(2) And everyone that was in distress, and everyone that was in debt, and everyone that was discontented, gathered themselves unto him; and he became a captain over them: and there were with him about four hundred men.
Here surely, if any where, we may see the Lord Jesus strongly typified. Yes! thou dearest Lord! thy little army is composed of distressed souls; for none will make thee their Captain whose spiritual circumstances are not desperate. Until I found myself totally insolvent, and unable to satisfy the debt of God's law; until my soul felt distress from the sense of sin, the alarms of conscience, and the accusations of Satan; until discontent under a load of guilt, and the fear of the wrath to come, compelled me to seek redemption; never wast thou dear to me, nor did I desire to come under thy banner! But now, oh! thou chiefest among ten thousand; now art thou to me the altogether lovely, and the Captain of my salvation. They shall come, it is said, that are ready to perish: and I am also convinced that without thee I must, perish forever. Isaiah 27:13.