Amidst
all the sorrow on which we have just been gazing, there shines out the faithful
love of Ittai the Gittite. You remember that Goliath also was a Gittite, so
Ittai and Goliath originally came from the same place, Gath, and perhaps were
friends. I like to think, though of course I may be quite wrong, that Ittai was
first attracted to David when he slew the champion on whom Ittai had trusted.
Later David went taking with him Goliath’s sword. Little wonder they did not
receive him as a friend, and that David had to feign himself mad to escape; but
once again Ittai must have seen, or heard, of the one he was later to follow.
On towards the end of his wanderings, David’s faith and patience seem to have
failed, and once more he turns to Gath for refuge.
This
time he is received by the king, and given a city in which to live; indeed
Achish promises to make David the “keeper of mine heard forever.” Chapters 27,
28. Was it during these days of rejection that Ittai learned to know and love
David? We know not certainly whether this were so or not; but we may suppose
such was the case. And Ittai takes all his men and all his little ones, and
leaves the land of the Philistines, his native land, attracted (not by the
prosperity of the land of Israel) but by the person of Israel’s king. How long
he enjoyed the prosperity of the land we know not, it was “but yesterday” he
came, as David expressed it. And now the king is once more driven out, and
again tastes what it is to be rejected. Most of Israel side with the rebel, but
there is not a moment’s hesitation with Ittai. He and all his men and his
little ones at once leave the land of their adoption to follow the rejected
King wherever he may lead. The King says to him, “Wherefore goest thou also
with us? Return to thy place, and abide with the king: for thou art a stranger
and also an exile. Whereas thou camest but yesterday, should I this day make
thee go up and down with us? seeing I go whiter I may, return thou, and take
back thy brethren; mercy and truth be with thee.” How our hearts thrill at the
answer, “As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king shall be, whether in death
or life, even there also will thy servant be.” It reminds us of Ruth’s answer
to Naomi. Both were Gentile strangers. It was the mighty power of love that had
drawn and won and filled completely their hearts, so that land and kindred were
left behind without a thought. Well did they know the meaning of the words: “He
that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that
loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not
his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37-38.)
What
must that reply of Ittai’s meant to David’s heart at that moment? His reply is
so short: “Go and pass over.” Not one word of thanks or praise. Why was this? I
think David’s heart was too full for words at that moment; and Ittai
understood. There are times when heart enters into heart so closely that words
are not needed, indeed they only jar, and are out of place.
And
so “Ittai the Gittite passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones
that were with him.” And that night when the little ones bed time came, there
were no warm cozy beds; but on and on they walked, down those steep, wild hills
to the river Jordan, and on through its dark waters in the dead of night; how
strange it must all have been! I can hear those little ones: “Daddy, where are
we going? Why did we leave our house, Daddy?” And Ittai answers: “We are
following the King!” That is enough, and I venture to say the hearts of those
little ones are riveted to their King with bonds of love that never can be
broken.
Oh,
my dear ones, seek to lead your little darlings to know and love their King;
seek to win their affections for Him while they are still little. Do you
suppose those children pined for the comforts and ease and luxury of the home
they had left behind, when with their parents they wandered, following the
King? Even to a child, such a thought would be scouted as utterly unworthy.
“Wherefore
goest thou with me?”
Said the
king disowned-
Said the
king, despised, rejected,
Disenthroned.
“Go,
return unto thy place,
To thy
king or yore-
Here a
pilgrim and a stranger,
Nothing
more.
“Not for
thee the cities fair,
Hills of
corn and wine-
All was
portioned ere thou camest,
Nought is
thine.
“Wandering
forth where’er I may,
Exiled
from mine own,
Shame,
rejection I can grant thee;
That
alone.
“Turn and
take thy brethren back,
With thy
people dwell;
I have
loved thee, I, the outcast;
Fare thee
well.”
Then unto
the crownless king
On the
Kedron’s shore,
All the
wilderness before him,
Ittai
swore,
“As the
Lord lives and the king,
Ever lord
to me,
Where in
death or life he dwelleth
I will
be.”
“Go-pass
over”, spake the king;
Then
passed Ittai o’er;
Passed
into the place of exile
From the
shore.
He and all
his little ones,
Granted by
that word,
Shame,
rejection, homeless wandering
With their
lord.
“Go – pass
over”, words of grace,
Spoken,
Lord, to me,
That, in death
or life, where Thou art
I might
be.
Dead and
crucified with Thee,
Passed
beyond my doom;
Sin and
law forever silenced
In thy
tomb.
Passed
beyond the mighty curse,
Dead, from
sin set free;
Not for
Thee earth’s joy and music,
Not for
me.
Dead; the
sinner past and gone,
Not the
sin alone;
Living
where Thou art in glory,
On the
throne.
Hidden
there with Christ in God,
That blest
life I share;
Christ it
is Who liveth in me-
Liveth
there.
“He Who
serves Me”, spake His lips,
“Let him
follow Me,
And where
I am shall My servant
Ever be.”
Follow,
where His steps lead on,
Through
the golden street;
Far into
the depths of glory
Track His
feet.
Till unto
the throne of God,
Of the
Lamb, I come;
There to
share the blessed welcome,
Welcome
home!
There with
Him Whom man rejected,
In the
light above,
Those whom
God His Father honors,
Such His love.
(Paul Gerhardt)