Sunday
Evening Bible Study
October 13, 2002
Introduction
We are now in the early stages of David’s reign over the nation of Israel.
1Chronicles 16
:1-3 The Ark
arrives
:2 David had made an end of offering the burnt
offerings and the peace offerings
There were three basic types of sacrifices in the Old Testament:
Sin Offerings
Having an animal pay for your sin by dying in your place. The animal’s blood was then sprinkled on the
altar.
Burnt Offerings
This was a way of dedicating yourself to the Lord.
The entire animal was burnt on the altar, nothing left over and nothing
eaten by the worshipper.
The picture was of the worshipper being totally consumed in the flames,
totally being given to the Lord.
We see a similar picture in:
(Rom 12:1-2 KJV) I beseech
you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
{2} And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing
of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect,
will of God.
Peace Offerings
This was similar to having dinner with God.
After your sins were taken care of and you were dedicated to the Lord,
then you sat down and had a dinner with God.
Part of the animal was given to God on the altar, part was eaten by the
priest, part was given to you and your family for a three day feast.
:3 he dealt to every one of Israel
This food that David distributes is probably a result of the peace
offerings, but there's significance I think in the fact that David distributes
to everyone. David made the offerings, he
gets to keep the food, but instead he shares it.
David’s “blessing” was more than just words. His “faith in God” affected those around him
as well as himself.
Sometimes we hear people say that what you believe is a personal thing. That the only one it affects is you. Sadly, this is often true. But it's not supposed to be that way.
Lesson
Bless God, then bless others
Notice the order here:
First, David worships God
Second, David gives to the people
The horizontal falls in place if the vertical is healthy.
Notes:
1. If you have problems getting
along with people, go to God and let Him clean you up first.
2. If you want to be a blessing to
people, you must first worship God.
3. If you've really been worshipping
God, you will also be blessing people.
:4-6 Worshippers appointed
:4 he appointed certain of the Levites
appointed – nathan – to give, put, set; (Qal) to give, bestow, grant, permit, ascribe, employ,
devote, consecrate, dedicate, pay wages, sell, exchange, lend, commit; to put,
set, put on, put upon, set, appoint, assign, designate
This is a word that seems to speak to a person’s will, their “choice”.
Lesson
Worship is a choice
It’s a choice you make.
You choose whether or not to “appoint” yourself to worship or not.
This wasn’t an issue of whether or not they “felt like it”.
It was their job, their responsibility.
And these guys had to do it every day.
(1 Chr 16:37 KJV) So he left there
before the ark of the covenant of the LORD Asaph and
his brethren, to minister before the ark continually, as every day's work
required:
:4 to minister before the ark of the LORD
minister – sharat - to minister, serve. This
is the ministry of worship on the part of those who stand in a special
relationship to God, such as the priests.
David is appointing some of these men to do worship before the ark.
Their worship will be made up of music – there were singers, stringed instruments
(psalteries and harps), cymbals, and trumpets. (vs.
5-6)
The Ark was the place where
God would meet with man.
(Exo 25:22 KJV) And there I will meet
with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between
the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the
testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the
children of Israel.
The Ark was to be a model of
God’s throne in heaven.
In a sense, these Levites were going to be “performing” before the Throne. God’s throne.
Lesson
Worship is singing to God
If you’re a performer, there are going to be times when some performances
are a little more important than others.
I’ve been in choirs since I was a kid. I’ve been in school choir concerts.
I’ve been in choirs that toured and performed many places. Some performances
are a little more awe-inspiring than others. I remember in high school going to
nursing homes, church luncheons, and retirement parks. But those didn’t seem
near as important as when we competed in the big high school choir competitions
each year at Chapman College.
In college, our choir was invited to join a huge mass choir and sing at the
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and sing with a huge orchestra. It was pretty cool to
be even a little speck on that huge stage, singing to an audience of people
dressed in tuxes and gowns.
But when it comes to worship, sometimes I have this feeling that we don’t
really understand who is in the audience.
Illustration
The Best for the Queen
One day while walking with some children and palace attendants, Queen Mary
was caught in a sudden thunderstorm. The queen quickly took shelter on the
porch of a home. To avoid attracting a crowd, she disguised her appearance by
putting on a hat that partly covered her face and a plain coat she borrowed
from one of her attendants. The queen then knocked at the door and asked to
borrow an umbrella. “I’ll send it back tomorrow,” she told the unfriendly woman
who answered the door. Despite the assurances about returning her umbrella, the
woman did not want to lend her best umbrella. So she retrieved an old umbrella
stored in the attic. One rib was broken, and there were several holes in it.
With a haughty attitude and scornful words, she handed it to the unrecognized
monarch. The next day the woman had another visitor—a man with gold braid on
his uniform and an envelope in his hand. “The queen sent me with this letter,”
he said, “and also asked me to thank you personally for the loan of your
umbrella.” The woman was stunned, and then brokenhearted. She burst into tears.
“This is just horrible—I missed an opportunity to give my queen my very best!”
she sobbed. “And my attitude was shameful,” she added.
The thing about our church worship time that may be misleading is the fact
that there are microphones and lights up front. It may lead you to think that
the people up front are performing for you. The people up front may even be
confused from time to time about this.
But the truth is, you aren’t the audience. You are part of the performance. You are part
of the presentation.
There is only One in the audience. We are all to
be performing to Him. We present our songs, our hearts, our
lives to Him.
:4 to record
The three verbs that follow describe their worship, they tell how they
worshipped (record, thank, praise).
to record – zakar – (Hiphil) to cause to remember, remind;
to mention; to record; to make a memorial.
In the Psalm that David gives the Levites to sing (vs.8-36), David uses the
word twice: It is used in 1Chron.16:12 “Remember His marvelous works”, and in
1Chron.16:15 “Be ye mindful always of His covenant”.
The form of the verb (Hiphil) is causal, so the
emphasis should be on “causing to remember”.
The idea here is that the Levites were to minister in a way to cause the
people to remember about the Lord and His work.
Lesson
Worship requires remembering
What we do in worship should provoke our minds to recall how good God is
and what He has done for us.
See how the word zakar
is used in:
(Psa 63:1-6 KJV) A Psalm of David, when he
was in the wilderness of Judah.
David wrote this Psalm when he was out in the middle of
nowhere. He didn’t write this in the palace in Jerusalem.
O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth
for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
David is in a time of need. This is not the kind of time
that we think of praising God in.
{2} To see thy power and thy glory, so as
I have seen thee in the sanctuary.
David remembers the glimpses of God that he’s caught at
the Tabernacle.
{3} Because thy lovingkindness
is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. {4} Thus
will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name.
“Praise” and “blessing” are words describing worship.
{5} My soul shall be satisfied as with
marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: {6} When I remember thee upon my bed, and
meditate on thee in the night watches.
This all comes when David “remembers” the Lord while on
his bed. He chooses to think about the Lord, even when he’s not in a great
place.
I think it’s valuable to take time to remember those “glimpses” you’ve
gotten of the Lord. It’s good to remember the things that God has done in your
life.
But frankly, sometimes we get so depressed that we couldn’t remember a nice
thing if we tried.
I think there is one thing we should always remember – God’s love for us
that was demonstrated by Jesus on the cross.
(1 John 3:16 KJV) Hereby perceive we the love of God,
because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for
the brethren.
We’ll be sharing in communion today – and that’s what
communion is all about – remembering what Jesus has done for us.
:4 and to thank
to thank – yadah – to throw, shoot, cast; (Hiphil) to
give thanks, laud, praise; to confess, confess (the name of God)
Here, it is used to express one’s public proclamation or declaration
(confession) of God’s attributes and His works. This concept is at the heart of
the meaning of praise. Praise is a confession or declaration of who God is and
what He does.
David’s psalm (vs.8-36) is a psalm of “thanks”. Our Hebrew word is used in
vs.7&8. David confesses God’s attributes in verses as vs.25-27 (great,
creator, splendor, majesty, joy, glory, strength). God’s works are confessed in
verses as vs.15-22 (His covenant and protection of Israel).
Lesson
Worship gives thanks for God’s
greatness
Our worship should contain expressions of acknowledgment of God’s great
character and works.
There is a progression here: From causing our minds to remember who God is
and what He’s done, to outwardly expressing these things.
This is how David writes the Psalm (vs. 7-36) as well. David uses this same
Hebrew word (yadah)
in the Psalm. The Psalm starts with:
(1 Chr
16:7-8 KJV) Then on that day David
delivered first this psalm to thank the
LORD into the hand of Asaph and his brethren. {8} Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon
his name, make known his deeds among the people.
This is how the Psalm starts, telling the people to give
thanks to the Lord.
Then David launches into reminding the people of the
wonderful things that the Lord has done.
He reminds the people of how awesome and powerful the Lord is.
At the end of the Psalm, after having demonstrated God’s mercy towards the
people, David writes,
(1 Chr
16:34
KJV) O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is
good; for his mercy endureth for ever.
David has demonstrated God’s wonderful mercy, and the
result is that we ought to give thanks to Him.
Illustration
Scars
Some years ago on a hot summer day in south Florida
a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his
house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door,
leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not
realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was
swimming toward the shore. His mother in the house was looking out the window
saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, she ran
toward the water, yelling to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice,
the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother. It was
too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him. From the dock, the
mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs.
That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much
stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let go. A
farmer happened to drive by, heard her screams, raced from his truck, took aim
and shot the alligator. Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the
little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of
the animal, and on his arms, were deep scratches where his mother’s fingernails
dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved. The newspaper
reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma,
asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then,
with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, “But look at my arms. I have great
scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Mom wouldn’t let go.”
You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too. No, not from an alligator, or anything quite so dramatic.
But the scars of a painful past, Some of those scars
are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But, some wounds, my friend, are
because God has refused to let go. In the midst of your struggle, He’s been
there holding on to you. The Scripture teaches that God loves you. You are a
child of God. He wants to protect you and provide for you in every way. But
sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations. The swimming hole of
life is filled with peril, and we forget that the enemy is waiting to attack.
That’s when the tug-of-war begins and if you have the scars of His love on your
arms be very, very grateful. He did not and will not - let you go.
We have much to be thankful for.
:4 and praise
praise – halal – to shine; (Piel) to praise; to boast,
make a boast; This root connotes being sincerely and deeply thankful for and/or
satisfied in lauding a superior quality(ies) or
great, great act(s) of the object. The
word “hallelujah” comes from this word, meaning “Praise Yah”.
Whereas the word yadah
seems to be something a little more in the mind, “giving thanks”, I think this
word seems to be a little more in the emotions.
Lesson
Worship is filled with joy
Our worship should be filled with deep felt joy and adoration to our Great
King.
Again, there seems to be a progression:
First we cause to remember, then we acknowledge with thanks, then our
hearts become involved in praise.
We see the same progression in the Psalm where David encourages the people
to “remember” what God has done (vs. 12,15), then to
“give thanks” (vs. 34), and then the people respond:
(1 Chr 16:36 KJV) …And all the people
said, Amen, and praised the LORD.
:5 Asaph the chief … with cymbals
Asaph was the worship leader. He seems to have led the group with his
cymbals.
:5 Obededom
This was the guy who had the Ark
at his house for three months. He can’t
get enough of the Lord.
:7-36 David’s Psalm
:7 David delivered first this psalm …
This was actually a compilation of portions of several psalms.
verses 8-22 come from Psalm 105:1-15 (but not
105:16-45)
There are only some minor changes in the King James between Chronicles and
the Psalm, but for the most part they are the same.
verses 23-33 come from Psalm 96:2-13 (the entire
Psalm)
It’s mostly the same as Psalm 96, but towards the end of the section,
there’s a bit of rearranging of some of the thoughts.
verse 34 is a common phrase that is found in
several psalms – Ps. 106:1; 107:1; 118:1, 29; 136:1
verse 35-36 are found in Psalm 106:47,48
What is going on here?
David was arranging the songs.
He’s taking pieces out of several songs and putting them together – creating
a sort of “medley”.
The songs he draws from aren’t ones titles “A Psalm of David”. It’s possible that these were songs written
by someone else. It’s also possible that
David wrote these but we just don’t have his name on it.
It could be that he liked the melodies, perhaps he thought the songs fit
together.
There is also a theme that ties both sections together – pointing to the
Lord and thanking Him for what He’s done and His greatness.
:8-22 – From Psalm 105
:10 let the
heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD
(NASB - "Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad")
Seeking God is not some somber-faced event, a person climbing the top of
the highest mountain in search of God, beating themselves, etc. It is a time of JOY!
:12 Remember his marvellous
works that he hath done
Remember – zakar – to remember, recall, call to mind; (Qal) to remember, recall
This is the word used to describe part of the Levites’ responsibilities in
worship – to “record” (vs.4)
:15 Be ye mindful always of his covenant;
be ye mindful – zakar – to remember, recall, call to mind; (Qal)
to remember, recall
Again, the same word as “record” in verse 4.
:17 an
everlasting covenant
A covenant is a contract, an agreement, a promise.
God keeps His promises - He made promises to the fathers, He makes promises
to us. That's the whole point here.
:18 Unto thee will I give the land
of Canaan,
God promised to Jacob:
(Gen 35:12 KJV) And the land
which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after
thee will I give the land.
:19 When ye
were but few
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob didn’t start out as much.
God loves us even if we don’t amount to much in the world’s eyes. God has big plans for us.
:20 they
went from nation to nation
This is speaking of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s travels, their “sojournings”.
Illustration
Today, there are these people known as the “Irish Travelers”. The lady that was caught on videotape beating
her four year old daughter in the parking lot was part of this group. They continually travel throughout the year,
going from city to city doing odd jobs.
They don’t exactly have a spotless reputation.
Abraham, Issac, and Jacob were very similar.
They never owned houses, just tents.
They were nomads, wandering from place to place.
Hebrews 11:8-10 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into
a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went
out, not knowing whither he went. By
faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as [in] a strange country, dwelling in
tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath
foundations, whose builder and maker [is] God.
Lesson
Not comfortable in this world
We should be careful not to “settle down” or feel comfortable in this
world. I don’t mean that we shouldn’t
buy houses or such. But we should keep a
very light touch on the things around us.
:21
suffered no man to do them wrong...
Abram and Pharaoh (Gen.12:10-20)
Abram told Pharaoh that Sarai was his sister (a
half-truth). He was afraid that he would
be killed so Sarai could be taken as a wife. Yet God protected Sarai
despite it.
Abraham and Abimelech. (Gen.20:1-18)
Same predicament.
Same half-truth. God spoke to Abimelech,
warning him. Sarah wasn’t touched.
Isaac and Abimelech. (Gen.26:1-11)
Like father like son. Isaac tells
the same tale his dad did, except for him it’s a complete lie, Rebekah isn’t his sister at
all. Yet still they are protected.
Jacob and Laban.
Even though Laban took advantage of Jacob, Jacob
was still able to leave with his four wives, children, and all his flocks. Laban was kept from
hurting Jacob.
:22 Touch
not mine anointed
This is being stated in regards to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
They were God’s “anointed” men, and God protected them, even when they did
stupid things.
David will use this same phrase when he is given the opportunity to get
back at Saul.
During one opportunity, David was hiding in a cave with his men, and Saul
came into the same cave, all by himself.
(1 Sam 24:4-6 KJV) And the
men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee,
Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him
as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul's
robe privily. {5} And it
came to pass afterward, that David's heart smote him, because he had cut off
Saul's skirt. {6} And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do
this thing unto my master, the LORD'S anointed, to stretch forth mine hand
against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.
I wonder if David wasn’t saying this because of how the Lord had protected
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, even when they had been doing foolish things.
Lesson
God’s protection
Even when we aren’t perfect, God protects us.
We may wander like gypsies through this world, but God is looking out for
us.
God's heart is such that if someone touches you, watch out!
(Zec 2:8 KJV) …for he that toucheth
you toucheth the apple of his eye.
It’s like poking God in the eye when someone touches you.
:23-33 – From Psalm 96
:24-26
Declare his glory among the heathen
Lesson
Reasons for witnessing
Why tell people about the Lord? (four reasons)
1. He is great (vs.25)
He is worthy of our trust.
2. He is to be feared above all gods
(vs.25)
You’re going to be in trouble if you ignore Him. It would be scary to have to face the Lord if
Jesus hadn’t paid for our sins.
3. Because the other “gods” are just
worthless (vs.26)
idols – ‘eliyl – of nought, good for nothing, worthless
People put their trust in all sorts of things, but unless
they put their trust in the Lord, they’re wasting their time.
People need to realize the emptiness of what they trust in
when they aren’t trusting in God.
4. He’s the Creator (vs.26)
He is incredibly awesome.
He’s not just some carved wooden figure, He’s the one who made the wood.
He’s the One who made us.
We ought to follow Him.
:27 Glory
and honour [are] in his presence; strength and gladness
[are] in his place
(1 Chr 16:27 NLT) Honor and majesty surround him; strength and
beauty are in his dwelling.
(1 Chr 16:27 NASB) Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength
and joy are in His place.
glory – howd – splendour, majesty, vigour
honor – hadar – ornament, splendour, honour
strength – ‘oz – might, strength
gladness – chedvah – joy, gladness
Notes:
David is almost giving these qualities a sense of personality, and that
they choose to live in God's presence.
Glory and honor are two attributes of God that we find hanging on to Him
all the time.
Strength and gladness are both attributes of God that God shares with us as
we seek Him.
:29 the
glory [due] unto his name
The idea again that God is worthy of worship.
He deserves our worship and adoration.
:33 Then
shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the LORD
Creation worships God
Jesus said that if his disciples didn’t praise Him, the rocks would cry out
(Luke 19:40)
:34 O give
thanks unto the LORD …
This is one of the most common phrases in the Psalms:
(Psa 106:1 KJV) Praise ye the LORD.
O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his
mercy endureth for ever.
(Psa 107:1 KJV) O give thanks unto
the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for
ever.
(Psa 118:1 KJV) O give thanks unto
the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth
for ever.
(Psa 118:29 KJV) O give thanks unto
the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for
ever.
(Psa 136:1 KJV) O give thanks unto
the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for
ever.
In this last Psalm, the phrase “for his mercy endureth
for ever” is repeated at the end of each line throughout the Psalm.
We need to give “thanks” to the Lord.
thanks – yadah – (Hiphil) to give thanks, laud, praise;
to confess, confess (the name of God)
This is one of those words that described what the Levites were to do continually
before the Lord (v.4)
:34 for he
is good; for his mercy endureth for ever
The reasons why we are to give “thanks”.
good – towb – good, pleasant, agreeable
God is good all the time. All the
time God is good.
mercy – checed – goodness, kindness, faithfulness
:35-36
verse 35-36 are found in Psalm 106:47,48
:35 And say
ye, Save us, O God
This is the “request” of the song, the request of the prayer.
The order is important: First comes
the praise, then comes the request.
(Phil 4:6-7 KJV) Be careful
for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known unto God. {7} And the
peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds
through Christ Jesus.
Sometimes we come to God with complaining and grumbling instead of praise
and thanksgiving.
:36 the
people said, Amen, and praised the LORD
Amen – ‘amen – verily,
truly, amen, so be it
praised – halal – to shine; (Piel) to praise; to boast,
make a boast
This is the root of the word “Hallelujah” or, “Praise Yah”
This was the word used in verse 4 describing what the Levites were to do –
to “praise” the Lord.
:37-43 Continual worship put in place
:37 to
minister before the ark continually
Worship should be continual.
If we don’t understand why worship should be continual, then we don’t
understand God and we don’t understand worship.
The very reason we worship is because of who God is.
Some things just come naturally.
Some things just seem appropriate for the moment.
When someone on the Angels hits a home run, you have to stand up. Even if you’re watching at home.
Rev.4-5
The worship in heaven is continual, night and day.
Over and over, those in heaven declare, “He is worthy”. That’s why they worship Him, that’s just what
you do when you see God face to face, you fall on your face and worship Him.
Lesson
Worship should come from our
response to God’s presence.
Isaiah 6
Isaiah found himself on his face before God – why? because he saw the
Lord high and lifted up.
Is the concept of “worship” a difficult one to you? Put your eyes on Jesus.
:37 every
day's work required
or lit., “according to the matter of the day on
its day,” or “according to the service necessary for each day”.
Their worship was different each day since each day was different.
We need to learn caution in not letting our worship become stale and
mechanical. Learn new songs. Write new songs.
Sing songs according to the need of the day.
If you need the Lord's touch, sing songs about the Lord touching you.
If you need forgiveness, sing songs about His forgiveness.
:39
Zadok...at Gibeon
While Asaph and company were in Jerusalem
offering continual praise, Zadok stayed in Gibeon,
to offer sacrifices at the tabernacle.
Gibeon is about six miles
northwest of Jerusalem.
Apparently the ark and the tabernacle were now separated.
The last time the tabernacle was mentioned was being at Shiloh,
when Eli was the priest (1Sam.2:22).
From there, the ark was taken into battle against the Philistines and
lost, but the tabernacle continued to be a tent of meeting and sacrifice. When the ark was returned it was kept at Kiriath-jearim, not with the tabernacle. Somewhere between the time of Eli and David,
the tabernacle was moved to Gibeon.
Apparently Zadok was to minister at the tabernacle, and Abiathar
at the ark.
:40 to
offer burnt offerings
As it says here, this was commanded by the Lord to Moses. It apparently had not been kept for quite a
while...but David restores it.
The offering was to be two lambs each day, one at morning, one at
evening. Also flour, oil, and wine were
to be offered. (Exodus 29:38-41)
:43 David
returned to bless his house
David by no means is a model husband or dad. He had lots of problems with his family. In fact, we know from 2Sam.6:20-23, that this
was when Michal, one of his wives, criticized David
in his worship.
But there are some good lessons here to learn:
Lesson
Don’t neglect your family for the
sake of “the things of God”.
The Pharisees were famous for trying to use spiritual “loop holes” to get away
with not taking care of their parents.
They tried to say that their money was all dedicated to God, and that
they couldn’t help them out (Mat. 15:1-9)
Paul wrote,
I Timothy 5:8 But if any provide not for
his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith,
and is worse than an infidel.
It is not spiritual to neglect your family.
Sometimes we who find ourselves in “ministry” positions can pour our whole
selves into ministering to other people and find ourselves on “empty” when we
get home. Save some for the family!
Lesson
Your relationship with God should
flow into your family.
It’s sad when you see a person who is one thing at church, but another at
home.
I think a test of true spirituality is to see what a person’s family thinks
of them. Are they the same at home as
they are at church?
When you get blessed at church, it should spill over into your home - your
wife, kids, etc.
1Chronicles 17
The parallel passage is found in 2Samuel 7.
:1-2 David wants to build a temple
:1 Nathan
the prophet
He was used in several ways in David’s life:
Historian
Nathan wrote a book that chronicled the history of David and Solomon’s
reigns.
I Chronicles 29:29 Now the acts of David the king, first and last,
behold, they [are] written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of
Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer,
II Chronicles 9:29 Now the
rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, [are] they not written in the book
of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite,
and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam
the son of Nebat?
God’s spokesman
In setting up the national worship, the temple, the organization, God used
Nathan to guide David.
II Chronicles 29:25 And he (Hezekiah) set
the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, with psalteries, and with
harps, according to the commandment of David, and of Gad the king’s seer, and
Nathan the prophet: for [so was] the commandment of the LORD by his prophets.
Reproof
This was the man who God used to confront David about his sin with
Bathsheba. (This took guts!)
II Samuel 12:1 And the LORD sent Nathan unto David. And he came
unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one
city; the one rich, and the other poor.
Loyalty
Toward the end of David’s life, one of his sons, Adonijah
decided to make himself king. Nathan
took the initiative to inform David and Bathsheba, and to help them in making
Solomon king. (After having rebuked David...)
I Kings 1:23 And they told
the king, saying, Behold Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the
king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground.
:2 Do all
that [is] in thine heart; for God [is] with thee
Lesson
Making decisions
There are times we don't have any clear direction from God, and all we can
do is follow our heart if in our heart we are walking with God.
I think that sometimes we spend WAY TOO MUCH TIME analyzing our decisions
when we simply need to make a choice and go with it.
There are some important things to think about though.
Your heart needs to be with the Lord.
Jesus said:
John 15:7 If ye abide in
me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done
unto you.
Jesus promised us that if we abided in Him and His words
in us, we could ask whatever we wanted.
Why? Because we would be asking
according to His will.
Your heart can be pretty dangerous.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart [is] deceitful above all
[things], and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Our hearts are very wicked and tricky. We need to be extra careful if we intend to “go
with our heart”. That’s why we need to
abide in Jesus.
We need to stay in God’s Word.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God [is] quick, and
powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword,
piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and
marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
If God's Word abides in us, then it will be judging and discerning
the thoughts of our hearts.
There are times when we lack God's direction in a given situation.
We've prayed, but no answer.
It is okay if we've been abiding in Jesus and His Word is in us, to follow
our hearts.
But sometimes God isn't silent.
Sometimes God answers...
:3-15 God responds through Nathan
:4 Thou
shalt not build me an house
Lesson
When God says “no”
It is not always because what we intend to do is wrong or bad.
There was nothing wrong with what David wanted to do.
It was not wrong to build the Temple. In fact, David’s son would be the one to
build it. God would even give David the
plans (1Chr. 28:19-20) and the materials to build the Temple,
just not permission to do the actual building.
In fact, later in the history of Israel,
God would rebuke the people with very much the same words...
Haggai 1:4 "Is it time for you yourselves to
dwell in your paneled houses while this house lies desolate?"
God had told them to rebuild the temple, and they got sidetracked,
spending their time and money on themselves.
Here, David is wanting to do the
right thing.
Later, we know that God told David that He didn’t want him to build the
temple because of all the blood he had shed (1Chr. 22:7-8). But God doesn’t tell David this now, and I
don’t think this is the issue in God saying “no”. We’ll get to God’s reasons later on in this
passage.
But the point is, sometimes it can be hard to hear God say “no”.
:6 Why have ye not built me an house of cedars?
God never said He wanted anyone to build Him a house.
Have you ever been given a big, expensive gift that you really didn't want?
:7 I took thee from the sheepcote,
sheepcote – naveh – abode, habitation, abode of shepherds or
flocks, pasture
:9 I will ordain a place for my people Israel
This is what is referred to as the Davidic covenant (like the Abrahamic, and Mosaic covenants).
These are God’s promises to David
involving:
The land - Israel belongs to the Jews
A king and a kingdom -
David’s descendants forever, the Messiah.
:10 the LORD will build thee an house
Basically, David has told God he wants to
build Him a house, and God responds, "Thanks, no, but instead I'm going to
build YOU a house."
To use a John Kennedy phrase, "It's
not what you can do for God, but what God can do for you".
It certainly is easy at times to get all
excited about our relationship with the Lord and feel like we've got to rush
out and do something for God.
Lesson
Let
God love you first
I think that sometimes we get a little
ahead of what God wants to do in our lives.
I think that we can jump out into stuff that
we’re not quite ready for.
We want to be building palaces for God, but
God wants to do construction on us.
The Bible's emphasis is on what God has
done for man, not man for God.
:11 thy
seed after thee
Referring specifically to Solomon, eventually to Jesus
Christ.
:12 He shall build me an house, and I will stablish his throne for ever.
Solomon built the temple.
But Jesus Christ would reign forever
This is an example of prophetic telescoping - a prophesy jumping across
vast spaces of time in a single sentence.
:16-27 David responds to the Lord
:16-27 … servant …
servant – ‘ebed –
slave, servant
There is one word that pops up over and over again. It’s a word that David keeps using to
describe himself. He uses the word 10
different times.
He could be referring to himself as the grand, exalted king of Israel.
Instead he keeps calling himself a “servant”.
Lesson
The greatest is being a servant
David has kept a great attitude even though finding himself being exalted.
(Mark 9:35
KJV) And he sat down, and called the
twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be
first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.
:23 do as
thou hast said
Lesson
Receive
Sometimes when we hear of what great things God wants to
do in our lives, we respond, “O no, Lord, not for me”.
I like David’s response, “Let me have it, Lord”.
Sometimes we feel that we can’t accept God’s gifts until we get cleaned up,
until we get our lives straightened out.
That’ll never happen. We’ll never
deserve God’s gifts.
The Holy Spirit
Luke 11:11-13 If a son shall ask bread of
any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or
if [he ask] a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him
a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall [your] heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
I want whatever God wants to give me.
I’ll take all the help I can get.
Open up and receive what God want to do in you.