The King Who Celebrated (1 Chronicles 15:25-29)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:04.120 Of you are able, please remain standing, and will give our attention now 2 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:17.429 to first chronicles, Chapter Fifteen. First Chronicles fifteen versus twenty five through twenty 3 00:00:17.469 --> 00:00:26.100 nine. So David and the elders of Israel, the commanders of thousands, 4 00:00:26.179 --> 00:00:29.899 went to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of Jehovah from the House of 5 00:00:30.019 --> 00:00:36.609 Obed Edom with rejoicing and because God helped the Levites who were carrying the Ark 6 00:00:36.770 --> 00:00:43.609 of the Covenant of Jehovah, they sacrificed seven Bulls and seven rams. David 7 00:00:43.770 --> 00:00:49.609 was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites 8 00:00:49.649 --> 00:00:55.200 who were carrying the Ark, and the singers and the Chennania, the Enchinania, 9 00:00:55.320 --> 00:00:59.799 the leader of the music of the singers, and David wore a lane 10 00:00:59.920 --> 00:01:04.150 linen. Ephod so Israel, so all Israel, brought up the Ark of 11 00:01:04.189 --> 00:01:08.430 the Covenant of Jehovah With Shouting, to the sound of the Horn, trumpets 12 00:01:08.469 --> 00:01:15.750 and symbols and made loud music on Harps and liars. And as the Ark 13 00:01:15.829 --> 00:01:19.980 of the Covenant of Jehovah came to the City of David, Mikhaul, the 14 00:01:21.019 --> 00:01:25.700 daughter of Saul, looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and 15 00:01:25.859 --> 00:01:34.090 rejoice, seeing and she despised him in her heart. May God bless his 16 00:01:34.170 --> 00:01:56.359 word to us. Please be seated well. For several chapters now we've been 17 00:01:56.480 --> 00:02:05.629 seeing the Kingdom of David, I'm, being established, God establishing the Kingdom 18 00:02:05.790 --> 00:02:10.669 of this particular servant of his, this anointed one, and in that we 19 00:02:10.830 --> 00:02:17.379 are seeing these the kingship of Jesus, Our Lord and our Savior, being 20 00:02:17.699 --> 00:02:25.139 foreshadowed. We have the great privilege of knowing the whole story already and having 21 00:02:25.259 --> 00:02:29.379 read it and heard it a number of times, many of us anyway, 22 00:02:30.129 --> 00:02:34.169 and so when we hear a passages like this, we get to make connections 23 00:02:34.370 --> 00:02:38.289 that maybe we didn't see the first time around, connections that scripture itself makes 24 00:02:38.330 --> 00:02:46.199 and teaches us. And here we continue to think about the relationship between King 25 00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:51.840 David and King Jesus, the way that God's establishing of this particular king, 26 00:02:51.960 --> 00:02:55.919 at this particular their time, I'm, tells us and teaches us about our 27 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:04.310 savior. What we see here is round too, or trial number two, 28 00:03:04.469 --> 00:03:10.750 attempt number two of bringing the Ark into Jerusalem. David has taken the throne. 29 00:03:10.830 --> 00:03:15.900 He in in several ways. He's already received the loyalty of the people. 30 00:03:16.780 --> 00:03:22.300 But a central failure of the Kingdom of Saul, the kingdom that had 31 00:03:22.419 --> 00:03:28.169 preceded David, the king that preceded him, was a failure to seek God, 32 00:03:28.610 --> 00:03:34.530 to inquire after him, and this is represented very much as we've considered, 33 00:03:35.090 --> 00:03:39.250 in the ARC. David is not making the same mistake. He is 34 00:03:39.409 --> 00:03:45.479 going to rule as one who is under God, and what that means for 35 00:03:45.479 --> 00:03:50.080 him in this particular time and place is making sure that the ARC is brought 36 00:03:50.159 --> 00:03:55.629 back to Jerusalem and eventually brought into the temple which David's son will build. 37 00:03:58.150 --> 00:04:01.110 You remember what happened the first time around, though. They went, they 38 00:04:01.189 --> 00:04:04.110 got the ARC, they were bringing it up, but they failed to follow 39 00:04:04.150 --> 00:04:09.629 the instructions of Jehovah. They failed to listen to him, they failed to 40 00:04:09.669 --> 00:04:14.939 do as he had commanded. They didn't treat him with respect and the reverence 41 00:04:15.780 --> 00:04:19.540 that he deserved. They disobeyed his commands and instead of carrying the ARC, 42 00:04:19.819 --> 00:04:24.290 instead of the Levites carrying the arc as they should have, they put it 43 00:04:24.370 --> 00:04:28.930 in a cart. A cart stumbled, the oxen stumbled, the cart fell. 44 00:04:30.050 --> 00:04:33.410 A man reached out and touched the Ark of the Covenant and he died. 45 00:04:34.250 --> 00:04:39.519 The Lord broke out against his people and it was a lesson for David 46 00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:45.560 and for the people that God will be supreme, the God is the ruler 47 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:51.839 over Israel, even over David, his king. Well, David has learned 48 00:04:53.069 --> 00:04:58.189 that lesson. And they go now to get the Ark of the Covenant and 49 00:04:58.990 --> 00:05:04.269 as they do so there is a great scene. I want you to consider 50 00:05:04.310 --> 00:05:10.540 it really, try to imagine it in your minds. Verse Twenty Six first 51 00:05:10.540 --> 00:05:15.220 speaks of the people that go David, King David and the elders of Israel 52 00:05:15.660 --> 00:05:19.139 and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of 53 00:05:19.180 --> 00:05:26.209 Jehovah from the House of Obed Edom with rejoicing. So you have this great 54 00:05:26.449 --> 00:05:32.529 entourage, right, this great commanding group of people, literally commanding, figuratively 55 00:05:32.730 --> 00:05:41.000 commanding. This is the king, the elders, the leaders, military leaders 56 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:46.759 as well. This would have been a great procession. The imagine in any 57 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:51.589 country, our own or another, if the leader of the country and the 58 00:05:51.910 --> 00:05:58.430 leader of the country and all the chief elders and all the top military commanders 59 00:05:58.550 --> 00:06:02.149 went somewhere to do something, it would be a top news event right. 60 00:06:02.629 --> 00:06:06.300 There would be constant in our day and age there'd be constant coverage on every 61 00:06:06.459 --> 00:06:12.980 aspect of it, around the clock, in security and all kinds of provisions, 62 00:06:13.100 --> 00:06:15.740 and on and on it goes. This would have been a scene. 63 00:06:17.339 --> 00:06:23.009 But something about what they were doing, I'm is described as rejoicing. They're 64 00:06:23.050 --> 00:06:27.610 not merely all kind of getting in the bus and heading down and talking on 65 00:06:27.689 --> 00:06:35.000 the way there. Their trip is described by this rejoicing. One addition to 66 00:06:35.079 --> 00:06:45.279 these leaders of Israel military government, the king, we also have the Levites 67 00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:50.350 as well. The Levites go along and and they bring with them seven bulls 68 00:06:50.430 --> 00:06:58.670 and seven rams, perhaps more, it doesn't say, but at least of 69 00:06:58.829 --> 00:07:02.500 these fourteen animals, and when they get the Ark to bring it back, 70 00:07:02.699 --> 00:07:10.660 they sacrifice these. Again, not a quick thing to sacrifice this many animals. 71 00:07:11.620 --> 00:07:16.449 So they're time involved here. There's ceremony involved, there is worship involved 72 00:07:16.850 --> 00:07:23.329 in this process. So we have rejoicing, we have this demonstration of power, 73 00:07:23.569 --> 00:07:27.569 we have a professor, a procession, we have the sacrificing of these 74 00:07:27.769 --> 00:07:33.959 animals. And then there are their clothes. The Levites are wearing their typical 75 00:07:34.040 --> 00:07:41.639 garb of of fine linen, a an important cloth, and David, we 76 00:07:41.800 --> 00:07:46.470 read, is is wearing it too. There are also, in addition to 77 00:07:46.550 --> 00:07:51.509 all of this, enough people to have these groups of singers, choirs even 78 00:07:53.149 --> 00:07:58.899 I'm so, there's singing and Ridge along in with the rejoicing. There's even 79 00:07:59.300 --> 00:08:01.660 shouting. We read later on in Verse Twenty Eight, when they're bringing the 80 00:08:01.779 --> 00:08:07.939 arc up, they bring it up with shouting, and there's musicians to with 81 00:08:07.139 --> 00:08:13.250 the sound of Horn, trumpets, symbols and made loud music on Harps and 82 00:08:13.449 --> 00:08:20.009 liars. This is a little bit of speculation. Can't say exactly what this 83 00:08:20.170 --> 00:08:26.439 look like, but I imagine something of a parade. You've got top leaders, 84 00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:33.360 military commanders, marching bands of some sort, these priests and all of 85 00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:39.120 them, all of its centering around this arc. David himself is described as 86 00:08:39.519 --> 00:08:48.350 dancing and rejoicing, and no doubt there were others as well. All of 87 00:08:48.509 --> 00:08:56.460 this reminds us very much of other kinds of ascensions to power, coronation ceremonies. 88 00:08:56.580 --> 00:09:01.419 These things are very grand and very much just like this, with all 89 00:09:01.460 --> 00:09:11.370 of these people and sounds and smells, religious connections as well. When you 90 00:09:11.490 --> 00:09:16.289 see these, when if you've ever seen or seen pictures of a coronation or 91 00:09:16.610 --> 00:09:22.090 some kind of ruler coming to power. They are very grand and many, 92 00:09:22.129 --> 00:09:28.039 many people participate. It's a thing in which everyone gathers around and and centers 93 00:09:28.120 --> 00:09:35.799 around. But here something very different is happening than happens in many other kinds 94 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:41.549 of coronations or ascensions to power. Here we see that it is God who 95 00:09:41.590 --> 00:09:46.870 is the center of attention and he, even though David is leading all of 96 00:09:46.990 --> 00:09:50.750 this and even though he's the king and even though he's the one who's ascending 97 00:09:50.830 --> 00:09:58.740 to power, David takes a little bit of a back seat. We see 98 00:09:58.820 --> 00:10:03.620 that in two ways. The first way is the way I've already mentioned, 99 00:10:03.940 --> 00:10:09.330 the Ark of God. That's what this is about. It's all about bringing 100 00:10:09.409 --> 00:10:16.730 the arc of the Covenant into Jerusalem. That is the point at which they 101 00:10:16.850 --> 00:10:22.840 failed before and that is the point at which they are exceeding succeeding now. 102 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:30.720 You also see it in the rejoicing, the way that David and these people 103 00:10:30.759 --> 00:10:35.389 are acting, especially David the he is rejoicing that, he is dancing and 104 00:10:35.549 --> 00:10:41.509 celebrating. It's like he's just one of the crowd. His attention, his 105 00:10:41.750 --> 00:10:48.590 worship is directed somewhere else other than himself, even though he's the king, 106 00:10:48.269 --> 00:10:54.419 even though he's the one whose kingdom is being established. Yet he bends the 107 00:10:54.460 --> 00:11:03.419 knee and is rejoicing and acts in this way as one who is humbling himself 108 00:11:03.179 --> 00:11:09.970 before God, the king of Kings, the one who is annoyed to David, 109 00:11:09.009 --> 00:11:13.730 the one who has called him, who is established not just David's kingdom 110 00:11:15.409 --> 00:11:20.279 but the Kingdom of God. The last way you see this is in David's 111 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:26.159 clothing. David, even though this is his kingdom, as I say, 112 00:11:26.240 --> 00:11:31.759 that is being established, and a human level, he doesn't wear the clothes 113 00:11:31.950 --> 00:11:37.590 of a king. In fact, he's not distinguishable in any way from the 114 00:11:37.750 --> 00:11:43.470 priests. If you looked at least a described here in this picture, if 115 00:11:43.509 --> 00:11:46.259 you looked out at the priests, if you watched this happening, you wouldn't 116 00:11:46.299 --> 00:11:54.899 see ordinary citizens and animals and followers along and then top military commanders and then 117 00:11:54.299 --> 00:11:58.860 priests and elders and then finally, at the head of everything, the great 118 00:11:58.899 --> 00:12:03.970 king, the king with all of his robes and crowns and things like that. 119 00:12:05.690 --> 00:12:11.330 The king is wearing what the priests are wearing. He is distinguished in 120 00:12:11.370 --> 00:12:18.720 a way, but he's distinguished among a group. It says that David was 121 00:12:18.840 --> 00:12:22.320 clothed with a robe of fine linen. This is verse Twenty Eight, as 122 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:30.350 also were all the Levites who were carrying the arc and the others who were 123 00:12:30.590 --> 00:12:33.509 singing as the as well as the leader. there. David also wears a 124 00:12:35.029 --> 00:12:41.909 Lennon E fod. For some strange reason it's sort of spread in the culture 125 00:12:41.990 --> 00:12:46.299 that David was naked when all of this was happening. It doesn't say that. 126 00:12:46.539 --> 00:12:50.019 It says nothing about that. In fact, it tells us what he 127 00:12:50.139 --> 00:12:54.100 was wearing, Lennon Efod, which is not some kind of underwear thing, 128 00:12:54.340 --> 00:13:01.210 but as a dress that actually he goes over the robe. Perhaps you've worn 129 00:13:01.889 --> 00:13:05.649 long underwear before and then a t shirt over that. It's that kind of 130 00:13:05.850 --> 00:13:11.649 thing. He's wearing a long white linen robe and then another piece of clothing 131 00:13:11.730 --> 00:13:18.159 over that, a Lennon Efod, which was common among the priests. There's, 132 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:22.559 I believe, one reason that some people suspect, or we shouldn't say 133 00:13:22.799 --> 00:13:28.509 suspect, just improperly interpret this, is me. Calls up being upset with 134 00:13:28.590 --> 00:13:33.750 him. I'm here. It says that she looks out of her window and 135 00:13:33.870 --> 00:13:41.860 saw King David Dancing and rejoicing and despised him in her heart. In Samuel 136 00:13:41.019 --> 00:13:48.220 there is an addition that she is upset with the relationship between him and and 137 00:13:48.460 --> 00:13:54.779 the other women, that he's somehow acting inappropriately. And from this people then 138 00:13:54.820 --> 00:13:58.769 assume, well, he must have been naked or something like that, but 139 00:13:58.889 --> 00:14:01.289 he wasn't. The text is telling us that he was wearing the clothing of 140 00:14:01.409 --> 00:14:09.570 the priests. So what is his wife's problem? What's she up so a 141 00:14:09.649 --> 00:14:13.440 set upset about? And actually, now that I say it that way, 142 00:14:13.480 --> 00:14:16.320 it's not really fair to say it that way. It's true that she was 143 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:22.279 his wife, but that's not how she's characterized here. Here's she's characterized as 144 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:26.549 the daughter of Saul, and she's characterized that way for a very particular reason. 145 00:14:28.149 --> 00:14:31.389 Whenever the Bible gives us little genealogies like that, it's for a particular 146 00:14:31.470 --> 00:14:37.629 reason. She's characterized as the daughter of Saul, to remind us of this 147 00:14:37.789 --> 00:14:43.980 great contrast between the Kingdom of Saul and the Kingdom of David. As one 148 00:14:43.100 --> 00:14:48.940 commentator who wittily put it, her heart is not quite in tune with all 149 00:14:48.059 --> 00:14:54.210 the music and rejoicing and the things that are going on. She is upset 150 00:14:54.570 --> 00:15:01.490 and despising David in her heart. The reason she is despising him most likely 151 00:15:01.730 --> 00:15:05.370 is because of the way he's dressed, not because of his immodesty, but 152 00:15:05.570 --> 00:15:13.120 because of his modesty. You remember that Saul was all about himself. Saul 153 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:16.639 was all about his rise to power, his ruling in the way that he 154 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:22.029 wanted and his ruling over even God, who had called him to rule. 155 00:15:22.110 --> 00:15:28.429 David is not doing that. David is bending the knee, so to speak, 156 00:15:28.509 --> 00:15:35.429 and David is even humbling himself and dressing himself as not just the king 157 00:15:35.740 --> 00:15:39.259 to whom all obedience is owed, but even as one of the priests. 158 00:15:41.940 --> 00:15:50.809 This humbling himself in this way is what the daughter of Saul despises it what 159 00:15:50.970 --> 00:16:00.049 she is not happy about. This is, I said at the beginning, 160 00:16:00.009 --> 00:16:08.200 is a great prelude to the work of Jesus. Jesus also would ascend to 161 00:16:08.360 --> 00:16:15.679 His throne the Heaven, in the heavens, as a king, and he 162 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:18.909 would do so like David, he would first go through a period of suffering 163 00:16:18.990 --> 00:16:26.669 and trials and tribulation and struggles before he would finally ascend to his throne. 164 00:16:26.950 --> 00:16:30.950 He would also do so not just as a king but as a priest. 165 00:16:33.259 --> 00:16:37.539 Here David, who takes on both of these roles, blending them together. 166 00:16:37.659 --> 00:16:41.620 Is exactly what Jesus does. When Jesus goes to the cross, he goes 167 00:16:41.820 --> 00:16:48.129 not only as a king to rule and to reign over sin, over death, 168 00:16:48.330 --> 00:16:52.649 over the devil, he does so as a priest. And as Jesus 169 00:16:52.769 --> 00:16:56.490 does this, we see that he is not just like David, but he 170 00:16:56.649 --> 00:17:04.079 is greater than Davids. The Bible says David's greater son. His ascension is 171 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:10.960 much higher than David's. But this it is also true that his humiliation is 172 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:17.230 much lower and that the hatred that people have for him, the despise sing 173 00:17:17.349 --> 00:17:22.630 like the daughter of salt does, is much stronger. Because when Jesus goes 174 00:17:22.710 --> 00:17:30.339 to the throne as a priest, he doesn't do so merely wearing the garb 175 00:17:30.500 --> 00:17:33.859 of a priest. He doesn't just take on the outward forms. He is 176 00:17:34.220 --> 00:17:38.579 the the he is a priest in every sense and in the highest sense. 177 00:17:40.819 --> 00:17:48.369 He goes before God to intercede between God and men and he goes bringing a 178 00:17:48.450 --> 00:17:53.490 sacrifice, not of bulls and Rams, not even a lot of bulls and 179 00:17:53.569 --> 00:18:02.880 rams, but he goes to sacrifice himself. That is how deep Jesus is. 180 00:18:02.960 --> 00:18:11.279 Humiliation will go saul's daughter despises her husband for wearing the wrong thing, 181 00:18:12.470 --> 00:18:18.589 for not showing himself as great as he is. Don't people do the very 182 00:18:18.630 --> 00:18:23.950 same thing with Jesus? He comes as the son of God, he is 183 00:18:25.190 --> 00:18:30.259 the son of God, he is able to command on the hosts of Heaven 184 00:18:32.299 --> 00:18:37.140 to do his bidding and he does many great and miraculous things, and yet 185 00:18:37.180 --> 00:18:40.980 people are so frustrated with him. Why are you acting in the way that 186 00:18:41.059 --> 00:18:44.690 you're acting, Jesus? Why don't you take out the Romans? Why don't 187 00:18:44.690 --> 00:18:48.289 you establish your kingdom? Why don't you make yourself strong? Indeed, even 188 00:18:48.410 --> 00:18:55.799 Satan himself offers him this kind of path in the wilderness. Satan says, 189 00:18:55.839 --> 00:19:00.440 I'll give you all the kingdoms of this world if you will not submit to 190 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:08.039 God. But, like David, Jesus humbles himself. He humbles himself in 191 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:15.869 particular as a priest, as a priest who brings a sacrifice, a sacrifice 192 00:19:15.950 --> 00:19:22.869 that is himself, and he does that for a very particular reason, because 193 00:19:22.869 --> 00:19:30.259 the Kingdom of God, Praise be to God, is not established in power 194 00:19:32.819 --> 00:19:37.690 apart from grace. That's how the Kingdom of God is first established here on 195 00:19:37.809 --> 00:19:45.970 Earth, through the Cross, through the Gospel, and this gives us great 196 00:19:45.049 --> 00:19:49.890 courage. And, as much as some people hate Jesus, it also inspires 197 00:19:49.930 --> 00:19:56.319 a loyalty to him that is stronger than the loyalty David Ever received, because 198 00:19:56.359 --> 00:20:00.839 in the power and in the mode of the Cross, kings, the king's 199 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:06.960 servants today gladly go even to their deaths, knowing that in faith in him, 200 00:20:07.910 --> 00:20:11.430 they have victory. Because Jesus went to the cross, it means that 201 00:20:11.549 --> 00:20:17.990 we can be saved from our sins. If Jesus only came in glory and 202 00:20:18.109 --> 00:20:22.220 in power, all of us would be defeated. We would be like the 203 00:20:22.299 --> 00:20:26.460 Philistines who are conquered by David. But instead we rule and we reign in 204 00:20:26.539 --> 00:20:32.180 him, because he conquers us first in our hearts. He brings us to 205 00:20:32.220 --> 00:20:37.329 a place of humility and and and celebrate celebration. Through his victory on the 206 00:20:37.450 --> 00:20:45.769 cross, through his humiliation, we have salvation. Through his humiliation and obedience, 207 00:20:47.410 --> 00:20:51.599 we have the forgiveness of our sins, and one day we know that 208 00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:57.480 this will be finally established and perfected in every way. For the Christian, 209 00:20:57.640 --> 00:21:06.549 then, who worships and doesn't just respect but worships Jesus, as king who 210 00:21:06.549 --> 00:21:11.509 knows him as our God and knows him as our God and Savior. This 211 00:21:11.589 --> 00:21:18.579 should give us great courage, instead of despising Jesus in his humility, instead 212 00:21:18.619 --> 00:21:22.380 of despising the suffering that we are called to face in his name, the 213 00:21:22.539 --> 00:21:29.819 persecution that we must endure, the humble means by which that kingdom advances into 214 00:21:29.819 --> 00:21:33.970 the world, through the preaching of the Gospel, through the administration of the 215 00:21:33.049 --> 00:21:40.569 sacraments, through joining to gather with one another and worship like this, instead 216 00:21:40.569 --> 00:21:45.210 of despising those things and saying where's the glory, like me call from her 217 00:21:45.289 --> 00:21:52.000 window, we join Jesus, encouraged by him, strengthened by him, knowing 218 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:57.960 that everything that David has accomplished here, Jesus has done, and infinitely more 219 00:21:59.039 --> 00:22:07.710 so. Knowing this gives us bravery and courage and loyalty, and he gives 220 00:22:07.750 --> 00:22:14.589 us rejoicing. It allows us to be bold in our praise, to not 221 00:22:14.710 --> 00:22:19.420 be timid, wondering what others would think, wondering what, what, that 222 00:22:19.579 --> 00:22:26.700 we are humbled in our acts of worship. It gives us courage and boldness 223 00:22:27.099 --> 00:22:33.009 even in our suffering, knowing that God is on our side, that he 224 00:22:33.170 --> 00:22:38.289 rules and he reigns and he does so according to His grace. Let it 225 00:22:38.410 --> 00:22:42.529 be our prayer, then, that is we consider David as a king, 226 00:22:44.799 --> 00:22:48.759 that we would remember Jesus, not only that he rules and reigns, but 227 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:55.319 that he does so in this humble way, as our priest, as our 228 00:22:55.400 --> 00:23:00.309 sacrifice and all the victory that we have in that. Let us pray