Fear Him, Worship Him
Notes
Transcript
Introduction: Welcome/Prayer
Open to 2 Samuel 6…
Today we’re going to read about the consequence of not fearing God as we ought to fear. That when we no longer fear Him rightly, nor trust in His power, we take it upon ourselves to do what God has not ordained us to do.
In doing so, we sin, we offend a holy God.
Forgetting that God gets glory only when He is pleased. And He is only pleased when we do His will.
And it is in doing His will that we know and experience His love. John 14:21
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
To help us this morning I want to give the definitions to two types of fear that I came across while reading a blog by Tim Challies about the topic in response to his 20-year old son’s death. In the blog he quotes RC Sproul for these definitions… the first type of fear is:
Servile Fear - “refers to a posture of servitude toward a malevolent owner.”
Filial Fear - “has a fear or an anxiety of offending the one he loves”
So, when a rightful fear of God is understood and observed we are led to obedience. And it is in that obedience that we find true worship and we find the presence of God.
Let me clear about something this morning before we start… it is not that worship cannot be found in emotions, or in passion, or in dancing and singing… but if any of that is done apart from truth… it is not worship that pleases the Father.
We’ll look at this chapter primarily in two sections, the first one focusing on the arrogance of David and Israel in verses 1-11, then in verses 12-23, we’ll look at the humility of David and Israel which came about in response to what happens in the first half of our text.
In the first section of our text, as we look at the Arrogance of David, we’ll look at their Intent, in verses 1-5, then their sin, specifically Uzzah’s in 6-7, and finish this first section off with the outcome of all of this in 8-11.
David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale-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.
The Arrogance
The Arrogance
The Intent (1-5)
David is desiring to bring the Ark to Jerusalem....
Now, we haven’t read about the Ark for quite some time…
Remember in 1 Samuel 4, after the battle of Aphek, the Philistines captured the Ark.
In doing so, the Philistines brought God’s wrath upon themselves in 1 Samuel 5… Dagon’s statue destroyed, boils, death...
Then in 1 Samuel 6 the ark gets returned, but the men at Beth-Shemesh touched the Ark and weren’t supposed to… they treated the Ark in an unholy manner so there was a lot of death there as well...
In response to the event at Beth-Shemesh, the nation left the Ark at the house of Abinadab at Kiriath-jearim (another name for Baale-Judah, mentioned in v. 2 of our text)… which is about a 10 mile journey from Jerusalem, which lies to the east
So, what’s significant about the Ark?
The Ark is where God’s presence is among His people
Above the wings of the Cherubim, as you see in the image is where God would sit, upon the atonement lid, aka the mercy seat, where the blood for sin was sprinkled upon… it is there that God sat.
Therefore, having the Ark in Jerusalem was significant… and it was important that God have a designated place for His people to come and worship Him.
In this effort to bring the Ark to Jerusalem David puts the Ark on a new, unused cart pulled by Oxen and two sons of Abinadab drove the cart.
Meanwhile David and the house of Israel celebrated before the Lord… they gave praise and thanks as they sang and played.
What more could God ask for?
David’s heart is clearly in the right place
The people are happy, celebrating… it seems like everyone is feeling good about this...
Therefore God is receiving glory… this is how it should be… right?
These are often the same parameters we use to determine if our church services are doing what they’re suppose to...
Hearts are in the right place
People are having a good experience, praising God, being emotionally moved
Therefore, God is receiving glory… or is He?
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 stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.
The Arrogance
The Arrogance
The Sin… what went wrong here?
Why did this happen? Why was Uzzah struck down?
Was not the Ark put on a new cart? Was not Uzzah being faithful in trying to prevent the Ark from touching the ground?
As a good American citizen keeps the flag from touching the ground?
Why did God strike down Uzzah in His anger?
Was God not being praised? Were not people emotionally moved by the presence of God? Was God not receiving glory?
First, we must remember, praising God does not equal glorifying God, if the praise is done in an unholy manner.
Now, the people singing and dancing here… there is nothing here to think that what they were doing wrong… however, what their dancing and singing was centered around was...
The Ark was never to be carried in a cart… new, used, or otherwise… it was meant to be carried on the shoulders of Levites…
Specifically, the Kohathities, Numbers 7:9-10
But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because they were charged with the service of the holy things that had to be carried on the shoulder. And the chiefs offered offerings for the dedication of the altar on the day it was anointed; and the chiefs offered their offering before the altar.
And if you read Numbers 4, you will read in detail specific instructions on how the Ark and the sanctuary was to be moved… who could touch what and so on…
Yet, that isn’t why Uzzah died… not directly… granted… perhaps God caused the oxen to stumble because the Ark was on a cart… 1 Chron 15:13 David blames the cart not Uzzah’s actions for God’s anger...
Because you did not carry it the first time, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule.”
So, Uzzah died because when the oxen stumbled and the Ark became unstable he reached out his hand and touched what only an Aaronic priest could touch… thus God struck him down.
Again, the men of Beth-Shemesh in 1 Samuel 6 died for a similar sin.
Uzzah lacked trust… rooted in a lack of unbelief on some level… all mistrust in rooted in unbelief or lack of faith in what is to be trusted...
Uzzah did not think that Yahweh was capable of protecting the Ark… yet, he should have known better… for he grew up in the house of which the Ark was left in all these years all because of God’s actions in protecting the Ark
In touching the Ark, Uzzah also elevates himself to a place of holiness that he does not possess… as it is often the case with unholy worship, unholy activity, man thinks himself to be holier than he actually is...
RC Sproul commented on this event by saying, “The presumptuous sin of Uzzah was that he assumed his hands were less polluted than the dirt.”
We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
Dirt does not have the stain of sin on it… we do… all of mankind, for the exception of the one man born of a woman, and of the Spirit, that is Jesus Christ, all of mankind is stained with sin…
Perhaps… Uzzah had grown carelessly comfortable with the presence of the Ark, with the presence of God in his house...
By being around God all time and gaining a familiarity with Him that led Uzzah to be presumptuous…
That led Uzzah to think perhaps he could what he wanted if his intentions were good...
Unfortunately, for Uzzah, that’s not the case… good intentions do not sanctify us… good intentions do not save us… billions of people will be in Hell for eternity because they trust in good intentions and not in Yahweh.
Now, let us look at the outcome… not just the outcome of the sin… Uzzah died for that… but the outcome to the death of Uzzah..
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 to 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.
The Arrogance
The Arrogance
David, the man after God’s heart, the Lord’s anointed… the one whom God delivered time and time again from Saul and others is now fearful...
This is where David seems to be exhibiting that unhealthy kind of fear, the servile fear...
Perhaps it’s because David viewed God as his enemy…
Notice the name of the place… “Perez-Uzzah”… very similar to name of the place we read about last week in chapter 5...
“Baal-Perazim”… where David named the place as such for it is there that Yahweh broke out against his enemies, the Philistines..
So, perhaps David sees this breaking out of God against Uzzah as an action of an enemy...
This fear apparently was great… and rightfully so… David no longer wanted the presence of God among him anymore...
David started out with good intentions… but he did so arrogantly… he, like Uzzah perhaps, had become to familiar with God’s blessing in his life…
But now, David fears God and he leaves the Ark at the house of Obed-edom for a period of 3 months and during that time Obed-edom’s house becomes blessed by the presence of Yahweh...
Now, let’s go to the second half of our passage, and see how over these three months David is humbled by the death of Uzzah...
In verses 12-13, we’ll read about the proper way to bring the Ark… then in 14-19, see how the people respond this time to God’s presence coming to Jerusalem, and in the final verses 20-23, look at the willingness of David to humble himself more if necessary before Yahweh… then we’ll bring it home with lessons that we, God’s people in the New Covenant, can learn from this event...
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.
The Humility
The Humility
After hearing that Obed-edom’s house was being blessed and not being cursed… and perhaps after doing some reflecting and considering what God’s Law says about transporting the Ark David goes and retrieves the Ark
The proper way for carrying the ark...
The ark is carried by Levites on their shoulder… this specific detail we get from 1 Chron 15, the highly detailed explanation of this journey....
It is also there in 1 Chr 15:13 that we read of David confessing that the first time they attempted the journey they didn’t inquiry of the Lord about the matter and how to do it…
Because you did not carry it the first time, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule.”
After six steps David makes a sacrifice...
Perhaps symbolizing a Sabbath rest and thus consecrating the journey
Or an acknowledgment that God has helped them without destroying them…
Which by the way… is a proper view of all worship or anytime we seek the presence of God...
So, now that the Ark is being properly transported to Jerusalem… let’s read on and see how they worship now compared to the first time
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, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart. And they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed, each to his house.
The Humility
The Humility
Right off the bat we see a difference in how David worships...
He dances with all his might…
In his dancing he was wearing a linen ephod, a priestly garment which is interesting, and there are several theories as to why…
The one which I found most compelling and significant is that, as king in Jerusalem, he is taking the role of a priest of the Melchizedek line…, Melchizedek was a former king of Jerusalem back in the days of Abrahams
Psalm 110:4 hints at this connection
The Lord has sworn
and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever
after the order of Melchizedek.”
And Hebrews 7 connects the line as well… again not a biological connection but perhaps one of conquest and character
For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him,
Melchizedek is recognized as a priest of Yahweh, though not like a Levitical priest… so if David was assuming this identity he could not perform the duties of the Levities if he wanted to… though it would not have prevented him from leading a procession of worship
David, also blesses the people of Israel in a similar manner that Melchizedek blessed Abraham with food and wine… David also blesses the people with food and drink...
In this procession of worship once again everyone is singing and praising God and in the midst of the joyful noise...
King David had offerings made to God… signifying before all of Israel that Yahweh is Lord, Yahweh is the true king…
This act of affirmation and acknowledgement of Yahweh, borne out of fear of Yahweh, is what leads to David’s greatest blessing to come in chapter 7, when God blesses David with a never-ending dynasty.
All of this dancing of David by all of his might does not please everyone though…
And that shouldn’t be a surprise… True worship of God does not please the world, it never does, it never will.
And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!” And David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will celebrate before the Lord. I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes. But by the female servants of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor.” And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.
The Humility
The Humility
Michal, Saul’s daughter, despises the behavior of David… thinking it unbecoming of a king...
This attitude towards David is perhaps rooted in bitterness of being torn from her husband back to David
Or the fact that her household is no longer in power...
Or, and most likely, like her dad Saul, was not a faithful follower of Yahweh… in 1 Samuel we know she kept idols in her house as she used them to help David escape…
So, this attitude is a symptom of her lack of belief… and faith…
This attitude towards David leads the Lord to close her womb and the line of Saul would never again be a part of the royal house of Israel.
David rejects her accusations…
Saying his dancing was before Yahweh...
The One who put him on the throne over her dad...
David goes further by stating he is more than willing to make himself contemptible if need be, even if it brings him humiliation in her own eyes...
David would not let the world dictate to him, how he should worship God…
So What?
So What?
When looking at this text, in the spirit of Romans 15:4 what can we learn from something that was written long ago to encourage us to endure in hope?
4 For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope.
It is a dangerous thing to presume that as long as our intentions are well-meaning, then God will find them acceptable...
This presumption occurs....
When fear of God is lost within a community, or a church...
Perhaps due to familiarity… but ultimately rooted in two things… ignorance - lack of knowing His Word and arrogance - thinking we know enough
Let me provide an example
In regard to how we in America like to do church...
When we start thinking and acting we know best when it comes to building the church in America in the 21st century… and God doesn’t… we know the best ways to plant churches and to grow the crowds… to bring the people in… to connect with the world and draw people in…
We are essentially saying this, “Jesus, take a seat and let us build your church for you”… Matt. 16:18… Jesus will build His church… not us
“Preaching your word takes too much time… observing communion too much time…
“Singing the psalms too boring…
“Sermons filled with your Word instead of stories and jokes… not entertaining enough and too convicting...”
People don’t want to be here for more than an hour, we need to keep this short… but trust us, people are going to be moved by our services…
“And we’ll do the same thing with the youth ministry as well… except we’ll go further and tell the parents, don’t worry about discipling your kids, we’ll get them emotionally moved and in the midst of an emotional breakdown we’ll have them recite the prayer and they’ll be “secure” forever in the loving arms of Jesus… regardless of what they end up doing or whether or not they attend church regularly...
Don’t worry about it, Jesus… we know what the world wants and what the world needs… we know what we must do to get the world to like us, and love you.
You will still be praised, still be loved, and people will still say the “prayer”…
This is the height of arrogance… to act as God… to act as the head of the household… and not as the servants of which we are...
Paul Washer used an illustration I want to use...
Successful business magnate illustration
That’s what we do… when we say these things and act like this… this is in essence what David did in the first five verses of our text
He should have known better
Churches and pastors are responsible for deciding what God’s people need… nor deciding what pleases God.... God does that… God has done that...
Consider Two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, in Leviticus 10 they thought they could worship God how they saw fit… after all they were priests, the sons of Aaron… and what happened? God set them on fire and let them burn until they were fully consumed.
Now we must not mistake the kindness and patience of God or the absence of similar consequences today for tacit approval of our actions....
Our God is holy
… He does not need to repeat Himself when He has made Himself clear in His actions and in His Word… His kindness is for our repentance Romans 2:4
Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
Hope isn’t perfect… we have work to do… and I’ll share with you one way I am praying we will eventually correct… Nate, doesn’t know this yet, but he’s about to… we need to be singing the Psalms…
But it’s not just the church… I mention the church first and foremost b/c you’re a part of it...
You need to be equipped and aware of how the church is suppose to act
One, to keep me accountable
And two, to keep your kids, loved ones, and others, accountable for the churches and ministries of which they partake...
Do not stand by when they are being led by blinded men or women who are leading them to Hell…
Love them by sharing the truth with them.
And this is where it gets personal for us in our own walk...
If the church considers the teachings of Scripture to be optional… or to think it can act with liberty in areas in which God does not grant liberty, then why cannot the believer act in a similar manner?
If communion is optional and not that important… or baptism for that matter...
Then why do we need to live a holy life? Or, when we do have communion why do we need to confess our sins and offenses?
If the church can act recklessly, and hold to a reckless theology of God and still be loved by God… can’t I?
You see where this lack of fear and reverence leads?
We can take this train all the way down the depths of human depravity...
But there are consequences of this… this apathy, this arrogance of the Lord’s Table is what Paul rebuked the Corinthians about… and even said that God made them sick and they died… because they were ignorant and arrogant… they treated what was holy in an unholy manner, just as Uzzah did with the Ark...
But we must not act as David did during those 3 months… when he no longer desired to bring the Ark to Jerusalem....
When we no longer desire Communion… a gift given to us to share in His presence and be reminded of His goodness… when we no longer desire to observe it... we no longer desire God…
Because if we do not desire to be obedient to His teachings we don’t desire Him.
The same goes with baptism… no one who claims to be in Christ can say with a clear conscience they have a good reason not to get baptized… only the heathen, the pagan, the non-believer can say such a thing and sleep at night.
This is the thing though… when we fear God as we ought, with the filial fear and seek to please Him according to His Word… as David was reminded of when God blessed the house of Obed-edom… then our worship becomes deeper...
B/c as that fear leads to obedience… we please the Father… and as we please the Father we are blessed by Him because that is how we enter into His presence…
And we talked about the beauty of His presence last week and how in His presence it is where we find peace, where we find unending joy...
So, let us not be arrogant, let us not be ignorant...
Let us bathe, humbly, in His Word…
Let us, as Paul encourages us to in Philippians 2:12, work out our salvation with fear and trembling… not a servile fear that leads to legalism… but a filial fear that desires not to displease our Holy Father… but to please Him, and Him alone…
And do it together… let us read Philippians 2:12-16 paying particular attention to verse 12, and verses 15-16
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.
In holding fast to the Word of life… let us now come to His table… unashamed… but humbled… without worry or carry for what the world might think...