2nd Samuel 5&6

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2^nd Samuel 5:9-25

“So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Milo and inward. 10 And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD of hosts was with him. 11 And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons, and they built David an house. 12 And David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel’s sake. 13 And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters born to David. 14 And these be the names of those that were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shammuah, and Shobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, 15 Ibhar also, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia, 16 and Elishama, and Eliada, and Eliphalet. 17 But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold. 18 The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. 19 And David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand. 20 And David came to Baal-perazim, and David smote them there, and said, The LORD hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of the place Baal-perazim. 21 And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them. 22 And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim. 23 And when David enquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. 24 And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines. 25 And David did so, as the LORD had commanded him; and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer.”

[Audio version: https://resources.ccphilly.org/detail.asp?TopicID=&Teaching=WED667]

Introduction: David Chooses Jerusalem As Israel’s Capitol City

“2^nd Samuel chapter 5, verse 6, we came to that great verse, great place to pick up [we actually got to verse 8], kind of where we are, the entire nation united under David, one king, one nation under God as it were. The first time since the days of Joshua, the whole nation gathered together. But now with the right king, it says “And the king and his men” what a great plaque, great bumper-sticker, what a truth, what a great statement, “the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites,” this ancient city, “the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither.” (verse 6) David, choosing Jerusalem, particular to his territory, Saul made a mistake choosing Gibeon out of his own tribe, Jerusalem was central to the highlands in Israel, central location, defendable. We’re going to see that David has other intentions, so this is perfect, this is the city of Jebus, of Jerusalem, of Zion, it was to be central, the capital of the nation. And it simply says, after hundreds of years of others trying, it just says, “Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the name is the city of David. And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David’s soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.” (verses 7-8) “and the lame and the blind” that’s what the terms they used to mock David, because they thought that fortress of Zion was so impregnable that they could leave the blind and the lame on the wall to guard the city, David said ‘Whoever gets up there and smites the lame and the blind,’ he said ‘that are hated of David’s soul, he shall be chief and captain,’ we know Joab was the one who accomplished that, ‘wherefore they said the blind and the lame shall not come into the house.’ “So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.” (verse 9) And he built all the settlements he wanted, anywhere, in east Jerusalem, in west Jerusalem, and nobody challenged him. “So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David build round about from Millo and inward.” one section, if you get a map, Zion is the lower part of the city, which is not Jerusalem today, the lower part south of the Temple Mount, which was a threshing floor, the threshing floor of Arunah at that time. And it was steep on the east in the Kidron and the south, Hinnom valley on the west side, the Tyropian Valley there. The only real approach was from the north, which was easily guarded, because it’s so narrow, to try to come to that part of the city. So, a fortress, it’s called a fort, easily defensible, and David is going to enlarge it. In this area of Millo, they’ve uncovered some of it, it’s like this system of stepped walls, about a thousand foot long or so, you can see it today. It says that David enlarged that part of the city around where Millo was and inward, “And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him.” (verse 10) it just says “going and growing,” it’s kind of interesting. I pray that our lives, that would be a nice encapsulation of our spiritual walk with him, he went “going and growing.” “David went on, and grew great,” great notoriety, and the note, “and the LORD God of hosts was with him.” (verse 10) “And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house.” (verse 11) And we assume that Hiram is younger at this point in time, because Hiram will also support his son Solomon, and David has 33 years of his reign left in Jerusalem, and he strikes up this relationship with Hiram, who is the king of Tyre. Now Hiram no doubt heard that David had brought together all of Israel, David had some victories down in Philistine country, we’re not sure chronologically exactly how this falls, because it’s going to describe two battles with the Philistines, and David then will have continual victory over the Philistines, and the Philistines were a seafaring people in their origins, and they were a headache to the king of Tyre [the king of the Phoenician maritime empire of Tyre and Sidon], and no doubt David coming to prominence, it was just good diplomacy for Hiram to pay homage to David, to acknowledge him, and I think a genuine friendship begins, where Hiram loves David as a man, hearing of his victory, “Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons: and they built David an house.” (verse 11) [Comment: This alliance David made with king Hiram of Tyre, with the Phoenicians, a maritime empire would end up bringing spiritual disaster into the 10 northern tribes of Israel after the division of the nation, from the time of Rehoboam Solomon’s son right up to 721 BC, as this would bring Baal worship into the ten northern tribes, now called the House of Israel after the division at Rehoboam’s time. To learn of the exact historic details about how this occurred, see https://www.unityinchrist.com/kings/1.html.] If you’ve ever seen a full-grown cedar, they are breathtaking, cedrous lobani, a beautiful tree. You get to see one that’s over 100 feet tall, 150, 200-foot tall, just staggering. And I could imagine in those days, they would only cut them down as they used them, so you can imagine the cypress and the cedar trees, we’ll hear more about. He sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons, and they built David a house, a palace there in Jerusalem. “And David perceived that the LORD had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel’s sake.” (verse 12) “for Israel’s sake,” not for David’s sake. So David, very solid place in a sense at this point in time, he sees Hiram, he sees the victory, he sees the nation united, and it says ‘he perceives that the LORD had established him,’ it wasn’t his own effort. Remember, he went 15 years fleeing from king Saul, probably wondering at times if his kingdom would ever be established. And now he looks at it, he realizes it’s God’s hand that’s given it to him, “and that he” the LORD “had exalted his kingdom for his people Israel’s sake.” He hasn’t done it for David, he realized the LORD has done this for his ancient people Israel, ‘he’s established me, he’s raised this kingdom up,’ and he has this certainly in perspective. David will expand the nation of Israel from approximately 6,000 square miles under his reign, to 60,000 square miles. David will unite the nation nationally, civilly and religiously, awaken them spiritually. David will institute trade with the known world of his day, David will subjugate every enemy that comes against them. David perceives God’s hand in these things, and that God is doing it for his people’s sake.

Sadly, David Took To Himself More Concubines And Wives

And then it says, sadly, “And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.” (verse 13) David is being directly disobedient to the instruction in Deuteronomy 17, verse 17, where they were told, God says ‘the day’s going to come when you’re going to want a king like the nations around you,’ it wasn’t God’s ideal, it was to be a theocracy, and the nation could have been ruled from God’s Word and from the Tabernacle [“ruled by God’s Word, Law” in the sense that the Law of God in Exodus through Deuteronomy was Israel’s Constitutional Law, for civilly and religiously ruling a nation, but the Books of Joshua and Judges, especially the Book of Judges show us that the spiritual part didn’t work out. Why? Moses clearly tells us in Numbers 11:14-17, 24-29, that the vast majority of all Israel did not possess or have the Holy Spirit indwelling them, they were just carnal human beings that happened to know that God was real, and was their God who had rescued them from Egyptian slavery, and that while they had a physical knowledge of God’s Law and Word, and that God was real, they were in no sense spiritually converted with God’s Holy Spirit in them. Those 70 elders did have God’s Holy Spirit put in them, as Joshua did, and some of the Judges did, and as David himself had God’s Spirit in him. But the average Joe Israelite, and all the other inhabitants of the world never had God’s Holy Spirit in them. This raises a lot of questions about “the unsaved dead.” The Body of Christ has various beliefs about the “unsaved dead,” some of them quite conflicting. To see some of these, log onto: https://unityinchrist.com/plaintruth/battle.htm]. ‘You’re gonna want a king, like the nations around you, and when that happens, you shall surely not chose a stranger, a foreigner to be king over you. And whoever you pick to be king, I don’t want him going back to Egypt to multiply horses,’ Solomon would do that, ‘I don’t want him to multiplying gold and silver to himself,’ Solomon would do that, there would be so much gold that silver would be counted as rocks, and I don’t want him to multiply wives to himself.’ Now Solomon definitely did that, David’s going to end up, like maybe he thinks this is addition and not multiplication, I don’t know. But look, we watch him. In chapter 11 it’s going to tell us, “It was the year when kings go forth to battle,” and David stayed in Jerusalem and he saw a woman taking a bath on the next roof, Bathsheba, he looked over and saw her. And it tells us something about him, it was the time of the year when kings go forth to battle, and David relaxed. We find David much more vulnerable in his successes than on the battlefield, or even in his failures. Charles Spurgeon said “The seeds of our future failures are the most often sown during our successes.” The seeds of our future failures, most often sown during our success. When you drive your car and it’s raining or it’s foggy, you never get in an accident. That’s when you should get in an accident, but that’s when you’re driving like this, you’re looking at everything, you hate every truck that goes by, you watch everybody, and by the time you get somewhere having driven a couple hours, you’re so wasted because you’ve been so intensively watching in the rain. You get in an accident on a nice day. You’re listening to the radio, you’re talking to somebody in the front seat, you’re talking when you shouldn’t be, when your guard is down. And we see David here, raised up, perceiving God’s blessing, and his guard is down as it were, he has some sense of entitlement that certainly he shouldn’t have, and he’s failing here, genuinely, and he’s sowing the seeds of a future failure that will effect him as a man, and as a father, and as a king. And it says he takes more concubines and wives to himself, and he has sons and daughters born. There’s four places in the Old Testament that we have a list of his wives and his kids. And it’s kind of fast-forwarding now, it didn’t all happen now, it’s fast-forwarding, “And these be the names of those that were born unto him in Jerusalem; Shammuah,” it’s SeaWorld, he should never have taken more wives and concubines, “and Shobab, and Nathan,” named after the Prophet who would be his friend, “and Solomon, Ibhar also, and Elishua, and Nepheg, and Japhia, and Elishama, and Eliada, and Elishalet.” (verses 14-16)

In Two Major Battles David Destroys The Philistine Threat

Contrast now, “But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold.” (verse 17) now they hear that he has been made king, the Philistines hear the nation is united, they may have perceived David’s still a vassal king, when he was in Hebron they might not have been completely threatened, possibly the Philistines at that point in time even saw him to some degree as an ally. Remember he had lived down there in Philistine territory for a long time. And Achish, king of Gath tried to convince the other Philistine kings he was not a threat. But now he’s come to Jerusalem, and all of the 12 tribes, the entire nation from Dan to Beersheba as it were, is gathered under his reign, and now the enemy is awakened. Listen, whenever you have the right King in the right place, the enemy freaks out, that’s the rule. It’s the same in our lives, you have the right King in the heart of the land, the enemy is stirred, that’s just, make it a rule. Write it on your forehead backwards so you can read it in the morning on the mirror. There is never spiritual progress without warfare, there is never spiritual progress without warfare. Now that’s governed, it’s not out of control, it suits God’s purposes. But it tells us here “But when the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold.” (verse 17) it seems he’s going down to the area towards Engedi where he had been and was so familiar with. “And the Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.” (verse 18) big show, big display now, in the valley of Rephaim, several miles south[west] of Jerusalem. And notice this, “And David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.” (verse 19) David perceived that the LORD had blessed him, David perceived the LORD raised him up, David basically at this point is saying ‘LORD, you gave us the nation, you gave us Jerusalem, you have to sustain it now. What should I do? this is all yours. The Philistines are attacking your country, not mine, the Philistines have invaded your Kingdom,’ and David says ‘What shall I do?’ Wonderful, at this season of his life, all of his victories are secondary to his enquiring of the LORD, his prayer. And David enquired of the LORD, saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine hand? And the LORD said unto David, Go up: for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.” (verse 19) “for I will doubtless,” no big deal David, “for I will doubtless deliver the Philistines into thine hand.” “And David came to Baal-perazim, and David smote them there, and said, The LORD hath broken forth upon mine enemies before me, as the breach of waters. Therefore he called the name of that place Baal-perazim. And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.” (verses 20-21) they ran and left their gods, forgot that their gods couldn’t run. If your god can’t run, you have the wrong god, and if your god needs to run you got the wrong god. And if you’re running and leave your god somewhere, you got the wrong god, “there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.” and if somebody can put your god in piles and burn them, you got the wrong god. So, interesting, David, he says their defeat was like a breach in the waters, maybe he’s thinking of the Red Sea or the parting of the Jordan as they came into the land, or maybe he’s thinking about a wall breaking and water pouring forth, we’re not told. But he sees this breach, it’s going to be important in the next chapter, as something from the LORD’s hand, he recognizes this is something that God has done. And he names it after that. “And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.” (verse 22) now God’s having this happen on purpose. Because what’s going to happen is, David’s not going to say ‘Hey, I know how this one works, remember? we just, this is Philistine’s-101, we just go back, get in the same position,’ no, he’s going to seek the LORD again, and the LORD’s going to give him a completely different battle plan for the same situation. The Philistines come and encamp in the same place, and God’s going to tell David to approach it a completely different way. He’s going to give him a greater victory, and then he’s going to record that, certainly for us tonight, because the mistake that you and I make, I speak for myself, you all look confused, the mistake that I make sometimes, if something happens, I think ‘Well this is the way the Lord does it, then, so here’s the formula, here’s the method, and when it happens again I just have to do it the same way.’ Look, after any victory, as soon as that victory is over, the next second, we’re just as dependent on the Lord as we were the second before the victory. And what that means, the Philistines in their camp must have said ‘Let’s go up and get ‘em,’ and some of the Philistines said, ‘Nah, God’s with them, they wupped us,’ and then God made the other Philistines say ‘No, no, that was just a freak occurrence,’ and then they said ‘Where should we go?’ and some of the Philistines said ‘Let’s go to the valley of Rephaim,’ and the guys are going ‘Duh, we were just, what do you mean, you’re going to go right back,’ and you realize the counsel that must have taken place in the camp of the Philistines to make them come back and camp in exactly the same place so God could teach us a lesson here tonight. This is involved, just don’t take that for granted when it says they came back here to the valley of Rephaim. “the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.” Dashavu. “And when David enquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them,” pull around them, flank them, “and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.” (verse 23) that’s an important part of the plan, ‘Oh ya, attack from the mulberry trees.’ Look, there’s no formula, there’s enquiry of the LORD verses methodology, ‘How do we do this?’ there’s the Living God, not a formula. “come upon them over against the mulberry trees.” and God says “And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.” (verse 24) now I wonder if David came back and said to the guys ‘The LORD said when we hear the sound of a going in the top of the mulberry trees,’ they all said ‘What’s a going sound like in the top of the mulberry trees?’ A stirring, a rustling in the top of the mulberry trees. The ancient rabbis said it was the movement of angels, like the angels at Dothan when Elisha said ‘Open my servant’s eyes,’ and he opened his eyes and saw the chariots and the horsemen of fire (2^nd Kings 6:13-17), they even make reference to a particular Psalm, in their tradition they say was the moving of the LORD’s army ahead of David’s army, the rustling in the mulberry trees, “when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.” (verse 24) ‘the LORD will go out before you to smite the host of the Philistines.’ Charles Spurgeon says, you know, “God may send his angels, God may engage the battle, God may grant us the victory, but we have to bestir ourselves, we have to bestir ourselves.” And when we listen, and we hear God rustling, going, the rustling’s of God, the wind, it should stir us, it should stir us. And it’s not a human sound, it’s not heard with the human ear, but it’s heard, it’s heard. The Bible says taste and see that the Lord is good, it’s not talking about your palate, your tongue, it’s talking about something that’s deeper. The Bible says we should take hold of the promises of God, it’s not with your physical hand. It says we have a savour of death unto those who are perishing, we smell like death to them, but that’s not a physical smell. And this stirring, you know, there’s a stirring that we can sense, that we can recognize, and God is stirring. And in response to that, we should bestir ourselves, when we sense the Lord’s stirring we should get to our knees and say ‘Lord, here I am.’ Look, I’m preaching to myself, not to the choir, ‘Lord, here’s my heart, I know you’re stirring, what do you want of me? I’m just a man, in of myself Lord I’m nothing, speak, Lord, direct Lord.’ “then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines. And David did so, as the LORD had commanded him; and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer.” (verses 24b-25) the verse before said the LORD had smote the Philistines, David went because he bestirred himself, and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer, over 20 miles, deeper into the territory. And by the way, in this battle, taking back city after city that Saul had lost to the Philistines. [“When David became king over all Israel, the Philistines, judging that he would now become their uncompromising enemy, made a sudden attack upon Hebron, compelling David to retire from it. He sought refuge in "the hold" at Adullam (2 Samuel 5:17–22), and the Philistines took up their position in (or raided) the valley of Rephaim, on the west and south-west of Jerusalem. Thus all communication between Bethlehem and Jerusalem was intercepted. While David and his army were encamped here, there occurred the battle narrated in 2 Samuel 5:17–25 and 1 Chronicles 14:8–12. Having obtained divine direction, David led his army against the Philistines, and gained a complete victory over them. The scene of this victory was afterwards called Baal-perazim. A second time, however, the Philistines rallied their forces in this valley (2 Samuel 5:22 and 1 Chronicles 14:13–16). Again, warned by a divine saying about hearing a marching sound in the tops of the baka trees (הבכאים, KJV "mulberry trees", most modern versions "balsam"), David led his army to Gibeon, and attacked the Philistines from the south, inflicting on them another severe defeat, and chasing them with great slaughter to Gezer. There David kept in check these enemies of Israel and in consequence his fame grew.” (Wikipedia.org)]

Valley of Rephaim

The valley of Rephaim is west of Jerusalem, running Northeast to Southwest, as seen in the map above. Now, this brings us to 2^nd Samuel chapter 6.

2^nd Samuel 6:1-15

“Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2 And David arose, and went with the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims. 3 And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart. 4 And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God: and Ahio went before the ark. 5 And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals. 6 And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. 7 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God. 8 And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perez-uzzah to this day. 9 So David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me? 10 So David would not remove the ark of the LORD unto him into the city of David: but David carried it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 11 And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed Obed-edom, and all his household. 12 Then it was told king David, saying, The LORD hath blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the city of David with gladness. 13 And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings. 14 And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.”

David’s First Attempt To Bring The Ark Of The Covenant To Jerusalem

David’s Motive Was Right, Pure

“Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale” which is Kerioth-jearim, your translation may insert the word, “of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims.” (verses 1-2) David now has a political capital, he wants it also to be the spiritual capital of the nation. We’re going to watch David here do something commendable, he’s doing the right thing, because God is only going to bless it. But the lesson here is he’s doing the right thing the wrong way. God will bring before us both his motive, which is right, and his method, that is wrong. And quite often our motive is correct, but the methodology can be wrong. And God will never justify the means because of the end. David wants to bring up the Ark of the Covenant, which has been in Kerioth-jearim for over 70 years now. Remember when the Philistines sent it back to Israel on a cart, with cows lowing and bringing it up there to Bethshemesh. It’s been there for over 70 years. David now realizes, and God had said in his Word that he would set up a central location where all of the nation could come and worship, and now the nation is conjoined, they’ve come together, David is there, he’s king. And probably Psalm 132, most scholars feel written relative to this situation. David says “Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house,” remember Hiram had built him this palace, David said “Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed, I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, until I find out a place for the LORD, a habitation for the Mighty God of Jacob. Though we heard of it at Ephratah, we found it in the fields of the wood,’ which is Kirioth-jearim, ‘we will go into his tabernacle, we will worship at his footstool, Arise O LORD, into thy rest, Thou and the ark of thy strength. Let thy priests be clothed…” you read through, and you hear the intent of David, ‘How can I enjoy, how can I have a palace when the LORD is out in the field somewhere?’ And David evidently at this point constructs a tabernacle, it is not The Tabernacle that Moses made, but he makes a tent, a structure to bring the Ark into. The other Tabernacle seems to be garnered and gathered finally when Solomon’s Temple is finished, and all of the treasures, some of them seeming scattered to some degree are finally all gathered. But here David wants the presence of the LORD in the midst of the nation. It says he perceives that God is the one whose established, God is the one whose done it all. And like us, we want Revival in our nation, we want the presence of the Lord (see https://unityinchrist.com/prophets/Zephaniah/REVIVAL.html). And in David’s day the presence of the LORD was there on the Mercy Seat between the Cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant, it was the recognized place, Exodus says that’s the place where the LORD dwells, between the cherubim, on the Ark of the Covenant. And David wants to bring it up. When they had been in the Wilderness with Moses, and you read about the encampments, the entire encampment of Israel, and it says ‘And these tribes camped on the east,’ on the east of what? On the east of the Tabernacle, ‘these tribes camped on the north,’ the entire nation was laid out relative to the Tabernacle where the Ark of the Covenant was. And David knows that, and he wants to bring this Ark, not only so Jerusalem’s the political capital, but so it’s the spiritual capital of the nation also. What he wants to do is so right, and it’s so good. He says ‘I can’t live here in a palace until the LORD has a habitation, I’m secondary, I’m a lieutenant governor, he’s the King, he has to be here.’ And his heart is right, but we’re going to watch him do a right thing the wrong way, and there’s a powerful lesson, because we want the Lord’s presence. I don’t know about you guys, I want the Lord’s presence, in my home, my life, in the church, in our nation, we want revival. We’re going to hear about the Ark 15 times in the first 17 verses here. David sends, or he gathers first 30,000 chosen men of Israel, warriors, he’s going to make sure when we move this nobody’s going to mess with us. And we find out there’s Levites, priests, musicians, he’s got everybody together now, David gathers everyone together.

Doing The Right Thing With The Right Motive And The Wrong Method

“And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale” which is Kerioth-jearim, your translation may insert the word, “of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims. And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart.” (verses 2-3) [The Ark has been in the house of Abinadab and his sons since before both his sons were born and toddlers, they grew up with it in their house.] Now he takes the Ark, and he throws it on a cart. Now that’s how it got there, with the Philistines. But God could tolerate the Philistines doing it, because they didn’t have the Law, they put it on a cart and drove it up to Bethshemesh. The problem is, the Ark of the Covenant had rings hanging on the four corners, where staves were to be inserted, and the Ark of the Covenant was to be carried, it wasn’t to be on a cart. In Numbers we’re told this, specifically, in chapter 4, it says “And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.” Now it’s interesting, because in one more description it says “and Moses took the wagons and the carts and gave them unto the Levites, two wagons or carts and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon according to their service, and four carts and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari according to their service under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none,” no cart, no wagon, “because the service of the sanctuary belonged to them, was that they should bear it upon their shoulders.” Now David sets out, he’s got 30,000 men, everybody’s onboard, we’re going to find out everybody’s excited, and when they get there, they put that Ark up on a cart. And it’s a new cart, it’s a new cart. And new carts are always attractive. Listen, in the Church today, I mean the lesson, we want the presence of God, I want the presence of God in my life, in my family. But we always want to throw him on our cart, we invent a ministry, we invent a method, we invent some type of program, and then we want to throw God on. But you can’t drag him along, and you can’t drive him, it says ‘they drave the new cart.’ And there’s cart-builders everywhere today. Interesting, one commentary I read said “Carts are nothing but boards with big wheels,” and he went on to say “the Church is filled with boards with big wheels.” And it’s never the way God moved and it’s not the way that God moves today. But new carts are attractive, and the Church is filled with cart-builders, slick, savvy, and interesting. [The latest thing happening within the evangelical part of the Church is they want to bring Revival into America by political means, that’s their “new cart” they’re trying to throw God onto, forcing their religious agendas and standards onto a secular nation. That is not how real Revival starts. See https://unityinchrist.com/topical%20studies/America-ModernRomans6.htm] It says Abinadab’s sons were Ahio and Uzzah. Ahio means “brotherly” or “friendly,” Uzzah means “strength,” and it’s just a picture of the Church wanting to use it’s own strength, wanting to be friendly. It says Ahio went first, ‘This is the new thing, friendly, friendly goes first, strength goes last, and we’ll throw God on our cart and we’ll drag him along, and this will be a great program, wait till you see what happens.’ But God will have none of it. Listen, this is the same thing that happened with Eli and his sons, when Israel was loosing the battle with the Philistines because they hadn’t sought the LORD, they said ‘Let’s take the Ark, the rabbit’s foot, into battle with us, and then we’ll have victory, and they took the Ark of the Covenant,’ because that’s how they treated it, they treated it like it was a rabbit’s foot. If you’re old enough, you had a rabbit’s foot when you were a kid. Animal lovers never let that happen these days, but when I was a kid they used to cut rabbit’s feet, I don’t know what they did with the rest of the rabbit, but I had several of those when I was a kid, Lucky Rabbit’s Foot. That’s the way they want to treat the Ark of the Covenant, that’s what David’s doing here, ‘Hey man, we got the kingdom, we got Jerusalem, this is great, let’s go get the Ark, we’ll bring it up, and everything will kind of pull together,’ so they go down, they grab the Ark and throw it on their cart. That’s what it says. They set the Ark of God, worldly ways, the Philistines did this, let’s consult Madison Avenue, let’s find out the best way to do this. John Wesley said in his day “The Church doesn’t need new things, it needs new fire.” “And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart.” they’re driving it, driving God on up to Jerusalem. “And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God: and Ahio went before the ark. And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.” (verses 3-5) Imagine the scene, because the people of Jerusalem must be waiting on the walls, ‘This is gonna be great, David,’ and he’s out there, he’s got 30,000 men, just imagine what that looks like, warriors, and then all the priests, then all the musicians, they’re coming up towards Jerusalem, driving God there, got him on a cart, everybody’s excited, everybody’s onboard. Because it’s unanimous or because the majority of the people say something should happen in a certain way does not mean that it’s God’s leading or that it’s God’s method. Because for all intent purposes, everybody looked at this and said it looked wonderful. Everybody was excited, everybody wanted God’s presence, that’s right, that’s a good thing, everybody wanted it. But they’re doing the right thing the wrong way. Their motive is good and their method is so wrong. And they’re coming up to Jerusalem, imagine the scene, everybody’s excited, everybody’s watching. “And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it.” (verse 6) your gloss should say “they stumbled.” “And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error;” for his rashness, he’s brazen, “and there he died by the ark of God.” (verse 7) the anger of the LORD, the Hebrew says “the heat of his nostrils.” You don’t want to be under those, ‘the heat of his nostrils was kindled,’ the LORD’s anger is kindled, it’s an interesting picture. “Nachon” the word there, it means “to be smitten.” You don’t want to go to the place of “smitten’s threshingfloor.” And the threshingfloor is where you separate the wheat from the chaff, that’s what’s going to happen on this day. And when they get there, it says the oxen stumble, and Uzzah, which means “strength,” puts forth his hand to steady the Ark, probably great motivation, doesn’t want it to fall. When he takes hold of it, the anger of the LORD is kindled and he smites him down dead there. Now you have to imagine the scene, because the people are going ‘Oooh,’ and Uzzah reaches out, ‘Baboom!’ he falls over and then people are going ‘Shhh!’ and you can hear, all the people are playing instruments, and they’re going to the musicians ‘Shut up! Shhh!’ and you just imagine, how long does it take for 30,000 people to quiet down? But the whole scene changes, the whole scene changes. Because, you know, we start to do something, and when it’s not steady or it starts get a little shaky, we always want to use our own strength to try to fix it. From Horeb to the Jordan River that parted in front of the Ark, the seven times around Jericho, seven days, seven times, no one had ever stumbled. In 38 years, no one who was carrying this thing the way they were supposed to, ever stumbled. But doing it the way that wasn’t prescribed, you know, it’s almost as though the LORD, it’s almost as though there’s a measure of patience, ‘This is wrong, I didn’t smite the Philistines down because they didn’t have the Word of God, you guys, you know, you throw me on this cart and you’re driving me? you’re dragging me along, it’s bad enough, and then you think you’re going to put forth your hand and take hold of me like I’m a common, the Ark of the Covenant like it’s a common piece of furniture or something?’ And Uzzah puts forth his hand and he takes hold of it, and it says ‘for his error he died there.’ “And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perez-uzzah to this day.” (verse 8) “displeased” see where it says that? That’s a shorter form of the same word where it says, talks about the anger of the LORD, David wasn’t just displeased, he was “angry.” David is angry because “the LORD made a breach upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perez-uzzah to this day.” “to this day” interesting. And it says “And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me?” (verse 9) Now that’s not necessarily bad. Look, David is angry, he’s humiliated, his pride I believe is even at stake here, he brought together 30,000 of the best men in Israel, he has the whole of the Levites and the priests and the musicians. He’s doing the greatest thing the nation has seen. You know, him being ordained as the king and anointed, that was one thing, but bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, one nation under God, this was the greatest day, and now all of his plans are smitten. Everybody stands back, he’s completely humiliated, he’s angry, and it says he’s afraid. Now he will write, when he writes Psalm 19, ‘that the fear of the LORD is clean, it’s clean.’ And he says, it says “the LORD made a breach upon Uzzah:” He rejoiced when the LORD made a breach upon the Philistines, and now there’s been a breach, the LORD has broken forth upon Uzzah. That’s the whole lesson, everything’s contained in that. God is not going to allow the children of Israel or anybody else in any generation to drag his presence, or throw him on a cart, or throw him on a program, throw him on your own program and drag him up and try to get a blessing out of it, no there’s got to be complete reverence. By the time the LORD allows the Ark to come into Jerusalem, they will be sacrificing, they will be worshipping, there will be [sacrificial] blood involved, everything will be in perspective, that he is Holy, that he is powerful, that he is Omnipotent. David is displeased, he’s angry because the LORD made a breach upon Uzzah, and he named the place “the breach of Uzzah,” Samuel says “unto this day.” “And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me?” (verse 9) Now that’s the question, how shall the presence of the LORD come to me? That’s the central question, “How shall the ark of the LORD come to me?” Well we know this, you ain’t gonna drive him and you ain’t gonna drag him. You know that much.

David Brings The Ark Of The Covenant To Jerusalem The Proper Way

“So David would not remove the ark of the LORD unto him into the city of David: but David carried it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.” (verse 10) Now Obed-edom we find out is a Levite, not only that, he’s a Kohathite, of the house of Kohath. [In Numbers 4:1-21 God prescribes to Moses the job of the Kohathites, that they were in charge of all that was inside of the Tabernacle, and that would include the Ark of the Covenant. But whenever those items inside the Tabernacle, including the Ark, were to be moved, they had to be covered by the priests that were descended from Aaron himself, and that not even the Kohathites could move these items or even see them until they were covered. So the Kohathites were specially selected to take care of the items, including the Ark, and the moving of the Ark once it was covered by special drapes, wherever it had to be moved.] “And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed Obed-edom, and all his household.” (verse 11) at least 90 days, and look, “and the LORD blessed Obed-edom, and all his household. And it was told king David, saying, The LORD hath blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God.” (verses 11b-12a) This is huge, because David’s got to be thinking, ‘God has blessed the house of Obed-edom, God has blessed the house of Obed-edom.’ And here comes David, back on this day, everybody’s waiting on the walls, and of the musicians are kind of, you know, walking like this, nobody’s playing their instruments, people are saying on the wall ‘What happened? What happened?’ ‘Sshhh,’ ‘Where’s the Ark?’ there’s no celebration, and David is brooding, it says for three months. And he’s hearing ‘God is blessing Obed-edom, he’s blessing the house of Obed-edom.’ Now it’s interesting, “Obed,” “servant,” “edom,” “red.” It tells us that when Samuel came to anoint David when he was 15 or 16, that he was just a ruddy servant, he was ruddy. And David is thinking ‘Obed-edom, before I was a king I slew a lion and a bear, when I was just a servant I killed Goliath, God was with me, Obed-edom, Obed-edom, just a ruddy servant. The problem must be with me, God is still blessing his servants.’ And you can see David sitting in his palace there, which Hiram had built him, thinking, thinking, and no doubt all of a sudden a light comes on, we would hear out of the palace ‘Yeehaa!’ maybe not. 1^st Chronicles chapter 15, says this, “And David made him houses in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent. Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.” and down in verse 11 it says “And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab, and said unto them, Ye are the chief fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it. For because ye did it not at first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.” (verses 1-3, 11-13) David says to the priests and the Levites ‘We did not seek the LORD after due order, this is not a democracy, it’s a kingdom, and it isn’t our kingdom, it’s his Kingdom.’ “And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the LORD.” [cf. Exodus 25:14 and Numbers 4:15] the simplicity of the Word of God. There’s a lot of things that we do on the horizontal, the Church is loaded for bear on the horizontal, we got screens and we got PA systems, we got all kinds of stuff, but there’s one thing that’s going to remain a vertical burden. You have the Ark of the Covenant, you have the broken Law, and you have the Mercy Seat with the blood of the Lamb that was poured out. And it’s as almost as though God says ‘I’ll give you every battle against the Philistines, I’ll take care of everything else, but there’s one thing you’re going to bare, and that is that you’re a sinner saved by grace, there’s one thing you’re going to bare and you’re not going to forget, that’s to be borne, there is a broken Law, there is a Holy God, and there is the blood of the Lamb that is applied to that. Do you want my presence? Do you want my blessing?’ I think of how the Church today is turning away from the simplicity of that truth, of a Holy God, a broken Law, the blood of Jesus Christ, central, to be borne, to be carried. It says “So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of the house of Obed-edom with joy. And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD,” there’s no more stumbling, he helped them, he had helped them for 38 years. The thing was made of gold, it was heavy, overlaid with gold, “that they offered seven bullocks and seven rams.” (verses 25-26) It gives us the procession, it tells us back here in 2^nd Samuel 6, “And it was told the king David, saying, The LORD hath blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God.” it doesn’t give us the details it does in 1^st Chronicles 15, it just finally brings to the conclusion “So David went and brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the city of David with gladness. And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.” (verses 12-13) a pace is about 5 foot, so about every 30 foot or something. This time when they come up, they’re doing it right, the guys are carrying it, and about every 30 foot they stop and have sacrifices, this is a bloody road by the time they get to Jerusalem, but they’re doing it right this time, and they’re celebrating. Imagine what it was like for Obed-edom, David comes, and here’s the king and 30,000 men, priests and musicians, ‘We’re not taking this to Jerusalem, we’re putting this in your living room.’ Did Obed-edom sleep that night? ‘Don’t touch it!’ he’s saying to his wife, ‘Get away from it,’ imagine having the Ark of the Covenant in your living room. What would you watch on your TV? Straighten a lot of that right up. Huh? How would you talk to your wife or your husband, with the Ark of the Covenant sitting in your living room? Well the Ark of the Covenant is sitting in your living room, the presence of the Lord, he said he’d never leave us or forsake us, never leave us or forsake us. Obed-edom, whatever conjugations went on in his heart, he must have come to a grand conclusion. And God began to bless everything in this man’s life, his servant, this ruddy servant. And David remembered, his heart was stirred, and he looked back to God’s Word, and he’s bringing now the Ark of the Covenant up to the city of Jerusalem with great joy, there’s sacrifices. Now the vertical is where it should be, the horizontal’s there, but the vertical is where it should be, they’re baring this Ark. “And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.” (verses 14-15) he’s coming up to Jerusalem with the same outfit that the Levites have on, there’s nothing to make him distinct from the rest, yes, he is the king, but he is also just a servant. Again, I’m convince that David would rather have been a priest, I think, than a king. When he writes his epitaph, when he signs off at the end of 2^nd Samuel, he says “Now these be the last words of David, David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said” (2^nd Samuel 23:1) the sweet psalmist of Israel said, not the king, not the giant-killer, not the great warrior, not the general, but the sweet psalmist of Israel, a worshipper of God, a man who worshipped God. And I look at this and I think ‘Lord, don’t let me, don’t let the leadership here, home-fellowship leaders, the people working in the Sunday school,’ I think we genuinely want to do the right thing, ‘but don’t let us ever attempt to do it the wrong way. Don’t let us have the right motive and the wrong method, don’t let us think because we can adopt the latest and greatest, because we can afford PowerPoint, because we can get a better PA system, don’t let us think because we can rent this building or do this, that we can get smoke machines in here, and colored lights, and a new set of drums and a new keyboard. No Lord, don’t ever let us think like that. We want to do the right thing, we want your presence, and we want it to be real.’ It makes me look at my heart, Lord, do I just want to teach another Bible study, or do I want Pentecost? Lord, you changed the world with 120 in an upper room, with this many gathered on a Wednesday night, if he poured out his Holy Spirit and we had his presence, what might he do in this city of Philadelphia, how might he change the world? Lord, am I baring what I should bare in this? You know, we got lots of stuff going on the horizontal, Lord, do I have the vertical of this kind of severed out, am I bearing? What’s between you and I when I’m alone, of your forgiveness, of your bloodshed, am I still a ruddy servant there Lord? Don’t let us build carts, flip the Lord on there and drive him on up to the latest program, the latest event. Let’s do this “in due order” Lord, according to your Word. David, of course, gets, we’ll finish that next week, if the Lord tarries, and gets the Ark up to Jerusalem. But, the more important question is, Lord, you certainly recorded things for Israel of old, but you recorded things there and preserved them and handed to us these things this evening, thousands of years later. What did you put to the page for us? Was it your Holy Spirit moving through the hand of Samuel and the quill that had our address on it, Lord? I can only answer those things for myself as best I can. I think, Lord forgive me, I don’t want to step into your ministry on any given day, Lord, without coming for your presence, Lord. I don’t want to be the director, I want to be the directed. I want my fresh marching orders, Lord, every day, because I’ve borne as it were the one thing, that I’m a sinner saved by grace, you’ve settled all of this with your own blood, and there’s no entitlements in this program, I’m a ruddy servant, I’m your son, you love me, again, but if in whatever we put our hand to on his behalf, if we’re not bringing something from another world, we can have the snazziest carts on terra firma, we can have all kinds of gear, but if we’re not bringing something from another world, we’ll never touch this world, never touch this world. So let’s have the musicians come, let’s bring our hearts before him, let’s believe that he inhabits the praises of his people, outside of everything else we got going on, let’s lift our hearts and say ‘Lord, this is the one thing you want me to bare Lord, our personal relationship here.’ You’re a Holy God, there’s a broken Law, but there’s the blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. And that’s not to be touched, not to be thrown around, not to be loaded on a program, Lord, it’s to be carried in my heart. Let’s stand, let’s pray…[transcript of a connective expository sermon on 2^nd Samuel 5:9-25 and 2^nd Samuel 6:1-15, given by Pastor Joe Focht, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia, 13500 Philmont Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19116]