Have you ever found it difficult to accept kindness? I mean really, when someone is nice to you and you are not expecting it, how easy is it for you to handle? Do you just relish in it and accept it willingly, or are you guarded and fearful. Maybe you even refuse the kindness, believing it to be a mistake or worse, believing there are ulterior motives. I’m sure we have all seen it; someone pretends to befriend us, just so that they can use us to gain something for themselves. We have been trained by our experience to question someone’s kindness because we realize that people are not kind by nature. Because kindness is a selfless act and people are by nature selfish. Oh some of you may question that assertion, but I believe that apart from Jesus Christ, there has never been a person on this earth who is completely selfless.
Kindness is not a natural human trait, it is a often a learned behavior. However, in the case of Christians, it is a spiritual trait that comes as part of the fruit of the spirit. Therefore for Christians, for those filled with the Spirit, kindness is the normal way of treating people. Right? That is how we treat everyone, with kindness as the Spirit has taught us to do. Yet, we still have difficulty in trusting other people’s kindness.
Imagine someone comes up to you at your work place and says I would like to give you a new house, completely paid for, just to be nice. Or imagine someone who never met says to you, I would like you to have my new car. Would you take it? Would you trust them? You would probably say, “What’s the catch?” or What do I have to do?” Or “Am I on TV?” There is probably no way you would believe it to be true, and almost no way that it would happen with no strings attached.
Let me give you a small example of this. I know a youth group that decided they were going to live out this kindness principle, asking and receiving nothing in return. They decided they were going to wash car windows while they people were in the supermarket. They didn’t ask for donations, they didn’t even tell people who had done it. They weren’t looking to proselytize or evangelize, they were simply looking to be nice. This worked for about an hour. After an hour, the manager of the supermarket came out and asked them to leave. He said they weren’t allowed to be nice to people without asking them. Apparently, people had complained about having their windows cleaned for no apparent reason. They believed there must be something fishy going on.
So as difficult as it is to show kindness to strangers and have them accept it, imagine trying to show kindness to someone who views you as the enemy. Imagine trying to show kindness to someone who blames you for the death of their father, and grandfather: someone who blames you for all the ills that have ever happened in their life. Imagine trying to show kindness in that situation and having it accepted. Although this sounds like I may be talking about the attempts of Americans to show kindness to Muslim extremists, or for one political party to show kindness to the other, in fact I am talking about David showing kindness to Mephibosheth.
Now the first time we heard about Mephibosheth was in Chapter 4 when Saul’s kingdom came to a close when Ishbosheth was murdered. You remember the how David’s men had fought with Saul’s men and then Saul’s men murdered their king in an effort to win favor with David. Mephibosheth was the heir apparent to Saul’s kingdom. He was the grandson of Saul, and he knew that David had been Saul’s nemesis, at least as much as a five year old could know. And apparently, it wasn’t until the kingdom was in turmoil, when Mephibosheth became lame as his nurse tried to take him to safety and then David becomes the new king. The Scripture never really tells us what Mephibosheth thought about David, but it does not seem a far stretch for him to despise David and blame him for all of his woes. Imagine his surprise then, when David decides to be kind to him. Let’s look at this in 2 Samuel 9
2 Samuel 9:1-13
David asked, "Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul to whom I may show kindness for Jonathan's sake?"
Now remember, David had just recently been setting up his new kingdom and his new Capital city. He was still in the process of getting things in order and he had just about finished fighting all the enemies. Now, he is ready to take care of some domestic business. He had a covenant with Jonathon, Saul’s son, for they were best friends, and although Saul hated David, Jonathon never did. David and Jonathan promised to be friends and to show love to each others descendants back when Jonathan warned David to flee from Saul. And David was going to be a man of his word.
[2] Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and he was summoned to David. The king said to him, "Are you Ziba?" And he said, "At your service!" [3] The king said, "Is there anyone remaining of the house of Saul to whom I may show the kindness of God?"
Notice how David phrases this. He is not simply showing his kindness, but he desires to show God’s kindness. He does not want any praise or recognition for this, he simply desires to show kindness on behalf of God. A Spiritual Kind of Kindness.
Ziba said to the king, "There remains a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet." [4] The king said to him, "Where is he?" Ziba said to the king, "He is in the house of Machir son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar." [5] Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.
David finds out that there is someone, so he sends for him.
[6] Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David, and fell on his face and did obeisance. David said, "Mephibosheth!" He answered, "I am your servant." [7] David said to him, "Do not be afraid, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan; I will restore to you all the land of your grandfather Saul, and you yourself shall eat at my table always."
Mephibosheth comes in and bows before David, and David tries to assure him that he is going to be treated well. He promises all the land that belonged to Saul would be restored to him and he would always have a place at the kings table.
So how did Mephibosheth respond? Was he overjoyed? Was he relieved? Was he vindicated? No. He didn’t believe it. Instead of getting up off his face, he stayed, face to the ground, waiting for the other shoe to drop. Waiting for the catch.
[8] He did obeisance and said, "What is your servant, that you should look upon a dead dog such as I?"
Who knows for sure what he was thinking. He may have thought he was going to David to be killed. He was after all, the last of the line of the former king. He didn’t understand what David was doing or why. Once David told him the good news, he still needed an explanation. He still needed to understand why. But David never gives him an explanation. He simply tells Ziba that he is responsible for Saul’s land and making sure the Mephibosheth’s property is taken care of, but Mephibosheth will be eating at the kings table from now on.
That is a story of kindness in a situation that it almost seemed too late to be kind. Jonathan and all of Saul’s family was gone. No one would hold David to his commitment. Mephisheth certainly didn’t expect kindness from David. Yet David had to keep his commitment to Jonathan, because it was really an oath with God. And Mephibosheth was the beneficiary.
Now as I mentioned earlier, this was a special kind of kindness. This was the kindness of God. What did Mephibosheth do to deserve it? Nothing. Did he work for it, or earn it? No. As a matter of fact he couldn’t have worked for it, because he was lame. There was nothing he could do to earn it. All he had to do was accept it. This was a kindness that was paid for by somebody else. It was a kindness that was the result of somebody else’s actions. You see the story of Mephibosehth shows us so much about the kindness and mercy of God. For just as Mephibosheth could not earn God’s kindness, neither can we. It was already paid for. There is no catch. There is nothing we have to do but accept it. God wants us to eat at the kings table. There is a place always prepared.
And lest you think it is too late to experience this kindness, consider tha case of Mephibosheth. Although we do not know how old he was, it probably wasn’t that old, but he was the last person to expect kindness from David. He had probably blamed David for his circumstances, hated him for his lot in life and despised him for everything he stood for. And most, if not all of that was because he never knew David.
You see, so many people in this world are like Mephibosheth to God. They blame him for their lot in life, hate him for the things they must go through and think that all he wants to do is kill them. But that is because they do not know him. And God’s kindness is reaching out to them, to give them a place of honor at his table if they would just accept it. No strings attached. Nothing to do. No way to earn it. Just accept it.
You may feel like Mephibosheth. You feel like God has put you into all these hard and difficult places. You may even felt at times that you hated God. God still loves you and is reaching out to you with his kindness. He has brought you here today on purpose, so that you can get to know the real kindness of God. Romans declares it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance. So come and experience his kindness today, and you will always have a place at the kings table.
Friday, September 01, 2006
God's Promise
We are in a crucial time in our history. I do not mean we as a Church, I do not mean we as Americans, but I mean we as in humanity. The world is under attack, yet we seem to have no clue as to why! I have heard many people say that America is to blame for the rise in terrorism because of our immoral behavior and our extravagant ways, because of our granting women equal rights and our refusal to subject women to a demeaning position within the society. While those may be things that are counter to most of the cultures of the world, I do not believe these are the reason. The reason, and it is not one you will usually hear on radio or TV is simply this: we are despised because of our God.
You see, the world sees us, meaning Americans and even Europeans as Christians. Although that is far from the truth in most of Europe and much of America, there can still be little doubt that we are a culture that has been formed by Christianity and Christian values. Although those values have largely been distorted and perverted, nonetheless, they are fundamentally different from most other cultures in the world. You may disagree with me, and that’s okay, because our culture allows us to disagree. We believe that people have certain unalienable rights, among them is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Where do we get these ideas from? The Bible! We believe that people have the right to life because God has breathed life into every individual. Not only that, but we know that Jesus came to give us life, in fact he declares that he is the life! We also believe that Christ came to give us freedom, liberty. The Bible says that where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Jesus himself says, “What the son has set free is free indeed!” He has given us the right to freedom. Of course the Bible is full of passages that depict happiness that God has in store for his people. He knows the plans he has for us, plans for us to prosper, plans of hope and a future. Jesus came that we might have life more abundantly. And of course the promise of heaven is a promise of happiness.
However, not all cultures have this same ideology. Although many people try to claim that every religion points to the same God, it simply is not true. Allah is not the same as the God of the Bible! Apparently, Allah does not have a problem devaluing life, but the God of the Bible values life! Allah does not approve of foreigners, but the God of the Bible takes special care of foreigners. Allah seems to be a God of war, yet the God of the Bible is the Prince of Peace. The only thing they have in common is that they are both credited with being the creator.
The issue is a very complicated one that unfortunately we really can’t unpack this morning except to say that we are dealing with different worldviews. The Muslims simply do not think the same way about the world, life, God and the universe as we do, because they have a distorted view of God.
The bottom line is this: Muslim cultures hate Israel and everything they stand for, especially their God. Why is this important to us, since we are Christians and not JEWS? Very simply, the God of the Old Testament is still the God of the New Testament. If they hate the God of the Old Testament, they hate our God and that is why they hate us. Because we are inextricably linked to Israel. I have heard many people question why we support Israel, and today we are going to try to understand one of the reasons why… because it was to Israel that God gave the promise. What promise? The promise that allows us to declare that Jesus is our King. Let’s look at this as we continue our study of David by turning to 2 Samuel chapter 7.
We know that David has already been declared the King of all Israel and that he has led the parade into the city with the ark of the covenant, the physical representation of God. He has put the ark into the tent as per the regulations from Leviticus for when the Israelites were moving across the desert to the promised land. However, David now starts to think that the physical representation of God should have a little better place to reside than in a tent. "After all," David thinks, "I have this nice house here because the Lord has been so good to me, and yet the ark is still in a tent." So he decides that he wants to do something for God, he wants to build him a house, a temple we call it.
At first the prophet Nathan agrees, but then God speaks to him with a message for David that begins, and I am paraphrasing, “What makes you think you can build a house for me? I have been traveling in this tent for a long time and have I ever complained? Did I ever ask for a house? This ark has never been about me, it was for you, for the people, so that they could know I was in their midst!” We then pick up with this special message to David in verse 8
8Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; He reminds David that it was God who chose him, this redneck farm boy to be the ruler of Israel. Notice he reminds David several different ways that God is still the one looking after this nation. He refers to David as prince instead of king, because God is the king. He calls Israel “my people” instead of your people because God is the King, and aside from reminding David that God allowed him to ascend to the throne, he refers to him as “my servant David.” I do not think David had any issue with pride, especially since that was the issue that had left Saul excluded, still God was surely reminding David that he was the one invested in these people. He then continues
9and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.
He also reminds David that he has never left him but has been the source of all his victories and all his accolades. And in fact God desired for David to have these. He desired for David to be great, like the great ones of the earth. Indeed, to this day David is still the pinnacle of leadership for the nation of Israel. His name is still the great one for the Jews. But here begins the promise…
10And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.
God has declared that he will make a place for Israel where they may live in peace, where evildoers shall afflict them no more as they did in the time of the judges, and God will give rest from all their enemies. This is a very interesting point to me for many reasons. One is that I see so many people harassing them! I do not see them living in peace. Does that mean that God did not keep his promise? No, not exactly. Although this promise did not have any conditions on it, most of the promises to bless Israel include a stipulation that they must continue to follow in the ways of God and the law of Moses. History and the Bible both reveal that that did not happen. Also, God actually did fulfill this promise, for there is no mention of an eternal peace, just peace. In fact, there was peace from outsiders for much of David’s reign and all of Solomon’s reign. It was during Solomon’s reign, after the nation had been established and peace reigned that God allowed a house to be built for him just as he says.
12When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
Nathan is clearly talking about Solomon at this point, for as I said, Solomon, one of David’s sons who was not even conceived of at this point was to be the one who would build God’s Temple. However, this part of the promise includes the idea of an eternal kingdom. We will get back to that in a second.
14I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. Of course all of this prophecy applies to Solomon and the continued line of succession from David. However, there can be no doubt that this imagery of Father and son and the punishment with rods also applies the prophecy to Jesus who the New Testament takes great care to show was also in the lineage of David. While Solomon certainly fits the immediate context of the prophecy, there are some limitations on his fulfilling the entire prophecy. As it continues in verse 16…
16Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.
The problem with seeing this promise as fulfilled in Solomon is simple, Solomon did not live forever. Neither did any one individual. It may be possible though to trace the lineage of the king of Israel forever to the line of David, except that the kingdom was destroyed around 586 BC. It would appear as though God did not fulfill his promise. However, there is one person who is in the line of David, as it says in both Matthew and Luke and who does live forever, Jesus the Christ. He is the fulfillment of the prophecy. That is why he was called by the children and the crowds, “Jesus, Son of David,” because they recognized him as the fulfillment of the promise. God’s promise was to Israel, to David and it was fulfilled in Christ. Therefore we are the beneficiaries of God’s covenant with Israel. Christ is the king who will reign forever.
We have the fulfillment of the promise as our King, Jesus the Christ. Yet this promise was not made to Christians, it was made to Israel. So how does this apply? Did God give up on Israel because they crucified Christ? Did he turn his back on them when they rejected his son. Was the destruction of the temple in 70 AD supposed to be the end of Israel and we should have never reinstated it as a nation after WWII? Some people would like us to think that, But I keep coming back to the fact that God is the same yesterday today and forever. I also am called back by what Paul says in Romans 11:1ff I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. He goes on to say how “All Israel will be saved.” Indeed there is a special place in God’s heart for Israel, and the New Testament, not just the Old Testament bears witness to this.
SO the promise is fulfilled in Christ and we stand as beneficiaries! Thanks be to God. We have a great and mighty King who sits on the throne. That means regardless of all the stuff that goes on in the world, Jesus is still on His throne. He is still taking care of his people. He has not left us without hope. While the world is in a crucial time, we must remain steadfast with God. He will keep his promises… We need to keep ours.
You see, the world sees us, meaning Americans and even Europeans as Christians. Although that is far from the truth in most of Europe and much of America, there can still be little doubt that we are a culture that has been formed by Christianity and Christian values. Although those values have largely been distorted and perverted, nonetheless, they are fundamentally different from most other cultures in the world. You may disagree with me, and that’s okay, because our culture allows us to disagree. We believe that people have certain unalienable rights, among them is life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Where do we get these ideas from? The Bible! We believe that people have the right to life because God has breathed life into every individual. Not only that, but we know that Jesus came to give us life, in fact he declares that he is the life! We also believe that Christ came to give us freedom, liberty. The Bible says that where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Jesus himself says, “What the son has set free is free indeed!” He has given us the right to freedom. Of course the Bible is full of passages that depict happiness that God has in store for his people. He knows the plans he has for us, plans for us to prosper, plans of hope and a future. Jesus came that we might have life more abundantly. And of course the promise of heaven is a promise of happiness.
However, not all cultures have this same ideology. Although many people try to claim that every religion points to the same God, it simply is not true. Allah is not the same as the God of the Bible! Apparently, Allah does not have a problem devaluing life, but the God of the Bible values life! Allah does not approve of foreigners, but the God of the Bible takes special care of foreigners. Allah seems to be a God of war, yet the God of the Bible is the Prince of Peace. The only thing they have in common is that they are both credited with being the creator.
The issue is a very complicated one that unfortunately we really can’t unpack this morning except to say that we are dealing with different worldviews. The Muslims simply do not think the same way about the world, life, God and the universe as we do, because they have a distorted view of God.
The bottom line is this: Muslim cultures hate Israel and everything they stand for, especially their God. Why is this important to us, since we are Christians and not JEWS? Very simply, the God of the Old Testament is still the God of the New Testament. If they hate the God of the Old Testament, they hate our God and that is why they hate us. Because we are inextricably linked to Israel. I have heard many people question why we support Israel, and today we are going to try to understand one of the reasons why… because it was to Israel that God gave the promise. What promise? The promise that allows us to declare that Jesus is our King. Let’s look at this as we continue our study of David by turning to 2 Samuel chapter 7.
We know that David has already been declared the King of all Israel and that he has led the parade into the city with the ark of the covenant, the physical representation of God. He has put the ark into the tent as per the regulations from Leviticus for when the Israelites were moving across the desert to the promised land. However, David now starts to think that the physical representation of God should have a little better place to reside than in a tent. "After all," David thinks, "I have this nice house here because the Lord has been so good to me, and yet the ark is still in a tent." So he decides that he wants to do something for God, he wants to build him a house, a temple we call it.
At first the prophet Nathan agrees, but then God speaks to him with a message for David that begins, and I am paraphrasing, “What makes you think you can build a house for me? I have been traveling in this tent for a long time and have I ever complained? Did I ever ask for a house? This ark has never been about me, it was for you, for the people, so that they could know I was in their midst!” We then pick up with this special message to David in verse 8
8Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; He reminds David that it was God who chose him, this redneck farm boy to be the ruler of Israel. Notice he reminds David several different ways that God is still the one looking after this nation. He refers to David as prince instead of king, because God is the king. He calls Israel “my people” instead of your people because God is the King, and aside from reminding David that God allowed him to ascend to the throne, he refers to him as “my servant David.” I do not think David had any issue with pride, especially since that was the issue that had left Saul excluded, still God was surely reminding David that he was the one invested in these people. He then continues
9and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth.
He also reminds David that he has never left him but has been the source of all his victories and all his accolades. And in fact God desired for David to have these. He desired for David to be great, like the great ones of the earth. Indeed, to this day David is still the pinnacle of leadership for the nation of Israel. His name is still the great one for the Jews. But here begins the promise…
10And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover, the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.
God has declared that he will make a place for Israel where they may live in peace, where evildoers shall afflict them no more as they did in the time of the judges, and God will give rest from all their enemies. This is a very interesting point to me for many reasons. One is that I see so many people harassing them! I do not see them living in peace. Does that mean that God did not keep his promise? No, not exactly. Although this promise did not have any conditions on it, most of the promises to bless Israel include a stipulation that they must continue to follow in the ways of God and the law of Moses. History and the Bible both reveal that that did not happen. Also, God actually did fulfill this promise, for there is no mention of an eternal peace, just peace. In fact, there was peace from outsiders for much of David’s reign and all of Solomon’s reign. It was during Solomon’s reign, after the nation had been established and peace reigned that God allowed a house to be built for him just as he says.
12When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
Nathan is clearly talking about Solomon at this point, for as I said, Solomon, one of David’s sons who was not even conceived of at this point was to be the one who would build God’s Temple. However, this part of the promise includes the idea of an eternal kingdom. We will get back to that in a second.
14I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me. When he commits iniquity, I will punish him with a rod such as mortals use, with blows inflicted by human beings. Of course all of this prophecy applies to Solomon and the continued line of succession from David. However, there can be no doubt that this imagery of Father and son and the punishment with rods also applies the prophecy to Jesus who the New Testament takes great care to show was also in the lineage of David. While Solomon certainly fits the immediate context of the prophecy, there are some limitations on his fulfilling the entire prophecy. As it continues in verse 16…
16Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure for ever before me; your throne shall be established for ever.
The problem with seeing this promise as fulfilled in Solomon is simple, Solomon did not live forever. Neither did any one individual. It may be possible though to trace the lineage of the king of Israel forever to the line of David, except that the kingdom was destroyed around 586 BC. It would appear as though God did not fulfill his promise. However, there is one person who is in the line of David, as it says in both Matthew and Luke and who does live forever, Jesus the Christ. He is the fulfillment of the prophecy. That is why he was called by the children and the crowds, “Jesus, Son of David,” because they recognized him as the fulfillment of the promise. God’s promise was to Israel, to David and it was fulfilled in Christ. Therefore we are the beneficiaries of God’s covenant with Israel. Christ is the king who will reign forever.
We have the fulfillment of the promise as our King, Jesus the Christ. Yet this promise was not made to Christians, it was made to Israel. So how does this apply? Did God give up on Israel because they crucified Christ? Did he turn his back on them when they rejected his son. Was the destruction of the temple in 70 AD supposed to be the end of Israel and we should have never reinstated it as a nation after WWII? Some people would like us to think that, But I keep coming back to the fact that God is the same yesterday today and forever. I also am called back by what Paul says in Romans 11:1ff I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. He goes on to say how “All Israel will be saved.” Indeed there is a special place in God’s heart for Israel, and the New Testament, not just the Old Testament bears witness to this.
SO the promise is fulfilled in Christ and we stand as beneficiaries! Thanks be to God. We have a great and mighty King who sits on the throne. That means regardless of all the stuff that goes on in the world, Jesus is still on His throne. He is still taking care of his people. He has not left us without hope. While the world is in a crucial time, we must remain steadfast with God. He will keep his promises… We need to keep ours.
Active Worship
Have you ever been to a Rock Concert? Thousands of people screaming at the top of their lungs, shouting praises to these people who can engage their heart with a melody and some words. Or how about a Football game. Again, a stadium packed with people cheering because someone allowed them to feel a part of a special moment. These and many other events draw huge crowds and tons of attention, but would anybody consider them worship events? Probably not, at least not in the sense that we think of worship, yet in some ways there is so much more worship going on here than ever goes on in our churches. There are people at these events that desire to be like the ones they are cheering for, that emulate and pattern their lives after them; people that want to show them how much they are loved and adored. They shout, they sent letters and gift5s, they wear their emblems on their clothes. They want to be associated with them. How is that not worship? But do we react that way toward God?
This morning I want us to see several things about worship, and then I want to address one major issue that may keep us from worshipping God as we should. Now of course, we have been going through much of the life of David for some time now, and we will see that one of the major aspects of David’s life that showed that he was “a man after God’s own heart” was in his worship. So as we set the stage, we must recall that David had been crowned the King of Judah, but had not yet been declared king of all Israel. One of Saul’s sons, Ishbosheth, had been the king but was assassinated, leaving the throne vacant for David. Finally, the whole nation came and proclaimed him as the anointed King of Israel. David then captured the city of Jerusalem and decided to make it the capital city for the nation.
So the first thing he wanted to do, was to bring the ark of God into the capital city. Now it had been residing for 20 years at Kiraith Jearim in the house of Abinadab which is about 9 miles west of Jerusalem. So he began the trek to bring the ark into Jerusalem, but he failed to recognize that God gave specific instructions as to the proper way to handle this holy vessel, and someone got hurt. So the stopped the journey, regrouped, learned the proper way to handle this situation, and began to bring the ark into the royal city. So we pick up the story in verse 12.
It was told King David, "The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing;
Notice first the attitude of David when he went to get the ark. Was this a chore for him? Was this simply another task of drudgery that he had to do as king? Was this something that he simple did matter-of-factly, with businesslike decorum? NO. He went rejoicing! Now what does that mean, we will get a little better description in just a few verses, but I hazard a guess that he was glad to be there, and glad to be doing this. He was excited and excitable! The first order of worship then is to rejoice!
[13] and when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
The next aspect of worship that we see is sacrifice. What have we to sacrifice? What have we to bring to honor the Lord? After all, that is what the sacrifice is all about, giving to God! So what do we bring when we come to worship? I will let you ponder that one, but it is clear that we must bring something. Thirdly, how do we come to worship?
[14] David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod.
David came dancing. And not just a little side to side sway. No. He danced with all His Might! He danced with all he had. We have youth trying to have a good time by going out to dances, they should be having a good time by coming to dance at worship! David did his dancing in the presence of God! Yes, although it may surprise or annoy many uptight Christians, dancing is not of the devil, but is can be part of worship to God!
Notice also how David was dressed. He was dressed in his Sabbath Best. The linen ephod was a priestly garment that he was allowed to wear on this occasion as the Lord’s anointed. He came dressed for the occasion, because it was a special occasion.
[15] So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
This was not a funeral procession, this was a parade! They had dancing, whooping and hollering, trumpets blaring; this worship was an event. Can you imagine coming to worship and seeing all of this. Man I can. Honestly, I would love to see this every week. I would love to come to church and have an event where people were excited, shouting, dancing, playing music to the Lord and having a wonderful time. I have been in churches like that and I can am uplifted in an environment like that. And the thing is, that is exactly what the Methodist church has been.
In the early days when Methodism was sweeping the nation, it was partly because of our revivalistic enthusiasm that people came to know the Lord. We were called “Shouting Methodists.” That is what we were known for. Being excited about the things of God! A Song about Methodists appeared in a hymnbook in 1807 entitled “The Methodist” that has these words.
The World, the Devil, and Tom Paine
Have tried their force, but all in vain.
They can't prevail, the reason is,
The Lord defends the Methodist.
They pray, they sing, they preach the best,
And do the Devil most molest.
If Satan had his vicious way,
He'd kill and damn them all today.
They are despised by Satan's train,
Because they shout and preach so plain.
I'm bound to march in endless bliss,
And die a shouting Methodist.
This was considered a good thing! A defining aspect of our religion. But what did it mean to be a shouting Methodist? At the very least, it meant that Methodists did not sit quietly but interrupted the preacher with calls of "Praise the Lord," "Hallelujah," and "Amen." But Methodist “shouting” was also a special way of singing that included clapping and dancing. It was filled with enthusiasm and joy, almost demanding that God was gonna be praised by his people. This is right in line with David’s idea of worship.
But why is this so far from our usual experience at worship? Why is it that as the Methodist Church continues to decline, this enthusiasm is far from us? Is God just as worthy to be praised as he was then? Is Jesus no longer on His throne? Do we no longer need a Savior like we once did? What has changed? Of course there are many answers, but one may be the same as the problem that David faced. Not everyone was excited enough to dance. Not everyone looked with glee on David as he humbled himself before God. Let’s look at verse 16
[16] As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.
Now I have to admit that this is how I feel some people would look at me if I started dancing around the table. I am almost sure that some people would despise me, or think me a fool and an embarrassment. Perhaps I am wrong, but that is how I feel I would be recieved. And probably many of you feel that way too. So together we sit in relative silence, preparing for the rocks and trees to cry out in praise in our stead.
Still, there are a few more aspects of worship we see in verse 18-19.
[18] When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, [19] and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.
We see the giving of offerings as a part of our worship, then we see a blessing of all the people in the name of the Lord. You see this is where God meets us in our worship. For us it is often the giving of the Word and the sermon, it is the bread and the cup, it is in the benediction and the pouring out of the holy Spirit, but each of us are to be blessed by participating in worship. That begs the question, do you feel blessed when you come to worship? God is here to meet us and to bless us, and we should feel blessed by being here and worshipping Him.
There is one more aspect of worship, the distribution of food and drink to everyone who comes to participate in worship. We usually associate this with Communion which has been given special significance by Jesus, yet the early church did more than break bread and drink the cup. They would often share food around the table with their fellow worshippers. This is part of the blessing, to be able to share together with God’s family, with those who unite around the worship of God. We are to be blessed by being in worship.
But the story of David and worship is not done yet. For we still have the lesson to learn. We have seen what worship looked like to David, and we have seen that not everyone appreciated that kind of worship. But what of it? Isn’t each one entitled to their own opinion? When David returned to his house intending to Bless Michal he was accosted by her declaring her disgust and remarking how shameful David had been. She was concerned with what everyone would think of the King, her husband prancing around like a fool. David declares to her that he was not dancing for anyone but the Lord and that he would gladly be humiliated in the eyes of the world as long as he honored the Lord. You see that is the bottom line. Michal was concerned with other people thought, David was concerned with what God thought.
Why is it that we don’t dance or shout, or get “carried away” because we are afraid of what everyone will think. Well shouldn’t we be afraid of what God will think when we say to him, “Well I just didn’t want to be embarrassed.” Hogwash. I was too proud is what we are saying. I couldn’t humble myself like that! Surely God would expect a little more decorum than that. All God expects is that you give him all the love and adoration you have to give, however it is that you have to give it. If it is shouting, shout, if it is singing, sing. If it is playing the trumpet, play. If it is serving, serve. But God wants all the worship we have to give. If we can shout louder for a Super Bowl touchdown than for our Savior who died on the cross, which one do we honor more?
Michal never received her blessing. She never engaged in worship. And although David even brought the blessing home to her, because of her pride, all she got was cursed. We need to let our pride fall down, and learn to worship with all that we are, or we aren’t worshipping at all.
This morning I want us to see several things about worship, and then I want to address one major issue that may keep us from worshipping God as we should. Now of course, we have been going through much of the life of David for some time now, and we will see that one of the major aspects of David’s life that showed that he was “a man after God’s own heart” was in his worship. So as we set the stage, we must recall that David had been crowned the King of Judah, but had not yet been declared king of all Israel. One of Saul’s sons, Ishbosheth, had been the king but was assassinated, leaving the throne vacant for David. Finally, the whole nation came and proclaimed him as the anointed King of Israel. David then captured the city of Jerusalem and decided to make it the capital city for the nation.
So the first thing he wanted to do, was to bring the ark of God into the capital city. Now it had been residing for 20 years at Kiraith Jearim in the house of Abinadab which is about 9 miles west of Jerusalem. So he began the trek to bring the ark into Jerusalem, but he failed to recognize that God gave specific instructions as to the proper way to handle this holy vessel, and someone got hurt. So the stopped the journey, regrouped, learned the proper way to handle this situation, and began to bring the ark into the royal city. So we pick up the story in verse 12.
It was told King David, "The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing;
Notice first the attitude of David when he went to get the ark. Was this a chore for him? Was this simply another task of drudgery that he had to do as king? Was this something that he simple did matter-of-factly, with businesslike decorum? NO. He went rejoicing! Now what does that mean, we will get a little better description in just a few verses, but I hazard a guess that he was glad to be there, and glad to be doing this. He was excited and excitable! The first order of worship then is to rejoice!
[13] and when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
The next aspect of worship that we see is sacrifice. What have we to sacrifice? What have we to bring to honor the Lord? After all, that is what the sacrifice is all about, giving to God! So what do we bring when we come to worship? I will let you ponder that one, but it is clear that we must bring something. Thirdly, how do we come to worship?
[14] David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod.
David came dancing. And not just a little side to side sway. No. He danced with all His Might! He danced with all he had. We have youth trying to have a good time by going out to dances, they should be having a good time by coming to dance at worship! David did his dancing in the presence of God! Yes, although it may surprise or annoy many uptight Christians, dancing is not of the devil, but is can be part of worship to God!
Notice also how David was dressed. He was dressed in his Sabbath Best. The linen ephod was a priestly garment that he was allowed to wear on this occasion as the Lord’s anointed. He came dressed for the occasion, because it was a special occasion.
[15] So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
This was not a funeral procession, this was a parade! They had dancing, whooping and hollering, trumpets blaring; this worship was an event. Can you imagine coming to worship and seeing all of this. Man I can. Honestly, I would love to see this every week. I would love to come to church and have an event where people were excited, shouting, dancing, playing music to the Lord and having a wonderful time. I have been in churches like that and I can am uplifted in an environment like that. And the thing is, that is exactly what the Methodist church has been.
In the early days when Methodism was sweeping the nation, it was partly because of our revivalistic enthusiasm that people came to know the Lord. We were called “Shouting Methodists.” That is what we were known for. Being excited about the things of God! A Song about Methodists appeared in a hymnbook in 1807 entitled “The Methodist” that has these words.
The World, the Devil, and Tom Paine
Have tried their force, but all in vain.
They can't prevail, the reason is,
The Lord defends the Methodist.
They pray, they sing, they preach the best,
And do the Devil most molest.
If Satan had his vicious way,
He'd kill and damn them all today.
They are despised by Satan's train,
Because they shout and preach so plain.
I'm bound to march in endless bliss,
And die a shouting Methodist.
This was considered a good thing! A defining aspect of our religion. But what did it mean to be a shouting Methodist? At the very least, it meant that Methodists did not sit quietly but interrupted the preacher with calls of "Praise the Lord," "Hallelujah," and "Amen." But Methodist “shouting” was also a special way of singing that included clapping and dancing. It was filled with enthusiasm and joy, almost demanding that God was gonna be praised by his people. This is right in line with David’s idea of worship.
But why is this so far from our usual experience at worship? Why is it that as the Methodist Church continues to decline, this enthusiasm is far from us? Is God just as worthy to be praised as he was then? Is Jesus no longer on His throne? Do we no longer need a Savior like we once did? What has changed? Of course there are many answers, but one may be the same as the problem that David faced. Not everyone was excited enough to dance. Not everyone looked with glee on David as he humbled himself before God. Let’s look at verse 16
[16] As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.
Now I have to admit that this is how I feel some people would look at me if I started dancing around the table. I am almost sure that some people would despise me, or think me a fool and an embarrassment. Perhaps I am wrong, but that is how I feel I would be recieved. And probably many of you feel that way too. So together we sit in relative silence, preparing for the rocks and trees to cry out in praise in our stead.
Still, there are a few more aspects of worship we see in verse 18-19.
[18] When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, [19] and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.
We see the giving of offerings as a part of our worship, then we see a blessing of all the people in the name of the Lord. You see this is where God meets us in our worship. For us it is often the giving of the Word and the sermon, it is the bread and the cup, it is in the benediction and the pouring out of the holy Spirit, but each of us are to be blessed by participating in worship. That begs the question, do you feel blessed when you come to worship? God is here to meet us and to bless us, and we should feel blessed by being here and worshipping Him.
There is one more aspect of worship, the distribution of food and drink to everyone who comes to participate in worship. We usually associate this with Communion which has been given special significance by Jesus, yet the early church did more than break bread and drink the cup. They would often share food around the table with their fellow worshippers. This is part of the blessing, to be able to share together with God’s family, with those who unite around the worship of God. We are to be blessed by being in worship.
But the story of David and worship is not done yet. For we still have the lesson to learn. We have seen what worship looked like to David, and we have seen that not everyone appreciated that kind of worship. But what of it? Isn’t each one entitled to their own opinion? When David returned to his house intending to Bless Michal he was accosted by her declaring her disgust and remarking how shameful David had been. She was concerned with what everyone would think of the King, her husband prancing around like a fool. David declares to her that he was not dancing for anyone but the Lord and that he would gladly be humiliated in the eyes of the world as long as he honored the Lord. You see that is the bottom line. Michal was concerned with other people thought, David was concerned with what God thought.
Why is it that we don’t dance or shout, or get “carried away” because we are afraid of what everyone will think. Well shouldn’t we be afraid of what God will think when we say to him, “Well I just didn’t want to be embarrassed.” Hogwash. I was too proud is what we are saying. I couldn’t humble myself like that! Surely God would expect a little more decorum than that. All God expects is that you give him all the love and adoration you have to give, however it is that you have to give it. If it is shouting, shout, if it is singing, sing. If it is playing the trumpet, play. If it is serving, serve. But God wants all the worship we have to give. If we can shout louder for a Super Bowl touchdown than for our Savior who died on the cross, which one do we honor more?
Michal never received her blessing. She never engaged in worship. And although David even brought the blessing home to her, because of her pride, all she got was cursed. We need to let our pride fall down, and learn to worship with all that we are, or we aren’t worshipping at all.
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