2 Samuel 6 (Part 2) Bible Study (David and Michal) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Second Samuel chapter six. Students, brains. That's where we're at tonight. And this will not be our last week in this chapter. We will we'll cover it all by the hang tight and enjoy the journey.

Second Samuel chapter six, are you there? And if you're there, meet me in verse nine. We're gonna read this in a moment, but, I want us to pray one more time. My brother just prayed, but it doesn't hurt to pray again. Just come with your heart before the Lord as the word is open before you, and realize that we are here in his presence before the eternal decree of God.

And, Lord, we thank you that you have given us your word. Thank you that you did the miracle of the new birth in each of us, And the evidence, at least one mark, is that we hunger for the word as a newborn baby does for milk. Lord, we thank you that that appetite is there, but we do not want milk. We want meat. We wanna grow and be nourished in the things of God, the deep things of God.

And, Lord, we know that it is not enough to have your word before us and to be able to cleverly put things together. We need the Holy Spirit to open our minds and to burn within our hearts. And so Lord, we just pray that you would have your way through this text into our lives. Let every man disappear, but let Christ be seen, Christ be heard, and Christ be cherished as a result of our time together. We ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen. If you were not here, two weeks ago, we began our analysis of David's, expedition to retrieve the ark of the covenant that was abandoned for seventy something years in the outskirts of Jerusalem and further out, miles out from that main city. And David here has this praiseworthy ambition to get this ark and to find a permanent and honorable home for this symbol of God's divine presence on earth with his people. And that journey, that mission is covered in this one chapter, but you and I are gonna discover that it was accomplished in two ventures. Not because it required two assignments to get the job done, but because David royally, no pun intended, failed in his initial attempt to get the ark.

And so it would require for him to plan and execute a second effort, and it will be proven to be successful to have God's presence where he believed it belonged. Now why did David fail? Very simply because he assumed that he can apply his own ideas and how to deal with the holy things of God. And because of his willful neglect of the revealed will of God, and on top of that, his adoption of worldly methods in order to accomplish a holy thing, a good thing, divine discipline was ensued instead of divine blessing. And so David's, little parade with the thousands of people who were celebrating that moment quickly turned into a funeral.

There are lying men dead, swiftly judged by God. And there's David with the others staring at the scene with these mixed emotions now rushing into his bosom, not knowing at first what to do. But now on this day, on this night, we go back to that day to see what David will do. What is his response? And how will he move forward to carry out what he believed God impressed on his heart to do for his glory?

And so this is what we're gonna do. We're gonna read a few verses. I'm gonna open it up and ask again, remember, our tool belts are on to see what it is that we think the Lord is trying to say from an initial standpoint of the text. Verse nine. Remember, we're on that day.

There's Uzzah dead on the threshing floor of Naken. There are the thousands who stop their instruments playing. And verse nine, we see, and David was afraid of the Lord that day. And he said, how can the ark of the Lord come to me? So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord into the city of David, but David took it aside to the house of Obed Edom the Gittite.

And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed Edom the Gittite three months. And the Lord blessed Obed Edom and all his household. And 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. And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal.

And David danced before the Lord with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn. What stands out? What stands out? Yes.

Yes. House Of Obededom? Obededom. Yeah. The Gittites.

Okay. Good question. Who are the Gittites? So that's an observation and and an important one. Anything else?

There's a lot here. A lot. What else stands out? Blessing in that household. Amen.

The blessing that Obed Edom Edom experienced for three months was in direct correlation to the presence of God abiding in that home. Huge. Yes. Yeah. So it wasn't until the blessing was known that David was stirred to say, I want that for myself.

I want this for the nation. Absolutely. Yes. A lot of emotion there. Yeah.

There's a lot of people scared of emotion in the church for some reason. We'll cover David dancing next week. So if you were looking forward to understanding what David dancing meant, you have to come next week. There's just too much in here before we get to that point, but good good observation. Anything else?

Great observations. Yes. Yes. The cart. Yes.

Very good. They did not implement the new CART approach this time, and we're gonna find out exactly how they did it. Very important. Yes. Great.

Anything else? Yes. Yes. Well, it's interesting that Obed Edom's name is repeated many times in this text, isn't it? Good observation.

Stick around. Anything else? Yes. Isn't that interesting? Yeah.

After six steps, they made a sacrifice, an animal sacrifice. Is that required, or is it over the top? See what I did there? Anything else? Good observations.

Yes. What is David doing wearing the attire that belonged to the priests? Very, very, very important observation. Yes, Gorkies. Yes.

Yes. Good. So you went to first Chronicles 15, which is a huge part of this Bible study. David went to the word of God during those three months. There is no doubt about it.

He revisited the scriptures to know how to go about this whole endeavor. Beautiful observation. Maybe a couple of more so we can move on. Anything else? Yes.

He wanted to bless Jerusalem and He will. Yes. He will do that. Anything else? One more.

Go ahead. Good. Balance. Right? He does.

Well, you know, and I think from last week or two weeks ago, we heard how how our flesh kind of gets all worked up around the story with Uzzah dying because we go that how is that fair? How can how can Uzzah be doing a good thing and God disciplining for that? He was just trying to help. And we came to the conclusion, did we not? How did God not strike all of them dead, not just Uzzah?

There is a particular instruction in Numbers chapter four. You don't have to turn there. That indicates that God's mercy was even being shown while killing Uzzah. What was supposed to be done with the holy things when it was when it was supposed to be transported from one location to the next? A lot of things were supposed to be done.

And one thing that we have every reason to say didn't happen in this text, and that was to cover. Remember, they were to literally cover the different articles in the tabernacle so that the human eye would not behold those holy things. There's no indication that they covered the ark. There's no indication that they handled it the way that the scriptures prescribed, and it took Uzzah to touch it before God intervened and judged. And so God's mercy was already at work with the various mishandlings leading up to Uzzah touching the ark.

And so we have to understand that that God here is not he doesn't have a bad day and a good day. God is good all the time. All the time. Consecutively. He is always faithful.

He is holy and he is love, and we will see how David responds to the holiness of God in verse nine. David was afraid of the Lord that day. Question, healthy fear or unhealthy fear? Godly fear that the Bible commands or ungodly fear that the Bible condemns? What do you think?

Who says healthy fear? Who says unhealthy fear? Interesting. That is the most hands I've seen whenever I asked that question on a Friday night, and I've done it for seven years. Thank you for participating in that.

Yes. Isn't that amazing? He feared God that day, and I believe we can come to a clear conclusion by asking two questions. And so we're gonna see, where we're gonna land here based on these two questions. Number one, why was he afraid?

It's very straightforward. Is it not? He he was struck with fear because Uzzah was struck dead, And David had every right to think this can happen to me any second now. And he was so he was under that dread realizing that God's discipline is is active. It is swift, and sometimes can be immediate.

And so now adrenaline is pumping in his veins, and he realizes this is not a God that you can play with. But that doesn't really give us a confident answer because all of us should have an awareness of God's discipline even as his children. All of us should approach him with caution. All of us should understand that his word is not to be tampered with to our liking. We should all live with that.

I believe it's the second question, which is, what did this fear encourage David to do that helps us know whether it was a healthy fear or unhealthy fear? What did this fear cause David to do? He pushes the presence of God away. He distanced himself from the Lord, and that is enough for us to say he is operating under a slavish fear. Because there are those who have this concept of God that, he is just, he is holy, but they fail to see him in his totality.

And so the only thing that they register in their understanding of God is, he will judge me. I've rebelled against him. I I failed to to remain in a place of consistent holiness, and I'm going to pay for it one day. And the reaction that caused them to do at least one or two things. One, to reject the concept of God altogether and to try to silence their conscience until they feel like they have liberty to do what they want without this disturbance that one day there there's gonna be accountability here.

And the second thing is to not dismiss the reality of God, but to create an idol, and his name is Jesus. And he's loving, and he's good, and he will never harm anyone. He will never judge anyone. And, he he winks at my sin, and he'll embrace me at the end of it all. In fact, he'll embrace everybody at the end of it all.

So you see, there is this type of fear that causes us to shun God or to change God, and both are wrong. Both are evils. And David here is is kind of doing that. He's saying, I'm standing away from that. I I don't wanna deal with this.

And it's it's really a reaction that you see throughout the scriptures when people are in the wrong type of fear of God. So let me give you an example. Mount Sinai, God shows up and displays his splendor and his majesty in a way that literally caused the people to shake in their sandals. And in Exodus twenty twenty, Moses instructs the people to run from that kind of fear, to escape that kind of fear. And he says it so clearly, and I want you to hear these words.

He says to the people, do not fear in Exodus twenty twenty. That's an easy verse to remember. For God has come to test you that the fear of him may be before you that you may not sin. I always I always use that scripture to teach on the fear of God. That's one of my go to references.

Do not fear. God has come to test you to fear. Well, hold on. You just told me not to do it. Now you're telling me to do it?

Two types of fear. Two types of fear. And the fear here that the people are operating under is the same kind of fear that David was under because look at verse 21. The people stood far off. We don't wanna come close to this god.

We don't wanna deal with him. We don't want any kind of relationship with him. And then what you see Moses exemplifying the exact opposite attitude, the people stood far off while Moses drew near. The peeper people stood far off while Moses went into the thick darkness. And to the very same thing that the people were terrified about, Moses was compelled to commune with.

So there is a revelation of the beauty of the Lord, the holiness of who He is that causes you to actually come to Him and not run from Him. And that coming to him, that magnetic pull, also cause you to shun the evil that would offend him joyfully, gladly. And that is the exact same thing that we see with Moses' posture here. He has this healthy reverence. He knows who God is, but it doesn't discourage him.

It doesn't cause him to be in dismay. It caused him to run towards him. So one element of the fear of the Lord is, yes, there is there is a sense of awe, but there's also this fear of hurting the one that I love. That is an ingredient within the the the theology of the fear of God. When you love someone, you fear to hurt that person.

You've probably given a gift to somebody and it was a surprise gift, and when they received it, they just reacted in a way that was beyond your expectation, and you exhale and you say, I was afraid that you wouldn't love it. I think that is a part of the fear of the Lord as much as I believe that it is also an aspect that caused you to tremble, literally tremble before him. And so David here unfortunately pushes God away and says, I don't I don't want anything to do with this God. And I take something else from this text. That there are those who are deceived and believing that if I draw closer to god or if I open my life to the presence of god, the lordship of Jesus Christ, then it's gonna be a burden more than it is a blessing.

And so I'm not interested. And, it's a perception that he is a stingy God who just wants to suck the life out of you. He wants to he wants to hinder your happiness. He wants to he wants to bring limitation to your movement in life. You know it's good for you.

It's like it's like his commands are like broccoli. You you know it's good for you, but you don't really like the taste of it. And sin is like the the chocolate sundae that you just you you're always wanting, but you know that it's it's gonna hurt you in the end. This is that's not only wrong, that's detrimental. To believe that and I've heard people say, I'm afraid that God's gonna lead me in a direction that I don't wanna go.

He's gonna make me marry somebody that I don't wanna marry. He's gonna make me move somewhere I don't wanna move. And so it doesn't really seem like there's a payoff to the lordship of Christ. I think I will remain autonomous of my existence. And so if that's you and it's very likely that some even one person, more than one person might be tempted to think that from time to time, realize that David is gonna learn a lesson that's gonna show him the exact opposite.

That when you give your heart to him, God gives so much more than you can imagine, so much more than you can comprehend. So David says, I don't want it. This is this is more than I thought. I can't handle it, and he takes a break for three months. That very thing that stirred him to the point where he recruited the nation to join him on this project, now he just puts it aside.

He goes back to his his throne. He goes back to his headquarters, and just three months of doing day to day who knows what until the news reaches his palace. God is blessing Obed Edom, but David took it aside to the house of Obed Edom the Gittite, and he's gonna find out very soon that God's gonna bless it. But before we get to that point, our brother mentioned it. More than once in two verses, we hear about this guy named Obed Edom.

Obed Edom. Obed Edom. And David says, Obed Edom, it's yours. And we heard he's a Gittite. Why is that important?

There aren't many references to the Gittite. One of the strongest references to the Gittite is, is a guy that, his name rhymes with Ayeth. Goliath, the Gittite. Later on in this book, he's gonna be referred to as the Gittite, which would mean perhaps that some would believe this, that Obed Edom is a Philistine. He's a gentile.

He's a foreigner within the nation's boundaries. He could be, someone who converted. We don't know. But people think just because he is referred to as a Gittai, then he is surely an outsider. And if that is the case, then what David's doing here might be a little bit cruel.

Because the last thing he sees god's ark doing is judging somebody, and he goes, I don't want it to be to me. So like a hot potato, he passes it to the house of a Philistine. He goes, god, if you're gonna do anything, do it in that guy's house. And, we don't wanna put that on David because that's that's not clear. It's just a thought.

But I don't believe he's a Philistine. Does anybody remember the chapter in first Chronicles that parallel the first attempt that David get in the ark? First Chronicles what? 13. When you go to first Chronicles 15, you get the expanded details of this event that is rich with insight about what David thought, what he said, and how he went about all of this.

And it's in that chapter in first Chronicles 15 that the name Obed Edom shows up again, and there is a link between Obed Edom and a certain occupation that I believe eliminates the possibility of him being a Philistine. Would you like to see it? So now for the rest of this Bible study, have one hand in first Chronicles 15 and the other hand in second Samuel chapter six. Go to first Chronicles 15. I want your eyes to see the text for yourself.

And go to verse 24 quickly, and you're gonna see something that's important. We get a list of names of the some of the Levites who went out to fetch for the ark from Obed Edom's home. In first Chronicles fifteen twenty four, let me just read this. Shebaniah, Jehoshaphat, Nathanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eleazar, the priests should blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed Edom and Jehiah were to be gatekeepers for the ark.

You read on. So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of the thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of who? Obed Edom with rejoicing. So it seems like the context is suggesting that the same Obed Edom in verse 25 is the Obed Edom in verse 24. What was Obed Edom going to do at one point?

Be a what? A gatekeeper. Who among the Israelites was allowed to have any type of ministry role around the house of God? The Levites. Conclusion, Obed Edom was a Levite.

He was a Levite. And there's arguments about what it means for him to be a Gittite. It can refer to one of the cities there in Joshua. If that's the case, then David learned his lesson real quick. He he takes the ark and he sends it to Obed Edom, someone who is much more qualified, actually exclusively qualified, to be supervising the ark of God.

And that's great. But I still wonder when I learned that, I still wonder, but why Obed Edom? There was a bunch of Levites. And could it be, though it's not clear, could it be that Obed Edom really really wanted the ark of God in his home? Upon the assumption that he became a gatekeeper, meaning he was willing to occupy a certain role that protected the Ark of the Covenant when it would find a permanent home.

Meaning what? When the Ark of God came to his home, and it left his home after three months, I don't want the presence of God to be away from me. I'm willing to go where it goes. And so he goes online, and there's a position that David posted. We're looking for a gatekeeper for the ark.

Obed Edom is all signed up. I wanna be a gatekeeper. I wanna be as near as I can to the very presence of God, and it's no wonder you heard it. When it came to his front step and it entered into his abode, God opened the heavens and showered blessing upon blessing, not just on him, but on all that he had. And he tasted the goodness of God, and he couldn't live on without it.

That's what I believe what happened to Obed Edom. A Levite who hungered for God's presence, and I believe David as a man after God's heart perceived that and allowed the ark to go to his home, and once it left his home, Obed Edom says, I must have it. And I understand that God has his own home, but I want to make my home where he is. And so he goes and for the rest of his life, presumably, he stood at that gate just enjoying the fact that he was as near as he could be to the presence of God. Interestingly, when the ark was in the house of Abinadab for twenty years, remember that?

Did we get any such description about blessings on his home? No. And it makes you wonder why. When you see the attitude of Uzzah years later, you kinda can put the two and two together. But with this man, there was blessing for three months, And I think it's beyond the fact that he was an Israelite.

I think it was more than he was a Levite. I believe it's the way that he honored God's presence. And because he honored God's presence, God blessed him in his day to day living. Should it be any different when you open your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ? No.

The Ark is a shadow of Christ who tabernacled among us, the glory of God. And when you open your life to him, the home of your heart, scripture says that he abides in that heart, meaning he lives there. Now that implies many things, and one of those things is what you see in Obed Edom's life. There should be tangible evidence that he lives there. I want you to think about it.

We don't have a detailed list of the things that were blessed once the ark came in, but one thing is for certain. The people who knew Obed Edom perceived this man as blessed, and they could not separate his blessing from the presence of God to the point that they were talking about it with one another until it reached the capital of Israel. Here's what I'm proposing to you today. When Christ lives in us, there should be things flowing out of us that others who study us long enough can say, there's something different. There's something different.

And there are so many examples of this in the New Testament, and one that came to mind is a very famous passage that people often refer to in order to encourage the people of God to know how to do apologetics and to know enough about the faith so that you can defend yourself when somebody says, why do you have this hope? What reference is that? First, yes, three fifteen. So turn there and I want you to see that for yourself. First Peter three fifteen, notice what Peter says about believers.

There's something in them. There's something in them. There's something in us. In first Peter three fifteen, People have memorized this verse. It's a well known scripture.

But in your hearts, honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect. So I've seen many people come to this text and say, church, we need to know how to defend our faith. We need to know how to answer people's objections and skepticism. So here's some resources and here's some, principle understandings of the belief of this faith and that faith, and this is how you can answer it. That's good.

That's important. It's so much deeper than that. My whole life, when I've heard people refer to this text, they refer to the second part, and I rarely hear them use the first part. Because here's here's my question coming to this verse. I love asking the Bible questions.

And one of the things I ask is, well, why would anyone even ask me about the hope that is in me unless there's something about me that causes them to ask? Is that a valid question? Why would anybody say, hey. Can you explain this hope that you have in this thing that you call the gospel? Why would anybody even ask that to begin with?

Unless there is something observable for them to be curious. So I put that question aside, and here's my other question, and I think it's a more important question. How? How and what needs to be done in order for that possibility to be more real? What is it that needs to be done in me for people to say, hey.

Why do you have this hope? And the answer is in the same verse. Did you see it? What was the first instruction before knowing how to defend your faith? Verse 15.

Honor Christ as holy. Be honest. I mean, maybe you have heard. I have it. I have never ever heard anybody refer to that instruction before completing this verse.

What does it mean to honor Christ as holy? Some translations I'm curious. What does it say in the King James? Scott? I like that.

Sanctify the Lord as holy? Okay. Sanctify him, which that word sanctify means to set apart, which implies to make holy. Sanctify the Lord or in your hearts honor Christ as holy. What does that mean?

Because it it it influences the second part, by the way. And if we're Christians who are serious about our witness, then we won't be just serious about gathering information and knowing how to answer difficult questions. We'll be serious about the first part just as much. Honor Christ as holy. Here's what it means.

In your heart, in your heart, elevate Christ to be the primary object of your affection, of your adoration, of your devotion, of your submission. That's what it means. Let him have preeminence over your life. Let him be the head. Let him be the control center.

Let him be everything to you. That's what it means. Let him have a category of love in your heart that nothing else will be challenging. That's what it means to honor Christ as holy. Sanctify him, elevate him, exalt him, place him there as the supreme treasure and delight of who you are.

And here's here's what will happen. When you do that, it will do something in you and through you to such a degree that others will say, possibly, there's something different about you. Can I know more? And I wonder if this part has been neglected and the emphasis on just stuffing our minds with the ability to know how to answer Muslims and Buddhists and Mormons. I wonder if our witness has been hindered because we haven't done the first part.

Honor Christ as holy. Honor Christ as holy. Something is unlocked there. Something happens there just like Obed Edom's home because he treated it with this reverence. And when he treated it with such holiness, oh, the blessing started to flow.

Something started to sparkle. Something started to shine to the point where it was radiating out of the windows. And people were saying, oh, to be something's happening here. Knocking on his door. What's going on here?

Oh, it's the ark. Ever since it came, it just changed everything. Do you see the connection? Do you see the connection? Honor Christ as holy, and it can have such a radiating effect that people who walk by or people who are around you long enough can say, why is it that you are this way?

And and in fact, when you understand the hope that Peter is calling the believers to have and to explain, it has a context. And the context is in verse 14. So you're still there. Right? Look at verse 14, and notice what Peter says.

But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them nor be troubled. And then he goes on to say, honor Christ, but honor Christ in your hearts as holy. Peter is speaking to persecuted Christians who are suffering at the hands of authorities, who are godless, and making their lives difficult. And it is with that context he says, Christ is in you.

And because Christ is in you, even though you are suffering for righteousness sake, you have the ability to cause others who see that you are suffering to say, how is it that you're able to have so much hope? Even though these things are happening to you, even though they fired you, even though they're taking away your possessions, even though they're slandering your name, how is it that you have hope? And so I argue just like Obed Edom, things happen. There are blessings, there's peace, there's joy, there's stability. And what a word for us in this day.

People are fearful. People are questioning. People are in panic. And yet the church, the church should be strong and shining with this hope for others to say, what is it? How is it that you guys are not affected by what's happening?

And so I wanna tell you today, if you long for that, if you long for things to impact others, it begins within your hearts honoring Christ as holy. That's where it start. And let the let the rest just flow. Let the rest just happen. And you'd be amazed.

You'd be amazed to see how people will take notice. Even though they don't vocalize it, they will take notice. So we come back to second Samuel. The news about the blessings eventually reached David, and it awakened him. I want this for my life.

I want this for the nation. But this time, he was gonna go about it in a completely different way, and we heard the first Chronicles 15. Right? You wanna see how he did it? We heard it already.

But in first Chronicles 15, remember one hand in second Samuel, one hand in first Chronicles, so he should be able to flip back and forth easily. In first Chronicles 15, he says a lot, but notice what he says in verse 12 in first Chronicles 15. He looks at the Levites, and now, again, your tool belt is on. I want you to notice. Give me some things that you see when I read this that are important.

And said to them, you are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites. Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it, because you did not carry it the first time. The Lord our God broke out against us because we did not seek him according to the rule. What stands out to this? Two things come to mind.

I'm sure there are more, but there's two things that are vital. What stands out to this and about this? He acknowledges his mistake. He says, we didn't do it the way the Bible said to do it. Let's go back to the book.

That's the first thing. In his own words, we did not seek him according to the rule. And like our brother said, I'm sure David went back to his home, and he asked for the scrolls. And if he was a righteous king in this regard, he would have had a copy of God's word according to Deuteronomy 17. He would have studied and come to the conclusion we did it wrong.

Some would say that he knew what he was doing wrong. That could be true as well. Regardless, he went back to the source. The answers were there. We have to do it according to the rule.

And, you know, here's the thing. Somebody said it two weeks ago. When we looked at David's initial humility, when remember first Chronicles 13, he asked the leaders and he asked the people, hey. What do you guys think if we grab the ark? We praise them for his humility there.

We we said, wow. What a leader. He didn't force himself on others. His spirituality was attractive. It wasn't repulsive.

And and there was a grace there where he says, why don't we go do this together? My heart is for the presence of God. Come on. Let's do this. But here is his problem even in that.

He did not consult God. A church, any ministry will get in in a lot of trouble when they treat ministry and and the and the local fold as a democracy. Meaning what? When we start asking people their opinions and we take votes and stuff. I'm not against congregationalism where they have that system.

I'm saying when we run to the people and when we think we can get their ideas and based on their ideas, we'll move forward and don't go to the word, we're in trouble. The word has to have supreme authority over all of us, and that's where blessings come. And so David here, he got a vote, but he didn't get God's voice. He he got the majority, but he didn't get God's approval. And so he says we're going back to the word.

That's where we're safe, and that's where God will open his blessings. But there's a second thing. He didn't just say, we're going back to the rule. He says something else. Initially, what does he say?

Consecrate yourselves. You want a modern version? Clean up your life. That's what he's saying. That's important.

Because to David, it wasn't enough for everybody to cross every t and to dot every I and to just have everything in place the way the Bible says and then just to do it with whoever. No. It's more than just having an accurate biblically accurate church government. It's more than having scripturally sound hymns and worship songs. It's more than just preaching verse by verse.

Our pastor preaches biblically. It's more than having everything in place because none of that means anything if those who occupy those ministerial positions are unholy. David wasn't just concerned about doing the bare minimum here. Let's just just just let's just try to do this, and he says, no. No.

No. We have to be holy. Our personalized have to be right. Not just me coming up on the stage and being somebody for for half an hour, and then I'm something else out there. No.

We must consecrate ourselves. And this is what he was calling for, and the people obeyed. That sounds kinda daunting. Right? I mean, because we hear what?

We hear strict adherence. We hear a high spiritual standard for those who would serve at any capacity. That sounds difficult. That sounds disheartening. That sounds scary for some.

And so Satan would say, rules? Rules? Really? God is not a God of rules. You don't have to worry about that.

God is flexible. You can bend things around. It's alright. But here's the thing. Here's what's amazing.

When David did have his own way when he went for the ark initially, what did that do to him? What were the two emotions that he felt? Fear was one and the one there was one before that. Anger. Behold the life of somebody who wants to play it by their own rules.

You you wanna relate to God the way you think you wanna relate to God? You're not gonna get his blessing. You're gonna get turmoil. You're gonna get confusion. You're gonna get hollowness.

You're gonna get all these things that you don't want, that you you think you would escape by saying, I'm gonna do it my way, and in fact, you inherit the the total opposite. And when David does say, consecrate yourselves, they obey. When he says, we're going back to the book and we're gonna stay as close as possible to the instructions of God, two things happen. Two things happen that didn't happen when he said, I think that I'm just gonna walk with my own wisdom and my own understanding of what a Christian should be. Two things happened.

You scroll down and look what happens. In verse 25 of first Chronicles 15. So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed Edom with what? Rejoicing. Rejoicing.

Joy. Genuine, heartfelt, deep seated joy in the place of what? In the lane of ready for this? Rule keeping. Actually taking God at his word is and trying to be as close to obeying it as possible.

In that world, the joy open up. Jesus says, these things I've spoken to you that your joy may be full. And even before that, he says that my joy may be in you. Do you understand that? Christ wants to impart his joy, and it can only be experienced in the place of these things I've spoken to you.

Lord, what did you say? I will do it. And he says, here's a joy. And he says, my joy. You know what that means?

Supernatural joy. Christ being supernatural himself saying, I'm gonna give you something that nothing in this world can even come close to in the place of obedience. So joy. There is real joy. Can I prove it to you?

Can I prove it to you? I've seen miserable Christians my whole life. I've seen them happy in sometimes, and other times just miserable. And the happiest you've ever been, right, is when you were closest to Jesus. And when you got busy, and it began to affect your schedule, and it began to affect your time with the Lord, and your time here in the house of God, and you see now worldliness creeping in, you were distracted, but you weren't joyful.

You had little fireworks of excitement, but it quickly turned into smoke. The most miserable that you have ever been is when you were furthest from God. And the most joyful and the most energetic you've been is when you're closest to him. It's super easy. When you first got saved, what happened?

Your world revolved around Christ, and it it felt like you were floating every day. You can just walk through walls almost. Nothing can stop you. And you see, that is the joy that Christ wants us to walk in. And that can only come when you're totally sold out to him.

When you're like David and and you have these mixed ambitions, I want the ark of God, but I want the new cart from Philistines. It's not gonna happen. And here's what else is not gonna happen. Look at the second thing that ensued in verse 26. And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

What happened? God helped them. God helped them. When they did it with the new cart, did God help them? No.

He let the thing stumble. Uzzah put out his hand, and he dies. When these men took the ark, put it on their shoulders with those poles, and they started to head towards Jerusalem, it says God came and He helped them. And here's here's the messed up thing. Right?

We think that if we do church the worldly way, if we do our personal walk with the Lord the worldly way, it'll be lighter, it'll be easier, it'll be happier. All the while we stumble along the way. And yet the very thing that intimidates people, the very thing that that people don't believe can work, like preaching the Bible just the way it is and having true church and not just entertainment, and not trying to win people with means that are silly and and shallow. When when we do it the way God does it, as much as it's demanding, as much as it may not be popular, God's help is there. He comes to assist you.

Now that that might not mean much to you because you're not in a position of leadership in a church, so let me personalize it. God is ready to help you forgive. Because you know why people don't forgive? They're empowered by holding something against somebody else. When you don't forgive you, I have something against you.

Right? This is how sick we are. Because the person that hurt us, we let them know we're still hurt, and we see that that hurts them and that makes us feel good. That's sick. That's who we are though.

And so when Jesus says forgive, forget the past, I don't hold that person's past against him. Why are you keep bringing it up And you can't seem to do it, he's ready to help you. He's ready to help you. But you have to step out in obedience. Purity.

Right? In this sexually charged world, you can't go on in any kind of avenue on your phone. You can't do almost anything in our our city without some kind of pornographic thing popping in your face. Purity, is it possible? It's possible.

He's ready to help you. Anger, anger, rage. You're angry person. Right? He's ready to help you.

With anything you think is so difficult and you think that you can substitute it with your own silly ideas or excuses, let that die like Uzzah died. Trust God's word, walk in faith, and watch the help come. Watch His grace meet you in that place. And so they experienced this help, and they're walking, and they sense this grace. And we come back to second Samuel, and we have two verses left, and we're done.

If we thought that this was unusual, David is gonna do something more unusual. Somebody observed that in our initial reading. Verse 13, And those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal. Here's my question. Is that required in the law?

Is there any command that you can find in the old testament that says when the ark goes out six steps, stop, build an altar, and burn some animals? No. It's not it's not found anywhere. Not even slightly suggested anywhere. So then what's the next question?

Why did he do it? You have some who believe that David actually did this every six steps. And I can see how they can read that into it, but there is a verse that challenges that idea. Can you imagine every six steps stopping and making a sacrifice? I mean, as much as that sounds crazy, when you see what Solomon did at the inauguration of the temple, he he sacrificed thousands upon thousands of animals.

So then you're like, maybe it is possible. But I don't think that's what David David is doing here. I think after the first six steps. Right? So you have these guys.

They're they're carrying the one, two, and I'm not gonna do the six steps. David says, stop. Build the altar. Get the animals. Let's sacrifice unto the lord.

Any idea why he did this? Okay. You're onto something, but not yet. There's something there though. You're you're very close.

But why does he doing why is he doing this? So is there a connection between David not experiencing God's judgment and him responding to that reality? So there's that. Any other idea? Okay.

So it took six steps to get out of the house, and once they got out of the house, they're like, okay. Here we are. But what does that have to do with the sacrifice then? What did you say? Because of what?

You you have it. The answer is actually in the verse in first Chronicles 25 that we just covered. It's it actually tells us right there. First Chronicles 15 verse 26. And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams.

That's why. So David, knowing that I don't know what he saw, but he saw the Lord assisting these men and and blessing their journey even early on to the point where he says, everyone stop. Let's give thanks to the Lord. And so they get the altar, they get the animals, and they worship God. And in the flesh, in the natural, we would look at that, and some would criticize and say, why are you taking your time?

We don't need to do all of this. We can get to Jerusalem faster and have a bigger celebration. You're hindering the journey here. Come on. Let's go.

It's the same kind of critical attitude that Mary of Bethany experienced. Remember? When she broke open that alabaster flask and poured it and anointed Jesus, and Judas and the disciples says, why this waste? You didn't have to do this. In fact, we could have used this for something else.

The enemy tends to try to convince us and the flesh and our own mind that if we give more to God, it's it's it's not really beneficial. There's no need to do more than what he asks of us. Just do the bare minimum, give him what he ordered, and move on. Right? But there are people and it it breaks my heart to say that it's not collective.

I wish it was. But there are others who have experienced something of God, who have tasted something. Like David tasted of the goodness of God, seeing his help in in the legs of these priests moving forward to such a degree that they can't help but go more than what God asked of them. It's not legalism if you're doing it out of joy. There are some people who say Sunday morning church is not enough.

I wanna be in the house of God as much as possible. I know some people's schedules don't permit them. I'm talking about the heart desire. I wanna be where the Lord's people are. I wanna hear more about God.

I wanna sing more to the Lord. And so they come and you have people say, why? Why? Just is this Sunday afternoon enough? And it's not legalism.

It's because they're they've been touched by the Lord. You have people who pray, and they don't just pray and give God a grocery list so they can go on with their day. They pray and they stay, and in a personalized way, in a private way, they worship the Lord. They love the Lord. They adorn him with their praises.

And people think that's strange. Why are you doing that? Why why this sacrifice? It's not you don't have to do that. I know I don't have to.

I want to. He's worthy. This is what he's done, and and it pulls something out of me more than just the bottom of the barrel of my life. I think that's what David is demonstrating here. He didn't have to.

He wanted to. I wanna get to that place where I walk with the Lord, where I I understand what he's done in my life to such a degree that it naturally just pulls more out of me, and I gladly give it to him. Let people criticize all they want. People want to be spiritual skeletons, let them be spiritual skeletons. He sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal, but notice what he does in verse 14, and this is where we're concluding.

And David danced before the Lord. That makes people very uncomfortable. Some denominations more than others. David danced before the Lord with all his might. We'll cover that next week, but the second part of the verse is what we should look into.

And David was wearing a linen ephod. A linen ephod, a priestly garment. It's it's there in the Old Testament where that is a part of their outfit. And some would look at this and say, there's no problem here because David is actually demonstrating humility. He he disrobed himself from his royalty, and he puts on a a an apron like thing so that he can relate and blend in with the priest and not stand out.

The ark, the presence of God, that's the true king, not David. Not David. I'm just I'm just an ordinary servant of God like these others who are going with me. Others would add to that and say, well, Samuel, little Samuel in first Samuel two, we're told that he wore linen ephod, and so David wearing it is not a big deal. But there's a problem there.

Samuel is is from what lineage? Is, is he from Judah, or is he from a different tribe? How how could he even become a priest if he was not a he was a Levite. Samuel was a Levite. He's he's one of the descendants of Korah.

So Samuel makes sense for him to wear linen ephod. Samuel was being raised up to be a priest, and they gave him a little ephod. It was cute, and it was it was a statement there that he was set apart onto God. David is not from Levi. David is from where?

Judah. He's from the tribe of Judah. There's a lot of if you continue in this chapter, there are a lot of connotations. There are a lot of little hints of priestly activity that David performs. Can I give you an example?

Just scroll down to verse 18 very quickly. And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. So someone say that's not David doing it. That's the priest doing it through his command. Okay.

But even the second part where he blesses people in the name of the Lord, that's what priests do. So you get these hints of David dressing like and acting like a what? Priest. Somebody got in a lot of trouble for for assuming the role of a priest. Remember him?

Yes. Saul did not wait for Samuel early on in his ministry when he went to war with the Philistines, and he builds an altar and he performs a sacrifice, and God held it against him. David here, wearing a linen ephod. And if if 18, we take it literally, he's he's somewhat participating in the offerings. And he he assumes this blessing upon others as though he has some kind of authority, spiritual authority.

Why? He's chosen. How is he chosen? How is he chosen? To be what?

Did he? Okay. You have to prove it though. Did God choose him to be a priest? He's anointed by the Lord to be a priest.

He's a prophet. He is a prophet. Acts tells us he's a prophet. But his son is Okay. What does it say?

Is that speaking about David though? Why is David wearing a linen efit? Okay. So you I see what you're saying. Maybe the priest allowed him and said, hey, David.

It's okay. You're you're close to us. We know who you are. You can have I don't know. That's I understand where you're coming from.

That's a that's a interesting way of looking at it. You can see why people are wrestle with this. Right? And they just wanna kind of just shoo it away to say, it's not as a it's not a big deal for him to wear this. It's just a cloth.

It's not really the priestly garment, and so they kinda just wanna not deal with it. A couple more before moving on. Why would this and you're gonna find out later on in our study of second Samuel. I brought this up to a few people. You're gonna actually realize that we're told in second Samuel that David's sons were what?

Priests. Priests. What's happening here that's exclusive to the Levites? What are people from Judah doing operating in the same capacity as priests? We'll get there, but let's just deal with this for now.

Couple more and then we'll move. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So he's kinda filling in the role in the transition with Samuel who was a prophet priest.

I I I these are these are interesting points for sure. Yes. Great observation. Did you guys hear that? When David took the holy bread back in first Samuel, nothing nothing happened to him then when that was solely reserved for the priest.

So you you have these again, you have these little things that are happening in David's life where he reaches into the lane of priesthood, and he does a couple things, and God doesn't seem to intervene like he did with Saul. One more, and I'm gonna explain my. Did you hear that? Is there something there in light of Jesus Christ? Okay.

Let's stop here. Right? David wrote one of the clearest messianic Psalms that is often quoted in the New Testament. Does anybody know what Psalm I'm talking about? 22 is a good one, but not 22.

Not two, that's a good one though. Nope. Close. One ten. Go to Psalm one ten.

Once you see, you're gonna say, oh, okay. I know what Psalm that that is. Psalm one ten. The Lord says to my Lord remember when Jesus used that? Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your enemies. David's son, his descendant, and remember, David wrote this Psalm, David's son would be his lord. And Jesus used that against the religious leaders of his day to say, how could he be his son while also being his lord? He knew the scriptures.

It's amazing. And so David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, at one point in his life, understood that my seed will be the Messiah, God himself. And as we read in verse two, mighty scepter, rule in the midst of your enemies. What does that what does that imply? He's gonna be a king.

But just a king? Go to verse four. The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are priest forever. After the order of who?

Not Aaron, Melchizedek. So track with me here. David, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has a revelation. My seed, my son will be king, but he will also be my lord. There's something divine about that.

It goes beyond that though. He goes, not only is he going to be a king, he's gonna be a priest. And here's what's astounding. You never had a marriage of those two roles. It was never legitimized in the Old Testament.

The kings were kings. The priests were priests. And whenever a king tried to be a priest remember remember Uzziah. Right? He went into the temple and he tried to give offering, and 80 something priests ran in.

They said, you're not supposed to be doing that, and he was struck with leprosy. So kings were in one lane, priests were in another lane. There was but this this this son of David is gonna be like a hybrid. He's gonna be a king and a priest. That alone is mind blowing to the Jew, but it's even more than that.

Because you would think, okay, you are a priest forever after the order of Aaron, after the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek is only mentioned, like, really in three parts of the Bible. Genesis, Psalm one ten, Hebrews chapter seven. There's not much said about him. That's by divine design.

Hebrews tells us why God the Holy Spirit omits certain details about Melchizedek. Namely, we don't know where he's from. We don't know his lineage, and we don't know when and how he died. When is Melchizedek first mentioned in the Bible? Genesis and 14 verse 18.

You have to go there to see how this relates to David to a certain extent. Genesis fourteen eighteen. He was a king. Ah, you know Genesis fourteen eighteen. Genesis fourteen eighteen.

And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, like, come on, brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God most high. Now Kezada king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Mosiah. He appears out of nowhere, mysteriously just appears on the scene, comes before Abraham.

Abraham recognizes something so superior of him that he's compelled to give a tithe to him. Melchizedek blesses Abraham. And as I said, the obscurity of Melchizedek, the omission of certain details, the author of Hebrews uses that to make a case for Jesus. Don't lift your hand unless you wanna show me. Do you believe Melchizedek was Jesus?

He wasn't. Because in Hebrews seven, we read that Melchizedek, Jesus coming from his priesthood was like him. He wasn't him. So Melchizedek is not Jesus, just to clarify that. Right?

He's a separate individual. He's an actual priest, and Jesus's priesthood comes from him. And the fact that you don't know where he came from and how he left, the author of Hebrews uses that to make a case for the eternality of Jesus in his divine nature and in his priesthood. It's unending. He never had really a Jesus never had a beginning.

He doesn't have an end. And like Melchizedek, the obscurity, the blurriness around him is to signify that Jesus in the literal substance form is without beginning, without end. Tracking with me so far? Okay. Good.

I hope so. Just talk to me afterwards if you didn't. So let's let's backtrack for a second. David had a revelation. My son is going to be a king.

He's gonna be my lord, but he's also gonna be a priest. Not after Aaron, but after Melchizedek. Okay. Well, When you come to Genesis fourteen eighteen, you realize that Melchizedek, this individual, was a priest of God most high, but he was also the king of Salem. Where's Salem?

Prove it. Sounds like Jerusalem. If it's Jerusalem, then this is this is massive. King of Salem. If you're a note taker or if you have really good memory, here's how you know Salem is Jerusalem.

Ready? Psalm 76 verse one and verse two. Psalm 76 verse one and verse two tells us that Salem is Jerusalem. In Judah, God is known. His name is great in Israel.

His abode has been established where? In Salem. His dwelling place in Zion. Now we know that the dwelling place of God would end up in Jerusalem, and the author of this Psalm uses the ancient reference for Jerusalem that we find in Genesis fourteen eighteen. And I believe the Holy Spirit did that by design so that when you would see that Melchizedek was the king of Salem and you kept reading your Bible and came to Psalm 76, you'd realize that Salem was Jerusalem.

So Melchizedek was the king of where? Jerusalem at one point. Jerusalem before it was recognized as the city of David, yes, but Jerusalem nonetheless. Here's what I'm proposing. It's not dogmatic.

Could it be? Just could it be that David being a prophet and having a level of revelation of the Messiah that would come from his seed? He knew that his son would be a king, my lord, a priest after the order of Melchizedek. And knowing Genesis, Melchizedek was a king and priest from where? Jerusalem.

My son one day is going to be king and priest. Where? In Jerusalem. That's where we're waiting in the second coming. He's gonna come and set up his rule and reign in Jerusalem.

Could it be that with that understanding, when David became King of Jerusalem in the very text that we are studying, maybe I'm allowed to wear a little ephod. I'm king of Jerusalem, and Melchizedek, priest, king. My son is going to be king and priest. I'm not gonna obstruct the lineage of Aaron. I'm not gonna obstruct what God has established through Aaron, but let me just wear a little ephod for now.

And let me just let me just help a little bit here with some of the sacrifice. Let me just pronounce one blessing. I wonder if David was just entertaining the thought, knowing what the Holy Spirit revealed about him and his son and that royal priesthood, how there would come one day someone from Judah who would have a greater priesthood than that of Aaron, and would be a greater king than all the other kings that came from David's seed. Could it be that when you put the pieces together in this moment, David was just entertaining the idea for himself, knowing his history and knowing his future. Isn't the Bible amazing?

Isn't the word of God wonderful? Let's pray. Thank God for this. Lord, we are amazed at Your word. We are overwhelmed by Your word.

Lord, You are the author of this word. We rejoice at Your word, as the Psalms say. We rejoice at your word. Lord, tonight on this Friday evening, we wanna thank you for touching our hearts. Thank you, oh Lord, for the word richly abiding in us.

And, Lord, at this time, we respond to the things that we have just listened to and absorbed, and we give you glory. And we say thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, that you have shown us that you living in us, that you being Lord over us is a blessing, is not a burden. You don't destroy, you don't kill, you don't give less, you give more. You complete, you bring abundance.

And Lord we have all experienced that, and we've experienced a new level of it tonight. Father we thank you that you have graced us with this portion, and Lord we just want to with the remaining strength that we have, magnify your name, and to extol you, and to give praise to the king and priest who is to come again, rule and reign from Jerusalem. And that Lord, we would be we would be those who are heirs with Christ, beholding you and marveling at you. Thank you for redeeming us, and thank you for promising that future for us. Lord, we just we give you praise.

We are overwhelmed, overjoyed, and now we channel this wonderful experience into worship. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. Can we stand and worship the Lord? What a mighty God we serve.

What a glorious King we have.