THE KING’S BUSINESS
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ing his money and his manhood upon that which is not bread and does not satisfy. The things of this world neither feed nor satisfy. Nothing is true bread and noth ing really satisfies but Christ (John 6135). By “hearkening diligently -unto” God we eat that which is good and our soul delights itself in fatness. There is no fatness to be found like that, which is found in the Word (cf. Ex. 15:26; Deut. 11:13-15; Prov. 8:22; Rom. 10:17). Hearkening unto the Word of God brings abundant blessings (Ps.' 36:8; 63:5). v. 3. “Incline your ear, and come unto me: (;) hear and your soul shall live; (■') and I will make an everlasting cov enant with you, even the sure mercies of David” If we would find blessing we must incline our ear to God’s word and come unto Him. We are not to come merely to a creed, but to a Person (cf. Matt. 11:28- 30). The unregenerate man inclines his ear more unto Satan than unto God. The result of hearing God will be that our souls shall live (cf. John 5:24, 25; Rom. 10:17), but this hearing must be mixed with faith (Heb. 4:2). All who are of God do hear His word (John 8:47; 10:27). Not only shall those who hear live, but God will make an everlasting covenant with them just like His sure covenant with David, which never was nor can be broken (cf. Jer. 31:31-34). This everlasting cov enant is the covenant of everlasting life and guarantees that the believer shall never perish. (John 10:28, 29). It is like unto the sure mercies promised unto and ful filled unto David (2^Sam. 7:12-16; 23:5; Ps. 89:28, 35-37; Jer. 33:20, 21). v. 4. “Behold I have given him for a witness to the people (peoples), a leader and commander to the people (peoples).” David was a witness and a leader and a commander, a witness of God’s truth and to His faithfulness, 'and one who led and commanded God’s people. The real David is David’s greater son, the Messiah, Jesus the Christ. (Ezek. 37:24, 25; Acts 13:24). v, 5. "Behold, thou shalt call a nation
that thou knowest not, and nations (a nation) that knew not thee shall run unto thee (add ,) because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.” The result for Israel of having such a leader would be that they would call the Gentile nations (cf. ch. 11:10, 11; Ps. 18:43; Gen. 49:10; Isa. 60:1-5; Zech. 8:20, 23). The nations will run into Israel because of the Lord their God. The title here given to God “The Holy One of Israel” is characteristic of the prophecy of Isaiah. He learned it in the vision that he had of Jehovah as the Holy One, recorded, in Isaiah 6:1-3. v. 6 . “Seek ye the LORD, while He may be found, call ye upon him while he is near”- Here is a command for all people in all ages. It sets forth the way of bless ing. To “seek Jehovah” means to seek His favor and His help (1 Chron. 28:9; 2 Chron. 19:3; Amos 5:4-6; Job 8:4, 5; Ps. 27:8; Jer. 29:12-14; 2 Chron. 7:14). If we are to find the Lord we must seek Him “while He may be found.” A time is coming when He cannot be found (Luke 13:24-27). The only sure way to find Him is right now (2 Cor. 6:29; Prov. 27:1; 29:1)] v. 7. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return, unto the LORD and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God for he will abundantly > pardon.” This verse' is closely connected with the preced ing verse. Verse 7 is separated from verse 6 only by a colon, not by a period, and verse 7 explains verse 6 :.it shows how to seek the Lord. The first step in seek ing the Lord is to forsake sin, Every man has turned to his own way (Isa. 5 3 : 6 ) : and to find God’s favor he must give up.his own way, and take God’s way. But we must not only give up our own ways and take God s ways: we must also give up our own “thoughts”, and accept God’s thoughts. It is fa r harder to give up our thoughts of which we are proud, than it is to forsake our ways of which we are often ashamed. But we must accept God’s
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