David Becomes King

(We are currently in a series on the life of David at Chelsea Village. As I’ve written before I attempt to write a full manuscript of my sermon before preaching. Throughout this series I’ll be posting some of the sermons I think will be helpful. If you would rather listen to the sermon, you can find it here.)

Ten years ago I first read a book by Neil Postman titled Amusing Ourselves to Death. Written in the days before social media, Postman analyzes what happens when politics, journalism, education, and religion are driven by the need for people to be entertained. In his introduction, he talks about the book 1984 by George Orwell. Dominated by the ever-present “Big Brother,” Orwell writes about a future where an external force polices everything we do including our thoughts. Postman writes about this, “We were keeping our eye on 1984. When the year came and the prophecy didn’t, thoughtful Americans sang softly in praise of themselves. The roots of liberal democracy had held. Wherever else the terror had happened, we, at least, had not been visited by Orwellian nightmares. But we had forgotten that alongside Orwell’s dark vision, there was another – slightly older, slightly less well known, equally chilling: Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. Contrary to common belief even among the educated, Huxley and Orwell did not prophesy the same thing. Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think.

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny ‘failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions’. In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us.”

The phrase I cannot get out of my head from Postman is that those who are ever alert to oppose tyranny, “failed to take into account man’s almost infinite appetite for distractions.” We have become so occupied with our distractions that we are in danger of losing the capacity to live for something bigger than ourselves. We cannot hold thoughts for long periods of time, we find ways to distract ourselves from our pain rather than dealing with it, and in the process lose the drive to make great sacrifices for important things because our passions cannot get sufficiently aroused.

The implications for worship become obvious in a day like this. Now I’m not just talking about our worship gatherings, where one of the chief pieces of advice people are giving today is to make sure you have no awkward silence during your transitions because you lose people, but also your every day worship. Romans 12:1 says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” When we think about worship this should be the first thing that comes to our minds. The person who follows Christ is called to offer himself to God as a living sacrifice as an act of worship because of the mercy God has shown us in Christ. However when we spend our lives so distracted by trivialities that we never see anything bigger than ourselves, we don’t live a life of sacrificial worship. There’s nothing big enough for us to live for, and so there is definitely nothing worth dying for; or even to die to ourselves for.

And so today we want to talk about who God is for us in Christ and what he has done that is big enough to hold our attention and affection. I want us to see why God is big enough, great enough, and good enough for us to give our entire lives as an act of worship to him.

;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, 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 1and 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 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.
2 Samuel 6:12-23

Today we are going to fast forward a little in our study of the life of David. However in our fast forwarding we are going to ask a question which causes us to come back and see everything which led us to where we are. It’s kind of like the first episode of Breaking Bad where you have a guy driving an RV in his underwear and wearing a gas mask and you spend the rest of the episode figuring out what led to this incredible sequence.

We enter into a festive celebration. The ark of the Lord, which should have been in the tabernacle had been captured by the Philistines years earlier. Now David has been anointed King of all Israel and wants to bring the ark into the city he built around his stronghold where he hid from Saul. We see all of Israel out dancing, playing music, and worshipping before the Lord. Bringing the ark back into Israel is a huge deal for them because the ark led the way for them in the desert and led the way into the promised land. The ark symbolizes the presence of the Lord among them and is the place where the high priest makes the offering on the day of atonement. The return of the ark means they have a visible symbol of God’s presence among them and can reinstitute their proper worship and sacrifices.

David could not and did not want to hide his exuberance in worship.  He danced and sang, He brought out an offering and offered it in the presence of the people. He said a blessing over the people. He did not wear his royal robes and did not worship among the elite, but among the common people and servants. His wife Michal, whom the narrator continually refers to as the “daughter of Saul,” excoriates David for his behavior in front of the people. She thought he should keep a certain amount of decorum since he is the king, especially since he is in front of the common people. Instead David reminds her that the people are not his audience. He worshipped “before the Lord” and his anointing as the King and the resulting blessing cause him to worship before the Lord.

David could not hide the joy he had before the Lord and it led him to great enthusiasm. Now I am not advocating that worship has to express itself a certain way for it to be joyful and whole hearted, at the same time we must ask ourselves why the Lord gets our proper decorum and amusements get our unbridled enthusiasm. What truly lights our fire and makes us excited? What truly brings me joy? Are we cold about the most important things in the world while having unconfined passion about things which are relatively trivial?

If you were here last week you’ve go to be wondering how on earth we got here. Last week we read about David hiding from Saul in a cave. Samuel anointed David and set him apart to be the King, but Saul was still alive and he was still the King. He hunted David high and low so he could kill him and be rid of this pretender to the throne. The intervening chapters between the cave and the arrival of the ark give us three overwhelming reasons David was worshipping before the Lord and why we should worship him with our whole hearts as well.

He Providentially Protects His People

David needed to hide from Saul and went into the land of the Philistines. In case you have forgotten, Goliath was a Philistine. Israel had been at war with the Philistines off and on for years. Saul is trying to kill him so he goes and hides among the people he went to war with earlier. This is the equivalent of hiding from a bear in a snake’s den. But the Lord watches after David while he is living in the land of the Philistines.

In one particularly tense scene it appears David and his friends will fight with the Philistines against Israel. The commander of the Philistine army has heard the “Saul has killed his thousands and David his tens of thousands” song and refuses to allow David to fight. While they were gone the Amalakites came and ransacked the city of Ziklag where David and his men had been living. They took David’s wives captive and looted the possessions of every person in the city. When David gets back and sees what happened, he inquires of the Lord what he should do. The Lord tells him he will give the Amalakites into his hands so he goes up against them and defeats them. They get back David’s wives and their possessions.

In the meantime Saul did not know what would happen in the war with the Philistines, so he disguised himself and went to a medium. He had her conjure up the spirit of Samuel so he could ask him what to do. Samuel told him the Lord had taken his kingdom and given it to David. This is exactly what happens at the end of 1 Samuel as the Philistines go to war with Israel. They come upon Saul and his sons. They kill three of his sons, including Jonathan, and Saul is wounded by archers. Saul falls on his own sword so he will not be killed by the Philistines in battle. The Philistines discover the dead body of Saul and cut off his head. Then they put his armor in the temple of their god and put the bodies of Saul and his sons on display. Some of Israel is able to steal their bodies and bury their bones.

One thing is certain at the end of 1 Samuel, Saul is now dead and David is alive. David survived a battle against Goliath and a war against the Philistines. Then the Lord preserved him as Saul cornered him on multiple occasions and then he lived among the Philistines. The Lord preserved David in his providence.

I think we need to recognize today that we are not the victims of random circumstances in our lives. We tend to only see human events and human actions, but we forget quickly the invisible hand who is guiding all of history and is guiding us as well. But what does Scripture say to us? “And for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Here’s my question, how can we be sure God is working all things together for good if he is not guiding the world by his providential hand? If he has good intentions but cannot do anything, why should we trust him? So here’s the good news, we can trust him because he guides all things by his hand. Plus, he’s not just powerful; he’s also good. He is all powerful and he loves his people, so we can entrust ourselves to him.

This means when we walk through the most horrific places we can walk we can continue to worship and live for him. Do we not have a great biblical example of this? Job loses all of his children and all of his things on the same day. He goes from wealthy with ten children to broke with no children. What does he say though? “The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” He falls to the ground and worships the Lord. The hardest thing for us to wrestle with is knowing that we are where we are by the providence of God and he will work all things together for our good and will use our situations for his glory. Let us trust him and live for him even in the worst pain because he has us here in his manifold goodness and wisdom.

He Faithfully Keeps His Promises

David hears of the death of Saul and Jonathan from an Amalekite who claims he killed them. He obviously thinks David will reward him for this, instead David has him put to death. David refused to put his hands on the King and he could not take the idea of him being killed by someone from outside Israel. David mourns over Saul and Jonathan.

The tribe of Judah made David their king, but this is only one of eleven tribes. Saul’s son Ish-bosheth became king of the other eleven tribes. Now we have another conflict for David and another obstacle to what God promised him would happen. The Lord promised that David would be the King of Israel and that is no closer to happening even though Saul is dead. David and Saul’s house engage in a long war over the Kingship.

Abner was fighting with Saul’s son and made himself strong. However he got into an argument with Ish-bosheth over one of Saul’s concubines. Abner told Ish-bosheth he would make sure what the Lord promised David would come to pass and he would make it happen. He sent messengers to David to negotiate an agreement and David asked for his wife Michal who Saul had given to another man. They brought her back to David and then one of David’s commanders named Joab came back. He hated Abner because he had killed his brother. Joab called Abner out to speak in private and killed him. David called a curse on Joab’s house, but Ish-bosheth had lost his will to fight when he heard about the death of Abner. Two of his captains betrayed him and killed him while he was lying in his own bed after they stabbed him in the stomach to start things off. They cut off his head and brought it to David who had them executed.

While none of these turns of events were ultimately positive or good, the Lord used these things to make David the King. He was anointed King of Israel and came into Jerusalem to reign as King. The promise had been made many years before and now David was finally seeing the fulfillment.

One of the major hurdles we run into in worship is wondering if the Lord is going to keep his promises. The Bible records the Lord being faithful to his promises time and time again. Think about Noah. He tells Noah to build an ark because he is going to flood the world. Noah begins building an ark and finally it rains. It rains forty days and nights and the entire earth is flooded. Then everything turns in the narrative of Noah when the writer says “and God remembered Noah.” At this point the waters begin to recede. What happened? Had the Lord forgotten about Noah and then he remembered all of a sudden? The word “remembered” has to do with the Lord’s active faithfulness to his promises.

The problem we have with Lord’s promises are two-fold. First we get impatient because we tend forget that he does not work on the same time table that we do. We grow in anxiety not knowing the big picture of what he is doing. He is more concerned about what is happening in you than he is with your circumstances working out the way you want them to. He wisely knows the work that has to happen in our hearts takes time. Also we too often think God’s promises have to do with my constant promotion. We have hit the last quarter of 2015 and everyone will be thinking about 2016. When you think about next year you will think about having more money, more success, and weighing less than you did this year. You never look at the next year and think, “boy this is the year all hell is going to rain down on me.” Here is what you can be confident about, if today, tomorrow, or next year it seems as if everything is falling apart you can rely on his promises. You can know he is working all things together for good. You can know he will never leave you nor forsake you. You can know your sufferings are working in you an eternal weight of glory. Trust him. Believe his promises and know that their taking longer than you think they should does not affect their truthfulness one iota.

Can’t you give your life to someone who is so faithful in his promises and faithful to you? There is a quote I love from George Muller. He ran an orphanage and ran it completely on faith. He rose every morning to meditate on Scripture and pray. His example of faith is one of the most stirring things I have ever read. He once said, “if the Lord fails me at this time, it will be the first time.” He never fails us, never turns on us, and never does anything that is not for our greatest good. How can we not give our whole selves to him in view of his faithfulness?

He Generously Gives His Peace

The Philistines aren’t done with David yet. You know how a team will test a new cornerback when the starter gets hurt? This is what the Philistines do to David. They come after him and he flees to the stronghold. He inquires of the Lord who tells him he will give the Philistines into his hands. David pursues them and strikes them down.

That is why we read at the beginning of chapter 7 that the Lord gave him rest from his enemies. Israel could not remember the last time they were able to rest in the land. Then when you think about David, he has spent his entire adult life running and fighting. Now he has rest and he has peace.

This is what the Lord does for us in the middle of our spiritual warfare. He gives peace and rest to his people. First we remember that he is a place of rest. Hebrews 4 tells us we can rest from our works and rest in him. You can stop struggling and thinking you have to pay God off. You do not have to pay God off and you do not need to pull him over into your favor. Being a Christian means we stop trying to be good enough. We own the fact that we have sinned and have a lot of ugly and we trust in Christ who perfectly obeyed the law on our behalf and then died and was raised for us. Rest in the finished work of Christ for you today. Revel in knowing you are freely forgiven, freely accepted, and freely loved. Worship knowing “I’m a son of God and love is my freedom. I can ask anything of my father the King. I’m an heir, I’m adopted, and my brother is Jesus. I’m a son of God and my soul is at peace.”

Jesus also brings us temporal peace because he has purchased our invitation into the throne room of God to pray. I know we talk about this a lot, but we must develop the instinct to pray. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything with prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” When we are weighed down, where do we turn?  Do you see the offer here? Bring God your anxieties and he gives his peace. Why would we distract ourselves from our anxieties or continue to carry them around when he offers us peace. Could it be that we are like the little boy that C.S. Lewis says would continue to make mud pies in the slums because we cannot understand the offer of a holiday at the sea? For the Christian we have peace with God through Christ and we can experience peace each day.

I cannot help but go back to the picture of David dancing before the Lord as the ark comes into the city. Here comes the box which symbolizes the Lord’s presence and the place on which they offer sacrifices. How could he not celebrate? Nine hundred years later the presence of God would come into Jerusalem again, but this time it would be in the person of God’s Son. He would ride into the city on a donkey. He would come not to wear a crown of gold but a crown of thorns when he would give up his life for us. There would be no more offerings of bulls and goats on the ark of the covenant because Jesus would offer his own blood to the Father in heaven. If David had unrestrained joy over seeing a box which was a symbol of the Lord’s presence, how much more should we worship because we now have the reality this box pointed to? We have Christ who in the providence of God gave his life in fulfillment of God’s promises so that we might have peace with God. How much more should we give him not only our unrestrained joy, but our whole lives?

Related Posts:
“David and Saul”
“David and Jonathan”

For Further Reading:
2 Samuel by Dale Ralph Davis
After God’s Own Heart by Mark J. Boda