II SAMUEL 6 lesson # 6
THE DANGER OF DEALING WITH GOD
I. Introduction:
A. The Use of Religion:
Q How many of you have seen a presidential inauguration in person or on television?
Q What goes on there?
Q Are there any religious components to the ceremony? What are they?
Q Do politicians routinely “use” God to further their political or military schemes?
An = Throughout history this has been the case. Some, perhaps many, have been sincere, but many have double or even insincere motives.
B. David’s Use of Religion:
Q Is David a politician?
Q Did he manoeuvre quite well with the death of Abner?
Q What about the taking of Jerusalem for his personal capital, in between the two warring factions of Judah and Israel, and founding his dynasty at Jerusalem?
Q Why did David take his former wife, Saul’s daughter back as his wife?
An = Perhaps he was hoping to have a son by her and that would unite both Davidic and Saulite factions in the future through that son’s person. Ingeniously, David’s new capital does not favor either the North or the South because it belonged to neither tribal confederation but to the pagan Jebusites and was located between the two groups. It is in fact, his own personal city: “The City of David”. Now David wants to put the icing on the cake of establishing and grounding his new kingdom by adding the religious element.
Q What is the most sacred religious object Israel possesses? What object binds all the tribes together?
An = The Ark of the Covenant. It had been lost to the Philistines in battle (I Samuel 4) and had been returned but kept in a border town and never approached by the Israelites for twenty years.
Q Had Saul ever been associated with the ark?
An = No, and maybe for two reasons. The Philistines might have prevented him from doing so, since it was so close to their territory (show on the map), and also because Saul did kill 80 priests in Nob and so was not on the greatest of terms with the priesthood.
Note: David has just defeated the Philistines and he had personally sheltered the remaining priest from Nob: Abiathar (I Samuel 22:23).
Q Why would David want to bring the Ark to Jerusalem, the City of David?
An = His motives might have been mixed. It would surely booster the legitimacy of his kingdom and he might have sincerely wanted to honor the Lord.
Q Do you think both the love of God and the recent civil war influenced David?
Q How does God help out successful, ambitious, godly leaders?
II. Bringing the Ark to Jerusalem: II Samuel 6:1-19.
A. The First Attempt. II Samuel 6:1-11
>>>> Have someone read II Samuel 6:1-5.
Q How many men went with David to bring the Ark?
An = Thirty thousand.
Q What type of festivities took place according to 6:5?
An = They were all celebrating with all their might “before the Lord” with songs, with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals. It was quite an event!!
Note: Imagining the Scene:
1) Pick an important religious function of key importance for a leader they all know who is a good christian (an instillation, graduation, inauguration, etc.)
2) Ask them to name a famous religious person, other than yourself.
3) Ask them to picture the ceremony being prayed over by the religious individual they named and right in the middle of his prayer, he keels over dead!
4) Ask them to imagine how the person in charge of the ceremony (the important leader) must have felt. How did this look to those present? Would the ceremony go on? What would be done with the body?
>>>> Have someone read II Samuel 6:6-11.
Q What was David’s twofold reaction in 6:8,9?
An = He was angry because of what the Lord had done (6:8) and David was afraid of the Lord and wanted nothing to do with the Lord (6:9).
Q Has the Lord ever rained on your parade? Did the Lord collapse a key part of your life?
Q How did you feel? How did you react?
An = David was both afraid and angry, and it results in him pulling away from the things of the Lord (6:10-11).
Q Did you pull away from the Lord too?
An = If you did, the Bible understands your action. It understands the strong emotional pain involved. For David, it will take three months and “a sign” to get over things.
Q Key question: Why does God do such things?
An = Many times we get flippant with the very presence of God and cross over the line from wanting God’s blessing to wanting to manipulate the Presence of Almighty God. David must have been double motivated. The moving of the Ark of the Covenant was no doubt motivated by sincere religious desires and the desire to “use God” to legitimatize David’s new capital.
Q What about poor Uzzah?
An = We are not told Uzzah’s motives, etc. He is not a central part of the story. However, if I was to hazard a guess…. Uzzah was a priest. Highly trained in the knowledge of how to deal with the ark. He knew it should be carried on poles and not on a cart like the pagans carried their gods. When they move it the second time, it was carried by poles, as is implied in 6:13 and made explicit in I Chronicles 15:2, 12-15.
B. The Second Attempt: II Samuel 6:12-19
>>>> Have someone read II Samuel 6:12-15.
Q What encouraged David to try again?
An = The blessing of the house of Obed-Edom. What form this blessing took we are not told, but it was no doubt something visible, that David could ascertain.
Q What characterized the carrying of the ark this time, according to 6:12?
An = Gladness or rejoicing. Verses 13-15 tell us more. Along with rejoicing, there were sacrifices (13), David dancing with all his might (14) and with lots of noise: shouts of triumph and with blasts of trumpets (15). It was certainly not a solemn ceremony but one with great, physical involvement.
Q Is strong, loud physical response to God in celebration OK?
>>>> Have someone read II Samuel 6:16.
Q What is Michal’s response to the festivities and David’s action in particular?
An = It is not positive towards David. She despised him.
Note: No matter how great the event or the celebration, realize that there will be those who disapprove and will not like it. It may have nothing to do with that event. It could be that Michal now resents David because she was happily married to Paltiel (II Samuel 3:15-16) and she was forced to remarry David for political reasons. >>> You read II Samuel 3:15-16
Q Have you ever seen where no matter what happens in church if someone has a personal grudge against someone they discount all their religious actions?
>>>> Have someone read II Samuel 6:17-19.
Q What is the city called in verses 10,12 and 16?
An = David places the ark in the “City of David” (see 6:10, 6:12, 6:16). The city is not called Jerusalem but three times the “City of David”. David also offers numerous sacrifices and gives gifts to the people. The city is David’s. This could be proof that David was bringing the ark there initially to boost the prestige of his city.
Q In whose Name or before Whom is everything done?
An = Everything is “before the Lord” (6:14,16,17) or in the Name of the Lord (6:18). It almost seems as if the author is saying the motives are mixed.
III. Aftermath: David’s Realization. II Samuel 6:20-23.
>>>> Have someone read II Samuel 6:20.
Q What was Michal’s critique of David’s behavior?
An = She thought his exuberance was unbecoming the status of a king. She was a King’s daughter and presumed she knew what was appropriate. She accused David of exposing himself in his dancing before the Lord.
Q How come she cannot see the beauty of celebrating God’s coming among them?
Note: We may be uncomfortable with David’s action too, but we need to ask ourselves if we have ever felt the thrill of God’s presence like David. Perhaps, when we sense God’s glory as David did we can understand his actions.
Q Did Saul understand what David experienced?
An = Yes, see I Samuel 10:10-12, 19:23-24
>>>> Have someone read II Samuel 6:21-23.
Q Does David buy into the critique?
An = No! It is almost as if David comes to the realization that he did not need the daughter of Saul to legitimize his kingship. It was “before the Lord” (the catch phrase of this chapter in 6:5,14,16,17,21 and again 21) that he was chosen to be king. God had elevated David above the house of Saul and David did not need the legitimization of marriage to Saul’s daughter, nor her approval.
Q Were all of David’s political maneuvering in reacquiring Michal needless?
An = All he needed was God’s approval and selection. Notice what happens in 6:22. David realizes that to those with whom he shared the praise of God he is truly esteemed. He rejoices to be lightly esteemed or undignified, or even humble, because that is the key to true honor.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 2:7-8.
Q Is this an example of the fulfillment of this concept here in David’s heart?
Note: Whether David never slept again with Michal or she was barren because of God’s action we are not told, in reference to 6:23. One thing is clear though, David never had a son by her that could have further legitimized David’s kingdom in the eyes of men. God did not seem to see that was necessary.
Q So what does God do for successful, powerful and godly leaders?
An = He rains on their parades. If they are wise and good like David, it can make them insightful.