The Christ Church Wednesday Bible Study Group is studying God's providence or divine providence in the lives of David and Joseph and how we can apply His providence in their lives to our lives today.
The providence of God or divine providence is the governance of God by which He, with wisdom and love, cares for and directs all things in the universe. Divine providence asserts that God is in complete control of all things. He is sovereign over the universe. He is in control of the physical world. He is in control of the affairs of nations. He is in control of human destiny. He is in control of human successes and failures. He protects His people.
In Session 13 has the right idea to move the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem which David had moved the capital of Israel. Everywhere the ark of the covenant was placed, God's glory rested there—meaning the light, the shechinah glory of God, rested on the ark of the covenant. That laser like ray from heaven was central to the worship of Jehovah. Since it represented the presence of Jehovah, it was the holiest place on earth.
The problem was that his actions were to honor God's principles, as we will see he did not obey God's precepts, or the commandments on handling and moving the Ark. Because he didn't obey the precepts a man died. When David obeyed the precepts, he was able to move the Ark to Jerusalem and rejoice in its movement.
For our study we will be using Great Lives: David: A Man of Passion and Destiny, by Charles R. Swindoll, and The Hand of God by Alistair Begg. To study along with us you can purchase the books by clicking the Links here or the images after the notes.
Now that Saul and three of his sons are dead and David doesn’t have to run for his life he assumes the throne only rules over part of the nation from Hebron. He reigns from Hebron for seven and one-half years then hostilities between those following David and those following Saul’s remaining son and his followers ends and David unites the entire kingdom and moves the capital to Jerusalem, and he reigns from Jerusalem for 33 years. David’s entire reign is 40 years.
2 Samuel 5:4-5 NIV David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.
Now with the nation unified David can do what God had purposed him to do a king of His people.
2 Samuel 5:6-12 NIV The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David. On that day David had said, “Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shaft to reach those ‘lame and blind’ who are David’s enemies.” That is why they say, “The ‘blind and lame’ will not enter the palace.” David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terraces inward. And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him. Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David. Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.
David expanded the boundaries of Israel from 6,000 to 60,000 square miles. He set up extensive trade routes that reached throughout the known world. Wealth came into Israel like the nation had never known before.
David unified the nation under Jehovah God, creating a national interest in spiritual things. He was not a priest; he was a king . . . but he lifted up the role of the priesthood so that Judaism could operate openly and freely in the land. He destroyed the idol altars.
The theme for of study this week is that we must obey God’s precepts and honor His principles. We are going to do that by looking at how David moves the arc of the covenant which had been captured by the Philistines who because of problems they had because of it sent it to back.
Little background the God gave Moses instructions to build this chest to hole the stone tablets that had the commandments that God gave Him. God wrote them. The chest also included a jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded. The main thing about the arrc however was its cover which was the mercy seat where God’s presence resided.
The difference in following the precept rather than just the principle is evident in David's desire to have the ark of the covenant in Jerusalem and in the tabernacle which was in Jerusalem.
Let's read about what happened when made the decision to move it and what happened before it finally got to Jerusalem
Under Saul’s weak, negligent reign, the emphasis on the tabernacle sort of drifted away. During this time a particular piece of holy furniture had gotten separated from the tabernacle. If you can believe it, the enemy had carted off the ark of the covenant.
1 Samuel 4:10-11 NIV So the Philistines fought, and the Israelites were defeated and every man fled to his tent. The slaughter was very great; Israel lost thirty thousand foot soldiers. The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
Everywhere the ark of the covenant was placed, God's glory rested there—meaning the light, the shechinah glory of God, rested on the ark of the covenant. That laser like ray from heaven was central to the worship of Jehovah. Since it represented the presence of Jehovah, it was the holiest place on earth.
David knew that he needed to put that piece of sacred furniture back in its rightful place. He needed to set it up as God designed it. His heart was after God’s, the point of locating a small piece of furniture and putting it in a certain place. To David, when it came to God no detail was unimportant.
2 Samuel 6:1-11 NIV David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand. He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark. 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 with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals. When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. 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. Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah. 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. 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.
Those who are after God in their hearts care as much about the principles as they do about the precepts.
Obey God’s precepts and honor His principles.
Precept - a general rule intended to regulate behavior or thought.
Principle- fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.
This piece of furniture was absolutely holy. It was set apart by God. That is the principle.
So careful was God with His instructions about it that He even told them how it was to be carried. That is the precept
Exodus 25:10-16 NIV “Have them make an ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out, and make a gold molding around it. 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. Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it. The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed. Then put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law, which I will give you.
Numbers 4:15 NIV “After Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy furnishings and all the holy articles, and when the camp is ready to move, only then are the Kohathites to come and do the carrying. But they must not touch the holy things or they will die. The Kohathites are to carry those things that are in the tent of meeting.
Uzzah reached out to steady the ark so it wouldn’t fall. That’s all I mean, after all, wasn’t that the practical thing to do? Rather than let it fall off the cart and possibly break or get bent, you have to grab it, right?
We’ve got David standing here mad at the Lord, when, in fact, the Lord was angry at David.
About now you might be thinking, “Well, I thought you said he was a man after God's heart?” I did—or, rather, God did. Does that mean he’s perfect? It does not. Having a heart for God doesn’t mean you’re perfect, it means you’re sensitive. It means every detail is important. And when you see you’re wrong you face it.
Well, what’s right? Let me tell you what’s right. It wouldn’t have been in danger if they had carried it exactly as God had commanded. The Levites were the ones to carry the ark, using the poles that slid through the little ringlets at the bottom of the chest, remember? And the poles were to be put up on the shoulders of these specially chosen men, and they were to balance this holy chest as they carried it from one place to another. But David didn’t do that. He took a convenient route, and he changed the details to fit the expediency of the hour.
If you want to have a heart for Me, then you check My Word and you find either a precept or a principle and you go according to that. When you do that, I'll give you joy like you can’t believe. If you don’t, I will make you miserable.” In fact, in David’s case, the Lord said, “I’ll even take some lives.”
When we begin to care about the things God cares about, we become people after His heart, and only then do we begin to have real freedom and real happiness.
Now let's look at
1 Chronicles 15:1-15 NIV After David had constructed buildings for himself in the City of David, he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before him forever.” David assembled all Israel in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to the place he had prepared for it. He called together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites: From the descendants of Kohath, Uriel the leader and 120 relatives; from the descendants of Merari, Asaiah the leader and 220 relatives; from the descendants of Gershon, Joel the leader and 130 relatives; from the descendants of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the leader and 200 relatives; from the descendants of Hebron, Eliel the leader and 80 relatives; from the descendants of Uzziel, Amminadab the leader and 112 relatives. Then David summoned Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab the Levites. He said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are to consecrate yourselves and bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the Lord our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way.” So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves in order to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. And the Levites carried the ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the Lord.
What’s the big deal, the big message, about the poles and the ringlets? The message is our life. It is the details—the pole and the ringlets—that drive us crazy in our carnal life. We don’t want to take the time to get the poles, or we don’t want togo to the trouble of putting the poles upon the right shoulders. I mean, it’s a lot easier just to use a cart. After all, the American is a pretty pragmatic kind of person. And the Lord can’t be that concerned about details, right? Wrong!
So now David is operating and obeying both the principle of getting the ark in the right place and the precept about how to handle and move it. And he's excited.
2 Samuel 6:12-15 NIV 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. When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.
Why in the world would they get so excited about it? Because they’re free. When you obey, you’re free. When you disobey, you’re in bondage. All around us we see individualsin bondage because they’re in sin, and all they talk about is freedom. They’re not free.
When you’re really free, the people who are not so free willhave trouble with you being free.
2 Samuel 6:16 NIV As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.
David didn't care what she thought
2 Samuel 6:20-23 NIV When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “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!” 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.
THE APPLICATION: SOME LESSONS WORTH REMEMBERING
David’s eyes were on the Lord; Michal’s eyes were on other people.
First, the better you know where you stand with the Lord, the freer you can be. When you do the homework, you find out where you stand with your Lord, and you follow His plan, then you are free.
Many won’t understand, of course. To some, you will be seen as detestable. You’ll be misunderstood. Like David with his own wife. But you won’t care that much about public opinion either. You’ll care about the Lord’s opinion. There is no freedom like the kind He provides. In a word, it’s grace.
Second: The freer you are before the Lord, the more confident you will become. When you know where you stand, that is real security. If it’s important to God, it ought to be important to you. If God took the time to put it down and it’s a precept, He never changes, and He means what He says.
God sets His heart of favor on those whose hearts are following Him. He honors those who honor His Word. He makes them exceedingly happy. Knowing where you stand before the Lord leads to true freedom. Being free before theLord, you will become confident, and that is genuine security.
Have you developed a deceitful technique of hiding your disobedience behind the human masks of lies or rationalization or manipulation or blame?
The very best proof of your love for your Lord is obedience. . . nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.
You want to be like David? You want to become a man or woman “after God’s heart”? Pay attention to the things God considers important. Sweat the small stuff. In one word: obey.
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