2 Samuel 19:10

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‘Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?’

2 Samuel 19:10

The rebells had not hesitated to bring what they thought would be the good tidings to the king. Yet a plaintive cry went up from him when he realised the fullness of the news. Little could the people realise the joy of victory or what it meant, and they sent messengers to him one after another, and they held consultations between themselves; and then we come to these words: ‘Why therefore speak ye not a word of bringing the king back?’ There is a spiritual truth in these words which appeals very continuously to some of us.

I. Rebellion against the King.—Realising that Jesus Christ Himself is our lawful King, our Sovereign, and Saviour, may we ask ourselves what our position is in respect to Him? Many of these men had been rebels against the king; they had ranged themselves on the side of Absalom, and were willing to cast in their lot with his. But, rebels as they were, there now came the opportunity of owning their allegiance to the true king. Is it not possible for us to be rebels against our Lord Jesus Christ Himself? We may set something or somebody else up in our hearts to the exclusion of Himself; we may not own Him to be our Lord. If that be the case—if any of us are conscience-stricken and feel that we have been rebels against our Lord and against His kingdom—shall we speak the word to bring Him back to us? The word must be (a) a word of penitence, (b) a word of prayer, (c) a word of faith.

II. Separation from the King.—Or there may be many of us who have not, at any rate consciously, been rebels against our Lord Jesus Christ, but who nevertheless feel that there has been something which has separated us from Him. We know that no longer are we enjoying communion with Him. It seems as though He were a long way from us. We realise not His presence with all the joy, and hope, and light which that presence brought us in the days gone by. It seems that everything is miserable that once was joy.

III. To bring the King back.—‘Why therefore speak ye not a word of bringing the King back?’ Do you think He will come back? Yes; speak the word to bring the King back, for He is wanted now. If we have forgotten Him, He has not forgotten us. If we have been weak in our own love, if we have been an easy prey to our spiritual foes, speak the word to bring Him back. Send a message through prayer to the King to ask Him to come back to the heart from which He has been expelled. Ask Him to return with all the light and joy and sunshine which ever come from His presence with us.

—Prebendary Pennefather.

Illustration

‘We remember, for instance, the time when we could kneel down and pray; or we remember the time when we used to delight to read God’s Word; or we remember when we could realise His presence in our daily life; or we remember when our communions were seasons of joy and spiritual refreshment; or we look back and recollect how we believed that He was not only in the world somewhere, but we believed that He was with us, we felt more joy in doing some work for Him, no matter how feeble it might be. Those were the bright, happy days of our spiritual life. But somehow or other there has been a change. We have lost the happiness which once we had, and things are not so clear and easy as they once seemed to be. We find ourselves walking in the darkness, groping our way and stumbling. We find all sorts of difficulties staring us in the face. We do not believe in prayer now, or, if we do, we do not pray; and we do not read God’s Holy Word, and we have given up our communions, or, if we still attend, it is merely a matter of form. How is it? Many of us, I think, find it very difficult to hold on. We find it so easy to go back. It is so difficult always to realise the presence of the King with us, and there are so many distractions in this world, there are so many influences brought to bear upon us.’