David said to Michal, “It was the LORD, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over Israel: therefore will I play before the LORD. And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honor” (2 Sam. 6:21-23).
The word “vile” is translated several ways in the KJV. One common use is “cursed.” For example, Goliath “cursed” David by his gods. And the word “base” is most often translated “humble” or “low.”
Therefore, can we, in David, see our blessed, all-glorious Savior, who made Himself of no reputation, and yet for this, in the eyes of His Church, the “handmaidens of the servants in His kingdom,” is all-glorious for His humility and condescending stoop to take our sins, make them His own, and engage in the battle to gain His victory and ours over His enemies and ours: our sin, satan and this present evil world (Heb. 1:3; Gal. 1:4; Titus 2:14; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8; 8:1-11; Luke 1:68-75; Micah 7:18-20)? Do we see His majesty in all of this (Heb. 1:3; 8:1; 10:12)? He is the One so loved, chosen, honored and exalted over all by our great God and Father, and by His conquest in death is made King and Lord over all things for the Church (Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:12-18; John 17:19; Psalm 2:6-12; 89:27; Dan. 7:13-14; Acts 2:30-36; 1 Pet. 1:10-12; 3:22). Yet, despite Christ’s beauty in His shame and curse for our sakes, in Michal, we see the proud, self-righteous heart of that wife of flesh only. She was Saul’s daughter. She portrays Israel after flesh (John 3:6), the unbelieving thief on the cross (Luke 23:39), the unbelieving heart of natural man. By her, Christ is despised for the very act by which in the eyes of the Church He so gloriously triumphed when by Himself He purged our sins and brought the ark to Jerusalem, which is Christ and Him crucified, the basis of His reign at God’s right hand as Son of Man, and His honor in the sight of His saints before the onlooking universe (Php. 2:5-11).
How this event and Michal’s words to David makes me shudder to think, but for the grace of God, I would despise Christ in His work on the cross! Therefore I pray, “Lord, give me a heart to see and admire Christ crucified above all, as the believing thief on the cross did (Luke 23:40-43), as the Apostle Paul did (Gal. 6:14), as all of your redeemed do (Php. 3:3). And let me thus seeing, worship my Savior as Lord and King of all! Do not let my corrupt, legal nature gain the ascendancy to steer my thoughts of you into the ditch, but by your grace, with your people (Psalm 106:4-5), let me see Christ as all-glorious, triumphant, because He finished the work to save His sinful people, and reigns to save them to the uttermost. Let me see my own salvation in Him!
Consider also, in light of this, Isaiah 63:1-9, in which our Lord is foreseen trampling under foot those who trust their works, and the kingdom of satan to which they belong, all for His redeemed, those for whose sake He was afflicted in all their afflictions (Isaiah 63:9; Psalm 65:3).
The word “vile” is translated several ways in the KJV. One common use is “cursed.” For example, Goliath “cursed” David by his gods. And the word “base” is most often translated “humble” or “low.”
Therefore, can we, in David, see our blessed, all-glorious Savior, who made Himself of no reputation, and yet for this, in the eyes of His Church, the “handmaidens of the servants in His kingdom,” is all-glorious for His humility and condescending stoop to take our sins, make them His own, and engage in the battle to gain His victory and ours over His enemies and ours: our sin, satan and this present evil world (Heb. 1:3; Gal. 1:4; Titus 2:14; Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8; 8:1-11; Luke 1:68-75; Micah 7:18-20)? Do we see His majesty in all of this (Heb. 1:3; 8:1; 10:12)? He is the One so loved, chosen, honored and exalted over all by our great God and Father, and by His conquest in death is made King and Lord over all things for the Church (Eph. 1:22-23; Col. 1:12-18; John 17:19; Psalm 2:6-12; 89:27; Dan. 7:13-14; Acts 2:30-36; 1 Pet. 1:10-12; 3:22). Yet, despite Christ’s beauty in His shame and curse for our sakes, in Michal, we see the proud, self-righteous heart of that wife of flesh only. She was Saul’s daughter. She portrays Israel after flesh (John 3:6), the unbelieving thief on the cross (Luke 23:39), the unbelieving heart of natural man. By her, Christ is despised for the very act by which in the eyes of the Church He so gloriously triumphed when by Himself He purged our sins and brought the ark to Jerusalem, which is Christ and Him crucified, the basis of His reign at God’s right hand as Son of Man, and His honor in the sight of His saints before the onlooking universe (Php. 2:5-11).
How this event and Michal’s words to David makes me shudder to think, but for the grace of God, I would despise Christ in His work on the cross! Therefore I pray, “Lord, give me a heart to see and admire Christ crucified above all, as the believing thief on the cross did (Luke 23:40-43), as the Apostle Paul did (Gal. 6:14), as all of your redeemed do (Php. 3:3). And let me thus seeing, worship my Savior as Lord and King of all! Do not let my corrupt, legal nature gain the ascendancy to steer my thoughts of you into the ditch, but by your grace, with your people (Psalm 106:4-5), let me see Christ as all-glorious, triumphant, because He finished the work to save His sinful people, and reigns to save them to the uttermost. Let me see my own salvation in Him!
Consider also, in light of this, Isaiah 63:1-9, in which our Lord is foreseen trampling under foot those who trust their works, and the kingdom of satan to which they belong, all for His redeemed, those for whose sake He was afflicted in all their afflictions (Isaiah 63:9; Psalm 65:3).
Rick Warta
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