2 Samuel 6 (Part 3) Bible Study (David and Michal) I Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Well, welcome. We're here, in the final part of second Samuel, but of chapter six of second Samuel. We've been in this chapter for three weeks in a row, including this week. And so meet me in second Samuel chapter six in your bibles, and where we will where we will start is in verse 16. Second Samuel chapter six verse 16.

And as you know, we've been doing this lately, and it's been edifying. I hope it's been edifying to me. Wanna read this section. You're gonna follow with me. And once I conclude, you will raise your hand and and make some observations that you think are important, with the questions, the reflective questions that help us in any context to have a deeper understanding of the word of God.

Are you with me? Second Samuel chapter six verse 13, or excuse me, verse 16. We read here, as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal, the 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. And they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

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, and distributed among all the people the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed each to his house, and David returned to bless his household. But Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet David and said, how the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants, female servants, as one of the vulgar fellow shamelessly uncovers himself. And David said to Michal, it was before the Lord who chose me above your father and above all his house to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord. And I will celebrate before the Lord.

I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes, but by the female servants of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor. And Michal, the daughter of Saul had no child till the day of her death. Lord, we ask that you open our eyes to this text. Help us sharpen one another. Help us leave here with our our affections warmed and our hearts enlarged to love you the way you deserve.

In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Any observations? Interesting conclusion to this story? Anything that sticks out to you?

Anything that you think is valuable in terms of or maybe even a question that may we might answer later on? Yes. Yeah. Mikhail's resentment, jealousy, that seems to stand out from this section of scripture, and it has a lot to tell us. Yes.

Anything else? Yes. She's it could be or what what brother Gorgias is saying is could it be that the verbalization of her resentment is due to the fact that she is just one of many wives And all these other wives, as we read in the past, have had children, but here she is not given children perhaps. Maybe David is withholding children from her. That's a possible interpretation.

What would be a reason for David not to have children with Michal? Any idea? She is the what? Yeah. So Saul gave her to David as a wife, which means what?

Succession lines. So if she has a child with Michal, then that could potentially cause issues in the future of there being division within the kingdom because we saw what happened with Ishbosheth. Right? So maybe David is thinking strategically as cruel as it is to say, I'm not gonna give her my children because then we can have issues going down the line where her children can say, well we come from Saul and Saul's the one who deserves the throne and there can be some there can see be some problems in the future. That could be a possible interpretation.

Anything else? Yes. And because of her jealousy, so God So that last verse, a majority would say this is God's judgment and divine intervention. Some would say this is David actually pulling back from her. So there's debate around that.

But the popular vote is that it was the Lord who had closed her womb, though it doesn't explicitly say that. But that's a good observation as well. Yes. She wasn't present in the arms of the head. Very good.

Isn't that interesting? Why is she at home when the entire nation is out at the parade, the national parade for the presence of God coming into the political capital of Israel? That's a very good observation. Yes. Very good observation.

David confessed, and there's a repetition of David doing what he was doing before the Lord. God knew that. David knew that. People with discernment would have known that. Spiritual discernment, like his wife, could not perceive that.

And then because of that, had to judge of ulterior motives. Right? Yes. Kinga and then Tim. Go ahead, Kinga.

Yes. We're going to talk about and then you brought that up. Yes. Yeah. So you're kind of saying what brother Gorgi is saying.

There's like, there's deeper issues here and this is just the fruit of a root issue of maybe remember what happened to Michal after David was exiled? Did she end up getting married to somebody else? And what did David do when he became a ruler? You're my wife. Come here.

Roar. Your my wife, come here. And so she removed him, removed her from her, other husband. Right? Could that play into it?

I mean, these are great observations. Somebody had their hand up here. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Absolutely. So, you it makes you wonder where is this outburst coming from? Is it, is it surface level or is there a deeper thinking? Maybe a couple more and then we'll move on just for the sake of time. Yes.

So he fed the entire nation. He fed the entire nation, which is pretty significant. Who did we relate David to in our last study? Jesus? Yes.

But who specifically? In light of Jesus, but a specific ministry of Jesus. Melchizedek, right, the priesthood of Melchizedek. And we went back to Genesis to show how Melchizedek was the kingdom of Salem. Where's Salem?

Jerusalem. Right? Here's David who is acting as a priest and king of the newly established capital of Israel, Jerusalem. But do you do you remember what else Melchizedek did to Abraham? Did he give him something?

He gave Abraham bread and wine, and then he blessed Abraham. And we kind of see a parallel activity here. Right? We see David also blessing the nation and giving them food to eat. So it's it's very it's a very strong mirroring of of what Melchizedek did, and we're given little information about him.

So it's a very strong strong connection. K. Maybe one more and then we'll move on here. Yes. Yeah.

So he's on his way to bless his household, and Michal comes out to meet him. And you can tell she was, not very supportive. We're gonna find out why. But here's what's happening in our text tonight. The mission of the ark of the covenant coming into its rightful place has now reached its its long awaited, finale.

And, we have hopefully learned a lot of things up to this point in this one chapter. Some things were reminders for us. Other things were fresh, practical, and prophetic insights. But if there is one theme among many that, really, connects to our text from verse one down to the last verse, I believe, it's not difficult to see that the subject matter of worship is very dominant. Worship, appropriate worship, inappropriate worship, what pleases God, what doesn't please God.

And that theme is gonna continue to weave itself in the final moments of this snapshot of David's life and ministry. Worship. Worship. And when you see this text and you consider the the series of events in a very short period of time, we see David worshiping in the larger context. You can say with the people of God, with the congregation of God.

And and when we see that his worship will only continue to smaller spheres, more intimate spheres in his life, which is important because that's a that's a principle of what true worship is. So as you and I come to these last verses, we're we're going to see that this is not an exhaustive study about what worship is, but it's an important element to what worship is. It's it's a it's an instructional section of scripture. One that provides illustration and example, because you and I have been created in the image of God as the pinnacle of God's creation to do one specific thing, and that's to worship. We've been created to worship.

And when we step outside of that order, things go out of order in our lives. And so we have this high call, this primary call to do what? To understand accurately who God is, what he has done, to affirm that truth with adoration within us, and then from that place outwardly, through various means of expression, to to honor God and to show him through worship that we do in fact believe who he is and attribute to him all the glory that he deserves. And so let's look at these verses and consider some instructions, some ingredients about worship, true worship, false worship, controversial aspects of worship. Verse 16.

As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked out of the window and saw David, king David, leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart. I wonder what that looked like. King David on the streets of Jerusalem, leaping and dancing and twirling for the glory of God. And that portrait of a man doing such a thing has been a subject of much debate, and people have strong feelings on either side of what David is doing here. So you have some people who will say, the idea of dancing as a act of worship is, totally unrelated to the new covenant church just as much as offering animal sacrifices is.

And so the argument goes that, dancing for the Lord and unto the Lord, is in the same category of cessation as, giving bulls on an altar and burning it up in the name of praise and adoration, thanksgiving, or a guilt offering. Interesting. Then you have others on the opposite end of the spectrum who will say, no. In fact, if what David is doing here offers anything is the possibility of how the whole man can be engaged in loving God and adoring God. Right?

So not just the spirit, not just the soul, but now my body can exhibit glory unto God. Right? And so this side would say, not only should it not be discouraged, it should be permitted. It should be permitted. And then they would go further from there and say, to despise such a thing or look down or to limit or to cancel that possibility would incur the same condemnation that Michal had here when she looked down on David for doing the very same thing that people say we can't do.

And so we have to come here and ask, what does the scripture say about this? What what does the totality of God's word have to say about this? It seems trivial. It seems silly. It's like, really, we're gonna spend a few minutes to talk about whether dancing unto the Lord is something that relates to us as Christians?

But here's the thing, if I'm a serious worshiper, then I wanna have clarity on all aspects of worship. I don't wanna be I don't wanna have one dark area in my life. I don't wanna just be able to have a debatable conversation. I wanna know if this is something that pleases God. And so when you come to a verse like this, I want you to make sure, because there are a lot of things in the scriptures that are not as didactic.

Meaning, they're not they're not as clear as do this, don't do this. They're not as black and white. And if we're not careful, we can allow our convictions to be rooted in culture and not the Bible. So culturally, we interpret things instead of letting the Bible interpret things. Because if I were to present this question in a church in The Caribbean, I would get a totally different reaction than if I would teach a Bible study about this in the church, I don't know, in The Netherlands for example, I don't know.

Or here in America. I won't pick on any other nation. So when you come to a verse like this and when you understand the possibility of dancing unto the Lord, Where do we go with that? Some would say the conversation can go further than this. Whatever is in a narrative does not mean it is normative.

Do you understand the argument there? Just because something is in a story in the bible, does not mean that it is a code of conduct that we must apply in our context. And I think that's important in different ways of interpreting. It's very dangerous to look at a narrative and say this is normative because a lot of people take narratives and make concrete doctrines out of things that are not as clear as we would like them to be. So just because it's recorded doesn't mean that we are we are called to certain behaviors or practices.

I understand that, and I agree with that. But is this the only place where we see dancing unto the Lord in the bible? Okay. Tell me of another place. Okay.

Psalm 30. Do you have the exact reference? You turn my morning into what? Dancing. Psalm one forty nine verse three.

What does Psalm one forty nine verse three say? Let them praise his name with what? What do you think? Dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre. K.

You just have to go to the next chapter of Psalm to see verse four in Psalm one fifty. Praise him with tambourine and what? Dance, praise him with strings and pipe. I'll tell you how some people interpret those verses. They don't mind the tambourines.

They don't mind the lyres. They don't mind the strings. They don't mind the pipe. But keep your dancing shoes at home. Do you have something else?

No, that was it. That was it. Right? Who else danced in the old testament other than David? Think back to our study in the book of Exodus.

Miriam. Miriam. Did she not dance and lead the woman in procession of dancing? So we have references that are not within the realm of narrative only. We have different instances of the mention of dancing as God glorifying worship.

Here's the thing actually. If you really pay attention to the bible, you will see that there are many many instances, many pictures, and various physical postures as articulations of honor unto God. K? It's more common than you think. So you read the early chapters of the book of Revelation, what do you find?

You find these creatures in heaven and these 24 elders that frequently did what? They fell on their faces before God. That that's a physical act communicating something from the heart that God never condemned. You have different moments where men of God like Moses, men of God like Nehemiah, Samuel, different different men who bow down before their maker as a symbol of reverence unto God. Sprinkled throughout the Psalms and even different narratives, you have even the call to lift up your hands to the Lord.

Lifting up your hands to the Lord, as it is mingled with either intercession or singing to visualize my desperation and my surrender unto God. So you see different positions here, different postures that engage and exhibit the body that the Bible speaks about frequently. And I know what you might be thinking. Listen brother, lifting hands, I'm okay with. Bowing down, you're pushing it.

Dancing, I don't know about dancing. And I get it. But let me say this. It's very difficult to to convey from the Bible and make a biblical case, pay attention to what I'm about to say, that stiff, stoic, statue like worship is the strict standard of how we most glorify God in offering our adoration before him. Like, the burden of proof is on you to prove that because there's a lot to say that sometimes the body is engaged in worship and it is the overflow of the heart.

I know, again, what you may be thinking. So the common, genuine concern is, where do you draw the line then? Where do you draw the line of of our emotions? Can it not be distracting? Can it not actually do the opposite of what we would want to happen?

And remember, I'm I'm not speaking about let me clarify. I'm not speaking about what you do in your bedroom in your worship to God. You can do whatever you want there. I mean, not whatever you want, but you can do a lot in your room, by yourself, in the presence of God that you can't do in a setting like this. And that is not that is not my rule, that's the Bible's rules.

There are instructions of how you and I come together to worship God that all kind of actions and activities must submit to in order to know the most profitable and edifying experience of worship that we can have with one another and more importantly before the Lord. So instead of trying to nitpick every single thing, is this right, is this right, is that right, is that right, is that too far, is that not enough, meet we meet me in a book in the New Testament about worship. At least this chapter is about instructions of corporate worship. Some of you are turning already. Do you know where I'm going?

Who knows where I'm going? Okay. You're just getting ready. First Corinthians chapter 14. First Corinthians chapter 14.

And meet me in verse 26, because I think this will help this will help frame our convictions about different expressions of worship. First Corinthians chapter 14 verse 26. Here's what Paul is saying to the New Testament church, not just to the church in Corinth, but to all the churches as he says later on in this chapter. He says, what then brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.

Let all things be done for building up. Different regulations for how we worship God in a congregation than when you're alone, consecrated by yourself. And the rule is very clear. Right? There is a distinction to be made.

And Paul knew such a distinction because in this in this actual context, he is teaching about tongues. That's another bible study for another time. But he's teaching about tongues in which he says earlier that that practice edifies yourself more than anybody else. And if it's not carefully done within the gathering of the brethren, it can have the opposite effect. And so in order to harness this and to make the most of this, what you do in private is not going to be the same of what you do in public.

And so we can apply any kind of practice to the same kind of rule that we see here. And here's the first rule. My active presence in a meeting like this is completely outward focused. Primarily, yes, I am coming to worship God, but very close to that just like the first and second greatest commandment, I am here to build up, edify, spur on my brothers and sisters in Christ. I do not come in a place like this with the focus on me.

I do not come in a place like this to seek attention and gratification and blessing for me. That's what Paul is saying. When you come to church, you're coming to offer something. When you come to the meeting, you have your brothers and sisters in mind, and you want to know how can I build them up? And that motive will really help dictate behavior, and action, and expression.

And so here's the thing, your gifts, my gifts, my worship, your worship are meant to actually bless others. And the moment that my motive is centered around me and me being blessed, me being edified, or me receiving attention, me receiving glory, me receiving praise, that's where you have to reconsider what you're doing. Because what you have is people saying this, well, it's blessing me, and I'm doing it unto God. So what really matters is what God sees and what God wants. It doesn't matter what this person thinks.

It doesn't matter what that person thinks. And Paul knew that when he was teaching this, when he was specifically talking about the gift of tongues. So you know what he says? Go to verse 17 early on. Look what he says.

Speaking about tongues, remember, he says, and tongues was a form of worship. Praise, prayer. For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. So say, listen, as much as you're being blessed with what you're doing between you and God, in this context, if you're not building others up, then that doesn't make what you're doing legitimate no matter how spiritual it may be. No matter how much of a blessing it is to you.

Saying, no, you have to consider others around you as you are worshiping God because you're not just doing this is not an individual thing. This is not you and God time. That's what you do at home. This is us and God time. Big difference.

And the the second rule here is very close to the first one. You have to come down to verse 40 of the same chapter to see. It really sums up everything. Later on, Paul says in verse 40, but all things all things should be done decently and in order. Decently and in order.

No matter what your spiritual gift is, no matter how much it blesses you, no matter how much you might think it might bless others, you and I do not have the right to exercise or manifest anything. Remember, he says all things in a way that would be destructive, in a way that might be confusing, in a way that might be distracting. The moment what we're doing is muddied and brings about things that do not bless is a moment where we have to stop, no matter how much you ready for this? You think you are being led by the spirit to do so. I remember I met one guy, never met him after that.

It was literally for a few moments. I was at a conference and we bumped into each other, so we just got talking while we were walking to our destination. And he told me about his church, and he told me how spirit filled his congregation was. And I guess he wanted to explain how spirit filled his congregation was. So he told me, he says, our our congregation is so sensitive to the Holy Spirit that if the Lord were to tell somebody during a meeting to go and paint the wall, they'll go paint the wall.

Oh, that's really interesting. I think Paul would have something to say about that. And so you have to understand that a lot of liberty has license behind being led by the spirit. But you know what the most spiritual thing to do is? Do things decently and in order.

That's Holy Spirit led. When there's chaos, if people are jumping from one pew to the next, if people are running around the service and throwing things around and it's not decent or an order, then it's disqualified. It's disqualified. So keep that in mind when we understand what David is doing here as well, because we have to understand that there are rules to our worship, our praise. There are boundaries.

There are limitations. But at the same time, if there's anything that we can take out of David's story here is that his enthusiasm offers us the inspiration that in different occasions and different contexts and different moments will inspire different responses, will this will inspire different reactions to what God has done or is doing. So there are moments, right, cause David is not in a church with pews here. He's on the streets. He's in a procession.

The whole nation is there. There is a there is a huge parade with instruments and loud song taking place. And so it was appropriate in this context for him to leap and to do whatever he was doing, spiraling around, just overflowing with joy with the knowledge of the presence of God being in close proximity. But it is no less of worship that in some settings that this place be just completely silent as we reflect on something solemn, something good, something holy. I I can't help but think of our Friday night services during Easter.

It's a it's a very silent night. It's a very quiet night because we're reflecting about what our sin has done, what it cost the Son of God. I don't think it would be too too appropriate in a setting like that to be leaping and jumping around and and clapping cymbals together. But then there are other moments where God can intervene and interject with such a supernatural sense of his glory and power. He can even perform a miracle where it would be, I would say, appropriate that out of just sheer excitement to jump up and down.

Look what God is doing in our midst. Look at the the look at the things that he is he's performing right before our eyes. And it would in fact be inappropriate to to do anything less. And so it's not as black and white. Right?

It's not it's not as do this, don't do this. I think as long as we take Paul's instructions and apply them to our context and to our cultures, then we are the safest. Then we are the safest. And if we're honest with this text, we must say that there are physical acts of worship that are indeed permitted. Not mandated, but permitted.

As long as they build others up, as long as they are done decently and in order, whatever we do may be done with a measure of wisdom and with the law of love so that it can be a blessing not just to God, but to those that God has called us to respect and edify at the same time. And some might say, well, maybe David broke that rule because of the reaction of his wife, and we'll get to that in a moment. But I I I don't think, to be honest, this is just a personal observation. I don't think the issue in our context, in our culture is, too much enthusiasm. Would you agree with that?

I don't think it's too much enthusiasm. I think there's a great lack of it. I I you you can put a Christian in almost any other setting, and they can find a way to be very, very passionate and and not very embarrassed to show their passion. But for some reason, when you put them in a church service, they're there as though Jesus didn't rise from the dead and it's like a funeral every week. I don't understand that.

I don't get it. That's just that's just me personally. I think some Christians, I love them, they're gonna make heaven, but they might be very uncomfortable in heaven. Cause it's gonna be very loud. It's gonna be a lot of singing.

You're gonna see a lot of people, creatures even, bowing down before God, raising their voices to God. And some might say, well that's distracting. Well not not if it's done for the glory of God. None if it's authentic. None if it's real.

None if it's led by the spirit. None if it is done with the the order that Paul calls for. If anything, it it can demonstrate greater glory to God. And so those are just my 2¢ in light of the word. So let's come back to this text.

Right? Let's let's scroll down to verse 18. 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 and distributed among all the people the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed each to his house. So here's what's amazing.

We can make the mistake of measuring somebody's worship being real and sincere solely upon the excitement and the intensity of their praise that they display in a service or an event. Enthusiasm is not the be all and end all. It it's not. It's a part of it, and there should be, enthusiasm in our singing, in our interceding. The bible's clear about that, but David is going to show that worship goes beyond that sphere of life.

Goes beyond the meeting place. Goes beyond the segment of time during the week that is designated for that focus. And the way he's going to show it here is that as a worshiper, his his love for God, his acknowledgment of God is going to spill over in the way he treats other people. And the way he treats other people as a ruler, he felt the great responsibility and need to serve them in a very practical way. To extend grace, to extend help, to extend mercy with a recognition of of a need that's that's there, and he want to meet that need.

That's how he came out of the worship service, so to speak. So he he was not like many who failed to make a connection between a vertical adoration and a horizontal awareness. Some people make that disconnect. Their their one thing vertically, but horizontally, they're like a completely different person. And that that doesn't make sense in light of how the Bible wants to frame our worship.

There should be, if anything, this channel between us and God that spills over in the way we minister to others. And here's what's happening. You have people who who knows how far they came to meet David and the ark into Jerusalem. Who knows what resources they set apart. Who knows what kind of time they had to they had to set apart in order to come to this event and acknowledge God.

And David realized these people have to go home. They have a long journey home. They have a trip to make. And here are these little kids, and here these people have to spend so much money, they have to sit in traffic, all these things. And so he felt the need with the resources and the power that he had, to be able to nourish them and bless them and supply whatever they needed.

And so, when I look at a verse like this, I realize that the the sequence suggests this is what true worship looks like. This is what true worship looks like and it reminds me of a text in first John. Meet me in first John quickly in chapter three. David is young. I mean, David is in his thirties here, and he is already showing evidence of mindfulness and tenderness for others, proving that his heart was surely moved and influenced by serious revelation of the love of God.

First John three sixteen, not John three sixteen, first John three sixteen. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. K. When you you if you grew up in the church, you've heard this. When you hear the expression, the Christ centered, Christ focused expression, laying our lives down for brothers, laying our lives down for one another, what's the first thing that comes to mind?

Be honest. What what what comes to mind? Can I tell you what comes to mind? A heroic act of martyrdom. That's what comes to mind.

The first thing that comes to mind is laying your life down because, I mean, it's related to Jesus. He laid down his life for us. We ought to lay down our lives for the brothers so that if the opportunity should arise where I must give up my life in order to spare the life of a brother, I should do it. I think that's part of it. I don't even think that's necessarily what John is implying in this teaching.

Laying your life down for the brothers is clarified in the next verse. Look at verse 17. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Do you see the relationship here? Verse 17, a major aspect of what it means to lay down my life for my brother is not so much about sacrificial dying.

It's more about sacrificial living. I think the latter is harder than the former, because the latter, sacrificial living, to the flesh is a slow death. It's a slow death. You're telling me of putting the interest of others above mine. You're telling me to lay aside my desires and to esteem others more important as me.

That's a slow, torturous death to the flesh. Some would prefer to just be a martyr and get it all over with, and I wanna get out of this world anyway. But when I look at a text like this, I understand that laying down our lives for others means that I have a consideration for consideration for and a contribution to the interests of others even at the cost of my own. We need the Holy Spirit's help. We need the Holy Spirit's help to live this way.

Because if I see a brother, if I see a sister, and there's a need in their life, and my my heart reaction is to be close to them, to ignore it, to neglect it, to imagine it's not there, then then John says, how can you claim that God's love is alive in you? The evidence that God's love is alive in you is that when you see that need, when you see that request, and when you see that opportunity, your heart opens up. It says, I'm willing to do what I need to do. And so we see that in David's life to some degree. He's aware.

He sees it. He's not just caught up in this personal experience with God. It translates into the way he looked at people and his heart opened up towards them. So true worship, a true living, pure sacrifice unto God is able to act in such a way. But it goes beyond that.

Go back to our main text. Before we go there, where does he go next? After he serves the nation, where does he go next? He goes home. So David went from to from church.

Right? The house of God, the big conference event. And then from there, he he served the people. He came a little bit more to earth and he served the people. And now in verse 20, we read in the first few words, and David returned to bless his household.

And David returned to bless his household. I believe that the home is the highest altar of worship. I believe it is the primary place that God seeks incense from. He demonstrates what a true worshiper looks like when we are turn when we he returns home to bless his home, proving that he didn't leave his faith at the event, but he brought it to his day to day life. He brought it home.

It breaks my heart because I know that it is frequently the case where people leave that faith, leave that acknowledgment of God right at the door no matter what they heard and sang about. It's a sad commentary on many people's lives. But we see here that this man realized that what happened there has to happen in my house. It will look different, but it will not be inconsistent. And Paul, the apostle, seems to indicate even to us in the new covenant that if we are to demonstrate our godliness primarily in any place, it has to be within the confines of our home with our family.

Yes. With your parents, with your siblings, with your spouse. Household godliness. I wanna show you where I get that idea from. It's in an obscure passage of scripture that we seem to ignore.

It's about widows. For those who were there maybe a year and a half ago, we we looked through this in first Timothy in chapter five. But I want you to see this because in this one instruction, I think you have a principle for universal godliness to be applied in all aspects of our lives. First Timothy five four. Look what Paul says.

But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household. Do you see that? And to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. What's pleasing in the sight of God? That you would first learn to show godliness at home.

Unfortunately, I for some reason, it seems to be our reflex to primarily show our godliness in a setting like this and to even extend the fruit of the spirit to unbelieving coworkers or friends. But when it comes to our our husband, our wives, our children, our brothers in the flesh, our sisters in blood, we seem to reserve those fruits, and we seem to extend other things. We seem to extend more fruit of the flesh than anything else. I don't know why that is, but it's often the case. And Paul says, learn first to show godliness at home.

This is really pleasing in the sight of God. In fact, he goes on to say that if you don't know how to do that, then it really disqualifies your demonstration of spirituality in any other context. Remember what he says later on that if someone does not know how to provide for his own relatives, he's worse than an unbeliever and has denied the faith? Consider that. Consider the magnitude of that.

If if you fail to give the appropriate recognition and fulfill your responsibility as a brother or sister or a child or or a parent in humanity, What happens What happens among relatives affects the health of the church. In many contexts, what happens in the home has a connection to the strength of the church. Go to verse 16 to prove it. If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened so that it may care for those who are truly widows.

Don't burden the church. What what is he applying there? What's that burden? It's financial burden. Which tells me another thing.

Listen. Hey. As Christians, it doesn't mean that we just give anything to anybody who asks. Never forget that. This is not the point of the bible study.

Just because you're a Christian, just because you're called to generosity and sacrificial living, the bible doesn't want you to blindly extend help to anybody who asks for help. I know that seems controversial. Read first Timothy five and you'll get what I'm saying. There's actually criteria. There's actually a list of requirements in many settings before assistance is made known.

I think there are a lot of Christians who are not wise in this area and they get hurt more than blessed by just blindly helping people. If you have more questions about that, see me after the bible study. But notice what he says here. The family is in partnership with the church. Hey, homes.

Those in this place where you have believers within the household, you have a job to do that the church is not supposed to do. The church is not the primary reactor to everything. They're not that they they're not the nine one one to all problems. Homes, you have a job to do. Fathers, you have a job to do.

Mothers, you have siblings, you have a job to do. If you have a widow in your home, you gotta take care of that before we do. And this burden here is specific. It's speaking about financial burden. Right?

But it applies across the board. Consider the cycle that God has established, that when you and I leave this place, just like David left that event, we are to go and and be fueled to bless our homes even more. Right? But just like what Paul is explaining here, what happens in the home can either be a burden to the church or a blessing to the church. And so this cycle must be honored, must be recognized.

Those are not two separate entities. This ministry is built upon the foundation of godly homes. And if the homes are struggling, if marriages are struggling, this ministry will struggle. And I think that's important for us to understand too because the church is not the savior of families either. It's not.

The youth group that we're planning to have is not gonna save the youth. It might help, it might supplement, but what goes on at home is crucial. And I know it's not as as easy as what I'm presenting because there are nuances. Right? There are complications.

What if the spouse is not godly? What if I'm the only believer? I get it. That's where the church comes in now. So the church knows when to come in, the church knows when to be the primary help, and the church knows when to be the secondary help.

And in David's case, it was not easy. Because we heard it. Right? He he's gonna go home and he's cheery. He's filled with joy.

He's on a spiritual high. He's skipping and dancing home only to meet a wife that's not exactly supportive. Right? So let's go back to that text. Many of you mentioned and observed about, Michal's behavior and words.

Let's let's try to understand why she's doing what she's doing. Verse 20, David returned to bless his household, but Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet David. Pause. What stands up to you from that one sentence or one phrase? I saw your mouth moving.

Yes. Very good. Do you notice how the Holy Spirit refers to Michal? Is it is it Michal, the wife of David? Should be, shouldn't it?

So when somebody finds a spouse, they should leave their father and mother. That's not what the Holy Spirit says. The Holy Spirit says, Micha, the daughter of Saul. Why do you think that is? Because she's gonna look and sound a lot like Saul in what we're about to read.

She's gonna resemble her father Saul, and she's going to show a great lack of what David has in his heart towards God. So she reigns on his parade. Right? And she reigns on David's personal parade with sarcasm and slander. She makes allegations.

She makes accusations. And so vicious and impatient was her confrontation that we read David doesn't even get into the front door. She sees him from the window, presumably, and she runs out of the front door to meet him as early as possible. Like, she is foaming out of the mouth, vehemently upset and irritated about what she saw early on in that day. And I look at this and I think to myself, was her criticism justified?

And the way to answer that is to look into biblically, because the temptation is to psychoanalyze why she's doing this. The temptation is to say, well, you know, she had a rough past and she might have been treated this way. We're tempted to do that, but I wanna stay within the bounds of scripture, and I do a study on who Michal was. I'm not introduced to her for the first time here. I know who she is.

You know who she is. So maybe who she is is all that we need to understand for this kind of behavior and confrontation. So first thing she she does, right, is she says how the king of Israel honored himself honored himself today. She's being sarcastic. Uncovering himself today before the eyes of this of his servants, female servants.

Question, who here believes that David was half naked when he was dancing? Because many people believe that. Many people have that depiction of David. Was David just shirtless and wearing priestly trousers as some believe? No.

We learned that he was wearing a linen ephod. We learned that he was clothed just like the Levitical priests were clothed. Heart and literally and say, well, I can see why she's kind of upset because if my husband was dancing around barely clothed, I would I would be no matter what he's doing. Right? It goes back to Paul's rules.

Okay. It doesn't matter how sincere you are. You gotta put on some clothes. Right? But that's not what's happening here, because we know that David was clothed just like the Levites were clothed.

So why is she criticizing his articles of clothing? Think about it. What did he need to do in order to wear the linen ephod and to be recognized for wearing the linen ephod? Very good. He had to remove his royal attire.

He had to remove that which distinguished him from the rest of the commoners, and that is what upset Micha. Humility was not a virtue to her, and she put a premium. She she her identity was caught up just like her dad, caught up in honor and high profile status. And David, in this in this display of humility, says, I am not the king of Israel. God is.

Here's his arc coming to the throne, and so I will blend in with the rest of the nation. And there's Michal in her little palace looking down with disgust. How how could you make yourself so low in the eyes of men? Because that ultimately offended her to some degree. And so she looks at this and she realizes, I don't understand how you can do this.

But it's more than that. It wasn't just his humility that she could understand. She could not register this passionate display of worship. So because we read early on, right, in verse 16 that when she saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart. This was like a deep contempt.

This was like a bitterness. And she looked at him dancing and leaping, and she goes, that is so strange. That's actually ugly. For what reason? Was Mija spiritual?

Now we can say no based on this, but how do you know she's not spiritual from our previous studies? Was she a woman who had discernment? Was she a woman who had genuine love for God? Think about think about how we have clues throughout her life that indicate that on a foundational level, she maybe even didn't know God. Remember when she lied about David that she put David in more trouble?

Yes. But Saul, but she said he wanted to Kill me. She threatened me. Remember when the initial move of Saul came against David and he escapes and Michal lies to her dad and says, look, I had I was left with no option. He wanted to hurt me.

But there's that's right. But there's something even before that. Very good. Did you hear that? In first Samuel nineteen thirteen, we took we read here that Michal took an image and laid it on the bed and put a pillow of goat's hair at its head and covered it with the clothes.

This was not even like a pocket sized idol that we see in different parts of scripture. Like our sister just said, this is like a life size one in their home. And she tucks it into bed, puts a blanket over it, puts some goat's hair with the hope that when the men come, Saul's men come, it would delay them when they realize that this is not really David. What's an idol doing in your house? What's a false god doing in your living room?

So we have we have great clues to see that this woman, even early on in her life, early on in her marriage, was not a god fearing woman. So why would she marry a man like David? David was a man after God's heart. But was that all David was? He was famous.

He was respected in the nation. He was a military warrior. He was loved. He was honored. He was good looking.

Handsome. Right? We're told that he was ruddy country boy. Physically fit. And she considered all of those things and convinced herself to a degree, I can tolerate his spirituality.

So she thought. Let me make this point because eventually, her lack of regard for the things of God would develop into a lack of respect for the man of God. Her lack of regard for the things of God would eventually develop into a lack of respect for the man of God. So many of you at a are a critical point in your lives where you will make the second most important decision after choosing to follow Jesus Christ as Lord, and it is to find a spouse that you can walk with. And if you want to establish a definite path of suffering in your life, can I tell you what to do so you don't do it?

Marry someone who does not share your joy and delight in the things of God. Marry somebody who does not share your delight or joy in the things of God. Because I'm telling you right now, they might tolerate what you have because of other things that they admire about you, but when those other things fade to have its compelling power, and they will, even though of their looks, you're gonna have a struggle. And it's a it's it's a real struggle. I I know of a story of a man who was lukewarm for a great season, and in his lukewarm season of life, he chose to got married only for his heart to be rekindled and for him to be passionate about God.

But guess what? It didn't happen to the woman that he married. There's a lot of struggle there. It's difficult. Now that won't pain you if you're lukewarm and you marry somebody else who's lukewarm, if you're a nominal Christian or somebody else and somebody else is a nominal Christian, but if you're devoted to the advancement of the kingdom of God, if you actually take delight and pleasure in worshiping the Lord, being with God's people, being here on a Friday night, and you choose to yoke yourself with someone who's willing to just tolerate that and doesn't share in that, why would you enter into that kind of a covenant?

Why would you even entertain that thought? Let David and Michal be an example to you. Because in verse 22, I see I see a lesson that's I don't think it's a direct lesson, but I think there's something there in relationship to my point. Notice what he says in verse 22. I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes.

But by the female servants in whom you have spoken by them, I shall be held in honor. So we have an argument here. We have a husband and wife arguing. Right? And notice what he says.

He goes, yes. Since you brought up the female servants, right, the the lowliest positions in the kingdom, since you brought them up, let me put it this way. You might despise me because I'm not changing, but I'm gonna be held in honor in their eyes. And here's the point that I make. Better to be with someone who is low in society, abased, despised, not famous, not successful, but who has an understanding of the things of God, than to be with a queen who is cold in heart towards the things of God.

These female servants, they're going to honor me because they honor God in me and through me. You, you're not. I I take that to say, k. Then who cares who she is? Who cares what she can offer you in the flesh?

Better to be with those who are servants, but who love God and serve God than those who have status and beauty and success and intellect, but stink in their spirituality. I hope you take that to heart. You know what the best way to deal with slander, to shield your heart from pain that comes from false allegations? Look at verse 21. And David said to Michal, it was before the Lord.

It was before God. I didn't do it for what you think I did it. Men will judge your motives. You wanna serve God? Men will judge your motives, which is something that no Christian should do.

No matter how tempted you are to look at someone and judge their motives, the Bible says, don't you dare do it. He will do it. That's his job. But if you wanna guard your heart from the slashes of slander, just be convinced of what you're doing and who you're doing it for. That's it.

I know I did it before God. I know I'm doing it for God. So it doesn't matter what you think. It doesn't matter what your opinion is. And also be resolute.

Be concrete in your conviction that no matter what criticism you have coming your way, no matter what kind of persecution arises, no matter who says what, look what David says at the last part of verse 21. I will celebrate before the Lord. I ain't changing. If anything, I'm on I'm on the way to a greater greater love for him. Be immovable.

Sometimes I drive, or sometimes I watch something and I see like a stadium filled with people, and or I look at different news things and I see this crowd of people, and I think to myself, as much as we are created in the image of God, these are all jars of clay. Like, they're all just particles of dust gathered together beautifully. But in a moment, in a just one final breath, they go back to the very dust that they were made from, and I care about these people's opinions. This is who I'm afraid of, disappointing in my pursuit of God. May it never be.

May it never be. We're just a bunch of creative beings stuffed in a celestial ball, and I'm more worried about what they have to say more than the one who created all things with his breath. Give me a break. May God give us a sanctified view of who he is and who we are. So what happens?

They get into an argument. And interestingly, as we brought up in verse 23, and Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no child till the day of her death. You heard me say it earlier. It can be interpreted in one of two ways. That God was the the source, the divine intervention that judged her by sealing her womb, or this was David saying, I refrain myself.

I'm not gonna be intimate with somebody like you. And he could have had a strategic perspective on that, which he based on this, I can see why. Like he looks at Michal and the way she responds, she goes, I've seen this before. Saul. Like like father, like daughter.

I just like it didn't change you're not the person that I thought you were. You're just you're a spitting image of who he is. I don't want to spawn that. I don't want to reproduce that. It's just gonna be headache.

And so he reserves his participation in what can make reproduction possible. Regardless of where you stand, I take a spiritual lesson from this truth. Here it is. Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no child till the day of her death. Those who have the character of Michal will experience what Michal experienced physically on a spiritual level.

They will become fruitless. They will become fruitless. When you don't have an understanding of what true worship is, when you have no priority about pursuing worship, of living in that kind of worship, you will have nothing to offer God and you will have nothing to offer your fellow man. So I'm I I'm I'm very concerned about those who are gifted in the ability to criticize and condemn others. And I don't ever wanna come to the place I know Michal is an extreme example because she despised the concept of passionate worship altogether, but she clearly lacked fervency and zeal and passion and there there was a connection between that and her not being able to have a child.

There's a connection between that kind of an attitude and not being able to bear good, genuine, eternally rewarded fruit. I don't wanna be fruitless. I I I don't want something in me to stop the reality of life, spiritual life, issuing from me. I hope you feel the same way. Let's pray.

Lord, we we know that we don't give you the praise and worship that you always deserve, but we want to be worshipers. Not just when something spectacular happens from the heavens into our own world, but, Lord, when we look out to our fellow man, help us be worshipers. Help us be a living sacrifice. And, Lord, when we go home, Lord, may we learn how to first be godly in our households. We know it's not easy, Lord.

We know that we are our guard is down at homes. Lord, we we know that, we're tired when we go home. We know that, it's it's much easier to to fool others than to to fool those that are closest to us. But, oh god, it's possible. And we pray that if if Maranatha Bible Church has any role to play, that it would be a contribution to the joy and love for you that would bring something of blessing to our homes.

And we pray that the homes that are represented here with the various circumstances that they each represent, would return that blessing to this ministry as a collection of families to honor and glorify you. Lord, may we be true worshipers with our bodies, with our singing, with our serving, with our reactions, with our preemptive plans. Lord, just cover us with the Holy Spirit's help and power. We love you, Lord, and we wanna be the passionate worshipers that you've called us to be. If David could be so passionate in the old covenant, how much more us in a more glorious covenant.

Lord, we give you all that praise tonight. In Jesus' name.