The Life of Faith Exemplified: Being Thoughts on the Principal Scenes in the Life and Times of David, the King of Israel
Overview
In The Life of Faith Exemplified, Mackintosh turns to the story of David in order to understand how God operates in moments of crisis. Although he writes this book to address the economic hardships he himself faced—the Potato famine, in particular—his deeper motive lies in understanding how God’s presence during David’s crisis might speak to times of hardship whenever they occur. In this captivating retelling, Mackintosh recounts the prophecy of Samuel, the challenge of Goliath, the close encounters with Saul, and David’s role during Israel’s epochal moment in history. Most importantly, David’s life reminds us that God’s covenant transcends present struggles.
Top Highlights
“The barren woman is always presented in Scripture as the type of nature’s ruined and helpless condition. There is no ability to do anything for God,—no energy to bring forth any fruit to Him, all is death and barrenness. Such is the real condition of every child of Adam. He can neither do anything for God nor for himself, as regards his eternal destiny. He is emphatically ‘without strength,’—he is ‘a dry tree,’ ‘a heath in the desert.’ Such is the lesson taught us by the barren woman.” (Pages 9–10)
“He was prepared to wait for God’s time, being assured that it was the best and wisest time” (Page 73)
“The professing Church is in ruins; but there is something which can carry us through the ruins, and that is personal devotedness to the Lord Jesus Christ. ‘Follow thou me,’ is a simple, definite, powerful command, uttered by our blessed Lord on His way from the grave to the throne; and when this command falls on the heart, in the power of the Holy Ghost, there is that which will sustain one in the midst of the darkest apostacy, or surrounded by the solitude of a desert.” (Page 7)
“retain without sacrificing the name and privileges of Christians? This is a deadly evil” (Page 21)
“The Philistines had proved stronger than Israel; but Jehovah was stronger than Dagon” (Page 20)
Man’s complete ruin in sin, and God’s perfect remedy in Christ, are fully, clearly, and often strikingly presented [in Mackintosh’s writings].
—Andrew Miller, a leader of the Plymouth Brethren movement
- Title: The Life of Faith Exemplified: Being Thoughts on the Principal Scenes in the Life and Times of David, the King of Israel
- Author: C. H. Mackintosh
- Series: C. H. Mackintosh Collection
- Publisher: Loizeaux Brothers Publications
- Pages: 204