Would you please turn to 1 Samuel 13, verse 14? I will be reading from the old American Standard Version. I will read just the middle part of this verse:
The Lord hath sought Him a man after His own heart,
and the Lord hath appointed him to be prince over His people.
Now 1 Samuel 16, verses 6 and 7:
And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.
But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
Now Acts 13, verse 22:
And when He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king; to whom also He bare witness and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who shall do all My will.
Now let us turn back to the Old Testament, Psalm 132. I will read verses 1 through 6, verse 8, and verses 13 through 16.
Lord, remember for David
all his affliction;How he sware unto the Lord,
and vowed unto the Mighty One of Jacob:Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house,
nor go up into my bed;I will not give sleep to mine eyes,
or slumber to mine eyelids;Until I find out a place for the Lord,
a tabernacle for the Mighty One of Jacob.Lo, we heard of it in Ephrathah:
we found it in the field of the wood.
Arise, O Lord, into Thy resting-place;
Thou, and the ark of Thy strength.
For the Lord hath chosen Zion;
He hath desired it for His habitation.This is My resting-place for ever:
here will I dwell; for I have desired it.I will abundantly bless her provision:
I will satisfy her poor with bread.Her priests also will I clothe with salvation:
and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
And one more verse in Hebrews, chapter 12, verse 22. I will read just the first part:
But ye are come unto mount Zion.
That is us, brothers and sisters. We are come unto Mount Zion.
Lord, we bow before Thee, and we tell You that we really need You during this hour. We ask You to open our ears, open our eyes, and give us a revelation of Yourself and Your holy purpose.
Bring us to a place where perhaps we have never been before, or have seldom been. Bring us to live there. Bring us to see this place, and aspire and long after it.
We pray for this. We thank You for Your servant David, that You found him a man after Your heart, who did all Your will. We ask You to find such a heart in us and prepare such a heart in us. We ask in Your holy name. Amen.
Now, it is so good to be here with all the saints. I came here last year for the first time, and I am happy to come back again. I am always so happy to see saints from all over the place. It seems like I am already in the New Jerusalem. We are starting to taste it.
There are so many saints who are hungry for the Lord, and it seems to me that so many are seeking the Lord. It is so good to be with people who are seeking the Lord. You just feel that you are right at home.
We have a need, and I think we have come here hungry for Him, seeking to hear His Word, to be filled with His Spirit, to be revived, and to be refreshed. We surely are needy people.
But, brothers and sisters, God is a needy God. We have a need, but God also has a need. I think that we are here not only that we would be satisfied, but that He would be satisfied as well. Is that not so? We really pray for this.
In David’s day, God had a great need. His people were needy too. They were in a pitiful condition, in a very low state. The priesthood had failed—failed miserably.
Satan had come in to preempt God and raise up another king, which was the people’s choice, not God’s choice. The people’s choice is easily wrong. Saul was raised up. God gave them what they wanted. That was the kind of king they wanted, so God gave them that kind of king.
Saul’s heart was not for the Lord. Basically, his heart was for himself. You know, self is the invention of Satan. There is no self in Christ. David’s heart was for the Lord.
God needed a king. He wanted a king—someone who could represent Him on the earth, put His people in order, and, mainly, bring in His house.
God wanted a kingdom: a king and a kingdom. He wanted a kingdom so that His people would be put in order before Him to serve Him. And the kingdom, brothers and sisters, was also to bring in the house of God.
Between the kingdom and the house, the house is the greater. The kingdom is for the house.
Lastly, God wanted a house. He had the tabernacle, and we were seeing last night that it was very much used by Him for bringing the people through the wilderness and into the good land.
There is so much revelation and instruction in the tabernacle—precious revelation that shows us the way of approach to God. Thank God, He can be approached.
But He wanted a house: a permanent, solid dwelling place on the earth—not in heaven. He has that. He wanted some place on earth where He could be approached, where He could be accessible and available, where He could make Himself known, and where He could manifest His glory on the earth.
He intended to bring forth such a place and to build such a place. This was His need. Brothers and sisters, this is still His need, is it not?
Now, what do you think is the greatest work of God in the universe? We should see and know that the greatest work of God in the universe is to build His house.
Do you realize that? That is His masterpiece. That is what He is doing today.
There have been so many so-called seven wonders of the earth. Compared to God’s house, they are pitiful. The pyramids, the Brooklyn Bridge—one time I heard that the Brooklyn Bridge was one of the greatest wonders of the world. Can you imagine it?
Compared with the house of God, what is the Brooklyn Bridge? And if you are out west, you learn that one of the great wonders is the Hoover Dam. Have you ever seen the Hoover Dam? Full of concrete—not full of God.
But God’s house, brothers and sisters—oh, what a great thing is the house of God. How great it is on the earth. It is a great work. It is a great work.
Brother Dana, last night, at the beginning, gave us the direction for the coming meetings. I appreciated that. I would like to mention what is on our heart for this meeting and the coming meetings, so that you have some idea where we are heading.
This morning, we want to speak on taking the stronghold of Zion. We have been singing about Zion, and we want to see something more this morning about Zion: how David took it, how the Lord took it, and how we, brothers and sisters, need to enter into the great spiritual reality of Zion.
Secondly, we want to see how David brought up the ark. This is one of the great works of David. In fact, in these three meetings we will be covering the three greatest works of David:
I pray that the Lord will open our eyes and give us the vision we have been talking about, that we might see all these things.
God was seeking a man. We read that word in 1 Samuel 13. He was seeking a man after His heart. God was seeking.
There is a verse we did not read, 2 Chronicles 16:9, which says that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of him whose heart is perfect toward Him.
The eyes of the Lord are the Spirit of the Lord moving through the earth, looking for the man whose heart is perfect toward Him. He is looking for the heart.
Then, in 1 Samuel 16, Samuel was charged to go into Jesse’s house. God said, “I have provided Me a king there.” Samuel looked at the firstborn, Eliab, and said, “Surely this must be him.”
But the Lord said, “Do not look at him—his stature, his appearance. I have rejected him.” I was struck by that word. Brothers and sisters, when it says that, it seems to imply that God had considered him and said, “No. I reject him.”
Man looks at the outward appearance. God looks at the heart. Then we have that great word in Acts 13: “I have found David.” He sought for a man. Thank God, He found a man. He found David, a man after His heart, who would do all His will.
Thank God for such a man. David has probably been a great inspiration to all of us—an example. He was a real servant of the Lord.
Surely he was not a perfect man. Surely he failed, sinned, and faltered. Some have said he had a checkered career. But he ended very well.
He went on very well, and God could say of him that he would do all His will. He did it, especially in relation to the house of God, which is the will of God.
I want to speak a little bit from David’s side. We have looked at God’s side, but from David’s side, he started as a young man—the last son in his family, the eighth. He was out with the sheep.
If you look at the account in 1 Samuel 16 and 17, you can see that he was despised by his brothers and was of no account to his father. He was just sent out to be with the sheep. He was the kid in the family. “Let him take care of the sheep.”
Out there with the sheep, brothers and sisters, David had two volumes. He may not have realized it, but he had two volumes that he studied very well. It is good to have good books, is it not?
I cannot say anything about the book right here, but it surely is good to have good books. David had two very good books. He read them very well.
The first book he had was the book of creation. He read that book. Have you read that book? Creation.
You can see in Psalm 8 and Psalm 19 how well he studied that book. Brothers and sisters, we all need to study that book. Go out at night. Look up. Learn something. See something of God.
David said that the firmament declares the glory of God. He said some precious things. Let me read just briefly from Psalm 19:
The heavens declare the glory of God;
and the firmament showeth His handiwork.Day unto day uttereth speech,
and night unto night showeth knowledge.
He spoke about the sun, and said that God had set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and rejoicing as a strong man to run his course. These are great things. He could call the sun a bridegroom. What implication and inference there is here.
He saw marvelous things in creation.
The other volume he had, I think you can guess, was the Bible—the Old Testament, the law. He read that also very well. He read these two volumes.
If you look at the second part of Psalm 19, you can see how well he read the Scriptures. Psalm 19 puts these two books together: first creation, and then the Scriptures.
He read them in detail. He could speak about the law, the testimonies, the precepts, the commandments, and the ordinances. He said:
More to be desired are they than gold,
yea, than much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and the droppings of the honeycomb.
They were sweet to him. He learned very much, and, brothers and sisters, from these two volumes David’s heart was won by God. God captured his affection and his love. He learned to love the Lord with all his heart. He loved the Lord with all his heart.
The Lord appreciated that, and the Lord gave him revelation—as the Lord will do for any who love Him and draw near to Him. I believe that early in David’s life, the Lord gave him revelation concerning His house.
David began to realize that God wanted to have a dwelling on the earth.
David no doubt heard about the failure of the priesthood, the devastation of the house of God—or the tabernacle—at Shiloh through Eli and his sons. God’s people were devastated through them, and God’s name was put to shame through them.
Then the ark of God was taken out of the tabernacle and wandered in the land of the Philistines. No doubt David heard these things. He longed after the ark, the great type of Christ.
I think he thought about that ark a lot. He felt, “It needs a home. It needs a house. It needs a place.” And while he was wandering around following the sheep in the pastures around Bethlehem, it seems that he found it.
It says in Psalm 132, “We found it in Ephrathah”—near Bethlehem. He was longing that the ark could be put at rest, that it could have a home and a house. That means he was longing for the Lord to have His satisfaction and His rest.
David not only loved the Lord and loved His house; he longed for that house. But, brothers and sisters, if you love something, the other side of love is hate. He hated God’s enemy.
He said in Psalm 139 that he hated God’s enemy with perfect hatred. That does not mean that he went around hating people. He hated anything that would be against the Lord.
While he was following the sheep, God sent a lion, and then a bear, to test him—to see how he would respond. The lion took a sheep, or a lamb, and made off with it.
David tells us himself in 1 Samuel 17, recounting the story to Saul, that when the lion took the lamb, he went after it and took the lamb out of its mouth. When the lion rose against him, he smote it and killed it.
Then a bear came—test number two. The same kind of thing happened. David said, “I saved the lamb. I killed the bear.”
Now, David could have made some excuse. He could have said, “Well, we still have ninety-nine. It is only one. Besides, I have a headache today. I am not feeling that well.” No.
David had a great sense of responsibility. His father had charged him with these sheep, and he was not going to let one of them go. This is a suitable spirit for the house of God.
He would not let one of them go. He was trusting in the Lord when he went after that lion and that bear. He said to Saul, “The Lord saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear.” He risked his life, but he trusted in the Lord.
Later in his life, with that great sense of responsibility, he stood up and risked his life again and again for the honor of the Lord’s name against Goliath.
Then, with his great sense of responsibility, he took it upon himself to go after the ark with all Israel and bring it back up to Jerusalem. Eventually, he took responsibility upon himself that God would be satisfied.
I think God was watching to see what he was going to do with that lion and bear. God was observing: “How is he going to respond? Is he going to go after it? Is he going to let it go? Is he going to make some excuse?”
Thank God, he passed the test. I think if David had failed that test, the kingship was gone. God would have had to look for another man.
But thank the Lord, brothers and sisters, David was not in the public eye at that time. He perhaps did not realize that God was watching.
Many times, brothers and sisters, nobody is looking at us and what we are doing, but God is watching in secret. He is watching how we respond to certain tests that He sends.
Maybe it is not a lion or a bear. Maybe it is some little thing. He is watching. How are we going to react to that? How are we going to respond?
Samuel came to David’s home and looked at all the sons there—seven of them. The Lord said, “No, no, no.” Samuel asked Jesse, “Wait a minute. There must be some more. Is there another one somewhere?”
“Oh, yes, the kid is out there.” “Well, bring him in.” So they sent a messenger and told David, “Samuel is here. He wants to see you.” David came into the house, and it probably felt good to be included in the family.
The Lord said to Samuel, “That is him. Rise and anoint him.” Brothers and sisters, this was the greatest work that Samuel did. He was raised up for this: to anoint David to be king.
He anointed David, probably to David’s utter surprise and to the great surprise of his brothers.
Scripture says that at that time the Spirit came mightily upon David from that day forward. The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David, while the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an evil spirit troubled him.
But we want to consider David. If you look at his life, he was a man of the Spirit from day one. The Spirit came mightily upon him.
You can read a number of verses that mention David in relation to the Spirit. He treasured the anointing. He treasured the Spirit. He learned to follow the Spirit.
When he committed that great sin, and then was convicted and repented deeply and utterly, he prayed, “O Lord, please do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.” This shows how much he treasured the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of the Lord. He did not want to lose that.
One of David’s last words was this: “The Spirit of the Lord spake by me.” He was conscious that when he wrote so many things in the Psalms—many prophecies concerning Christ and many prophecies concerning the house of God—the Spirit was speaking by him.
He spoke concerning Christ not only outwardly, but inwardly. He spoke of the inner feelings of Christ. You have to go to the Psalms to get that. Even the New Testament does not penetrate the heart and give the inner feelings of the Lord as David gave them, for example, in Psalm 22.
The Lord Jesus, referring to David, said that David in the Spirit called Him Lord. You remember that in Matthew 22. The Lord testified that David, in the Spirit, called Him Lord.
When David was preparing for the house—we will see this later—he received the pattern for the temple from the Spirit. He said that he had the pattern, and he gave it to Solomon: the pattern for the whole temple. He got it all by the Spirit.
David also makes a number of allusions to the Spirit in his Psalms. Psalm 23 says, “Thou anointest my head with oil.” Psalm 36 says, “They shall drink of the river of Thy pleasures.” These refer to the Spirit.
Psalm 133, referring to the oneness among the brothers—which is the house of God—says that it is like the precious oil upon the head, running down upon the beard, even to the skirts of the garments. He is referring to the Spirit.
David was a spiritual man. He was a man in the Spirit.
Because David was so much for the Lord and for the house of the Lord, he was persecuted—very much persecuted by the reigning king, Saul, to the uttermost.
Not only that, but he had many enemies among the nations who were out for his life. Saul especially hunted him to kill him. David suffered very much, and through this his spiritual life was deepened and strengthened.
Brothers and sisters, in all the affliction David suffered, in all his fleeing from Saul, remember that he had the house of God in view. He had not only the kingdom in view, but a place for the Lord.
We meet this in Psalm 132:
Remember for David all his affliction;
how he sware unto the Lord,
and vowed unto the Mighty One of Jacob:I will not give sleep to mine eyes,
or slumber to mine eyelids,
until I find out a place for the Lord.
The house of the Lord was in view. It was in his heart. He saw something. He had a vision of something that kept him. He endured, and he persevered.
In all he thought, and in all he wrought, he had the house of God in view. That is where he ended, brothers and sisters: preparing for that house. He went out in glory.
After David became king, we know that for the first seven years of his kingship he reigned at Hebron, in the south, over Judah and Benjamin. Then all Israel came to him in Hebron and said, “We all want you to be king—not just over two tribes, but over all twelve tribes.”
So they anointed him again king over all Israel.
Immediately after he became king over all Israel, the Spirit brought him to Zion—to Jerusalem. The text does not explicitly say “the Spirit,” but we know the Spirit was there. The Spirit brought him to Zion.
Not much is said about his seven years in Hebron; that period is passed over. But the Spirit is interested in that place, Zion, in view of God’s house. The Spirit brings David almost immediately to that place.
Jerusalem had not been conquered. It never had been. It was still in the hands of the Jebusites. Joshua had never conquered it. Caleb had never conquered it. During the period of the judges, they had never taken Jerusalem. Surely Saul had never done it.
But David went. David himself took it, with all Israel with him.
Let us read 2 Samuel 5, beginning with verse 6:
And the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land, who spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither; thinking, David cannot come in hither.
Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion; the same is the city of David.
And David said on that day, Whosoever smiteth the Jebusites, let him get up to the watercourse, and smite the lame and the blind, that are hated of David’s soul.
Then verse 9 says that David dwelt in the stronghold and called it the city of David. Verse 10 says that David waxed greater and greater, and the Lord, the God of hosts, was with him.
David took this place. It was a stronghold, a kind of impregnable fortress, with steep granite cliffs that could hardly be surmounted.
I understand that the leading men of the Jebusites put lame and blind people out on the edge to mock David and laugh at him. But David had a heart to take it. He said, “Whoever is going to smite them, let him get up by the watercourse.”
This gives us a hint as to how he took it. Josephus, the great Hebrew historian, tells us that some of the men entered a subterranean passage. They dug into it—talking about digging wells—and followed the flow of water.
It was like an aqueduct through which the water supply for the city was flowing. They followed that watercourse up into the middle of the city.
They got up by the watercourse. Then they came up into the middle of the city. From the inside—it was an inside job—they went to the gates of Zion, opened the gates, and all the army rushed in and took it.
I really appreciate this, because the real Zion, the heavenly Zion, was taken by our Lord Jesus Himself.
He went down into the earth. Thank God. Then He came up in the power of the Spirit, in resurrection and in ascension.
The everlasting doors were opened, and the King of glory came in.
Based on His great victory and redemption, this Zion began. We sang about it this morning: “Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God.” We want to see: What is Zion? What does it mean? What does it signify?
It signifies the peak of Christ’s victory—the peak of His victory. He overcame. He conquered the enemy. He overcame and removed all the obstacles and negative things in the universe.
He is victorious, totally victorious. He rose again and ascended in glory.
On the basis of His victory, brothers and sisters, all God’s heart of grace, intention, and glory—not only for Him, but for His people—has been opened and released.
Now God can pour out upon us, upon His people, and give to us and fill us with all the rich stores of His grace—abundant grace, grace that we have never imagined.
It is not merely grace, but the glory of His grace. When the Lord Jesus was here on the earth, He was full of grace. John said, “We beheld His glory, full of grace and truth,” and “of His fulness we all received, and grace for grace.”
He was full of grace here upon earth. With all His disciples and all the people He met, grace came out. Everything He said was grace and truth. Everything He did was grace and truth.
But now this wonderful Person is exalted and glorified. Now you have not only a Person, but a Person with a position—a great position.
I believe that in the New Testament, the Epistle to the Ephesians really speaks of Zion, because it shows the grace of God in a special way.
Grace is mentioned in many other epistles, no doubt about that, but Ephesians presents it in a special way. Read Ephesians again, especially chapters 1 and 2, and look at the grace of God.
You read there of “the praise of the glory of His grace,” wherein He has graced us in the Beloved. It speaks about the riches of His grace.
Then it speaks of how we have been identified with Him. We are made alive together with Him, raised up together with Him, and seated with Him in the heavenlies, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
God has a lot of grace. He wants us to know these things. The ministry of the Word is very much to bring us to occupy Zion and to know the surpassing riches of His grace.
Actually, you may not realize that you were born there. Brother Celeste, did you know that? You think you were born in India. You were born in Zion. Frank, me too.
Psalm 87 says that this one and that one were born in Ethiopia, another was born in Babylon, and another was born elsewhere; but concerning Zion, it says that they were born there, and their names are written down.
We were born there, but we need to go back to the place of our birth. We do not live there that much. We have not occupied that place that much. We visit.
Perhaps when we visit this place, we visit Zion. Maybe so. I hope so. But take it home.
God wants us to occupy this place and to know this grace that has been won for us.
Zion is a place where Christ is everything. It is a place where God dwells. God loves this place.
I think every time the psalmist mentions Zion, every time the Spirit wrote down Zion in the Old Testament, God was very happy and said, “That is it. That is it. That is what I want. Amen, amen, hallelujah—Zion.”
God loves that place. He loves it. He dwells there. The Lord dwells in Zion, and He shines forth from Zion.
Let me read just a few verses concerning Zion from the Psalms. You can see how great this place is:
Sing praises to the Lord, who dwelleth in Zion.
Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!
Send thee help from the sanctuary,
and strengthen thee out of Zion.Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth,
is mount Zion.Walk about Zion, and go round about her:
number the towers thereof.Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God hath shined forth.Praise waiteth for Thee, O God, in Zion.
I like these verses in Psalm 84:
Blessed is the man whose strength is in Thee;
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
Do you have highways to Zion in your heart? I hope so.
They go from strength to strength;
every one of them appeareth before God in Zion.
The Lord is great in Zion. The Lord hath built up Zion, that men may declare the name of the Lord in Zion. The Lord bless thee out of Zion. The Lord hath chosen Zion; He hath desired it for His habitation.
In the prophets, Zechariah says, “I am jealous for Zion with a great jealousy.” Isaiah says, “Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion.”
Brothers and sisters, you may not realize that just in the Psalms, Zion is mentioned about forty times in such a wonderful and precious way. It is for us to enter into the spiritual reality of this Zion.
It is the peak of Christ’s victory, and His kingdom is established there. Based on His total victory, God wants to fill us with His grace. He is free to do that based on Christ’s redemption.
He wants to cause us to know and experience grace upon grace. This is our inheritance. We are joint-heirs with Christ, and He wants us to enjoy such a great inheritance.
I want to tell you a little story that I think will help us. Some of you may have heard it before.
There was a woman named Gladys. She was sixty-eight years old and was having financial difficulty, trying to make ends meet. It was hard for her. She received Social Security checks, but there was not much in them, and even the government does not intend that you live on that alone, although many people do.
She had to work. She was a nurse, still working twenty hours a week in a local hospital to make ends meet. She wondered, “How long can I go on like this? I am getting older. I need help.”
So she found a certified financial advisor. She went to his office, filled out an application, made an appointment, and went in to see him. Let us call him Don.
She said, “Mr. Don, I am having a lot of problems. I hope you can really help me. I am sixty-eight years old, living on Social Security, and I have to work twenty hours a week. I do not know how long I can keep this up. I am getting older.”
“I have grandchildren I would like to visit, but I cannot. I only have Social Security. I have a hunk of junk in my driveway, and I need another car. I do not know what I can do.”
Don looked at her application and said, “Well, I see you have six hundred thousand dollars in certificates of deposit in the bank.”
She said, “Oh, I cannot touch that. My father gave that to me as an inheritance, and I want to honor him. I cannot touch that.”
Don said, “Tell me something, Gladys. Did your father give you that inheritance so you could just pass it on to your children?”
“Oh, no. He gave it to me. It is for me. He really gave it to me.”
Don said, “Did he mean that you would use it so that you could have a good living and do the things you wanted to do?”
“Well, I suppose. I guess so. Yes, that is right.”
Don said, “Well, Gladys, from what you have in the bank, you have coming to you just in interest thirty thousand dollars a year. If I were to give you a check every month for three thousand dollars, would that help you?”
“Oh, yes, that would help. That would be a great help—three thousand dollars a month.”
But she said, “I do not know. Maybe we had better not touch that money, because I might need it someday. You never can tell. I might need it someday.”
Don said, “Well, Gladys, please tell me: when is that day coming?”
“Well, you never can tell. That day might come someday when I will need that money. So we had better not touch it.”
Don said, “Well, Gladys, if this is what you feel, your nightmare has arrived. You can just go on working as best you can, skimping, and living on your Social Security checks.”
“Oh, Mr. Don, cannot you help me, please?”
Don said, “Gladys, I will tell you what. You go home and think about it. If you decide that you do not want to work anymore and would like to take a three-thousand-dollar check every month, come back and see me next week.”
She came back the next week and said, “Mr. Don, I am ready. I have made a decision. I do not want to work anymore. I would like to take that three-thousand-dollar check. Is it possible?”
“Oh, yes,” he said. “Surely. We will take care of that right away.”
“Oh, Mr. Don, you are so good to me. Thank you so much for helping me.”
So she began receiving three thousand dollars every month from the interest. She went around visiting all her grandchildren and had a great time. It was marvelous. She got a new car and did all the things she had been wanting to do.
One day, her neighbor—let us call her Mary—saw the new car in Gladys’s driveway. Mary said, “Gladys, where did you get that? I have noticed that you have been traveling around. How are you able to do all this now?”
Gladys said, “I am just using my investment in the bank. I am using my inheritance.”
Mary said, “You are? Oh, you should not do that. You might need it someday.”
Gladys found out that Mary had the same situation.
Every six months Gladys went to see Don, and he checked to see how she was doing. She always gave him a wonderful report and hugged him. She considered him her great benefactor, because he had helped her so much.
Brothers and sisters, I wonder how many of us are living on Social Security—skimping. Now I am talking about the heavenly riches.
You have a lot of interest coming. There is a lot that God has for you, and yet maybe most of us are living so poorly—not knowing the grace that He has, not knowing Zion, not experiencing the fullness and riches of our inheritance.
Sometimes I feel like that, and I wake up and ask myself, “John, what are you doing? Where are you?”
Brothers and sisters, I wanted to speak a little more about how we can enter into this inheritance of ours more and more. How can we occupy Zion in a practical way? This will be continued tomorrow and in the next two messages.
David did not only take Zion. His kingdom was established there, but he went out from there and fought. He subdued many enemies.
He subdued the Philistines. He took their bridle city—their principal city. He subdued the Edomites, the Moabites, and the Syrians. He fought great wars with all of them.
Brothers and sisters, listen: these enemies were not obliterated, but subdued—subdued and made tributary to the kingdom and to the house of God.
That is what needs to be done in our lives. All these enemies—the Philistines, Moabites, Edomites, and Syrians—signify inward enemies.
The Moabites, for example, signify the arrogance and pride of man. This needs to be humbled and subdued.
The Philistines have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof. They are a near enemy. There may be a religious enemy in us.
The Syrians signify the natural man—the natural man.
The Edomites were given an inheritance by God, a land, but they despised the best that God would give. I hope none of us would do that. That enemy needs to be subdued.
There are many enemies in us: the self, the soul, our thoughts, our will, our passions, and our desires. All need to be subdued and made tributary to God’s house and kingdom.
But, brothers and sisters, if we will let Him subdue us, we will enjoy our inheritance more and more. Why do we not enjoy that much? We are not subdued that much.
If He can subdue us, we will find that He is a much better portion for us, a much better King for us, and a much better Lord for us.
Let this greater David in us subdue our whole being. This is practical. Did He subdue you this morning?
This is a real way to enjoy our inheritance. May the Lord speak to us.
When David was subduing all these enemies, he still had the house of God in view. In all his wars, he was collecting spoil for the house.
During forty years, fighting many wars, he gathered spoil from all these subdued and defeated enemies: gold, thousands of talents of gold and silver, brass, iron, and precious stones. He was collecting all this spoil.
He knew what he was going to do with it—not for himself, but for God’s house.
Brothers and sisters, when we go through experiences and God subdues us and wins the day, there is spoil from that for His house. We learn something. We are disciplined by Him. We are chastened by Him. But something comes out for His house.
A lot came out from David that was collected during those years for God’s house. The Lord gave him victory wherever he went. The Lord was with him. It was all with a view to God’s house.
That is all we want to speak this morning. I hope the Lord has spoken something to us and shown us something concerning Zion.
I hope, brothers and sisters, that there would be some fresh vision concerning a place where perhaps we have not been very much. I would ask you to read some of these verses about Zion and pray that the Lord will cause us to occupy that place.
It is among those who are in Zion that His house can be built. His house is built in Zion, among those who are experiencing grace upon grace—the fullness of grace.
May the Lord speak to us. Let us pray.
Lord, how we worship You for Your great purpose and Your wonderful grace to us. We thank You for Your wonderful victory in securing Zion.
Thank You that You want to bring us into all the good of Your victory, to experience grace upon grace—oh, the glory of Your grace.
Show us more, and speak to us more. We pray for eyesalve for our eyes, that we would not be blind, but that we could see what You have prepared for us and enter into it.
Make our spirit strong, and strengthen us into the inner man, that we may know with all the saints the breadth and length and height and depth, and the love of Christ which passeth knowledge.
We ask in Your mighty name. Amen.