David Dances for the Lord - 2 Samuel 6:12 - 23
Prayer: Lord help us to come to Your Word today with hearts and minds that are ready to respond to You. Remove the distractions of the day-to-day, help us to focus instead on You, making this a time of worship that brings you Glory.
Quickly Form Groups:
1. Briefly have each person share about something spiritually significant for which they need to be prepared (think single sentence), say a brief (think single sentence) prayer for each. (share, pray, share, pray, ....)
In last week's lesson we saw how being spiritually ignorant/unprepared had dire consequences, and the result was that the work God wanted David to do had to come to a halt. A few months pass, and David has learned a few things, finally David is prepared to bring the Ark to Jerusalem.
Preparation - 1 Chronicles 15:1-2 - David has done his homework!! David had prepared a place, a tabernacle (tent) - whether this was with the original tabernacle items we can't be completely certain, but what is clear is that David has taken the time to find out what had been done wrong. We can presume that if he took the time to learn the passages about how the Ark was to be transported he'd also taken the time to learn how the Ark was to be housed.
1 Chronicles 15:3-15 - David calls together the Israelites to start the preparation, making certain to bring the Levites in, and from the Levites calls the priests together to correct and instruct them regarding the handling of the Ark. David points out that it was because of the failure of the Levites in the handling of the Ark that God was angered and struck down Uzzah. The Levites should have known what to do, that was their God-given assignment, but they had not been prepared. David is making certain they will be prepared this time, and instructs them to consecrate themselves before taking on this endeavor.
1 Chronicles 15:16-24 - David further instructs the Levites, this time letting them know precisely what he'd like done in the process of bringing the Ark to Jerusalem. David is making certain that all are prepared for their particular jobs - some to carry, some to guard, some to sing, some to play instruments, etc. David is focused on the details, making certain that all goes without a hitch - this time David is prepared, and making certain others are prepared as well.
The Journey's Start - 2 Samuel 6: 12-15 & 1 Chronicles 15:25-28 - The journey starts, they only take a few steps with the Ark when David stops the procession in order to offer sacrifices. These sacrifices are sacrifices of thanksgiving because God is helping the Ark make the journey to Jerusalem, and helping the Levites to make this journey according to God's ways. This may seem silly, but I think this celebration is significant - for the first time in many years the Levites are openly & publicly following God's prescribed ways - this marks the turning of a Spiritual corner - a type of repentance from wrong actions previously taken. After the sacrifice the Ark continues on it's journey.
Michal's Bitter Heart - 2 Samuel 6:16 & 1 Chronicles 15:29 - If you don't recall, Michal was David's 1st wife, Saul's daughter. She helped David escape from Saul, was later given by Saul to another husband, and much later taken from that loving husband and given back to David. So Michal hasn't had it easy, so lest we condemn her too severely we should remember her hardships & how she'd been manipulated by these two kings - one was her father & the other her husband. That said, her heart attitude is wrong, and this may be evidence of her true nature. We'll get back to her a bit later in the chapter.
The Ark set in place - 2 Samuel 6:17-19 & 1 Chronicles 16:1-7 & 37-43 - The Ark is set in its proper place, the sacrifices are made, blessings are declared, a new psalm of thanksgiving is sung, and gifts are given to the people of Israel. David ensures that everything is set up for regular worship and sacrifices are ongoing, the celebration ends and the people disperse, when everything wraps up David heads home to bless his own large & growing family.
Correcting Michal - 2 Samuel 6:20-23 - Who comes out to meet David as he returns from this marvelous celebration of God & the return of the Ark? Michal, and she's coming out to criticize rather than congratulate. It's bad enough that she despised David in her heart, now she's criticizing him openly - you could even call it nagging. David puts Michal in her place, she may be a princess (of Saul) and a queen (of David) but she is nothing in David's eyes as compared to the Lord. David was honoring God, and if he looked the fool for doing it it wasn't going to stop him from honoring God - even at the risk of his own wife & queen despising him. Michal may be queen by marriage, and a princess by birth, but the slave girls had done better by honoring David for what he had done to honor the Lord. David dealt directly with Michal, and God did as well, since she was not able to have any more children. I also thought it was interesting that at this last mention of Michal she's not called the wife of David, but rather the daughter of Saul - I think this speaks to her having a heart more in line with her father Saul's than with her husband David's.
Can you think of any other passages where someone has suffered consequences from criticizing God's appointed leader?
Numbers 12 - Moses' sister Miriam mocks Moses because he had a Cushite wife - Miriam was stricken with Leprosy.
Numbers 16 - Korah & followers led the people of Israel to rebel against Moses' leadership - they were swallowed by the earth.
2 Kings 2 - Youths mocking Elisha because he was bald - mauled & killed by bears.
Jeremiah 28 - Hananiah contradicted Jeremiah's true prophecies with false - killed later that year by God as prophesied by Jeremiah.
Acts 13 - Bar-Jesus (sorcerer) lied about Paul in order to turn the governor against him - temporarily struck blind.
Closing Prayer: Lord help us to have hearts for You, hearts that love each other, hearts that uplift each other, hearts for Your ways and Your work. Help us to be ready for whatever you call us to, help us to seek your word to know that we walk in your ways, help us to be prepared for the work you have set aside for each of us to do, and help us to be willing to be despised by the world for the sake of Your kingdom. Amen!
Quickly Form Groups Again:
2. Read Psalm 132 - what do you learn about:
a. David's attitude about the nation's worship of God?
b. God's desires concerning the people's worship?
c. God's response to the worship of His people?
3. Read 1 Chronicles 16:8-36 (David's Psalm of Thanks after establishing the Ark in Jerusalem) - what do you learn about:
a. David's heart toward God?
b. Who God is and what He has done?
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