Hebrews 10:5–7 “Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God.’”
Two aspects of God’s will
An important thing that is often overlooked in regard to God’s will is that it is made of two constituents. On one side you have the compulsory will of God, i.e., all that God commands or imposes. In this realm we are obliged to obey or else punishment will follow if no place of repentance is found. Usually when Christians speak about the divine will they refer to this mandatory element.
On the other side we have what God wills without imposing it—I am talking here about a specific sector of God’s multiferious desires. In this realm we are not moved by obligation but rather by love; and the possible punishment is substituted by the certainty of a reward. These two concepts are beautifully encapsulated in Philemon verse 14, “But without your consent I wanted to do nothing, that your good deed might not be by compulsion, as it were, but voluntary.”
Here Paul had expressed a personal desire, but he made clear to Philemon that nothing was compulsory in his request. There was no commands there (Phm. 1:8–10). Hence Philemon was not exposed to disobedience or rebellion but to love and consideration.
The example of Ittai
Throughout the Scriptures we find beautiful examples of this non-compulsory will. One of them is found in 2 Samuel 15. Here king David is fleeing for his life together with his servants: “Now a messenger came to David, saying, “The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom.” So David said to all his servants who were with him at Jerusalem, “Arise, and let us flee, or we shall not escape from Absalom. Make haste to depart, lest he overtake us suddenly and bring disaster upon us, and strike the city with the edge of the sword” (2 Sam. 15:13,14).
These servants were loyal to David and ready to submit to him: “We are your servants, ready to do whatever my lord the king commands” (2 Sam. 15:15). Their willingness to obey David’s commands manifested what can be considered the first degree of love. Added to it, the possibility existed that Absalom would have killed anyone of them although they would have defected to him, for he knew they were David’s friends and devoted servants. In that light David’s command was spoken out of concern and love, and their obedience highly beneficial for them.
But then comes the story of Ittai. He, of all people, could have defected to Absalom with no risks involved, for at the time he was not known as David’s associate. Consequently Absalom would not have looked at him as a threat. In fact, to defect to Absalom was precisely what David counseled him: “Then the king said to Ittai the Gittite, “Why are you also going with us? Return and remain with the king. For you are a foreigner and also an exile from your own place. In fact, you came only yesterday. Should I make you wander up and down with us today, since I go I know not where? Return, and take your brethren back. Mercy and truth be with you” (2 Sam. 15:19,20).
So here we have David blessing Ittai and counseling him to defect to Absalom. Under such circumstances the common reaction would have been for Ittai to rejoice and run to Absalom, thus avoiding hardship and perhaps even death, and none of David’s servants could have accused him of betrayal or rebellion for not only David had freed him from all obligations, but he had also counseled him to not stay with him.
Love’s aspiration
What follows is one of the most beautiful statements of unfeigned love found in the Scripture: “But Ittai answered the king and said, “As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in whatever place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also your servant will be” (2 Sam. 15:21). Although he was not obliged to go with David he volunteered, giving himself entirely as well as all he had. As Epaphroditus and the apostle Paul he didn’t regard his life dear to himself (Phil. 2:30, Acts 20:24).
This expression of absolute loyalty touched David deeply and all who were with him. “So David said to Ittai, “Go, and cross over.” Then Ittai the Gittite and all his men and all the little ones who were with him crossed over. 23 And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people crossed over. The king himself also crossed over the Brook Kidron, and all the people crossed over toward the way of the wilderness” (2 Sam. 15:22,23).
To follow orders is one thing; to volunteer heartedly is something else. As C.T. Studd reminded us a long time ago, “Service comes from slaves, sacrifices from sons.” Ittai was ready to sacrifice. No wonder he became one of the three chief captains of David’s army, and the most noble of the three (2 Sam. 18:2).
The three mighty men
Another story bringing forth the love of a volunteer is found in 2 Samuel 23:13–17: “Then three of the thirty chief men went down at harvest time and came to David at the cave of Adullam. And the troop of Philistines encamped in the Valley of Rephaim. David was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. And David said with longing, “Oh, that someone would give me a drink of the water from the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!” So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to the Lord. And he said, “Far be it from me, O Lord, that I should do this! Is this not the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives?” Therefore he would not drink it.
Here again there was no command; David had simply expressed a wish. Yet these men jeopardized their life because they loved their king and longed to bless him.
Dear brethren, do we dwell close enough to our King to hear the desires of His heart? Perhaps there is no command or no obligation, yet the longing of the Master is there for us to perceive and meet. Who will stand up to give it to Him?
May the love of Christ compel us to go beyond mere duty and bless the heart of the One who didn’t count His life dear to Himself. For so is our calling and the aspiration of genuine love.
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