Celebrating God

I have your Bibles with you today. Turn with me, if you would, to 2 Samuel chapter 6. We're going to start off in verses 12 through 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. Vow with me as we go to our Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we have a request today. Teach us to worship.

Some of us have gone to church all of our lives, but we don't worship you as we should. We come into our sanctuary and our minds are a million miles away. Teach us through this passage to focus. To put business and politics and personal problems to the side. To place all of our attention on you.

Help us to do what David did. He rejoiced in you. He expressed love to you. He wasn't phony. He wasn't contrived.

It was real. We confess to you, Lord, that too often our worship is stale and unfeeling. Forgive us. Help us to experience your presence as David did. We desire to know more about you, but we also desire to know you.

Period. We want our worship to be intimate and powerful. We don't want show or personal glory. We want to reverence you. We want Jesus to be exalted. So help us to get self out of the way so that you would become our everything. Keep my lips from air this morning. It's in Jesus' precious and holy name that I pray. Amen.

You may be seated. In last week's message, we saw David in an absolute dilemma. David has become the king of Israel. He has defeated the Jebusites, run them out of Jerusalem, and now he has made Jerusalem the very capital of Israel. And so in order to honor God, he builds a tabernacle on Mount Zion, which is the highest spot in all of Jerusalem. And so then he sends his men down to the home of Abinadab in order that they might get the Ark of the Covenant and that they might bring it back and place it in the tabernacle that worship might take place and it might just be a glorious and wonderful time. He hires singers, he hires musicians, he hires dancers to come in and visibly and verbally worship as the Ark is being brought back, transported into Jerusalem. Let me tell you, he is on cloud nine.

He is just pumped up about this event and what's taking place. So the procession started and the Ark was placed on a cart that was driven by two oxen. Ahio and Uzzah, two of the sons of Abinadab, were there in front and beside the cart. And the cart was headed toward Jerusalem. As the cart was moving, one of the oxen stepped in a hole and stumbled. And when that happened, the cart began to shake and the Ark began to totter back and forth.

And Uzzah, one of the priests, one of the sons of Abinadab, reached up to stop it, to keep it from falling down in the dirt. And when he did, he lost his life. The scripture says that the Lord struck him. David was shocked and absolutely bewildered.

What in the world had God done? David did not understand this. And David got angry with God. And he got afraid of God. And he wanted to run from the Lord.

Finally, David told his men to go and take the Ark and bring it to the house of Obed-Edom and put it in that house. And David said, when God gives me direction, then I'll tell you what to do from that point on. That takes us to the passage that we're looking at today.

And I've got five points I want to share with you. Number one, the regulative principle of worship. Look with me at verses 12 through 13. 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.

The Ark stayed in the home of Obed-Edom for a period of about three months. While that was going on, David was off by himself and he was deep in study. He was seeking the Lord. He was praying for direction. And he was absolutely devouring the Word of God. He went to the fourth chapter of Numbers and he found in the fourth chapter of Numbers a description and a plan of how the Ark of the Covenant was to be transported. And he found out that when the Ark of the Covenant was transported, it was supposed to have been covered with goatskin so that nobody could look into it. And then the Ark of the Covenant was to be picked up by the priest and it was to be carried only on the sanctified shoulders of the priesthood.

When David read that, he absolutely trembled. He said, we have done it all wrong. We have copied the world. We have tried to copy how the pagan Philistines have carried the Ark, carelessly carried the Ark. He said, we have been pragmatic.

We have been expedient. We have done it the way the world did it. We did it the way it felt good to us, the way it felt right to us. And in doing that, we dishonored God and we brought shame to His name. So David came out of his study pumped up and he went back to the house of Obed-Edom. And by that time, he was amazed at what had happened there because the Ark being there, the Lord just blessed immensely and he saw what God had done.

It was a beautiful thing. But then David said, bless God, this time we're going to do it right. And he said to the men, this time we're going to obey God. And he taught them how to carry the Ark, how it was to be transported.

That it was to be transported on the sanctified shoulders of the priesthood. And he shared with them, I'm sure, a sermon, a sermon on the holiness of God. And I can just imagine hearing David say, I was wrong to be angry at God. I was wrong as I could be to fear God and to run away from Him and to approach Him as if I were a slave to a mean-spirited master. He said, may God forgive me for that.

The priest picked up the Ark of the Covenant. They took six steps and David stopped them. And then David said, let's offer a sacrifice to the Lord.

And he killed an oxen and they offered another sacrifice right there after only six steps to honor and reverence God. I spoke with you last week about the regulative principle of worship. And what that means is, is that when we worship God, we are only to worship God in the way that he is prescribed for us to worship. We can't worship God just because it might feel good to us or because this is kind of the expedient way to do it. Or this is the way the world does things and it works for the world. Why not for us?

No. The scripture tells us that we are to worship God only in the way that he prescribes to be worshiped. And you know what? The Bible doesn't do that just for worship. But the Bible gives us instruction on everything in life, on our morality, on our ethics, on our relationships. Folks, our culture in America has deteriorated into a cesspool. And I'm going to be honest with you, I put a lot of the blame on that on the modern day church.

We have not stood under the standards of God's Word. We have capitulated to the culture. In Stephen Nichols' tremendous book, A Time for Confidence, he used Pastor Rob Bell as an example of capitulation. Rob Bell has given his opinion on Oprah Winfrey's TV show and I want to just read you what's said there. He said, I think culture is already where it should be. And the church will continue to be even more irrelevant when it quotes letters from 2,000 years ago as their best defense. It's time for the church to catch up, Bell says. In order to do so, we need to look past ancient letters instead of looking at the dusty pages of the Bible. We need to look in front of you at the flesh and blood people who love each other and just want to go through life with someone.

Stephen Nichols said that Rob Bell was saying this, ignore the Bible. It's irrelevant to life in the 21st century. Capitulate to culture and cultural norms and cultural pressures. The culture is there. Let's catch up, Bell tells us. Joined by a tragically growing number of others, Bell can only see the surface. The present culture is blocking his vision. Rob Bell is just an individual, but entire Protestant denominations and Christian institutions are also choosing the predilections of culture over God's word. They care more about the drumbeat of our day than the very words of God. When we see so many people changing their views, it can look like a time to capitulate, but it's not.

Let me ask you something, a question. How important is the word of God to you, personally? If you miss a day of studying the word of God, do you feel dry?

If not, you ought to. First Peter chapter 2 verse 2 says, As newborn babes, we are to desire the pure milk of the word. In Psalm 1, it was David who said this, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counseling ungodly, Nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in his law doth he meditate day and night. First Corinthians chapter 3, Paul was jumping on the Corinthians because of their weakness. He said, by this time, he said, I ought to be able to be feeding you the meat of the word, the deep things of God.

He said, but I can't do that. I have to feed you the milk of the word because you're so weak in the scripture. In Hebrews chapter 5, the writer of Hebrews says, by this time you ought to be teachers.

But he said, you can't teach because you don't know what the word of God has to say. Our culture is becoming increasingly anti-God and anti-scripture, unless God intervenes with a miracle of spiritual awakening in our nation. And I pray to God that he will. But if that doesn't happen, America is going to fall. And America might fall, but you know what? The true church will not. Jesus said, on this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

People stand. Stand for truth. Stand for the Lord's standards.

Do not compromise, do not capitulate. Point two, rejoicing in the Lord. Look at verse 14 through 15. 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. You know, David was pumped up when he killed Goliath. And he was filled with excitement when he went out and defeated the Amalekites and brought his family back home. He was really excited when they anointed him to be the new king of Israel.

But those times were like nothing compared to what he's experiencing here. As the ark is being carried and transported back to Jerusalem to be placed in the tabernacle, I can just imagine the tears rolling down his cheeks. He is so excited. And the scripture says that he is dancing before the Lord. This is not some kind of lewd, fleshly, sensual dance. This is not a showy display of emotion. It is a genuine, heartfelt, God-honoring worship. I don't care for churches that focus on loud, worldly, flesh, excited, pretentious, self-exalting worship.

But I'll tell you this. Bless God, if we can't get excited about knowing the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, then God help us. Listen, when you think about what Jesus did for you on the cross, how he suffered your hell for you, does that not make you weep? When you think about the resurrection, the mighty resurrection from the dead, that he came up out of that grave, does that not excite you and make you want to rejoice? When you think about being with Christ for all of eternity, face to face with him, worshipping him with all your heart, can you just act as if that's no big deal?

Folks, we can't do that. I remember when I was first called in the ministry, my pastor, Thurman Stone, asked me if I would preach on Easter Sunday morning at seven o'clock for a men's prayer breakfast, and I agreed to do so. I went in and on the front row that morning there was a young man that had been saved for about two weeks.

He was all excited. He was sharing with everybody that would listen to him about what the Lord had done for him. So I got up in the pulpit, and I started out with Jesus in the grave.

And I looked down at that young man, and it was already getting antsy, just kind of going around and moving around in his seat there. And I looked at him, and I started off with Jesus in the grave. And I moved from Jesus in the grave, and I was moving toward the resurrection, and I could see he was moving along with me. And then I said, low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior.

He tore the bars away. And I looked down at that young man, and his eyes were as big as saucers. And then I raised my voice, and I said, up from the grave he arose with a mighty power o'er his foes.

I said, Jesus came out of that grave alive, alive. And that young man jumped up in the air, and he pumped his fist, and he said, hot dog! Everybody just kind of looked at him, and he kind of sheepishly sat back down in his seat. And when the service was over, one of the elderly deacons in the church walked over to him and said, son, what happened to you? And he said, well, sir, I'm a new Christian. He said, this was my first Easter as a Christian. And he said, I just got excited. He said, well, son, why did you say hot dog? You could have said hallelujah or amen or praise the Lord or something religious. And he said, sir, I've only been a Christian for two weeks.

He said, I don't know the language yet. But he said, I know Jesus, and I love him with all my heart. And that old deacon started crying. And he said, you know, I think that hot dog that just came out of your lips was sweeter to the ears of my God than any hallelujah I've ever said.

And you know, he was right. That's how David is feeling here. He's not concerned about rocking the boat. He's not concerned about how it looks. He's not concerned about what people think. He's just excited about his God.

What a beautiful picture. Verse 14 says that David danced before the Lord, and he was wearing a linen ephod. So this was not a fleshly type dance. He had taken off his kingly garment and laid it to the side.

Underneath, there was a priestly garment called an ephod. It went all the way down to his feet. Why did he take off the kingly garment? Because he wanted everybody to know that he's not looking at himself like he's a big shot. He wants everybody to know that he's just like they are, that he needs the grace of God just like they need the grace of God. The way we say it today is this, that the ground's all level at the foot of the cross.

Let me say this. When did David experience this all-consuming, overwhelming joy of the Lord? When did he experience it? When he went to the Word of God, when he studied the Word of God, when he obeyed the Word of God, and when he obeyed the Word of God with nothing held back.

That's when things changed. When he put himself on the shelf, and he put God and his Word to the forefront, God just blessed his socks off with joy. Let me ask you something. Are you dealing with a pet sin, struggling with a pet sin in your life right now? Are you struggling with just spiritual frustration? And you think, well, I've just kind of got to hold on to a little bit of the world, and I've got to hold on to a little bit of fleshly things so I can get at least some temporary happiness. Oh, friends, God has better than that for you. And I can promise you this. If you do what David did here, you go to the Word of God, you obey the Word of God, you come to the Lord with nothing held back, giving your all to Christ, you're going to experience a joy just like David had here. And I tell you, when that happens, when that takes place, then lust loses its power.

When that takes place, alcohol loses its power. Materialism loses its power, and bitterness loses its power. Is that not what we want?

Is that not what we're after? They carried the ark up to the tabernacle in Mount Zion, and then they placed it in that tabernacle. I think that takes us to point three, Michael's contemptuous criticism. Look at verses 16 through 20. As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michael, 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. And they brought in the ark of the Lord, 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, cake of raisins to each one.

And 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 female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself.

I tell you, if there's any passage in the scripture that backs up Paul's command for us to not be spiritually unequally yoked with each other, I think this is the passage. David has just experienced one of the greatest spiritual experiences he will ever experience in his whole life, and his wife, Michael, doesn't have a clue as to what's going on with David. She hears, she's in the house, and she hears the singers and the dancers and the musicians, and this noise kind of irritates her, so she goes over to the window, she looks out the window, and there's David dancing before the ark. Now, it's interesting, in verse 16, that when she is mentioned, she's not called David's wife, she's called Saul's daughter. I think the Holy Spirit's making a connection with her and Saul. What was Saul like? Saul apostatized. Saul turned away from the Lord. Saul turned away from the Lord God, Jehovah, and gave himself over to satanic witchcraft. He died an idol-worshipping heathen. He died a lost man.

What about Michael? I see the same thing in her. 1 Samuel 19, verse 13 tells us that she had a stockpile of idols in her home. Richard Phillips said the following, This unhappy marriage reminds us that when it comes to a believer's spouse, no amount of political or career advantage, no vast sum of inherited wealth, and no sensual beauty or social charm can compensate for a heart that is cold toward the Lord and His cause. God designed marriage to be a bonded companionship involving the unity of body, heart, and spirit.

They shall become one flesh, God said. Yet without true spiritual companionship, this unity serves more to cripple than to bless. For this reason, wise and godly men will remember the precept of Proverbs 31-30 and all their thoughts of marriage. Charm is deceitful.

Beauty is vain. But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Men, I don't know about you, but when I studied this passage this week, all I could do was praise God for the wife that He gave me. I'm glad that He gave me a wife that sold out to the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm glad that me and my wife are an equal yoke. I'm glad that I have a wife that understands the ministry, that many times there are going to be times I get called out and I'm not able to spend time with her like I want to, like she wants me to, and she doesn't resent that, but she prays for me and she encourages me. When I asked Cindy if she would marry me, I went to her mom, told her mom about it. Her mom said, How in the world are you going to be a preacher's wife? And she said, Well, I love Jesus and I love Doug. I think that's enough, and it is enough. I praise God that the Lord's given me a wife that is on the same page spiritually as I am.

You know what? I'm looking out to some men right now who can say the very same thing. Isn't that a blessing?

You have no idea what a blessing that is if you're not in that situation, but it's a blessing, and most of us here today can say just that. David could not say that with Michael. The Scripture says here that Michael despised David in her heart, and she went out of the house, and she met him outside so she could publicly rebuke him, and she's talking with all this sarcasm, and she says, Oh, look at David. The king of Israel. Hasn't he honored himself today?

Look at what he's done. He's taken off his robe in front of all these young ladies out here showing himself that he's no better than they are. Richard Phillips said, Believers who prioritize worship in church life, who sacrificially give of themselves to world missions, who talk about Jesus and his gospel in casual conversation, or who merely fail to conform to the interests and fashions of worldly society can expect to be regarded as social oddities or even dangerous extremists. Our motives are likely to be misrepresented, and our actions looked on with the embarrassed contempt with which Michael greeted David for failing to uphold his fleshly pride. Point four is David's sharp reply. Look at verse 21 through 22. And 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. Proverbs 15 one says, A soft answer turneth away wrath. David did not take that counsel, and there was a reason for that. Michael, his wife, needed to be rebuked. He's not rebuking her because she personally ridiculed him. He's rebuking her because she doesn't understand the worship of the true and living God.

David said, It was before the Lord that I did this. Michael's all concerned about decorum. She's all concerned about appearances. She wants David to appear to be regal.

She wants him to have this ambiance of stateliness. What does David say? He says, No, I took my kingly garment off. When I am before the Lord, I am nothing but Yahweh's servant. And then he said this, And Yahweh chose me. What's he talking about there?

He's talking about the blessing of election. God chose him. You know, I've had critics through my years as a minister who have criticized Calvinists and said, You guys are nothing but a bunch of proud, arrogant people talking about how God chose you. Oh no, a true Calvinist is not proud and arrogant. He is humble to the ground because of what God has done for him. He knows that he's nothing. I know that I'm a sinner. I know that I have disobeyed and broken God's law. I've stepped on God's heart. I've broken God's commandments. If anybody deserves hell, I deserve hell. But I'm going to heaven. Why? Not because I deserve it.

I don't. Not because I'm good. Not because I put out special spiritual effort. But I'm going to heaven because God reached down in the muck and the mire of this world, pulled me up out of this nastiness, washed me with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, and gave me eternal life. Am I going to brag? Am I going to be arrogant? I've got nothing to brag about but Jesus Christ himself. And that's what David is saying here.

He is so excited about this. In 1 Peter 2 verse 9, Peter said the same thing. He said this, David was saying, Michael, you don't have a clue. You can't understand the importance of worship because you don't understand the true and living God.

Michael was all caught up in decorum and appearance and ritual. David said those things don't even matter. What matters is your relationship to God and your fellowship with him.

Very quickly, point 5, Michael's loss of blessing. Verse 23, But there was no intimacy in their marriage. Folks, what a powerful statement to the church. Is that how you want to relate to God?

You want to claim his name but have no fellowship with him? You want to face him at the judgment seat of Christ and say, well, Lord, I'm sorry, but I just didn't have time to worship. I didn't really want to give up the only day of the week that I don't have to work. I wanted that for myself. I didn't want to take my time that's so special to me and spend it with my nose in the Word of God.

I'm sorry. God help us not to die like Michael in barrenness and absolute misery. God help us to know and love Jesus where he is our everything, our absolute everything.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father Michael should put the fear of God into every heart in this room. She is the picture of nominal Christianity which is not really Christianity at all. She was all concerned about the rituals, the decorum, the appearance that she had no real heart for God. The last verse of this chapter lets us know that her nominal faith led to a barren fruitless life. No joy, no peace, no fellowship.

She spent the rest of her life without marital intimacy. Dear God, have mercy on us. Keep us close to your heart.

Don't let sin become trivial to us. Don't let worship become boring. May we hunger after holiness and may we be dissatisfied until you and you alone are our satisfaction. May our kids see our dependency on you. May our spouses see our longing for you. Help us to worship you in spirit and in truth and make it real, not phony. For it's in Jesus' precious and holy name we pray. Amen.