Thank you, musicians, and good evening.
I have rarely spoken to a group when I was more excited about the passage which I was
asked to speak on than I am tonight.
Nor have I been more apprehensive that I might fail to communicate the true excitement which
is in these passages.
So let us pray together.
Father, we thank you for the wonderful truth of your word.
We thank you for the privilege of being here tonight and opening your word.
Father, that I don't have to stand here and propound my own wisdom, but we have wisdom
from yourself.
Lead us by your spirit.
Take your word and make it extremely real to us and allow us just to bask in the glory of
your love for us.
We pray this for our good and for your glory.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Tonight we're going to talk about when God comes near.
And there's three parts to our time together from this point on.
First, we're talking from 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, chapter 6, where David is bringing the ark into
Jerusalem.
Second, we're going to talk about Psalm 24, which was just read to us.
A psalm, I believe, written by David to celebrate the coming of the ark into Jerusalem.
And third, we're going to celebrate communion together as we see how God comes not just near us, but
into us as we celebrate our relationship with him and what he has done on the cross to allow
all of this to make any sense.
As part of his U.S. tour last week, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in Philadelphia.
You've probably read about that.
They planned for a crowd that was larger than any previously seen in the city.
It's supposed to be over a million people.
Preparations had begun months ahead of time.
A five-mile security perimeter was established.
Streets were closed.
Public transportation rerouted.
Why?
It was out of respect and celebration for this esteemed man who was coming into their city.
Our passage today in 2 Samuel 6 is not about a famous, good, and well-loved man coming to
a city.
But this chapter talks about God himself coming to Jerusalem.
What if you were given the task of planning such a great event?
How would we want to prepare for the coming of God himself to our city?
I guess the first question was, would we really want him that close?
Now, I know in one sense, God is everywhere, and God always was in the city of Jerusalem.
But in the thinking of the ancient Hebrews, God was especially present in the Ark of the
Covenant.
And it was the Ark of the Covenant that is being brought into Jerusalem.
And it's David's job as the king to plan and supervise this event.
So before we get into our passage, a little more background.
First, the Ark of the Covenant was the most sacred thing in all of the ancient Jewish world.
Its construction had been ordered and described by God to Moses when he received the Ten Commandments
at Mount Sinai.
The Ark was viewed as the actual throne of God on earth.
And even in many ways, including our passage tonight, was actually equated with God himself.
It was basically a gold box, a wood box covered with gold.
And in it were three specific things.
One, the stone tablets upon which God had written, and then Moses had rewritten, the Ten Commandments.
First, symbolizing God's moral law.
Second, Aaron's rod that budded, symbolizing God's power.
And third, a jar of manna, symbolizing God's provision.
On top of the Ark, there were statues of two cherubim, angels that were looking down on a plate that was between them called the mercy seat.
And God's instructions to Moses were that once a year, the high priest would enter the tabernacle,
where no one else was allowed to go at any other time, with a blood sacrifice to pour on that mercy seat,
so that God temporarily would be able to forgive the people for their sin.
That was done yearly.
That's what the Jews of today celebrate as Yom Kippur, which was, what, just two weeks ago?
And they were conscious of God covering over their sin.
The Ark would remind people of their sin, of God's forgiveness.
It would remind them that he wanted to be near them, his imminence,
but it would also remind them how different he was,
and how different his requirements were from any human being, God's transcendence.
And all of that is part of the symbolism of the Ark.
Now, it wasn't too many years prior to this that the Ark was taken into battle very foolishly
as a good omen as the Israelites were fighting against their local rivals, the Philistines.
The Philistines had captured the Ark, thinking it would bring them the favor of the God of Israel.
But in fact, it was the start of one tragedy after another.
And it wasn't too long before they returned the Ark to the land of Israel.
The Israelites who received it, of course, rejoiced that the Ark had been returned.
And it was stored in the house of a priest, Abiathar, excuse me, Abinadab,
who kept the Ark in his home for 20 years.
And that was in the town of Kiriath-Jiaram, otherwise called Baal-Judah,
which was right on the border with the Philistines.
So for 20 years, the Ark had sat in that home of that priest
and wasn't with the rest of the furnishings for God's tabernacle.
Now, as we saw last week, as Justin talked about 2 Samuel 5,
David was king over Israel.
He was king over all Israel.
And he had just recently conquered Jerusalem and made it his capital city.
He had recently won two major military victories over the Philistines
and in the process had carried away their idols representing their gods.
Now, that would have been a huge embarrassment for the Philistines.
And David, I'm sure, expected revenge.
Now, what form would that revenge take?
Well, David was a good general.
David was a military man.
And I'm sure he saw the Philistines here.
Just inside the border of their country was the Ark,
which stood for Yahweh, the God of Israel.
Well, certainly the Philistines would be wanting to recapture that Ark
to revenge the loss of their idols,
which they had forsaken and the Israelites had taken.
So the Ark was, in David's mind, I'm sure at risk of being taken by the Philistines.
David also wanted not only to protect the Ark,
but just having captured Jerusalem and just made it his capital city,
I'm sure David wanted to enhance the reputation of Jerusalem through the country.
And having the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem
would have certainly raised Jerusalem's stature in the minds of the people of Israel.
And finally, I suspect David just wanted to have God nearby.
He wanted to have the clear and unmistakable presence of God in his life.
So David planned to have his palace and next to it a tent,
which would house the Ark of the Covenant.
So I think there's good reasons why David wanted to bring the Ark into Jerusalem.
Now, we want to turn to 2 Samuel 6.
So if you're turning your Bibles to page 258,
exactly 200 pages back from where Psalm 24 is,
and let's read it together.
David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, 30,000,
and David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baal-Judah
to bring up from there the Ark of God,
which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts,
who sits enthroned on the cherubim.
And they carried the Ark of God on a new cart
and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill.
And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab,
were driving the new cart with the Ark of God,
and Ahio went before the Ark.
And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord
with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.
And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon,
Uzzah put out his hand to the Ark of God and took hold of it,
for the oxen had stumbled.
And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah,
and God struck him down because of his error.
And he died there beside the Ark of God.
And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah.
And that place is called Perez Uzzah to this day.
And David was afraid of the Lord that day.
And he said, How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?
So David was not willing to take the Ark of the Lord into the city of David.
But David took it aside into the house of Obed-Edom, the Gittite.
And the Ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom, the Gittite, three months.
And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household.
And it was told King David,
The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him because of the Ark of God.
So David went and brought up the Ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the city of David with rejoicing.
And when those who bore the Ark of the Lord had gone six steps,
he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal.
And David danced before the Lord with all his might.
And David was wearing a linen ephod.
So David and all the house of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn.
As the Ark of the Lord came into the city of David,
Michael, the daughter of Saul, looked out of her 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 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 Michael,
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 fellows shamelessly uncovers himself.
David said to Michael,
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 Michael,
the daughter of Saul,
had no child to the day of her death.
Well,
let's just review the story.
David is bringing the ark into Jerusalem.
It was a trip of about nine miles.
To do that,
he assembled an entourage
of about 30,000 representatives from the nation,
likely soldiers,
political leaders,
musicians,
and many others
from different parts of the land of Israel
to accompany the ark into Jerusalem.
I'm sure he wanted this vast number
not only to protect the ark,
but also to celebrate it
and make it an event to unify the nation.
Now,
out of respect for the ark,
he had a new cart built
to carry it
and gave the honored positions
just before and just after the ark
to the two sons of Abinadab,
Uzzah and Ahio,
in recognition of the care
they had given the ark
while in their home.
It was a grand procession,
complete with singing
and musical instruments,
but there was a problem.
The problem was that
as good as David's intentions were,
he had not followed
the explicit instructions
given to Moses
for the transport of the ark.
God had specifically said
the ark was never to be touched,
but was to be carried
by golden rods
which were inserted along its sides
on the shoulders of the priests.
furthermore,
God had said
in Numbers 4, 15,
they must not touch
the holy things
lest they die.
Now, David was not ignorant
of these rules
because one of the requirements
for a king of Israel
was that before he became king,
he sat down
and copied out longhand
the Torah,
the Pentateuch,
the first five books
of the Bible
where all these instructions
were clearly laid out.
David knew what was to be done.
David chose to do it his way.
The procession was slowly
going up to Jerusalem
and as they were crossing
a threshing floor,
one of the oxen tripped
and the ark became,
the cart became unstable.
Uzzah reached out
to steady it
and just as he had promised,
God struck him dead.
Whoa there.
That was not on David's agenda.
That was not what he had planned
for the day.
And David's response was
to become angry.
Now, David very well knew
that he was the one
who had planned this event.
He was the one
who had ordered the cart.
He was the one
who was in charge
and he had done
what was wrong.
Did he get mad at himself?
No.
He was human like us.
He got mad at God.
How inappropriate that was.
God, I'm sure,
should have been mad at David.
But in the midst of that tragedy,
there was one good result.
David was humbled
and David developed
a true fear of God.
for as the book of Proverbs
tells us,
the fear of the Lord
is the beginning
of wisdom.
Now, perhaps David
had second thoughts.
Maybe he was not so sure
that he wanted God
right in his city,
even right next door.
Perhaps God really
wasn't all that safe
and he didn't want
to be so close
to this God.
We're not told
the exact reason,
but at any rate,
David put a halt
to the procession
and they took the ark
and put it in the home
of another priest,
Obed-Edom,
and it was housed there
for three months.
But during those three months,
Obed-Edom
had been uniquely blessed.
Now, we don't know
what the nature of that was,
but we also know
that David was aware of it.
And David reconsidered
and he again decided
to bring the ark
on the last part
of the journey
to Jerusalem.
This time,
he planned
an even greater celebration.
He had learned his lesson
and he assured
that the commands
of the law
were followed
and the ark
was carried exactly
as prescribed
to Moses.
As part of their celebration,
every six paces,
they stopped
and had a sacrifice.
Perhaps that was
a bit of thinking
of the Sabbath.
Take six steps,
you pause,
you rest,
you worship God.
I don't know.
At any rate,
the ark was finally
brought into the tent.
It was brought
into Jerusalem
and there
they had further
sacrifice,
burnt offerings,
peace offerings
and David offered
a prayer,
bless the people
and finally,
David gave each one
who attended
a gift,
a loaf of bread,
some meat
and a raisin cake.
It was a glorious day,
a glorious celebration
and everybody
was,
I'm sure,
very pleased.
But not everyone.
All was not well.
David's wife,
Michael,
the daughter of King Saul,
had not attended
the celebration.
She'd stayed home,
observed it
through the window.
When she saw David
celebrating
and dancing
before the Lord,
the text says
she despised him
in her heart.
Now,
David's final act
of the day
was to go home
and bless his own household.
When he did,
Michael came at him
as it were
with both barrels loaded.
She was upset.
David responded,
she mocked him
for not behaving
with the dignity
that she thought
a king should show.
David's response
to her
defended his right
to focus on God,
to celebrate
his presence.
It's interesting,
if you look at your Bibles
in verse 22,
David says,
I will be abased
in your eyes.
But the real Hebrew there
is in the footnote
in the English Standard Version,
says,
I will be abased
in my eyes.
David was willing
to be abased
and thought low of
if he could celebrate
and focus
so on God.
and that was
his intention.
The end result
was that Michael
had no children
till the day
of her death.
Quite a story.
I think we can learn
a lot for ourselves
from 2 Samuel 6.
I think we see here
three different ways
of responding to God
when he comes near.
first,
David's initial response.
Excitement,
celebration,
careful planning,
but, you know,
choosing to do things
his way,
not God's.
Secondly,
we see David's
final response.
He showed the same
exuberance
and celebration,
perhaps even more,
but now he was careful
to do things
God's way.
He's not thinking
about himself
or those around him.
He's simply focused
on God.
I think it's also
of note
that he responded
generously with gifts
to all of his people.
Then he went home
to bless his family.
And then thirdly,
we see Michael
standing back,
refusing to get involved,
watching out the window,
criticizing the emotionalism
of the celebration,
not being willing
to be involved.
Now,
I think it's only fitting
that we need
to ask ourselves,
how would we respond?
Do we like to plan
and be in control
and do things our way?
Are we overly conscious
of what others think,
thinks,
so that we are
somewhat inhibited
in our worship of God?
Or are we willing
to give our whole beings,
our minds,
emotions,
and bodies
unreservedly
to him?
That's the story
from 2 Samuel 6.
Now,
there's almost
a commentary on it
in Psalm 24.
So you may want
to turn in your Bibles,
go forward 200 pages
to page 458
to Psalm 24.
And I believe
this Psalm
gives us
just a totally
different glimpse
of the ark
coming into Jerusalem
because I think
Psalm 24
was written by David
to celebrate
that day.
And I'm sure
as they were
in this procession
coming up to Jerusalem,
they were singing
Psalm 24
over and over again.
See how he starts.
The earth
is the Lord's
and the fullness
thereof,
the world
and those
who dwell therein,
for he has
founded it
upon the seas
and established it
upon the rivers.
David starts
by reminding
all who heard
who God is.
He is the one
who made us
and controls us.
He is the great God
and not only
the physical world
but all the inhabitants
of the world
belong to him.
Good theology
should start everything,
shouldn't it?
Then he says,
who shall ascend
the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand
in his holy place?
The ark
is coming up
the hill
into Jerusalem,
be housed
in the temple
or in the tent
which would eventually
be where the temple
mount was,
is.
But David,
when he thinks
about the ark
coming in,
stops
and he asks
a very important question.
If the ark
is in Jerusalem,
if it's on the top
of the hill
next to my palace,
who should be
allowed to come up?
Who should come
near to God
in the ark?
Who can legitimately
come near God?
Can just anyone
come up?
David thinks
of four distinct
qualifications.
One,
he who has
clean hearts.
Two,
and a pure heart.
Clean hands.
Two,
and a pure heart.
Three,
who does not
lift up his soul
to what is false.
And four,
does not swear
deceitfully.
So first,
he who has
clean hands.
Good start,
David.
We don't want
people who have been
doing a lot of
dirty and messy
things,
coming near to God.
That would not
be appropriate.
But then,
David starts
reading what
he just wrote.
And I think
he paused
and said,
but wait a minute.
Do I have
clean hands?
Perhaps he thought
of all the
innocents he had
killed to obtain
a dowry
when he married
Michael.
Perhaps he had
thought of all
the other evil
and bad things
killing people
that he had
done in the
past.
and I think
David would
have said,
perhaps with a
tear in his
eye,
I don't have
clean hands.
And a pure
heart.
In David's
thinking,
the heart was
the center of
the soul.
It's where our
motives and inner
longings came
from.
Was his heart
pure?
Perhaps he
thought of the
time when he
fled from
Saul and
hid in a
Philistine city
pretending to
be insane.
Could that be
called a pure
heart?
Who does not
lift up his
soul to what
is false?
This means not
having false
values or
trashy values.
As David begins
to think,
he recalls the
time when he
became frustrated
with Saul's
constantly pursuing
him.
So David went
over to the
Israel's enemies,
the Philistines,
valuing his own
comfort and
safety more than
pursuing God's
plan.
Yes,
David knew that
he had lifted up
his soul to
what was false
and does not
share,
swear deceitfully,
telling lies.
Then perhaps
David remembered
when he was
running away from
Saul, he saw
refuge with
Abiathar the
priest and he
lied and told
him he was
on an errand
for Saul.
The end result
was that Abiathar
was killed.
David admitted,
I have sworn
deceitfully.
David knew that
every one of the
four requirements
he was writing
would exclude
him.
He would not
be allowed to
ascend the hill
of the Lord.
But does this
not ask us
force us to
ask ourselves,
would we
meet those
criteria?
Could we
have clean
hands?
Do we have
pure hearts?
Or do we
have false
values?
Have we
told lies?
The answer
for most of us
is, yeah,
we would not
qualify either.
David must have
felt totally
defeated.
But to me,
it is fascinating
how he
responds.
Notice,
he will receive
blessing from the
Lord and
righteousness
from the God
of his
salvation.
He will receive
blessing from the
Lord and
righteousness from
the God of his
salvation.
after acknowledging
that he,
and by
implication,
everybody else,
including us,
don't deserve to
enter God's
presence,
David makes
this profound
and earth-shattering
statement.
Catch this.
Those who are
willing to come
into God's
presence,
those who choose
to ascend the
hill of the
Lord,
will not only
receive a
blessing from
God,
but will
actually receive
righteousness
from God,
and that will
lead to
salvation.
How much
more exciting
could you get?
That it
doesn't depend
on our
clean hands.
It doesn't
depend on our
pure heart.
It doesn't
depend on
our values.
It doesn't
depend on
how much we
tell the
truth.
Our
righteousness,
David knew,
came from
God.
David's
mind is
ever active.
He continues
to meditate
on who
this God
was who
gives his
blessing,
righteousness,
and salvation.
And he
next says,
such is the
generation of
those who
seek him,
who seek
the face
of the
God of
Jacob.
Selah.
Now,
what do we
know about
Jacob?
Jacob's
name means
crooked.
He was a
cheat.
He was a
schemer.
He was out
to get his
own best.
Jacob was
not
the
darling
person
of God.
But who
accepted
Jacob?
God
accepted
Jacob.
And I'm
sure David
thought,
well, if God
could accept
Jacob, maybe
God can
accept me.
And it's
even more
fascinating that
because in
the Hebrew,
the words
God of
are not
there.
Those are
inserted by
all the
translators.
What the
text really
says,
who seek
the face
of
Jacob.
Now, are
the translators
wrong to say
God of
Jacob?
No, I
think that's
the point.
But the
text says
that God
was so
able to
identify
with one
who was
such a
rascal
as Jacob
that he
would actually
allow himself
to be called
Jacob.
To me, that
is amazing.
That is
amazing.
Now, I
don't think
Jacob had
any much
idea at
all of
how God
would come
near to
him.
Jacob was
familiar with
sacrifices.
he'd seen
his grandfather
Abraham
present
sacrifices.
He'd seen
Isaac present
sacrifices.
He did so
himself.
But he
really wasn't
sure the
whole meaning
of it.
David knew
a little bit
more because
David had
the ark,
knew the
mercy seat,
and knew
that forgiveness
could come
through blood
on the
mercy seat.
But how
much more
do we
know
why God
is able
to give
us his
righteousness?
And the
reason is
Jesus.
The reason
is that
Jesus gave
his own
life as a
sacrifice to
pay the
penalty for
our sin
so that
God could
accept us,
so that we
could draw
near to
God.
Hebrews
says that
Jesus came
to put
away sin
once,
once for
all,
put away
sin by
the sacrifice
of himself.
David did
not know
that,
but we
can know
that.
Just
thinking those
thoughts
overwhelmed
David.
David could
no longer
hold it
in,
so he
breaks
out
into
exalted
song,
welcoming
God
into
a city.
Lift up
your heads,
O gates,
be lifted
up,
O ancient
doors,
that the
King of
glory may
come in.
Who is
this King
of glory?
The Lord,
strong and
mighty,
the Lord,
mighty in
battle.
Lift up
your heads,
O gates,
and lift
them up,
O ancient
doors,
that the
King of
glory may
come in.
Who is
this King
of glory?
The Lord
of hosts.
He is
the King
of glory.
Open up
the gates
of the
city.
The Ark
is coming
in.
The King
of glory
is coming
in.
The Lord
of hosts.
He will
be near
us because
he allows
us to
experience
his
righteousness,
his
forgiveness.
God
is
not the
only one
to ever
welcome
God
into
his
life.
Tonight,
we have
the privilege
of celebrating
God
coming into
our lives.
As we
take communion,
I think we
should learn
lessons from
the Ark
coming into
Jerusalem.
1 Samuel 6
is about
God coming
near.
Communion
is about
God in
the person
of Jesus
actually
coming not
just near,
but into
us,
becoming a
part of
us.
We must
recognize that
we are no
more worthy
to ascend
the hill
of the
Lord,
to come
into his
presence,
to have
him come
into us,
than David
was.
When you
examine our
hearts,
we realize
if it's up
to us
and our
goodness,
we're not
going to
make it.
David knew
that it was
only by
God's
forgiveness,
love,
and grace
that he
could be
righteous.
He did
not know
how.
We can
look at
the bread
and the
juice and
be reminded
that it
was by
no less
than Jesus
himself
taking our
sins on
him,
suffering
the wrath
of God,
the inhumanity
of man,
that the
just penalty
of our
sins could
be paid
and we
could be
forgiven.
We should
respond tonight
as David
responded,
holding
intention,
a fear
of God
that fills
us with
reverence
and prompts
us to do
things exactly
as God
wants,
while at
the same
time,
in our
own hearts
and perhaps
even with
our voices,
exuberantly
celebrating
as we
offer our
sacrifice of
praise to
God.
God,
we can
with
exaltation
invite him
into our
lives.
I wonder
if I could
ask you
all to
stand.
And would
you be
willing to
put your
arms out
to welcome
the King
of glory?
Just in
your minds
we're welcoming
him into
our lives.
Lift up
your heads,
O gates,
be lifted up,
O ancient
doors,
that the
King of
glory may
come in.
Who is
this King
of glory?
The Lord
strong and
mighty,
the Lord
mighty in
battle.
Lift up
your heads,
O gates,
and lift them
up, O
ancient
doors,
that the
King of
glory may
come in.
Who is
this King
of glory?
The Lord
of hosts.
He is
the King
of glory.
May we
welcome
him into
our lives.
You may
be seated.
Well,
tonight