God INTERNALLY to get us born-again (Eph.2:8 by the cleansing of the Blood of Jesus and subsequently to grow spiritually. Mercy, however,  releases a measure of the life of God UPON us EXTERNALLY. So in the Old Testament, what they had was mercy (because the Lord Jesus had not yet died and shed His blood, so the life of God could not enter their spirits, but it influenced their souls (will, mind, emotions) and bodies EXTERNALLY from the air. In contrast, however, in the New Testament dispensation we have BOTH mercy and grace (Heb.4:16).

Why then were David’s mercies sure and Saul’s mercy removed?

David had and MAINTAINED a heart attitude of honesty and humility.

Acts 13:22 KJV:  And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. 

Psalms 19:14 KJV:  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

So, we see that David had developed by meditation and PRACTICE, a heart that was willing to do ALL of the will of God.

Now Saul also initially had a humble heart (1 Sam. 10:9-24), which is why God chose him to be king. However, he did not maintain this attitude of honesty and humility and his heart became rebellious and stubborn, so God’s mercy was removed from him.

1Samuel 10:1 KJV:  Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?

1Samuel 10:6 KJV:  And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.

1Samuel 10:9 KJV:  And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.

1Samuel 10:11 KJV:  And it came to pass, when all that knew him beforetime saw that, behold, he prophesied among the prophets, then the people said one to another, What is this that is come unto the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?

1Samuel 10:15-16 KJV:  And Saul’s uncle said, tell me, I pray thee, what Samuel said unto you. (16)  And Saul said unto his uncle, He told us plainly that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom, whereof Samuel spake, he told him not.

1Samuel 10:21-24 KJV:  When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found. (22)  Therefore they enquired of the LORD further, if the man should yet come thither. And the LORD answered, Behold, he hath hid himself among the stuff. (23)  And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward. (24)  And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king.

Observe how self-effacing Saul was at first: he did not tell his uncle that Samuel had anointed him to be king and he went to hide himself when he was to be shown to the people.

However, sadly, after Saul became king, his heart attitude deteriorated:

1Samuel 15:10-11 KJV:  Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying, (11)  It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.

 1Samuel 15:17 KJV:  And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?

1Samuel 15:22-23 KJV: And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. (23)  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

Observe that Saul used to be small in his own eyes, but with time his heart grew proud, rebellious and stubborn.

Why? He did not keep the Word of God in his heart and mouth as God instructed all the kings to do through Moses:

Deuteronomy 17:18-20 KJV:  And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites: (19)  And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them: (20)  That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.

He got so busy with being king and forgot the God Who made him king!

We ALL should learn from this: don’t get so busy with the work of the Lord that you forget the Lord of the work!