A HOLY PLATFORM FOR GODLY SERVICE
Have you ever wanted to do the right thing but chose the
wrong way to do it? Maybe it was as
simple as getting someone the wrong kind of gift—you thought they would like it
but they really did not! (Grandma Merle used to give our boys socks at
Christmas). It may have been as serious
as cheating on your expense account to be able to give more to a noble
cause…good motive but bad choice of method!
Today has been recognized as Sanctity of
Life Sunday as a way to remember the horror of abortion and mark the 32 years
since the Supreme Court decision to legalize it in the USA. All kinds of ideas make the rounds about how
to correct this dark blot on our nation’s conscience. People typically want to do the right thing,
but sometimes make wrong choices and use wrong methods to achieve their goal.
Over the years, some have chosen methods
God has forbidden (intimidation verbally and physically; even bombings and
murders) in order to right this wrong—and somehow perversely think that God
will find favor with them and be pleased by their rejection of His will and
disobedience to His Word.
When we want to please God and restore
what is right, we cannot ignore what He has already said concerning what
pleases Him and what is right in His eyes.
For too long,
But unfortunately, he did not take time to
consider not just what should be
done, but how!
THESIS: God is glorified when we worship and serve
Him with abandon, but for all our zeal He is never pleased when we place our
ways above His ways.
I. DAVID HAD A
CONSUMING PASSION AND COMPELLING DESIRE FOR THE BLESSING OF THE LORD.
--For
so long, David had known and enjoyed a close fellowship and reverent awe in His
relationship with the Lord.
--The
years of quiet nights and leisurely days on the hillsides tending the sheep had
given him the time to develop a holy passion for God that we can readily see in
the psalms.
--Now,
after long years of ups and downs, he has come to a stable time in his life
again and wants to regain what had been lost in the chaos.
--Nothing
was more important to David than to re-establish the place of worship among the
people of
--The symbol of God’s presence for
2 Sam. 6:2 And David arose and went with all the people who were with him to
Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the Name,
the very name of the LORD of hosts who is enthroned above the cherubim.
--Now
was the time to resume biblical worship, and to do so with a consuming passion
for the favor and blessing of God.
A. THE SOURCE OF SUCH PASSION
--A
brief survey of the psalms reveals David’s heart and the reason he is so
passionate about bringing
1. A Heart for God’s Presence
Psa. 27:4 One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: That I
may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, To behold the
beauty of the LORD, And to meditate in His temple.
2. Gratitude for God’s Favor
Psa. 21:1-3 O LORD, in Thy strength
the king will be glad, And in Thy salvation how greatly he will rejoice! 2 Thou hast given him his heart’s
desire, And Thou hast not withheld the request of his lips. Selah. 3 For Thou dost meet him with the
blessings of good things; Thou dost set a crown of fine gold on his head.
3. Hunger for God’s Blessing
2 Sam. 6:12 Now it was told King David, saying, “The LORD has blessed the
house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, on account of the ark of God.”
And David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into
the city of
4. Devotion to God’s Calling
Psa. 21:6-7 For Thou dost make him most blessed forever; Thou dost make him
joyful with gladness in Thy presence. 7 For the king trusts in the
LORD, And through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken.
--The mantle of leadership had fallen to David and he
knew that to lead in a godly manner he would need to rely on the power and
presence of God.
--In
these selected psalms we find insight into the heart of David and his
compelling desire to restore the dependence upon and worship of God which had
been pushed aside for many years.
B. THE PURSUIT OF HIS DESIRE
--Therefore,
David sets out to accomplish what his heart desires…but in that pursuit his
passion overcomes his wisdom and discernment.
1. A Strategy with Good Intentions
--Two
primary features form the foundations for David’s plan to bring
a. Bring Back the Ark of the Covenant (Chapter
6)
b. Build a
--Both
of these were laudable goals which made sense as cornerstones for rebuilding
biblical worship in
Prov. 16:9 The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.
Prov. 19:21 Many are the plans in a man’s heart, But the counsel of the LORD,
it will stand.
--As
he had done before, David set out to take action without consulting with the
Lord or seeking instruction from His Word and found himself working against the
will of the Lord!
Have you ever
had great intentions to do something good for the Lord only to have your plans
fall apart? All of us have at one time
or another been zealous for some purpose that we were sure would impress the
Lord and set us apart as serious followers of God—certainly better than the
run-of-the-mill level of commitment of others who are not as spiritually astute or devoted as we think we are!!
But our intentions lead us to think that the noble end we have in mind
justifies the use of whatever means we choose. We may even achieve some level of success…but
cannot understand why we made so many people mad along the way, or even brought
reproach upon the name of Christ by allowing our aggressive, but ungodly,
behavior to reflect badly on His holy name!
2. A Purpose without God’s Approval
--David
had devoted himself to two noble and good purposes, but went about both in the
wrong way—he did not find out what God wanted and how He wanted it to be
accomplished.
· Did God want the ark of the
covenant back among His people? Of
course, but only on His terms!
· Did God want a temple as a place
of worship for His people? Of course,
but again, on His terms!
a. Zeal without Knowledge
Rom.
10:2
For
I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with
knowledge.
--David
was filled with excitement about bringing the ark of the covenant to
--Clear
instructions had been given about how the ark was to be carried…
Ex. 25:26-28 “And you shall make four gold rings for it and put rings on the
four corners which are on its four feet.
27 “The rings shall be close to the rim as holders for the
poles to carry the table. 28
“And you shall make the poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold, so
that with them the table may be carried.
--Also
instructions about who should carry it and not look upon the holy objects “lest
they die…”
Num. 1:51 “So when the tabernacle is to set out, the Levites
shall take it down; and when the tabernacle encamps, the Levites shall set it
up. But the layman who comes near shall be put to death…Num. 4:15, 19-20 “And when Aaron and his sons have finished
covering the holy objects and all the
furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons
of Kohath shall come to carry them, so that they may not touch the holy objects
and die. These are the things in the tent of meeting which the sons of Kohath
are to carry…19 “But do this to them that they may live and not die when
they approach the most holy objects: Aaron and his sons shall go in and assign
each of them to his work and to his load;
20 but they shall not go in to see the holy objects even for
a moment, lest they die.”
--In
his enthusiasm to do something significant for God and his people, David failed
to consider the gravity of what he was about to undertake and so he was guilty
of enabling the irreverence of Uzzah which resulted in his death…just as God
said would happen.
2 Sam. 6:6-7 But when they came to the
threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out toward the ark of God and took hold
of it, for the oxen nearly upset
it. 7 And the anger of
the LORD burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his
irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God.
--God
had made the objects used in worship holy and made provision for them to be
treated in a special manner in order to preserve the understanding that He
Himself is holy and not to be treated in an irreverent and common way.
b. Plans without Prayer
--David
wanted to provide a permanent home for the ark of the covenant once it came to
--But
he was ready to proceed before he had inquired to see if this was what the Lord
wanted.
--Through
Nathan the prophet, the Lord spoke before David went forward with his plans and
kept him from jumping ahead of His will.
1Chr. 22:7-8 And David said to Solomon, “My son, I had intended to build a
house to the name of the LORD my God. 8
“But the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood,
and have waged great wars; you shall not build a house to My name, because you
have shed so much blood on the earth before Me.
--David
had already begun the planning, making the preparations to build a
II. GOD HAS AN
ETERNAL PASSION AND INFINITE DESIRE FOR THE HOLINESS OF HIS NAME.
--The
major point David had forgotten about His relationship with the Lord God
Almighty is the same one that many who profess to follow forget today.
--God
is holy and refuses to be treated in any way that does not uphold that holiness
with reverence and fear.
--So
in response to David’s initiatives—noble though they might appear—God makes it clear
that we cannot treat His name as holy while ignoring or forsaking both His will and His ways.
A. “THAT IS NOT MY WAY.”
--When
you want to come into My presence, that is good!
--But
when you choose to operate with your own plans and do things your own way, I
will not tolerate such irreverence!
--David
and his people took the ark and stuck it on a cart and put it in the care of
two men who had no business being in charge of such a holy object.
--God’s
wrath was ignited as He watched the symbol of His holy presence treated like
just another load of cargo to be transported in a common manner.
--When
the cart nearly tipped, Uzzah reached over to steady the ark and was struck
dead on the spot for his irreverent treatment of that which was holy. (6:7)
--David
was angry—probably with the Lord as well as himself—for what happened.
--How
could God do such a thing when all I wanted to do was return the ark to its
place among His people?
2 Sam. 6:9 So David was afraid of the LORD that day; and he said, “How can
the ark of the LORD come to me?”
--He
finally asked the question that he should have asked at the beginning—“How
would God want this done?”
One of my
passions is to make sure that I am not so intent on doing what God has called
me to do as a pastor that I neglect what He wants me to be as a husband and
father and friend! Too many pastors and
Christian leaders get mad when God does not raise their families for them while
they are out doing His work. Too many
church members neglect their walk with Christ at work and their reputation in
the community and home because they are so busy doing the will of God that they
have given little consideration that “where there is a will, there is way—God’s
will to be done God’s way!”
--“David, I am glad you have a
passion for me, but you must demonstrate it in keeping with My ways, not your
own!”
B. “THAT IS NOT MY WILL.”
--Regarding
the building of a
--In
response to David’s ideas for building the
--“I will have a Temple, but
David, you are not the man to build it…your son, Solomon, will have that
privilege, not you!”
--Great
idea but the wrong time and the wrong person to get it done!
III. DAVID HAD A
TEACHABLE SPIRIT AND AN UNINHIBITED MANNER IN HIS SERVICE OF THE LORD.
--In
both of these thwarted efforts, David responded with a teachable spirit and did
not fight the hand of God, or try to find a way around God’s way and will.
A. DEFERRED WITH ALL HUMILITY
--In
both cases, we find that David took the place of humility and allowed the way
of the Lord to prevail.
1 Chr. 15:2 Then David said, “No one is to carry the ark of God but the
Levites; for the LORD chose them to carry the ark of God, and to minister to
Him forever.”
--Instead
of pouting because God had brought swift judgment against his indiscreet manner
and his irreverent efforts the first time, David made sure that this time he
did it God’s way.
B. DISREGARDED ALL HIS PRIDE
--Now
that God’s way and will were the order of the day, David could rejoice with no
inhibitions before the Lord.
--He
appeared to be so full of delight that he gave no thought to how he might
appear to others because he was captivated only by the eyes and opinions of God
Himself.
2 Sam. 6:14-15 And David was dancing before the LORD with all
his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod.
15 So David and all the house of
--Not
everyone was impressed with David’s delight and the uninhibited way he
expressed his joy—Michal despised what she saw as vulgar and common instead of
dignified and regal fitting a man of his office.
--David
responded by making it clear that no ego or pride on his part would ever hold
him back from offering nothing less than complete abandon in his offering of
praise to the Lord.
2 Sam. 6:21-22 David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD,
who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed
me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel — I will celebrate before the LORD. 22 I will become even more
undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these
slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” (NIV)
C. DELIGHTED WITH ALL HIS HEART
--Not
only did David express His joy with the arrival of the ark of the covenant when
it was done God’s way, but he was equally pleased to hear the Lord’s
alternative to his plan to build the temple himself.
--God
told him that he would not build it, but that his son would have that honor—and
David was still able to rejoice with exceedingly great joy and
thanksgiving…just knowing that God’s purposes would be fulfilled in His way and
by using David’s own family to do it!
2 Sam. 7:18, 28-29 Then King David went in and sat before the
LORD, and he said: “Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you
have brought me this far? …28 O Sovereign LORD, you are God! Your
words are trustworthy, and you have promised these good things to your
servant. 29 Now be pleased to
bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight;
for you, O Sovereign LORD, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of
your servant will be blessed forever.”
--This
is a man who has learned that it is not about him and what he wants, but that
life must be embraced under the strong arm and unwavering direction of God
Himself.
--Those
who choose to live for the Lord and find favor with the Lord can come to Him
and worship Him only as He Himself has prescribed.
--David
learned this and was able to rejoice even when what he wanted was cast
aside—because he knew that then what God wanted was fully honored.
--That
was the source of his joy and the reason for his praise: God was restoring
David rediscovered God’s will and His ways. But he did not make that discovery without a
price.
If you and I want to do what pleases the
Lord, we have to make sure that not only
what we are doing but how we are
doing it are consistent with His will, His Word and His ways.
When all was said and done, David was able
to dance with uninhibited joy and fervor before the Lord because he did not
fight against His will but repented when he was wrong and allowed the Lord to
do all things His way. Where is your joy
this morning? Where is your excitement
over seeing the place of worship filled with the presence of our great and
awesome God?
Pure delight and boundless joy come
together when we can lay aside all our own agendas and plans and allow the
Lord’s presence to be all that we want or need!
Psalm
73:25-26, 28 Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on
earth. My flesh and my heart my fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever…But as for me, the nearness
of God is my good…
January 23, 2005
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