“The Power of God in our Lives”
1st Chronicles 13:14
INTRODUCTION: Today’s message needs a little set up, so that you all will understand what is going on in this text.
David, the great king of Israel wanted to go and retrieve the Ark of the Covenant which represented the very presence and power of God.
The Ark had not been in the midst of the people for some time. It had been stolen by the Philistines, then moved to Beth Shemesh and finally ended up at Kirjath Jearim where it had been since the reign of Saul.
1 Chr. 13:5 says, “So David gathered all Israel together, from Shihor in Egypt to as far as the entrance of Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjath Jearim.”
On the way back one of the Israelite men, Uzzah, touched the Ark and died. So instead of taking the Ark into the City of David, the King decided to take the Ark to the house of a man called ‘Obed-Edom’
ILLUSTRATION: You can imagine the surprise of Obed-Edom. Here is the entire assembly of Israel outside his home. (knock, knock – act out coming to the door in surprise) The king of Israel is at his door and says, “Excuse me, Mr. Obed-Edom, we need to leave this Ark with you for a short time”. “Say what?” would have probably been the response of Obed-Edom.
But Obed-Edom allowed the Ark in his home, and that brings us to today’s text:
1st Chr. 13:14 “The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house three months. And the Lord blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that he had.”
QUESTION: What was so special about the Ark that when it was left at the home of Obed-Edom, that his entire house received a blessing?
The answer is the Ark contained the very PRESENCE AND POWER OF GOD
I. The Presence and Power of God changed Obed-Edom’s home life
a. The Bible declares that his house and ALL that was in it was blessed
i. Now I don’t think his life was perfect, but it was blessed
ii. He probably started noticing his life changing [Jokingly – His car ran a little better, his wife looked a little more attractive and his kids actually started listening]
b. This blessing was in response to the presence and power of God moving into his life
i. When we allow God to come in and start blessing us, He will change our lives
c. Without the power and presence of God in our lives, we will be living under our own power
i. How many of us are happy to live our lives without the power of God?
ii. How many of us are willing to have church without the power of God?
iii. How many of us speak about worship, but never experience the power of God?
II. The Presence and Power of God changed Obed-Edom’s priorities
a. One day there came another knock on the door of Obed-Edom’s house
i. It was David again, returning for the Ark
ii. I can imagine that ol’ Obed-Edom didn’t want to part with the presence of God
b. David began retrieving people for singing before the Ark
i. 1st Chr 15:16 “Then David spoke to the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers accompanied by instruments of music, stringed instruments, harps, and cymbals, by raising the voice with resounding joy.”
ii. A hand went up in the back – it was Obed-Edom (15:18)
iii. He said to himself, “the Ark needs singers? I’ll sing!”
c. David then looked for people to be doorkeepers
i. A hand went up again – it was Obed-Edom (15:23)
ii. Here he is again saying, “the Ark needs a doorkeeper – that’s me!”
d. Then David asked for people to be ministers before the Ark when it was finally in place within the new tabernacle David had built for it (16:4)
i. Again we find the name of Obed-Edom, now a minister before the Ark
e. Finally David said, we need gatekeepers to minister before the ark regularly (16:37)
i. Obed-Edom didn’t miss a beat, but became a regular gatekeeper of the tabernacle
ii. He totally allowed the power of God to change him to the point that his priority was on the worship of God and nothing else
iii. He so experienced the power of God that there was nothing asked of him, that he was unwilling to do
III. The Presence and Power of God changed Obed-Edom’s family
a. Not only did Obed-Edom become a gatekeeper for the Ark of God – But we read in chapter 26 and verse 8 that he had 62 descendants that followed in his footsteps
i. 1st Chr. 26:8 “All these were of the sons of Obed-Edom, they and their sons and their brethren, able men with strength for the work: sixty-two of Obed-Edom.”
b. He not only allowed the power of God to work in his life, but he was an example to his family of how the presence and power of God changes lives
c. We can sometimes feel overwhelmed when our family members are not Christians – but it is only by allowing God’s power to flow through us that we will ever be able to see a change in them
i. Obed-Edom allowed God to make a change in his life, which in turn influenced his family
ii. If you want to influence others for Christ, you first have to allow God to take control and empower your own life
CONCLUSION:
We learned earlier today that worship is a response:
“Worship is our response to God for who He is and what He has done, expressed in our thoughts, attitudes, words and actions” – Louie Giglio
Obed-Edom could have chosen not to allow the Ark into his home – He could have responded negatively and never allowed God’s power to change his life
Many of us are that way; we never allow God’s power to make changes in our lives, we often feel like we can make the changes on our own
REMEMBER: Only under God’s power are we going to be able to make significant strides:
• In our families,
• In our worship,
• In our relationships
• In our lives
But it relies on our response to God. Is your response going to be negative? Or are you going to stand in the crowd with your hand raised and say, “God, pick me”?
