2 Samuel 6: David

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0:00 The rest of us we're going to look at 2 Samuel. I'll give you a minute to find it. It can be tricky. It's in the Old Testament. 2 Samuel, chapter 6. We're continuing on these stories about people working, or God working through people in the world. And remember we got to it from this idea that the Great Commission is kind of funny that Jesus stands on the Hill of Galilee and says,

0:30 all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me. And now with that authority, I give you this calling to go out and make disciples of all nations. All authority is mine. Therefore you go. And this capacity or character trait of God to work through people. And we've been looking at the story of scripture to see that God works through people all the time. Last week we were talking about the story of Gideon and Gideon's famous for defeating the Midianites with 300 people.

1:04 And it was kind of funny. The story, just a quick recap. I haven't really looked at the story that closely about how he defeated them. But remember they had 300 people. He divided them into groups of 100. There's three groups. And they held a torch covered in a pot and a trumpet. And they went to take the Midianites with a torch in one hand and a trumpet in the other. And when they all smashed the pots, the lights of the torches lit up and they blew their trumpets and the Midianites went

1:37 crazy, fought each other and ran away. And it was funny. That's an interesting way to conquer an army. But it's also interesting because when you read the story closely, you realize that that idea, the torch and the trumpet idea was Gideon's idea. God just said, go take the Midianites. They're there. I'm giving them into your hand. He didn't tell them how to do it. And so it's fun to think about if you read even closer in the story than that when the angel of the Lord comes to Gideon and says,

2:10 Gideon, you're a man of valor. The idea of routing the Midianites was not gods. God comes to Gideon and says, you're a mighty man of valor. And God is with you. And then Gideon says, if God is with me, why are the Midianites such jerks and tormenting us? Why do you let them do that? And the angel of the Lord says to Gideon, hey, if the Midianites are bothering you, why don't you take your strength and go take care of them? Gideon says, there's no way I could do that. And God says, you can.

2:41 And I'll go with you. The reason that this is interesting to me is because I just it's fascinating to know would God have kicked out the Midianites if Gideon hadn't wanted to? Certainly he wouldn't have done it the way that Gideon had in mind if someone else had done it. And so last week, one of the takeaways was, what are the things that you would ask God to do? What are the injustices in the world? What's a God-sized project that you might take on?

3:15 And it's so compelling to think that the God of the universe who has all strength and all power responds to the appeal of Gideon that he moves into place Gideon wants to move. And in Second Samuel, we have kind of an inverse story. In Second Samuel, verse six, we pick up the story of David after he's been pretty successful. Anybody remember what David is perhaps most famous for?

3:46 Heh, maybe. Goliath, yeah, he beats Goliath, right? Like, and this is kind of, it's not the first time David comes on the scene but just about. He's a kid and he defeats Goliath with a slingshot. It's a crazy story. Of course, then he gets selected to be the next king of Israel. There's more written about David than just about anybody else in the whole story of Scripture.

4:16 Actually, so much so that there are some theories that part of the Old Testament was written by people in David's crew to vault up David and make him the hero. So much is written about David. Most of the Psalms we think were written by David. David was an amazing warrior. The kingdom of Israel was never bigger than under David's leadership. If you read through Second Samuel, first and second chronicles,

4:47 first and second kings, you get so many stories of David winning. David just wins, man. He's brutal, kills lots of people. He has a lot of wives, like a lot, and even a larger harem, like lots of concubines, lots of money, lots of conquering, and then he's a poet as well, right? And like he plays the liar and sings,

5:18 David's like this archetypal on all sides. And in Second Samuel 6, it's kind of in the middle of his reign, and he's feeling pretty good about himself. And he wants to bring the ark to Jerusalem where he set up his camp. Remember the ark of the covenant? Like the ark of the covenant is this box that God describes very specifically

5:52 for Moses to make, and he describes his measurements specifically, describes the overlay specifically, describes a couple weeks ago, we talked about Bezelel and O'Holeab, these guys who were called by God with great craftsmanship to make all the things of the tabernacle, they make all the tabernacle, but they also make the ark of the covenant, and inside the ark of the covenant, they put the Ten Commandments, they put Moses' staff that had butted,

6:24 they put some pieces of manna that stay and don't spoil because they're in the ark of the covenant, and on the top of this box, the ark of the covenant, there's these two angels on either side with their wings stretching out over the middle, and it's said that right there, above the angels wings is what's called the mercy seat, where the observable presence of God will sit and hover and make decisions, dispense forgiveness, and so then this ark of the covenant, of course they take it across the Jordan River and the Jordan River parts in front of it,

6:56 when they take it into battle, they win, if God ordains, there's one time where they take the ark of the covenant into a battle as a kind of a lucky talisman, God didn't tell them to go to battle against the Philistines, but they thought if we take the ark of the covenant, we can't lose, because they were trying to use the ark of the covenant as a talisman, they lose the battle to the Philistines, the Philistines capture the ark of the covenant, this is crazy, they put it in their hold where they have all the enemies' idols and things, and they wake up the next morning after they put the ark of the covenant in their hold, the Philistines,

7:28 and their idols have fallen over in front of the ark of the covenant. They're like, this is weird, the wind must have blown, they stand the idols back up and leave the next morning, they come in, it's back down, right? They end up getting boils, and they're like, this ark of the covenant is not good for us, and they take it back to Israel. Here, take your ark of the covenant back, right? By the time of 2 Samuel 6, they know where the ark of the covenant is, but they've lost the tabernacle. You can read this story carefully, and you can't really figure out when did they lose it, how did they lose it,

8:01 it's a big thing, you know? But I guess somewhere along the line in the battles between the judges and things, people quit caring about the tabernacle, and it got lost, but the ark of the covenant was cool, right? It was a big box, a gold, it had the angels' wings, and it had this mercy seat, and stuff would happen around it, so they kept track of the ark of the covenant, and a big shot David wants to bring the ark of the covenant to attend his setup in the capital he's making to demonstrate how powerful he is in the kingdom that he has built, right?

8:36 And so in 2 Samuel 6, he's wanting to bring the ark of the covenant back. David, again, chapter 6 verse 1, gathered all the chosen men of Israel, 30,000, and David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Beal Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who sits and thrown on the cherubim, the cherubim of those angels.

9:09 And they carried the ark of the covenant of God on a new cart. This is conspicuous because God had outlined not only how the ark of the covenant should be made, but how it should be carried. Do you remember that? And there were rings on either side of the arks and then specific poles of specific length, and they run them through the rings, and then there's two poles on either side, and then four dudes carry the ark of the covenant on the rings. So it doesn't wobble, it doesn't fall.

9:41 It has a proper order and respect. This is the way it's going to be done. God wasn't ambiguous, not only on how it would be made, but how it would be moved. He's very clear. And David is a big shot man, and so he makes a big cart. Brand new cart is made now. We're going to roll this sucker all the way where we need it to go, right? And so they take the ark of God, they put it on top of this brand new cart that they've made, and they start rolling it.

10:11 And then the ark of God, a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, and which was on the hill. There you go, and the sun's, and the new cart. But if you skip down to verse five, and Daniel and all the house of Israel were making a merry before the Lord, with songs and liars and harps and tambourines and all those things.

10:41 And verse six, and when they came to the threshing floor of Ne'kon, Uza put out a hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it for the oxen had stumbled, and the anger of the Lord was burned against Uza, and he cast and struck him dead. The new cart that David made to carry the ark of the covenant wobbles, and the ark of the covenant starts to fall, and the dude stands and puts his hand on it to stabilize it, and God's like, you guys, this is not just some little thing that you made.

11:19 This is the mercy seat of God. You don't just walk up and put your hand on it. This is the presence of the unbounded infinite God located in place. This is the originator and sustainer of all things. This is the outlier of all beauty and strength. This is the arbiter of all justice and mercy in the world, and you just reach up and touch it. God says, no, the guy dies. David gets afraid then.

11:49 It's like, forget this ark. He puts it in some dude's house. The dude who has the ark gets all these blessings. Everything goes well for him. David's like, never mind, we should bring this back. This sounds great. I need this again. So then he does it the right way. He gets the poles, does it the way God asks, brings it. And there's famous story here where they go to get the ark of the covenant, they put the poles through it, and they start carrying it, and they walk six steps, and nobody dies.

12:20 They put it down and have a big party. Praise God. Nobody dies. It's famous. They walk six steps. Nobody dies. They put it down for a minute and praise God. We lived. Great. Then he carries it in. The reason I told you that story is to be able to tell you this next one. David is getting, God is working through David in the world. He's conquering nations. He's building up Israel. He's got the favor of God.

12:52 He's building up wealth and money. People love him. Enemies are afraid of him. Even the ark of the covenant he worked out. I mean, he had this business where he thought he knew how to do it better. And then God straightened him out. Chapter seven, he tries this again. Now when the king lived in his house and the Lord had given him rest from the hall, his surrounding enemies,

13:24 the king said to Nathan the prophet. This is chapter seven verse three. See or two. See now I dwell in the house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent. They didn't even have the tabernacle anymore. Just a tent. And Nathan said to the king, amen, do what you want. The Lord's with you. You can do whatever you want for this ark. Obviously the Lord is with you.

13:54 But then at that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan and said go and tell my servant David, das says the Lord, would you build me a house to dwell in? Have I not lived in a house? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought the people of Israel from Egypt to this day. But I've been moving about in a tent for my dwelling. In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel?

14:25 whom I commended to shepherd the people of Israel saying why have you not built me a house of cedar? No, now therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, das says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture from following the sheep and you should be, that you should be prince over my people of Israel. And I have been with you, wherever you have went. I have cut off all your enemies from before you, and I will make for you a great name like the name of the great names of the earth.

15:02 And I will appoint a place for my people of Israel and I will plant them. He goes through and says this whole thing, hey David man, he's like, did I ask for a house? Oh Kevin, thanks Kevin. He goes to David and he's like David, did I ask for a house man? I did not. Did I ever tell the judges whom I recommended to lead Israel? Did I ever tell them that I needed a house?

15:33 I did not. And then he goes through and says look at all the things David that I have done for you. Don't worry, it's a malfunction, we're not burning down. He goes through and tells David, look at all the things I have done for you. I picked you up out of the field. I made you a king. I defeated the enemies in front of you. David is so confident in what he's done.

16:05 He's like, look man, I'm in this house, this great house. And God says in this little tent, dude, God let me build you a house. I'll build you a house of cedar, it'll be great. And God says, hey man, I don't need your house. He's like, I never asked for a house and I don't need it. And to be honest, all the things you got, God says, I gave you anyway.

16:37 All the way back to the beginning. He's like, the fact that you're a king, I picked you. The fact that you're not in the field, I picked you. The fact that you won your enemy, beat your enemies, it's because I gave it to you. All that you have, this house that you're so proud of that you think, oh now I've got all these things, Lord, I can do this one thing for you, build you a little house, then we both got houses. Won't that be great? He's like, I don't need your house, man. And David can't handle it at first, he's really confused so he goes back out and fights more. He just goes out and defeats some more people.

17:10 And what's funny, I'm not going to take the time to read it all for you, but if we were to look in first chronicles and first kings, he assembles all of the materials. He builds all of the plans. And he starts telling people that God wouldn't let him build. He says it two different times, he says it and one time his son says it. But they add, they said, God wouldn't let David build the temple.

17:42 David says, God wouldn't let me build it because I had blood on my hands. And then Solomon says, God wouldn't let my dad build it because he was always oppressed by enemies, he didn't have time to stop and build the temple. They couldn't handle that God said, I don't need your temple, man. I don't need what you would bring to me. I don't need you to do it for me. It makes me think of the Psalm that Albert read for us, Psalm 50.

18:15 I don't know if you caught it, but let me read it real quick for you. The mighty one, God the Lord speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty God shines forth. Our God comes, he does not keep silent. Before him is a devouring fire around him, a mighty tempest. He calls to the heavens above and to the earth that they may judge his people.

18:47 Gather to me my faithful ones who made a remnant with me by sacrifice. The heavens declare the righteousness for God himself is judge. This is the part interesting, verse 7. Here, oh my people, and I will speak, oh Israel, and I will testify against you. I am God your God. Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you. Your burnt offerings are continually before me. But I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your fields.

19:18 For every beast in the forest is mine. The cattle on a thousand hills. I know the birds of the hills and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, he said, I would not tell you. I love that phrase. God, through David, to the people, says if I were hungry, I would not tell you. For the world and its fullness are mine.

19:52 Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? There was a point, maybe my second or third year of college where I had this like, I was praying and had this notion of my relationship with God and it involved the little alphabet blocks. Did anybody remember those little wood blocks that had the letters and they were painted on two sides? And I had this vision because I was frustrated.

20:24 I felt like a kind of a failure in faith. I was bothered by things that weren't going right by mistakes I made. And I had this picture and I was asking the Lord about. And the picture was me running around making a pyramid out of these alphabet blocks. And I was trying to make the pyramid perfect. A pyramid should have four sides that are all equal and go up gradually just like this to finish to just one.

20:56 And every time when I thought I would get the pyramid right, one section would start to fall. And I was getting frustrated and running all around the pyramid trying to get it just right. And the image in my head was me trying to put together this perfect faith that had no holes, that was completely repentant and without doubts, that then I could assemble this perfect faith and offer it to God. Look, look at what I've made for you.

21:27 This faith that I have found all the holes, fixed all the problems, resolved all the doubts, settled all the fears. I took care of it. Now I can give this back to you, this faith that is pristine. I made it for you. You see, don't you like it? And the reality came to me in that notion, that God does not need my faith. And certainly if I wait for a perfect one, the joke's on me.

22:02 But I think the same is true for me. For me, I was thinking about several times. Actually, I just, you know, almost a year ago now, handed over a credo to somebody new. And he's about the same age I was when we started it. And I was reflecting on a dozen years of keeping a coffee company alive when I was a philosophy and religion major and knew nothing about business.

22:44 And as I sat down, the conversation I had with him, I remember, I said, for what it's worth, this thing worked for me when I realized that it was something God was giving me. To work through in the world. When I got enamored with my own creativity or wit or ingenuity,

23:21 when I felt like I could figure it out and make it work, when I looked back at the any successes that were there and determined for a minute, that any successes were a product of my capabilities instead of a gift from God, it started to crumble. It became a place of stress and fear. When I could rest and trust that it was something that God had given me, it became a place of joy and fun.

23:53 It reminded me of this story where Jesus, just before he's crucified, gathers his twelve friends in a room all by themselves. They're coming in for a meal, remember, and Jesus pulls out a basin of water and starts to wash their feet.

24:24 And they're appalled because Jesus washing their feet is a job that would be beneath him. They feel like he shouldn't be the one washing their feet, it should be the other way around. And Peter, who speaks for the disciples, looks at Jesus and says, Hey man, you can't wash my feet, I should be washing yours. And Jesus looks at Peter and he's like, Hey man, if I don't wash your feet, you can't have any part of me.

25:04 Peter wants to work for Jesus and Jesus says, Hey man, I don't need your work. Peter wants to serve Jesus in order that his work would make Jesus better and Jesus is like, Dude, I don't need it. Let me serve you. Gideon, if he goes against the Midianites, Bezelel or O'Holeab, if they are so enamored with their own skillset, the whole thing falls apart.

25:37 God works in the world through us not because he can't do it without us, but because we were made to collaborate with God. Life gets better when we do. The call for you to find a God-sized project and move with him towards the Midianites with the torch and the trumpet is not because the Midianites won't go if you don't go after them. But because you were made to go against Midianites with torches and trumpets, you were made to build things like Bezelel and O'Holeab, you were made to let God build temples and then be a part of it.

26:18 The thing I'm thinking about today with these callings that you have on your life is to remind you that the calling is an opportunity to see God give you things, not that God relies on you to take something for him. I hope that makes sense that God wants to serve you and he serves you by partnering with you in the world. Now let me pray that we could be people of faith. Hey Lord, thank you for the gift of your son that it opens us up to collaborate with you in the world.

26:53 Teach us how to have the humility that David learned over the years and to find places where you would work. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.