But Ittai answered the king, "As surely as the LORD lives, and as my lord the king lives, wherever my lord the king may be, whether it means life or death, there will your servant be!" Sermons
It is interesting to find a Gentile, and he a Gittite, so attached to David, so devoted in duty to him, and so honoured as to have ( 2 Samuel 18:2) been entrusted with the command of one-third of the army in the battle with Absalom and his forces. The proposal of David (vers. 19, 20) was generous and reasonable; but to Ittai's loyal spirit was quite inadmissible. He expresses his determination to cleave to David whether for life or for death; and swears to do so by the life of God and the life of the king. His devotedness presents an example to subjects and soldiers, to servants and friends. His language is worthy of adoption by us in addressing our glorious King, the Divine Son of David. It reminds us of the words of Peter, when speaking for all the twelve ( John 6:68) and when speaking only for himself ( John 13:17), and which expressed his genuine determination, notwithstanding his subsequent fall. It reminds us also of the exhortation of Barnabas to the new converts at Antioch, "that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord" ( Acts 11:23) - an exhortation which meets with a cordial response in every Christian's heart. His resolve, his vow, is to cleave unto Christ for life and death; to follow him whithersoever he may lead. I. WHENCE THIS DETERMINATION ARISES. Primarily from the marvellous power of Christ to attract and attach to himself the hearts of men. David had a similar power, of an inferior kind and on a smaller scale. Christ draws and influences, not only by his character and works, but by his Spirit working directly in the heart. But regarded as springing from the Christian's heart, the resolve and vow are the result of: 1. Faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the Saviour and King of men. Who has, therefore, a right to supreme homage and service (John 6:69). 2. Ardent love to him. In return for his love (2 Corinthians 5:14, 15); and as the result of knowledge and experience, perception of his Divine and human excellences, delight in his society and service. 3. Desire and hope to make him some suitable return for his love and self-sacrifice, and the invaluable blessings he has secured and conferred. The ardent Christian will pant for, and delight in, opportunities for serving Christ at the cost of peril, loss, suffering, disgrace with the world, or even sacrifice of life; and for showing his fidelity when others forsake him. 4. Conviction that safety, happiness, and life everlasting are to be found only with Christ. "Whither, ah! whither should I go,
A wretched wanderer from my Lord?
Can this dark world of sin and woe
One glimpse of happiness afford?
Depart from thee! 'Tis death; 'tis more -
'Tis endless ruin, deep despair!" 5. Memory of past vows. "I have sworn, and I will perform it" (Psalm 119:106). II. HOW IT IS TO BE FULFILLED. Not merely by warm feelings at times of special devotion, or by words of endearment, or promise, or lavish praise; but by: 1. Bold confession of Christ before men. Wearing his uniform, marching under his banner, acknowledging him openly as King and Captain. 2. Union and communion with his people. In profession of his Name, in worship, at the Lord's table, in social life, etc. Christ is in his Church; they are his visible representatives; openly with them all should be who wish to be "in what place their Lord the King may be." 3. Visiting constantly the places where Christ is specially to be found, and avoiding those which he avoids. Frequenting the closet, the sanctuary, the houses of poor, sick, and dying brethren. Avoiding the haunts of dissipation and iniquity. Going nowhere where we cannot think with satisfaction that Christ is near and approving. 4. Active and zealous cooperation with Aim. Doing, daring, enduring, in promoting his kingdom and the welfare of mankind. "Always abounding in the work of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58). "Enduring hardship, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ" (2 Timothy 2:3). Pressing eagerly to the front with Christ where his battles are to be fought, as Ittai with David, regardless of difficulties, danger, or death. 5. Perseverance in all. Which is the crowning proof of the deep sincerity of the determination. III. THE REWARDS OF SUCH DEVOTEDNESS. 1. Now. Further opportunities of, calls to, and fitness for, service, suffering, and honour. "What his guerdon here?
Many a sorrow, many a labour,
Many a tear." But with these, the manifested presence of Christ, and his smile and words of approval; the pleasures which accompany the exercise of the powers in the noblest possible employment, and those which arise from association with the noblest of God's creatures in earth and heaven. 2. Hereafter. To be with Christ and share his glory and bliss evermore. "Enter into the joy of thy Lord" (Matthew 25:21). "If we endure, we shall also reign with him" (2 Timothy 2:12, Revised Version). - G.W. And Absalom rose up early in the morning. Lady Montague, speaking of gentle manners, remarked: "Civility costs nothing, but buys everything." Said Burleigh to Queen Elizabeth: "Win hearts, and you have the brains and the purses of all." Compare the description of Bolingbroke's behaviour which Shakespeare puts into the mouth of Richard II.: — "Ourself and Bushy, Bagel here and Green, Observed his courtship to the common people; How he did seem to dive into their hearts With humble and familiar courtesy, What reverence he did throw away on slaves, Wooing poor craftsmen with the craft of smiles." King Richard II., Acts 1, Sc. 4. () People Abiathar, Absalom, Ahimaaz, Ahithophel, Aram, Arkite, Cherethites, David, Gittites, Hushai, Israelites, Ittai, Jonathan, Kerethites, Levites, Pelethites, ZadokPlaces Aram, Gath, Geshur, Giloh, Hebron, Jerusalem, Kidron, Mount of OlivesTopics Answereth, Death, Gittite, Ittai, It'tai, Replied, Servant, Surely, Whatever, Wherever, WhetherOutline 1. Absalom, by fair speeches and courtesies, steals the hearts of Israel.
7. By pretense of a vow, he obtains leave to go to Hebron
10. He makes there a great conspiracy
13. David upon the news flees from Jerusalem
19. Ittai will leave him
24. Zadok and Abiathar are sent back with the ark
30. David and his company go up mount Olivet weeping,
31. He curses Ahithophel's counsel
32. Hushai is sent back with instructions
Dictionary of Bible Themes 2 Samuel 15:21 5523 servants, good
8304 loyalty 2 Samuel 15:19-21 5691 friends, good Library A Loyal Vow
'And the king's servants said unto the king, Behold, thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint.'--2 SAMUEL xv. 15. We stand here at the darkest hour of King David's life. Bowed down by the consciousness of his past sin, and recognising in the rebellion of his favourite son the divine chastisement, his early courage and buoyant daring seem to have ebbed from him wholly. He is forsaken by the mass of his subjects, he is preparing to abandon Jerusalem, and to flee as an …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureIttai of Gath
'And Ittai answered the king, and said, As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be.'--2 SAMUEL xv. 21. It was the darkest hour in David's life. No more pathetic page is found in the Old Testament than that which tells the story of his flight before Absalom. He is crushed by the consciousness that his punishment is deserved--the bitter fruit of the sin that filled all his later life …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Pardoned Sin Punished
'And It came to pass after this, that Absalom prepared him chariots and horses, and fifty men to run before him. 2. And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel. 3. And Absalom said unto him. See, thy matters are good and right; but there is no man deputed of the king to …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture Loyal to the Core
On the other hand, look at Ittai, perfectly free to go, but in order to end the controversy once for all, and to make David know that he does not mean to leave him, he takes a solemn oath before Jehovah his God, and he doubles it by swearing by the life of David that he will never leave him; in life, in death, he will be with him. He has cast in his lot with him for better and for worse, and he means to be faithful to the end. Old Master Trapp says, "All faithful friends went on a pilgrimage years …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 26: 1880 Following Christ
"And Ittai answered the king, and said, as the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be."--2 Samuel 15:21. SOME men have a very remarkable power of creating and sustaining friendship in others. David was a man brimming over with affection--a man, notwithstanding all his rough soldier-life, of an exceedingly tender heart--a man, I was about to say--the word was on my tongue--a man of vast …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 62: 1916 The Will of God
"Here am I, let Him do to me as seemeth good unto Him."--2 Sam. xv. 26. G. Ter Steegen. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 Thou sweet beloved Will of God, My anchor ground, my fortress hill, The Spirit's silent fair abode, In Thee I hide me and am still. O Will, that willest good alone, Lead Thou the way, Thou guidest best; A silent child, I follow on, And trusting, lean upon Thy Breast. God's Will doth make the bitter sweet, And all is well when it is done; Unless His Will doth hallow it, The glory …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series) A Light to Lighten the Gentiles
P. G. 2 Sam. xv. 19-22; John xii. 26 "Wherefore goest thou with me?" Said the king disowned-- Said the king despised, rejected, Disenthroned. "Go, return unto thy place, To thy king of yore-- Here a pilgrim and a stranger, Nothing more. "Not for thee the cities fair, Hills of corn and wine-- All was portioned ere thou camest, Nought is thine. "Wandering forth where'er I may, Exiled from mine own, Shame, rejection I can grant thee; That alone. "Turn and take thy brethren back, With thy people …
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen, Suso, and Others The Daily Walk with Others (iii. ).
Thrice happy they who at Thy side, Thou Child of Nazareth, Have learnt to give their struggling pride Into Thy hands to death: If thus indeed we lay us low, Thou wilt exalt us o'er the foe; And let the exaltation be That we are lost in Thee. Let me say a little on a subject which, like the last, is one of some delicacy and difficulty, though its problems are of a very different kind. It is, the relation between the Curate and his Incumbent; or more particularly, the Curate's position and conduct …
Handley C. G. Moule—To My Younger Brethren And V the Kingdom Undivided and the Kingdom Divided
THE HISTORICAL BOOKS: I and II Samuel. I and II Kings. I and II Chronicles. NOTE.--As these three pairs of books are so closely related in their historical contents, it is deemed best to study them together, though they overlap the two divisions of IV and V. I. CHARTS Chart A. General Contents +--+ " I AND II SAMUEL " +-------------+-----+------+ "Samuel "Saul "David " +-------------+-----+------+----------+ " " " " I AND II KINGS "NOTE.--Biblical …
Frank Nelson Palmer—A Bird's-Eye View of the Bible That Whereas the City of Jerusalem had Been Five Times Taken Formerly, this was the Second Time of Its Desolation. A Brief Account of Its History.
1. And thus was Jerusalem taken, in the second year of the reign of Vespasian, on the eighth day of the month Gorpeius [Elul]. It had been taken five [34] times before, though this was the second time of its desolation; for Shishak, the king of Egypt, and after him Antiochus, and after him Pompey, and after them Sosius and Herod, took the city, but still preserved it; but before all these, the king of Babylon conquered it, and made it desolate, one thousand four hundred and sixty-eight years and …
Flavius Josephus—The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem King of Kings and Lord of Lords
And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, K ING OF K INGS AND L ORD OF L ORDS T he description of the administration and glory of the Redeemer's Kingdom, in defiance of all opposition, concludes the second part of Messiah Oratorio. Three different passages from the book of Revelation are selected to form a grand chorus, of which Handel's title in this verse is the close --a title which has been sometimes vainly usurped by proud worms of this earth. Eastern monarchs, in particular, …
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2 Samuel
Alike from the literary and the historical point of view, the book[1] of Samuel stands midway between the book of Judges and the book of Kings. As we have already seen, the Deuteronomic book of Judges in all probability ran into Samuel and ended in ch. xii.; while the story of David, begun in Samuel, embraces the first two chapters of the first book of Kings. The book of Samuel is not very happily named, as much of it is devoted to Saul and the greater part to David; yet it is not altogether inappropriate, …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament Links 2 Samuel 15:21 NIV
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