Considering the Bible

The Lord’s Covenant with David

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

4 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan,
5 “Go and tell my servant David, ‘Thus says the LORD: Would you build me a house to dwell in?
6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling.
7 In all places where I have moved with all the people of Israel, did I speak a word with any of the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?”‘

In our last post on this passage, we spoke of how illogical God’s will may appear to us. Some things are so obviously right to do in our thinking that prayer and seeking God’s will seems to be unnecessary. I can’t tell you how often I have fallen into this erroneous thinking.

Our passage this morning speak of how David and Nathan, both men of God, never considered God’s silence in His desire for a “great house” to reside in. Although a difficult topic to enter into, (for one can sometimes prove anything out of a vacumm), it may be good to consider the silence of God regarding His “residence amongst men”

Now, for a little background chronology, the Lord refers to the time between bringing the people up out of Egypt up to David’s day, and per many timelines, we are looking at at least 4 centuries. The Lord had four hundred years to provide notification, and instructions on building a permanent structure in Jerusalem for His house. Not to labor the point too much but that is approximately 15,000 days to provide instructions.

Moses was never instructed. The Judges were never instructed. Prophets were never instructed. Priest’s were never instructed. Up till the peace of David’s kingdom, no one considered this possibility. David was never instructed. Nathan was never instructed. No one was told to build God a temple, a fixed building in a certain location.

But Moses was instructed that to make an altar of hewn stone was to have a polluted altar.

Exodus 20:25 If you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it you profane it.

As an aside, how many hewn stones would be required for Solomon’s temple in the future?

Aside from that, David’s good intentions were corrected, and as we will see in the next segment of this passage, God provided a covenant with David that spoke of the kingdom of God, and David’s place in this Kingdom. His Son would be King forever, and though David may have understood that to be Solomon, we know better.

But for our passage this morning, let us remember that the silence of God may be instructive for our lives also. We sometimes want to add religiosity to our lives that has never been commanded upon us from on high.

To consider the silence of God for our own lives demands a maturity and a commitment to the will of God prior to addressing this topic. Coming to a clear understanding of the impact the silence of God has on our lives may surely be difficult, time consuming and spiritually dangerous, for you see, it may easily be abused for selfish and fleshly reasons. And yet the Lord reminds these two men of His silence and what that was to mean to them.

In relation to this very passage, where might the silence of God be found helpful in relation to our own methods of worship, congregating and living the community of Christ in our culture?

Questions concerning the silence of God relating to His current desire for His Temple that may come to mind may include.

• Instructions regarding the need of dedicated buildings for church
• Instructions for the order of church services
• Instructions for the extent of church employment
• Instructions for provisions within the church body
• Instructions to support it’s leadership

There may be more silence regarding the church that I have not touched on, and there may be various ways to address this silence. Yet, as we seek to honor the Lord, we should consider the silence of God as a viable method of understanding God’s priorities for His people.

The Lord reminded David and Nathan of His silence, and even in this silence, God redirected His king to the future reign of the greatest King, the One who is ruling even now!

May we listen to all He say’s (and doesn’t say!)

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

Come join us at Considering the Bible

The Lord’s Covenant with David

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

2 Samuel 7:1-17
1 Now when the king lived in his house and the LORD had given him rest from all his surrounding enemies,
2 the king said to Nathan the prophet, “See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.”
3 And Nathan said to the king, “Go, do all that is in your heart, for the LORD is with you.”

Assumptions. Even awesome kings and great prophets make assumptions.

David’s Assumptions

David assumed that since he was in a great palace/house and that there was nothing to do – he had been given rest from all his adversaries – that it was time to honor God, to express his thankful heart and to bring attention of the nation to their God by building Him a temple, instead of simply letting the God of all Creation dwell in a tent.

At first blush, this all appears to be most honorable on the part of David. Sure he had to build his own house first, and he couldn’t build a temple while at war with his neighbors. But now that things are settled down, and his authority and position is established with the nation, it is logical given the many times God has provided guidance, and miraculous victories, that His house within the nation becomes greater, bigger, shinier, flashier and oh so awesome. An impressive house for such an impressive God, in such an impressive kingdom!

Yes, for David this all made sense, and he talked about it to Nathan, the prophet of God, the man that would provide guidance from God in relation to decisions of national interest, and personal life choices for the king.

Nathan’s Assumptions

Nathan seemed quick to agree. After all, David had just experienced a run of successes that proved that the Lord was with him. With a track record like David’s, and the idea of honoring God being presented to him, it must have seemed like a slam dunk type of question.

Get at it David. Your a winner and your idea is such a God honoring idea! How could this backfire, or displease God?

Well, as you may know, there was one other person that wanted to be involved in this decision. In our next post, we will see that making assumptions about God’s will can bring about some surprising responses from God.

For today’s passage, it is good to remember that God’s will is many times completely opposite to logical reasoning.

For instance, an easy example of God’s will being opposed to logical thinking is that of turning the other cheek.

If Bobby slaps me around, either physically, or emotionally, or even spiritually, it only makes sense that I provide a response in like kind. Logically, if I do not respond in like kind, this shows weakness, and may invite more violent actions against me. Of course, the Lord’s command was to provide another cheek, or to carry a load another mile.

That is even crazier!

Until you win your enemy through acts of sacrificial love. But you see, that is not the thinking of the world! That is not logical, for there is no satisfaction for myself in getting retribution, nor is there any guarantee that my act of self sacrifice will win my enemy over. It may very well open the door for greater abuse.

My assumptions of using logical reasoning to find God’s will is faulty at best. Many believers may think it wise to take the world’s logic, and patch God’s name to it to justify their actions, but this does no honor to the God we say we worship.

The Word and the Spirit provide guidance, and we do well if we refer to the sometimes illogical call of God to lay our lives down in a self sacrificial manner to honor Him.

Jesus did. And boy, did He ever honor God!

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

Come join us at Considering the Bible

David and Michal

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

2 Samuel 6:20-23

20 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!”
21 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.
22 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.”
23 And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.

There are two types of wives. The type I got and the bad type. David had a bad one.

Mical couldn’t wait to attack the king. David was in a great mood, wanting to bless his household, and Micah comes charging out to meet him. Wow, I can just imagine her leaving her ivory tower, all prissy and proud, coming down to tell old David off!

And what was her big complaint? She got pretty specific, whining about how David uncovered himself before his servants female servants. Micah – me thinks you reveal too much!

Is that really the problem? Could she be honestly concerned with his reputation? I would suggest that if a wife comes out in public defaming her husband that it is not his honor she is concerned about. She just dishonored him in public! The king of Israel! Other kings would send her away, banish her to a lonely room ’til her death.

I suppose something else is going on here. She isn’t worried about his honor, but his attention. Follow me on this thinking.

Mical, being David’s first wife, was accustomed to competition for David’s attention. You see, after her marriage to David, he went out and acquired at least 6 more wives by the time of this conflict with David. I think her concern over David’s honor was simply a cover for a problem she was struggling with, and her mentioning David’s servants female servants may be tipping her hand. How could David’s servants female servants become an issue for Michal, other than that they were female! Her jealousy, which seems obvious was covered over by a concern for David’s honor. Nice try Michal, but the jig is up!

Peter may have been thinking of Mical when he spoke of using a cover up for evil.

1 Peter 2:16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.

Of course Michal had no desire to be a servant of God, but all the more instructive for us who seek to serve God to realize that cover ups are obvious to all but ourselves. Covering for sin simply cover it over for our eyes, no one elses!

It seems the King above decided to leave her childless. David though, seemed to defend himself, and speak of the honor these female servant would freely offer the the king. Unlike his wife, who owed him honor and respect.

In this act of defiance, she showed her heart of jealousy, and became a mother to no one. So sad, for she had advantage that few women in Israel experienced, and she threw it all away because she was insecure in her relationship with her husband.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

Come join us at Considering the Bible

David and Michal

As many who have followed me for a bit, I have fallen into the Psalms, and I can’t get up! (As if I would want to.) The Psalms are a majestic collection of poetry, of heart felt human experiences that constantly challenge me in my own frail attempt to follow the true King. As many of the Psalms are written by David, my study on the Psalms has spurred me on to looking at the life of David, is the main contributor to this book, and to follow the victories and tragedies of the shepherd King of Israel.

Many times in the narrative, we will see the Lord Jesus, imperfectly, yet a reflection of His spirit in a man with weaknesses.

2 Samuel 6:16-19
16 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.
17 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.
18 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
19 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.

Michal, David’s first wife, the youngest daughter of Saul didn’t join David in this effort to bring the Ark of the Lord back to the center of Israel’s public life.

This effort to retrieve the Ark of the Lord appears to be of no real importance to her, for she remaining in the Kings house during this celebration. Of course, David may have instructed her to stay back, for fear of another judgement falling on some that are near the ark, but that seems highly unlikely. Her staying back, while all of Israel was joining in on the festivities and celebration seems to tell us a bit about this lady.

First, she had no desire to be involved with the God of Israel. We would do well to remember that Michal was raised in a family that was led by a man who suffered from fits of insanity. He was driven by jealousy, and at least once, resorted to the guidance of a witch. He abandoned God years before, and his life reflected that of a man out of control.

Secondly, she was better than the rest of Israel. I speak this sarcastically, in that she did not join David amongst the people of Israel. It is instructive to note that the text speaks of “the people”, “the whole multitude of Israel” and “all the people”. Also the text speaks of her looking out on the procession, and especially on David. This term often speaks of looking down, or looking out and down, or to look down on. Now it may reflect the notion that she was simply physically on a second floor, or a raised structure, but due to her inner reaction, I am seeing a self loving, privileged woman in Michal.

She had no desire to be with the God of Israel, and no desire to be amongst the “riff raff”, those ordinary people. She seemed to like being away from others.

It turns out she got what she wanted, for she died as a lonely childless woman.

David, on the other hand was in the midst of the procession, having removed his royal clothing, dancing and leaping before the Lord. After the procession had completed the safe transport of the Ark t the Temple, David offered offerings to the Lord.

I assume this is not David directly making the offerings, as this action was the sole responsibility of the priests. His part in the offerings was to supply the offerings. Nevertheless, the celebration centered on two types of offerings.

Burnt Offerings

The burnt offering is the sacrifice of a complete, unblemished male animal, totally burned on the altar. Prior to the consumption of the fire, the animal was to be skinned, with the hide given to the priests. The sacrifice represented the complete offering to God for atonement for sin, to satisfy God’s wrath, and a total surrender to the will of God.

This is a monumental action on the part of David and all of Israel, for this burnt sacrifice had not been offered for decades by the nation. To bring the Ark back into the tent meant all other actions associated with the worship of God was available to the people, and this lapse in worship by the nation needed to be confessed before the Lord.

Peace Offerings

The peace offering was an sacrifice that represented fellowship between the Lord, His priest’s and the people. The offering represented a reconciliation between the people and the Lord as they shared in the consumption of the offering. Although there were variations on the peace offering, for David to take part in this offering speaks of his understanding that the nation was in good standing with the Lord, that the sacrifice of the burnt offering had been accepted.

Out of this period of reconciliation to the Lord came a celebration of blessing on the people. Food was distributed to the people of Israel, and there was much rejoicing.

It was a fantastic day of rejoicing and reconciliation. David must have been on top of the world. But as it is with so many spiritual high times in our lives, the enemy will immediately seek to tear us down with those he can influence. And as he went home, David would have to meet up with Michal, a self loving privileged woman.

It is stories such as this one that highlight the great blessing of a family being one in worship, one in allegiance and one in dedication to the Father of the Lord Jesus.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion. If you know someone this blog may bless (or challenge), send them a link, so they may join us in our discussion.

Come join us at Considering the Bible