What children can teach us about worship – 2 Samuel 6, Part 4

My own congregation recently held worship in the park. We do this in a local park pavilion twice each year. It is wonderful to worship outdoors. This most recent time, a toddler in our congregation walked up near the front and was dancing to the music.  She did so because her grandmother was helping to lead the singing, and her grandmother was beckoning her to come up. It was a beautiful moment. How many of us adults love to see children dancing so freely, and yet we adults would never do such a thing?

In fact, we can feel negatively toward adults who express themselves like that. As we learned in the previous post, David’s wife Michal is REALLY upset at him for expressing himself in worship. As he was leading the worship procession bringing the Ark of Covenant into the city of Jerusalem, David danced with all his might. Michal thought he was acting undignified, and she bitterly tells him so.

We read David’s response in 2 Samuel chapter 6, starting at verse sixteen:

“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.”

How about David’s response, “I will be even more undignified than this!!!!”

The expectation of years and years and decades and decades has finally come to fruition and David just worships the Lord.  He does not care what people think of him.  He does not care to maintain royal decorum.  He simply wants to worship the Lord with all his might!  David is not intending to embarrass Michal.  He doesn’t walk out of the palace that day and think, “Well, today’s the day I make my wife really angry at me!”  He is simply filled with deep, deep gratefulness to God and loses himself in praise.  Filling David’s heart is a desire to hold nothing back for God.  In his mind, David only sees one person in the audience that day.  God.

Thus, David displays astounding humility before the Lord.  David is completely surrendered to God while he worships. If a person would dance like David danced during many church worship services, how many of us would feel really negative or offended just like Michal felt about David? 

Have you ever watched people in your church raising their hands or clapping and thought to yourself something like Michal thought about David, “Geesh, they are really drawing attention to themselves.”?  David’s response to Michal, is a response to anyone who has those negative feelings toward others expressing freedom in worship.  David’s is a response that basically says “Repent of your bitterness and have joy when people freely praise the Lord!!!”  I’m not saying that people need to worship God in a particular style.  I’m saying that we can graciously and joyfully encourage people to worship in ways that are different from us.

David had seen the faithfulness of God for years, and he is just bursting forth with praise.  But what about you?  Have you forgotten the amazing ways that God has kept his promises to you?  Are you coming to church on Sunday mornings worshiping in a ho-hum kind of way?  These songs that you sing, the money that you give, the prayer you pray, all should cause you to burst out of your skin with praise!!!  We have a reason to praise the Lord with a vigor just like David had, every single Sunday!  We have a reason to praise the Lord with all our might! 

Years ago I worked in children’s ministry at a local camp meeting.  I taught children in grades K-4.  It struck me that something happens to us between the time we are children and the time we become adults.  There is an innocence lost.  When we are adults, our childlike freedom can be held captive to adult decorum.  We can feel embarrassed to do anything that might draw the slightest attention to ourselves.

That decorum is not necessarily healthy!  Yes we need to progress to maturity, but we also need to become like children.  When I am with my nearly three year old grandson, I am reminded of reckless abandon. He learns praise songs with motions, and he claps, dances, and sings. 

In 2009 on a mission trip to Costa Rica, my group experienced a freedom in worship that was so healthy.  We danced with all our might.  We raised our hands.  We clapped, we shouted.

At camp, teaching kids, I was doing the same thing!  We need that.  We need to stop being so concerned about what people think of us, and we need to be concerned what God thinks of us.  We need to praise him, regardless of what the people around us may think.  Have you felt during worship that you wanted to clap and raise your hands, but you are afraid, embarrassed?  You wonder silently to yourself, “What will people think?  I’ve never done that before.”  So you keep it to yourselves. Perhaps you might choose, like David, to become undignified for Christ. 

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Why David’s wife bitterly confronted him – 2 Samuel 6, Part 3

In the previous post, we learned that in 2nd Samuel chapter six, David is dancing wildly, wearing a thin priestly ephod, as part of the procession bringing the Ark of Covenant into the city of Jerusalem.

His wife, Michal, was aghast at what she saw from the palace window, as she watched the Ark parade into the city.  You can imagine her there thinking, “What priest is going bananas like that?  How is the high priest allowing that guy to draw all the attention to himself?  How selfish!”  She can’t believe what she is seeing.  And then she feels that flush of emotional surprise come over her.  She realizes that’s no priest dancing wildly.  It’s David, her husband, the king. 

Imagine what is going through her.  Shock, surprise, embarrassment, fear, anger? All of the above. In 2nd Samuel chapter six, verses sixteen through twenty, we read that David leads the people in worship, in sacrificing to the Lord, and blessing the people with gifts of food. He then returns to the palace to bless his own family as well. Michal comes out to meet him, and she goes off, “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!”

Whew, Michal is bitter.  My guess is that you have felt those feelings raging through your bodies as well.  Maybe you’ve felt like Michal, very angry at your spouse.  Maybe you’ve felt what David is feeling, how hurtful and embarrassing it is when a loved one yells at you.

There are all kinds of reason for Michal, David’s wife, to feel the way she did.  Could be royal decorum, and she felt David was embarrassing  not only himself, but also her.  Could be that after David went on the run as a fugitive from her father’s palace, her father took her from David and gave her to another husband.  Then imagine her pain years later when David took her back forcibly from her new husband who she had been married to longer than she was married to David.  That would’ve been really straining.  She might have hated David for that.   

Then when she sees David dancing wildly in front of young maidens in the city, in front of all his people, it’s too much for her. She can’t believe this is her life.

Let’s give Michal the benefit of the doubt here. Why is David doing what he is doing in this episode? Dancing wildly in a thin priestly ephod? Michal is right, David is not following the normal dress or decorum that a king should abide by. Perhaps David is actually wrong.

David in this situation sees himself as a kind of priestly and prophetic king.  In ancient Israel, those roles, prophet, priest and king, were usually three separate people.  But there are a few occasions where one person takes on a role that blends two or three of the roles.  Moses.  Samuel.  And now David, take on a role that is part prophet, part priest, part king.  Of course in the New Testament, we see how Jesus is the ultimate expression of prophet, priest and king for the whole world.  But for now, we look at how David is prophet, priest and king for Israel.

There was always a very spiritual side to David.  He is not just a political ruler.  He sees himself in deep relationship with God, and as one who leads his people spiritually. Thus he chooses to wear a piece of clothing that the priests would normally wear.  A king would normally wear a rich robe and all the trappings of royalty.  David instead chooses a priest’s ephod, a very thin piece of clothing.  It was likely either similar to a long t-shirt that would be tied around the waist with a rope, or maybe just a skirt that was tied around the waist. This was the common priestly garment that the regular tabernacle workers would wear.

Back to the Presidential Inauguration analogy in the previous post.  Imagine this scene at an Inaugural Ball: the new president, just before the opening dance of the Inauguration says, “Excuse me honey, I need to use the restroom,” then comes back to center stage dancing wildly with a long t-shirt and mini-skirt on?  How would their spouse react?

That’s what David is doing, and it sends Michal over the edge. I imagine any president’s spouse would at least be shocked and probably embarrassed, if not angry.  And that is usually in a situation when the president and their spouse are happily married. But as we’ve seen, David and Michal might not be happily married. Bitterness flows freely from Michal.

How will David respond? We find out in the next post.

Photo by Artur Voznenko on Unsplash

When tragedy strikes in the middle of David’s celebration – 2 Samuel 6, Part 2

In the USA, Presidential Inauguration Day is much more than the outdoor event at the Capitol, during which the president takes the Oath of Office and gives an Inaugural Address. On that day there are also multiple presidential balls, where the president dances with their spouse.  It’s all very formal and dignified.

Could you imagine if during one of those balls, the president would rip off their clothes, except for their underwear, and start wildly dancing? I’m not talking about dancing in a humorously controlled manner, but in a manner that is literally wild, gesticulating with all their might. That would be amazing. It would go viral for sure.

In our study through the life of David, God has brought David victory, and there is great rejoicing in Israel. David is king, yes, but he knows God is the true king of Israel. As we learned in the previous post, David wants to bring God’s throne, the Ark of the Covenant into the capital city. In 2 Samuel chapter six, verses six through ten, David leads the process of bringing the Ark into the city. He and all Israel are dancing with all their might, and then tragedy strikes.

One of the men tasked with watching the Ark as it is on an ox-drawn cart, Uzzah, notices one of the oxen stumble. Concerned that the Ark will topple and fall off the cart, he reaches out to steady the Ark. But the Ark is God’s holy throne, and instantly Uzzah dies.

Why would God kill someone just for touching the Ark?  It seems harsh.  Technically God didn’t do it.  Uzzah did it.  Uzzah knew that touching that Ark would lead to death.  Everyone knew that.  It was kind of like a spiritual electric fence.  You touch an electric fence, you know what’s going to happen.  Same with the Ark.  That’s why they had poles to carry the Ark, so they wouldn’t touch it.

But notice that they weren’t using the poles. Instead they put the Ark on a cart, which is not how God instructed them to carry the Ark. Perhaps, then, there is some disobedience involved in this procession. Furthermore, God who miraculously brought the Ark back from the Philistines didn’t need Uzzah to steady the Ark when the oxen stumbled.

While we don’t know what was in Uzzah’s heart, he was lacking in self-control.  It is sad, and it crushes David.  He was rejoicing, worshipping with all his might, and this happens?  It is awful.  Who wants there to be tragedy in the middle of your party?  It seems like most everything comes hard for David.

Whether you consider all the years David waited to be king or the hundreds of years for the Israelites to have full possession of the Promised Land of Canaan and freedom from their enemies, David is stuck again.  Imagine the frustration David felt.  Now he’s facing another delay. 

It would be very disheartening, and maybe you have felt that.  When you have great expectation for a special day, and you do the training for it, the planning, and then it is delayed and it is disheartening. That’s David in verses 9–10. 

“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.”

But God is true.  God is faithful, as we read in verse 11, “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.”

David sees that God is blessing Obed-Edom and he takes that as a sign that it is now time to try again.  You can imagine David’s excitement.  Bristling with it.  And this time the celebration is on:

In 2 Samuel chapter six, verses twelve through fifteen, we learn that David restarts the celebration. I wish I could have seen that.  It was a grand party. This time, David and the people bring the Ark to Jerusalem, and there is great rejoicing. This story presents David as a different kind of king. He is not following kingly decorum. He’s wearing a thin priestly ephod, dancing with all his might.

But remember David was not your normal king.  He was a shepherd boy, a commoner, a rough and tough soldier.  He worked in the king’s palace, but he never grew up in one. There was another person there that day, however, who did grow up in the palace, and she was aghast at what she saw from the palace window, as she watched the Ark parade into the city.

We’ll meet her in tomorrow’s post.

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The time the president of my Bible college declared that there would be no raising of hands during worship in the school’s chapel services – 2 Samuel 6, Part 1

One of the controversial issues during my undergrad years in Bible College was how people should worship God, particularly the validity of the practice of raising hands.  A few people did it from time to time during the college’s weekday chapel services.  A very few people.  So I will never forget one particular chapel service when the president of the college got up in front of the student body and sternly told us that there would be no raising of hands during chapel at our school! 

To my recollection, the church I grew up in didn’t have people who raised their hands in worship.  I don’t remember anyone calling it bad or forbidding it, because they didn’t need to. It just never happened.  At Bible college, when I saw those few people raising their hands, it felt foreign.  I was used to people saying “Amen” during worship or every now and then clapping in tune with the songs.  So when the president of the Bible college said “there will be no raising of hands” it stuck in my mind.  As you can tell, that was 30 years ago. 

Then there was our church mission trip to Costa Rica in 2009.  That was a whole new ball game.  From time to time people raise their hands here at Faith Church, but in Costa Rica, it was a way, way more than that.  We all raised our hands and then some.  We even had a conga line, dancing, at one worship service.  I was soaked with sweat.

That brings me to David.  We’ve been studying the Life of David through the Old Testament books of 1st and 2nd Samuel.  David was a shepherd, a musician, a poet, a fierce warrior, and passionate lover of God.  This week we’re going to observe an instance in which David worshiped God, and he had someone yell at him just like the president did at my college.

Last week we studied 2 Samuel 5, and we learned that after waiting at least ten years, David has finally become king of all Israel.  He restarts the conquest of the Promised Land, defeating the Jebusites, gaining possession of Jerusalem and building a palace there.  

Think about those three events: king of all Israel, new capital city, and new palace.  These are significant markers of success and blessing.  These are the kinds of accomplishments for which people all over the globe and throughout history celebrate with a huge party.  An inaugural ball.  A building dedication. A housewarming party. 

But even though he has every reason to party, David is not quite ready to party just yet.  Something is missing.  God has been faithful to him for years.  And now David wants God to be right in the center of the victory.  David wants God to be the focus of the celebration, but something is missing that would clearly show everyone in Israel that God is the center.

Think about it.  What one object in the history of the nation of Israel’s journey from Mt. Sinai, where they got the Ten Commandments, to the Promised Land signified that the Lord was right there in their midst?  How did Israel see the presence of the Lord with them?  It started with the pillar of fire by night and pillar of smoke by day guiding them through the wilderness, but as they came into the Promised Land, the presence of the Lord was focused on one place, one object, one chest.  The Ark of the Covenant. 

In fact, in 2 Samuel 6 we will hear the Ark of the Covenant referred to as God’s throne.  It is not an ark like we think of Noah and the ark.  It was a small box really.  Decorated in gold with small statues of angels on the lid, and rings on the side that the priests would slide poles into for transport.  When the nation was on the move, the Ark of the Covenant went before them, whether that was in battle like around the walls of Jericho, or just marching through the land.  The Ark signified the presence of God among his people. 

This family, this nation of Israel can look back to God’s covenant with their ancient patriarch Abraham, to whom God said, “I will make you into a great nation, through whom all people on earth will be blessed.”  Hundreds of years passed, and that family became the nation.  But they faced centuries of enslavement.  Then they remember God’s word to them through Moses, “I will take you from slavery to the Land of Promise, the Land overflowing with milk and honey, a land where you will be free from your enemies.” 

As David thinks about the promises God made to his forefathers, he sees that they are finally being fulfilled, and there is only one thing that needs to happen.  God who led them all the way needs to lead them again.  This new capital city, Jerusalem, is not just David’s city, where David is King.  It is God’s city where God is king.  Now there is only one thing on David’s mind.  The Ark of the Covenant must return to the city.  The true king must inhabit the throne. 

So where is the ark? Why isn’t it there in the first place?  We studied that story earlier in this series. Saul, the first king of Israel let the Ark get stolen by the enemy Philistines.  The Ark had some adventures in Philistine land, causing a plague among the Philistines.  The Philistines got so sick, they returned the ark to Israel on a horse-drawn wagon. The people in the Israelite border town of Kireath Jearim placed the ark in the house of a man named Abinadab.  There the ark remained all this time.  Why they did not return it to the tabernacle, we are uncertain.  Think about that.  As God is bringing David victory, as there is great rejoicing in Israel, the Ark is at the home of an Israelite about nine miles west the city.  It’s time to bring it back!

Check back in the next post, because just as David is bringing the Ark to Jerusalem, tragedy strikes.

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How a story from the life of King David inspired my church to experiment in worship – 2 Samuel 6, Preview

What comes to mind when you read the word “worship”?  Do you think about your church building, and maybe the room many churches refer to as a “sanctuary”?  Does your mind picture the furnishings in the room, such as the pews or chairs, the piano or the band, and the projection screen?  Do you think about singing worship songs? Do you think about the people gathered, or leading worship up front. Maybe you think about a person preaching? Maybe you join worship online?  

If you think about any of those images when you see the word “worship,” you are right.  When church families gather for worship, those images are the regular week-in, week-out, features of our worship.  They are needed and good, and we are right to emphasize them.

But churches would also do well to experiment in worship. We experiment because we do not want to give God, ourselves, or others, the impression that we have worship all figured out.  Over the years that heart of teachability has led my congregation to experiment with gathered worship services in a variety of ways.  We have held Silent Sundays, Worship in the Park, Q & A Sundays, prayer in various parts of the building, Church Has Left The Building, and more.  We experiment because we want to have a heart posture that says to God, “Lord, I want to learn how to worship you.” 

With that in mind, I am excited about this coming Sunday’s worship service because we are featuring several creative arts in worship.  There will be unique musical instruments, painting, poetry, video, special readings, and ways the whole church family can participate.  All of this will be led by a variety of people from our own church family. God has blessed us each with talents and gifts that we can use to worship him, and I am excited and grateful for how many from our church family will be sharing those gifts as an act of worship.

My contribution will be a sermon, and as I do each week, I will post the sermon in five parts here on the blog.  We will continue the series on the Life of David.  We chose to have Arts Sunday at Faith Church on Sept. 22 because the next section of the Life of David includes a story about David dancing in worship.  In 2nd Samuel chapter 6, David is praising God with unbridled joy because God has been faithful to David.  Right in the middle of David’s unique worship service, tragedy strikes.  Because of the tragedy, David stops the proceedings.  After a few months, he feels ready to get the worship service rolling again.  This time it goes really well, including the dancing.  Except that just as David is reveling in God’s goodness, someone rebukes David to his face.  How will David react?  Check out the passage ahead of time.  I look forward to discussing it with you on the blog this week.

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When you have been waiting, cry out to God – 2 Samuel 4—5, Part 5

What have you been waiting for?  A difficult relationship being healed?  A debt paid off?  A sickness healed?  We can wait, and wait, and it can seem like radio silence from God.  That’s what David felt, and I’m so glad he put it into words and someone selected it for inclusion in the psalms. 

For David, pursuing God’s mission meant waiting a long time, through many dark days, yet remaining faithful to God’s heart and ways even in difficult circumstances.  David will write many psalms of lament, which we can read in the book of Psalms, where he cries out to God, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” (Ps 13:1)  David is so frustrated that he thinks God must be purposefully ignoring him.

Or how about this one: “To you I call, O Lord my Rock; do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who have gone down to the pit.” (Ps 28:1)

Here’s a famous one: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer.” (Ps 22:1–2)

How can God not see the hurt and pain that David is going through? Perhaps you’ve felt like that. 

There is hope.  Because God is real, there is hope.  That in-between time, though, is so difficult, and we can struggle to keep hope alive.  When we are waiting, we can struggle to continue to walk in God’s ways.  When it seems like God is not answering us, we can struggle to choose obedience.  Especially when culture encourages us to live differently from God’s ways. This is why David is such a wonderful example for us.  Even when we are sick and tired of waiting for an outcome we are hoping for, even when we feel like we cannot wait one more day, God is faithful. 

The story of David is a story about how to wait.  It is not a story the guarantees the outcome we are looking for.  God is not obligated to fulfill our desires.  Even when those desires are good and in line with his heart.  David’s story reminds us of how to wait, even when the waiting is long, or even when the waiting might never come to pass.  What is important is how we wait. 

How have you seen God’s faithfulness, even though the waiting might have been difficult and felt like it was taking forever?  I encourage you to reflect on that now. Maybe write it down in a journal. Maybe talk about it with God, thanking him. Maybe talk about it with friends and family.

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David’s example of trusting in God, when God’s instructions made little sense – 2 Samuel 4—5, Part 4

During Israel’s civil war, the Philistines were content to let the Israelites fight amongst themselves.  But when David becomes king of a unified nation, they take notice.  Why? Because about ten years prior, David was their nemesis.  He killed the Philistine hero Goliath, and then David just kept beating them.

But things changed when Saul tried to kill David, and eventually David became friendly with the Philistines.  David and the Philistines had a common enemy, Saul.  But no more.  Time has passed.  David had been king of Judah for 7+ years and the days when David and his 600 men and their families stayed in the Philistine city of Ziklag were like ancient history.  Now David is a powerful king leading a strong, unified Israel, and that is bad news for the Philistines.  They need to address this.

In 2nd Samuel chapter five verses seventeen through the end of the chapter, we read that the Philistines gather their military and attempt to strike David’s army, but David inquires of the Lord. God gives David confirmation to fight, and David’s army wins. They Philistines regroup, trying again. Once again David inquires of the Lord, and this time God instructs David to take what at first glance appears to be evasive maneuvers. God also says something very mysterious, “David, hold off your attack until you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees.” What is God talking about?

It seems best to interpret this curious instruction as God saying, “David, I will fight for you.” And God does just that. David follows God’s unusual directions, and once again the Philistines are beaten.

It is a new day in Israel.  I’m not just referring to a single day. Not just a blip on the radar either.  It is a new era, at the beginning of what will be decades of unparalleled victory and prosperity for Israel.  Why?

In these two chapters, 2 Samuel 4 and 5, David is firmly established as the king of a unified Israel.  He restarts the conquest of Canaan, and he takes Jerusalem, making it is his capital, with a brand new palace to hold his many wives, concubines, and children. 

While David’s approach to women and marriage is a blind spot, we see clearly in this passage the favor of God on David.  We see David reaching out to God for direction.  We see God answering and supernaturally fighting David’s battles. 

What is happening in Israel, under the leadership of David, and through the empowerment of the Lord God Almighty, is what God always intended.  There had been a long, long malaise of sinfulness and rebellion in the twelve tribes of Israel.  Pretty much ever since Joshua passed away, hundreds of years earlier.  Certainly there were flickers of light throughout those dark centuries.  Some of the judges had their moments.  Samuel was an amazing leader.  Saul even had his moments.  But what is happening in Israel under David’s leadership is different, the likes of which the people of Israel have not seen in generations. 

We are only at the beginning of David’s reign as Israel’s king.  Surely, there will be bumps along the road. But Israel is on a new trajectory.  It is because of the two factors I have mentioned already.  First, David is no longer the shepherd boy, herding sheep.  He is the godly shepherd of God’s people, as we read in chapter 4, verse 2.  Second, God is central to David’s reign, and the power of God is unleashed. 

In tomorrow’s post, we’ll discuss how we can apply these two points to our lives.

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How can David be a man after God’s own heart and have so many wives? – 2 Samuel 4—5, Part 3

Now that the civil war in Israel is over and David is king of all Israel, will he take up the completion of the conquest of the Promised Land? It was a conquest that laid dormant for centuries. We get an answer in the very next passage, 2 Samuel 5, verses 6 through 12. 

David gives the conquest of Canaan new life.  First order of business, take Jerusalem.  Israel never had control of Jerusalem until this point.  Jerusalem had always been occupied by other people, like the Jebusites.  Though they taunt David, and though it seemed a very difficult mission to flush the Jebusites out of the city, the Lord was with David, and he took it.  

This is how Jerusalem became the capital city of Israel.  David then began expanding the city, including constructing his palace. 

We see in this section, verses 6-12, two important statements.  In verse 10, “the Lord God Almighty was with him,” and in verse 12, “the Lord had established him.”  Clearly, God was at work, and David invited God to do that work.  We’re going to reflect further in a post later in the week.  For now, let’s see how this chapter continues.  Verse 13 states that, “After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.” 

The author of the story of David has been coming back to this subplot repeatedly as he has told us about David’s life.  David and women.  First David married, Michal, daughter of King Saul.  Let’s keep a tally: 1 wife.

Then when David fled Saul’s house, Saul forcibly divorced David and Michal, giving her in marriage to another man.  At that point David was single and fleeing for his life. 1 ex-wife.

During his fugitive years, David eventually married Ahinoam.  1 ex-wife, 1 current wife.

Soon after that, he met Abigail who was both beautiful and intelligent, and he married her too.  1 ex-wife, 2 current wives.

In the next few years, the floodgates opened, and he married four more women.  1 ex-wife, 6 current wives.

As we learned last week in this post, David made the peace deal contingent on getting his first wife back, which meant the authorities had to break up Michal and her new husband whom she had been with longer than David!  0 ex-wives, 7 current wives.

Now we read that he married more women and had concubines, which were like secondary wives or maybe even sex slaves.  Though I’m peeking ahead, eventually, we will learn that David had twelve wives, and who knows how many concubines.  Clearly, David has a problem.  Yes, it was culturally normal in that day, especially for monarchy, but that doesn’t make polygamy right.  Culture does not always tell us God’s heart or what is best for us.  God’s standard from the very beginning, Genesis chapter 2, is that marriage is one man and one woman becoming one flesh, and that’s it. 

Therefore, this sin in David’s life is unacceptable.  How, then, can he be called a man after God’s own heart?  That area of David’s life was not in line with God’s heart.  This reminds us that God is not expecting perfection.  He loves us despite our failings.  Our failings do not void us from participating in the mission of his Kingdom.  We’re going to put a pin in this subplot because in just a few weeks, the subplot will become the main plot. 

Turning back to the conquest, we learn that the Philistines who defeated Saul reenter the story.  What will they do? We find out in the next post.

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David’s example of waiting the right way – 2 Samuel 4—5, Part 2

The twelve tribes of Israel are embroiled in civil war. It is one tribe versus the other eleven. David is king of the one tribe, Judah. Ish-Bosheth is king of the other eleven. We learned in the previous post that assasins take Ish-Bosheth’s life, cut off his head and bring it to David, claiming that God has given David victory. How will David view this situation?

In 2nd Samuel chapter 4, verse 9, we read,

“David answered Rekab and his brother Baanah, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who has delivered me out of every trouble, when someone told me, “Saul is dead,” and thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and put him to death in Ziklag. That was the reward I gave him for his news! How much more—when wicked men have killed an innocent man in his own house and on his own bed—should I not now demand his blood from your hand and rid the earth of you!’ So David gave an order to his men, and they killed them. They cut off their hands and feet and hung the bodies by the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-Bosheth and buried it in Abner’s tomb at Hebron.”

Disgusting, right?  We have seen this kind of gore time and time again in the life of David.  War is awful.  There is quite a lot of gore in this passage.  But I want to point out how David is consistent.  Earlier in 2nd Samuel chapter 1, just as David punished the Amalekite man who killed King Saul, David now enacts capital punishment on these two men who killed Ish-Bosheth.  David is sending a clear message that murderers will be punished with the death penalty. 

But now the eleven tribes of Israel must face a difficult situation. They are without a king.  Worse, still, there is no obvious heir to accede to the throne.  The only possible heir left is Saul’s grandson, Mephibosheth, and as we learned in the previous post he is only ten to twelve years old, and he is disabled.  What will happen? 

The eleven tribes approach David, and they make a treaty. Thus David becomes king of all twelve tribes of Israel. The civil war is over.

Finally!!!  After so many years, David has become king of all Israel, just as God promised.  Observe how David got to the throne.  David did not do so by lifting a finger against the previous kings Saul or Ish-Bosheth or their families.  Even when he had golden opportunities to kill Saul, David did not touch him.  Instead, David ascends to the throne of all twelve tribes of Israel by natural causes.  David chooses not to play God as he waits.  And did he ever wait.

How many years had passed since he was anointed by God to be the next king?  We don’t know for sure.  I’m guessing here, but I suspect there were at least ten years between the time he was first anointed to be king until he became king of Judah.  Then there were another seven and a half years until he became king of all Israel.

Think about how many of those years were hard years.  David first had to run away from Saul, because Saul was trying to kill him. At first, David didn’t know where he could turn for help or who he could trust.  Except that God has been faithful to David all these years, and David has worked hard to be faithful to God. David hasn’t been perfect, but he has truly been a man after God’s own heart. He desires to follow God’s ways, and he tries hard to purse that.  Let me repeat: he’s not perfect, but in David, we have a wonderful example of patient trust in God, even when waiting doesn’t make sense and is difficult.

Though David has been made King over all Israel, there is some significant unfinished business to care for. In fact, it has been unfinished for centuries.  I am referring to the conquest of Palestine, the Promised Land of Canaan.  Hundreds of years earlier, the twelve tribes of Israel had been freed from slavery and they eventually made it back to the land of their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The land of Canaan, the Promised Land. 

But they found Canaan/Palestine occupied by many different people groups.  Following God’s direction, they began the military conquest of the land. Under the leadership of Joshua and Caleb, they made a lot of progress, but they never completed the job.  During the period of the judges, they were so rebellious to God, it was only God’s grace that the people didn’t lose the land and become slaves again. 

There were certainly bright spots from time to time, such as the final judge and prophet Samuel. But Samuel did not lead the people on a campaign of completing the conquest. That would be the work of a political and military leader like a king. When Israel asked for a king, God gave them Saul. King Saul fought many battles, but he didn’t make much headway towards completing the conquest of the Promised Land. 

Now that the civil is over and David is king of all Israel, will he take up the completion of the conquest? Check back to the next post, and we will find out.

Photo by Jan Tinneberg on Unsplash

When waiting seems to have no end – 2 Samuel 4—5, Part 1

What are you waiting for? On the blog we have been studying the life of ancient Israel’s great king, David, through the Hebrew Bible’s books of 1st and 2nd Samuel. We met David is 1st Samuel chapter 16 when God sent the prophet Samuel on a secret mission to anoint David to be the next king of all Israel. Since that time at least ten years have gone by. Maybe more. We don’t know for sure. But David is still not king of all Israel. After an astounding amount of drama in his life, David is finally king of his own tribe, Judah. Will he ever become king of all Israel? Maybe you know the feeling of waiting. What are you waiting for? What we see in the life of David is not perfection, but we do see a man who knows how to wait on God.

Last week we learned that Israel was in the middle of a civil war.  On one side is the tribe of Judah, with David as their king.  On the other side are eleven tribes, with Ish-Bosheth as their king.  One versus eleven.  That might not seem like a fair fight, but the one tribe, David’s tribe of Judah is winning!  To make matters worse for the eleven tribes, their king Ish-Bosheth angered his top commander Abner.  Ish-Bosheth’s was not just a little offense.  Abner is so angry he says to Ish-Bosheth, “I am going to convince the eleven tribes to defect and go over to David.” 

Abner was angry, and he meant what he said.  He first met with the elders of the eleven tribes, proposed his plan, and they agreed.  Then he brought the plan to David, and David agreed.  Abner and David held a feast to celebrate.  But just as it seemed that the deal was locked in, it fell apart.  The commander of David’s army, Joab, killed Abner.  

Why would Joab do this when they were about to sign a treaty?  Abner in an earlier battle had killed Joab’s brother, so Joab was now getting revenge.  Suddenly the peace process was in jeopardy.  David quickly took extreme action, fasting and publicly condemning Joab. David was desperate to avoid an explosion of chaos between the two sides.  2nd Samuel chapter four begins right at that moment, when it seems that David has calmed things down. 

We’re going to start our study of 2nd Samuel chapter four with verse 4.  We’ll get back to verse 1 soon. But there is a reason I think it appropriate for us to start at verse 4. Some Bibles put this verse in parentheses, because it interrupts the flow of the story which begins at verse 4.  But verse 4 has important info that we will need.  In verse 4 we read about Israel’s former king, Saul, and his son Jonathan.  They were both killed in battle (see 1st Samuel 31).  Jonathan was also David’s best friend.  Now we learn that Jonathan had a son named Mephibosheth.  Mephibosheth was five years old when his dad, Jonathan, was killed.  Why is the author telling us this?  It seems to come out of the blue. 

The author of the story likely wants us to see that there are no other heirs to the throne of the eleven tribes of Israel.  It is either the current king Ish-Bosheth or his nephew Mephibosheth.  But Mephibosheth is still young.  Yes, time has passed, and he is not five anymore. Still, Mephibosheth is now probably only between ten to twelve years old here in 2nd Samuel chapter 4.  Simply put, Mephibosheth is not ready to rule as king.  Also, he is permanently disabled.  In that culture, these two factors would preclude him from taking the throne.  In our culture, a person with a lame leg would still be able to serve in all levels of politics.  Our US president during World War 2, Franklin Roosevelt, used a wheelchair, for example.  But in that culture, kings were expected to join their military in battle from time to time.  Mephibosheth cannot serve, therefore, much in the same way that a person who needs corrective lenses cannot be a fighter pilot in our day.

So keep that parenthetical description in mind: Mephibosheth, the only other heir to the throne of Israel, cannot serve as king.  Now back to verses 1-8.  Let me summarize them.  In 2nd Samuel chapter 4, verses one through eight, we read about an assassination attempt against King Ish-Bosheth, the king of the eleven tribes of Israel who are fighting David’s tribe.  The assassins, Rekab and Baanah, stab Ish-Bosheth in this sleep and they kill him. Then they cut off his head and bring his head to David.  They are so proud of themselves.  They declare that through their actions, God has avenged David.  Really?  This was God at work?  Should they be so confident?  How will David view this situation?

We find out in the next post!

Photo by Justin Natividad on Unsplash