David's Reflection On The Vanity Of The Creature

Adapted From A Sermon By

Philip Doddridge

I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad.

(Psalms 119:96 ESV)

This morning we turn our hearts to Psalm 119:96 as we consider the theme, “David’s Reflection On The Vanity Of The Creature.” Adapted from a sermon by Philip Doddridge, these words come to us from the mature, tested faith of the aged psalmist. With honesty and tenderness, David declares: I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad.

It is the great and glorious purpose of the gospel to lift our affections away from this present empty and passing world. It teaches us to settle them on the solid and permanent blessings of the life to come. What a kind and loving purpose this is. It is a design which Christ, the wisdom of God, judged of so great importance to human happiness that we are told that he came from heaven, "to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father."{Galatians 1:4}

It is a sad and painful thing to think that immortal spirits should so often remain trapped in low slavery to the world. But it was the will of God to free some of them from it. Many important steps were taken toward this great purpose before the Son of God appeared in human flesh. One of those steps was to show the true condition of the world in a powerful way in the words of the Old Testament. In this way the heart struck by that truth might give up its expectations of happiness in created things and seek it in God alone, in whom it can really be found.

Examples touch us more deeply than any argument. So the Bible shows us some people who, because of their place in the world, might have expected the greatest things from it. Yet they gave honest testimony to the empty and unsatisfying nature of all its pleasures and to the disappointment of their fondest hopes in it.

Our text this morning is an important example of this truth. After a long life of watching and experience, David makes this reflection: "I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad."

Here is what those words mean in simple terms. By perfection David means what the world generally thinks most perfect and excellent. By seeing the limit of it he tells us that he has observed it to be very narrow and limited, mixed with many defects, so that it does not truly deserve the name of perfection. By the commandment of God he means the law or the word of God in general, that revelation which God has made of himself. And by its being exceedingly broad he means its perfect nature and its power to lead men to that complete happiness which worldly enjoyments can never give.

The sense therefore may be expressed in such a paraphrase as this: "Lord! when I seriously pause and reflect upon what has occurred to my observation in this long and various scene of life, through which I am passing, I discover a great and instructive variety. There was a time when my hopes and expectations were raised high; ten thousand flattering objects presented themselves to my warm imagination; my heart was fired with bright passions, and I promised myself a kind of paradise here: but my enjoyments fell far short of these anticipations; the delecacies were soon gone, the flowers withered, and the blossoms quickly drooped: yet, though earth is vain, blessed be God! all is not vain. The revelation which God has made of himself opens a fair and an ample prospect which fills the soul with pleasure, and with hope; with a pleasure, with a sweetness, and a hope that brightens by experience. It discovers something for which it was worth while to have had a rational and immortal nature, an object adequate to the sublimity of faculties, like those which God has bestowed upon me: here I may explore, and not find myself cramped and fettered as before; no encumberance, no disgrace, no gloomy fear of approaching decay: but a happiness presents itself extensive as my wish, sublime as a spiritual, and durable as an immortal nature. I have seen a limit to all perfection, but your commandment is exceedingly broad."

Following this paraphrase let us now look more closely at two main things.

I. The reflections David made on the emptiness he had experienced in the things of this world.

II. The strong and honorable testimony he gives here to true religion and to the word of God as his great support.

We will explain and apply each of these points. But Ithis morning we will focus only on the first.

I. We are to consider the reflections David made on the emptiness he had experienced in the things of this world: "I have seen a limit to all perfection."

We see nothing in this Psalm that prevents us from thinking it comes from the later part of David's life. At least this may be said with confidence. Everyone who knows anything about his story will agree without needing a more detailed proof that if his younger years gave him some hints of this truth, his later years of greater experience made it very clear. This was true both for his own personal possessions and enjoyments and for those connected to others in life. We will consider the matter with respect to each of them. Then we will finish with the application that will close the message today.

1. David had experienced the emptiness of the good things this world offers with respect to the personal possessions, honors, and pleasures of human life. When we look at his character and circumstances, we see that this is true about strength, beauty, ability, wealth, praise, and power. He had weighed all these things in the balance. He had seen and known what they could do to make a man happy. The final outcome is that he judges them wanting, and before long, all this apparent perfection came to an end

He had seen the vanity of strength. David was given an unusual amount of strength. He showed early proof not only of a brave spirit but of strong and well-trained body, strengthened no doubt by the hard work and difficulties he faced from his youth and almost from his childhood. When he was still a young man, he tells us that while he was watching his father's sheep, a lion and a bear attacked the flock at different times and carried away a lamb each time. He bravely chased these wild animals, rescued the lamb from them, and killed both the lion and the bear. Later, remembering these victories, he faced the Philistine giant. Saul's armor was too heavy for him and became a burden rather than a help. Yet he was able to throw a stone with enough force to pierce Goliath's skull. He also swung the giant's own heavy sword and used it to cut off his head.

Yet David had no doubt seen, and in time clearly felt, how uncertain and short-lived this kind of strength really was. He saw many examples around him of strong people cut down in their prime. He saw, as Job puts it, one dying in the perfection of his strength, being wholly at ease and secure, as well as another in the bitterness of his soul. We know that David himself went through this. Sickness brought him so low that he said in one Psalm, "Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am languishing." In another he said, "My knees are weak through fasting; my body has become gaunt, with no fat." And probably in a third he says, "He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days."

Even though God heard his prayer in that illness and let him recover strength before he left this life, David still found his strength slowly fading and permanently weakened. When he went out to battle in his later years and tried to fight as he had before, he grew faint against the Philistine. Ishbi-benob thought he could kill him and probably would have if Abishai had not come to help him. His soldiers saw that he could no longer handle such hard fighting and danger. They made him promise that he would not go out to battle anymore, so that he would not put out the light of Israel.

The care his people showed for him must have touched his heart, but the reason for it was painful. He would have felt the emptiness and weakness of human nature even more when he had grown so weak that they had to cover him with clothes on his bed and he could not get warm. This was the same man whose heart had once beat so strongly and whose courage had burned like a flame that led the armies of Israel and destroyed their enemies like lightning.

2. Experience had taught David how little beauty could do to make the person who has it happy. In this he stood out among all the thousands of Israel. The very first thing we read about him, even before he is named, is that he was ruddy, with a beautiful face, and pleasing to look at. There was something so appealing in his manner that at the very first meeting the soul of Jonathan was knit to him, so that he loved David even as his own soul. Michal, Saul's daughter, also loved him and no doubt thought herself very happy to have such a husband.

It is worth noting that even though David could not be completely unaware of his own appearance, he was too wise to value himself highly because of it. He takes notice of what that same illness did to him in the 39th Psalm when he says, "When you discipline a man with rebukes for sin, you consume like a moth what is dear to him." Just as fine clothes lose their bright colors and are torn apart by a storm, so the attractiveness of a human body wastes away at the touch of disease.

Many a beautiful face he had no doubt seen turn pale in death during his lifetime. Many others he had lived to see worn out by old age. When Abishag the Shunamite cared for the king in his bed, she would not have been able to see in his face those same attractive features that had once made such a deep impression on the heart of Michal.

Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain. This was a reflection which Solomon might in earlier days have learned from looking at his own father, as well as from thousands of other examples. But we go on to a much more important point.

3. David had also seen the limits of that kind of excellence that comes from a large and wide-ranging mind and great abilities of thought. He was clearly known for this gift. The grace and beauty of his mind were far more valuable than those of his body. He showed a great mind in many areas, in war and in government, in music and in poetry. As far as we can tell, this ability stayed with him until the end. We have some of his most powerful and excellent words that he spoke just before he left this life. His last words carry a fire and tenderness of poetry that would have been enough to establish him as a great poet even if they were the only writings we had from him.

Yet his sweetest music could not chase away his troubles or put his sorrows to rest. Problems came up that his wisdom could not solve and that his courage could not overcome, as we will see later in more detail. If he ever turned from matters of government and war to deeper questions of thought and philosophy, he no doubt often found himself tangled in uncertainty. Questions would arise instead of clear answers. His sharp mind would only help him see difficulties that less thoughtful people never noticed.

This is the very reflection that Solomon made. His peaceful reign and even greater mind gave him the chance to explore knowledge to its farthest edges. He says, "I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out."{Ecclesiastes 8:17} He therefore warns his son that of making many books there is no end, and that much study is a weariness to the flesh. In many cases this effort brings no real gain to the spirit.

Even though David abilities lasted well, it is very likely that he had seen many cases where the mind outlived the body only to fade away until the person became like a child or even lost in confusion. Such is often the end of that glory which seems most special to the mind of man, a glory lifted up by the fact that it is something that cannot be purchased.

4. David had seen the emptiness of great wealth. He saw this truth even while he was gathering it. You know he was the youngest of his brothers, the smallest child in a large family. Perhaps the oldest had only a little to live on. The huge treasures he collected came mostly from the spoils of war taken from conquered lands in fair and honorable battles. This was especially true of what he took from the Syrians. They had shields made of gold and were once the richest people in the world. But when he took those shields, he saw emptiness written on them. They could not protect their owners and only added sorrow and pain to their defeat.

He was not a selfish man who received great riches from God but had no heart to enjoy them. He lived with generous spending and royal splendor. This is clear from his buildings and his court. Yet his treasures kept growing instead of shrinking. They reached an almost unbelievable amount. The portion he and his people gave for building the temple was worth about 800 billion in today's Canadian dollars. Three thousand talents of gold and seven thousand talents of silver were not his entire fortune, but only what he set apart for this one holy purpose.

But see how empty it all was. Though a rich man may think his wealth is a strong tower and a high wall, David, who had surely read about Job troubles, suddenly shared in them. One single day took everything from him. That is the day of Absalom's rebellion. He was forced to flee from Jerusalem, where all his treasures were stored. He went up the Mount of Olives barefoot, with his head covered in sorrow.

This old king had to wander again in the same wilderness where he had hidden as a young man when Saul chased him. But now his distress was so much deeper. After all his royal power, he had to accept help from a kind friend who brought beds, basins, clay pots, beans, lentils, butter, sheep, and cheese for him and his men. What a simple gift for a king who had once counted such huge amounts of gold, silver, bronze, and precious stones.

In time, God turned things around in his favor. He returned to his treasures. But sadly, those treasures could not bring back his beloved son Absalom from the grave. They could not heal the deep wound in the heart of this loving father, who would have given his own life to save his son. Then, as on other occasions, also,

5. David came to see that human applause is empty and useless. Even though he was still young, he had wisdom far beyond his years. Yet even he may have enjoyed the praise for a moment when, after he killed Goliath, the women of Israel sang and the warriors shouted: “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands!”{1 Samuel 18:5}

But he soon learned that people envy others for this kind of success too. The cheering stopped quickly. The honors of that victory day did not last. In fact, the winner himself goes through a lot of hard work and exhaustion during such events. The painful results lasted much longer. His king repeatedly tried to kill him by throwing a spear at him and pinning him to the wall. He had to leave his new wife and feel the pain of that fresh separation. He wandered through the wilderness, always running for his life like a bird chased by hunters.

All these hard experiences, and many more, made him wish he had never heard that applause, even though it once sounded so good to him. Later he became king. He defeated his enemies. Neighboring rulers sent ambassadors with high compliments full of extravagant praise. But all that praise disappeared fast, like smoke in the wind, and turned into trouble.

People secretly spread lies about his leadership to try to tear it down. In the end, they stirred up so much anger among the people that he had to leave his own capital city. During that sad escape, even the lowest people insulted him openly. Shimei cursed him and poured out hateful words. David, who had kindly spared Saul’s life several times when he could have killed him, was now called a murderer and a worthless man: “Get out, get out, you man of blood, you worthless man:”{2 Samuel 16:5-8} David might have said, “I wish this was the worst pain I had to face!”

But there was something far worse. He had done something that gave his enemies a real reason to speak against him and against God. The insults that might have rolled off him like water on a duck’s back now cut deep inside. They felt like poison in his stomach and oil in his bones. This is how he described it after his sin with Uriah: “You know my reproach, and my shame and my dishonor... reproaches have broken my heart.”{Psalm 69:19} Where did he look for comfort in that moment? Did he look to the royal throne where he sat?

6. David clearly saw how empty power was, even when he reached the highest position as king. He held the lives of entire cities and nations in his hands. A smile or a frown from him could decide their future. He had the power to tear down or build up, to kill or to let live. Yet that power proved very weak. A sudden uprising took it all away. He had to run for his life and cross the Jordan River at night. His enemies described him as tired and weak, easy for a small group of men to defeat. And they were right. If God had not turned Ahithophel advice into foolishness, David would have died.

And so we see how uncertain that power was. Even if the enjoyment of it had felt wonderful, it would still have been an imperfect good. Having looked at these main personal enjoyments and possessions, let us now consider

II. How David experienced the emptiness of created good when it came to family comforts and relationships.

And here you will see that David stood in almost every relationship that could promise happiness. He was a husband and a father, a friend and a king. Yet in each of these he experienced the emptiness of human life. He saw that every good thing it could offer eventually comes to an end.

1. Let us now look at David as a husband. We see that he began with a happiness that is not common among powerful people. He married a woman he loved, and who loved him in return. She was Michal, the beautiful daughter of King Saul. From her faithful and warm company, one would think he could expect all the happiness a marriage can give, the kind of joy that many of life's greatest blessings come from.

But soon he was torn away from her. She had to wake him and help him escape through a window to get away from the men who were waiting to kill him. It was surely a painful parting, and the pain grew much worse when Michal was wrongly given to another man named Paltiel, the son of Laish. Whether this happened by force or with some unwilling agreement on her part, it brought David deep hurt and shame.

Even though he got her back more than ten years later, her attitude caused him real pain. In one clear case, she looked down on him when he danced before the ark of the Lord. She spoke with disrespect and a harsh spirit. If that was how she usually acted, it must have made both of them very unhappy. Later she remained childless, which in a marriage at that time brought special sorrow.

As for his other wives, the very number of them made it impossible to find tender and lasting comfort in any one of them. It was clear he was not happy in marriage. An impure desire took hold of him when he saw the beauty of Bathsheba. He slept with her while her husband, a loyal and brave soldier, was away fighting for him. That was wrong, not only for David, but for any man who claimed to follow God. He later married Bathsheba, and she became his favorite queen for the rest of his life. Yet all the pleasure he found in that relationship must have been spoiled for both of them by the memory of the sin on which it was founded.

2. Let us now consider David as a father, and we will see that his disappointments were just as great in that role. God gave him many children. We know little about some of them except their names. But others were remarkably beautiful and deeply loved by their father. Among them were Amnon, Adonijah, Absalom, and Tamar.

Can these be mentionned without remembering the terrible tragedy that made David's family life known for its deep sorrow? What father would not have his heart broken if one of his children, especially his oldest son, committed a serious wrong against his own sister? This brought shame, cruelty, and lasting pain to the whole family. Yet this sorrow came to David through Amnon and his sister Tamar. Her beauty, like that of many others in history, became the cause of her great harm.

What father would not grieve if one of his children became guilty of murder, especially the murder of his own brother? Yet this also happened in David's life. In this way his trial was even heavier than the trial of Job, who lost his children when they were still innocent. Amnon was killed at a feast that Absalom had prepared, and David had even given permission for him to go. Absalom used a religious gathering as a cover for this terrible act. After that, Absalom ran away for a long time, and David was deeply grieved during his absence.

When Absalom returned, he was kept out of his father's presence for a while. Even after he was allowed to live in Jerusalem again, he began plotting to take the throne and to harm his father. What father would not be grieved if his son rebelled against a good and fair ruler? How much worse when that ruler was also the boy's own father? The rebellion went so far that Absalom was not satisfied with sending his father away. He wanted to take his life. Yet David lived to see Absalom fall under the clear judgment of heaven. He died with all his guilt still on him, in a way that went against David's clear and loving command.

No doubt these painful events took a heavy toll on David's strength. They wore him down so that he died at seventy years old, even though he had been strong by nature and likely could have lived much longer. Then came another blow when Adonijah, who was also a very handsome man like Absalom, turned against Solomon. David had never corrected Adonijah when he did wrong, and now Adonijah rebelled against the one God had chosen to be king. In doing so he rebelled against God himself, and he lost his life.

Who would want to be the father of such a beautiful group of children on terms like these? The tender joys of their early years were far outweighed by the deep wounds they brought to the heart that had loved them. In light of such pain, some might even say it would be better never to have had children at all. But those who have been unhappy with their children have sometimes found comfort in their friends. Let us now view David,

3. As a friend. As far as we can tell, no one was ever more faithful, more tender, or more generous in friendship than he was. And no friendship was ever better deserved or better returned than the friendship David had with Jonathan. Jonathan seemed chosen by heaven to be the second great blessing in David life. David would have given the first place to Jonathan's sister as his wife. But sadly, the close bond of this friendship was formed only to be broken soon afterward.

All we read about this friendship is the deep sorrow they shared when it ended. Yet David surely comforted himself with the thought of making Jonathan second in the kingdom once he became king. He imagined how happy he would be to have such a wise counselor and loyal guard beside him. They would share the royal power so closely that the family of Saul would hardly notice they had lost the throne.

But those were empty hopes. Jonathan died with Saul, and the sword of the Philistines finally reached the heart of David. It mixed his tears with the oil of his anointing and stained his royal robes with weeping. David cried out, I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan.

Who could replace such a friend? Ahithophel, the one David trusted most, turned against him. It seemed as if heaven itself had chosen to wound David most deeply where he loved most. These were the words of his sorrow when his friend Ahithophel gave the worst possible advice against him and offered to strike David with his own hand. David said, It was not an enemy that reproached me, and so on. Now when the roles of husband, father, and friend bring so little lasting happiness, we cannot expect much more from the role of king. Let us now consider David,

4. In his royal character. You will see that he had as tender a love for his people as any ruler ever had. A clear sign of this appears even in his deepest distress over his own sin. While he prayed for himself, he also prayed for the nation. When he cried to God from the depths of his trouble, he said in humble faith, Let Israel hope in the Lord, for he shall redeem Israel out of all its troubles. While he felt as if his bones were broken and feared being cast away from God presence, he still prayed, Do good in your good pleasure to Sion.

Yet even as a king he faced many trials. Although he had a long period of victory and honor, he also saw his people suffer insult when his messengers went to Hanun. Later he watched them being led astray, first by Absalom. People believed Absalom lies even though he was trying to destroy their old, faithful, and loving king. Then, after a small insult from a proud remark, ten of the tribes turned against David with these defiant words, We have no part in David, neither have we any inheritance in the son of Jesse. Every man to his tents, O Israel!

What ungrateful words! They then followed a worthless man named Sheba, the son of Bichri, a nobody whom they chose over the greatest king Israel had ever known. This was the king who had led them for so long, fought their battles, and had been rightly called the light of Israel. This ingratitude must have hurt David far more than any weapon from the rebellion itself. It gave him fresh reason to say again, I have seen an end of all perfection.

And who would want to be David, great and triumphant, rich and powerful as he was, if this was all we knew of his story? Yet we look back on it with real pleasure because he was a faithful servant of God. He had God's word to support him. He lived in close communion with God and gave himself fully to him. How happy he would have been if he had kept this high character all his life!

But sadly we must admit that he had one more painful experience of the emptiness of everything in this world, the weakness of the human heart, and how easily even strong habits of goodness and holiness can change. We remember that serious fall mentioned earlier. The memory of it added a deep sting to all his other sorrows. It brought the serious sentence upon him that the sword would never leave his house. It marked the signs of God's displeasure even in the lives of his own children. So even before the full judgment came, he cried out, "Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice."{Psalm 51:8}

We now come to a few brief applications which, if you have followed what has already been said, should already have come to mind.

1. Let the inexperienced not think too highly of the world. You who are just starting out in life, to whom its pleasures and opportunities feel new, you will surely admit that your prospects cannot compare with those of David. So do not expect the perfect life that even he could not find. Anyone who is fooled in this way should not trust empty promises, because emptiness is all they will receive in return.

Your journey through life may be smooth and pleasant, but this world can never be your true home or final resting place. Some measure of sorrow comes to every person, and even the happiest lives contain mixtures of trouble. By keeping your expectations low, you will be better prepared when disappointment comes. Your joys will feel more satisfying because you did not depend on them so heavily. And best of all, you will become less attached to this world. When you place only a small value on it, its temptations will lose their power over you. You will be more ready to look ahead to a better world beyond the grave, and you will grow daily in your preparation for it.

2. Let not those who have experience wonder at the emptiness they find in the world. What can the man do who comes after the king? Do we have more to hope for than the great David? Do we have more to claim than he had? Do not think it strange if even greater trials come to you. And remember this. Some measure of hardship is not a sign that God has forgotten you. It is often a mark of his special favor.

3. Let us rejoice in this truth. Even with all his disappointments and troubles, David had a share in the blessings of an everlasting covenant. In his last words he turns to this covenant with special joy. He says, "Does not my house stand so with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant."{2 Samuel 23:5} We cannot help but love the character of David, even with all its weaknesses mixed in. And it is good to remember that he did not sink under his heavy load. God supported him with the hope of that same covenant. Through Christ, this covenant is now offered to each of us. It can support us too, even if we face the same kind of deep struggles. And to close,

4. Let us all turn with David to the word of God. Let us seek there the perfection that cannot be found in any amount or variety of things this world offers. Blessed be God. The law in which David found so much comfort, the law he valued more than the joy of dividing the spoil, more than the sweetness of honey or the honeycomb, that law is still before us. It is even better now because of the glorious addition of the gospel. Let us therefore receive it as a divine treasure, far more precious than rubies. There let us seek the God who gave it, and in him let us place our happiness.

Let us say from our heart, as David did, "O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him."{Psalm 62:5}