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David and the Ark Msg 1324 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Many of you will remember that I've said a number
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Speaker 1: of times in our series on David that he was
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Speaker 1: a man after God's own heart. So often David would
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Speaker 1: pray for God's guidance, as he did after Saul's death,
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Speaker 1: requesting what specific steps he should take next. He remembered
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Speaker 1: how Samuel had anointed him with oil when he was
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Speaker 1: a much younger lad and told him that he was
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Speaker 1: God's chosen man to become the next king over Israel.
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Speaker 1: David never forgot that. He always wanted to do it right. However,
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Speaker 1: in our message today, we see where David tries to
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Speaker 1: do God's will, David's way, in relocating the Ark of
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Speaker 1: the Covenant to Jerusalem. And the result is it cost
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Speaker 1: a man his life. We need to listen and learn
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Speaker 1: a lot from this story. So in our preparation for it,
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Speaker 1: let's turn in our Bibles to 2 Samuel chapter 6,
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Speaker 1: beginning with verse 1. Now David again gathered all the
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Speaker 1: chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. And David arose and
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Speaker 1: went with all the people who were with him to
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Speaker 1: Baal Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God,
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Speaker 1: which is called by the name, the very name of
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Speaker 1: the Lord of hosts, who is enthroned above the cherubim.
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Speaker 1: They placed the ark of God on a new cart,
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Speaker 1: that they might bring it from the house of Abinadab,
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Speaker 1: which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, the
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Speaker 1: sons of Abinadab, were leading the new cart. So they
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Speaker 1: brought it with the ark of God from the house
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Speaker 1: of Abinadab, which was on the hill, and Ahio was
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Speaker 1: walking ahead of the ark. Meanwhile, David and all the
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Speaker 1: house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all
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Speaker 1: kinds of instruments made of fir wood, and with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets,
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Speaker 1: and cymbals. But when they came to the threshing floor
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Speaker 1: of Nacon, Uzzah reached out toward the ark of God
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Speaker 1: and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset it,
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Speaker 1: and the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah. And
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Speaker 1: God struck him down there for his irreverence, and he
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Speaker 1: died there by the ark of God. David became angry
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Speaker 1: because of the Lord's outburst against Uzzah, and that place
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Speaker 1: is called Perezuzah to this day. So David was afraid
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Speaker 1: of the Lord that day, and he said, How can
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Speaker 1: the ark of the Lord come to me? And David
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Speaker 1: was unwilling to move the ark of the Lord into
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Speaker 1: the city of David with him. But David took it
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Speaker 1: aside to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. Thus the
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Speaker 1: ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom
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Speaker 1: the Gittite three months. And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and
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Speaker 1: all his household. Now it was told King David, saying,
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Speaker 1: The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all
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Speaker 1: that belongs to him on account of the ark of God.
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Speaker 1: David went and brought up the ark of God from
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Speaker 1: the house of Obed-Edom into the city of David with gladness.
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Speaker 1: And it was so that when the bearers of the
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Speaker 1: ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed
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Speaker 1: an ox and a fatling. David was dancing before the Lord,
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Speaker 1: with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod.
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Speaker 1: So David and all the house of Israel were bringing
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Speaker 1: up the ark of the Lord with shouting and the
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Speaker 1: sound of the trumpet. Now verse 17, So they brought
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Speaker 1: in the ark of the Lord, and set it in
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Speaker 1: its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it.
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Speaker 1: And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
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Speaker 1: When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the
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Speaker 1: peace offering, he blessed the people in the name of
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Speaker 1: the Lord of hosts. Further, he distributed to all the people,
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Speaker 1: to all the multitude of Israel, both to men and women,
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Speaker 1: a cake of bread and one of dates and one
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Speaker 1: of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed
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Speaker 1: each to his house. I think at times that we
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Speaker 1: preachers tend to take something that is designed to be
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Speaker 1: very simple and we talk about it so long it
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Speaker 1: becomes complicated and confusing. Therefore, people don't really have it
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Speaker 1: in a package that they can remember and take with them.
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Speaker 1: So I don't want to be guilty of that. I
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Speaker 1: just want to talk about the thing that impressed God
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Speaker 1: the most about David. And when I mentioned the name David,
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Speaker 1: I think probably you and I don't think of that
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Speaker 1: thing Some of us think of the time that he
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Speaker 1: was anointed with oil by Samuel. That was a moving
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Speaker 1: experience in which David, as a lad, stood before the
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Speaker 1: Lord and, as it were, said, I'm grateful for this
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Speaker 1: calling and I accept what you have planned for me
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Speaker 1: to become the new king. Some of us think of
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Speaker 1: David as a warrior. And when you mention to the
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Speaker 1: world David, they will immediately tell you David and Goliath.
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Speaker 1: Others would picture David as a man who fell into sin,
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Speaker 1: and they would mention David and Bathsheba. Unfortunately, we tend
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Speaker 1: to remember the wrong things about people a lot longer
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Speaker 1: than we do the great things. I, as a father,
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Speaker 1: would think of David as a grieving man who walked
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Speaker 1: across the courtyard after hearing of the murder of his son, Absalom,
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Speaker 1: and I would picture the man broken, and dissolved in
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Speaker 1: tears over that. But none of those things are the
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Speaker 1: things that God remembers about his faithful king and his choice,
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Speaker 1: his man. If you want to see what God remembers
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Speaker 1: about David, you'll have to turn not to the Old Testament,
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Speaker 1: but to the New. Chapter 13 of the book of Acts,
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Speaker 1: verse 22. which is in a context of verses that
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Speaker 1: makes sense. The speaker is Paul, according to verse 16,
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Speaker 1: and he is addressing a group of people that don't
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Speaker 1: know much about Jewish history, and he's developing a message
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Speaker 1: that is going to end with the person of Christ.
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Speaker 1: But in the process of developing the history of the Jews,
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Speaker 1: Paul comes to Saul in verse 21 and he speaks
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Speaker 1: of Saul as the one who ruled over Israel. And
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Speaker 1: then in verse 22, he speaks of Saul's demise where God,
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Speaker 1: he removes Saul and God raised up David to be
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Speaker 1: their king concerning whom he testified and said, I have
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Speaker 1: found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my heart,
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Speaker 1: who will do all my will. What an epitaph. Not,
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Speaker 1: I found David a great warrior, or I found David
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Speaker 1: a faithful shepherd, or I found David to be a
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Speaker 1: diplomatic king, or I found David to be a good,
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Speaker 1: caring father. None of those things. He said, I found
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Speaker 1: David to care about the things I care about. He's
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Speaker 1: a man whose heart beats in sync with mine. When
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Speaker 1: I look to the right, David looks to the right.
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Speaker 1: When I look to the left, David looks to the left.
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Speaker 1: And when I say, I care about that, David says,
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Speaker 1: I care about that too. That's being after God's heart.
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Speaker 1: Some of you are like that. Some of you are not.
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Speaker 1: Some of you look upon life in a rather brusque
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Speaker 1: tone and think, well, you win some, you lose some.
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Speaker 1: You can pull it off the best you can. Nobody's perfect.
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Speaker 1: And others of you say, if God says it, I
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Speaker 1: want to do it. You're the ones who are after
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Speaker 1: God's heart. See, in the family of God, there are
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Speaker 1: those two kinds. And those like the first group spent
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Speaker 1: a lot of time in the carnal corral. A lot
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Speaker 1: of time moaning and complaining and even recovering. From journeys
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Speaker 1: that are far from his plan and will. But others
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Speaker 1: of you don't get very far before you take short accounts.
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Speaker 1: You keep short accounts. You come back in line because
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Speaker 1: you're after his heart. And to you, there is nothing
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Speaker 1: that's insignificant. Now you're like David. And I want to add,
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Speaker 1: you are rare. There are not a great number of
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Speaker 1: people whose heart. It's hot after God. David was like that,
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Speaker 1: and he cared. Now let me lay this on you
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Speaker 1: as an illustration so you remember what that means. When
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Speaker 1: you drive down the road and you see the sign,
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Speaker 1: speed limit 35 miles an hour, that's a precept. And
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Speaker 1: it's 35 miles an hour, whether it's 3 o'clock in
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Speaker 1: the morning or 3 o'clock in the afternoon, whether it's
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Speaker 1: lunch break or 5 o'clock traffic. It's 35 miles an hour.
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Speaker 1: That's a precept and there's no give or take. If
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Speaker 1: the sign reads drive carefully, that's a principle. And it
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Speaker 1: means one thing in heavy traffic on a freeway and
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Speaker 1: it means something entirely different on a deserted road out
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Speaker 1: in the country. You drive carefully in a certain way
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Speaker 1: in traffic, you drive carefully in another way entirely on
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Speaker 1: a deserted road. Because that's a principle that's to be
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Speaker 1: applied with wisdom. If I could turn that to the
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Speaker 1: spiritual life, a person who is after God in his
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Speaker 1: heart cares as much about the principles as he does
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Speaker 1: about the precepts. And when he comes across or when
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Speaker 1: she comes across a precept that is clearly delineated, he says,
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Speaker 1: as I look at my life, it's not like that precept.
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Speaker 1: I'm going to bring my life in line with the precept.
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Speaker 1: That's what we find David doing in our study in
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Speaker 1: 2 Samuel 6. And I wish to raise up a
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Speaker 1: band of Davids in this study. I wish to encourage
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Speaker 1: those of you who have become rather concerned about the
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Speaker 1: fine print of your life. Because I want to commend
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Speaker 1: you for that. You are the ones who make godly
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Speaker 1: husbands and godly roommates and godly wives and godly workmen
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Speaker 1: and godly pastors. Godly musicians. Godly professionals. You care enough
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Speaker 1: about your life that regardless of your occupation, when you
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Speaker 1: hear something declared from Scripture, you're thinking, how can I
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Speaker 1: get that into my life? Because I want it there.
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Speaker 1: There was a period in my life in which I
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Speaker 1: took some and left some. I bit off the part
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Speaker 1: that was tastier. But I left the part that was
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Speaker 1: painful until a man cared enough to tell me the
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Speaker 1: truth and to say to me, you are a classic
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Speaker 1: illustration of a heady Christian. And I thought that was
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Speaker 1: an insult. And I was so proud. I didn't want
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Speaker 1: to listen to what he had to say. And then
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Speaker 1: he said, before you walk away, I just want to
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Speaker 1: tell you, you have the makings of putting it together,
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Speaker 1: but you're a long ways from it. And he said,
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Speaker 1: I want to stick around you for a number of
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Speaker 1: months and help you in the process so that you
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Speaker 1: can see how it can be done. So that whether
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Speaker 1: in public or private, you're putting it together. He cared
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Speaker 1: enough to do that. Those were some tough years in
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Speaker 1: my life. Now, I'm still in the process of putting
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Speaker 1: it together. But thank God for a friend who was
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Speaker 1: close enough to say, you need to put those precepts
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Speaker 1: to work in your life. Quit excusing your disobedience. Now,
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Speaker 1: David was like that. Look at chapter 6 of 2 Samuel,
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Speaker 1: and I won't linger long and painfully over this needlessly.
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Speaker 1: I just want to kind of set the stage and
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Speaker 1: let you see it. I want you to understand several
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Speaker 1: things to begin with in 2 Samuel 6. First of all,
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Speaker 1: the place where we are is Jerusalem. Second, the king
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Speaker 1: is David, and he's a new king. Saul is gone.
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Speaker 1: He died a suicide, and in the latter part of
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Speaker 1: his 40-year reign, he compromised and he fiddled around with
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Speaker 1: all other things besides his job, and he neglected the
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Speaker 1: things of God. He was a mediocre king, to put
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Speaker 1: it best. Now understand, in the days of David, the
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Speaker 1: central place of worship was not the believer, but the tabernacle.
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Speaker 1: And under Saul's reign, the tabernacle sort of drifted. The
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Speaker 1: enemy took the Ark of the Covenant. There was no
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Speaker 1: worship of Jehovah in Jerusalem. That doesn't mean anything to
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Speaker 1: Gentile people today, but in those days, that meant there
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Speaker 1: was not the presence of God. Because the Lord dwelt
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Speaker 1: in His glory upon the Ark of the Covenant, a
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Speaker 1: piece of furniture in the tabernacle. And it was so
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Speaker 1: important to the Lord that he gave to Moses the
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Speaker 1: specific details of building this thing and making it portable
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Speaker 1: so they could move this house of God through the
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Speaker 1: wilderness and on into the land of Canaan as the
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Speaker 1: place of worship. And everywhere the Ark of the Covenant
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Speaker 1: was placed, God's glory rested on it, meaning the light,
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Speaker 1: the Shekinah glory of God rested on the covenant, on
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Speaker 1: the Ark of the Covenant. It was a central piece
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Speaker 1: of furniture. Now, when David took over the throne, he
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Speaker 1: realized there's no central place of worship. The people of
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Speaker 1: Israel are spread out. Their walk is mediocre. Their heart
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Speaker 1: isn't hot after God. Now, in order for me to
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Speaker 1: pull some of this together, I need the Ark of
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Speaker 1: the Covenant back in its right place. In fact, I
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Speaker 1: need to find out where it is and bring it
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Speaker 1: into this particular spot and set it up as God
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Speaker 1: designed it. His heart was after God's. even to the
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Speaker 1: point of getting little pieces of furniture and putting it
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Speaker 1: in a certain place within the parameters of God's will
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Speaker 1: and God's precepts. So chapter 6 is how he got
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Speaker 1: the Ark of the Covenant back in Jerusalem. Let's read
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Speaker 1: some of these things and see the tie-in. David gathered
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Speaker 1: all the chosen men of Israel, 30,000. David arose and
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Speaker 1: went with all the people who were with him to
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Speaker 1: Baal Judah to bring up from there the Ark of God,
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Speaker 1: which is called by the name... the very name of
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Speaker 1: the Lord of hosts who is enthroned above the cherubim.
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Speaker 1: I'll explain that in a few moments. They placed the
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Speaker 1: ark of God on a new cart that they might
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Speaker 1: bring it from the house of Abinadab. Verse 4, so
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Speaker 1: they brought it with the ark of God from the
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Speaker 1: house of Abinadab, which was on the hill, and Ahio
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Speaker 1: was walking ahead of the ark. Meanwhile, David and all
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Speaker 1: the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord. And
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Speaker 1: here's David over here rejoicing and celebrating and having the
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Speaker 1: greatest delightful time, knowing that the Ark of the Covenant
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Speaker 1: was coming back home where it belonged in Zion. This
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Speaker 1: even tells us about his band. He had instruments made
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Speaker 1: of wood with lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets
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Speaker 1: and cymbals. As I heard the recorders play tonight, it
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Speaker 1: occurred to me that maybe some of the sounds that
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Speaker 1: came from those little pipes were something like the sounds
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Speaker 1: that came from these little These little instruments mentioned in
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Speaker 1: verse 5. There was a sound of music and there
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Speaker 1: was the delight of obedience beating in the heart of David.
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Speaker 1: The ark is coming back. Now this is time to
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Speaker 1: pause and explain the ark because some people might think
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Speaker 1: it's like Noah's ark. It's nothing like that at all.
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Speaker 1: On the back of the sheet that you got this evening,
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Speaker 1: you will see a little diagram of this ark of
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Speaker 1: the covenant. I want to show it to you because
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Speaker 1: most of us are pretty fuzzy when it comes to
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Speaker 1: this Jewish ritual called the worship in the tabernacle. The
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Speaker 1: name itself means box or chest. And the little description
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Speaker 1: at the bottom or the little diagram will show it
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Speaker 1: to you, even with the dimensions. The pattern of the
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Speaker 1: ark was revealed to Moses. And it was to be
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Speaker 1: comprised of a body made of wood, rectangular in shape,
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Speaker 1: gold-plated inside and out. It was to have a gold
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Speaker 1: border around it, forming a rim. You see letter A
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Speaker 1: down here? That's the little golden decorative rim around the
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Speaker 1: top of the chest. The dimensions are here. Another significant
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Speaker 1: part of the ark was its cover, which was called
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Speaker 1: the mercy seat, letter D. On top of this open
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Speaker 1: chest was a covering made of gold, And this was
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Speaker 1: called the mercy seat. It matched the dimensions of the chest.
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Speaker 1: At either end of the cover was a hammered gold cherub.
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Speaker 1: The word means angel. With wings outstretched over the plate.
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Speaker 1: You see down at the bottom letters G and E.
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Speaker 1: You see the creatures as they pull their wings in
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Speaker 1: front of their faces and they look down upon the chest.
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Speaker 1: Think of this table that sits before me as the chest.
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Speaker 1: The dimensions are wrong, but the idea is right. On
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Speaker 1: one end would be the angel as it reaches its
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Speaker 1: wings over and looks down. And on the other end
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Speaker 1: would be the other angel. Now they apparently were small
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Speaker 1: because a solid gold piece would be extremely heavy if
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Speaker 1: it were very large and would be top heavy, would
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Speaker 1: be awkward to carry it. And this thing was mobile.
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Speaker 1: So there were apparently small little golden caricatures of angels
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Speaker 1: on either end. And notice one other thing. Beneath the
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Speaker 1: plate within the container were three objects. A golden jar
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Speaker 1: that held the manna, Aaron's rod, and the tables of
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Speaker 1: the covenant. God promised he would meet with the people
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Speaker 1: above the mercy seat. Isn't that strange? Isn't that strange?
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Speaker 1: You see, all of our worship is so open and
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Speaker 1: so realistic, but we see everything post-Calvary. Prior to Calvary,
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Speaker 1: so many things were in symbols and types and pictures
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Speaker 1: and sort of like looking at your face through a
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Speaker 1: smoky mirror or a foggy mirror. You see the image,
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Speaker 1: but you don't see the details. And that's the way
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Speaker 1: they worshiped. A box and upon the box shown the
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Speaker 1: very glory of God over this golden mercy seat. In
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Speaker 1: other words, this piece of furniture was holy. It was
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Speaker 1: set apart to God. So careful was God that in
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Speaker 1: the details of the drawing that he wrote in Exodus 25,
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Speaker 1: he gave the dimensions, he gave how it was to
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Speaker 1: be covered, he even talked about how it was to
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Speaker 1: be carried. See the word moving on this? One more thought.
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Speaker 1: At the base of each of the four corners was
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Speaker 1: a fixed ring of gold, letter B. Through these rings
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Speaker 1: were slipped gold-plated poles, letter C. by which the entire
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Speaker 1: chest was to be carried. Numbers 3, Numbers 4, Numbers
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Speaker 1: 7 clearly state that handling the table, the tabernacle furniture
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Speaker 1: was to be done by Levites and it was to
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Speaker 1: be done on their shoulders. Now I purposely went over
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Speaker 1: the details of the ark, not only to acquaint you
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Speaker 1: with it, but to highlight each and every little specific thing.
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Speaker 1: Because I want you to know each one was important
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Speaker 1: to God. Each one. Even how the thing was transported
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Speaker 1: from one place to another. Because that's where David got
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Speaker 1: into trouble. You see, David is an expedient kind of man.
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Speaker 1: He's a pragmatist. David's the king. He's a decision maker.
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Speaker 1: And he knows in order for the people to worship,
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Speaker 1: they need the Ark of the Covenant. And in order
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Speaker 1: to get the Ark of the Covenant from the hill,
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Speaker 1: the home of Abinadab, down here to this place, the
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Speaker 1: best way to do it is on a cart. Verse 3.
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Speaker 1: So they got a new cart. That was nice. They
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Speaker 1: put the cart underneath this chest. They set the chest
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Speaker 1: on it. He got a couple or three men that
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Speaker 1: were available and said, bring it down to Jerusalem. So
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Speaker 1: they bring this thing down on the cart. They're bringing
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Speaker 1: it on the way and something happens. Suddenly there's a
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Speaker 1: death in the chain gang bringing this thing down. You
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Speaker 1: notice it? Verse 7, the anger of the Lord burned
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Speaker 1: against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his irreverence,
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Speaker 1: and he died by the ark of God. Well, what
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Speaker 1: did he do? Verse 6, when they came to the
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Speaker 1: threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out toward the ark
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Speaker 1: of God and took hold of it, for the oxen
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Speaker 1: nearly upset it. That's all he did. I mean, after all,
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Speaker 1: it's the only practical thing to do. If it's going
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Speaker 1: to drop, you've got to grab it. Well, it wouldn't
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Speaker 1: have ever dropped. If they had done it right. Well
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Speaker 1: what's right? Let me tell you what's right. The Levites.
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Speaker 1: In fact the sons of Kohath were the ones to
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Speaker 1: carry the ark. The poles were to be put through
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Speaker 1: the little ringlets at the bottom of the chest. And
22:43
Speaker 1: the poles were to be put up on the shoulders
22:45
Speaker 1: of these specially chosen men. And they were to balance
22:49
Speaker 1: this thing as they carried it from one place to another.
22:52
Speaker 1: David didn't do that. He took a convenient route and
23:00
Speaker 1: he changed the details to fit the expediency of the hour.
23:08
Speaker 1: It's like I heard said some time ago, it doesn't
23:10
Speaker 1: matter what you do, do something even if it's wrong.
23:14
Speaker 1: That's the most stupid counsel I've ever heard. Do nothing
23:18
Speaker 1: until it's right. Then do it with all your might.
23:22
Speaker 1: That's wise counsel. But David said, good, get it down here.
23:26
Speaker 1: Who cares about how to get it here? God does, David.
23:32
Speaker 1: And to prove it, it took Uzzah's life. What's his name? Yeah, Uzzah.
23:38
Speaker 1: Took his life. Now here's David standing alongside a corpse.
23:42
Speaker 1: And he got mad. Verse 8. He became angry because
23:46
Speaker 1: of the Lord's outburst against Uzzah. Wait a minute, we
23:49
Speaker 1: got the cart before the horse. No pun intended. We've
23:53
Speaker 1: got David standing here mad at the Lord when in
23:56
Speaker 1: fact the Lord was angry at David. Well, I thought
23:59
Speaker 1: you said he was a man after God's heart. I did.
24:02
Speaker 1: Does that mean he's perfect? It does not. Having a
24:06
Speaker 1: heart for God doesn't mean you're perfect. It means you're sensitive.
24:11
Speaker 1: It means every detail is important. And when you see
24:14
Speaker 1: you're wrong, you face it. You own up. You come
24:18
Speaker 1: to terms with it. Verse 9, it says, David was
24:23
Speaker 1: afraid of the Lord that day and said, how can
24:25
Speaker 1: the ark of the Lord come to me? Now understand,
24:28
Speaker 1: David hasn't done his homework. We often get into trouble
24:34
Speaker 1: when we don't do our homework. When we seek the
24:37
Speaker 1: Lord's will and we reach out on a lark and
24:40
Speaker 1: we're going to do that. And so in expediency or
24:42
Speaker 1: inconvenience or in a hurry, we make that decision. And
24:46
Speaker 1: the Lord says, look, I've written a lot of things
24:48
Speaker 1: in my book about that decision you just made. And
24:50
Speaker 1: I want you to take counsel from me. That's why
24:53
Speaker 1: it's not working. And if you want to have a
24:57
Speaker 1: heart for me, then you check my word and you
25:00
Speaker 1: find either precept or principle and you go according to that.
25:03
Speaker 1: And I'll make you happy like you can't believe. If
25:06
Speaker 1: you don't, I will make you miserable. In fact, in
25:10
Speaker 1: David's case, the Lord said, I'll even take some lives.
25:15
Speaker 1: Isn't it interesting how morning and evening messages tie in together?
25:19
Speaker 1: We saw Ananias and Sapphira taken in judgment because they
25:24
Speaker 1: presumed on the Lord and didn't take him seriously. We
25:27
Speaker 1: see Uzzah the same way, taken because he touched God.
25:32
Speaker 1: An article of furniture that was not to be touched,
25:34
Speaker 1: especially by a non-Levite. Who cares about Levites? God does.
25:44
Speaker 1: Who cares about little ringlets and little golden poles that
25:47
Speaker 1: go through ringlets and shoulders rather than waist? God does.
25:52
Speaker 1: If he didn't care, he wouldn't have said it. Hey,
25:55
Speaker 1: that's the point of the whole message. When we begin
26:00
Speaker 1: to care about the things God cares about, we're on
26:05
Speaker 1: our way to real freedom and real happiness. Well, David
26:11
Speaker 1: was afraid. He said, how can the ark of the
26:13
Speaker 1: Lord come to me? David was unwilling to move the
26:16
Speaker 1: ark of the Lord into the city of David with him.
26:18
Speaker 1: You better believe it. The last time he tried, it
26:21
Speaker 1: cost the life of a man. So David said, leave it.
26:25
Speaker 1: And they put it in the home of the man
26:27
Speaker 1: named Obed-Edom. Three months pass. No ark in Jerusalem. Obed-Edom
26:35
Speaker 1: is having the time of his life. He's getting all
26:39
Speaker 1: the blessing and David is wondering what in the world
26:42
Speaker 1: is happening as his stomach is churning. I want the
26:46
Speaker 1: ark of the Lord here and Obed-Edom has it there.
26:49
Speaker 1: What's wrong? Why don't you just see a change? Verse 12,
26:54
Speaker 1: it was told David, the Lord has blessed the house
26:58
Speaker 1: of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him on account
27:00
Speaker 1: of the ark of God. David went and brought up
27:05
Speaker 1: the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom into
27:07
Speaker 1: the city of David with gladness. Well, wait a minute.
27:10
Speaker 1: I thought it said that he didn't touch it. But
27:14
Speaker 1: it says here that he brought it up. Why is
27:17
Speaker 1: it that a few verses earlier wouldn't touch it and
27:20
Speaker 1: a few verses later he's saying bring it in and
27:22
Speaker 1: they brought it in. It was great. I'll show you.
27:26
Speaker 1: First Chronicles chapter 15 tells us in a parallel passage
27:32
Speaker 1: what happened behind the scenes. This was so neat when
27:37
Speaker 1: I stumbled over this in my study. It's one of
27:40
Speaker 1: those moments where you say glory but nobody understands so
27:45
Speaker 1: you just Write it down. Keep working. 1 Chronicles 15,
27:50
Speaker 1: verse 12. Take verse 11. David called for Zadok and Abiathar,
27:56
Speaker 1: the priests, and for the Levites. Ah, what happened? Well,
28:03
Speaker 1: one of David's counselors, no doubt, or the Lord himself,
28:08
Speaker 1: came to David and said, Now, my friend... You know,
28:12
Speaker 1: the word specifically states that before the ark or any
28:17
Speaker 1: furniture can be moved, it's got to be moved a
28:19
Speaker 1: certain way by a certain group of people. And David,
28:23
Speaker 1: who's hot after God, responded, really? I didn't know that. Yeah, David,
28:32
Speaker 1: it's got to be done his way. Well, what's his way? Well,
28:36
Speaker 1: there are these little ringlets and you got to put
28:38
Speaker 1: poles in them. And you've got to put the poles
28:40
Speaker 1: upon his shoulders. And you've got to let the Levites,
28:42
Speaker 1: the sons of Kohath, carry this thing. If you do that, David,
28:45
Speaker 1: you're home free. Look at what it says. Verse 12.
28:51
Speaker 1: David said to them, you're the heads of the father's household,
28:53
Speaker 1: the Levites. He's done his homework. See, consecrate yourselves, both
28:58
Speaker 1: you and your relatives, that you may bring up the
29:00
Speaker 1: ark of the Lord, a God of Israel, to the
29:02
Speaker 1: place I prepared for it. Because you did not carry
29:04
Speaker 1: it at the first time. The Lord, our God, made
29:07
Speaker 1: an outburst on us, for we did not seek him
29:09
Speaker 1: according to the ordinance. Ah, that's it. He didn't seek
29:12
Speaker 1: the Lord. He just sort of flashed out there to
29:15
Speaker 1: get the job done. And that's when you get burned. Man,
29:19
Speaker 1: testimony time, isn't it? How many of us could come
29:23
Speaker 1: to the front and admit, oh, with a great deal
29:25
Speaker 1: of embarrassment, oh, let me tell you about the time
29:28
Speaker 1: I did that. Like how many could say, oh, I
29:32
Speaker 1: remember back when I made that decision about marriage and
29:34
Speaker 1: I thought, well, if I just marry him, I'll lead
29:36
Speaker 1: him to Christ. Didn't work, did it? Or the Lord
29:41
Speaker 1: will understand because he's a God of grace and he
29:43
Speaker 1: doesn't really mean those things specifically. And I can go
29:46
Speaker 1: ahead and develop this business because he's got the brains,
29:50
Speaker 1: even though he doesn't know the Lord. And I've got
29:52
Speaker 1: the walk with the Lord and I'll lead him to Christ.
29:54
Speaker 1: So we go into partnership. But the Lord said, don't
29:57
Speaker 1: go into partnership, Christian with a non-Christian. One of the
30:01
Speaker 1: men in our church recently broke a partnership and he's
30:04
Speaker 1: never been freer in all his life. Even though he
30:07
Speaker 1: got it in the neck financially, he broke with an
30:10
Speaker 1: unbeliever with whom he had taken up a partnership. And
30:13
Speaker 1: he said to me, I've never felt so free as
30:15
Speaker 1: the day I severed that relationship. I should have never
30:18
Speaker 1: done it years ago. Never should have cultivated it in
30:22
Speaker 1: a business. Well, David said the Lord did that because
30:26
Speaker 1: we didn't seek him. Verse 14. So the priests and
30:29
Speaker 1: the Levites consecrated themselves to bring the ark of God
30:33
Speaker 1: of Israel. And the sons of the Levites carried the
30:37
Speaker 1: ark of God on their shoulders with the poles as
30:41
Speaker 1: Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord.
30:44
Speaker 1: Now you're talking David. Isn't that beautiful? You say, what's
30:48
Speaker 1: the big deal about the whole message on poles and
30:51
Speaker 1: ringlets and, oh, what's the message? The message is our life.
31:01
Speaker 1: You see, it is the pole, it is the ringlet,
31:04
Speaker 1: it is the detail that drives us crazy in our
31:09
Speaker 1: carnal life. We don't want to go to the trouble
31:13
Speaker 1: of getting the poles. Huh. Or do we want to
31:16
Speaker 1: go to the trouble of putting the poles upon our shoulders?
31:18
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a lot easier to have carts. And
31:22
Speaker 1: after all, the American is a pretty pragmatic kind of person.
31:27
Speaker 1: And the Lord can't be that concerned about details. Let
31:29
Speaker 1: me tell you something. If the Lord cared enough to
31:32
Speaker 1: write it and cared enough to preserve it, he cares
31:35
Speaker 1: enough about the details to have you pull it off
31:37
Speaker 1: his way. Well, that's what David did. I love that.
31:41
Speaker 1: 2 Samuel 6 says he brought it down. And verse 13,
31:49
Speaker 1: this is cool. So it was then that when the
31:53
Speaker 1: bearers of the ark of the Lord had gone six paces,
31:56
Speaker 1: he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. One, two, three, four, five, six.
32:02
Speaker 1: Hold it. Anybody got a match? Bring in the ox,
32:05
Speaker 1: bring in the fatling, put fire to it. These guys
32:08
Speaker 1: are standing there watching this thing go up. And David
32:11
Speaker 1: is very careful. You don't want to fiddle around with
32:14
Speaker 1: something that God got specific about man. Why does he
32:17
Speaker 1: say that? Because he's a man after God's heart. He
32:20
Speaker 1: cares about what God cares about. And when he heard
32:25
Speaker 1: the truth, he wanted to do it. Just like God said.
32:28
Speaker 1: Six paces, battling. Six paces, battling. Finally, they got it
32:31
Speaker 1: into Jerusalem. And look at what David's doing. Next verse.
32:35
Speaker 1: Because some people are going to say, why you live
32:37
Speaker 1: like that? You're so bound up and rigid. Well, I'm
32:41
Speaker 1: going to ask you, is David rigid? Verse 14, he
32:43
Speaker 1: was dancing before the Lord with all his might. David
32:47
Speaker 1: was wearing a linen ephod. This thing was flying all
32:51
Speaker 1: around and he's dancing. And if that's not bad enough,
32:54
Speaker 1: look at the next verse. David and all the house
32:56
Speaker 1: of Israel were bringing up the ark with shouting and
32:59
Speaker 1: the sound of the trumpet. This guy's over here blowing
33:03
Speaker 1: his trumpet and David's dancing over here and all shouting together.
33:05
Speaker 1: And these guys are bringing this ark in like, can
33:07
Speaker 1: you picture that? Why in the world would I get
33:11
Speaker 1: so excited about it? Because they're free. When you obey,
33:16
Speaker 1: you're free. When you disobey, you're in bondage. And I
33:22
Speaker 1: can name a half a dozen illustrations right now if
33:25
Speaker 1: I had the courage of individuals I know who are
33:28
Speaker 1: in bondage because they're in sin. And they talk about
33:33
Speaker 1: it as freedom. They're not free. The guy dancing is free.
33:40
Speaker 1: Because he stuck that pole in the ringlet. Because he
33:42
Speaker 1: put the pole on the shoulders of the right man.
33:45
Speaker 1: David's free. Oh, that is so good. What God's showing
33:51
Speaker 1: us tonight. The world system says, don't worry about those
33:57
Speaker 1: little details. God's bigger than little golden ringlets. No, he's not.
34:04
Speaker 1: Because he sees the whole scene differently. He puts our
34:08
Speaker 1: obedience to the test in just little things like a
34:11
Speaker 1: pole and a shoulder. Well, I want you to know
34:18
Speaker 1: that when you're really free, the people who are not
34:22
Speaker 1: so free are going to have trouble with you. Illustration,
34:27
Speaker 1: David's wife. Verse 16. Now here's her husband down there
34:33
Speaker 1: doing his number with the linen ephod and singing and
34:36
Speaker 1: shouting and the trumpets blowing. Here's Michael up there in
34:40
Speaker 1: the second floor flat looking down on her husband. It
34:44
Speaker 1: happened as the ark of the Lord came into the
34:46
Speaker 1: city of David. Michael, the daughter of Saul, looked out
34:49
Speaker 1: the window and saw King David leaping, dancing before the Lord.
34:52
Speaker 1: She despised him in her heart. Think of that. They
35:01
Speaker 1: brought the ark of the Lord and set it in
35:02
Speaker 1: the place inside the tent which David had pitched for it.
35:05
Speaker 1: And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Man, he's
35:08
Speaker 1: offering burnt offerings all over the place. And then he
35:11
Speaker 1: hands out little sandwiches. Look at it. Look at what
35:14
Speaker 1: he does. After he offered the burnt offerings and peace offerings,
35:17
Speaker 1: verse 18, he blessed the people in the name of
35:19
Speaker 1: the Lord, a host. He's having a great time. 19
35:23
Speaker 1: says he distributed to all the people, both men and women,
35:25
Speaker 1: a cake of bread and dates and raisins. Man, you know,
35:29
Speaker 1: look like a guy throwing... Peanuts at a ball game.
35:33
Speaker 1: Giving it all out. It's a great moment. Oh, what
35:37
Speaker 1: a fantastic experience. So on the heels of that, he
35:40
Speaker 1: goes home. Walks up the stairs. Opens the door. Hi, honey.
35:45
Speaker 1: Here's Michael. Verse 20. When he returned to bless his
35:50
Speaker 1: household here, he walks in with hands full of raisins
35:52
Speaker 1: and dates and bread. He's going to dump all this.
35:55
Speaker 1: And Michael, the daughter, said, Oh, how the king of
35:58
Speaker 1: Israel distinguished himself today. He uncovered it himself today in
36:03
Speaker 1: the eyes of the servants' maids as one of the
36:05
Speaker 1: foolish when he shamelessly uncovers himself. Sarcasm, sarcasm, sarcasm. Jab, jab.
36:17
Speaker 1: I'll tell you, they did not have good chemistry. They
36:21
Speaker 1: should never have married. Frankly, they should never have married.
36:24
Speaker 1: It's like I love the story of Churchill and Lady Astor. Boy,
36:28
Speaker 1: there was no love lost between them. And one time
36:30
Speaker 1: Lady Astor said to Churchill, if I were your wife,
36:33
Speaker 1: I'd put arsenic in your tea. And he said, if
36:35
Speaker 1: I were your husband, I'd drink it. Now, there's some
36:40
Speaker 1: time you got that kind of bad chemistry, you know,
36:43
Speaker 1: between husband and wife. And she said, fat chance you're
36:48
Speaker 1: the big king down there dancing all over the place.
36:50
Speaker 1: And I want you to notice how he took the
36:52
Speaker 1: bull by the horns. Or the cow by the horns
36:56
Speaker 1: right here. Notice this. Verse 21. David said to Michael, boy,
37:01
Speaker 1: talk about having confidence. It was before the Lord who
37:04
Speaker 1: chose me above your daddy. Jab, jab, twist, twist. And
37:11
Speaker 1: above all his house to appoint me ruler over the
37:13
Speaker 1: people of the Lord over Israel. I will celebrate before
37:17
Speaker 1: the Lord. I will be more lightly esteemed than this.
37:20
Speaker 1: You think this is tough. Wait till tomorrow. I will
37:24
Speaker 1: be humble in my own eyes, but with the maids
37:26
Speaker 1: of whom you've spoken, I will still be distinguished. And Michael,
37:30
Speaker 1: the daughter of Saul, had no child to the day
37:32
Speaker 1: of her death. I don't know exactly why. Perhaps he
37:34
Speaker 1: was never again intimate with her. Whatever was the reason,
37:38
Speaker 1: she was barren till the day of her death. That
37:42
Speaker 1: was the greatest stigma a Jewish woman could bear, is
37:45
Speaker 1: to be barren. Two things I learned from this along
37:51
Speaker 1: with a whole host of other things and this whole
37:53
Speaker 1: matter of focus. Notice one was horizontal, one was vertical.
37:56
Speaker 1: David's eyes on the Lord, her eyes on the maids.
38:00
Speaker 1: Here are the lessons. Number one, the better you know
38:03
Speaker 1: where you stand with the Lord, the freer you can be.
38:10
Speaker 1: When I do the homework and I find out where
38:12
Speaker 1: I stand with my Lord, I am free. And I
38:17
Speaker 1: might add, There will be many that won't understand. You
38:22
Speaker 1: will be seen in the eyes of some as detestable.
38:27
Speaker 1: You'll be misunderstood. Like David with his own wife. You know,
38:34
Speaker 1: you won't care about public opinion either. You'll care very
38:39
Speaker 1: much about the Lord's opinion. The better you know where
38:43
Speaker 1: you stand, the freer you can be. Second, the freer
38:45
Speaker 1: you are before the Lord... the more confident you will become.
38:53
Speaker 1: You know where you stand. That is real security. And
39:04
Speaker 1: I never know exactly why God puts together a series
39:08
Speaker 1: of thoughts on a particular evening. I've said that many times.
39:11
Speaker 1: Tonight's talk has said one thing to one person and
39:14
Speaker 1: something altogether different to someone else. Some of you might
39:17
Speaker 1: be bound up in the whole world of a carnal
39:21
Speaker 1: walk and you're thinking, hey, this is really free. That's
39:23
Speaker 1: not free. That's the worst kind of bondage. And others
39:29
Speaker 1: of you might be thinking, wow, if I've gotten so
39:31
Speaker 1: specific about this business of the Christian life, I must
39:36
Speaker 1: be majoring in the minors. Now, wait a minute. It's possible,
39:39
Speaker 1: but if it's important to God, it ought to be
39:43
Speaker 1: important to you. If God took the time to put
39:48
Speaker 1: it down, it's a precept. You better believe 35 miles
39:50
Speaker 1: an hour means 35 miles an hour. It never means 38,
39:53
Speaker 1: never means 45. It means 35. And he never changes.
40:02
Speaker 1: He means what he says and he says it. Some
40:07
Speaker 1: of you might be like Michael. So occupied with what
40:10
Speaker 1: everybody else is saying, all you can do is view
40:12
Speaker 1: a few people that are genuinely free with jaundiced eyes.
40:17
Speaker 1: And say they get all the breaks. I wait. God
40:22
Speaker 1: sets his heart of favor on those. Whose hearts are.
40:26
Speaker 1: Following him. He honors those that honor his word. He
40:33
Speaker 1: makes them exceedingly happy. I would like to ask all
40:40
Speaker 1: of us to bow together for. Just a few moments please.
40:46
Speaker 1: We've learned a little bit about David's life today that
40:48
Speaker 1: we didn't know before, that when God gives specific instructions
40:53
Speaker 1: for doing his will, he wants it done exactly that way,
40:57
Speaker 1: doesn't he? And we also learned that God really meant
41:02
Speaker 1: business when he had instructed only the Levites were to
41:06
Speaker 1: move the Ark of the Covenant with the poles through
41:08
Speaker 1: those rings on the sides of the Ark, carried on
41:12
Speaker 1: their shoulders. That was how God wanted it done. and
41:16
Speaker 1: there was no other way. And God explained it exactly
41:20
Speaker 1: as He meant it to be handled exactly that way.
41:24
Speaker 1: It was only when David finally obeyed, remember, that it
41:29
Speaker 1: was done with great joy. Let me say something to
41:34
Speaker 1: all of you who are hearing this message today who
41:36
Speaker 1: have no relationship with the living God through Jesus Christ.
41:42
Speaker 1: Christ alone is the way to freedom. Christ alone is
41:44
Speaker 1: the way to joy. Through Christ alone you will know
41:48
Speaker 1: forgiveness and purpose and definition for the future. He is
41:52
Speaker 1: the only way of redemption. And that is made possible
41:58
Speaker 1: for us when we accept what Jesus Christ did on
42:02
Speaker 1: the cross on our behalf. Though 2,000 years ago all
42:05
Speaker 1: of that occurred, that penalty paid for your sins was
42:09
Speaker 1: paid in full and is still effective. What a wonderful
42:14
Speaker 1: gift God offers. the gift of His grace. By your
42:20
Speaker 1: receiving Jesus Christ, you can know eternal life. He can
42:26
Speaker 1: turn your life around in a remarkable way and give
42:28
Speaker 1: you the freedom and joy, the kind of freedom and
42:31
Speaker 1: joy you just heard that occurred in the life of
42:34
Speaker 1: David when he did God's will. So as I lead
42:38
Speaker 1: in prayer, this would be a great moment for you
42:41
Speaker 1: to pray, inviting Christ to come to live in your life.
42:47
Speaker 1: Lord God, today we thank you for your word, for
42:49
Speaker 1: the truth that lives and abides forever. The heaven and
42:52
Speaker 1: earth will pass away, but your words will never pass away.
42:57
Speaker 1: And even though a story comes to us from ancient days,
42:59
Speaker 1: it has a relevant ring to it and how it
43:02
Speaker 1: fills the void of our empty world, of our broken hearts.
43:07
Speaker 1: Today I pray for those whose lives are marked by emptiness, sadness,
43:12
Speaker 1: and all the things that go with the consequences of sin.
43:17
Speaker 1: I pray that you will lead them to a knowledge
43:19
Speaker 1: of your Son, Jesus Christ, and give them no peace
43:23
Speaker 1: until Christ has invaded their lives. For those who live
43:28
Speaker 1: their lives still bound up, though in Christ, may they
43:32
Speaker 1: come to know a grace and freedom that accompanies obedience.
43:36
Speaker 1: And may that grace and freedom mark our lives as
43:39
Speaker 1: your followers, as we in a winsome manner make known
43:42
Speaker 1: your Son to a world that's lost its way as
43:46
Speaker 1: well as its joy. In the name of Christ, I
43:49
Speaker 1: pray this. Amen. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of
43:55
Speaker 1: copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.