WEBVTT 00:00:00.490 --> 00:00:07.129 Let us turn in our Bibles now as we hear from 00:00:07.129 --> 00:00:13.490 God. Let's go to 2 Samuel chapter 6. What we're 00:00:13.490 --> 00:00:17.190 doing, as we have been for a while, is a series 00:00:17.190 --> 00:00:21.510 on the life of David. I hope this has been a 00:00:21.510 --> 00:00:23.850 good series for you and we're going to continue 00:00:23.850 --> 00:00:26.530 that with what I'm going to say is it's a difficult 00:00:26.530 --> 00:00:29.480 passage. And yet there's something that's very 00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:33.460 very good for us And so let us give special attention 00:00:33.460 --> 00:00:37.020 to the reading of God's holy word second Samuel 00:00:37.020 --> 00:00:40.799 6 I think the bulletin says 1 through 15. I'm 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:48.159 going to stop at verse 11 David again gathered 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:54.240 all the chosen men of Israel 30 ,000 and David 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:57.679 arose and went with all the people who were with 00:00:57.679 --> 00:01:01.840 him from Baal -el -Judah to bring up from there 00:01:01.840 --> 00:01:04.739 the Ark of God, which is called by the name of 00:01:04.739 --> 00:01:08.219 the Lord of Hosts, who sits enthroned on the 00:01:08.219 --> 00:01:10.879 cherubim. And they carried the Ark of God on 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:14.260 a new cart and brought it out of the house of 00:01:14.260 --> 00:01:17.840 Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:20.700 Ahiyo, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the 00:01:20.700 --> 00:01:24.439 new cart with the Ark of God. And Ahiyo went 00:01:24.439 --> 00:01:29.200 before the Ark. And David and all the house of 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:32.379 Israel were celebrating before the Lord with 00:01:32.379 --> 00:01:35.799 songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and 00:01:35.799 --> 00:01:38.480 castanets and cymbals. And when they came to 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:41.739 the threshing floor of Nakkan, Uzzah put out 00:01:41.739 --> 00:01:45.519 his hand to the Ark of God and took hold of it, 00:01:45.640 --> 00:01:49.079 for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord 00:01:49.079 --> 00:01:51.599 was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him 00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:55.079 down there because of his error. And he died 00:01:55.079 --> 00:01:59.079 there. beside the Ark of God. And David was angry 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:02.480 because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. 00:02:02.739 --> 00:02:05.340 And that place is called Perez Uzzah to this 00:02:05.340 --> 00:02:08.639 day. And David was afraid of the Lord that day 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:11.419 and he said, how can the Ark of the Lord come 00:02:11.419 --> 00:02:14.840 to me? So David was not willing to take the Ark 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:17.979 of the Lord into the city of David. But David 00:02:17.979 --> 00:02:21.900 took it aside to the house of Obed Edom the Gittite. 00:02:22.569 --> 00:02:25.069 And the ark of the Lord remained in the house 00:02:25.069 --> 00:02:28.669 of Obed -Edom the Gittite three months. And the 00:02:28.669 --> 00:02:32.669 Lord blessed Obed -Edom and all his household. 00:02:33.669 --> 00:02:38.509 This is God's holy word. Let's pray. Father in 00:02:38.509 --> 00:02:40.349 heaven, we thank you for your word that is a 00:02:40.349 --> 00:02:42.430 lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We 00:02:42.430 --> 00:02:44.349 thank you for your word that is living and active 00:02:44.349 --> 00:02:47.310 and sharper than any two -edged sword. We thank 00:02:47.310 --> 00:02:50.000 you that you've given us what we need. And so 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:52.039 Lord, we trust that you will grant us understanding 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:55.259 and application of this text now. We pray in 00:02:55.259 --> 00:03:06.180 Jesus' name. Amen. In 2005, there was a news 00:03:06.180 --> 00:03:08.500 item that caught my attention. Maybe it caught 00:03:08.500 --> 00:03:13.500 yours. The Northwestern University women's lacrosse 00:03:13.500 --> 00:03:17.360 team was invited to the White House to celebrate 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:21.240 their championship. That's not really all that 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:23.580 noteworthy. That happens a lot, that sports teams 00:03:23.580 --> 00:03:25.659 are invited to the White House. But what caught 00:03:25.659 --> 00:03:29.819 the media's attention was the fact that the athletes 00:03:29.819 --> 00:03:33.080 were all wearing flip -flops to the White House. 00:03:33.479 --> 00:03:36.719 It caused quite a stir. It became known as Flip 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:44.379 -Flop Gate. Now, the real issue behind that incident 00:03:44.379 --> 00:03:48.159 wasn't really the flip -flops. It was more, how 00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:52.500 are we to be in front of, before people who are 00:03:52.500 --> 00:03:56.819 deserving of honor and respect. So if you're 00:03:56.819 --> 00:04:01.340 wearing flip -flops today, no condemnation. But 00:04:01.340 --> 00:04:05.080 it did generate a lot of interest. And I got 00:04:05.080 --> 00:04:07.280 to thinking this week, especially in light of 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:10.680 this passage, which is about reverence. Have 00:04:10.680 --> 00:04:15.360 you ever been in a situation in which you needed 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:19.149 to show reverence? You might be racking your 00:04:19.149 --> 00:04:21.509 brains, but you don't have to, because you are 00:04:21.509 --> 00:04:25.389 in one right now. You are in a reverential situation 00:04:25.389 --> 00:04:28.769 right now, today, that as we gather for worship, 00:04:28.829 --> 00:04:32.009 we do so to give glory to God, because he is 00:04:32.009 --> 00:04:34.910 holy. So when we come into worship, we are to 00:04:34.910 --> 00:04:38.970 offer our best in worship. But you might say, 00:04:39.029 --> 00:04:42.910 how? How do I regard God as holy? How do I really 00:04:42.910 --> 00:04:48.300 revere God? I want to offer you... three ways 00:04:48.300 --> 00:04:52.420 from our text today, that since God is holy, 00:04:52.459 --> 00:04:55.279 we must revere him with a right relationship 00:04:55.279 --> 00:04:59.379 for him. We must revere him in obedience, and 00:04:59.379 --> 00:05:03.540 we must revere him in preparation. Now, before 00:05:03.540 --> 00:05:05.899 we even get to those, you might be asking, well, 00:05:06.220 --> 00:05:09.819 what is the holiness of God? This is an incredibly 00:05:09.819 --> 00:05:13.579 big question and big topic. What is the holiness 00:05:13.579 --> 00:05:16.750 of God? Have you ever thought about that? Probably 00:05:16.750 --> 00:05:19.269 the quickest answer we would say it's moral perfection 00:05:19.269 --> 00:05:22.870 and that is true, but it's more than that. God's 00:05:22.870 --> 00:05:27.129 holiness is his supreme absolute greatness over 00:05:27.129 --> 00:05:30.250 everything that he has created. God is completely 00:05:30.250 --> 00:05:34.329 transcendent above all of his creation. And we 00:05:34.329 --> 00:05:37.189 believe that because we've prayed that today. 00:05:38.189 --> 00:05:40.769 How does the Lord's Prayer begin? Hallowed be 00:05:40.769 --> 00:05:43.470 thy name. We as Christians are to regard God 00:05:43.470 --> 00:05:48.899 as holy. And so how do we do it? Looking into 00:05:48.899 --> 00:05:52.920 our text, well, we're reminded that God had covenanted 00:05:52.920 --> 00:05:57.139 with the Israelites. He had covenanted with the 00:05:57.139 --> 00:05:59.839 Israelites. He had not covenanted with the Philistines 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:02.579 or any other people group. God had covenanted 00:06:02.579 --> 00:06:05.339 himself with the Israelites. And one of the ways 00:06:05.339 --> 00:06:08.639 in which we can see that he did that is he gives 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:12.750 them an ark of the covenant. If you wanted to 00:06:12.750 --> 00:06:14.970 know more about the Ark, you could go to Exodus 00:06:14.970 --> 00:06:19.230 25 and chapter 37 to read about it. It was ornate. 00:06:19.310 --> 00:06:21.610 It was a beautiful box made of this beautiful 00:06:21.610 --> 00:06:24.350 wood. It had gold on it. It had the cherubim 00:06:24.350 --> 00:06:27.889 on it. And it was the furniture in the Holy of 00:06:27.889 --> 00:06:31.449 Holies. And it was where Moses met with God to 00:06:31.449 --> 00:06:34.430 represent the people in prayer. No other people 00:06:34.430 --> 00:06:38.970 group had the Ark of the Covenant. But some of 00:06:38.970 --> 00:06:41.709 these other people groups did know. about the 00:06:41.709 --> 00:06:44.589 Ark of the Covenant. You don't have to turn there 00:06:44.589 --> 00:06:47.110 unless you just want to. It's not far away. But 00:06:47.110 --> 00:06:52.769 1 Samuel chapter 4, 5 through 9. Listen to this. 00:06:53.949 --> 00:06:58.170 1 Samuel 4, 5. As soon as the Ark of the Covenant 00:06:58.170 --> 00:07:01.410 of the Lord came into the camp, all Israel gave 00:07:01.410 --> 00:07:05.350 a mighty shout so that the earth resounded. And 00:07:05.350 --> 00:07:07.689 when the Philistines heard the noise of the shouting, 00:07:07.829 --> 00:07:10.259 they said, What does this great shouting in the 00:07:10.259 --> 00:07:13.740 camp of the Hebrews mean? And when they learned 00:07:13.740 --> 00:07:17.480 that the ark of the Lord had come to the camp, 00:07:17.639 --> 00:07:20.439 the Philistines were afraid, for they said, a 00:07:20.439 --> 00:07:22.699 god has come into the camp. And they said, woe 00:07:22.699 --> 00:07:25.720 to us, for nothing like this has happened before. 00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:29.519 Woe to us. Who can deliver us from the power 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:33.579 of these mighty gods? These are the gods who 00:07:33.579 --> 00:07:36.379 struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague 00:07:36.379 --> 00:07:39.959 in the wilderness. Take courage and be men, O 00:07:39.959 --> 00:07:43.519 Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews 00:07:43.519 --> 00:07:48.180 as they have been to you. Be men and fight. God 00:07:48.180 --> 00:07:51.680 had not covenanted with the Philistines. The 00:07:51.680 --> 00:07:54.300 Philistines didn't have the ark. They didn't 00:07:54.300 --> 00:07:56.879 have the meeting place. They didn't have the 00:07:56.879 --> 00:07:59.959 tabernacle. They didn't have the Ten Commandments. 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:02.939 They didn't have the Holy of Holies. They did 00:08:02.939 --> 00:08:06.879 not have God. And so as the Philistines and as 00:08:06.879 --> 00:08:09.160 the Israelites are gearing up for this battle, 00:08:09.379 --> 00:08:12.339 knowing the Israelites have God and have his 00:08:12.339 --> 00:08:15.060 ark, this must mean that the Israelites won the 00:08:15.060 --> 00:08:23.100 battle, right? Wrong. The Israelites were obliterated. 00:08:24.160 --> 00:08:26.439 The Israelites were destroyed in this battle. 00:08:28.860 --> 00:08:35.159 So what gives? What was going on there? At times 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:38.320 throughout history, ancient history with the 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:41.360 Israelites, they had a much better relationship 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:43.320 with the Ark of the Covenant than they had with 00:08:43.320 --> 00:08:46.139 God. The Israelites had a better relationship 00:08:46.139 --> 00:08:47.779 with the Ark of the Covenant than they had with 00:08:47.779 --> 00:08:54.120 God. The Ark is a great thing. It symbolized 00:08:54.120 --> 00:08:58.240 God's presence for sure. But the Ark, and please 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:02.000 hear this carefully, the Ark was not God. Any 00:09:02.000 --> 00:09:05.080 more... then your church membership is God or 00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:08.039 your baptism is God or the Lord's Supper is God. 00:09:08.059 --> 00:09:12.279 To be sure, great things, pictures of God's mercy 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:15.240 and grace and holiness and presence. And when 00:09:15.240 --> 00:09:18.700 we gather for worship, even with those sacramental 00:09:18.700 --> 00:09:22.320 things, something glorious is going on for us. 00:09:22.559 --> 00:09:25.600 We are giving glory to the Father through the 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:29.120 Son by the power of the Holy Spirit. But in order 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:33.509 for any of those signs and seals, to mean anything, 00:09:33.690 --> 00:09:37.970 we have to have a right relationship with God 00:09:37.970 --> 00:09:41.990 through Christ. And so friends, it's not enough 00:09:41.990 --> 00:09:44.629 to just be a member of the church. That's a good 00:09:44.629 --> 00:09:47.610 thing. And I'd be glad to talk to you about membership 00:09:47.610 --> 00:09:50.950 any other time. And to be sure, it's a good thing 00:09:50.950 --> 00:09:52.769 to have right theology. And I would love to talk 00:09:52.769 --> 00:09:55.929 to you about theology. Do it any time. And to 00:09:55.929 --> 00:09:57.990 be sure, it's a good thing to listen to praise 00:09:57.990 --> 00:10:00.490 music on the way to work in the morning or a 00:10:00.490 --> 00:10:04.250 good podcast. I love those things, too. But we 00:10:04.250 --> 00:10:06.629 have to have a right relationship with God through 00:10:06.629 --> 00:10:09.250 Christ in order for that to mean anything for 00:10:09.250 --> 00:10:12.750 us. Jesus laid his life down so the veil was 00:10:12.750 --> 00:10:15.649 torn, so that you could, through the Son and 00:10:15.649 --> 00:10:19.210 by the power of the Holy Spirit, be declared 00:10:19.210 --> 00:10:22.309 righteous before God. You Christian, born again, 00:10:22.549 --> 00:10:25.009 indwelt by the Holy Spirit. You are justified 00:10:25.009 --> 00:10:28.549 and you are secure in Christ, but saved people. 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:31.519 People who have a relationship with God revere 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:37.879 God. God's people are his saints. The word saint 00:10:37.879 --> 00:10:42.399 comes from the word holy. And saints regard God 00:10:42.399 --> 00:10:46.580 as holy because he is. And so you have to have 00:10:46.580 --> 00:10:48.779 a right relationship with him. But secondly, 00:10:49.639 --> 00:10:53.870 we also must be obedient. Christians are to be 00:10:53.870 --> 00:10:57.049 obedient people to God. The Israelites show us 00:10:57.049 --> 00:10:59.590 that through their lack of reverence for God, 00:10:59.590 --> 00:11:02.330 they plunged into disobedience within the story. 00:11:02.990 --> 00:11:05.570 The Israelites, you'll remember, they bring the 00:11:05.570 --> 00:11:08.490 ark into battle and then they lose, they're crushed. 00:11:08.750 --> 00:11:11.289 What's really happening there is the Israelites 00:11:11.289 --> 00:11:14.990 were treating the ark of the covenant like a 00:11:14.990 --> 00:11:19.009 good luck charm, as if it would save them. And 00:11:19.009 --> 00:11:22.769 so they lose the ark It goes to the Philistines. 00:11:22.830 --> 00:11:25.750 And you might remember that the Ark ends up in 00:11:25.750 --> 00:11:27.830 different Philistine cities. And what happens 00:11:27.830 --> 00:11:30.750 in each one of those cities, the people are afflicted 00:11:30.750 --> 00:11:33.970 with harmful tumors on their bodies, right? Until 00:11:33.970 --> 00:11:36.629 finally, they say, we can't take this anymore. 00:11:37.009 --> 00:11:42.570 Get it out of here. Let me read to you 1 Samuel 00:11:42.570 --> 00:11:56.850 6, 7 through 9. 1 Samuel 6. This is the Philistines 00:11:56.850 --> 00:12:02.289 returning the Ark. Now then, and as I read this, 00:12:02.590 --> 00:12:04.690 pay attention to the language of this and see 00:12:04.690 --> 00:12:07.090 if it sounds anything like our passage for today. 00:12:07.750 --> 00:12:11.649 Now then, take and prepare a new cart and two 00:12:11.649 --> 00:12:14.649 milk cows on which there has never come a yoke, 00:12:15.090 --> 00:12:17.730 and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their 00:12:17.730 --> 00:12:20.639 calves home away from them. Take the ark of the 00:12:20.639 --> 00:12:23.139 Lord and place it on the cart and put it in a 00:12:23.139 --> 00:12:25.679 box at its side the figures of gold Which you 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:28.399 are returning to him as a guilt offering then 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:33.820 send it off and let it go its way and watch Did 00:12:33.820 --> 00:12:36.840 you hear any similarity in the language of first 00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:40.679 Samuel 6 with second Samuel 6 There's a phrase 00:12:40.679 --> 00:12:44.860 in there that's present in both chapters and 00:12:44.860 --> 00:12:47.820 it's this phrase the new cart and basically what 00:12:47.820 --> 00:12:50.980 this tells us is is the Israelites are treating 00:12:50.980 --> 00:12:54.059 the Ark of the Covenant in the same way as the 00:12:54.059 --> 00:12:57.220 pagan Philistines. Both of them put the Ark on 00:12:57.220 --> 00:13:00.600 a new cart. We might even argue the Israelites 00:13:00.600 --> 00:13:05.240 get the idea from the Philistines. You might 00:13:05.240 --> 00:13:07.259 say, what's so wrong about that? What's so wrong 00:13:07.259 --> 00:13:10.779 about transporting the Ark on a new cart? After 00:13:10.779 --> 00:13:12.820 all, we know the Israelites as they were being 00:13:12.820 --> 00:13:16.200 led by David. They had several miles to go. So 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:19.090 what's so wrong about this transportation of 00:13:19.090 --> 00:13:23.789 the ark by cart. Well, quite honestly, it's disobedient. 00:13:24.429 --> 00:13:26.509 It's disobedient. Listen to this from Exodus 00:13:26.509 --> 00:13:35.950 25. Exodus 25, 13 through 15. These are instructions 00:13:35.950 --> 00:13:41.110 regarding that ark. You shall make poles of acacia 00:13:41.110 --> 00:13:45.110 wood and overlay them with gold. And you shall 00:13:45.110 --> 00:13:48.710 put the poles into the rings on the sides of 00:13:48.710 --> 00:13:51.909 the ark to carry the ark by them. The poles shall 00:13:51.909 --> 00:13:54.990 remain in the rings of the ark. They shall not 00:13:54.990 --> 00:14:02.389 be taken from it." The ark had handles. Why does 00:14:02.389 --> 00:14:05.909 anything have handles? For the purpose of carrying, 00:14:06.070 --> 00:14:13.690 listen to this from Numbers 415. Numbers 415. 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:16.720 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:19.600 the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:21.960 sanctuary, as the camp sets out after that, the 00:14:21.960 --> 00:14:25.440 sons of Kohath shall come to carry these. But 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:30.080 they must not touch the holy things lest they 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:34.460 die. The job of the Kohathites was to care for 00:14:34.460 --> 00:14:39.820 the holy things of God. And Uzzah, the one who 00:14:39.820 --> 00:14:43.580 reached out and touched the ark, was most likely 00:14:45.420 --> 00:14:48.899 And so his job description was clear. Here's 00:14:48.899 --> 00:14:52.120 how you're supposed to transport this. So we 00:14:52.120 --> 00:14:55.240 see from it that the disobedience of the Israelites 00:14:55.240 --> 00:14:57.379 and the disobedience of Uzzah actually happened 00:14:57.379 --> 00:14:59.600 a long time before he ever reached out his hand. 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:03.039 Now you might say, well, wasn't this a good thing 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:07.139 that he did? Wasn't Uzzah preventing catastrophe? 00:15:09.340 --> 00:15:13.240 We almost expect God to say, Uzzah, thank you. 00:15:16.169 --> 00:15:18.389 We don't know of his intentions, but it sounds 00:15:18.389 --> 00:15:20.629 reactionary, just like he reached out as you 00:15:20.629 --> 00:15:24.330 might catch something that was falling. It sounds 00:15:24.330 --> 00:15:27.950 like good intentions, right? It's hard to rely 00:15:27.950 --> 00:15:30.090 on our good intentions, though. As Christians, 00:15:30.409 --> 00:15:33.049 we have to rely on the very word of God and obey 00:15:33.049 --> 00:15:35.950 it. That was the problem here. The problem was 00:15:35.950 --> 00:15:39.389 a lack of preparation. Oftentimes, our visual 00:15:39.389 --> 00:15:43.490 disobedience is generated by a secret lack of 00:15:43.490 --> 00:15:46.450 preparation over time. The problem is that we 00:15:46.450 --> 00:15:49.789 sometimes neglect the things of God, the things 00:15:49.789 --> 00:15:52.929 that were created and given to us for our good, 00:15:53.190 --> 00:15:56.830 for our growth and grace. Sometimes we've been 00:15:56.830 --> 00:15:59.409 doing this Christian thing for a good long while 00:15:59.409 --> 00:16:01.750 and we start to fade away from these things and 00:16:01.750 --> 00:16:05.570 we start to think that they are mundane. That 00:16:05.570 --> 00:16:08.110 the holiness of God becomes the half -heartedness 00:16:08.110 --> 00:16:15.779 for God, becomes the hostility toward God. I 00:16:15.779 --> 00:16:19.039 heard a term not too long ago that has stuck 00:16:19.039 --> 00:16:21.759 with me that I think really defines the American 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:23.960 church and defines the church really in the West. 00:16:24.620 --> 00:16:30.100 It's apotheism. Apotheism. That if we're not 00:16:30.100 --> 00:16:34.559 careful to tend to the means of grace, we become 00:16:34.559 --> 00:16:39.220 indifferent to the things of God. We become indifferent 00:16:39.220 --> 00:16:42.980 to the maker of the heavens and the earth. We 00:16:42.980 --> 00:16:47.399 become indifferent apathetic to the author of 00:16:47.399 --> 00:16:53.320 our salvation. But friends, God is holy. R .C. 00:16:53.460 --> 00:16:56.080 Sproul used to put it like this. He would read 00:16:56.080 --> 00:16:58.659 portions of scripture and he would say, God is 00:16:58.659 --> 00:17:01.860 holy, holy, holy. And then he would point out 00:17:01.860 --> 00:17:05.319 that while God is just, scriptures don't say 00:17:05.319 --> 00:17:07.630 that he was just, just, just. The scriptures 00:17:07.630 --> 00:17:09.769 don't say that God is kind, kind, kind, or that 00:17:09.769 --> 00:17:12.029 he is love, love, love. He is those things. But 00:17:12.029 --> 00:17:16.089 the scriptures say that God is holy, holy, holy. 00:17:16.329 --> 00:17:18.990 And if you could use one word to sum up God, 00:17:20.329 --> 00:17:24.730 it would be holiness. And so Christians, we need 00:17:24.730 --> 00:17:29.809 to see worship as anything but mundane. We need 00:17:29.809 --> 00:17:32.309 to see it as the most important thing that we 00:17:32.309 --> 00:17:35.309 do, that we give glory to God. That's why we 00:17:35.309 --> 00:17:38.539 were made. And do you know this today? That God 00:17:38.539 --> 00:17:42.140 is in your midst. That he is in our midst as 00:17:42.140 --> 00:17:45.019 we worship him. And that he is greatly to be 00:17:45.019 --> 00:17:48.980 praised. Knowing that, shouldn't that cause us 00:17:48.980 --> 00:17:51.460 to really consider who we are as Christians? 00:17:51.920 --> 00:17:54.400 Shouldn't that cause us to really consider what 00:17:54.400 --> 00:17:57.099 we're doing when we worship? Shouldn't that cause 00:17:57.099 --> 00:17:59.579 us to consider how we approach God in prayer? 00:18:00.819 --> 00:18:05.230 God condescends to be with us in worship. This 00:18:05.230 --> 00:18:09.210 change is who we are in this space, and this 00:18:09.210 --> 00:18:15.450 change is who we are outside of this space. And 00:18:15.450 --> 00:18:18.890 so for this reason, whether you've been at this 00:18:18.890 --> 00:18:21.430 church for nine weeks or 90 years, you've probably 00:18:21.430 --> 00:18:24.589 seen that the elements of our worship don't change 00:18:24.589 --> 00:18:28.650 a whole lot. We can evaluate how we worship, 00:18:28.809 --> 00:18:30.630 but the elements don't change a whole lot. And 00:18:30.630 --> 00:18:33.130 the reason for that It's because the elements 00:18:33.130 --> 00:18:35.890 of worship are derived from scripture. We believe 00:18:35.890 --> 00:18:38.289 in a holy God and this holy God tells us how 00:18:38.289 --> 00:18:42.069 to worship him from scripture. And so you're 00:18:42.069 --> 00:18:43.730 always going to have a reading of scripture. 00:18:44.130 --> 00:18:45.769 And you're always going to have prayer. You're 00:18:45.769 --> 00:18:47.450 always going to have preaching. You're going 00:18:47.450 --> 00:18:49.730 to have the tithes and the offerings. You're 00:18:49.730 --> 00:18:51.990 going to have sacraments on occasion. We don't 00:18:51.990 --> 00:18:54.390 have to get innovative with our worship because 00:18:54.390 --> 00:18:58.490 God tells us how. And yet if I can compare worship 00:18:58.490 --> 00:19:00.829 to the Israelites and what was going on in second 00:19:00.829 --> 00:19:04.970 Samuel Six, we can say that the Israelites, they 00:19:04.970 --> 00:19:07.809 were getting innovative with this, weren't they? 00:19:09.690 --> 00:19:12.210 They took notice of what the Philistines did 00:19:12.210 --> 00:19:16.730 and they transport the ark in this way. They 00:19:16.730 --> 00:19:19.990 put the cart before the ark, so to speak. They 00:19:19.990 --> 00:19:22.809 tried to follow a better way. They're godless 00:19:22.809 --> 00:19:25.750 neighbors. They put the Ark of the Covenant on 00:19:25.750 --> 00:19:29.029 the new cart and the oxen stumbled and Uzzah 00:19:29.029 --> 00:19:38.809 reached out his hand to study that. R .C. Sproul 00:19:38.809 --> 00:19:44.569 once said, it wasn't the ground that would defile 00:19:44.569 --> 00:19:47.529 the Ark of the Covenant. It wasn't the ground. 00:19:48.170 --> 00:19:50.289 Because the ground does what the ground's supposed 00:19:50.289 --> 00:19:55.069 to do. What defiled the ark was the touch, a 00:19:55.069 --> 00:20:00.829 sinful man. Now this is a sermon series on the 00:20:00.829 --> 00:20:02.910 life of David. And so you might be saying, where's 00:20:02.910 --> 00:20:05.509 David in all of this? Where's he at? Well, you 00:20:05.509 --> 00:20:08.430 can see from the text, he's leading the people. 00:20:08.430 --> 00:20:10.450 He's doing a good thing. He's leading worship. 00:20:11.869 --> 00:20:14.809 But after this happens, he's grappling with what 00:20:14.809 --> 00:20:18.450 has happened. He's trying to figure it out. He's 00:20:18.450 --> 00:20:21.150 angry, and then he's afraid, and then he's back 00:20:21.150 --> 00:20:23.910 to dancing David, but he's showing us emotions 00:20:23.910 --> 00:20:26.450 that you may have right now. As you read this 00:20:26.450 --> 00:20:30.009 text, you may be angry. As you read this text, 00:20:31.269 --> 00:20:35.329 you may be afraid. If you're feeling any of those 00:20:35.329 --> 00:20:39.609 emotions, you're probably like me. You're probably 00:20:39.609 --> 00:20:43.430 like me in that we are all still grappling with 00:20:43.430 --> 00:20:46.400 the idea of God's holiness, and we are still 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:48.880 grappling with the heinous nature of our sin. 00:20:49.880 --> 00:20:52.980 If you're feeling those things, I understand 00:20:52.980 --> 00:20:55.819 you. And yet the more that we give ourselves 00:20:55.819 --> 00:20:57.920 to the worship of God and the study of his word, 00:20:57.980 --> 00:21:00.759 we have a greater understanding of his holiness. 00:21:01.140 --> 00:21:04.500 But all of this, David shows us that leadership 00:21:04.500 --> 00:21:07.980 is critically important in matters of holiness. 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:11.980 Why does God assemble everybody there? What are 00:21:11.980 --> 00:21:14.309 they doing? They're assembling for worship. And 00:21:14.309 --> 00:21:17.910 so we need godly worship to remind us of the 00:21:17.910 --> 00:21:21.170 holiness of God. The church must hold fast to 00:21:21.170 --> 00:21:24.089 the gospel of the holy risen Jesus Christ, and 00:21:24.089 --> 00:21:27.250 we must trust the Lord of this church to provide 00:21:27.250 --> 00:21:30.410 that whatever our days ahead, whatever our weeks, 00:21:30.789 --> 00:21:33.529 whatever our months in our year, we must grasp 00:21:33.529 --> 00:21:37.230 two things, and I begin to close. We must grasp 00:21:37.230 --> 00:21:42.490 two things. One, God is holy. Period. Nothing 00:21:42.490 --> 00:21:47.470 else to add. But secondly, through Christ, by 00:21:47.470 --> 00:21:50.269 His life and His death and His resurrection, 00:21:50.990 --> 00:21:54.069 God has provided a way for unrighteous people 00:21:54.069 --> 00:21:57.089 to be declared righteous. God, through His risen 00:21:57.089 --> 00:21:59.890 Son, has provided a way for unlovable people 00:21:59.890 --> 00:22:02.970 to be loved. God, through His Son, has provided 00:22:02.970 --> 00:22:08.049 a way for unholy people to be holy. And it's 00:22:08.049 --> 00:22:12.309 only by the grace of the holy, holy, holy God 00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:17.460 Christ by His Holy Spirit. Let's pray.