[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word.
[0:17] Alright, take your Bibles if you would and turn with me to 2 Samuel chapter 6. 2 Samuel chapter 6 if you would. I would like to ask you to really go to work on Jason and Charity Richel's blessing service that we will have this Thursday night.
[0:33] This is not their home church. They are members of a church in Pennsylvania. But Jason did spend 2 years here working hard with us and helping us. And then they have been on deputation all this time.
[0:45] And Charity and Jason, they got married. They got together through Vision and its events. And so we will have a letter. If you will write a letter, those of you who have been to these blessing services know if you will write a letter.
[0:59] One letter to him, one letter to her. And stick it in the box and then on a day when they are a little discouraged or something is not going right. They can read a letter of encouragement for you telling them that you love them.
[1:09] It is a blessing to do that. So I hope you will think about helping with that. Also Sunday night, I hope you will be here. It is going to be a little unusual. Next Sunday, we will have Travis Snowed and Tyler Masters.
[1:23] They both only had one time they could be with us. And Tyler has been working in Tunisia. And what is his name? Travis has been working in London.
[1:34] Good night. There are too many names to remember tonight. They brought my message too. And so they get 25 minutes each. I told them they had 25. So it will be five minutes of singing and a preacher. Five minutes of singing and a preacher.
[1:46] And then we will go home if they say they're 25 minutes. And if they don't, you can still go home and they can preach on. So I hope you won't. But anyway, it is going to be a fun time. And I hope that you will be here for them.
[1:57] That is three special people this week. Take your Bibles and go to 2 Samuel chapter 6. 2 Samuel chapter 6. And let's read verse 1. 2 Samuel chapter 6 and verse 1.
[2:09] And the story tonight is about David and the ark and worship. And so I'm going to read the chapter but not like reading it.
[2:23] I'm going to scan it with you so you get the story. And then we'll work our way through what happens in it. In 2 Samuel chapter 6 and verse 1, David gets the men of Israel, his main army and fighting men within 30,000 of them.
[2:36] And they go and they decide that they will bring the ark of God up to Jerusalem. And when they get ready to do it, they set it on a new cart. And so they got some oxen leading the cart and carrying it up.
[2:50] And these people are going with it. And they're all happy. And they're worshiping. And they're jumping up and down and praying and praising God and singing and playing music. And David and all the house of Israel in verse 5, they're just so happy.
[3:04] And the ark begins to rock on the cart. And a guy named Uzzah in verse 6 puts out his hand to stop it from falling over. And when he does, God's angry and kills him.
[3:16] And when he kills him for the mistake he made in verse 7, David was displeased in verse 8. He was afraid in verse 9. And he wouldn't even let the ark come to his house anymore.
[3:28] All of a sudden, the party's over. The worship service has stopped. And everybody's sad. And the ark stays in verse 11. It stays in the home of a guy named Obed-Edom for three months.
[3:40] And the whole time it's there, big blessings are taking place. So David hears about all the big blessings. And when he does, he says, Well, if God's blessed Obed-Edom, verse 12, I'd like to go ahead and bring that thing up here to where I am.
[3:54] And so in verse 12, they decide that they'll bring the ark. But this time, this time, instead of using a cart, an oxen, they have the men carry it like God had told them to carry it.
[4:06] And they took only six steps before they stopped. They took six steps. They stopped. We don't want anybody else to die. And they made a sacrifice. They realized God was in the way they were doing it. And they kept going.
[4:17] And they're shouting and singing and playing trumpets. And David's dancing. And David's wife, Saul's daughter, Michael, looks out there, or Michelle, however you say her name, looks out the window and sees him.
[4:28] And she's like, I cannot believe a king would dance like that and be all that emotional and show himself so much in front of people. And she despised him in her heart.
[4:40] That's in verse 16. Verse 17, David offers sacrifices. And then he blesses the people. He gives them all gifts. And he goes home. And he's ready to tell his wife, man, God's been good to us.
[4:53] And the ark is here. And he wants to bless her. And she said, wow, well, what a big deal. You really showed yourself today. Everybody found out what a mess you are. In verse 20, she said, how glorious was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaidens.
[5:11] And the vain fellow shamelessly uncovered himself. And David said, well, I did it for the Lord, which chose me above your dad, and I will play before the Lord.
[5:24] And even if you think I'm vile and base, I'll still do it. And then Michael or Michelle never has any children. The story's about worship.
[5:34] The story's about how we're supposed to handle our worship to God. That would include our music. That would include our worship service. It would include our giving. It would include everything.
[5:44] And so if you'll work your way through the chapter with me, I really believe God will bless us. Let's have a word of prayer. God, I want us as a church to always honor you and worship you in a way that brings you honor and glory.
[5:59] I pray, dear God, that you take this message tonight, this time as we work through this chapter, and let it bless your people. And that we would put into practice and always follow ways that honor you and bring glory to your name.
[6:14] And we'd realize that even our worship of you needs to be done in a way that's pleasing to you. And I'll give you praise for what you do tonight. In Jesus' name, amen.
[6:25] Number one, God's work must be done in God's way. Go to 2 Samuel 6 and verse 1. Here's one of the first lessons.
[6:53] Just because everybody agrees about how something should be done doesn't make it right. Man, everybody's excited. There's at least 30,000 people with him, and they're all ready to go get the ark.
[7:05] And there's a general consensus. We're excited about bringing the ark. We've got a plan about how to bring the ark, and we're going to bring the ark back to Jerusalem. So they brought the ark back, but they did it the way the Philistines had done it.
[7:18] They did it the way they'd seen lost people do it. 2 Samuel 6, verse 3. You got your Bible there. They set the ark of God upon a new cart, and they brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeon.
[7:32] Uz and Ahio and the sons of Abinadab drove the new cart. In 1 Samuel 6, verse 7, they were told, these Philistines make a new cart, get two milk cows, and put a yoke on them that have never had a yoke put on them, put the yoke on them, tie their calf up, and let them carry it.
[7:54] That's how they'd done it when they had done it. And now David's guys are going to move the ark in the same way. They're going to use a cart. They're going to use a cart. They're just going to put the big box up on the cart.
[8:06] It's heavy. It'll be easier. They'll move the cart the way the Philistines had done it. It made sense. It was convenient. It was practical. It was reasonable.
[8:18] But it wasn't the way God wanted it done. It's what everybody thought. It was practical. It was reasonable. It was convenient. But it wasn't what God thought.
[8:30] Look at Numbers chapter 1 and verse 51 with me. Numbers 1, 51. And when the tabernacle set forth, the Levites shall take it down. And when the tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up.
[8:42] And the stranger that comes nigh shall be put to death. There's a wild verse. The right people better be doing it. The right people best be doing it. He said, when you move my ark, I want it to be Levites that are doing it, or I'll kill them.
[8:57] Numbers chapter 4 and verse 15 says, and when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary and all the vessels of the sanctuary as the camp is set forward, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it, but they shall not touch any holy thing or they'll die.
[9:16] Numbers chapter 4 verse 20. They shall go in. They shall not go in to see when the holy things are covered lest they die. So there's this awesome respect supposed to be given to the ark.
[9:29] The wrong people aren't supposed to touch it. The wrong people aren't supposed to see it. And there's a right way to move it from one place to another the way God wants it done. But everybody in the story has good, godly, great intentions.
[9:46] But God's not really that worried about your intentions. He still wants it done His way. In 2 Samuel chapter 6 and verse 5, the Bible says, and David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments.
[9:59] Made of fir wood and harps and psalteries and timbrels and coronets and cymbals. They're genuinely worshipping. They really wanted God's blessings.
[10:11] They wanted to do right. They're good people. They're doing together what they thought was best. But they had forgotten that worshipping God is to be done in the way God wants it done.
[10:25] That's an important thing. Because we have church vision. And we need to figure out how God wants church done. We need to figure out how it ought to work and how things ought to be done in church.
[10:38] In 2 Samuel chapter 6 and verse 6, Uzzah is trying to do the right thing. I feel real sorry for this guy. I mean, I really feel sorry for this guy. Because it says in 2 Samuel 6, 6, when they came to Nacon's threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it for the oxen shook it.
[10:57] So the ark's about to fall and Uzzah's just doing what the king told him to do. And Uzzah's just worshipping. And he sees the ark teetering back and forth.
[11:07] And he thinks, I need to stop it. And he touches it. And I would think he ought to get a round of applause. But God killed him. He made a grave mistake.
[11:20] And he died for it. His ignorance was no excuse. He should have known what God's word had to say about the matter.
[11:31] And he did not do it the way God wanted it done. That's a wild story. Just to be honest, I didn't write the story. So in case y'all were wondering, I didn't put this in your Bible.
[11:43] It's in the Bible. And so, and I don't know what you think when you read it. And we'll get to it again in Chronicles. But you got a story here where people are trying to worship God.
[11:54] They're trying to do it the best way they know how. They're doing it in a convenient way, in a practical way. They're all excited about it. And I think they're genuinely interested in doing the right thing. But you got to stop and say, he's God and I need to do it his way.
[12:10] He's God and I need to do it his way. They didn't do that. So let's worship God's way. So here's some things that we could take as a practical thing before we move on to some more parts of the chapter.
[12:21] Number one, the Bible should always be the center of our worship. So this is going to be, and it is at this church, and I know that. It is in your Sunday school class. It is in our youth program.
[12:32] It is in our children's program. But if we want to do it God's way, we got to be real careful that this church is built around the Word of God, the Bible. Everything from our discipleship to our children's programs to our musical program has got to be built around the Bible.
[12:48] Our music and the entire program has to be Bible-saturated and Bible-centered. We got to be sure that we're trying to do what pleases God.
[13:01] We will not do what we think, but we will seek God to do what He wants. We will not try to run a business or imitate what we see the world do to get a crowd.
[13:14] We will take our worship and our service seriously. Before I go to the next part of the thing, you know, you don't know this as much as, you don't understand or feel this like I do as a preacher, but I really would like to use some gimmicks and tricks.
[13:31] I really would do some, I'd like to get a bigger crowd here. I mean, and if I thought hanging James, where do you go, hanging James by his toenails up here in front of everybody would get more people to come to church, I'd do it gladly.
[13:46] Say amen. But churches have taken all sorts of steps to do all sorts of things and preaching kind of gets relegated to the side, but in the Bible it's the preaching of the Word of God.
[14:00] It's the Word of God that ought to be there. So we have to take our worship and our service seriously. Second thing I want you to see, go to 2 Samuel 6, verse 8, is David reacted poorly to God's judgment.
[14:14] David reacted poorly to God's judgment. That's been rough. I need you, I want you to get with me in the story. The ark's been gone 75 years.
[14:28] And David's like, it'd be a good thing to get the ark back where it ought to be. God wants the ark in the center of his town. Jerusalem's his town. God wants the ark there. It'd be a good thing to go get the ark. Let's go get the ark.
[14:39] So they all make up their mind and go get the ark. Everybody's excited about it. David's like, this is going to be good guys. We're going to go get the ark. We'll have God back in the center of things like that. It ought to be, let's go get the ark. Everybody's excited about it.
[14:51] And they start bringing the ark and they're just trying to do the right thing without considering what the Bible says. And they're trying to do the right thing without looking up what God says about it. They're trying to do the right thing after they had some meetings.
[15:04] They all got together and had a discussion. And then God killed Uzzah. And David reacts like I would. But it wasn't the right way to react.
[15:16] In 2 Samuel chapter 6 and verse 8, the Bible says, And David was displeased because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah. And he called the name of the place Perez Uzzah to this day.
[15:27] Would you want to know David was displeased? All of a sudden, David could set in judgment on God and what God did. That's pretty interesting, isn't it? I get to say, Whoa!
[15:38] You crossed the line there, buddy. You say, Well, that's foolish. No one should do that. But if you'll underline it, God goes, David goes, I don't like that.
[15:50] You didn't please me. And God's going, Excuse me? You didn't please me. The reason you ain't pleased is because you didn't please me to begin with. Can I get an amen right there? David should have asked what happened and why.
[16:04] He should have said something that didn't please God and we got to find out what it was and let's fix it. Instead, David focused on himself and how he feels about what God did.
[16:16] I just don't feel like God did the right thing here. I've seen that most of my life dealing with people. I remember this lady in Tarrant City, Alabama and the second church that we worked in and we were visiting with her one afternoon and she said, I don't like God and I'm not coming back to church and I have no interest in God.
[16:37] He has really angered me. And I said, well ma'am, what did he do that so angered you? She said, he took my dad's life. I asked God to not let my dad die and he died.
[16:51] I said, well, how old was he? She said, 90. I mean, I was only like 22 or 21 but I almost laughed.
[17:02] I was like, lady, that's like 20 years past deadline. I mean, the Bible says 70 years and if I read the street you get 80. I'm 61, almost 62. I mean, I got eight years before the expiration date's up.
[17:15] John was talking about the expiration date on Monday today and I was sitting there thinking, that's an expiration date on me too. And you too, amen. But see, he wasn't pleased. And some things happen. Somebody gets hurt in my family and we're like, God, you have no right.
[17:29] He was displeased. Second thing the Bible says, he was afraid. Look in verse 9. David now is afraid. But by the way, this being afraid, that's not the same as fearing God.
[17:43] Because fearing God means respecting him. But not seeing God as angry and mean, that's what he's doing. Look at verse 9. And David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, how shall the ark of God come to me?
[17:59] Whoa, whoa. Now I know. I thought the ark was blessed and I now know it's death. I thought God was going to do good stuff when we brought the ark but now I know God ain't going to do good stuff.
[18:10] I don't like it. I'm afraid. I'm scared. Let me explain something. You know you're supposed to fear God but you're not supposed to be afraid of God. Fearing God means I love him, I respect him, I want to please him.
[18:22] He is more important to me than my life is but we don't live, whoa, don't hit me. That's not how we live. We live, say I just want to please Jesus. I love him. Could I just say this?
[18:33] I fear my wife but I'm not afraid of my wife. The way I use that word fear is exactly the way the Bible word is. It is I want my wife to be happy with me. I want to do things so that my wife is proud of me.
[18:45] I don't walk around thinking well she's going to punch me although she does on a regular basis. And I feel like I should get the right to punch back. Say amen. But brother Sam don't say no on that one.
[18:55] I was hoping you'd say I could. But anyway. So it's not, he's afraid. All of a sudden the guy who writes Psalms and the guy that says yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil.
[19:06] Thou art with me thy rod and thyself they comfort me. He's like I'm afraid of God, I don't like him. He's mean. Fearing God does not mean being afraid of him. It means loving and respecting him.
[19:19] Fearing God would have meant that David would have sought God to know how to bring the ark when he was going to bring it. Because if we fear God we're going to say now God how should a Sunday school class be run? God how should a discipleship lesson be handled?
[19:31] God how should raising my children be done? God how should I treat my wife? I love you and I want to do it the way you want it done. I don't want to make the decisions. You're God and so you're letting me. That'd be fearing God.
[19:43] Amen. Fearing God would be said God how do you want me to handle my money? Because I love you and I just want to do it your way. Just tell me what you because I like you. I'm not afraid of him. Fearing God would have meant you to ask God.
[19:55] Fearing God would have meant putting God first instead of thinking about what David wanted. David would have reacted humbly and not with such pride and arrogance like he got to make the decisions.
[20:07] So David was afraid. David was afraid of God when he should not have been. And then David thinks that the people that get near the ark get hurt.
[20:18] So he says I'd rather leave the ark where somebody else would get hurt not me. Oh I think it's the funniest part of the story. 2 Samuel chapter 6 verse 10 he says so David would not remove the ark of the Lord unto him and to the city of David so instead he said I'll take it to Obed-Edom the Gittite.
[20:35] That's really a funny thing isn't it? So if you get near the ark you might die God might kill you it seems to have a curse on it seems like there's some bad things happening so don't bring it to my house let's find Obed-Edom and send it to his house.
[20:52] When he finds out it's a blessing he's going to want it to hit for himself but here David's thinking I don't want to get hurt. How selfish can you get? You're afraid so you put the danger on one of your subjects in your kingdom Mr. King David he wanted the ark as long as he thought it meant prosperity and blessing now he rejects the ark and what God could have done and been doing in his life and ministry but then 2 Samuel chapter 6 and verse 12 all of a sudden he sees something Obed-Edom instead of being cursed everything's going good for the guy look at it it was told King David saying the Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all of it pertains to him because of the ark so David went and brought up the ark from the house of Obed-Edom in the city of David with gladness David sees God blessing Obed-Edom and changes his mind again he's going to be happy to get the ark to his city if it brings blessings let's get it it seems that now he's taking the time to study and get things right because when he moves the ark this time he's going to do it the right way so somewhere in there maybe his heart started changing towards things because from here to the end of the chapter he does good it's time to determine now to react correctly to what
[22:12] God is doing in our lives we had the privilege Friday of having Pastor Josh Grubbs speak to the students and the missionaries brother Grubbs has a son that was born with a liver disease and at about I think it was eight or nine months of life or something like that the kid was about to die and they didn't know what was wrong they were actually killing their kid because the kid had a problem with his liver and when they took him in his liver was like five times as big as it was supposed to be because everything he ate any sugar went in his body causes his liver to get bigger and he was getting worse and worse they took him in and found out what was going on and Josh said he called his family together he got his wife and he sent her down and he said we got to decide now what we're going to do if the baby dies we got to decide now we'll honor God we got to decide now that if bad stuff happens we'll be ready for it because we'll trust God and we'll look to God and then his next son was born with a cleft lip a double cleft and a cleft palate and no lip at all actually on the top and the liver disease his wife the kids had to take medicine eight times a day and every day every night at 3am she had to get up and give them this medicine to keep them from getting that disease but he said we were able to deal with it because when we saw what was happening we decided we can decide now how we'll handle tragedy your wife's going to die your husband's going to die your mama's going to die your sister's going to die your children are going to die you're going to have a problem sooner or later and so now is when we decide how we're going to handle it we should decide now that we don't want to be ashamed we don't want to be aggravated at
[23:57] God we don't want to be angry at God we don't want to be trying to slough it off today while the sun's shining let's decide how we're going to handle stuff that happens in our life can I get amen there there's some lessons I think we can learn about our worship so far we never do what we agree to do but we seek God and try to do things his way so that everything in our church deacons Sunday school teachers song leaders musicians pastor every person disciple maker every person says my life's about finding out how God likes things it's God who determines it's God who determines popularity is never the judge of right there's a very good chance that some perverted marriages will become very popular in your country but popularity doesn't make it right God makes it right and how we handle things is not what everybody in the country agrees on but what's God say about it we are never to imitate the world and how we worship God we're to make sure that those that lead our worship are qualified to do so you realize he said only
[25:06] Levites so you know the people that lead our worship that sing our songs that play our instruments that preach the messages that teach the Sunday school classes need to be people that are saved separated from sin surrendered to God these men that God has indicated he wants carrying the ark could I just say something about our worship there will always be a certain amount of inconvenience and discomfort when we serve God it was more convenient to carry the ark on a cart than it was to carry that big old box on your shoulders but God's like I don't really care whether it's inconvenient for you it's the way I want it done can I get an amen right there so there will always be a certain amount of inconvenience see didn't Jesus say something like take up your cross and follow me didn't Jesus talk about denying ourselves it is a sacrifice because we focus on him and not on us truth is the whole world's focused on themselves everybody thinks about me and mine and my family and my stuff and my fun and my vacation and my money and you and I we live a life that's totally different than that because we say no my life is his life my money is his money my family is his family and everything I have belongs to Jesus
[26:28] I love him and I'm going to do that's worship that's really worship you see worship isn't something you do from 1030 to 1130 on Sunday morning or 5 o'clock to 6 o'clock it's a life dedicated to the Lord Jesus it's a life that says we want to do it the right way number four 2 Samuel chapter 6 and verse 13 this is probably an embarrassing part for us but David kind of goes crazy in his worship he unashamedly he worshiped God with all of his heart 2 Samuel 6 13 and it was so that when they that bear the ark of the Lord had gone six paces he sacrificed oxen and fatlings so now we got the men carrying the ark that's the way God wanted it done the first time but this time they test their worship to see if God is going to bless and he does so I mean you remember the last time they got a good ways down the road before it started teeter tottering on the cart they were doing good looks like everything going good looks like everything is going good and all of a sudden boom boom and the other dies and this time
[27:33] David says okay guys let's pick it up I think we're doing it the right way take six steps they took seven steps stop let's just go ahead and offer a sacrifice right now real quick let's just make sure God's liking what we're doing that wouldn't be a bad thing for us to constantly be saying God I want to do it your way I want to please you in the way I'm doing things 2 Samuel chapter 6 verse 14 David danced before the Lord with all his might girded with a linen ephod that's priest clothing that's worship clothing not something for us it's Old Testament obviously but the point is underline this it was dancing before the Lord with all of his might in a way in a dress that God described for the priest to wear he is giving his entire attention to God and what God wants now he's like we're going to carry the ark the way God wants we're going to stop at six paces we're going to do it we're going to sing we're going to play music we're going to everything we do because this is all about you God the David who's upset the David who's embarrassed the David who's angry the David who's dodging stuff he's not in the story now he's a new guy he's saying
[28:51] I want to do it God's way it was great emotion their worship was full of great emotion and blessings 2 Samuel 6 15 so David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of a trumpet there was music there was shouting there was an outward expression of their love for God and their worship so dancing shouting and a trumpet announces to one and all they love God and they're worshiping I think if we'd have seen it we'd have thought maybe I ought to sing these songs a little differently when brother Stephen's leading us in a song maybe my heart ought to be a little more excited maybe I ought to be a little more into the song and paying attention and thinking about my God but Michael didn't approve 2 Samuel 6 16 and as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David Michael Saul's daughter looked through a window and saw King David leaping and dancing isn't that crazy leaping and dancing before the Lord and she despised him in her heart she despised him in her heart see David was a king and she thought that he should act dignified in front of people
[30:10] I got a problem with this myself just to be blunt honest with you being confessing stuff to you right now I'm pretty I'm pretty much hide my emotions in public kind of guy but David didn't hide his emotions and Saul's daughter thought he should why would David let the people see him so emotional for David all of this was before the Lord not the people but his wife was worried about what others might think David's out in the street David's not acting like a king David's not acting like y'all should look at me and respect me and honor me David's like man this is God we're talking about God here he's leaping that jumping up and down in the air he's dancing he's shouting he's singing this is the ark of God God's coming back to Jerusalem and I'm a happy man that's all David Michael looks out the window and says daddy wouldn't have ever done it that way daddy was dignified kings don't do that back in the old days in Peru
[31:21] I think it's true here in America back to about every Peruvian home I'd ever go in there'd always be a picture of the husband and the wife on the wall and they never were smiling they took their pictures and you know I think it might have been custom or something you don't smile don't get your spirit or something I don't know I'm kind of like that I want to hide my feelings I want to hide my worship but David is in full worship mode look at 2 Samuel 6 17 and many brought and they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place they got it to where it belonged in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord they're now offering sacrifices they're doing what God had told his people to do under Moses' leadership could I just remind you there's been a lot of inconvenience now they've been walking carrying the ark they've been dancing and singing they've been offering oxen that means somebody bought a big old bull and killed it and it didn't say one it said several so there's money being spent here like crazy they are worshiping
[32:35] God by the way worship is always going to cost us worship is always going to cost us they're like marriage costs you know they tell you before you get married that two can live as cheap as one that's what the other young people say and that you can live on love but it don't take you very long to figure out that it won't work that way say amen but it is well worth it say amen right there or get punched later 2 Samuel chapter 6 and verse 18 David blessed the people and as soon as David had made an end of offering burnt offerings he blessed the people and then he gave them all this food and wine and stuff it was a big party man this is a feast this is dinner on the ground provided by the preacher I mean the king thank God he was a king and not a preacher I'd be providing food there's a deacon there just so you know he pronounced God's blessings on the people he gave them all food and drink to enjoy as they worship God this was a time of great joy and worship and David is excited now to go home and bless his family his wife but she's not happy with him and she's not happy with his worship 2 Samuel 6 20 got your Bible and David returned to bless his household
[33:51] I don't know if you get this but you know what the blessing was in fact is I had a couple of preachers when I was a kid that would do it into the service they would it's always two rows in our churches back when I was a kid pulpit bathrooms back this way little choir loft here and one aisle down through the middle and the preacher would say we're all dismissed and with every head bowed and every eye closed he'd start walking back and he would quote the priest blessing from the Old Testament may God's right shine upon you all week long or whatever he quoted all the way back that's what David's doing now he goes home he's like baby you're not going to believe us let me bring the blessing of God to you we brought the ark back God's in his place his ark's in his place we've shown him the rightful respect things are great honey and he walks in the door look what happens David returned to bless his household and Michael the daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said how glorious was the king of Israel today who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaidens of his servants as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovers himself you were acting like a drunk you're acting like a guy who had no sense out there you were not dignified you didn't show any decorum out there you were jumping up and down you're a king you were dancing and you were excited and you were that's ridiculous boy look at how oh you were really full of glory today
[35:19] David's thinking no I was trying to give God glory David you have embarrassed yourself in front of the commoners today you lost your glory and the respect of the people you acted like a man that didn't have good sense and David said 2 Samuel 6 21 he said to Michael it was before the Lord which chose me before your father he picked me over your father and over all of your house and he made me ruler over the people of the Lord over Israel I will play before the Lord he picked me and I will worship him David says maybe your daddy didn't worship God this way but God chose me not your daddy God shoved your daddy to the side put me in his place I will worship God and I won't care what you think or anybody else thinks
[36:22] I will play before the Lord that's not about who I am but about who he is David lets her know he's going to worship God in 2 Samuel chapter 6 and verse 31 he says I don't care what people think I will be more vile I will yet be more vile I'll be more base more lower more despised more looked down on than this and will be base in my own side I'll humble myself and think of myself as a nobody I'm not going to think like a king I'm not going to think like a rich guy owns the whole countryside I'm going to think about myself as a sinner who needs God and I will be base in my own sight and the handmaids which I was spoken of they'll honor me and you ain't having enough you'll never have a baby now the day you're dead David David is willing to humble himself and to worship God openly David will not be ashamed of
[37:23] God and all that he's done for him even if his wife doesn't honor him David knows that the people will Michael is the only one who loses that day because she loses the honor and never gets to be a mother worship may not seem so impressive to the lost but God notices worshiping should be more important to us today as well so let's decide today that we will seek God's will even in our worship we'll make sure we get into the Bible and get the Bible into us so we know what God wants let's decide not to be so guarded and dignified but to let our heart rush out to God we sing how great thou art when all thy awe and splendor instead of oh Lord my God we don't sing it like that so that's what he's saying sing like you mean it if
[38:29] I talk to my wife the way we talk to God she'd be like I don't think you mean any of that let's decide not to be so guarded so dignified so worried about what people think and I am very guilty and the Lord has dealt with my heart in this message let's be like David in this story more than we are like Michael I want to openly love and worship God I want to openly love and worship God I do not want to live my life trying to look good to lost people more than I do to God so last lessons for tonight the worship was public I'm the kind of guy that would like to sing in private and cry in private and worship God in private I don't even want Betty to know I'm kind of private like that David said not me baby I'm right out here in front of everybody everybody is going to know
[39:29] I'm in love expressive his focus was on the Lord and he wasn't even thinking about all the people that were watching him he did the things the way God wanted them done it wasn't about the music or the dancing it was about the complete heart surrender you know nobody wants to bow on an altar and the richer you are and the more powerful you are and the bigger you are and the more dignified you are the less you think about getting on your knees before God that's a pause for you to think about it it involves sacrifice and obedience not just emotional music so people read the story and there's two things that everybody thinks about basically they say David was naked that's not what was going on and basically they think about the dancing and the loud music that's not what's going on either nothing in the new testament about us having dancing naked or with clothes on nothing in there about that but it would be a very clear thing that
[40:34] I ought to openly express my love for Jesus you ever been out to eat with one of them people it's not it doesn't happen now I think it's changed I think things have changed but when I was younger it was very different to see anybody pray in public so you go to eat a meal and I've been with people that said you don't have to bow your head let's just wait just a second and let's all pray in our minds so everybody thinks we're just being quiet and sitting there and then somebody says okay let's see we wasn't wanting nobody no we was praying if you're going to pray get a headache no I don't think that's an issue anymore it was when I was a kid but the point would be I don't have to let my wife stay at home so nobody knows I'm married to her I don't need to leave her walking two or three steps behind me so nobody knows I want to be openly expressive about loving Jesus let's sing from our hearts let's give from our hearts let's study the
[41:36] Bible from our hearts let's pray from our hearts father god in heaven I love you and I thank you for this chapter and I pray that you would let the holy spirit help them see the things I might have messed up on and not made so clear god help us to honor you and love you and worship you and be more like David than we are Michael to please you in what we're doing and I'll give you praise this message was recorded at vision baptist church in alfred georgia for more information log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times location contact information and more audio and video recordings