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

Uzzah and the Ark

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 6:12-15

12 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.
13 And when those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal.
14 And David danced before the LORD with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod.
15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn.

In our previous post, we saw Uzzah struck down for what seemed to be a healthy concern for the Ark. After all, it seemed he was only trying to protect the Ark from falling correct? We discussed the viewpoint of men and of God in that story, and realized that we too often default to a natural, man centered way of thinking, without considering the One who actually had given directions on how to relate to the Ark.

Yes Uzzah died, but it was an act of mercy from the Lord, and a reestablishment of the Holiness of God for a people who had ignored Him far too long. Consider my ramblings in Life of David – 37.01

For this mornings post, we are dealing with David continuing to retrieve the Ark for his capital city. After the death of Uzzah, it became increasingly apparent this Ark was not to be dealt with in a haphazard, frivolous way, and as time was needed to recover from this tragedy, and to consider options to retrieve the Ark without further deaths, David stored the Ark in the house of Obed-edom, the Gittite.

What? Who in tarnation is Obed-Edom? And what is a Gittite? Obed-edom was a Philistine, a man from the very same city as Goliath, David’s first arch enemy.

Ok, so the Israelites saw the Ark strike out at Uzzah, and then had Obed-Edom, a Philistine, store the Ark. That must have taken some serious negotiating, but Obed-edom took the Ark, and experienced three months of blessing! But Obed-edom was a dirty gentile, an enemy of the nation of Israel, and had no claim to the covenant! But he was blessed, and all the country side heard of it.

David also heard of it and was ready to try again, but this time with knowledge! David had men, presumably priests of the line of Kohath as commanded in the Law, carry the Ark, transporting the Ark to Jerusalem. A sacrifice was offered up after the first 6 steps of the priests. No death. Nothing tragic. Things appeared to be acceptable to God regarding the Ark, and it appeared David would have success!

We see in this instance a bit of the character of David, the desire and single heartedness of David in relation to his worship of God. He wore a linen ephod, not the kings robes, signifying a simplicity before the Lord on David’s part. He was not in full regal cloth, but a simple covering, signifying his standing before the Lord.

He also danced with fervor before the Ark, acknowledging the mercy of God in the work of bringing the Ark to Jerusalem. As a matter of fact, the entire nation joined in the celebration.

The nation was on the right path again, and God was being honored. Good times were coming to the nation, and the king would continue to be established in his kingdom. Yes – nothing could go wrong now! Every step of the Kohathite priest’s coming closer to Jerusalem meant more and more power for the king. Even as the Ark was approaching, the excitement was growing, but I need to ask a final question.

Why did the Ark need to be in Jerusalem?

Had there been instruction from Moses, or any prophet of God, as to the resting place for the Ark. I have always assumed it was to be in Jerusalem, but have had no success in finding that direction in the Word. Was God, in the representation of the Ark, happy to be with His people in the countryside? If Obed-edom taught us anything, it seems God was pleased to reside with a dirty gentile Philistine. Amazing! Do we sense that God “just couldn’t wait” to settle into Jerusalem? Who was driving this transporting of the Ark? God or David?

It seems that as a people of God, we want to control God, and want to isolate Him to a location, even to a building. Of course, for the Israelites, this was a temptation too easy to accept, since the Ark rightfully was the focus point for the nation of Israel to relate to. Yes, the Ark was central in the worship of God for the nation, yet for hundreds of years it had been in the wilderness, and prior to that, had been used as a lucky talisman to win a battle against the Philistines. That didn’t turn out to well!

David was seeking to honor God in his life as the king, and in doing so, the nation would be lifted to heights it had never experienced. But the nation may never quite get past the thought that the Ark was God.

We too may fall into the same trap of thinking that God is somehow restricted to a region, even a building. We tend to behave better when in certain buildings, thinking that God “resides” there. Let us remember that God is the God who is always present, with us in the darkest of days, with us as we go to work and with us as we lay our head down at night. With us as we remember Him, and with us as we forget Him.

The God whom the Israelites worshipped was a God who communicated to them through the Ark at specific times, and was represented by the Ark for times of worship, but their God was much more than the golden box that was called the Ark. And understanding the human hearts penchant for idol worship, the Ark was never intended to be an object to be worshipped!

The Ark represented a God that was far greater than they (or we) can understand. Even today, as believers who confess the omnipresence of our God, we tend to restrict Him to a building down the road, a building with chairs and a pulpit.

Let’s not get confused. The building is nothing. It is God who we are to worship, even as we go to work, or lay our head down for the night.

He is God, and we adore Him.

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