This week, Dr Tong seemed to be especially moved by the fact that we have completed yet another half a year of ministry. When we started in October 2000, we have no idea about the future, and just proceeded as the LORD commanded. And now almost three years have passed, and by the LORD's provision, Dr Tong has proven that a verse-by-verse exposition of the Word would still attract a steady crowd so long as the preaching reflected the power of the Word. What people do not realise is that he is completing this same half-year segment in Taipei, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur as well, and immediately will launch into the US summer schedule without a break. The Singapore ministry is but a small portion of his overall workload. I often feel ashamed that we should complain so much about the tasks we have at hand, when the servant of God works ten times harder, and complains ten times less, if at all.

The lesson continued from last week, and Dr Tong wanted to look into two aspects of David's life - his being after God's own heart, and his failure in sin. The lesson last week was revised briefly, with Dr Tong emphasizing the goodness of David's heart in that although he was anointed as King, he had to endure persecution from Saul for decades (it would be at most 20 years, for David was only 30 when he ascended the throne). He had ample opportunities to kill Saul, and at one stage even sliced off a part of Saul's garment to demonstrate that, but he was loyal to the person whom he considered to be the anointed one of God till the very end. He repaid evil with good. He even mourned for Saul, and killed the man who claimed to have killed Saul.

At the same time, the patience of David was a clear example of the theology of waiting in action. Dr Tong said that few people understand this today. Jesus Christ understood all the laws when he was 12, but waited till he was 30 before he started his ministry. The apostle Paul was saved on the way to Damascus, but was in the wilderness for 3 years before he started his ministry. When Jesus Christ gave the disciples the great commission, they were told to wait in Jerusalem until they received the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to move in step with the Holy Spirit, not go ahead, or fall behind. Dr Tong said this is a very important aspect for the revival of the church - to do the right thing at the right time. We are not to create our own opportunities and take the glory of God. We are also not to waste time and fall behind, for the LORD will grant the grace to others. The foot steps of the Holy Spirit set the direction for the church.

The Bible says that David was a person after God's own heart (1 Sam 13:14), and this is the highest praise that God has given to any man. Dr Tong emphasized that David had a very special place in the heart of God, unique among all men; it was as if the nature of God could be found in the person David. If we were to observe how David behaved (when he was faithful of course), we would be able to see how God is like. Dr Tong believes that not only was David a man after God's own heart, he was a person who understood the heart of God, and sought to do the desires in the heart of God. Dr Tong illustrated this by saying that it is as if one has ten children (or ten students), all disobedient, but one among them could tell what the father wanted just by looking at him, and will immediately respond to his father even before any commands are given.

How did David understand the will of God? Why was he considered after God's own heart? Dr Tong said that David was so close with God that it was as if he was allowed to listen into the most intimate conversation of the Triune God, and have them recorded in the Psalms. David was the first person in history to point out the Father-Son relationship of the Triune God, first person to predict suffering, death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, the first to point out that Jesus is LORD. It was as if David heard the entire salvation plan discussed between God the Father and God the Son. He was the first, and the other prophets built their understanding upon David's understanding.

We are now familiar with the concept of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; but in the entire Bible, David was the first to understand this. It was not superficial understanding, but an in-depth understanding. His psalms were qualitatively different from other psalms, as they contain revelations about Christ, salvation, the incarnate, and the first recognition of the Trinitarian nature of God. The only person comparable to David's access to God would be the apostle Paul, who said that he had an experience in the 3rd heaven and knew of the deep mysteries of Christ.

The first clear indication of the special knowledge of David came from Psalm 110:1 "The LORD says to my LORD". We all know the first LORD to be God, the Creator of heaven and earth. But who is the second LORD? Jesus Christ gave the answer when He asked the same question of the Pharisees in Matthew 22:41 on how the Son of David (who is the Christ) can also be the LORD of David. The answer lies in the great mystery of God incarnate, God being in the flesh. But the Jews never understood this, even a thousand years after David wrote the 110th Psalm. This was why Christ was often frustrated about the slowness of the people in understanding the truth of God. It was quite obvious actually, since the Jews would use the word LORD only on God (and be so fearful about writing about God that they would wash their hands and stand up straight while writing Adonai - LORD. This strict adherence to the accuracy and fear of the LORD led to a highly accurate scripture, verified by the discover of the Dead Sea scrolls in 1947), which meant that this Christ, the descendant of David, is God incarnate. Of all humanity, David understood first. He was privy to God's special revelation to him, first among man.

David wrote 2 main types of Psalms. The first would be psalms of praise. The second were messianic psalms like Psalm 2, 16, 22, 23, 24, 34, 40 and others. All these were original with the revelation given to David first by the Spirit (Matthew 22:43). These psalms tell us that Christ is the begotten of God, He would suffer, be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, be crucified, not have a single bone in his body broken, dead, be buried in a rich man's grave, be not decayed, be resurrected, and be ascended into heaven, be given all nations, be made King in Zion, be judge over the world. These psalms again show the intimacy David had with God. Dr Tong affirm that Psalm 23 is not simply a self-consoling psalm, but is messianic in nature. Psalm 22 is on the suffering Christ ("My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"), Psalm 23 the resurrected Christ ("He walked through the valley of the shadow of death... He did not stay there"), and Psalm 24 ("Be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in") the ascended and victorious Christ. Psalm 40 spoke about Christ being the person who fulfills all these ("it is written about me in the scroll").

We have been so influenced by David and his writing that even in the Apostle's Creed, we reflect his writing ("He ascended to heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God" - as in Psalm 110). Dr Tong emphasized that these are not mere coincidence and insisted that the probability of Christ fulfilling all the prophecies would be near absolute zero. For example, when Christ was crucified, the Romans wanted to bring down the bodies of the crucified so that they do not have work on the Sabbath. So they would chop off the legs of the crucified so that they can bleed to death faster. But Christ died first, so none of his bones were broken, as prophesized (Psalm 34:20). Dr Tong said that no poets can have influence that exceeded that of David, because their works were in relation with man or nature, but David was a man after God's own heart, and wrote about the relationship between man and God.

Dr Tong then spoke about David's failure. When a giant falls, it is a frightening thing. Dr Tong defined a great person as a person with great talents, great accomplishment and great errors. It is as if you apply a magnifying glass on something, and all things get magnified, including the weaknesses and errors. Dr Tong related the incident of Bathesba and David, and how David murdered Uriah and took Bathesba. He fell because he has forgotten to be after God's heart, and went after his own flesh and heart. But Bathesba was also not an entirely faithful person because she hinted to David to take her as wife after Uriah had died. Dr Tong remarked that Christian women should be careful about their modesty, for they will also be held responsible for having seduced a man with their immodest dressing or their carelessness.

The day David went after his own heart was the day God would not want to talk to him anymore. So the prophet Nathan was told by God to rebuke David. The prophet was bold and courageous and dared to speak against the King, unlike most of us today. David repented immediately and he wrote Psalm 32, 51, the most important psalms of repentance.

Dr Tong said that the hardest question for him personally would be why God would allowed Bathesba to be part of the ancestry of Jesus Christ. He cannot understand why Solomon (and thus Christ) came through Bathesba because it calls upon questions of whether one's marriage can be a mistake. But the whole episode of David illustrated that God has mercy and compassion, and by His mercy, complete recovery is impossible; but God's justice will still prevail, which was why David's descendants had to suffer under the sword as predicted by Nathan, and David himself had to suffer the humiliation of having his son violate his concubines in front of the Israelites (2 Sam 16:22).

Dr Tong ended by saying that he is still not done with David, and would continue in the next session because there are just too many lessons to learn from David. He concluded by reminding all that if we want to be after God's own heart like David was, we need to know what His heart is like. And His Word would tell us that. Like a mirror, we must use it daily to know where we have gone wrong, to repent and to lead a holy life, a life that is pleasing to Him and after His own heart.

Dr Tong has gone to the USA to begin a hectic series of lecturing and gospel rallies for the whole month of July. You can read of his schedule at www.stephentong.org under the news segment. Do remember to uphold the servant of God in your prayers.

Disclaimer: This summary does NOT represent the official position of STEMI (Stephen Tong Evangelistic Ministry International), and is the personal opinion of the author, expressed without prejudice. Expressed opinions are meant for academic discussions only.