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2 Samuel 24 (Part 2) Bible Study (David Builds an Altar) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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  Thank you. Amen.
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  Amen. I'm sure all of you can say
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  something, but for those who shared that blesses me to know
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  that the Lord is doing a work in this place every single week,
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  and that's no different in our final session in this book, we
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  can anticipate and expect the same.
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  So maybe you're already there. If you're not, meet me in Second
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  Samuel 24. This will not be a full on Bible
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  study, so you don't have to be nervous.
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  This will be a shorter one. And second Samuel 24 And Lord,
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  we do give you all the glory for every testimony that was spoken,
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  unspoken. And we know that there are
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  things that you have done that we might not remember but are
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  shaped by. And we thank you that you are
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  always working. And when we submit ourselves
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  under your word, so we can anticipate transformation as
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  long as we yield to the Spirit. And so even tonight, give us
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  ears to hear your thoughts, your final thoughts.
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  Well, you have ordained for us to know through this final
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  snippet of the story of David. In Jesus name we pray.
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  Amen. What are the final thoughts that
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  the Holy Spirit longs to imprint in our hearts as we come to the
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  finale of this epic story? That was my question when I came
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  to this latter portion of Second Samuel 24.
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  And that is what we will seek to understand the mind of God.
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  The clear themes that he has established in this not just.
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  For us to know deeper insights but.
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  For us to take away something as we transition from this book and
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  move on to whatever the Lord has for us next.
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  There are obvious instructions here, by way of example, by way
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  of testimony, that are meant to be held onto on our bosoms, and
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  to be. Kept with a firmness in our
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  memory. And more importantly, in our
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  practical obedience. And so as we come here, we
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  realize that David has been given to us in the scriptures as
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  a model for many things, and that is no different with this.
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  Near the end of his life, at the end of this portion of his life,
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  in this book at least, there are Nuggets of.
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  Truth that we can anticipate to. Enrich our fellowship with the
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  Lord. And so I want us to begin in
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  verse 15. Here, let's look at what the
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  Lord wants to say. Through a man who has been
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  crowned with the exaltation of someone being after God's own
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  heart. Verse 15.
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  So the Lord sent the pestilence on Israel from the morning until
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  the appointed time, and. There died of the people from
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  Dan to Beersheba 70,000 men and when the Angel.
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  Stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy the Lord,
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  relented from the calamity, and said to the Angel who was
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  working destruction among the people, It is enough now.
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  Stay your hand. And the Angel of the Lord was by
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  the threshing floor of Arauna the Jebusite.
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  Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the Angel who was
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  striking the people, and said, Behold, I have sinned and I have
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  done wickedly, but these sheep, what have they done?
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  Please. Let your hand be against me and
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  against my father's house. So you come to this point where
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  the curtain is about to close. And we get this final glimpse of
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  one of the most highly esteemed figures in not just the
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  Scripture, but redemptive history.
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  And what is? What is it that we see in this
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  closing text concerning this man?
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  It's. Not the most encouraging
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  thought. It's not a high note, especially
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  as we're planning to depart from this, this narrative.
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  What you and I are facing concerning David right before
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  the credits are about to roll, is him sinning.
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  David Sinning. You would think that there would
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  be a greater climax. You would think that there'd be
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  a greater end to the story, but instead we.
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  Find something that is dark, something that is disheartening
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  and there's value in it. There is value in it.
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  There's there's warnings in this for us to know how to finish
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  well, to be vigilant and concerned and aware all the way
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  until the finish line. We can.
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  We can learn that and we learned that last week.
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  But. I'm not sure if that is the
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  primary point that the Holy Spirit wants to highlight
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  concerning David as we face him. Before we turn away from him, so
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  to speak. Perhaps the spirits desire as a
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  take away is more of seeing David as a repentant man than a
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  sinning man, and there's a big difference.
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  A man who knew how to return to the Lord.
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  Despite the many seasons he had, where he remained close to the
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  Lord, in those moments where he fell short, veered off, turned
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  his back. What you see, even at the final
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  moments of his life, is a failure, yes, but also a
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  success. A man who knew to confess his
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  wrong. A man who knew to call out to
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  God for restored relationship. A man who understood the nature
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  of sin and its violation of primary offense.
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  If there's anything that made David so special and unique, it
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  was not so much his victories. The favor that he experienced
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  was not because of his faultless record.
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  I believe what it is, is a willingness to humble himself
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  every time he did do wrong. He knew how to part his heart
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  with a. Passionate desperation.
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  He knew how to be broken before God, and he actually pursued
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  change following his confession. That's what made David David
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  Psalm 51, right, those. Different Psalms of confession
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  and Contrition and. Absolute shattered soul, like
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  please before his maker. And that's what we see David
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  doing. Here a man who understood that
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  what made? His sins so ugly and vile and
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  disturbing above everything else.
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  Was that it? Fractured something with his
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  fellowship with God, and he knew how to, at least as soon as
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  possible, seek that relationship to be restored.
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  And so I look at this and I think, Lord, what are you trying
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  to say? Why are you showing me David in
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  this kind of a light? And I believe in one way, it's
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  for him to instruct us of how to live repentantly before God from
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  beginning to end. Learn this thing about your God
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  that He. Cares for you.
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  Not just when you're doing good, but even when you fall short and
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  disappoint and fail to meet the standard and know that.
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  The same God who kept accepting David, restoring David though
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  consequences might have remained the.
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  Heart he had for David is an invitation for you and I to
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  realize that though I may stumble between now and where I
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  meet the Lord face to face, I can have the confidence that
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  when I truly repent, he will truly receive me all the way to
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  the end. I mean you would think after all
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  that you experienced that by the end you.
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  Would be spick and span you. Would be absolutely spotless.
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  You would be shining and yet you still got dirt on your feet.
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  You. Still were you still manage to
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  mess up when you're about to to leave the earth?
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  Because in first Kings one he does leave, he enters into
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  glory. And yet this is the portrait we
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  have of the man. And God wants us to know that
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  when he comes broken before him, he He supplies, He provides
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  mercy, and He will for you. His love is patient, and it
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  endures until the end. I look at David here and I get
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  that inspiration. Look at the.
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  Quality of his repentance. Look at verse 17.
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  Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the Angel who was
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  striking the people, and said behold.
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  I have sinned and I have done. But these sheep, what have they
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  done? Please let your hand be against
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  me, against my father's house, and against my father's house.
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  Did you remember verse one? Is what David saying what he's
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  saying here? Is it completely accurate?
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  What have these sheep done? It's not completely accurate.
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  Because verse one tells us that Israel kindled the anger of the
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  Lord again, and we came to the conclusion that even David being
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  incited to sin was the instrument that God used to
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  bring discipline to the nation, as you brought up earlier.
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  So if there's anybody who's more at fault, if you want to, if you
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  want to see it that way in the circumstances, actually Israel,
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  they clearly did something before David number the people,
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  and David's numbering was actually again, the means by
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  which more discipline would come to the nation, though David was
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  at without. It's not that he was without
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  fault, but to say that the sheep have done nothing is not
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  entirely true. They did do something.
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  God's Just not just. Pulling a random stunt here.
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  He's clearly showing something in light of a specific act that
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  needed to be chastised. And David here, though at the
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  same time he still, he still sees his fault because we have
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  the evidence to say, well, it's really Israel's fault and Israel
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  should be the one that's pleading instead of David.
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  But you know who doesn't make that argument?
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  David, look at his, look at his confession.
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  He doesn't charge anybody else. He doesn't try to escape from
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  the equation. He doesn't point fingers.
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  He he realizes that he has a part to play in it, and that's
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  enough for him to come openly before the law and saying I'm
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  wrong, I'm wrong, I'm wrong. In this you don't find people
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  confessing like that, even if the.
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  Is there the endemic nature in us?
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  Likes to twist and turn and justify an excuse.
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  And even though you might not be able to evade your involvement,
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  you try to at least esteem others as more guilty than
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  yourself. Isn't that how we confess when
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  we're confronted? Nothing of the sort with this
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  man? Doesn't even include Israel.
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  He sees himself completely guilty in all of this and he
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  says I'm guilty. Just deal with me.
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  That's the kind of repentance that this man had.
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  That's the kind of quality of confession that he conveyed, and
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  that is the kind of repentance that God honors.
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  And so I see here that true repentance is not me spending
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  time looking at others people's wrongs.
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  But primarily holding yourself accountable if it if it's
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  required of you. But there's.
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  Something else here in verse 17 that I think is insightful,
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  right? He wants to take all the blame
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  for himself. He has a sympathetic.
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  He wants to be a leader who has this compassionate care for his
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  own. But look at this heartfelt and
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  noble deed and see it as a request, a request that God
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  didn't answer. This is a prayer.
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  What is his request? Please let your hand be against
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  me and against my father's house.
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  Did God answer that prayer? Essentially what he's saying is
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  wipe me off the face of the earth, me and my dad's house.
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  Just get rid of all of us if it needs to be.
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  If it's. Between me and Israel to Take Me
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  Out, that's a prayer. Words that carry weight.
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  Words that have been inscribed in the scripture, words for us
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  to consider. And I look at this and I and I
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  couldn't help but step back and kind of chuckle when I read it
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  and meditated on it. Because what you have here is
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  yet another example of how the Lord and His goodness does not
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  answer all your prayers. He does not.
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  No matter how pure, how sincere, how selfless your request might
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  be, that doesn't determine whether or not God should answer
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  it or not. This is a.
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  This is a. A very humbling thing for David
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  to do. And yet God doesn't move upon
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  it. You should thank God.
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  If you want to reflect on anything at the end of this
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  book, you should also reflect on your own life.
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  And thank God that he didn't say yes when you wanted to say yes
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  and he didn't move the way you wanted.
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  And you should. You should have, you should be
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  thankful. You should be thankful.
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  And that seems. To conflict with the bold
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  invitation we have throughout the Bible of radical prayer,
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  Things like James 5/17. Were in a new covenant context,
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  we're given the. Illustration of Elijah who
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  prayed and when he prayed it didn't rain for three years and
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  six months, and when he prayed again, heaven gave rain in the
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  earth bore its fruit. How much more extreme can you
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  get of an example to pray? Radically.
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  And we love to go to James 517 to encourage people in prayer,
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  but we don't consider other factors of Elijah's praying to
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  instruct our prayer. Oh, what do you mean?
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  Have you ever meditated upon the prayer Elijah made that God
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  didn't answer? Do you know which prayer I'm
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  talking about? Can I show it to you in First
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  Kings 14? Excuse Me 19, verse 14.
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  Excuse Me, 19 Verse four First Kings, 19 verse 4 is what
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  happens when you do a quiz with all these references.
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  First Kings 19 verse 4. This is a prayer that Elijah
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  makes. After a very.
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  Mountaintop experience, no pun intended.
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  And he says this when he's threatened by Jezebel First
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  Kings 19/4. There's a very low point that
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  meets. But he himself won a day's
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  journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom
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  tree, and he asked that he might die, saying.
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  It is enough now, oh Lord, take away my life, for I am no better
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  than my father's. What's his request?
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  Kill me. I'm done.
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  I'm. I'm done.
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  I'm done. I'm finished.
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  I'm. I'm submitting my two weeks
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  notice. Thank you for calling me as a
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  prophet, but this is it. I can't see any more future in
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  this. I want to retire early.
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  Beam me up. Kill me.
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  This is his request. Destroy me.
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  Does God answer that prayer? Does God answer that prayer?
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  Not only did he not answer that prayer, he did the exact
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  opposite of it. Does Elijah ever die?
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  Let me ask the question. Again, did Elijah ever die?
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  No, he didn't die. Doesn't.
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  God have a sense of humor. He sends a chariot of fire and
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  brings him up. And some people believe that
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  Elijah still to return. God doesn't have to answer your
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  prayer, no matter how passionate, no matter how
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  consistent, no matter how strong it might be.
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  Now you might think that what's the point of praying?
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  What's the point of praying? That if God has a will, what
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  does my? Dedication to supplication.
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  What does that really determine? And I say.
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  To you, this shouldn't discourage you from praying, it
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  should only encourage you to pray even more radically because
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  in your request as. Crazy as they might seem, as
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  bold as they might seem. You are assured by a good God
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  that he will never give you something that you will regret,
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  that he'll never give you something that will diminish.
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  His glory, That he'll never do something that will.
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  Disqualify you from fulfilling his ultimate will for your life.
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  The goodness of God, the wisdom of God, are the guardrails to
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  our honest but misguided. Desires.
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  So I look at David and I look at Elijah and I go, what's the
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  point of praying? I go okay.
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  Wow. God, you are so good that I can
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  spill. My soul in your presence,
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  thinking that this is exactly. What I need exactly what you
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  should do and yet you are so kind to me that you.
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  Will not. You don't work like a genie in a
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  bottle. You are so kind to me that you
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  will. Refrain from doing and acting
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  upon my foolishness in the moment.
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  And yeah, when that prayer does come, and it does align with
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  your will, you will be more than willing to not just do it, but
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  do abundantly, more than I can ask or imagine.
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  That's the security we have in prayer.
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  That's the assurance we have in intercession, David says.
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  Cut. Off my house.
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  Cut off my father's house. The Lord doesn't answer.
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  Instead, he sends a profit, and this prophet has a better way, a
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  better will, a better purpose. Verse eighteen of Second Samuel
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  24 and Gad. Came that day to David and said
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  to him, go up, raise an altar to the Lord.
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  On the threshing floor are Una, the jebby site.
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  So David went up at Gad's word, as the Lord commanded, and when
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  Arauna looked. Down he saw the king and his
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  servants coming on toward him, and Arauna went out and paid
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  homage to the king. With his face to the ground and
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  Arauna. Said, Why has my Lord the king
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  come to his servant? David said to buy the threshing
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  floor from you in order to build an altar to the Lord, that the
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  plague may be averted from the people.
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  Then Arauna said to David, let my Lord the king take and
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  OfferUp what seems good to him. Here are the auction for the
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  burn offering. And the threshing sledges, and
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  the yokes of the oxen for the wood.
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  All this, O King, Arauna gave to the king.
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  And Arauna said to the king, may the Lord your God accept you.
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  But the king said to Arauna, no, but I will buy it from you for a
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  price. I will not offer burnt offerings
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  to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.
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  So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for 50
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  shekels of silver. And David?
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  Built there and altered to the Lord and offered burn offerings
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  and peace offerings. So the Lord responded to the
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  plea for the land, and the plague was averted from Israel.
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  I have one main. Why question with this portion
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  of. It's no surprise to me that the
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  solution God gives to David in order to stop the plague from
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  continuing is to provide a sacrifice.
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  That's no shock to us. But my why question is the
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  location of the sacrifice. Why was he instructed to go to
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  the threshing floor of our una, the Jeb, you said.
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  That's what I want to know, because that seems very random.
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  We're never. Introduced to this person, We
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  never see anything of this person unless you go back to
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  First Chronicles. And when you move forward to
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  First Chronicles, you realize that he goes by another name,
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  the name Ornan. But beyond that, there isn't
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  much evidence, at least to the immediate reading, of why it is
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  that the Lord. Is instructing David to go to
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  this precise piece of real estate to perform this duty but
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  the. Faithful reader, when you
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  continue go through your Bible and you come to a text like
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  First Chronicles that seems to repeat things that you've read
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  and Samuel and 1st Kings and 2nd Kings, you were rewarded for
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  your faithfulness. And there are suspense added to
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  discovering the answer when you carefully realize that there is,
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  there is enough to point to God's mind for this.
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  Well, let's go to first Chronicles 21 and let's add to
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  our suspense. Something occurs and First
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  Chronicles 2126 and First Chronicles 2126 it.
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  Says you're in the same account, but a different perspective.
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  More added details. And David built there an altar
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  to the Lord, and presented burn offerings and peace offerings,
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  and called on the Lord. And the Lord answered him with
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  fire from heaven upon the altar burn offering.
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  Then the Lord commanded the Angel, and he put his sword back
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  into its sheath. So David performs A sacrifice
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  and something amazing occurs. The heavens open.
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  Fire comes down and consumes the.
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  Sacrifice on that altar. That kind of manifestation has
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  only occurred a few times in the Old Testament, and it was a
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  statement of divine approval, something that you could not
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  disagree with, something that you cannot challenge.
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  Remember what Elisha did before all the nation of Israel and the
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  false prophets of Bailey sent fire from heaven to lick up the
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  water, and that burnt offering on that altar.
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  And so David is seeing this, but there's something deeper behind
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  this. It's It's greater than a sign of
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  divine approval. There is a message and this man
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  David is enabled to interpret the message.
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  There's a conclusion that David comes to based on this and the
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  conclusion that he arrives to would have generational
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  consequences. And that's what we see in First
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  Chronicle. It's not 21 but 22 verse one.
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  What judgment does he make? It's this.
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  Then David said, Here shall be the House of the Lord God and.
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  Hear the Altar of burn offering for Israel.
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  We're not talking about the Tabernacle.
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  We're not talking about. The tent, David, you remember
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  this study desire to build a permanent house for the Lord, An
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  established edifice that would. Be much more dignified and much
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  more beautified for God to receive.
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  Greater honor and greater worship.
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  And David sees this, right? He he.
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  He's there. He performs this sacrifice.
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  Fire falls from heaven, he goes. This is where it's supposed to
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  happen. This is where it's supposed to
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  be built. This is where the foundation is
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  supposed to be laid. Now, from a human standpoint, we
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  can understand why he might come to that conclusion.
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  With something like that, how much more do you need of a sign
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  off for the project? But it's not until, again, you
• 21:55
  faithfully read your Bibles and not first Chronicles, but second
• 21:59
  Chronicles, you realize God's viewpoint in all of this God's
• 22:04
  strategy, God's reasoning. For it to be at this specific
• 22:09
  address, look at Second Chronicles.
• 22:11
  Now turn over to Second Chronicles Chapter 3 and look at
• 22:14
  verse one. Second Chronicles 3 verse one.
• 22:21
  This is when David's successor his son.
• 22:25
  Executes the project. He's been called to do it.
• 22:29
  David had the desire Solomon would implement it.
• 22:33
  And here's what we read. Then Solomon began to build the
• 22:36
  House of the Lord in Jerusalem on where Mount Moriah where the
• 22:44
  Lord now just to call. So just just in case you don't
• 22:47
  think that there is a different direction that took place
• 22:50
  between First Chronicles 22 and Second Chronicles 3.
• 22:53
  The Holy Spirit in his wisdom clarifies where Mount Moriah is,
• 22:56
  where the Lord had appeared to David his Father, at the place
• 22:59
  that David had appointed on the threshing floor of Ornan the
• 23:02
  Jebusite. The threshing floor of Ornan or
• 23:06
  our Una. The Jebusite was on Mount
• 23:08
  Moriah. Now it makes sense.
• 23:14
  Because in all of the scriptures there is only one other place
• 23:17
  where Mount Moriah is mentioned. Who knows it, Abraham in Genesis
• 23:20
  22, when he was called to sacrifice his son Isaac.
• 23:23
  That is the only place in all. Of the Hebrew scriptures where
• 23:27
  Mariah is mentioned Mariah in Genesis 22 Mariah in Second
• 23:33
  Samuel rather Second Chronicle IS31.
• 23:35
  Clarifying Second Samuel 24. First Chronicle is 22 Mariah.
• 23:44
  That's interesting. What is Mariah signify?
• 23:49
  Well, Abraham in Genesis 2214 gives it a different name.
• 23:54
  He called that place what the Lord will provide, Jehovah Gyra,
• 24:00
  the Lord will provide. And so that mountain symbolizes
• 24:10
  the provision of God's mercy ultimately.
• 24:14
  Fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, but the.
• 24:16
  Message is there from Genesis 22.
• 24:19
  The Lord will provide a covering.
• 24:22
  The Lord will provide a sacrifice.
• 24:24
  The. Lord will provide grace.
• 24:25
  The Lord will provide mercy. And then many, many years go by
• 24:29
  and David experiences it on the same mountain.
• 24:33
  Here's a plague that's unleashed.
• 24:35
  He comes to the very same location.
• 24:39
  He performs a sacrifice and God provides mercy.
• 24:44
  Now tie this together. What is this symbolize?
• 24:46
  Further, the foundation of God's house is built upon that
• 24:51
  revelation. God's meeting place with man
• 24:56
  would be founded upon the provision of mercy.
• 25:02
  Man and God will meet upon that truth that He made away.
• 25:11
  He provided a way, and it is no different today for the Church
• 25:18
  of Jesus Christ. The true and the fulfillment of
• 25:21
  the meaning place, the ultimate desire of God's meaning place,
• 25:24
  your heart and mine. It's not founded upon anything
• 25:27
  different. It's founded upon the
• 25:29
  realization and the truth that God provided something for that
• 25:33
  to be possible. God's mercy makes a way for man
• 25:37
  and him to meet and to even add to that truth.
• 25:40
  Think about it. Our Auna, the Jebusite who later
• 25:43
  would occupy space on Mount Moriah.
• 25:46
  Was he a Jew? He was a Jebusite.
• 25:49
  The Jebusites were. Found in Jerusalem before Israel
• 25:52
  came in and conquered. So one person said it so
• 25:56
  cleverly that. It was the the territory of
• 26:01
  someone who was a stranger to the promises that would be the
• 26:06
  very meeting place between God and man.
• 26:08
  So you even have a picture of the Gentile who'll also be able
• 26:11
  to meet with the same God. The God who was primarily and
• 26:14
  exclusively the God of Israel would now be also willing to
• 26:18
  meet with jebby sites of the future.
• 26:22
  Isn't the Bible deep? And the Bible?
• 26:24
  Incredible. This is where the truth of God's
• 26:29
  house will be built upon that foundation.
• 26:32
  You don't have that foundation. You don't have a place to meet
• 26:33
  with God. You don't have the mercy of God,
• 26:36
  provided you have no chance to have a relationship with God to
• 26:40
  come close to his presence. No chance but God provided.
• 26:44
  And that would be the message for the House of God to be built
• 26:47
  upon Mariah. I can meet with him because he
• 26:50
  provided mercy. But I want to give you another
• 26:54
  practical point because Mariah doesn't just symbolize mercy.
• 26:58
  The two occurrences were Mariah's mentioned a specific
• 27:00
  act took place. What act took place?
• 27:03
  By the hands of Abraham. By the hands of David?
• 27:06
  What did they do? Sacrifice.
• 27:08
  Very good Sacrifice. Sacrifice.
• 27:12
  Mariah also points to sacrifice. Now let's stay in the lane of.
• 27:16
  God's house, God's house, would not only be built upon the
• 27:21
  foundation of His provision for mercy.
• 27:23
  God's house would be built upon the principle and the attitude
• 27:29
  of sacrifice. Abraham was willing to
• 27:32
  sacrifice. David was willing to sacrifice.
• 27:35
  And it was upon that willingness to give that God's house would
• 27:40
  be able to be built. Is it any different for God's
• 27:43
  house today? Answer No, it's not different.
• 27:49
  If there's anything in the name of Christianity, in the name of
• 27:53
  church, that would truly host the glory of God, it will not
• 27:58
  happen unless there is a collective willingness to
• 28:03
  sacrifice, to say Lord, whatever it is that you're asking of me
• 28:09
  to contribute. To the building of your name,
• 28:12
  your glory, your meeting place. So be it.
• 28:17
  It's no different today. The principle has not changed.
• 28:21
  If God's house is going to be built anywhere and truly
• 28:26
  contains substance, the glory of God in the person of Jesus
• 28:29
  Christ, then each of us have to be willing to say what is
• 28:33
  required of me. Abraham was willing to give up
• 28:36
  Isaac. And when David was given the
• 28:39
  opportunity to sacrifice, excluding personal expense, he
• 28:45
  shut it down. He shut it down, he goes.
• 28:48
  There is no way that I'm going to worship without it costing me
• 28:52
  something. You're going to give me
• 28:54
  something and I'm going to give it to God.
• 28:56
  I can't do it. That's not worship.
• 28:59
  In fact, the way he says it at First Chronicles adds a greater
• 29:04
  depth to it and First Chronicles.
• 29:08
  He says in verse 24 of chapter 21 First Chronicles 2124.
• 29:14
  But King David said to Ornan no, but I will buy them for the full
• 29:20
  price. And this this touched me so
• 29:22
  deeply. I will not take from the Lord
• 29:25
  what is yours, nor offer burn offerings that cost me nothing.
• 29:32
  I will not do what? Take for the Lord what's yours.
• 29:38
  I want to reach into my pocket and give something from myself
• 29:45
  I'm not here to take from you. And then by taking from you,
• 29:51
  claim that it's something from me.
• 29:54
  That's not going to happen because that's not true worship.
• 30:00
  And yet, if we're not careful. We can fall into the trap of.
• 30:05
  Assuming that we're really giving something to the Lord,
• 30:08
  when in reality we're doing what David said he would not do.
• 30:12
  So when it comes to contributing whatever is asked of us to
• 30:15
  building God's house today, many.
• 30:17
  People have esteemed their sacrifice of almost doing God a
• 30:24
  favor by barely being there. When the people of God meet
• 30:30
  right, they interpret their sacrifice as.
• 30:36
  Being in an environment or being present or just taking from
• 30:41
  others while not giving and being satisfied with that
• 30:48
  standard. So there's more, there's a,
• 30:52
  there's a greater calling to me than saying I'm going to just.
• 30:56
  Receive from another person's gift and.
• 31:00
  Experience the blessing of their gift, whether that gift is music
• 31:03
  or preaching or any other kind of ministry, and me receiving
• 31:07
  that gift, that being my act of worship to God, it could be,
• 31:11
  but. You can also miss out by not
• 31:13
  doing what David said he would do and that say, OK now what do
• 31:15
  I give to the Lord? What do I give to the Lord?
• 31:20
  And so. What a way to end the book of
• 31:21
  Second Samuel to be challenged with the quality of our
• 31:25
  sacrifice. If we are truly a people that
• 31:30
  want to do something substantial for the building of God's House
• 31:34
  of our day, which is the Church of Jesus.
• 31:38
  So here's my one. Here's the the one tip of the
• 31:43
  arrow that I just want to just launch into your heart as we
• 31:46
  close this book. Do you?
• 31:48
  Realize the high calling and the great honor it is that you.
• 31:52
  Get to play a part in giving something to the House of God.
• 31:57
  Of of actually being involved with the the growth and the
• 32:01
  strengthening of God's house today.
• 32:05
  Never mind a temple with gold and colors and symbolism we're
• 32:08
  talking about. People from different tribes and
• 32:11
  tongues and races that can come together and experience the
• 32:14
  presence of God. You have that calling in this
• 32:19
  life. Name something better than that.
• 32:23
  Apart from your personal walk with the Lord, name something
• 32:25
  about that. I don't care how much money you
• 32:26
  make of the job. I don't care about the
• 32:27
  promotion. I don't care where you get to
• 32:29
  travel. I don't care the vehicles you
• 32:30
  used to travel. I don't care about the fashion
• 32:33
  style. I don't care how you chisel your
• 32:34
  body over time. Nothing can come close to the
• 32:39
  high calling of knowing that I get to actually be part of
• 32:43
  building something that will be ultimately eternal.
• 32:48
  How can you not give something to that cause?
• 32:52
  Where moth and rust can't destroy, Where thieves can't
• 32:55
  break in and steal, How can I be casual?
• 32:58
  How can I be distant? How can I reach for the bare
• 33:01
  minimum? Why would I not want to excel?
• 33:03
  Why wouldn't I want to orbit my entire life around knowing that
• 33:07
  I've been invited to participate in something that will remain?
• 33:11
  For the ages that's I want you to think beyond.
• 33:15
  I want you to think about what it is that God has called you to
• 33:18
  as we close this book. David was actually offended by
• 33:23
  the thought of just giving something cheap to the Lord so
• 33:28
  that he can satisfy his conscience.
• 33:30
  No way. This is too awesome for me not
• 33:34
  to be totally invested in. This is too great for me not to
• 33:39
  not to consider this the purpose of my life.
• 33:42
  It's it really saddens me when I meet believers, when I look at
• 33:46
  others and you can tell that their distance.
• 33:48
  From the purpose of God in the building of God, the Church of
• 33:51
  Jesus Christ. I, I, I look at them and I don't
• 33:54
  envy them one bit. My heart breaks for them because
• 33:57
  they're missing out. They're missing out on on having
• 34:01
  something so significantly done through their hands and their
• 34:05
  heart and their participation. And so if the if there's any
• 34:10
  meditation to leave off with in these final verses is Lord,
• 34:15
  thank you. For allowing me to 1 be part of
• 34:19
  your house, be a living stone in this house, but also.
• 34:22
  To be invited to do something about it, concerning its growth,
• 34:27
  concerning its effectiveness, its fruitfulness, its fragrance
• 34:29
  on the earth. And so if there's anything to
• 34:35
  self reflect on its Florida, what am I giving you that cost
• 34:39
  me something? Costless Christianity is
• 34:44
  powerless Christianity. It's cheap.
• 34:47
  It's empty. It does nothing for you, and it
• 34:50
  does nothing for people around you.
• 34:52
  And the next time you feel like your walk with the Lord, your
• 34:56
  participation as a member of the Church or another church, you
• 34:59
  feel like it's actually demanding something of you.
• 35:03
  Don't complain, rejoice and knowing that.
• 35:08
  Costly worship is true worship and knowing.
• 35:11
  That investing in this way actually will make a difference
• 35:15
  for those around you, for yourself, ultimately for the
• 35:19
  pleasure of God. And so the way I at least ended
• 35:24
  this personal experience through Second Samuels, just with that I
• 35:29
  felt. Many, many times in my walk with
• 35:31
  the Lord that serving the Lord costs me something.
• 35:37
  Anything from my time or a lunch, right?
• 35:42
  And yet I want to ask the Lord, and I want you to ask the Lord
• 35:46
  with me to say, no matter what it does cost me, I wouldn't have
• 35:50
  it any other way. It's a privilege to go home
• 36:09
  tired that week. It would be a greater cost for
• 35:54
  me not to give something worthwhile for the cause of
• 35:57
  Christ. See it that way, See it that way
• 36:01
  instead. That it's not really a cost.
• 36:03
  It's not really a price. It's a.
• 36:10
  Why? Because you.
• 36:11
  Served the people of God. Because with your free time, you
• 36:15
  could have done 1000 different things, but instead, because of
• 36:18
  the joy of loving the Lord and loving his people, you spent
• 36:21
  yourself giving something costly to him.
• 36:25
  This is not punishment. David's not like, well, I better
• 36:27
  do it, or else this plague might go on.
• 36:28
  If it's not genuine, that's not his.
• 36:30
  That's not the way he's thinking, if you want.
• 36:31
  Proof that you read the end of First Chronicles and you see the
• 36:34
  rejoicing David had when. He knew that he can enter into
• 36:37
  his personal treasury and dump it all out for Solomon to have
• 36:41
  something to build with. The guy was just over the moon,
• 36:46
  knowing that he can go into his. Personal bank account and
• 36:49
  withdraw every single penny knowing that it would go to the
• 36:52
  glory of God beyond his Life, OK?
• 36:55
  That's an old covenant man with a very blurry, though a profit.
• 36:58
  A blurry understanding of what you and I have clear vision of
• 37:03
  so as. Believers, may we not squeal, we
• 37:06
  mean may we not murmur, we would not complain.
• 37:09
  Tell me something greater in your life than contributing to
• 37:12
  the cause of the gospel moving forward.
• 37:14
  Tell me. Tell me nothing.
• 37:19
  Absolutely nothing. And we're willing to do it for
• 37:22
  other things. We're willing to go overtime for
• 37:23
  extra bonus. We're willing to go overtime for
• 37:25
  overpay. We're going to do all that
• 37:26
  stuff. But may it be that what we do
• 37:30
  for the Lord outshines anything else that we do for ourselves,
• 37:32
  for our income, for a vacation that we want to go.
• 37:35
  May it be that we have this kind of heartbeat that David had for
• 37:40
  the House of God. That's our prayer.
• 37:42
  Lord, thank you for this powerful thought in such a
• 37:48
  powerful book. Thank you.
• 37:52
  That the truth of your house being built is built upon the
• 37:58
  truth of mercy, and also the need for personal sacrifice.
• 38:05
  And so. Lord, may we be sobered, may we
• 38:10
  be shaken not unto condemnation. Or guilt.
• 38:17
  But unto the realization of what a great honor it is to know that
• 38:21
  you would include our sacrifice and the grand storyline of
• 38:25
  redemption in this world. And when we lose sight of that,
• 38:29
  Lord remind us of David's heart posture.
• 38:32
  Who would did not dare miss the opportunity of giving something
• 38:37
  that would glorify you and bless others?
• 38:42
  We worship you now for this book.
• 38:44
  We worship you for these past years, few years, and 1st and
• 38:47
  Second Samuel. And we give you all the glory
• 38:49
  for the things that we've learned.
• 38:50
  May we retain it. Lord, may you help us retain it
• 38:53
  and may get into our actions, our reactions, our interactions
• 38:58
  that you may be glorified in at all.
• 39:00
  In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
• 39:03
  Well, with one song left to sing tonight, sing with all your
• 39:06
  might, rejoicing in that. We have completed yet another
• 39:09
  book in God's holy word. He's been good to us.
• 39:17
  He's been so good to us. Well, why don't we stand and
• 39:19
  worship the Lord? Play Akshay Song.