Where is your Ark - SERRMON - Serving God with Horsepower !!!

WHERE IS YOUR ARK?

Nov 14, 2010 – Christian Development Center – Mark Miller

Pastor Stuart often makes the statement that preachers preach to themselves.

I’m going to go ahead and apologize now, for today I am preaching to me.

God has been convicting me of this for about the past 6 months or so.......so after much procrastination, I heeded my own advice and went to the word of God.

Normally I teach quite a bit from the New Testament – but as my walk with the Lord continues to mature, as I continue to walk in the faith – I gain a deeper appreciation for the Old Testament. The way it ties in with the New, 66 books, written by 23 different authors over span of hundreds of years – yet it all ties in so complete – individual stories interwoven and stitched together into 1 complete document that only could have been written by God. Today we are going to spend most of our time in the Old Testament.

The question I have for MYSELF this morning is “Where is your Ark?”

I’m not talking about the boat to that is coming to save us from this sea of uncertainty that we live in.

I am talking about the Ark of the Covenant – the Ark of the Lord almighty. I am talking about the Mercy Seat of God where God himself would appear before the high priest. Where is the box that Lord comes to you?

We are going to read from 2 Samuel Chapter 6 this morning.

As you turn your Bibles this morning – let me set of the stage.

King David had undergone all kinds of struggles in his climb to the throne. He had a pretty rough ride of it. As a Shephard boy he fought lions, tigers, and bears.....oh my....

He fought Goliath and defeated him, he began to gain power.

He was chased down and hunted by King Saul, He had to live in caves, it seemed as if he just couldn’t catch a break.

He lost his best friend at a young age. It was one thing after another.

Finally he emerges victoriously from all these persecutions, becomes King, and takes his rightly place on the throne in Jerusalem.

David made his way to the top glorifying and trusting in God every step of the way, so as he is settling in to his new position, his new house......he wants to bring God – the Ark of the Covenent, the Ark of the Lord almighty, back to Jerusalem.

That is where we pick up the story. 2^nd Samuel Chapter 6, verses 1 thru 5.

2 Samuel 6 (NIV Version) – verses 1 thru 5

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

¹ David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand. ² He and all his men went to Baalah^[a] in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name,^[b] the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark. ³ They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart ⁴ with the ark of God on it,^[c] and Ahio was walking in front of it. ⁵ David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with castanets,^[d] harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.

If you are like me, when someone reads, it seems I can never follow it completely.

Either my mind drifts off, or I start reading ahead….something….

but I never fully comprehend what the person is reading......

if you will allow me to break down the story – I could see it going something like this:

Switch to Acting Mode –

David – pacing back and forth.

Man – it has been a tough ride so far……but I finally made it. King of the Castle.

Thank you Jesus....oh wait, Jesus isn’t there yet.....thank you God.

Raising hands and bouncing around. I Made it, made it, made it.....finally I have reached the pinnacle, the top – the King of the Jews.......

I seem to recall something about the Ark of the Covenant. God’s Mercy seat. I wonder where that old thing is. After all it has been out of sight for more than 100 years. King Saul, my predecessor never once consulted it. I want to bring it back here to Jerusalem where it belongs.

He calls in one of his trusted buddies –

Ya-Ya – how about go out and find that Ark of the Covenant for me. You know God’s mercy seat.....shiny gold box with a couple cherubim on top.

While Ya-Ya is out looking around, King David’s mind is going crazy. This is going to be awesome. I’m not just going to bring it back, I am going to bring it back in style.

Ya-Ya comes back and says, yea, we found that old box over at

Abinadab’s house out back in the shed. It’s been down there for the last 20 years.

David says – cool – Instead of just bringing it back – lets plan this huge party and parade the Ark right through the middle of town – lets bring God back to me, right here in Jerusalem in style.

You can feel his excitement. You can visualize him planning this huge event.

Next thing he does is grab his most trusted men.

Don, Glen, Everett, Phillip – go gather up all the able bodied young men of Israel – tell them to be at this party. We are bringing the Ark back. The mercy seat of God. They won’t want to miss this. Tell them the King sent you and I’m not taking no for an answer. I want them all there. All 30,000 of them.

Richard, Arthur, Steve, Jim – I want you guys to go out and build a brand new ox cart – make it a first class cart – after all it is going to be parading the Ark of our Lord right down the middle of mainstreet in front of 30,000 Israelites. I want this thing to be awesome....don’t make no junk.

He starts thinking.....What else do we need......that’s right, we need some music.

David, Robert, Marty – get the band ready to play in the parade. I want it first class, nothing but the best. We will be celebrating with all our might. Bring all the instruments. castanets,^[d] harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals Be ready to play !!!

Ok – everybody got it. Understand the instructions? I am going to throw the best parade ever. This is going to be awesome. I can not wait to get the Ark back here in MY kingdom.

So the big day comes. The new cart shows up at Abinadabs house, his 2 sons Ahio and Uzzah load it into the cart, and out into the street they go.

Visualize this….

30,000 people witnessing the event, the ark of the Covenant sitting high up on top of the ox cart, the sun beaming off of the golden mercy seat. The wings of the Cherubim dispersing the light.

It’s happening....the Ark is being brought back to Jerusalem, King David and ALL of Israel celebrating with all their might before the Lord. All the musicians playing the instruments – castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums, cymbals.

They are doing this thing right…….then what happens….they hit a bump in the road, the oxen stumble and Uzzah sees the Ark start to shift.

What does he do? He does exactly what we all would do.

He reaches out to steady the ark, to keep it from falling off the cart onto ground right there in front of all those people.

How embarrassing would that be to drop that big shiny gold box right there in front of 30,000 people......It would be almost an instinctive reaction. – just reach out and grab hold of it.

Then what happened…..

Verse 7

⁶ When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. ⁷ The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God.

Can you imagine that? 30,000 people – celebrating with all their might, the finest cart, the sun beaming off the shiny gold Ark of the Covenent, the best music, the best dancers, all headed into Jerusalem and then – BAMMM – Uzzah’s dead.

Talking about a party pooper – you are doing everything you believe is right.....then BAMM – tragedy hits.

Has anything like that ever happened to you?

You are doing the right things
You are putting on a great show
You come to church each week
You pray when you can
You kick a few bucks into the bucket when it comes around
You have the I love Jesus bumper sticker
You let your neighbors know you go to Christian Development Center

....and then BAMMM – bump in the road and tragedy strikes – oxen stumble.

What did David do? He did the same thing that I do....... let’s read verses 8-9.

2 Samuel 6 vs 8-9

⁸ Then David was angry because the LORD’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.^[e]

⁹ David was afraid of the LORD that day and said, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?”

First he become angry.
Then he became afraid because you just don’t understand.
Then he took a step back to assess the situation

It is important to note that David did not run away from God......

He just put David’s plan on hold for a moment.....

He tried to get his life back in alignment with God’s plan.

Forget David’s plan.....forget Mark Miller’s plan......follow God’s plan.

He said to himself – we need to put this Ark somewhere safe and take a look and see what happened. After all, I was only trying to bring God back into Jerusalem with style with pomp, with circumstance.

They put the Ark in Obed-Edoms house and David took 3 months and went back to read the directions..........to see where he took the wrong turn.

In other words ladies – in thousands of years, men haven’t changed – they still won’t read the directions until they just can’t figure it out on their own.

You ever notice that – especially with young kids at Christmas time –
Santa only delivers the box, it’s the Dad that has to stay up on Christmas Eve assembling everything. –
Rushing to try and put the stuff together – wife sees you with a puzzled look on your face – what does she do – she hands you the directions......my first reply is – I’m an engineer – I don’t need any directions....
Of course after I‘m 75% done, I realize I missed a part, so I have to practically take the thing all the way back apart and go back to the beginning
I have to start all over, but this time I read the directions.

That is exactly what David did. He went back to the beginning and read the directions.

I’m taking a few Liberty’s here – but this is how I believe it went........

First thing David did was go back to the Word of God – he went back to the very beginning – focusing on the Word of God.

SIDENOTE: Folks we need to learn from this......read the instructions FIRST......read God’s word first......then the problems, the bumps in the road, the time when your oxen stumbles......you are prepared....you have on the whole armor of God.....you are ready.......go to the word of God FIRST.

What is the Ark? Where did it come from? What was it’s purpose? What does it represent?

Let’s go to Exodus Chapter 25 verse 10.

The Ark – Exodus Chapter 25

¹⁰ “Have them make an ark^[b] of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.^[c]¹¹ Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it. ¹² Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other. ¹³ Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. ¹⁴ Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it. ¹⁵ The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. ¹⁶ Then put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law, which I will give you.

Why do you think the Bible is so explicit in it’s description of the Ark? Symbolism is important. What does the description tell us?

The size of the box is 2’ x 2’ x almost 4’ in length.

First – tells us that God isn’t a female. If He was, that suitcase would have needed to be a whole lot bigger to fit all the “stuff”.

Note: If time permits tell story of Electra Glide trip to Keys for a week.

Acacia wood – was a hard durable wood known for it’s toughness

- resistant to weather and insects

- one that would not decay or become corrupted by the elements of the world.

One could say it had an incorruptible nature.

It was then covered in Gold - in the Old Testament the gold represented diety or a divine nature.

So what do we have:

- An item made from an incorruptible natural material, grown right here on earth

- Surrounded by a divine nature

- Place where God himself would appear before them – a direct communication path to God

Does any of this sound familiar? (anybody with me this morning?)

Sounds like forshadowing of the New Testament Ark – Jesus Christ. Incorruptible, born right here of the virgin Mary. Surrounded, enveloped by diety.....and our one true path to God.

Next he learned how it was supposed to be moved around

Verses 14, 15 tells us that It had 4 rings which 2 long gold dipped poles went through.

¹⁴ Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it. ¹⁵ The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed.

I am sure at that exact moment – a little light bulb went off and David said to himself.....hmmmm,..... messed that one up.

He learned how Gods chosen people used the Ark -

He learned they carried it with them as they crossed the Jordan river – entering the promised land – as soon as the priest carrying the Ark touched the water, the water stopped flowing, they were able to cross the river. When the priests stepped out of the water, the water resumed flowing.

HE LEARNED THE POWER OF THE ARK

He learned that the Isrealites carried it with them in the battle of Jericho – carrying it around the city up on their shoulders once a day for 7 days – with the walls falling on the 7^th day with only a shout.

HE LEARNED HOW TO CARRY THE ARK

He learned that his ancestors carried it into battle with them, the ark leading the way. They used it to rally the troops. They let God deliver them victoriously from their battles.

HE LEARNED THAT THE ARK SHOULD BE OUT FRONT

He learned that as God continually delivered them victoriously from the battles – things became much easier and easier for them

They started taking Him for granted.
They started to become complacent
Values slowly started to erode aways.
They started to turn their backs on the law and on their relationship with God.
They started to get comfortable with their relationship
They constantly grumbled about things they didn’t have, instead of seeing the blessing provided.

Essentially they started to turn their backs on God.......even thought they still carried the box out front.......their hearts were no longer in it.....they were comfortable.

Sounds a lot like modern day America.

What did God do? God in his frustration – or better yet – his anger, allowed the Phillistines to defeat the Isrealites and keep the Ark.

From that - David learned that the ark demanded the utmost of respect and reverence at ALL times.

Now if you are like me, reverence is not a word used often in your vocabulary – but when I hear it it strikes a certain feeling......I looked it up in the dictionary.

REVERENCE - A feeling of profound awe and respect and often love; veneration. See Synonyms at honor.

2. An act showing respect, especially a bow or curtsy.

KING DAVID LEARNED THAT YOU CAN NOT TAKE GOD FOR GRANTED. HE MUST COME FIRST AND ALWAYS BE TREATED WITH THE PROFOUND AWE, RESPECT AND LOVE HE DESERVES.

Phillistines took the Ark as a trophy back to a town called Ashdod and put it up in their trophy case – right next to the statue of their own God – Dagon – half man half fish. Anybody remember what happened?

Next day the statue was toppled over, as if bowing down before the Ark.
The Phillistines didn’t pay it much attention and just set their Dagon back upright.
Next day the Dagon statue had fallen again – this time both hands and the head had been cut off.
The Phillistines then started to panic and took it from town to town
Everywhere the Ark went, God plagued them with diseases and rats.....
So what did they do........they gave it back.

HE LEARNED THAT THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE GOD

Phillistines load the ark on to an oxcart (along with 5 golden tumors and 5 golden plated rodents as a peace offering to the God of Israel. (1 Samuel 6:5) and took it back to a city named Beth Shemesh. In 1 Samuel 6:15,

The Levites happily accepted the Ark and offered burnt offerings and sacrifices.

They were so excited to finally have the Ark back in the land of the Israelites, that they decided to open the box......70 people died instantly.

The people were scared and moved the Ark to a city about 10 miles outside of Jerusalem. and that is where it stayed for more than 100 years.....until David decided to bring it back to Jerusalem.

HE LEARNED THAT YOUR ENTHUSIASM FOR DOING SOMETHING, EVEN IF IT IS FOR GOD, DOES NOT OUTWEIGHT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF FOLLOWING GODS WORD

So David went back and read the directions......He learned about the Ark

I believe David went even further into examination of what went wrong.......I believe he then examined himself.

He asked himself.....Where did he go wrong?

What was his responsibility? What was his accountability for the disaster? After all he is the King.......the leader of the nation.......

2 words you rarely hear today – responsibility and accountability.

#1 – He saw the he did not follow the Word of God and asked himself why didn’t I?.

Maybe he didn’t know the Word of God.....maybe he should have read the directions first?

Folks, it’s like when you get a speeding ticket when you didn’t see the sign entering the school zone. You are driving, you are responsible and accountable for your own actions. Just because you didn’t see the sign, doesn’t get you out of the ticket. It’s up to you to know the Word of God.

As an American – with complete freedom of religion, we need to know God’s word. We have Bibles, CD’s, DVD’s, cable TV with 24 hour religious programming, we have thousands of churches, plenty of resources……we need to know God’s word.

There is no excuse !!!

I don’t think everyone needs to be a Bible scholar –

but I do think everyone needs to spend time in the Word and let God speak to us – pray for discernment. For guidance and direction to let us know when we are going astray.

The Bible is real clear that in the last days – there will be many deceivers – if we do not know God’s word, we could easily be led astray and may not end up where we think we will. I personally believe we are in the last days and it is our responsibility to know God’s word.

We need to know God’s word...it is our individual responsibility, and we will be held accountable. In the end, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess.....

Personally, I believe David did know God’s word.......maybe not 100% of it – but he knew enough. He did know about the Ark and what it represented.

If nothing else, part of his team had to know. After all Uzzah, his brother Ahio, and his father Abinadab were all priests – descendents of Aaron. They had stored the thing at their house for 20 years.

It’s quite possible he suffered from “Group think”

Anybody know what Group think is?

Groupthink is a type of thought exhibited by group members who try to minimize conflict and reach consensus without critically testing, analyzing, and evaluating ideas. During groupthink, members of the group avoid promoting viewpoints outside the comfort zone of consensus thinking. A variety of motives for this may exist such as a desire to avoid being seen as foolish, or a desire to avoid embarrassing or angering other members of the group. Groupthink may cause groups to make hasty, irrational decisions, where individual doubts are set aside, for fear of upsetting the group’s balance. The term is frequently used pejoratively, with hindsight.

It is when as an individual you know what to do, but when put into a group, you are manipulated or fall to the pressure of the group.

It is when you are afraid to speak up for the truth because you are afraid of upsetting society...personally I believe it is a key reason why Christians have been silent in America for so long.

Remember first Space Shuttle disaster back in late 80’s - Challenger?

The root cause wasn’t a failed o-ring, it was the process of group-think.

It was real cold outside. They were thinking of delaying the launch.
The engineer in charge was telling them all that it was too cold for the o-ring seals and disaster could strike if the o-rings failed.
After continuing to meet, and meet, and meet.....discuss, and discuss, and discuss, they all talked themselves out of the right decision
They succumbed to the pressure of deadlines, schedules, media pressure
The whole world was watching......Christa McAuliffe – first teacher on board.
They didn’t want another delay
No one with authority wanted to be responsible for delaying the shuttle again,

.......so they changed their view and justified it by making a group decision. Obviously it was a bad one, people died.

I bet David succumbed to the same issue....and guess what, a man died.

You can see David and all the boys in the room, planning this big event – all the key players - and then they get down to the logistics of it all.

Worker says – man, I bet that Ark is heavy. Even with four of us carrying it. If we have to carry it the whole 10 miles (following God’s word) It might cause me some discomfort, some pain, take me outside of my comfort zone. I might even pull a muscle or become injured. Plus, I will be too tired to enjoy the party after the parade. That is a lot of work. There has to be an easier way.

Engineer says – I bet we could design and build a new cart and pull it with some oxen to carry that thing in to town. It is 10 miles but it’s all right on the main road. Should work out great. Not a problem. Trust me (famous last words)

Accountant says – you know King, it would be a lot easier and more efficient, only taking 2 guys to walk the cart instead of 4 guys to carry it. It could go a little faster, we wouldn’t’ have to stop and rest, we could just ease right into town. Save us a lot of time and money and that would free up two more people to praise God.

The sales and marketing guys says – we could build a really awesome cart, set that big Gold Ark up on there – sitting up nice and high for the 30,000 people to see it....let the sun beam off of the Cherubim. Think how awesome that would be.

You can see King David scratching his chin – you guys are making some sense......that would be pretty awesome. It would add a lot to the parade. I’m just not quite sure......the Word of God is pretty clear on what we are to do......

Then the Attorney – King Davids Chief Counsel – old gray haired voice of experience sounds off from the back of the room. You know King David......

The Phillistines, they moved this thing for 7 months on the back of their ox cart, hundreds of miles – that’s how they brought it to us. Nothing ever happened to them.
All we want to do is haul it a short 10 miles up the road.
Levites opened the box and probably let God out of the box.
After all, It’s been out of sight for 100 years nothing happened – it will be OK

David says – yes, you are right.......let’s do it !!!

It will be easier, it will be quicker, it will be more efficient....

but more importantly it will be more beautiful, it will have a bigger impact. It is going to be awesome......

I bet you God is gonna be so happy with us, so proud of us and all that we are doing. This is going to be the best parade ever....... (famous last words)

...right then and there, the decision was made to follow the way of the world, rather than the way of the Lord........King David allowed his knowledge of right and wrong to be influenced by others.

Do you ever find yourself negotiating with God’s word or God himself?

Trying to find a shortcut?

Tried to reason with him?

You ever tried to get God to come to you on your terms? I have......

...and it sounds something like this.......

Lord, Just let me hit the lotto, forget 10%, I will give you 20%.

Lord, I will quit complaining about my job if you could just give me a better one.

Lord, I promise to go to church if you would just get that person out of my seat.

Lord, If you would just change this person, I sure would try to help them a bit more.

Lord, if you would just get this guy off the platform and bring Pastor Stuart back.......

Let me tell you folks – There is no shortcut with God. There is no bargaining. There is no alternative plan.

There is no shortcut, there is no Budda, no Mohammed, no golden calf, no sacrifice we can make, no amount of being good or doing the right thing – we are not saved by our own works. It is the grace of God.

God comes to us on His terms......not on ours. Good news is that through the sacrifice of His son...he has given us a new Ark – a new way to approach the throne.....through our faith in Jesus Christ.

Hallelujah !!!

What else did David see when he looked at himself?

He saw his heart wasn’t in the right place.

His mind was in the right place....after all he wanted to bring the Ark back to Jerusalem......but his heart wasn’t.

Let’s think about it – let’s go back to verse 9 of 2 Samuel chapter 6

2 Samuel 6 verse 9

⁹ David was afraid of the LORD that day and said, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?”

He didn’t say – come to Jerusalem, He didn’t say bring it back to the Kingdom or come to the Jews. He said, bring it back to ME. Could his pride have gotten in the way?

Was he just putting on a big show for God........or was he putting on a big show because he was the new King and he wanted his people to see this thing he was doing.

Was it a show for his pride, or a show for God?

It can be a tough thing to do.....to keep the heart in the right place.....

Even the high priests knew it. Legend has it that they had a rope tied around their ankle when they went into the Holiest of Holies to consult with God at the Ark – it was just too risky and they needed a backup plan in case they got it wrong.

It is especially hard to keep you heart in the right place when things are going great.......right after God delivers you from a problem, or gives you a promotion, brings that special person into your life, delivers you from a medical condition.......

It is easy to say to God...thanks man, appreciate it – you got me right where I needed to be - I can take it from here.....

our pride in our works, in our ability takes over – God goes back in to the box out back in the shed until we need Him again.

Is that what King David did -....I have now reached the summit.....the peak.......– I can take it from here?

Was he putting on the show for the glory of the Lord, or was he putting on the show to glorify himself as King in front of the whole nation?

Is that what I am doing....... After all – good job, great family, racecar driver, preacher of word of God able to touch people’s lives in the name of the Lord.....am I at the top......thanks God – I’ll take it from here.......

How about ME......is my heart right? .......as I said at the opening – I am preaching to me this morning......God has been convicting me for months........

Do we dress up, put on a good show, come to church, kick in a couple bucks in the collection plate, but have a hardness of heart. Am I telling God – thanks, I’ll take it from here.

I have the show but do I fall short on my heart....Is it set on serving the Lord, or is it for appearance. Do I love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength?

I love that song they sang this morning.

More love.......more power.......more of you on my heart.

I will worship you with all my heart, my mind, and my strength

I will praise you with all my heart,my mind, and my strength

Do I come here on Sunday mornings to do that? Do I do that during the week?

Do I come to this house of worship each Sunday because it is what I am supposed to do

Because of how I look, Because people will see me

....or do I come to praise, worship, love, and serve with all my heart, mind, strength.

God called me on it......Ouch...that hurts a little.....but like I said I am preaching to me this morning....that is a tough one...and an easy one for me to beat myself up on.

David learned that he had to have his heart right with the Lord

I believe one last big thing he saw was comfort – complacency.

Lets face it, the Ark had been out of sight for 100 years.
King Saul never even called upon it.
Uzzah, Ahio, their father Abinadab – they were priests – descendents of Aaron – entrusted to keep this thing at their house. They should have known what it was and what it meant......but let’s face facts.
It spent 20 years in their house. Probably out back in the shed.
It wasn’t in a temple – there is nothing in the Word that it was used regularly during this time.
Uzzah and his brother probably grew up playing around it as kids.
They just took it for granted.

They became comfortable in it’s presence.

They completely forgot the importance, the significance, the power of the Ark.

That Ark started to fall, and Uzzah just reached out to grab it.....just like any other box and he paid the ultimate price.

He forgot what it represented. He forgot Gods word.

Where is your Ark?

Is it placed proudly out front – leading your path through life?

Is it tucked back in the shed, covered with dust.

Do you pull it out only when you need it?

Maybe you have been in church for a long time – you become comfortable.

Comfortable with the surroundings

Comfortable with the pastor

Comfortable with your friends

Ever so slowly – without performing a self check on ourselves – we can find ourselves start to slip....to become comfortable in the “presence” of the Ark.

God is our creator......he created all the heavens and the earth – the entire universe.....and all he did was speak.

He created us and has blessed us.

He sacrificed His one and only son on the cross for us....to give us a chance of being with Him for all eternity.

God is God and may we never forget that – may we never become too comfortable and lose the reverence....the love, the honor, the respect that he deserves.

I tell you who wasn’t complacent with the Ark – Obed –Edom

He was the guy who stored it for 3 months while David went to figure everything out.

In verse 11 and 12

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. ¹² Now King David was told, “The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.”

Obed showed that ark the utmost in reverence......and God blessed him, his entire household, and everything he had.

I bet he didn’t have it out back in the shed.....I bet you he placed it right in the middle of his living room – up on a pedestal.......

You know what else......Obed was a gentile......this was yet another forseshadowing in the Old testament that the gentiles could receive blessings of God by receiving the Ark.

…………..so in closing ..........how did David recover from this mess?

Let’s go back to 2 Samuel Chapter 6, vs 12-15.

¹² Now King David was told, “The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. ¹³ When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. ¹⁴ Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the LORD with all his might, ¹⁵ while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

What corrections did David make?

1 – He didn’t give up. He went back to finish the assignment – complete the mission – to return the Ark to Jerusalem. Folks never give up on God.

2 - Don, Glen, Everett, Philip – go out and gather up all of Israel. Let them know the party is back on – but this time it is for the glory of God.

3- Richard, Arthur, Steve, Jim – make sure you eat your wheaties, take some vitamins, drink some Gatorade, get ready. Push that cart off to the side and grab an end of the Acacia Rod. We are going to carry God into Jerusalem on our shoulders.

4 – David, Robert, Marty – get out the trumpets, prepare to worship with shouts and the sound of trumpets

You know what happened next ?

5 – King David – removed his clothing, stripped down to his underwear.

He removed his royal robes, his incredible dress – his jewelry – everything from himself down to his under wear.

He stripped himself of his pride – setting aside his vanity – so that during this progression into Jerusalem, the Lord would receive all of the glory, the honor, the praise.

King David – in his underwear – set out before the 30,000 – before his people - dancing before the Lord with all his might…focusing only on God, following the directions of God….offering sacrifices along the way.

David put the Ark out front
David cleared away his pride
David followed the Word of God to the letter, not taking any shortcuts
David purified His heart
David understood his relationship and his position with God and did not take it lightly

Where is your Ark today?

Is it held out front leading you into the battle of everyday life?

Where is your heart today?

Does it uphold the complete reverence of God or has it succumbed to the easy life

Has it become comfortable in the presence of God

Taking Him for granted.....

Have you told God, thanks for getting me this far, I can take it from here.....

Do you serve Him, or are you waiting for Him to serve you?

What should we take home from this today?

1) Learn all we can about the Ark – the New Testament Ark – Jesus Christ

2) Learn about Gods Word – pray for discernment and guidance

3) Look inside ourselves – self check of our motives and actions

4) Pray for forgiveness, a pure heart, and an opportunity to serve.

5) Don’t give up – don’t get discouraged - don’t run away –

Jesus is here, ready to accept you EXACTLY where you are today.

King David didn’t take the Ark back to Abinadabs house and start the parade all over.....No he picked right back up where he left off.....at Obed’s house.

Jesus is here, arms wide open- ready to accept you as you are, where you are.

Run to Him, full speed ahead – let his grasp, hold you, comfort you, and protect you.

Let’s go to the Lord in prayer.

Dear Heavenly Father,

We are blessed to be Americans, living in the greatest country in the world. We have the freedom to worship you, to praise you, to seek you, to be with you in any way that we see fit.

We are only held back by ourselves, by our pride, by what others may think.......Help us today to remove that pride – to not only come to this sanctuary each Sunday to worship you with all of ouor heart, mind, and strength.....but to live that way each and every day of our lives.

Lord I have to admit before the congregation today that I have become comfortable. I have taken you for granted. I have placed the Ark in my shed.....telling you thank you – I can take it from here.......

I want to thank you with utmost in sincerity for all of the blessings in my life that allow me to be comfortable.....but now Lord, I want to bring you out of the shed and put you out in front – leading my way, lighting my path. Trusting in you.

Lord I want you to be on my shoulders......not in the back of my cart as I prepare to leave here today and go out into the world.

Lord I do not want to become irreverent in your presence. I do not want to reach out and grab hold of the Ark. I want to love you, I want to praise you, I want to worship you with all of my heart, all of my soul, all of my strength.

I need you in my life when times are bad – to be there to comfort me, hold me, to carry me through those difficult times – but Lord, - I really need you when times are good. I don’t want to take it from here......I want you to lead the way....all the time.

Thank you for convicting me and reminding me today of who you are. You are my king, my creator, my savior, and I want to thank you for your love, your mercy, and your grace.

Leave here today – not discouraged – but empowered.

Jesus Christ is your advocate – your direct line to God. Run to him – full speed ahead.

God bless !!!