Social Media Fast

Unashamed worship/Celebrate

Welcome back to week 3 of our series on worship.

I just want to remind you the reason why we are doing this series

Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship Introduction

“Worship is the supreme and only indispensable activity of the Christian Church. It alone will endure, like the love for God which it expresses, into heaven, when all other activities of the Church will have passed away.

-David Peterson

It is because worship is the one thing that lasts!

So in the first week of this series we talked about worshiping God rightly.

God defines worship

We looked at some disastrous worship stories

And really the question became who does your life serve?

Does your life serve you or does it serve the Lord?

Last week Pastor Bethany unpacked what it means to worship God with your whole heart.

And this week I have this worship story that has always been Bazar to me.

This story has I has troubled me for years and so I knew I wanted to tackel it in this series

First off, you know in movies when everyone is at a party and the record scratches and the music stops? and like everyone just stares? That is what will happen in this story

Its like, there is a party record scratch…someone dies…then they go back to partying…

I’m telling you it is one of those strange Bible stories that on the face off it…Without understanding it. It makes God look cruel…But that is not what is happening at all.

Let’s dive in to the story today:

2 Samuel 6:1–2 NIV

David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand. He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark.

So this is a huge deal

David brings together all able young men of Israel and they are about to witness the ark being brought into Jerusalem…

So first let’[s talk about what the Ark is: When Israel was in the desert for 40 years, God had them build this box that would hold these items that were Holy.

Inside the ark was the 10 commandments, Moses’ staff and some mana that fell from heaven…Reminders of their time in the Desert and the covenant that God made with them there.

and what you see is that the author of 2 Samuel lets you know that little place on top of the ark between the cherub, is the place where heaven and earth meet up it is where the Lord is enthroned

It is known as the mercy seat

I talked about this in our series on the book of Romans:

Romans 3:25 NIV

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—

Paul transliterated a Hebrew concept into greek when he said God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement…He was calling it a mercy seat

The Mercy seat is where God meets Moses and gives Moses instruction

It is where God forgives people of their sins

It is where Moses and God meet face to face

This is what God tells Moses about the Mercy seat

Exodus 25:22 NIV

There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.

That is the spot…The place between these two angels that God will meet with Moses…and he will instruct them. Literally Heaven and earth meet in this place

This is a big deal! This is the presence of God almighty presenting himself to Moses!

Ok lets keep reading 2 Samuel 6:3-5

2 Samuel 6:3–5 NIV

They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.

So here David dances before the presence of the Lord. he celebrates

David Celebrated before the lord: The word celebrated is Sa-HAK…It doesn’t necessarily mean worship but it denotes the ferver and the intensity of David’s worship…that you do with all of your being, in this text it says with all of his might -before the Lord

David was letting himself totally go.

The word for celebrating before the Lord means un-restrained worship…I mean David is the leader of Israel and he is showing Israel what is a proper way to worship the Lord…

The King was dancing like a child

Because after all of the work of becoming king and defeating the Philistines, David was finally able to see the presence of the Lord come to Jerusalem or the city of David

2 Samuel 6:6–8 NIV

When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God. Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.

Cue Record Scratch….There is this huge party happening and SCRATCH!

Wait a second…

So David is dancing around like a wild man but Uzzah just wanted to steady the ark so it wouldn't fall and bam! He dies and it is an irrevent act?

So what is happening here?

Well the answer is that there is a lot happening here…

First if we go back to 2 Samuel 6:3, we see that they placed this holy object on a new cart.

You would think oh that’s nice, in those days that is like buying a new car for the ark! It’s a sign of respect…But it is not what God asked for

In the book of Numbers it prescribes that only Kohathites are to transport the ark and in Numbers 7:9 it says:

Numbers 7:9 NIV

But Moses did not give any to the Kohathites, because they were to carry on their shoulders the holy things, for which they were responsible.

They are supposed to cary it on their shoulders

See in the ancient world a king would be transported by his people carrying him on their shoulders…that was called a “Litter”

A litter was designated for a person with extreme reverence

and an ox cart was designated for stuff

Do you get it…In their attempt to do something nice for God…Give him a new cart

they did something that the lord didn’t require and in so doing they did something to God that we are all guilty of…

They trivialized God into religious stuff!

They violated the torah on how to transport the ark

and they essentially treated God as common stuff…as cargo not as the king of the universe!

Has God become common for you?

You know what I mean? You have come to church for years and years and maybe this has all just become common place…

I mean there is this interesting thing that happened…The ark was in the house of Abinadab for 20 years in the book of Samuel before they transport it

Uzzah, the man who reached out and touched the ark is the son of Abinadab…He had been around the ark his whole life

Somewhere along the line did he lose the sense that the Ark is the very presence of the lord? and that it is just cargo?

Did it just become common to him and to everyone else…

So much so that they would break the rules on who transported it and how they transported it?

And David was angry at the Lord’s wrath that day!

Have I lost a sense of the Holiness of the Lord?

Has coming to church become just a common thing for you?

Has prayer turned into a quick obligation that you have to get out of the way?

Is your bible just religious cargo?

Is Sunday morning something you just check off your list?

I mean the whole of Israel, David Abinadab, Uzzah all of them treated God’s commandments as if they were optional!

Guys, we worship the living God. The Creator of the universe, the one who sent his only son to die on the cross so that we might live

May we never treat the worship of the lord in a flippant way!

May we never treat the holiness of the Lord as common!

So lets keep moving in the story

2 Samuel 6:8–12 NIV

Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah. David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, “How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?” He was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household. Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing.

I want to show you what this event did to King David….

David was afraid of the Lord that day!

David sees what happens and puts a pause on this entire procession!

and for three months the ark takes a break

But look at what the text shows

David was afraid of the lord….

You know what the proverbs say right?

Proverbs 9:10a NIV

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,

So the next thing I have for your notes is this:

Fear of the Lord sets the stage for proper worship

Fear of the Lord is not like oh I am afraid of you…

Fear of the lord is revenant awe!

This is the Lord, the one who gives me my every breath, He alone is worthy of honor and respect!

In the bible, when people have the fear of the Lord, they hate evil and live long lives

In the Bible when people fear the lord they are the wise ones

Theologian Walter Brueggemann says that the fear generated by this event was positive, for “when people are no longer awed, respectful, or fearful of God’s holiness, the community is put at risk.

So after 6 months they set out to transport the ark again back to Jerusalem

and this time they obeyed scripture

2 Samuel 6:13–15 NIV

When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

Notice they were carrying the ark, God was treated like a king again and not put on a cart like cargo

And after just six steps that were taken in the carrying of the ark…

They brought a costly offering to the lord and sacrificed a fattened bull and a fattened calf!

Why 6 steps? So the commentators say that it is every 6 steps that there is a sacrifice. Which seems crazy or nearly impossible but what we have to remember is that the number 7 is so key to the Hebrew mind, it is the number of the sabbath, it is the number of completeness…It is the number of perfection. So on the 7th step these men carrying the ark would would step in blood.

It was a reminder of the great sin that they had just a few months earlier. There would have been a bloody path from the house of the ark all the way into Jerusalem.

What the author of 2 Samuel wants you to see is just how different they are treating the ark this time as compared to the first time.

Later it will say these are fellowship offerings: A fellowship offering in the bible is an offering that says, God I want to have a relationship with you and your people

The ritual included laying hands on the animal, slaughtering it and sprinkling the blood of the animal on the alter

Biblical scholars say that the most closely related thing that we we would understand today would be communion, or the lord’s supper

That Jesus brings his whole life before his disciples and explains to them the fellowship offering that is about to happen on the cross.

Except for in communion it is the Lord sacrificing himself so that we can have fellowship with God

Fellowship with God is never cheap—it always costs everything.

What did Jesus tell his disciples?…Take up your cross and follow me!

David here is dancing before the Lord with all of his might

He is celebrating the Lord

He is worshiping the Lord with his whole being and he is the leader of Israel

He is setting the example for the whole country on what it means to fear the Lord and treat God with reverence due his name!

here is the other thing…

We have this idea that our relationship with God is private…

It’s a very American concept

But David’s worship is a public witness for how great the Lord is!

he is leading all of Israel in what it means to worship the Lord

Where Uzzah had Irreverence, even though I think it was probably unintentional…It was the kind of irreverence that Builds up over 20 years of the Ark being common place in his house…

David had un-inhibited Joy…

But David has critics and his loudest critic was his wife…or one of them I should say:

2 Samuel 6:16–23 NIV

As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart. They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes. When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!” David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.

This text is just amazing for a number of reasons and we will Get to David’s wife’s reaction last

First is that what we see here is an ancient enthronement ceremony…Literally it is a ceremony for when the King takes the throne…

Most of Israel’s neighbors had ceremonies where the king would take off his royal clothes and pray humbly to their God, then put the clothes back on and ascend to the throne

When the king took the throne the king would hand out food and drinks to the people as an act of good will David does the same exact thing but the difference here is that he is celebrating Yahweh and not himself!

This by the way is what Sets David apart as a good king. David never mistakes himself as The King…He always sees himself as A- king

Proper worship rests on the question of, “Who is the King?”

See if its you…You can not please the Lord

See if you have to be the king then worship is meaningless

See if your the king of your own life then your worship is really self directed and you need to repent!

Only the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth gets to be the true king

And now we get to David’s wife

Isn’t it true that the sharpest criticisms that you will often get come from those closest to you?

2 Samuel 6:20 NIV

When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”

So what his wife is suggesting is that David’s motive for dancing before the lord was sexual and not honoring the Lord

David you’re just showing off to the slave girls

What we have to understand is that Michal’s rejection of David actually was symptomatic of an underlying problem in her relationship with God

See when God was doing an amazing thing…

When the presence of the Lord was coming into Jerusalem and resting there

All she could do was judge her husband!

Her critical spirit stopped her from worshiping the Lord…

But here is David’s response:

2 Samuel 6:21 NIV

David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord.

Look what David says…

He says it was before the Lord! And even in the face of her critical spirit he says I will celebrate before the Lord!

That word celebrate is Sa-HAK- Again…You will be critical…I will be joyful

You will be Angry I will show the lord my delight in him!

It leaves me with the last of your fill-ins for today

Worship should defy societies standards.

I will tell you what: I have been to a bunch of churches in my life and nothing tells me more about the health and the life of a church more than the worship atmosphere of that church

A church where people worship and don’t care about their surroundings! Its like…Lord I worship you and I don’t care what others might say!

When you see a church that is fully worshiping the Lord it is amazing! it is actually a witness

When your not a believer and you see 200 people come in a room and life their hands up to the lord and just say wow Lord you are Good, I yeild my life to you! what a witness to the world!

I love this story but as we close out today…

I have a number of responses for us

Response

Have we treated God as common?

You know what I mean…

You have been coming to church since you were little and you are just going through the motions and God has become more of an object to put on an ox-cart than the living redeemer

If that is you I want to encourage you to confess that to the Lord! and worship Him

Maybe your prayer today is Lord help me to fear you and give you the proper honor and respect due your name

Maybe there has been a subtle shift to you being king

If that is you I want to encourage you to choose Jesus

To ask him to be king of your life and to repent for trying to live as the king of your own life!

A time of focus & Worship

The last response I have for us is this

For me personally I do not think it is any mistake that I am doing this series in the aftermath of the assassination of Charlie Kirk

Honestly it has drawn me deeper and deeper into social media…I want to know who did it…I want to know what the motives are…I want to see everyone’s opinions… a

nd I realized a week or so ago that this is not healthy… have noticed this tension where social media has been taking more of my time…

A few weeks ago I talked about the damaging affects of the social media algathorim…How it takes us all deeper and deeper into our own preconceived beliefs

It divides us as a people and ultimately makes us suspicious of one another

So I assume that I am not the only one with these pitfalls

So I want to call us as a whole church for the month of October to do a social media fast

Starting wednesday we delete social media and we replace it with the truth of scripture

Think of how much you can grow if social media didn’t suck up so much of your time

Prayer Team

Replace with:

Bible, Lectio 365, Daily office