2 Samuel 23:4 And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun rises, even a morning without clouds… It is generally allowed that, the Authorised Version is not very happy here, and that the true idea of the passage is got by reading it as a vision — a bright vision of a glorious Ruler, as it rose before the entranced sight of the psalmist. The form of this Ruler is projected before him; He is one who is "righteous," and who "rules in the fear of God." A Divine radiance goes from Him, diffusing a silvery brightness on every side. "As the light of the morning!" exclaims the psalmist, recalling the welcome sight of the purple dawn after a dark and stormy night. By-and-by "the sun ariseth," rejoicing like a strong man to run a race. It is "a morning without clouds"; there is nothing to obstruct the influence of the orb of day as he scatters his treasures from his golden chariot. See how his beams fall on "the tender grass," making it sparkle with diamonds and pearls! This was King David's last vision — the vision of a ruler appearing on earth, worthy of these glorious emblems. Who can this Ruler be? Not Solomon, not Jehoshaphat, not Hezekiah: for though these and other kings were noble rulers, they did not come up to the high eulogy of David; neither were they "rulers over men" as such, but only over a small section of them — David's own kingdom, if even the whole of that. The Ruler of the vision has a wider dominion, and belongs to a nobler order. There are few things that strike the imagination more, or that dwell more vividly in the memory than a beautiful sunrise in an Alpine country. The Alpine horn wakens you in the early morning, and, flushed with the expectation of a rare enjoyment, you hasten to the spot where the view is to be seen. Your patience is somewhat taxed as the minutes slowly pass, and no sun appears. But as you look, the flush of dawn begins to brighten the sky, and now, just over the dark mountain range in the east, you see a speck of ruby peering, brighter than any gem. Quickly broadens into a slender bow, then to a golden semicircle, and in a few more seconds the round globe itself stands above the horizon. And what a glory it spreads over mountain and valley, over lake and river! What a transformation of the dull dark globe, now bright with a hundred hues and sparkling with a thousand smiles! Not only are your eyes feasted, but your soul is thrilled with a holy emotion; your mind carries you to a brighter transformation, to the thought of the new heaven and the new earth, and of the great Resurrection morn, when they that dwell in dust shall awake and sing, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads! In the imagery of the vision our Lord is compared to light; and it is interesting to note the successive touches by which the image grows in brilliancy. First, He is as "the light" — the most cheering and reviving, the most beautiful and beautifying of earthly things. Then He is as the light of "the morning," for morning light is more cheerful and reviving than any other. Then the great fountain of light, the sun, comes into view, suggesting inexhaustible fulness. And lastly, it. is a morning "without clouds," there is nothing to obscure or interrupt the light in its passage to earth; it falls on the face of Nature in an unbroken flood, giving radiance and beauty to every object; and "there is nothing hid from the heat thereof." 1. It is indeed a gloomy experience when one first feels what it is to be a sinner, and first knows oneself to be a sinner — a great sinner — in the Sight of God. What the Holy Spirit brings home to one may not be dark flagrant acts of sin, but the fact of one's rebellious will — one's systematic disregard of the holy will of God. Young Bruce of Kinnaird, three hundred years ago, declared that he would rather wade through a stream of boiling lead half a mile long than endure what befell him one night in the house of Airth, when the Holy Spirit was convincing him of sin. But when one apprehends the true meaning of the Baptist's call — "Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world" — is it not as if one passed into the light of the morning? 2. There is another gloomy experience to which many are subject after they have entered on the Christian life — the sense of indwelling sin, of the perpetual activity of evil desires, giving birth to a sad contrast between their souls and those saintly, angelic, Christ-like, beings whom they have sometimes met with, or about whom they have read. "Oh, wretched men that we are!" they sometimes cry, "who shall deliver us?" St. Paul was far in the depths when he uttered that groan. But hardly was it uttered when the light of the morning burst on him — "I thank God, through Jesus Christ." He saw in Jesus Christ, over and above His atoning merit, a sanctifying grace capable of renewing him wholly, and he thanked God. 3. A third gloomy experience of Christians is that which often arises from the trials and troubles of life. There are St. Sebastians in this world whom God seems to make a target for all His arrows: all His waves and billows seem to pass over them. There is a tradition that once a great painter, seeing a rough block of white marble, said, "I see an angel imprisoned in that stone; but I will set him free." It was his way of saying that out of the rough block he would carve the form of an angel. But what an infinite amount of labour, what innumerable strokes of the hammer and touches of the chisel, were needed to fulfil the task! Certainly the task of turning the human soul into a pure unsullied spirit is not an easier one. We may be helped here by another emblem of the text — "Clear shining after rain." Heavy rain, pelting fiercely during the night, batters the tender grass, seems rude, and reckless, arid destructive; but the morning sun not only makes the grass bright, but helps it to rise and helps it to grow; and in a little while the grass is stronger and richer than ever. I knew an eminent Christian, in a prominent position, who said that on looking back on his life he saw that the times of sorest trial — of trials that seemed as if they would crush him utterly were the very times when he got most spiritual good; it was out of such weakness that he was made strong. 4. We note one other gloomy experience against which Jesus is emphatically as the light of the morning — that which is bred under the shadow of death. This is probably due to that feebler faith in the unseen and eternal, in heaven and hell, in rewards and punishments, which marks the present age. But for oneself, and for all who die in the Lord, how welcome is the vision of Him who is as the light of the morning! Jesus has Himself died. O Light of the morning! how welcome is Thy rising to all who have eyes to see! Arise and shine on all the dark places of the earth. Again and again let these words be verified: "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light!" (The Quiver.) Parallel Verses KJV: And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. |
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