Introduction:
A. I love the old story of the man who bought a horse from the preacher.
1. The preacher told the man that it was a great old horse, but it had a few quirks.
2. The most important thing to remember is that the horse won’t go unless you say, “Praise the Lord,” and the horse won’t stop unless you say, “Amen.”
3. The new owner said, “That is clear enough, it shouldn’t be a problem. All I have to do is say ‘Praise the Lord’ and he will go, and say ‘Amen’ and he will stop.”
4. So the new owner paid the money, got on the horse, said “Praise the Lord,” and off they rode.
5. The horse galloped through the countryside and everything was going great until the horse started heading for a cliff.
6. Then it struck the new owner that he couldn’t remember how to make the horse stop.
7. Finally, at the very last second, he remembered what to say, and he hollered, “Amen!”
8. The horse came to an abrupt stop right at the edge of the cliff.
9. The new owner sat back, wiped his brow, looked toward heaven and said, “Praise the Lord!”
B. We all make our share of mistakes and some of the lessons we learn, we have to learn the hard way.
1. Today we are going to witness how King David learns a lesson the hard way.
2. It is a lesson that God’s people have had to learn in every generation, including our own.
3. But before we get to the lesson, let’s look at the story.
I. The Story
A. Last week we learned how David became the king of all of Israel in God’s good time.
1. It was 7 ½ years after Saul’s death before David became king of the entire nation.
2. God was working through David and several important things were accomplished early in David’s reign as king.
a. First of all, David united the people of Israel despite their deep divisions.
b. Second, David established a new capital in Jerusalem.
c. Third, David demonstrated his remarkable military leadership as he and his armies routed the Philistines.
3. As a sense of power and peace began to settle on David and Israel, David recognized the terrible truth that for nearly seventy years Israel had seriously neglected her spiritual life.
4. The Ark of the Lord had been almost forgotten.
5. The priesthood had been slaughtered by Saul.
6. And the people of God, like so many of the so-called Christian countries of the 20th century, were becoming more and more pagan.
B. With the help of his God, David was determined to change all this.
1. David was sure that once again, as in the days of Moses and Joshua, and the early days of Samuel, he could provide the powerful, personal leadership that would challenge Israel to seek God and serve Him in humble obedience.
2. To initiate this dramatic change, he decided that the Ark of the Lord should be brought up to Jerusalem and be put in a prominent place in the capital city.
C. The Ark of the Lord was Israel’s national treasure and its most sacred object.
1. From the tremendous days during which God had met with Moses on the burning, smoking summit of Sinai where He gave Moses the Law, the Ark carried enormous significance.
2. The Ark denoted the very presence of God as the glory of the Lord rested on the Ark.
3. And the Ark was the place of pardon and peace where the Almighty met with men at the sacred mercy seat.
4. The Ark was to be kept in the Tabernacle, in the Most Holy Place, a curtained-off location where only the High Priest would enter once a year on the Day of Atonement.
5. The Ark was so important to the Lord that He gave Moses very specific details of how to build it, what was to be in it, where it was to sit, and how it was to be transported.
D. Now is a good time to pause and describe a little more about the Ark of the Covenant.
1. We must not make the mistake of thinking that the Ark of the Covenant was like Noah’s Ark.
2. The word “ark” simply means a “box” or “chest.”
3. Noah’s Ark was a huge floating, barge-like box, whereas the Ark of the Covenant was a relatively small chest made of wood, rectangular in shape.
4. The dimensions of the Ark were about 3 ¾ feet long, and 2 ¼ feet wide and high, about the size of the average coffee table.
5. The Ark was gold-plated inside and out with a decorative gold border around it, forming a rim.
6. Another significant part of the Ark was its cover.
a. The cover perfectly matched the dimensions of the chest.
b. At either end of the cover was a hammered gold cherubim (the word means “angel”).
c. These golden angels were facing each other, with wings outstretched over the mercy seat.
7. Inside the Ark were three important objects: a golden jar containing manna from the wilderness, Aaron’s ancient rod, and the stone tablets of the Law.
8. At the base of each of the four corners of the Ark was fixed a ring of gold, and through these rings were slipped gold-plated poles by which the chest was to be carried.
9. No human hand was to touch the Ark, and the only people allowed to carry the Ark by the poles were the Levites and they were to carry the Ark by the poles on their shoulders.
E. Now where had the Ark of the Covenant been all these years? (The answer is found in 1 Sam. 4-7)
1. Well, you might recall, way back when Eli was Israel’s priest, Israel had gone to battle against the Philistines and had taken the Ark with them into battle.
2. The Israelites were defeated that day, Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died, the Ark was captured by the Philistines, and when the news came to Eli, he fell backward off his chair and died.
3. What happened next truly shows that our God is the Almighty.
4. The Philistines took the Ark of the Lord and placed it in Dagon’s temple and set it beside the statue of Dagon.
5. Then when the Philistines came into Dagon’s temple they found the statue of Dagon had fallen on its face on the ground before the Ark of the Lord and Dagon’s head and hands were broken off.
6. Then the hand of the Lord grew heavy on the people of Ashdon where Dagon’s temple stood and they were afflicted with tumors.
7. When the people of Ashdon recognized what was happening they decided that the Ark of the Lord must not stay with them.
8. So they decided to move it to Gath, but then the hand of the Lord was against that city and the people there were in great panic.
9. Then they tried to send the Ark to the people of Ekron, but the people there reacted in panic because tumors and death broke out on the people.
10. So it was decided that the Ark of God should be sent back to the people of Israel.
11. The Philistines took a new cart and hooked two cows to it that had never been yoked, but that had just birthed calves.
12. They reasoned that a cow would have to go against all her motherly instincts to leave her nursing calf, and that only God could cause that to happen.
13. Along with the Ark they also placed on the cart the gold objects they were sending as a guilt offering.
14. When they set the cows to pulling the cart they watched to see where the cows would go. If the cows went directly to the territory of the Israelites, then they would know that the God of Israel had done this.
15. The Bible says: Then the cows went straight up toward Beth Shemesh, keeping on the road and lowing all the way; they did not turn to the right or to the left. The rulers of the Philistines followed them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh.
Now the people of Beth Shemesh were harvesting their wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they rejoiced at the sight. The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh, and there it stopped beside a large rock. The people chopped up the wood of the cart and sacrificed the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. The Levites took down the ark of the LORD, together with the chest containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. On that day the people of Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD. (1 Sam. 6:12-15)
16. As you can see on this map Beth Shemesh was about 10 miles south west of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is about 4 miles north of Bethlehem.
17. Tragically, some men of Beth Shemesh decided to look into the Ark and God struck 70 of them dead.
18. Because of that, they decided that the Ark needed be moved to another location.
19. The Bible says: Then they sent messengers to the people of Kiriath Jearim, saying, "The Philistines have returned the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up to your place." So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the LORD. They took it to Abinadab’s house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the LORD. (1 Sam. 6:21-7:1)
F. So this is where our story from 2 Samuel 6 begins.
1. The Bible says: David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark. They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals. (2 Samuel 6:1-5)
2. Now because it had been so long since the Ark had been moved, no doubt David and his contemporaries had forgotten about the very explicit instructions regarding its transportation.
3. Also, if they thought about it, the last time the Ark was moved the Philistines had sent it on a new cart, and that seemed to work out okay for them.
4. So everything seemed to being going along just fine for David and the 30,000 representatives from all over the nation.
5. As they got under way, the huge crowd was celebrating with all their might as the choir sang and the band played.
6. They were singing and playing, “Celebrate good times, come on.” They were having the time of their lives.
7. Israel had not experienced this kind of jubilation in 50 years, but then in an instant, everything changed.
G. The Bible says: When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God. (6:6,7)
1. As they were moving along, the oxen hit a rough spot in the road, like one of our winter potholes.
2. It looked for an instant as if the Ark would tip over and fall off the cart.
3. By impulse Uzzah reached out to steady the sacred chest and keep it from crashing to the ground.
4. It was a fatal move on his part. Instantly he fell dead.
5. This sudden, drastic event stilled all the people – it was a sobering moment for everyone.
6. How did David respond?
7. The Bible says: David was afraid of the LORD that day and said, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?” He was not willing to take the ark of the LORD to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the LORD blessed him and his entire household. (2 Sam. 6:9-11)
8. With deep soul-searching, David wondered if indeed he was worthy to have the Ark with him in Jerusalem.
9. In contrition of spirit, David ordered the Ark moved to the home of a Levite named Obed-Edom.
10. It was a wise decision because Obed-Edom was a Gittite, one of the descendants of the Kohathites who had been ordained of God so long ago to bear the Ark.
11. While the Ark was there for 3 months, the Lord brought unusual blessing and benefits to Obed-Edom and his family. I’m sure they would have been glad to see the Ark remain in their home!
H. So what did David do? He went home and did his homework.
1. David likely assigned some of his counselors to investigate what the Law said about the Ark and how to handle it.
2. The parallel passage in 1 Chronicles gives us insight to what David learned.
3. The Bible says: Then David summoned Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab the Levites. He said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are to consecrate yourselves and bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the LORD our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way.” So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves in order to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel. And the Levites carried the ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD. (1 Chronicles 15:11-15) David had learned the lesson the hard way!
4. Now back to our story in 2 Samuel 6 we read,: Now King David was told, “The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets. (2 Samuel 6:12-15)
5. David wrote an amazing Psalm for the occasion. The beginning of it goes like this:
“Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.
Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
O descendants of Israel his servant, O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.
He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded, for a thousand generations…”
6. What an Awesome and Amazing God we serve!!!! (1 Chronicles 16:8-15)
II. The Application:
A. Although there are many lessons we can learn from this chapter, I only want us to focus on one.
1. The primary and enduring lesson that David learned and that we must learn is this – the commands of the Lord are to be obeyed.
B. When David decided to bring the Ark to Jerusalem, he was not doing something wrong.
1. He was indeed doing the right thing.
2. He had the best of intentions and perhaps the loftiest of motives.
3. But the problem was – he was doing it the wrong way.
4. What he did was diametrically opposed to God’s directions.
5. The lesson to be learned is that we must follow God’s directions, right?
6. We usually get into trouble when we don’t follow the directions!
C. We pragmatic, arrogant, modern Americans try to tell ourselves – the Lord can’t be that concerned about the details, right? WRONG!
1. Let me tell you something…If the Lord cared enough to write it and cared enough to preserve it, then He cares enough that we obey it!
2. We don’t want to have to mess with the poles and the ringlets. We don’t want to take the time to get the poles, and go through the trouble of carrying the thing on our shoulders.
3. It is a whole lot easier just to use a cart, right? That’s what we tell ourselves.
4. The contemporary mindset says, “Don’t worry about those little details; God’s bigger than little golden ringlets.” But in truth, He is not.
5. God often puts our obedience to the test in the little things like a ringlet and a pole and a shoulder.
D. In so many ways, a lot of contemporary churches have fallen into this rut and are falling off this cliff.
1. They are consumer driven rather than Scripture driven.
2. They have chosen pagan, worldly ways to try to do God’s work.
3. They are employing the world’s techniques and technology in an effort to achieve spiritual results.
4. But we must be very careful to be sure that we do God’s work, in God’s way, according to God’s Word.
5. As a church we are committed to teaching and practicing only what God has commanded in His Word.
6. We are just Christians, practicing a biblical Christianity – not a Christianity based on the traditions of men.
E. In our modern culture, so many have disregarded what God has declared as truth and have replaced it with human wisdom.
1. Modern theologians argue that all roads lead to God. All religions are equal and are simply different ways to worship the same God.
2. By their reasoning, God becomes subject to religion instead of worshippers becoming subject to God.
3. In truth worship is meaningless unless truth is embraced and obeyed.
4. Jesus quoted Isaiah who said, “They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules made by man.” (Mt. 15:9)
F. The very best proof of our love for the Lord is our obedience to His commands…nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.
1. That’s what the apostle John wrote: This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome… (1 Jn. 5:2,3)
2. Jesus himself said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (Jn. 14:15)
3. Jesus also said “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (Jn. 8:31,32)
4. As we say, “This is not rocket science.”
5. We must pay attention to the things that God’s considers important.
6. In a single word, the lesson is: OBEY.
G. So whether we are talking about how we live in our everyday lives, or how we conduct ourselves as a church in worship or ministry, or what we tell the lost world about how to be saved, the only thing that matters is what God has commanded.
1. Why would anyone want an answer from any other source than the Word of God itself?
H. Let’s finish by looking at what the Word of God says in 2 Timothy.
1. 2 Timothy 2:15: Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
2. 2 Timothy 3:14-4:4: But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
I. Let us be careful to study, to teach and to obey the Word of God – that is the most important lesson we can learn.
1. Let’s not be like David who had to learn that lesson the hard way!
Resources:
David – A Man of Passion and Destiny, by Charles R. Swindoll, Word Publishing, 1997.
David I, by W. Phillip Keller, Word Books, 1985.
I and II Samuel, David F. Payne, The Daily Study Bible Series, Westminster Press, 1982
First and Second Samuel, J. Carl Laney, Everyman’s Bible Commentary, Moody Bible Institute, 1982.
First and Second Samuel, Eugene Peterson, Westminster Bible Companion, Westminster John Knox Press, 1999.
First and Second Samuel, Walter Brueggemann, Interpretation, John Knox Press, 1990.
