Sermon: Joy in the Living God

This morning we're looking at two Samuel chapter six, verses 12 through 23, and let's pray before we open God's word together.

Our Father, we are thankful this morning that as we sit and stand in this place, you are a God who has chosen to shine light in the midst of darkness.

You have not allowed darkness to rule,

but rather you have spoken the truth of your word so that we can build our lives upon that which is fixed and true and everlasting. We pray this morning that as we hear your word red and as we heard it, hear it proclaimed that we would find that our minds are seized with this truth,

that our hearts are warmed within us like those disciples on the Emmaus road because we know and we see light

and we pray that you would warm us with the truth of this word and that as we part this place, that we would say that we know that we have heard from the living God of heaven and earth. May it be true of every single soul in this room and we pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. Two Samuel chapter six verses 12 through 23. This is the holy aner sufficient word of God and it was told King David, the Lord has blessed the household of OED ed

and all the belongs to him because of the Ark of God. So David went and brought up the Ark of God from the house of Obed Edam to the city of David with rejoicing and when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal and David danced before the Lord with all his might and David was wearing a linen efo. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord was shouting

and with the sound of the horn as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michael, the daughter of Saul, looked out the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord and she despised him in her heart and they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place and inside the tent that David had pitched for it and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings

and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, a cake of bread, a portion of meat and a cake of raisins to each one. Then all of the people departed each to his house and David returned bless his household, but Michael, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet David and said how the king of Israel honored himself today,

uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants, female servants as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself. And David said to Michael, it was before the Lord who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord and I will celebrate before the Lord. I will make myself yet more contemptible than this and I will be a based in your eyes,

but by the female servants of you whom you have spoken by them I shall be held in honor. And Michael, the daughter of soul, had no child to the day of her death. Though the grass withers and the flower faiths, the word of God is forever. Thanks be to God. Amen.

You remember from last week that David has sought to bring the ark of the covenant in to Jerusalem and as he was bringing it into Jerusalem, he put that ark on a cart in disobedience to the law of God, the word of God. And as that cart was being pulled by oxen, one of those oxen stumbled and when the oxen stumbled, the cart jostled and when the cart jostled the ark of the Covenant lurched, and when the Ark of the Covenant lurched

Aza reached out his hand to brace the ark from hindering the mud and we are told that God struck Aza dead. In that text we saw the cursing that comes as a result of dishonoring God when he is in your midst. You remember the Ark of the Covenant represented and signified God's presence among his people. In our passage this morning, what we see is when honored the blessing of God comes when he is in the midst of his people as he is honored.

Verse 12 reports came to David that oh bed Edam and his household were being blessed by the Lord because the ark was in their house. God's intention is to bless his people. He can take that to the bank. That's his intention. He will say over and over of himself throughout the scriptures, I am the Lord your God. Slowed anger and abounding steadfast love, covenant faithfulness love. God's intention is to bless his people.

And we see that even in this text as he is among them, there's great blessing with God being among his people. If I can just stop for a a brief moment just to point out that that's what's happening here this morning as we're gathered together in corporate worship, that's what's happening more than anything else is that we are with God. The essence of worship is not so much that you are giving something. It's not so much that he is giving us something.

Though both of those things are true. They flow from the essence of worship that God is dwelling with his people. He's in our midst, we're with him and he is with us. And there's blessing in that

this time, David, as we're told in the the parallel passage in one Chrons 15, he obeys the word of God. He he transports the ark as it was meant to be transported into the city of Jerusalem. And listen, there is always blessing when you obey the word of God. And so there's blessing.

We're meant to learn how to properly honor God when he's in our presence from this text. And what do we learn about being in God's presence? What do we learn about properly honoring him as he's in our midst from this text? Well, we have to be careful here that we don't make some things prescribed from this text that are not to be prescribed. So for example, there are some that want to make a case for dancing in public worship from this text,

but that goes too far. That's not what this text is appointed for. This was not an appointed worship service. This is more like a, a parade that David is leading into the city of Jerusalem and David in his own personal worship before God is dancing before the Ark of God because God is present with them and he is celebrating as he goes into the city. They're not at the tabernacle. This is not Israel in the temple. This is not even a called corporate worship

service for the nation. David is going and getting the ark and he is bringing it back to Jerusalem and he's personally worshiping the Lord. It's unique. It's a special occasion. So we need to be careful prescribing elements we see here for corporate worship. But I think we can note the spirit of worship that David and the nation offers here, knowing that God is in their midst, that they are in his presence. There are certain things about their spirit here in worship

that are transferable.

What is to mark our spirits in the presence of God? Well, you'll remember before they weren't doing so according to the word of God, they were receiving cursing, and now they're receiving blessing before they dishonored here, they honored him. Well, what marks their spirits? Because the spirit of worship, it translates across spheres of worship, whether that is corporate or family or personal, the the spirit of worship it, it translates uh,

across occasions for worship. Those that are duly appointed or those that are spontaneous or those that are special. The spirit of worship translates across places, whether it is at the te temple or whether it's at the tabernacle or whether it's in a cave or whether it's in a synagogue or whether it's in a house, church, or whether it's in a family room or whether it's in your prayer closet.

So what do we note about the spirit of worship in this text with three things? This is their response to God's presence among them, reverence, humility and joy, reverence, humility and joy. First reverence, verse 13. And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fatten animal. One Chronicles 15. The parallel text to this text tells us that they quote sacrificed seven bulls in seven rams.

These were sin offerings. David is marching along in this parade. He and the nation are rightly recognizing that as the ark of the covenant is among them, the presence of God is among them and this God is a holy God.

And so as they march along, they're seeking his forgiveness, they're seeking his cleansing even as they worship him. And then we see that there are peace offerings. Verse 17 are added as well. These were a type of thank offerings, much like our tithe or our giving of offerings. What we did this morning in in the passing of the plate, confession of sin and thanksgiving marked their procession. Every six steps, they stopped.

They acknowledged who God was. They acknowledged who they were. They acknowledged all that they owed to him. Every six steps, this is so drastically different from the text that we looked at last week.

They disobeyed the law of God there. This procession has a spirit of reverence about it. We're going to obey God as he has revealed himself to us. And what he has asked from us, according to his word, he's present among us. And so we respond in reverence.

Our God is a consuming fire. He's a consuming fire.

He's king of kings. He's the Lord of Lord. He's holy, holy, holy.

There's a right fear of this God,

right of Hebrews will say, let us offer to God acceptable worship with reverence and all.

I'd argue that this is maybe beyond anything else. What is most often missing

in our worship today.

There's a right trembling before God. If you casually walk into worship or you casually sit here or you casually sing songs to this God or you casually attend to prayers as they're prayed, as we're meeting together with God, his presence among us, if you are doing that casually, then you don't know who's in our midst

or with God reverence. Second humility. You'll notice the humility when we are in the presence of God. It necessitates humility. David models this in his worship. He has taken off his royal robes. He's not king before God. He's David, the servant before God. He simply wears his his linen eod. This is not a reference to the priestly garments, as some will say as they turn to this passage of that was the case. Michael wouldn't have been so outraged as she was

or responded as she does. No, this is a simple common undergarment that he is wearing before all the people and before the Lord in the presence of the Lord. That's why she compares him to vulgar fellows. David, you are not acting like a king. You look like a common man.

But David is exemplifying humility and worship before the king of kings.

He offers sacrifices for a sin before the king of kings. He's a king himself, but he knows his place, especially in worship.

I had three dear friends in seminary and the four of us were all headed into the PCA together and the church that we were at canceled its internship program and you have to do a year long internship to be ordained or ordained a bull in the PCA. And so we were all scrambling and didn't know what to do and all of a sudden a bishop of a different denomination heard about our plight and he approached us and he offered that he would give us an internship

and that other denomination and all three of my friends, they jumped at the opportunity. And by the way, that's the importance and the impact that an older man or a woman can have in a younger man or a woman's life. He simply showed interest. He reached out to them, he intentionally discipled them and all three of them ended up in the other denomination. It's fine. But in that tradition, they were first ordained as deacons

before they could be ordained as pastors. And so they were good friends. I was excited for them. And so I went to that deacon ordination service and I was absolutely troubled. These three friends of mine, they stood at the front of the sanctuary and as they stood at the front of the sanctuary and came a boy with a sensor full of incense and he was waving it as he walked down the center aisle and it filled the room with the aroma of incense and

and in following him came the bishop that we had all met and that had discipled him and he had all the regalia of a bishop he had on his Mitre and he had on the long robes and he had a staff that went from the floor past his head and on fixed the top of that staff was a cross and he followed the boy up to the front. That's fine. Different tradition. I think there are some things that aren't prescribed in worship there,

but that is their tradition. But what really upset me, as I watched as the bishop made his way to the front and he then stood in the front and all four of them genuflected or bowed before the crows. And then I watched as each of my friends went in front of this bishop and each went in front of him and faced him and then knelt down before him and bowed their head while the bishop outstretched his hand and they kissed his ring.

Listen, there are different traditions,

but it's a worship service to God.

All men are but mere men

no matter their gifting, no matter their calling, no matter their station, David was king of an entire nation. David by God's own account, was a man after God's own heart. David was the one through whom the line, the Messiah would come into the world. And yet David knew he was but a man.

He says in one of my favorite Psalms, Psalm eight, he says, oh Lord our God, how majestic is your name and all the earth you have set your glory above the heavens When I look at your heavens and the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have set in place. And then he asks that question, reflecting upon all of creation and how great this God must be, he says, what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you care for him?

Why God do you care about me?

Such a great God. Humility.

David strips down to a line in the efo humility.

This doesn't sit well with Michael. She's concerned that her husband has taken off his royal garments. He doesn't look like a king. But David recognized he wasn't first and foremost a king. He was first and foremost a servant.

Redeemed sinner, a worshiper.

There's Michael was first and foremost concerned that he was king.

You remember when Paul, he does it both in Galatians and Colossians. He will say something along the lines of there is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is nor neither Sitan barbarian. There's neither male for fe or female. Really Paul? There's no males or females in the church. Of course there are. There are so in one or the other.

But what Paul was saying is that in the church, we're on level ground at the foot of the cross, we're on level ground, we're all but servants. There's none greater than the other in the church. There's none greater than the other at the foot of the cross.

I could say it like this, there's neither lawyer nor doctor nor governor, nor presidents nor bishops, nor pastors we're all servants, we're all redeemed sinners in the presence of a holy God. And that demands, it necessitates humility.

I wonder if you pursue that.

You know Paul will say that you are to consider others better than yourself. When you walk into this room, what's your mind? Where are you at? Do you consider others in this room better than yourself?

Do you pursue it?

It's no mistake that the text here does not call Michael. David's wife calls her the daughter of soul. Multiple times we're told verse 16, that she despised him, meaning David in her heart when she saw him dancing before the Lord. David, as we will see was far from a stellar husband, but oh how the heart must be guarded, especially in our marriages. Consider others better than yourselves. That's a good way to operate in marriage,

to look out the window and despise the one she's been united with that it destroys.

Martin Luther once said something that stuck with me for decades. I'm gonna paraphrase it in my own words. A husband should so love his wife that she hates to see him leave home. And a wife should so love her husband that he cannot wait to return. Michael was no such wife. She comes out the door and she's ready to let David have it and to have it in public. She's ready to rebuke him for not acting like a good king. Even while she's not acting like a good wife,

we can chase phantoms of folly and others or we're blind to the glaring truth of our own folly.

He was doing what was right, humility before the king of kings. And she lacked humility

from the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks, our Lord said. And in verse 20, Michael's heart overflows. She says in a mocking tone, how the king of Israel honored himself. Today she is her father's daughter. David saw himself first and foremost as a redeemed sinner worshiping in the presence of a holy God. Humility. He was unlike Saul, he was unlike the previous administration. He was unlike the first king who so often thought

of himself more highly than he ought of. And it destroyed him.

So David responds to Michael in verse 22. I will make myself yet more contemptible than this and I will be a based in your eyes, but by the female servants of whom you have spoken by them, I shall be held in honor. And Dale Ralph Davis says in his commentary about this scene, he says, for David, humility is dignity to him. There is nothing cial about groveling before God. Indeed,

every redeemed sinner understands this. That's dignity. The humbly approach God.

David says it twice in response to Michael in verse 21. It was before the Lord that he saw himself. He knew whose presence he was in and that made all the difference. He was before the Lord. Reverence, when you're in the presence of God, humility when you're in the presence of God. Third, notice the overwhelming and even palatable, palpable joy of being in God's presence. We're told they were rejoicing. Verse 12, David is dancing.

Verse 14, there is shouting and horn blowing in verse 15 again, we see in verse 16, David is quote, leaping and dancing before the Lord. When God is with us, when we are in the presence of God and he's among his people, how can there not be rejoicing?

How can there not be joy?

Are you enjoying joy in the Lord?

I remember reading the story decades ago, an author told where he was sitting in a church service and in the pew in front of him there was a mother and a toddler and the toddler kept turning around and looking at the stranger and smiling. And then the mother would turn the toddler back around and toddler would eventually turn back around and look at the stranger and smile. And so the mom would turn the child back around and

and this just kept going on and eventually the mother had had enough of it and the toddler turned around and smiled at the stranger and the mom turned the child back around and then finally said some strong words to the child and said, we don't smile in church.

Unfortunately, it seems like many have this conviction, or at least their faces do.

Davis, David's counting his blessings and he's rejoicing in the presence of God. There's joy in God's presence as a redeemed sinner.

Listen, the Christian cannot and will not always be happy. It will not always be a smile on your face because life is hard and we live in a fallen world. Happiness may not always be ours, but joy is always ours. Always because we're gods.

He's my God and I'm his child and he's with me.

The Christians say even in the midst of life-threatening circumstances, I am a sinner. Saved by grace. The Son of God came down from heaven and lived for me. The son of God was bruised and beaten and smi, smitten and afflicted for me. The son of God was raised upon that cross and crucified for me. The son of God was put into the grave and he spent three days in the grave for me. He was raised on the third day for me. He ascended to the right hand of the Father for me.

And even now, he lith to intercede for me

and he's with me.

He sent his spirit to not just be with me, but twell me. And he promised, he promised you, he said, hello. I am with you always, not, sometimes not, potentially not when you need it. I am with you always, even to the end of the age. He's with me. Christian always has reason for joy.

If David understood the joy of being in the presence of God, how much more us do you enjoy the joy you've been given?

Joy is one of those benefits. You know, we talk about Christ. We in Christ's death upon the cross for us, we receive Christ and we receive his benefits. And one of the benefits that he holds out as a gift is joy.

You are entitled to it. It's yours. You've been given it. You have a right to it.

I was stuck, struck by this reality a number of years ago. I realized, you know, joy's a gift. It's been given to me. And I thought, you know, it's a fruit of the spirit. It's in that list that Paul gives there in Galatians. And so I thought, you know, I was looking at my life and thinking, man, there's not a lot of joy in my life, but it's a fruit of the spirit. I thought, you know, it just kind of appear someday. Let's kind of appear. And this is

what struck me one day reading through the scriptures and all of a sudden words started coming off the page. Commands, imperatives, joys to be pursued.

We get it over and over. Rejoice. Be joyful. Enjoy. Psalm 32, 10 through 11. Psalm 51, 7 through 12. Proverbs 1722, Habak three 17 through 19. Philippians 4, 4, 1 Thessalonians five 16 through 18, one Peter one, eight. Joy is to be pursued and we are to seek it daily because as a Christian, I am daily in the presence of God.

I was just reading a psalm in my devotions yesterday. Listen to David in Psalm 60. It's David, my mouth will praise you with joyful lips when I remember you upon my bed and meditate on you in the watches of the night. For you have been my help. And in the shadow of your wings, I will sing for joy. He's experiencing trouble upon trouble. And yet what does he do? He reminds himself the Lord's with me. That the Lord's with me. And so what does he do?

He he, he pursues joy. Notice that he pursues it. He says he lays upon his bed at night and he, he ruminates upon this. He meditates upon the fact that God is with him. Well, what is it that he's meditating upon that he is ruminating on, that he's turning over and over in his mind. It's what God has done for him and what God has been to him.

And he's turning that over in his mind, seeking to press it down into his heart. He's pursuing joy.

And he says, in the shadow of your wings, underneath that meditation, under the shadow of your wings, he says, I will sing for joy again. Let me quote from Dale Ralph Davis in our churches, there are a number of folks who are very concerned with services and externals and procedures and mechanics and meetings and decency and order. But who really can't understand anything of the joy of the Lord. There are some who can muster enthusiasm

and gusto over professional sports, but who somehow cannot fathom anything but professional detachment over Jesus Christ. Exuberant praise and tears of repentance are strangers to them. Or as another author said, there are doubtless times to be calm and times to be enthusiastic. But can it be right to give all our coldness to Christ and all our enthusiasm to the world?

Does Christ ever move you?

Are you ever stirred by Christ?

There's some of us who are more easily moved than others. My, my grandmother growing up, this was a sport in our family. Maybe kind of a mean sport, but it was our sport. She, she was very sentimental and so on her birthday, it was a great game to see who in the family could get the most sappy card to make her cry the most. And it was a competition. She was easily moved to tears. Some of you're like birthday card reading,

grandmas walls, some of you are not. And let's be clear, the more emotional or not, the more godly and the less emotional, or not the less godly, but there should be motion.

Are you led to weep over your sin ever?

Do you find yourself weeping over the unrepentant of others ever Jesus did over the city of Jerusalem? Do you find yourself weeping at the trials and tribulations and suffering of fellow brothers and sisters in Christ ever Jesus did at the tomb of Lazarus?

Do you ever find yourself just exploding in praise? Do you ever fall upon your knees because you're just so overwhelmed with thanksgiving and there's just a cacophony of thanksgiving that comes forth from your lips ever?

If you live in Christ's presence, you should.

It's a good little heart test. We could each do today, just kind of, I'll turn this over a little bit. Or Jesus, help me.

Am I more excited about Michigan State basketball more moved by Michigan State football, or the workout that I just did, or the great dinner that I just had, or the smile of my grandchild or the vacation that I have planned or the binging on this Netflix show?

Where am I more excited about Christ? Moved and stirred by Christ?

Find myself motivated by the things of Christ.

He's to be our joy.

We pursue it. We pray for it. It's the Lord to help us in it. 'cause none of us are where we desire to be. We read our Bible to understand it. Listen, dear Christian, he's present with us and he's present with us now and forevermore. That's his promise. We live day to day in his presence. And so your life, not just your worship, you present your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to him. Your entire life is one of reverence

and humility and joy.

Pursue it and live it. Let's pray.

Our Father, we do confess this morning. We are not what we should be or not what we desire to be,

and yet, oh, how we want to live more and more in light of the Savior that dwells in our presence, that the arc was, but a shadow and a sign of We do pray that we would be people that live more and more with a holy reverence and an abject humility

and an ever increasing and heart filled joy before the face of our Savior. Before the face of our God. Coram Deo.

We live to your glory and praise. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.