2 Samuel 6:1-23

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

2 Samuel 6 · chapter mention

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