Joy, David Danced

2 Samuel 6, Joy, “A Dance for Joy”

Read

Galatians 5:22-23

2 Samuel 6:1-15

Illustration - When I was in middle school and high school I thought being funny was important. I would say what would bring a laugh. Problem was that sometimes what I would say wouldn’t please the Lord.

I would get convicted about what I would say.

I would purpose to do better.

I would do pretty well for about 2 weeks.

I’d start to fail, then fall back into my old habits.

There was something I was really missing in trying to be self controlled.

The fruits of the spirit, in my case Love and Self Control,

Don’t come from my effort they come from God’s Spirit.

Transition - The point is this. The fruit of the Spirit is from the Spirit.

I. The Fruits of the Spirit finds genesis in God’s Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23

“The fruits of the Spirit Come from “The Spirit”

-All seasoned Christ followers have experienced the frustration of having a sin we struggle with.

-Many of us have also really tried to self discipline ourselves to “Do better” to obey more fully ONLY TO FAIL OVER AND OVER.

Why? The fruit of the Spirit is not manufactured by our flesh (by our self discipline - by our strength).

The fruit of the Spirit is from the Spirit.

John 15:5, I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

The great new is this … A victorious Christian Life of love and obedience is something we depend on God for, not something he expects us to produce on our own.

The fruit of Spirit is something that we can take relief in and find joy in.

Why can we find Joy in the fruits of the Spirit?

It doesn’t come from us. It comes from Him.

Transition - So what is joy?

II. Joy is

Joy is:

-The feeling you get when you haven’t seen your best friend in forever and

you unexpectedly see him for the first time.

-The experience of walking down the isle after you’ve gotten married.

-Joy is holding that new born baby for the first time.

-Joy is someone unexpectedly saying, “I love you.”

-Joy is having all your family with you at Christmas time.

Joy is bigger than happiness. Joy is soul filling.

Because joy is connected to the soul God is the only one that can bring the greatest joy.

This is why when you find your joy in God it is most satisfying.

Nothing else can satisfy like having joy in God.

-The most satisfied your soul will ever be is when you find your greatest Joy in God.

-Illustration?

Augustine - said, God, Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.

Joy comes from God and is most satisfying when it is in God.

One of the things I love about our passage in 2nd Samuel today is that it gives us a progression for having joy.

Our progression will give you simple direction (or simple formula) for how to find joy.

Transition - and the first thing we see with David is that He had a ...

III. Hunger for God’s worship

Story tell -

David loves God. He desires for God to be glorified.

The Ark of the Covenant has been away from the Tabernacle for 100 years. Tabernacle is where worship was supposed to happen.

Because the Ark of God is seperate from the Tabernacle, worship has been hindered. Hindered for 100 years.

If your are not familiar with the Ark of God or the ark of the Covenant.

The Ark of the Covenant was kept in a special room inside the tabernacle called the Holy of Holy’s.

The high priest entered in the Holy of Holy’s on time a year. That was it.

He sprinkled blood on the Ark as part of the ritual for offering a sacrifice for the sins of the Nation of Israel.

The lid to the ark was called “the mercy seat”.

This is the place where God’s presence would rest.

Because God’s presence rested on the lid of the ark … The ark was the most holy of all other pieces used in worship.

With the Ark of God separated from the Tabernacle and the Holy of Holies, worship had been interrupted.

David desires one of the most righteous things.

He wants God to be glorified and to be worshiped.

David desired for the Ark of God to be part of the worship again.

...to re-establish the worship of God.

The plan is to take the Ark of the Covenant, bring it and the Tabernacle to Jerusalem and establish Jerusalem as the spiritual center of Israel.

With joyous anticipation, the Ark of the Covenant is loaded on a new cart at Abinadab’s house - where The Ark had been kept for decades.

The driving goal is for God to be glorified.

BUT

Every good story has a big BUT

There was something that God knew that everyone else had missed.

For true worship to take place, for real soul satisfying Joy to take place one thing had to cemented into the foundation. Holiness had to be established.

-Application, For you and I to enter into true soul transforming and satisfying Joy, Holiness must be cemented into our hearts and minds.

IV. Holiness Established, vs 5-8

Story tell - The Ark of God is being transported, everything is going fine. The people accompanying The Ark are very excited.

There is loud worship with instruments.

Then scriptures tell us the oxen stumbled. The cart shifts. A man named Uzzah reaches out to steady the Ark. To keep it from falling off.

The very second Uzzah touches The Ark he drops dead.

The music stops, people rush to Uzzah’s body. He is gone. Weeping begins. There is confusion.

David’s first response is anger.

Can I tell you, this was in part David’s fault, and in part the Priests fault, and Uzzah’s fault.

Uzzah grew up as a little boy with The Ark of God at his house. His dad was the keeper of the Ark of God. The Ark of God was taken from Uzzah’s dad’s house - Abinadab.

Uzzah knew he was to never touch the Ark.

It was David’s and the Priests fault because they ignored the teaching of God.

In Old Testament Law there were several instructions about the Ark of the Covenant

1) Only the Levites could carry the Ark, and they had to carry it using poles.

2) No one could ever touch the Ark.

3) In our story today

-There are no Levites to carry, no poles to hold The Ark.

-They ignored God’s rules about worship, they used a cart.

-Uzzah reached out and touched the Ark & died.

-Our human heart says, “He was trying to help! No one should be punished & die for trying to help.”

-What I want you to see is this.

God’s Holiness, honor, and respect is so valuable, so important, that it even trumps the value of human life. (x2) God will take human life for His glory.

-When God gave instructions to honor Him by carrying the Ark of His Presence in a particular way, and to never touch it … God expected His people to follow this and honor Him.

What we have in this difficult story is God re-establishing fear/respect/judgement/Awe/Holiness

A Move of holiness

-Illustration, Growing up there were times there were hard and emotional conversations that you had at home with your parents. Did you ever have your mom or dad feel so passionate and adimate about something that they pounded their fist on the table to get your attention of how serious something was?

Uzzah’s death was God pounding his fist on the table and saying, “You will respect me.”

Application Question - Do you have an awe, fear, and respect of God.

Matthew 10:28

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.

Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

Do you not only love God, but do you fear Him?

Do you respect His holiness?

Do you respect how God is set apart from everything and everyone in the universe?

You say, Jonathan this is all fine and good, but what does this have to do with Joy?

For you to have biblical spirit satisfying joy you must have as your bed rock foundation a deep respect for the holiness of God.

Do you have it? Pause

Transition - Not only was Holiness established, but ...

III. Hopelessness is experienced, vs. 9-10

Uzzah dies

David calls a time out.

Something isn’t right.

Let’s step back from this and rethink what just happened.

The Ark of God is placed in a mans house called Obed-edom. vs 10

Storytell - Imagine Obed, the new man who had to watch over the Ark of the Covenant - the Ark of God - at His house.

How does Obed feel about getting the Ark that just killed a man?

He has to have a lot of questions.

What do you think Obed was thinking?

“Why are you sticking me with this?

I didn’t ask for this responsibility.

What’s going to happen to my house & family?

I don’t know about all of this.”

We not only see David’s Hot Anger we see hopelessness.

David gave up his pursuit to bring the ark to Jerusalem.

His hunger for God’s worship was put on pause.

There was a hopeless humility.

As David laid on His bed at night I bet He thought,

I will never be able to get it right.

I can’t attain. I can’t do what God has called me to.

I am too broken and He is too holy.

This will never work.

Have you ever thought that?

I’ll never be able to do what God has called me to.

I want to tell you a secret.

It is when God’s Holiness was re-established in you life, and

when Hopelessness is experienced that God begins to transform us.

When you see God’s greatness, His holiness, His perfection and His power & you compare it to your brokenness, your failed plans, your spiritual inability and impotence - thats when God begins to transform your heart and life.

-It’s the moment that you begin to embrace humility.

Illustration - When I became a home owner I wanted to grow some plants around my house. We had no shrubbery. I started to read up on shrubbery. The articles kept saying that plants need sun, water, fertilizer, a rich well draining soil.

-I believed part of that. I believed sun, water, and fertilizer.

-Problem, I lived in Columbia County. The only plant that thrives in Columbia County is pine trees. The soil is red clay.

-My plants kept dying.

-In many cases the clay was so dense learned that I had to remove the soil and 100% replace it with good garden soil.

Enter Humility

-Sometimes our soul get gummed up, rocky, and hard.

-Sometimes our soul needs softening.

-Sometimes we need God to give us a new heart.

-To renew our heart.

In our passage today.

-David’s heart was broken.

-He realized He made a mistake. Someone died because of his mistake.

-He couldn’t go forward with His plan.

In God’s great goodness, in God’s great love ...

He was cementing in a foundation of Holiness and Humility that Joy could stand on. (X2)

This is the hardest part of Joy. If you have missed God’s great Holiness and personal humility you will never have lasting joy.

For salvation your must first understand God’s Holy perfection and also experience the hopeless humility of your sin.

For Soul Satisfying Joy as a Christ Follower you must strap to yourself God’s holiness and humility.

Transition - When David experienced this, he was ready for Joy.

God reached into David’s life and pulled him up out of the ashes.

Read verse 12

IV. God’s HEART lifting goodness is embraced, vs. 12

-God reveals his goodness.

-God showed that He is not a God of condemnation, but of goodness.

-God showed that his motivation is to be a God that blesses.

-When David realized that God was a God that is forgiving and a God that blesses His heart was lifted.

-How relieved is a child who’s parent is mad at them for disobedience, then after a time the anger subsides and the child gets her parent who desires to bless back.

-God showed David that He was for David and not against Him.

-Now this was a reason to celebrate with Joy!

Transition - ?

V. Heavenly (whole-hearted) Joy is expressed

David goes and gets the Ark of God.

This time Chronicles tells us the Levites are carrying it.

Carrying it properly with the poles.

David rejoices with sacrifice.

-One expression of joy, is sacrifice.

vs. 13, those who bore the Ark had gone 6 steps. There was a sacrifice of an ox and fattened calf.

-There is loud music, another good expression of joy is music

-There is dancing, another good expression of joy is dancing

-Why is there all this joy?

-The worship of God is being re-established.

-God is going go be honored.

-God’s name is going to be lifted up and respected.

-The people are going to hear again about the forgiveness and love of God.

-Lives are going to be changed.

-As white Americans, we have been deeply impacted by our anglo culture.

-Rejoicing in worship with loud music and dancing isn’t something that we get.

-When most of us try to dance we sprain our ankles.

-Expressions of joy to God are good.

-A shout of Amen in worship, A clapping of hands in joy to God is good

-Your body swaying or moving in worship because you can’t contain your joy in who Christ is a blessing.

-Joyous expression is good.

Illustration - My dad left on a trip to a conference when I was in elementary school. He was gone a week. He got back. We met him at the gate at the airport. I hugged him and burst into tears.

-There has been more than one time I have wept in joy because I was overwhelmed by God’s greatness and goodness.

My friend, will you seek joy in Him?

Will you ask God to produce Joy in you?

Will you re-establish God’s Holiness in your life?

Will you grasp on to humility of your need of Him?

God is for you and is a good God.

Will you take joy that He is good?