It’s technically March 20 already. I’m usually asleep during this time. Why still up, you ask? Well, I’m doing something which is taking a little longer on the other system, so I thought I’d do some typing while waiting.
Like I said in my last article, I think I spent too much time on it… but I did enjoy what was revealed – more on our appreciating Christ and His finished work, specifically on how He makes us obedient from the heart.
So I dwelled a little too much on that, and wrote a literal storm… Now I suppose my writing muscle has been rested, and I can keep going towards what I originally planned to write on.
Next Sunday is Palm Sunday, and we’re all about the triumphant entry of Christ into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey… but for some reason I’m being led to consider another triumphant entry into the same city, made coincidentally (or all part of God’s plan) by someone earlier in the bloodline leading to Christ; The Shepherd King David was generations before the Savior King Jesus.
We’re looking at the book of 2 Samuel, and I think we need a little context before we move on. In 2 Samuel 5, we read first of how all the tribes of Israel came to David, and anointed him king of Israel, at the age of 30.
Still in Chapter 5, we read that immediately after this, the first thing that the new King apparently wanted to do was to go to Jerusalem. At the time, it was the Jebusites who were occupying the land, and they were pretty confident they were superior to David, going as far as to say that the blind and the lame were enough to ward them off. David responded to this taunt, not with a full attack, but by way of infiltrating the ‘water shaft’… leading to the apparent subjugation of the city.
And David became greater and greater, for the LORD, the God of hosts, was with him.
2 Samuel 5:10
Still in Chapter 5. We read that following the conquest of Jerusalem, David became greater and greater, much so that King Hiram of Tyre blessed him with resources and workers to build him a ‘house’… but when the Philistines also heard of David, they didn’t respond quite as graciously. 2 Samuel 5:17-25 reads:
When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went down to the stronghold. Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. And David inquired of the LORD, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the LORD said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.” And David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, “The LORD has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood.” Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim. And the Philistines left their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.
And the Philistines came up yet again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. And when David inquired of the LORD, he said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees. And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the LORD has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” And David did as the LORD commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba to Gezer.
I wrote in our previous article about how the people of Israel, after the generation of Joshua, were more interested in serving the Lord than trusting Him – meaning they just went for whatever they were commanded, before ‘trusting the Lord’. Here in David’s response we see that he did not respond the same way – He asked for the Lord’s counsel twice, and won against the Philistines twice.
In Chapter 6, we see David’s clear rise to power, and the moves he chose to make at first. Following his conquest of Jerusalem, we read in the verses to come that he wanted to make his own triumphal entry… but it was not without its incidents. To clarify, the ‘city of David’ mentioned in the following text was Jerusalem.
David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale-judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim.
And they carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart, with the ark of God, and Ahio went before the ark.
And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. And David was angry because the LORD had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day. And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the LORD come to me?” So David was not willing to take the ark of the LORD into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. And the ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the LORD blessed Obed-edom and all his household.
Preparations were made, and the celebrations commenced. The ark of the Covenant, the ark of God was carried on a (new) cart and there was singing and playing of a wide assortment of instruments. Unfortunately, when the oxen stumbled, Uzzah reached out to hold the ark of God (most likely to keep it steady on the cart) – and he died ‘because the LORD had broken out against (him)’.
Now I remember listening to a message by Joseph Prince, where he discusses this incident. He points out that the Ark was not supposed to be carried in a cart, much less one pulled by oxen… but it should be brought from one place to another, exactly how I remembered it illustrated in my handy dandy Picture Bible from my youth – it was to be carried, suspended on poles which were then placed on the shoulders of four of the priests. You get it.
I’m not sure about the precise words of Pastor Prince but I’d led to understand this: That the oxen represented a beast from God’s creation, one entrusted to burdens and works. If we place our trust in anything in creation to uphold the Ark – representative of the Covenant God made with the people of Israel – then this introduces compromise.
Our ingenuity to fashion our own ‘carts’, and to rely on creation to carry what was established by our Creator, eventually leads to ruin. What’s more is that when we try to rectify things on our own, just as Uzzah put out his hand to the Ark, well, we die.
Here, we see the ultimate failure behind our own actions, and the folly of relying on our own strength.
And it was told King David, “The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.”
In the aftermath, the Ark was brought to the house of Obed-Edom, and as a result, ‘the LORD blessed (him) and all his household.’ A simple reminder that with the Lord’s blessing is in His presence, and I guess the Lord’s presence is in His blessing, as well.
So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom 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 ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn.
I’m reading from this that the celebrations seem to have escalated after the incident at Perez-uzzah, much so that an ox and a fattened animal were sacrificed for every 6 steps they took.
Also, on top of what I’m assuming was still going on (that is, the singing and the ‘lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals‘), David, once the shepherd boy who calmed Saul with his songs, now was dancing ‘before the LORD with all his might’, ‘wearing a linen ephod‘ (I Googled that and saw that it’s something like the apron priests wore between their outer breastplate and the inner robe).
One common point I find myself sharing recently starting last Sunday is that when you worship, it’s inevitable for you to receive revelations. My example was the Doxology, where you start of singing ‘Praise God’, but 4 lines later, you’re singing ‘Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost’.
Apparently, here we see that when you start worshipping, it just becomes more and more intense. I don’t know if it was all in David’s personal plans to orchestrate all the singing and the music and sacrifices, but I feel here that when they started, and as they approached Jerusalem, the overall worship just got bigger and bigger.
I don’t feel as if it’s up to us to make it more intense. In this day and age, and especially in my experiences with Christian worship services here in the Philippines, a significant number of us are more interested in ‘bringing the presence of God down’… as compared to here, where, even when there was a bit of a botch-up concerning Uzzah, that didn’t stop the people from progressively praising God.
One mindset has us praising God FOR His presence to be felt… but here, even in the Old Testament, we see how a people could be so increasingly intense in their praise, FROM the presence of the Lord…
…and they may have had the Ark of the Covenant back then. We have Christ. Amen.
Anyway.
As the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of 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, 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 the people departed, each to his house.
Here’s David, who was sacrificing and dancing with all his might, and (with words we keep hearing in our own services today) ‘in the same act of worship’ he gave. That’s right, in his worship, he gave the masses bread, meat, and dessert.
At this point I couldn’t help but mention that the term ‘bread and circuses’ comes to mind; That is, appeal to the masses by feeding them and entertaining them… And the more diabolical of people in power would control the masses by feeding them junk, and entertaining them with junk.
I don’t think David had any of this in mind, but he had this ‘formula’ down in this celebration… I feel that, as the Holy Spirit was with him, the prospect of celebration was in his entire being, much so that he was, more than being appealing, and certainly more than being controlling – He was being real to the people of Israel.
But did you notice something before the Scriptures mentioned David’s feeding program? Here’s an observation about being real – not everybody appreciates it.
Before we go any further… a little context on Michal. At the first mention of her in the Word, in 1 Samuel 18, we read that she ‘loved’ David, and when news of this came to his father, the increasingly insecure King Saul, it appears he used her as a ‘snare’ for David.
David was surprised at Saul’s offer, citing that he was ‘a poor man and (had) no reputation’.. and to this Saul tried to take advantage of the situation, by telling David that he ‘desires no bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines…’; perhaps, so he would die trying to collect such a high number.
To the king’s surprise, David not only returned, but he returned with double the amount of foreskins he asked for. As a result, ‘when Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him, Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy continually.’
I pull this all up to point out possible things to consider, behind why Michal ‘despised (David) in her heart’. Was it Michal’s apparent love for David and how it was used by her father? And there were other things that may have impacted Michal – David’s later marriage to Abigail, and the crushing defeat of her father’s armies, and his eventual death. Could any, or all of these have been factors?
What was going on in her mind as she saw her husband, now the King, ‘leaping and dancing before the LORD’? Perhaps we could see more from when she finally confronted him.
And David returned to bless his household. But Michal 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!”
Here we see one of the first instances of sarcasm in the Bible. But personal amazement aside, taking from her words, was it because she cringed at David’s behavior and appearance? Regardless, David responds:
And David said to Michal, “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 abased in your eyes. But by the female servants of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor.” And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.
For all of David’s response, I think I see the point of all of this in his first words to Michal – It was before the LORD. He danced with all of his heart, without a care of what he was or wasn’t wearing, or who was looking, or how he looked – because he celebrates before the Lord.
We talked about how when we worship, we shouldn’t be surprised if our eyes are opened to revelations. We just uncovered how also, when we worship, there’s a big chance that it’ll get more and more intense.
Here, through David, we see that when we worship – we celebrate before the Lord, and nothing else matters.
I need to stop here for now. I think I spent too much time here but it feels worth it, still.
Will finish later or tomorrow.
God bless you!
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