What a king should do ㅡ Ps 60 ㅡ

The original Korean text: https://blog.naver.com/stevision/50103095895

 

>> 1 O God, thou hast rejected us, broken our defenses; thou hast been angry; oh, restore us. .... 4 Thou has set up a banner for those who fear thee, to rally to it from the bow. 5 That thy beloved may be delivered, give victory by thy right hand and answer us! ... 7 Gilead is mine (God’s); Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my scepter. 8 Moab is my washbasin; upon Edom I cast my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph. ... 10 Hast thou not rejected us, O God? Thou dost not go forth, O God, with our armies. 11 O grant us help against the foe, for vain is the help of man! (Ps 60) <<

 

Any one who thinks that he stands must take heed lest he fall (1 Cor 10:12). The summit is always a precarious place. People often fall because their minds get loose after they succeeded in something or achieved a goal. Saul became a king and got relaxed; so he couldn't properly hand over the throne to his descendants, and his house ruined. Solomon could overcome his brothers and became a king, but his end was not so good. Why did these happen? Because the goals were not set properly. We can avoid failure if our goal is not admission but graduation. It's not important to inherit the throne; it is much more important to become what kind of king, to leave what kind of achievements, and to retire honorably. The day you were ordained is not important, but the day you retire after having worked for God unto death and born many good fruits is more important. How unfortunate it would be if you die in severe condemnation for having lived as a greedy pastor and hurt God's glory!

 

What is it that a king should do? Is it to have one thousand wives and to boast of wealth and honor like Solomon? Is it to envy your faithful servant and to seek only to kill him like Saul? What is it that a pastor should do? Is it to engage yourself in the fierce struggle for a high position in the church like Guk-do Kim (김국도)? (이 게시물이 명예훼손이라며 게시금지 요청을 하는 자와 그 자손에게 하늘의 저주가 임할지어다!) God abhors such corrupted kings and pastors. On the day when God calls you as his servant, your prayer must be changed. "My God, let my life be successful by successful ministry of preaching! My God, let me not be a hired shepherd! Help me to love your sheep with all my soul and strength as Jesus did!" If you pray to God like this every day, God sees the center of you heart and guides you as you prayed to him, so that you can achieve a successful ministry.

 

David was a wise man. What he did after becoming king over all Israel was 'what a king should do'. David diligently built up military strength and eagerly went to war in order to build Israel on the firm and immovable rock. Israel had been frequently attacked by neighboring nations before David became king. Israel had neighbors ㅡ Syria to the north, Ammon and Moab to the east, Philistia to the west; they were harassing Israel. David fought hard (waged wars) with them, subdued them, and made them pay tributes. David's son Solomon could build the temple of God without being invaded by them thanks to David who had conquered the neighboring countries and set his kingdom in peace. To build the temple of God was too great a mission for David who was laying the foundation of the nation. Therefore God stopped David when he said he would build a temple for God. God did so because it was impossible for David. God does not allow us to do something even if we want, when we lack the ability.

 

Today's word of God, Ps 60, was written by David when Edom, a south kingdom, attacked Israel, taking advantage of the war that David had made with Syria, a north kingdom, during which (during the war with Edom) Joab, David's servant, went to the southern front and killed 12 thousand Edomite soldiers. Yes, my brethren! The first thing a king must do is to lead his troops to the battlefield and to win the war so that he may keep his kingdom and people. If a king, neglecting that important duty, gives himself up to wine, women, and dirty entertainment, kills servants who speak rightly, takes bribes, and sides with the wicked; he will severely pay for it soon. David, a king, made himself a prudent king, and in the history of Israel there have never been times more prosperous and dignified than the days of David. Fighting against a common external enemy, a nation has few internal conflicts. When David knew the true enemies and led the noble and the common rightly, the nation was one, and its power reached to the ends of the world. But if a king, like Saul, makes some of his people his enemies, he will be attacked from inside and outside, and his throne will be shaken and taken away. Solomon exploited his people to satisfy his greed and became the enemy of the people, so that he lost plenty of the land of his kingdom when his son was a king.

 

Why is Korean Christianity losing its power and staggering these days? Leaders of the church do not fight against the common enemies, but are struggling against one another for the gathering of a lot of saints and for high positions in the church (in the denomination). While they struggling for that, the churches are divided, hurt one another, and are criticized and mocked by people in the world. Is the church powerful now? Does it subdue the world (the neighboring countries) and receive honor (tribute) from it (like David)? Just as idolatry prevailed in Israel because idols of the neighboring countries came into Israel while Solomon endeavored strategic international marriage lest there should be war, so Christianity has been corrupted when lazy unmatured pastors and theologians, who are mamma's boys, who dislike evangelizing the world, give up preaching the pure gospel to other religions, but are enthusiastic about cultural exchange with other religions. Some theologians bring the ideas of other religion into theology and corrupt it. My brethren, do not imitate Solomon who failed. To avoid spiritual warfare means just to want to become one with idols. Korean Christian leaders should not make the members of the church their enemies like Saul, nor seek after splendid wealth and honor and exploit the sheep of the Lord like Solomon, but should do their best to conquer the enemies outside the church like Joshua and David. They should focus all the strength and ability of the church on the evangelization of the world.

 

My brethren, God is One who works. He is never an idle one who, being idle, takes fruits produced naturally and eats them. God, the King of all kings, is One who works with all his might for the salvation of the elect, for the expansion of the church, and for the completion of the kingdom of heaven. He is always at war with the power of the Devil. He plants believers in the world and builds churches in the world to expand his kingdom through them. "Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine. (v. 7)" This means that God takes possession of Israel, and that he will never yield this land to the gentiles. My brethren, God is never one who just looks on while the foundation of the church disappears. He never tolerates that the church, his possession, is conquered, and that Christians are conquered in the world. My brethren, can you accept that another man takes possession of your land by force? Will you just see the robbery and accept it? You'll never be a man like that! Can you accept it if you are driven out from your house by your neighbor, and he takes your house? Perhaps you'll say, "Rather kill me!" The same holds to God. It is an unbearable grievous defeat to God if the church's power recedes from its territory. "Ephraim is my helmet. (v. 7)" Why does God put a helmet on his head(!)? Because he himself is carrying out the hardest work in the world, or the war. Ephraim is the strongest of the tribes of Israel. Ephraim is a tool that protects the head of God who himself is at war with others. Yes, my brethren. Those who have power should use that power to protect the church. If you have great knowledge, wisdom, wealth, and status, you must protect the church and put what you have into the spiritual war. Ephraim was a competent worker in the eyes of God. My brethren, I hope that you work hard and achieve great works and success, and become a man of great ability to be a precious instrument of God. "Judah is my scepter. (v. 7)" The scepter is the symbol of a king. David became a king, and the tribe of Judah assumed the role of the representative of God, the King. This passage shows us clearly that David, as the commander-in-chief, wages wars indeed, but that in fact it is God who is waging wars through David. When we divide Israel into North Israel and South Judah, North Israel is sometimes called Ephraim. In that case, the passage means that God wages war against the gentiles, using Judah as his scepter, the other tribes as his helmet. Like this, God used Ephraim as his helmet and Judah as his scepter to keep his kingdom and to wage war against the gentiles in the days of Old Testament. So does he today. God comes upon the church in the Holy Spirit, and wages spiritual war, using various members of the church as his tools, pastors as his scepter, saints as his helmet. God is so busy working these days, but who are you that do nothing but keep sitting comfortably?

 

"Moab is my washbasin; upon Edom I cast my shoe. (v. 8)" In this passage, God is saying that he will never be defeated by gentile nations, but will surely subdue them. David, the king of Israel who was an instrument of God, heard this saying and was encouraged very much, so he waged war against gentiles with faith, and defeated enemies at all battles. Yes, my brethren! The war was the war of God, and the mighty God could never be defeated, therefore David and all Israel marched to the battlefield, the winner of which had already been determined to be Israel. And we must keep in mind that, although the world is under the power of heathen nations, it belongs to God, and God uses Israel as his instrument to wage war in order to bring the world under his rule. The same is true about the church. The church is a military instrument of God who uses it when he conquers the world. Jesus said, "I have overcome the world. (Jn 16:33)" And he said to us, "You shall be my witnesses to the end of the earth. (Acts 1:8)"

 

Finally, what then is a king to do? It is to become 'the scepter of God the King'. A scepter is to a king what a staff is to Moses. A scepter itself has not personality or will. A scepter just says that the owner of the scepter is the king. No will means that it 100% obeys him who is holding it. In other words, a king should be God's representative who only carries out God's will. David acknowledged God as his King and considered himself as his servant. When David showed such an attitude, all things went well with him, and all Israelites, and even kings of neighboring countries surrendered to David and served him. No wonder! God gave the king who feared him the highest place in the world. In Korea also, pastors who have devoted themselves to the magnification of God's glory eventually receive much respect. David regarded God as his King, so he could pray, "Deliver thy beloved (v. 5). Why don't you, O God, go with our armies (v. 10)? O grant us help against the foe (v. 11)."

 

Church leaders, be the scepter of God; saints, be the helmet of God!

 

Chong Tack Kim

                              - Dongtoma Sunshine Church -