Give Thanks to the Lord

Give thanks to the Lord,
call on His name;
make known among the nations
what He has done.
Sing to Him,
sing praise to Him;
tell of all His wonderful acts.
Glory in His holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord
rejoice.
Look to the Lord and His strength;
see His face always.

(Psalm 105:1-4)

AC 3279 - Births; AC 3283 - The Rational

AC 3279

And these are the births of Isaac, the son of Abraham.
(Genesis 25:19)

That this signifies the Lord's Divine rational,
from which is the Divine natural,
is evident from the signification of "births"
as being derivations, namely,
derivations of faith when faith is treated of,
and derivations of the church
when the church is treated of . . ..
But here, since the "births" are predicated of the Lord,
it is Divine births that are meant,
namely, that from the Divine Itself
is born the Divine rational,
which is signified by Isaac being begotten by Abraham;
and that from the Divine rational is the Divine natural,
which is signified by Esau and Jacob being from Isaac;
for by Esau and Jacob
the Lord's Divine natural is represented --
by Esau as to good,
and by Jacob as to truth --
as will be shown in what now follows.
This is what is here signified by the "births."

AC 3283

. . . the rational is that
which ordinates all things in the natural,
and according to
the orderly arrangement of things therein
has them conveniently in view;
the rational being like a higher sight,
which when it looks into
the memory-knowledges of the natural man,
looks upon a field as it were beneath itself.
The light of this sight is the light of truth,
but the origin of the light is from good in the rational.
But more on this subject hereafter. 

If You Make the Most High Your Dwelling

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord,
"He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God in whom I trust."

Surely He will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
He will cover you with His feathers,
and under His wings you will find refuge;
His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
A thousand may fall at your your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you make the Most High your dwelling --
even the Lord, who is my refuge --
then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
For He will command His angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
You will tread upon the lion and cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

"Because he loves Me," says the Lord,
"I will rescue him;
I will protect him,
for he acknowledges My name.
He will call upon Me,
and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him
and show him My salvation."

(Psalm 91)

AC 3267 - Living in Good

AC 3267 [3]

He who is in charity loves his neighbor,
and when the neighbor differs from him
in matters of belief,
he excuses it
provided that his neighbor lives in good and truth.
He also does not condemn
the well-disposed Gentiles,
although they are ignorant of the Lord,
and do not know anything of the faith.
For he who is in charity,
that is, who lives in good,
receives from the Lord truths of such a quality
as agree with his good,
and Gentiles receive such truths
as in the other life may be bent into truths of faith.
But he who is not in charity,
that is, who does not live in good,
can never receive any truth;
he may indeed know truth,
but it is not implanted in his life;
thus he may indeed have it in his mouth,
but not in his heart.
For truth cannot be conjoined with evil,
and therefore those who know the truths
which are called the articles of belief,
and do not live in charity or in good,
although they are in the church because born in it,
are yet not of the church,
for there is nothing of the church in them,
that is nothing of good
with which truth may be conjoined.

I Will Sing of the Lord's Great Love Forever

I will sing of the Lord's great love forever;
with my mouth I will make Your faithfulness
known through all generations.
I will declare that Your love stands firm forever,
that you established Your faithfulness in heaven itself.

Righteousness and justice
are the foundation of Your throne;
love and faithfulness go before You.
Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you,
who walk in the light of Your presence, O Lord.
They rejoice in Your name all day long;
they exult in Your righteousness.
For You are their glory and strength,
and by Your favor You exalt our horn.
Indeed, our shield belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.

(Psalm 89:1-2, 14-18)

AC 3263 - The Lord's Spiritual Church

AC 3263 [2]

As regards the Lord's spiritual church,
be it known that it exists throughout the universal world;
for it is not confined to those
who have the Word and from there
know the Lord and some truths of faith;
but it exists also with those who do have not the  Word
and therefore are altogether ignorant of the Lord
and consequently know no truths of faith
(for all the truths of faith regard the Lord);
that is to say, this church exists among the Gentiles
who are remote from the church;
for there are many among them
who from rational light know 
that there is one God;
that He has created all things and preserves all things;
and also that from Him is all good,
consequently all truth;
and that likeness to Him makes man blessed;
and moreover they live according to their religion,
in love to that God and in love toward the neighbor;
and from the affection of good 
they do works of charity,
and from the affection of truth
they worship the Supreme Being.
The Gentiles who are of this character
are they who belong to the Lord's spiritual church;
and although while in this world
they do not know the Lord,
yet within themselves they have
the worship and tacit acknowledgment of Him
when they are in good,
for in all good the Lord is present;
and therefore in the other life
they easily acknowledge Him,
and receive the truths of faith in Him
more readily than Christians do
who are not in good in this way . . ..

Hear, O My People

"Hear, O My people, and I will warn you --
if you would but listen to Me, O Israel!
You shall have no foreign god among you;
you shall not bow down to an alien god.
I am the Lord your God,
who brought you up out of Egypt.
Open wide your mouth and I will fill it.

"But my people would not listen to me;
Israel would not submit to me.
So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
to follow their own devices.

"If My people would but listen to Me,
if Israel would follow My ways,
how quickly would I subdue their enemies
and turn My hand against their foes!
Those who hate the Lord would cringe before Him,
and their punishment would last forever.
But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
with honey from the rock
I would satisfy you."

(Psalm 81:8-16)

AC 3246 - Wife and Women or Concubine

AC 3246 [3-4]

In former times,
in order that both the celestial and the spiritual
might be represented in marriages,
it was permissible for a man
to have a concubine in addition to a wife;
such concubine being given to the husband by the wife,
and she was then called his "woman,"
or was said to be "given to him for a woman,"
as when Hagar the Egyptian
was given to Abraham by Sarah (Gen. 16:3);
when Bilhah the handmaid
was given by Rachel to Jacob (Gen. 30:4),
and the handmaid Zilpah to Jacob
by Leah (Gen. 30:9).
They are there called "women,"
but elsewhere they are called "concubines,"
as Hagar the Egyptian in this verse,
and Bilhah in Genesis 35:22,
also Keturah herself in 1 Chronicles 1:32.

That those ancients had concubines besides a wife,
as was the case not only with Abraham and Jacob,
but also with their descendants,
as Gideon (Judges 8:31), Saul (2 Sam. 3:7),
David (2 Sam. 5:13; 15:16), and Solomon (1 Kings 11:3),
was of permission,
for the sake of the representation,
namely, of the celestial church by a wife,
and of the spiritual church by a concubine:
this was of permission
because they were such
that they had no conjugial love,
neither was marriage to them marriage,
but only a carnal coupling
for the sake of procreating offspring.
To such there might be permissions
without injury to conjugial love,
and consequently to its covenant;
but never to those who are in good and truth,
and who are or can become internal men;
for as soon as man is in good and truth,
and in things internal,
such things cease.
For this reason it is not allowable for Christians,
as it was for the Jews,
to take to themselves
a concubine together with a wife,
for this is adultery.

O God, You Are My King

But You, O God, are my king from of old;
You bring salvation upon the earth.

The day is Yours,
and Yours also the night;
You established the sun and moon.
It was You who set all the boundaries of the earth;
You made both summer and winter.

(Psalm 74:12, 16-17)

AC 3240 - The Celestial Church, the Spiritual Church

AC 3240

Those who are of the celestial church,
and are called celestial,
are in love,
that is to say they are in the good and truth of love;
while those who are of the spiritual church,
and are called spiritual,
are in faith,
that is, they are in the good and truth of faith.
The good which the celestial have
is that of love to the Lord,
and their truth is that of love to the neighbor;
whereas the good which the spiritual have
is that of charity toward the neighbor,
and their truth is that of faith,
insofar as this truth is doctrine concerning charity.
This shows that the Lord's spiritual kingdom,
as well as His celestial kingdom,
has good and truth,
but with much difference.

Praise Be to the Lord

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
who daily bears our burdens.

Our God is a God who saves;
from the Sovereign Lord
comes escape from death.

(Psalm 68:19-20)

AC 3234 - Abraham and Keturah

AC 3234

And Abraham added, and took a woman,
and her name was Keturah.
(Genesis 25:1)

"And Abraham added, and took a woman,"
signifies another state of the Lord,
whom Abraham represents;
Abraham and Sarah represented the Lord
as to the Divine celestial;
Abraham and Keturah represented the Lord
as to the Divine spiritual;
thus Abraham here represents the Lord
as to Divine good spiritual,
and his woman as to Divine truth
adjoined to this good;
"and her name was Keturah,"
signifies the essence of this Divine truth.

 

One Thing, Two Things

One thing God has spoken,
two things have I heard:
that You, O God, are strong,
and that You, O Lord, are loving.
Surely You will reward each person
according to what he has done.

(Psalm 62:11-12)

Those Who Love the Lord

AC 3224

. . . those who are in love to the Lord
and in love toward the neighbor,
thus in spiritual heat,
which is of the light of heaven,
are affected with goods and truths,
which extinguish falsities . . ..

Create in Me

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from Your presence
or take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of Your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
_________________

Cast your cares on the Lord
and He will sustain you;
He will never let the righteous fall.

(Psalm 51:10-12; 55:22)

AC 3212 - Being Regenerated, or Being Made New

AC 3212 [3]

When man is being regenerated,
he is then becoming altogether another,
and is being made new;
therefore also when he has been regenerated,
he is called "born again," and "created anew."
Then, although he has
a similar face and a similar speech,
yet his mind is not similar;
his mind, when he is regenerate,
is open toward heaven,
and there dwells therein love to the Lord
and charity toward his neighbor,
together with faith.
It is the mind that makes a man another,
and a new man.
This change of state
cannot be perceived in the body of man,
but in his spirit,
the body being merely the covering of his spirit;
and when it is put off, then his spirit appears,
and this (provided he has been regenerated)
in altogether another form,
for it then has the form
of love and charity in beauty inexpressible . . ..

I Desire

I desire to do Your will, O my God;
You law is within my heart.

(Psalm 40:8)

AC 3207 - Appearances of Truth

AC 3207 [2, 3, 5]

Appearances of truth are not truths in themselves,
but they appear as truths . . ..

Be it known however that neither with man,
nor indeed with an angel,
are any truths ever pure,
that is devoid of appearances;
for all both in general and in particular
are appearances of truth;
nevertheless they are accepted by the Lord as truths,
provided good is in them.
To the Lord alone belong pure truths,
because Divine;
for as the Lord is Good itself,
so He is Truth itself.

In order that some idea may be formed
of what appearances of truth are,
let the following examples serve for illustration.

I.  Man believes that he is reformed and regenerated
through the truth of faith;
but this is an appearance;
he is reformed and regenerated
through the good of faith, that is,
through charity toward the neighbor
and love to the Lord.

II. Man believes that truth enables us
to perceive what good is, because it teaches;
but this is an appearance;
it is good that enables truth to perceive,
for good is the soul or life of truth.

III. Man believes that truth introduces to good
when he lives
according to the truth which he has learned;
but it is good which flows into truth,
and introduces it to itself.

IV. It appears to man that truth perfects good,
when yet good perfects truth.

V. Goods of life appear to man
to be the fruits of faith;
but they are the fruits of charity.

From these few examples
it may in some measure be known
what appearances of truth are.
Such appearances are innumerable.

The Righteous Man

The mouth of the righteous man utters wisdom,
and his tongue speaks what is just.
The law of his God is in his heart;
his feet do not slip.

The salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord;
He is their stronghold in time of trouble.
The Lord helps them and delivers them;
He delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
because they take refuge in Him.

(Psalm 37:30-31, 39-40)

AC 3203 - The Case with All Truth

AC 3203 [2-4]

. . . in the first age it is a matter of memory-knowledge,
but as the man advances in age it becomes of the life.
The case herein is like that of children
when they are learning to walk, to speak, to think,
also to see from the understanding,
and to conclude from the judgment;
which things,
when by habit they have become voluntary,
and thus spontaneous,
vanish from among matters of memory-knowledge,
and flow forth of their own accord.

So also is it with those things which are
of the knowledges of spiritual good and truth with men
who from the Lord are being regenerated or born again;
in the beginning such men are not unlike children,
and at first spiritual truths are to them
mere memory-knowledges;
for doctrinal things,
when being learned and inserted in the memory,
are nothing else;
but these are successively called forth
from there by the Lord,
and are implanted in the life,
that is, in good; for good is life.
When this has been effected
there takes place as it were a turning round,
namely, that the man begins to act from good,
that is, from life,
and no longer as before from memory-knowledge.
Thus he who is being born anew
is in this respect like a child
(although the things absorbed are of the spiritual life);
until he no longer acts from what is doctrinal, or truth;
but from charity, or good;
and when this is the case,
he then for the first time is in a blessed state,
and is in wisdom.

All this shows what it is to be separated
from the memory-knowledges in the natural man,
which is signified
by Rebekah's alighting from off the camel;
and this before she knew
that it was Isaac (the Divine rational);
in which circumstances,
as everyone can see, some arcana are involved.

Ascribe to the Lord

Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.

The Lord gives strength to His people.
The Lord blesses His people with peace.

(Psalm 29:1-2, 11)

AC 3194, 3195 - The Lord and His Light

AC 3194

The veriest (essential) Divine has Good and Truth;
the Lord as to the Divine Human
came forth from the Divine good,
and was born of the Divine truth;
or what is the same,
the very esse [or being] of the Lord was Divine good,
and the very existere [or manifestation] was Divine truth;
and this was the source of the Lord's Divine good rational,
with which He conjoined
the Divine truth from the Human.

AC 3195 [2, 3, 5, 7]

In the Word frequent mention is made of "light,"
and by this in the internal sense
is signified the truth which is from good
but in the supreme internal sense
there is signified the Lord Himself,
because He is good and truth itself.
Moreover there actually is light in heaven,
but infinitely brighter than the light on earth;
and in this light
spirits and angels see one another,
and by means of it is displayed 
all the glory which is in heaven.
In regard to its lucidity,
this light does indeed appear like the light in the world;
but still it is not like it,
for it is not natural, but spiritual, having in it wisdom;
so that it is nothing else than wisdom
which so shines before the eyes of the angels;
and therefore the wiser the angels are,
the brighter is the light in which they are.
Moreover this light illumines the understanding of man,
especially that of a regenerate man;
but it is not perceived by man
so long as he is in the life of the body,
because of the light of the world,
which then is regnant (dominate, ruling). 

As regards the very origin of light,
this has been from eternity from the Lord alone;
for Divine good itself and Divine truth,
from which light comes,
is the Lord.
The Divine Human, which was from eternity,
was this light itself.
And whereas this light
could no longer affect the human race,
which had removed itself so far from good and truth,
thus from light,
and had cast itself into darkness,
therefore the Lord willed to put on by birth
the human itself;
for thus He could illumine
not only the rational
but also the natural things of man;
for He made both
the rational and the natural in Himself Divine,
in order that He might also be a light
to those who were in such gross darkness.

He that sees Me sees Him that sent Me;
I am come a light into the world,
that whosoever believes in Me
may not abide in the darkness.
(John 12:45-46)

The holy city New Jerusalem,
descending from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband,
has no need of the sun,
neither of the moon,
to shine in it;
the glory of God will enlighten it,
and the Lamb is the lamp thereof.
(Rev. 21:2, 23)

The Heavens Declare the Glory of God

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun,
which is like a bridegroom
coming forth from His pavilion,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is hidden from its heat.

The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The ordinances of the Lord are sure
and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.

Who can discern his errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then will I be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.

May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord,
my Rock and my Redeemer.

(Psalm 19)

AC 3190 - When Truth Is Elevated

AC 3190

. . . when truth is elevated
out of the natural into the rational,
it is taken out of the sphere of worldly light
into the sphere of heavenly light,
thus as it were
from the obscurity of night 
into the clearness of day;
for the things which are of the light of the world,
in which are all natural things,
are relatively as in night,
but the things which are of the light of heaven,
in which are spiritual things,
are relatively as in day;
and therefore when truth is elevated
out of the natural toward the rational,
the man is at the same time
elevated into intelligence and into wisdom;
moreover all intelligence and wisdom with man
are from this source.
This is what is signified by the intellectual part
being elevated above natural memory-knowledges.

How long, O Lord?

How long, O Lord?
Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide Your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and every day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes,
or I will sleep in death;
my enemy will say,
"I have overcome him,"
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

But I trust in Your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in Your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
for He has been good to me.

(Psalm 13)

AC 3175, 3179 - Good, Truth, Regeneration

AC 3175 [2]

. . . unless man is rational, he is not man;
and therefore according to
the quality and the measure of a man's rational,
such is the quality and the measure of the man.
Man cannot possibly be rational
unless he possesses good.
The good whereby man surpasses the animals,
is to love God,
and to love the neighbor;
all human good is from this.
Into this good
truth must be initiated and conjoined,
and this in the rational.
Truth is initiated into good and conjoined with it
when man loves God and loves his neighbor,
for then truth enters into good,
inasmuch as good and truth mutually
 acknowledge each other,
all truth being from good,
and having respect to good
as its end and as its soul,
and thus as the source of its life. 

AC 3179

. . . the things that take place during man's regeneration
are altogether unknown to him;
and if he were to know
only one out of ten thousand of them
he would be astounded.
There are innumerable, indeed, unlimited secret things
by which man is, at that time, led of the Lord,
some only of which shine forth
from the internal sense of the Word. 

How Majestic Is Your Name, O Lord!

O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is Your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
From the lips of children and infants
You have ordained praise
because of Your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

When I consider Your heavens,
the work of Your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which You have set in place,
what is man that You are mindful of him,
the son of man that You care for him?
You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.

You made him ruler over the works of Your hands;
You put everything under his feet:
all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,
the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

(Psalm 8)

AC 3167 - Process; AC 3170 - Unrest and Peace

AC 3167 [end 1-2]

Man has been so created
that in him spiritual things and natural things,
that is, his spiritual and natural man,
should agree or make a one;
but in this case
the spiritual man ought to dispose
all things in the natural,
and the natural ought to obey,
as a servant his lord.

But by the fall
the natural man began to exalt itself
above the spiritual man,
and thus inverted Divine order itself;
consequently the natural man separated itself
from the spiritual,
and no longer possessed any spiritual things,
except such as could enter as through chinks,
and confer the capacity of thinking and speaking.
But in order that spiritual things
might again flow into the natural man,
this had to be regenerated by the Lord;
that is, truth out of the natural man
must be initiated and conjoined
with good in the rational;
and when this is effected,
spiritual things come to the natural man,
for then the light of heaven flows in
and enlightens the things in the natural man,
and causes them to receive light;
the goods therein
the heat of light, that is, love and charity;
 and the truth the rays of light, that is, faith;
and in this way natural good and natural truth
receive spiritual things.
In this case
natural good is all the delight and pleasure
that come from having as an end
the being of service to what is spiritual,
thus to the neighbor,
still more to the public well-being,
and still more to the Lord's kingdom,
and above all to the Lord;
and natural truth
is all the doctrine and memory-knowledge
that has as an end to be wise,
that is, the doing of these things.

AC 3170

. . . all unrest is from evil and falsity,
and all peace is from good and truth.

Invasion

During Jehoiakim's reign,
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the land,
Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years.
But then he changed his mind
and rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar.
The Lord sent Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite
and Ammonite raiders against him.
He sent them to destroy Judah,
in accordance with the word of the Lord
proclaimed by His servants the prophets.
Surely these things happened to Judah
according to the Lord's command,
in order to remove them from His presence
because of the sins of Manasseh
and all he had done . . ..

The king of Egypt
did not march out from his own country again,
because the king of Babylon had taken all his territory,
from the Wadi of Egypt to the Euphrates River.

(II Kings 24:1-3, 7)

AC 3161 - From Memory to Life

AC 3161 [2]

For it is well known that man is not born rational,
but only into the capacity of becoming rational;
and that he becomes so through memory-knowledges,
namely through knowledges
of many genera and species,
the first of which are means
leading to those which follow next,
and this in order even to the last,
which are knowledges of the spiritual things
of the Lord's kingdom,
and are called doctrinal things.
That these are learned in part from the doctrine of faith,
in part immediately from the Word,
and so in part by the man's own study,
is also well known.
So long as these doctrinal things
are only in the memory,
they are only truths in the form of memory-knowledge;
nor are they yet appropriated to the man as his;
but they are for the first time
appropriated to him when he begins
to love them for the sake of life,
and still more when he applies them to life.
When this is done,
then the truths are raised
out of the natural memory into the rational,
and are there conjoined with good;
and when they have been conjoined,
they are no longer of memory-knowledge merely,
but of the life;
for then the man no longer learns from truths
how he should live,
but lives from them,
and thereby the truths are appropriated to him,
and become of the will.
Thus man enters into the heavenly marriage;
for the heavenly marriage
is the conjunction of good and truth in the rational.
These things the Lord does with men.

Amon, then Josiah, Kings of Judah

Amon was twenty-two years old when he became king,
and he reigned in Jerusalem two years.
. . . He did evil in the eyes of the Lord,
as his father Manasseh had done.
He walked in all the ways of his father;
he worshiped the idols his father had worshiped,
and bowed down to them.
He forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers,
and did not walk in the way of the Lord.
. . . He was buried in his grave in the garden of Uzza.
And Josiah his son succeeded him as king.

Josiah was eight years old when he became king,
and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years.
His mother's name was Jedidah daughter of Adaiah;
she was from Bozkath.
He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord
and walked in all the ways of his father David,
not turning aside to the right or the left.

(II Kings 21:19-22, 26; 22:1-2)

AC 3142 - Sweeping the House, Sweeping the Way; AC 3143 - Use

AC 3142

The reason "to sweep" signifies
to prepare and to be filled,
is that nothing else is required of man
than to sweep the house;
that is, to reject the desires of evil
and the derivative persuasions of falsity;
for he is then filled with goods,
because good is continually flowing in from the Lord -
but into "the house," that is,
into the man who is purified from such things
as impede the influx,
that is, which reflect, or pervert, or suffocate
the inflowing good.
So it was common with the ancients
to speak of sweeping or cleaning the house,
and of sweeping and preparing the way;
and by sweeping the house was meant
to purify one's self from evils,
and thereby to prepare one's self for goods to enter;
but by sweeping the way was meant
to prepare one's self so that truths might be received
(for by a "house" was signified good;
and by a "way," truth.)

AC 3143

. . . all things that belong to the natural man
are for no other use
than to serve the spiritual . . ..

They Did Not Listen

So one of the priests
who had been exiled from Samaria
came to live in Bethel
and taught them how to worship the Lord.

Nevertheless, each national group made its own gods
in the several towns where they settled,
and set them up in the shrines
the people of Samaria had made at the high places.

To this day they persist in their former practices.
They neither worship the Lord
nor adhere to the decrees and ordinances,
the laws and commands
that the Lord gave the descendants of Jacob,
whom He named Israel.
When the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites,
He commanded them:
"Do not bow down to them,
serve them or sacrifice to them.
But the Lord,
who brought you up out of Egypt
with mighty power and outstretched arm,
is the One you must worship.
To Him you shall bow down
and to Him offer sacrifices.
You must always be careful
to keep the decrees and ordinances,
the laws and commands He wrote for you.
Do not worship other gods.
Do not forget the covenant I have made with you,
and do not worship other gods.
Rather, worship the Lord your God;
it is He who will deliver you
from the hand of all your enemies."

They would not listen, however,
but persisted in their former practices.
Even while these people were worshiping the Lord,
they were serving their idols.
To this day
their children and grandchildren
continue to do as their fathers did.

(II Kings 17:28-29, 33-41)

AC 3128, 3137 - Enlightenment

AC 3128 [3]

Concerning the enlightenment from good
by way of truth in the natural man, . . . the case is this:
Divine Good with man flows into his rational,
and through the rational into his natural,
and even into his factual knowledge, that is,
into the knowledges and matters of doctrine there,
as has been stated.
Then by fitting the truths there to itself,
the inflowing Divine Good shapes them for itself,
and by means of them 
enlightens everything in the natural man.
But if the life of the natural man is such
that it does not receive Divine Good,
but either rejects, or perverts, or stifles it,
Divine Good cannot fit truths to itself
and so shape them for itself.
As a consequence the natural
cannot be enlightened any longer,
for enlightenment in the natural man
is effected by good through truths;
and when there is no longer any enlightenment
no reformation can take place.

AC 3137

. . . where there is Divine truth,
there is also enlightenment.

Jehoiada and Joash

Johoiada then made a covenant
between the Lord and the king and people
that they would be the Lord's people.
He also made a covenant
between the king and the people.
All the people of the land
went to the temple of Baal and tore it down.
They smashed the altars and idols to pieces
and killed Mattan the priest of Baal
in front of the altars.

Then Jehoiada the priest posted guards
at the temple of the Lord.

In the seventh year of Jehu,
Joash became king,
and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years.
His mother's name of Zibiah;
she was from Beersheba.
Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord
all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
The high places, however, were not removed;
the people continued to offer sacrifices
and and burn incense there.

(II Kings 11:17-18; 12:1-3)

AC 3116, 3125 - Exploration

AC 3125
AC 3116, 3125

Exploration takes place . . .
with every man who is being reformed,
and also with everyone who receives remains;
but of this exploration the man knows nothing at all;
it is so entirely in obscurity with him
that he does not even believe that there is any;
when yet it is taking place every moment,
but from the Lord,
who alone sees man's state --
not only his present state,
but also his future state to eternity.
The exploration is a most exquisite balancing,
to prevent even the least of falsity
from being conjoined with good,
and the least of truth from being conjoined with evil;
for if there should be such conjunction,
the man would perish eternally;
because then in the other life
he would hang between hell and heaven;
and by reason of the good
he would be spewed out from hell,
and by reason of the evil
from heaven.

. . . as the Lord, by His own proper power,
made His rational Divine in respect to truth
as well as in respect to good,
He therefore explored the truth
which He conjoined with good.
But with men,
truth is never conjoined with good by their own power,
but by the power of the Lord;
which may be seen from the fact
that all good and truth flow in from the Lord,
and that all reformation and regeneration
are from the Lord,
and that man does not know
one whit of how he is regenerated. 
At the present day he does not even know
that he is regenerated by truth and good,
still less that truth is initiated and conjoined with good,
and that this is effected as by exploration,
that is, most exactly. 

 

Jehu Anointed King of Israel

The prophet Elisha summoned a man
from the company of the prophets and said to him,
"Tuck your cloak into your belt,
take this flask of oil with you and go to Ramoth Gilead.
When you get there,
look for Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi.
Go to him,
get him away from his companions
and take him into an inner room.
Then take the flask
and pour the oil on his head and declare,
'This is what the Lord says:
I anoint you king over Israel.'
Then open the door and run;
don't delay!"

(II King 9:1-3)

AC 3105 - "And Two Bracelets"

AC 3105

And two bracelets.
(Genesis 24:22)

That this signifies Divine truth,
is evident from the signification of "bracelets,"
as being truth, here Divine truth,
because the Lord is treated of in the internal sense;
they are said to have been "two," to denote fullness.
Bracelets were placed on the hands of a bride,
because by a bride was signified the church,
and by her hands were signified powers from truth
(that "hands" are predicated of truth . . .).
Bracelets were not only for a bride,
but also for a king
(but for a king they were on the arm,
as appears in 2 Sam. 1:10),
for the reason that royalty was
representative and significative of Divine truth
pertaining to the Lord;
and the "arm" is significative of power. 

 

Death in a Pot

Elisha returned to Gilgal
and there was a famine in that region.
While the company of the prophets
was meeting with him,
he said to his servant,
"Put on the large pot
and cook some stew for these men."

One of them went out into the fields
to gather herbs and found a wild vine.
He gathered some of its gourds
and filled the fold of his cloak.
When he returned,
he cut them up into the pot of stew,
though no one knew what they were.
The stew was poured out for the men,
but as they began to eat it they cried out,
"O man of God, there is death in the pot!"
And they could not eat it.

Elisha said, "Get some flour."
He put it into the pot and said,
"Serve it to the people to eat."
And there was nothing harmful in the pot.

(II Kings 4:38-41)

AC 3088 - "The Servant Ran to Meet Her"

AC 3088

The servant ran to meet her, and said.
(Genesis 24:17)

That this signifies exploration from Divine good,
is evident from the signification of "running to meet her,"
as being an exploration as to whether the case
was as he had spoken in his heart
(the internal sense so dictates);
also from the signification of "saying,"
as being to perceive (often shown before)
and thus to explore.
That this was from Divine good,
is because the servant here acts
in the stead of his lord,
that is, of Abraham and also of Isaac;
for he that is sent
puts on the personality of him who sends.
This is often the case in the Word,
as when angels are spoken of
who are first mentioned as angels,
and are afterwards called "Jehovah"
(as the angel who appeared to Moses in the bush,
Exod. 3:2, 4;
and the angel that appeared to Gideon,
Judges 6:11-12, 14). 

Healing of the Water

The men of the city said to Elisha, "Look, our lord,
this town is well situated, as you can see,
but the water is bad and the land is unproductive."

"Bring me a new bowl," he said,
"and put salt in it."
So they brought it to him.

Then he went out to the spring
and threw the salt into it, saying,
"This is what the Lord says:
'I have healed this water.
Never again will it cause death
or make the land unproductive.'"
And the water has remained wholesome to this day,
according to the word Elisha had spoken.

(II Kings 2:19-22)

AC 3079 - "With a Pitcher Upon Her Shoulder"; AC 3080 - Beauty; AC 3085 - Heavenly Food

AC 3079 [2]

With a pitcher upon her shoulder.
(Genesis 24:15)

That this signifies receptions of truth,
and endeavor,
is evident from the signification of "Pitcher,"
as being memory-knowledge,
and thus a receptacle of truth;
and from the signification of the "shoulder,"
as being all power,
and thus endeavor.
That "pitchers" or "water-jars," also vessels in general,
signify in the internal sense
things which are in the position of being a receptacle
(as are memory-knowledges
and knowledges in relation to truths,
and as are truths themselves in relation to good) . . ..

AC 3080

. . . all beauty is from good in which there is innocence.
Good itself
when it flows in from the internal man into the external,
makes beauty;
and from this is all human beauty.
This may likewise be seen from the fact
that no one is affected by the face of another,
but by the affection which beams forth from the face;
and that they who are in good
are affected by the affection of good there,
and in the measure in which
there is innocence in the good.
Thus it is the spiritual in the natural which affects,
but not the natural without the spiritual.
In like manner those who are in good
are affected by little children,
who appear to them beautiful
in proportion to the innocence of charity
in their faces, gestures, and speech.

AC 3085

. . . heavenly food is nothing else
than all that which is of intelligence and wisdom;
and to them
the blessedness of wisdom and intelligence
is whatever treats of the Lord.

The Lord and Israel Overcomes the Arameans

The next spring Ben-Hadad mustered the Arameans
and went up to Aphek to fight against Israel.
When the Israelites
were also mustered and given provisions,
they marched out to meet them.
The Israelites camped opposite them
like two small flocks of goats,
while the Arameans covered the countryside.

The man of God came up and told the king of Israel,
"This is what the Lord says:
'Because the Arameans think the Lord
is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys,
I will deliver this vast army into your hands,
and you will know that I am the Lord.'"

For seven days they camped opposite each other,
and on the seventh day the battle was joined.
The Israelites inflicted a hundred thousand casualites
on the Amamean foot soldiers in one day.
The rest of them escaped to the city of Aphek,
where the wall collapsed
on twenty-seven thousand of them.
And Ben-Hadad fled to the city
and hid in an inner room.

(II Kings 20:26-28)

AC 3063 - Mercy

AC 3063

And do mercy.
(Genesis 24:12)

That this signifies an influx of love
is evident from the essence of mercy,
as being love.
Love is itself turned to mercy
and becomes mercy
when anyone who is in need of help
is regarded from love or charity;
consequently mercy is the effect of love
toward the needy and miserable.
But here by "mercy" in the internal sense is meant love;
and by "doing mercy" is meant an influx of love,
because it is from the Lord's Divine Itself
into His Divine Human;
for it was the Lord's Divine love
through which He made His Human Divine;
for love is the very being of life,
and no one has Divine love but the Lord. 

Ahab Becomes King of Israel

In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah,
Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel,
and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years.
Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord
than any of those before him.
He not only considered it trivial
to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat,
but he also married Jezebel
daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians,
and began to serve Baal and worship him.
He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal
that he built in Samaria.
Ahab also made an Asherah pole
and did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel,
to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.

In Ahab's time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho.
He laid its foundations
at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram,
and he set up its gates
at the cost of his youngest son Segub,
in accordance with the word of the Lord
spoken by Joshua son of Nun.

(I Kings 16:29-34)

AC 3048 - Camels; AC 3052 - Memory-knowledges and Doctrinal Things

AC 3048 [2]

The subject here is the process
of the conjunction of truth with good
in the Lord's Divine rational;
first, the process of initiation,
the nature of which is described in a series;
here, that the Lord separated in the natural man
the things which were from Himself,
that is, which were Divine,
from those which were of the maternal.
The things which were from Himself,
or which were Divine,
are the things by which the initiation was effected;
and they are here the
"ten camels, of the camels of his lord."
And consequently it is that in the following verses
much mention is made of "camels":
-- as that he made the camels fall on their knees
without the city (verse 11);
-- that Rebekah also gave drink to the camels
(verses 14, 19-20);
-- that they were brought into the house,
and that straw and provender
were given them (verses 31-32);
-- and further, that Rebekah and her girls
rode upon the camels (verse 61);
-- and that Isaac saw the camels coming;
-- and when Rebekah saw Isaac,
that she alighted off her camel (verses 63-64).
Camels are mentioned so often
because of the internal sense,
in which they signify the general memory-knowledges
in the natural man,
from which comes the affection of truth
which is to be initiated into
the affection of good in the rational,
and this in the usual way, as shown above;
for the rational as to truth cannot possibly
be born and perfected
without memory-knowledges and knowledges.

AC 3052

Memory-knowledges and doctrinal things
are distinct from each other in this way:
-- doctrinal things come from memory-knowledges,
for they look to use,
and are procured from memory-knowledges
by means of reflection.

The Prophet Ahijah to Jeroboam's Wife

"The Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel
who will cut off the family of Jeroboam.
This is that Day!
What?
Yes, even now.
And the Lord will strike Israel,
so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water.
He will uproot Israel from this good land
that He gave to their forefathers
and scatter them beyond the river,
because they provoked the Lord to anger
by making Asherah poles.
And He will give Israel up
because of the sins Jeroboam has committed
and has caused Israel to commit."

(I Kings 14:14-16)

AC 3043 - Freedom

AC 3043 [2]

For freedom is of love or affection;
and unless the natural man receives the affection of truth
from the inflowing affection of good,
it cannot possibly be conjoined with the rational.
Such is the case with man;
and that he is reformed of the Lord through freedom . . ..

King Solomon

King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom
than all the other kings of the earth.
The whole world sought audience with Solomon
to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.

King Solomon, however, loved many
foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter --
Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.
They were from nations about which
the Lord had told the Israelites,
"You must not intermarry with them,
because they will surely
turn your hearts after their gods."
Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love . . .
and his wives led him astray.

(I Kings 10:23-24, 11:1-3)

AC 3030 - The Birth of the Genuine Rational

AC 3030 [2-4]

The genuine rational is from good,
but comes forth from truth.
Good flows in by an internal way;
but truth by an external way.
Good thus conjoins itself with truth in the rational,
and they cause the rational to be.
Unless the good therein is conjoined with truth,
there is no rational;
although there appears to be,
because the man can reason.
This is the common way
in which the rational is formed with man.

As the Lord was born like another man,
and as it was His will
to be instructed like another man,
so did He will
to make His rational Divine in a similar way, namely,
as to good by influx
from His Divine by the internal way,
and as to truth by influx through the external way.
When therefore the rational as to good
had been so far formed
as to be in a state for receiving truth
(which is meant by the words
in the beginning of this chapter,
"Abraham being old was come into days,
and Jehovah blessed Abraham in all things," . . .)
there next follows
that truth is to be conjoined
with the good of the rational,
and this, as before said, by the common way,
that is, by means of memory-knowledges
and knowledges from the natural man.

The good itself of the rational,
which is formed by the internal way,
is the very ground;
but truth is the seed which is to be sown in this ground.
The genuine rational is never born in any other way.
In order that it might come forth with the Lord
in the same way,
and be made Divine by His own power,
the Lord came into the world,
and it was His will to be born as are other men.

The Ark Comes to the Temple

When all the work King Solomon
had done for the temple of the Lord was finished,
he brought in the things his father David had dedicated --
the silver and gold and the furnishings --
and he placed them in the treasuries of the Lord's temple.

Then King Solomon summoned
into his presence at Jerusalem
the elders of Israel,
all the heads of the tribes
and the chiefs of the Israelite families,
to bring up the ark of the Lord's covenant
from Zion, the City of David.
All the men of Israel came together to King Solomon
at the time of the festival in the month of Ethanium,
the seventh month.

When all the elders of Israel had arrived,
the priests took up the ark,
and they brought up the ark of the Lord
and the Tent of Meeting
and all the sacred furnishings in it.
The priests and Levites carried them up,
and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel
that had gathered about him
were before the ark,
sacrificing so many sheep and cattle
that they could not be recorded or counted.

The priests then brought the ark of the Lord's covenant
to its place in the inner sanctuary of the temple,
the Most Holy Place,
and put it beneath the wings of the cherubim.
The cherubim spread their wings
over the place of the ark
and overshadowed the ark and its carrying poles.
These poles were so long
that their ends could be seen from the Holy Place
in front of the inner sanctuary,
but not from outside the Holy Place;
and they are still there today.
There was nothing in the ark
except the two stone tablets
that Moses had placed in it at Horeb,
where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites
after they had come out of Egypt.

When the priests withdrew from the Holy Place,
the cloud filled the temple of the Lord.
And the priests could not perform their service
because of the cloud,
for the glory of the Lord filled His temple.

(I Kings 7:51; 8:1-11)

AC 3023 - God of Heaven / God of the Earth

AC 3023

. . . "Jehovah the God of heaven,"
being said of the Lord,
denotes Jehovah Himself who is called the Father,
from whom He was conceived,
thus who was His Divine Essence;
for the conception itself
gave the veriest essence from which He was.
"Jehovah the God of the earth"
in this case means Jehovah who is called the Son,
thus His Human essence;
this came forth from the Divine essence
when the Lord made it also Divine.
Thus by "Jehovah the God of heaven"
is signified the Divine that is in the highest;
and by "Jehovah the God of the earth"
is signified the Divine
that is in that which is therefrom.
But the Lord is called "Jehovah the God of heaven"
from His Divine that is in the heavens;
and He is called the "God of the earth"
from His Divine that is on earth.
The Divine in the heavens is also that
which is with man in his internals;
but the Divine on earth is that
which is in his externals;
for the internals of man are his heaven,
because by them he is conjoined with the angels;
but his externals are his earth, 
for by them he is conjoined with men.

Whose Baby?

Now two prostitutes came to the king
and stood before him.
One of them said, "My lord,
this woman and I live in the same house.
I had a baby while she was there with me.
The third day after my child was born,
this woman also had a baby.
We were alone;
there was no one in the house but the two of us.

"During the night this woman's son died
because she lay on him.
So she got up in the middle of the night
and took my son from my side
while I your servant was asleep.
She put him by her breast.
The next morning, I got up to nurse my son -
and he was dead!
But when I looked at him closely in the morning light,
I saw that it wasn't the son I had borne."

The other woman said, "No!
the living one is my son; the dead one is yours."

But the first one insisted, "No!
The dead one is yours; the living one is mine."
And so they argued before the king.

The kings said, "This one says,
'My son is alive and your son is dead,'
while that one says,
'No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.'"

Then the king said, "Bring me a sword."
So they brought a sword for the king.
He then gave an word:
"Cut the living child in two
and give half to one and half to the other."

The woman whose son was alive
was filled with compassion for her son
and said to the king, "Please, my lord,
give her the living baby!  Don't kill him!"

But the other said,
"Neither I nor you shall have him.
Cut him in two!"

Then the king gave his ruling:
"Give the living baby to the first woman.
Do not kill him; she is his mother."

When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given,
they held the king in awe,
because they saw
that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.

(I Kings 3:16-28)

AC 3020- One Household: The Rational Mind and the Natural Mind

AC 3020

All things that are in man are as one household
(that is, as one family)
in this respect,
that there is one who fills
the office of master of the house,
and others who fill that of servants.
The rational mind itself is that which disposes all things
as master of the house,
and arranges them in order by influx
into the natural mind;
but it is the natural mind
that ministers and is the administrator.

As the natural mind is distinct from the rational mind
and is in a degree below it,
and as it also acts as if from what is its own,
it is called relatively a "servant the elder of the house,"
and it is said to administer all the things in itself 
that belong to it.
That the natural mind is distinct from the rational,
and is in a lower degree,
and is as if in what is its own,
may be seen from the things within it,
and from its offices.
The things which are therein
are all memory-knowledges,
thus also all knowledges of every kind whatever;
in a word, they are all things
in both general and particular
that belong to the outer or corporeal memory.
To this mind also belongs all the imaginative faculty,
which is the interior sensuous with man,
and which is in the greatest vigor with children;
and in the first age of adolescence;
to the same mind belong also
all natural affections that man has
in common with brute animals;
all of which shows what its offices are.

But the rational mind is more internal.
The knowledges in it are not open before man,
but while he lives in the body are imperceptible;
for they are all things in both general and particular
that belong to the interior memory.
To this mind also belongs all the thinking faculty
that is perceptive of what is equitable and just,
and of what is true and good;
also all spiritual affections, which are properly human,
and by which man is distinguished from the brute animals.
These things from this mind flow
into the natural mind,
and excites the things that are therein,
and views them with a kind of sight,
and in this manner judges and forms conclusions.
That these two minds are distinct
is clearly evident from the fact
that with many persons
the natural mind has dominion over the rational mind,
or what amounts to the same,
the external man has dominion over the internal;
yet it does not have dominion
and is subservient only with those in whom
the good of charity is present,
that is, who allow themselves to be led by the Lord.

Solomon

Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt
and married his daughter.
He brought her to the City of David
until he finished building his palace
and the temple of the Lord,
and the wall around Jerusalem.
The people, however,
were still sacrificing at the high places,
because a temple had not yet been built
for the Name of the Lord.
Solomon showed his love for the Lord
by walking according to the statutes of his father David,
except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense
on the high places.

(I Kings 3:1-3)
 

David's Mighty Men

These are the names of David's mighty men:

Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite,
was chief of the Three;
he raised his spear against eight hundred men,
whom he killed in one encounter.

Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite.
As one of the three mighty men,
he was with David when they taunted
the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammin for battle.
Then the men of Israel retreated,
but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines
til his hand grew tired and froze to the sword.
The Lord brought about a great victory that day.
The troops returned to Eleazar,
but only to strip the dead.

Next to him as Shammah son of Agee the Hararite.
When the Philistines banded together
at a place where there was a field full of lentils,
Israel's troops fled from them.
But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field.
He defended it and struck the Philistines down,
and the Lord brought about a great victory.

Abishai the brother of Joab son of Zeruiah
was chief of the Three.
He raised his spear against three hundred men,
whom he killed,
and so he became as famous as the Three.
Was he not held in greater honor than the Three?
He became their commander,
even though he was not included among them.

Benaiah son of Jehoiada
was a valiant fighter from Kabzeel,
who performed great exploits.
He struck down two of Moab's best men.
He also went down into a pit on a snowy day
and killed a lion.
. . . Such were the exploits of Benaiah
son of Jehoiada;
he too was as famous as the three mighty men.
He was held in greater honor than any of the Thirty,
but he was not included among the Three.
And David put him in charge of his bodyguard.

(II Samuel 23:8-12, 18-20, 23)

AC 3004 - Jesus Christ

AC 3004

 By the name "Jesus,"
when named by a man who is reading the Word,
the angels perceive Divine good;
and by "Christ," Divine truth;
and by the two names,
the Divine marriage of good and truth,
and of truth and good;
thus the whole Divine in the heavenly marriage,
which is heaven.

You Are My Lamp

You are my lamp, O Lord;
the Lord turns my darkness into light.

(II Samuel 22:29)

AC 2990 - There Is a Spiritual World and a Natural World

AC 2990

. . . there is a spiritual world, and also a natural world.
In the universal sense
the spiritual world is where spirits and angels dwell;
and the natural world is where men dwell.
In particular, there is a spiritual world
and a natural world with every man:
his internal man being to him a spiritual world,
and his external man being to him a natural world.
The things that flow in from the spiritual world
and are presented in the natural world,
are in general representations;
and insofar as they agree
they are correspondences.
  
 

David to Ittai the Gittite

All his men marched past him,
along with all the Kerethites and Pelethites;
and all the six hundred Gittites
who had accompanied him from Gath
marched before the king.

The king said to Ittai the Gittite,
"Why should you come along with us?
Go back and stay with King Absalom.
You are a foreigner,
an exile from your homeland.
You came only yesterday.
And today shall I make you wander about with us,
when I do not know where I am going?
Go back, and take your countrymen.
May kindness and faithfulness be with you."

"But Ittai replied to the king,
"As surely as the Lord lives,
and as my lord the king lives,
wherever my lord the king may be,
whether it means life or death,
there will your servant be."

David said to Ittai,
"Go ahead, march on."
So Ittai the Gittite marched on
with all his men and the families that were with him.

(II Samuel 15:18-22)

AC 2979 - The Regeneration of the Spiritual Person

AC 2979 [2-3]

With the regeneration of the spiritual man
the case is this:
He is first instructed in the truths of faith,
and then he is held by the Lord in the affection of truth.
The good of faith, which is charity toward the neighbor,
is at the same time instilled into him,
but in such a way that he is scarcely aware of it;
for it lies hidden in the affection of truth,
and this to the end
that the truth which is of faith
may be conjoined with the good which is of charity.
As time goes on,
the affection of truth which is of faith increases,
and truth is regarded for the sake of its end,
that is, for the sake of good,
or what is the same, for the sake of the life,
and this more and more.
Thus is truth instilled into good,
and when this takes place
the man absorbs into himself the good of life
according to the truth that has been instilled;
and so he acts or seems to himself
to act from good.
Previous to this time,
the truth of faith was principal,
but afterwards the good of life becomes so.

When this is the case the man is regenerate;
but he is regenerate according to
the quality and the amount of the truth
that has been instilled in good;
and when truth and good act as one,
he is regenerate according to
the quality and the amount of the good:
such is the case with all regeneration.
Regeneration is effected to the end
that man may be received into heaven.
Heaven is nothing else
than the marriage of truth and good,
and of good and truth . . ..

God Does Not

But God does not take away life;
instead, He devises ways
so that a banished person
may not remain estranged from Him.

(II Samuel 14:14)

AC 2973 - The Lamp of the Body; AC 2974 - A Primary Article of Faith; AC 2975 - Agreement in Regeneration

AC 2973 [ 5]

With those who are in celestial and spiritual love,
good from the Lord flows in
through the soul into the body,
and consequently the body becomes full of light;
but with those who are in bodily and worldly love,
good from the Lord cannot flow in
through the soul into the body,
but their interiors are in darkness;
instead the body becomes full of darkness,
according to what the Lord teaches in Matthew:

The lamp of the body is the eye;
if the eye be single,
the whole body is full of light;
but if the eye be evil,
the whole body is full of darkness.
If therefore the light be darkness,
how great is the darkness.
(Matt. 6:22-23);

by the "eye" is signified the intellectual
which belongs to the soul.

AC 2974

It is a primary article of faith
that all good and all truth are the Lord's,
thus from the Lord alone.
The more interiorly anyone acknowledges this,
the more interiorly he is in heaven;
for in heaven it is perceived to be so,
and there is there a sphere of perception that it is so;
for they are in good which is from the Lord alone,
and this is what is called being in the Lord.

AC 2975

. . . if the will and understanding do not agree,
even so as to make a one,
the man has not been regenerated;
that is, if good and truth,
or what is the same, charity and faith,
are not a one;
for charity is of the will,
and faith is of the understanding.

David's Victories

In the course of time,
David defeated the Philistines and subdued them,
and he took Metheg Ammah
from the control of the Philistines.

David also defeated the Moabites.

. . . Moreover David fought Hadadezer
son of Rehob, king of Zobah,
when he went to restore his control
along the Euphrates River.

. . . When the Arameans of Damascus
came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah,
David struck down twenty-two thousand of them.

. . . And David became famous
after he returned from striking down
eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.

He put garrisons throughout Edom,
and all the Edomites became subject to David.
The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.

(II Samuel 8:1-2, 3, 5, 13-14)

AC 2965 - The Lord's Divine Makes the Church With a Person

AC 2965 [2, 3]

. . . it is the Lord's Divine
which makes the church with man;
for nothing is called the church
that is not the Lord's own;
for it is the good which is of love and charity,
and it is the truth which is of faith,
which make that which is called the church.

With those who believe
all good and all truth to be from the Lord,
the price of redemption is signified by "forty,"
and in a higher degree by "four hundred."

David Becomes King

The war between the house of Saul
and the house of David lasted a long time.
David grew stronger and stronger,
while the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.

When all the elders of Israel had come
to King David at Hebron,
the king made a compact with them
at Hebron before the Lord,
and they anointed David king over Israel.

David was thirty years old when he became king,
and he reigned forty years.
In Hebron he reigned over Judah
seven years and six months,
and in Jerusalem he reigned
over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.

(II Samuel 3:1;  5:3-5)
 

The Redemption of the Spiritual and the Celestial

AC 2954

The redemption or reformation and salvation
of the men of the spiritual church
is effected through truth;
but that of the men of the celestial church
through good.
The reasons have been repeatedly stated above,
namely,
that the spiritual have nothing of the will of good,
but in its stead have been gifted with the faculty
of understanding what is good.
The understanding of good
is what is principally called truth,
and indeed the truth of faith;
but willing and consequently doing this
is what is called good.
The spiritual therefore,
through the understanding of good,
or what is the same, through truth,
are introduced into the will of good,
or what is the same, into good;
not however into anything
of the will of good from themselves,
for with them all the will of good has been lost;
but into a new will which they receive from the Lord;
and when they have received this will
they are then called specifically the redeemed. 

 

Saul Dies and David Inquires of the Lord

After the death of Saul,
David returned from defeating the Amalekites
and stayed in Ziklag two days.
On the third day a man arrived from Saul's camp,
with his clothes torn and with dust on his head.
When he came to David,
he fell to the ground to pay him honor.

"Where have you come from?" David asked him.

He answered, "I have escaped from the Israelite camp."

"What happened?" David asked.  "Tell me."

He said, "The men fled from battle.
Many of them fell and died.
And Saul and his son Jonathan are dead."

In the course of time,
David inquired of the Lord.
"Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?" he asked.

The Lord said, "Go up."

David asked, "Where shall I go?"

"To Hebron," the Lord answered.

So David went up there with his two wives,
Ahinoam of Jezreel and
Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel.
David also took the men who were with him,
each with his family,
and they settled in Hebron and its towns.
Then the men of Judah came to Hebron
and there they anointed David king
over the house of Judah.

(II Samuel 1:1-4; 2:1-4)

AC 2943 - Cities and Gates

AC 2943

Of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying.
(Genesis 23: 10)

That this signifies as to the doctrinal things
through which there is faith,
is evident from the signification of "gate,"
as being entrance,
thus that which introduces
(in like manner as "door,";)
and from the signification of "city,"
as being the truth of faith.
Cities in the Ancient Church were not like
the cities of later times and of the present day,
that is, assemblages and gatherings of people;
but they were the dwelling together
of separate families.
The family of one parent constituted a city,
as for instance the city of Nahor
(to which Abraham's servant came
when he was to betroth Rebekah to Isaac)
was Nahor's family which was there;
and Shalem, the city of Shechem
(to which Jacob came
when he journeyed from Paddan-aram, )
was the family of Hamor and Shechem,
which was there;
and so with the other cities of that time.

[2] And as they had learned
from the most ancient people
that nations and families
represented the heavenly societies,
and thus the things of love and charity,
so when a "city" is mentioned instead of a family,
and "people" instead of nation,
truth is signified which is of faith.
So also the "city of God" and the "holy city,"
in the genuine sense signify faith in the Lord;
and as a walled town or city signified faith,
the "gate" of the city signified doctrinal things,
because these introduce to faith.
This in the representative Jewish Church
was also signified by the judges and the elders
sitting in the gate of the city and judging there . . ..

David Spares Saul's Life Again

Then David set out
and went to the place where Saul had camped.
He saw where Saul and Abner son of Ner,
the commander of the army, had lain down.
Saul was laying inside the camp,
with the army encamped around him.

David then asked Ahimelech the Hittite
and Abishai son of Zeruiah, Joab's brother,
"Who will go down into the camp with me to Saul?"

"I'll go with you," said Abishai.

So David and Abishai went to the army by night,
and there was Saul, lying asleep inside the camp
with his spear stuck in he ground near his head.
Abner and the soldiers were lying around him.

. . . "Here is the king's spear," David answered.
"Let one of your young men come over and get it.
The Lord rewards every man
for his righteousness and faithfulness.
The Lord delivered you into my hands today,
but I would not lay a hand on the Lord's anointed.
As surely as I valued your life today,
so may the Lord value my life
and deliver me from all trouble."

(I Samuel 26:5-7, 22-24)
 

AC 2930 - The "Soul"

AC 2930 [5]

It is said that "soul"
signifies the affection of truth from the heart,
because there are affections of truth
which are not from the heart;
as those which are from
the love of self or of being eminent,
from the love of the world or of making gain,
also from the love of meriting;
from these in like manner t
here come forth affections of truth,
but they are not genuine;
being from the will of the flesh,
and not from the heart:
that which is from the heart is from the Lord.

Moreover "soul" in the Word
signifies in the universal sense all life
for in the universal sense
 the soul is that from which another thing is, and lives;
thus the soul of the body is its spirit,
for from this the body lives;
but the soul of the spirit is its still more internal life,
from which it has wisdom and understanding. 

David Goes to See Ahimelech at Nob

David went to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest.
Ahimelech trembled when he met him, and asked,
"Why are you alone?  Why is no one with you?"

David answered Ahimelech the priest,
"The king charged me with a certain matter
and said to me, 'No one is to know anything
about your mission and your instructions.'
As for my men,
I have told them to meet me at a certain place.
Now then, what do you have on hand?
Give me five loaves of bread,
or whatever you can find."

But the priest answered David,
"I don't have any ordinary bread on hand;
however, there is some consecrated bread here --
provided the men have kept themselves from women."

David replied, "Indeed women have been kept from us,
as usual whenever I set out.
The men's things are holy
even on missions that are not holy.
How much more so today!"
So the priest gave him the consecrated bread,
since there was no bread there
except the bread of the Presence
that had been removed from before the Lord
and replaced by hot bread
on the day it was taken away.

Now one of Saul's servants was there that day,
detained before the Lord;
he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul's head shepherd.

David asked Ahimelech,
"Don't you have a spear or a sword here?
I haven't brought my sword or any other weapon,
because the king's business was urgent."

The priest replied, "The sword of Goliath the Philistine,
whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here;
it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod.
If you want it, take it;
there is no sword here but that one."

David said, "There is none like it; give it to me."

(I Samuel 20:1-9)

AC 2921 - Why the Evangelists called Jehovah, Lord

AC 2921 [5, 6]

But in the Word of the New Testament,
with the Evangelists and in the Apocalypse,
"Jehovah" is nowhere named;
but instead of "Jehovah" it is said "Lord" . . ..

Among the hidden causes
of their calling Jehovah "the Lord" were the following.
If at that time it had been said
that the Lord was the Jehovah
so often named in the Old Testament,
men would not have accepted it,
for they would not have believed it;
and moreover the Lord did not become
Jehovah as to the Human also
until He had completely united
the Divine Essence to the Human Essence,
and the Human to the Divine.
The full union was accomplished
after the last temptation,
which was that of the cross;
and for this reason,
after the resurrection
the disciples always called Him "the Lord".

You call Me Master and Lord,
and you say well, for I am.
(John 13:13-14, 16)

and these words signify that He was Jehovah God;
for He is here called "Lord" as to good,
and "Master" as to truth.

Saul Tries to Kill David

But an evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul
as he was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand.
While David was playing the harp,
Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear,
but David eluded him
as Saul drove the spear into the wall.
That night David made good his escape.

(I Samuel 19:9-10)

AC 2915 - The Lord's Presence With a Person

AC 2915

. . . because they live in the good of charity,
and in what is just and equitable as to civil life,
and in what is honorable and becoming as to moral life,
they are such that the Lord can be with them;
for the Lord's presence with man is in good,
and therefore in what is just and equitable,
and further in what is honorable and becoming
(what is honorable being
the complex of all the moral virtues;
and what is becoming being simply its form);
for these are goods which succeed in order,
and are the planes in man
on which conscience is founded by the Lord,
and consequently intelligence and wisdom.
But with those who are not in these goods
(that is to say from the heart or affection),
nothing of heaven can be inseminated;
for there is no plane or ground,
thus there is no recipient;
and as nothing of heaven can be inseminated,
neither can the Lord be present there.
The Lord's presence is predicated
according to the good,
that is, according to the quality of the good;
the quality of the good
is according to the state of innocence,
of love, and of charity,
in which the truths of faith have been implanted
or can be implanted.

David Plays for Saul

Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul,
and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.

Saul's attendants said to him,
"See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you.
Let our lord command his service here
to search for someone who can play the harp.
He will play when the evil spirit from God comes to you,
and you will feel better."

So Saul said to his attendants,
"Find someone who plays well and bring him to me."

One of the servants answered,
"I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem
who knows how to play the harp.
He is a brave man and a warrior.
He speaks well and is a fine-looking man.
And the Lord is with him."

Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said,
"Send me your son David, who is with the sheep."
So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread,
a skin of wine and a young goat
and sent them with his son David to Saul.

David came to Saul and entered his service.
Saul liked him very much,
and David became one of his armor-bearers.
Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying,
"Allow David to remain in my service,
for I am pleased with him."

Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul,
David would take his harp and play.
Then relief would come to Saul;
he would feel better,
and the evil spirit would leave him.

(I Samuel 16:14-23)

AC 2909 - Hebron

AC 2909 [4]

. . .  Hebron represented the Lord's spiritual church
in the land of Canaan.
And likewise on this account
David was required by the command of Jehovah
to go to Hebron,
and was there anointed to be king
over the house of Judah;
and after he had reigned there
seven years and six months,
he went to Jerusalem and took possession of Zion
(see 2 Sam. 2:1-11; 5:5; 1 Kings 2:11);
and then for the first time
the spiritual church of the Lord
began to be represented by Jerusalem,
and the celestial church by Zion.