2 Samuel 6
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Chet. I'm one of the pastors here. If you will grab a Bible and go to Second Samuel, chapter six. We're working our way through the book of Second Samuel. We're going to go through all of chapter six today. Every culture and people throughout human history has had things that they considered sacred, things that they considered hallowed, that they revered. Our culture is unique in this regard because American culture kind of doesn't. We don't have a whole lot that we really revere, not culturally. America itself doesn't give that to you. You may say that you have something that you consider sacred, or this other person has something considered sacred. And we're taught that that's okay for them, but. But we aren't taught that we have to have anything that is sacred. And when it comes to politics and science and school and the things that you kind of enter into in the public sphere, you're basically told, like, hey, keep that to yourself. That's not for this place, for us to have things that we hold as sacred. And I think our culture thinks that they've successfully done that. The problem is that when you remove the pinnacle, if you take God out of that place, something still has to go there. And so what our culture has placed there is humanity. We consider man sacred. Another way to put that would be the sanctity of the self. That's the culture that we live in. Those are the lines you can't cross. Those are the things that are untouchable is your self. What do you believe about what you want for life? What's inside of you? This is why we don't look to God to direct our lives. We look in our hearts, we sing a song. Sometimes animals help. And then we go express ourselves. We go find out what's true about us. And we, you know, export that to the world. And the only real rule is that I can't stop you from being yourself and you can't stop me from being myself. What's right for me is right for me. The only problem is I can't have something that crosses the line into harming you. Carl Truman, in his book the Rise of the Modern Self, he says it this way. He says the only moral criterion, it's the rise and triumph of the modern self. Sorry, I realized I said that wrong. The only moral criterion that can be applied to behavior. So how do we know something is right? How do we know something's good is whether it conduces to the feeling of well, being in the individuals concerned. Does it feel right? Does it make you happy? And if what you're doing makes you happy, then good, as long as you're not making someone else unhappy. That's the place where we have conflict. But we've all agreed that the self is central. The reason I'm saying all of that is because in this text today, we're going to see the conflict in two instances between a self centered, a man centered view of the world and a God centered view of the world. Not only we're going to see it in the text, but if we're, I think, honest while we're working through the text, we're going to feel it in the text, we're going to feel it in ourselves as we go through. There's going to be some places where we realize that because of the culture that we're in, we are in tension with this text. And my hope for you, for all of us today, is that we will leave less self centered and more God centered, that we will have removed ourselves and rightfully see God there. And if you love Jesus, you want that, so you should be on board with what we're trying to accomplish today. And if you are not a Christian, you need that. Even if you don't like the idea, it's actually better. So hopefully that's enough to make you want to read the Bible with me. Let's go. Second Samuel, chapter six, verse one. David is king. He set himself up. Now he's in the city of David. It says,
> Again David gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.
> And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale-judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD of hosts who is enthroned on the cherubim.
Okay, this is the first time we've learned about the Ark of the Covenant. Read about the Ark of the Covenant for 20 years now. For us, it was last fall sometime. But for those of you who have had a hard time with first and Second Samuel, it may have felt like 20 years ago, I don't know. But we, we were in 1st Samuel at the beginning. If you'll remember where the Ark was, it was in the tabernacle when Samuel was little. And then Hophni and Phinehas decided to use it as like a good luck war totem. And so they took it into battle to secure victory, which is a. An incorrect use of the ark, unless God tells you to use it that way. So God did not honor this. Hoffney and Phinehas die, Eleazar dies. Then the. The ark is taken. The Philistines take it, and they're going to use it as a trophy, which is an incorrect way to use the ark. So it goes really poorly for them, and God begins to curse them. So they start swapping it from town to town, being like, hey, you use the trophy for a while. Let your people die. And then eventually the town say, stop, we're not going to accept it. Send it back. So they put it on a cart and hook it to cows. And they just said, if this really is God at work, the cows will know where to go. They begin to bellow, and they walk uphill immediately back to Israel, and they're like, oh, they knew where to go. This was from God. So they send it back. When it gets to Kirioth Jearim, which is also baal, Judah town with two names, they uncover it, which is an incorrect use of the ark, and many of them die. So they cover it back up. They stick it in Abinadab's house, who is a Levite, and they don't mess with it for 20 years. And I think part of the reason they don't mess with it is I don't think Saul cared about it because it didn't help win. Oh, this is. This would have been longer than 20 years. It's been gone for a long time. It didn't help win. But David cares because it's not just about war. He goes to get it, to bring it back because he's setting up the city that's going to belong to God. He wants the ark there, so they go to get it. Okay, that's what we're doing. It's been in Abinadab's house,
> They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill.
> And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart, and Ahio went before the ark, and David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the LORD with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.
So this is how it made it to that town. So they put it on a cart and they're bringing it out. That's how it got here. That's how they're going to leave with it. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab were driving the new cart with the Ark of God. And Ahio went before the ark, and David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. So stringed instruments, percussion instruments, instruments. And they're all celebrating loudly. This is a. I mean, a procession excitedly working their way towards Jerusalem. They have the ark. They're going to move it. There's thousands of people here. This is a big deal. And they're celebrating. It's loud, it's festive. And when they came to the threshing floor of Nakin, Uzzah put out his hand to the Ark of God and took hold of it. For the oxen stumbled and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah. And God struck him down there because of his error. And he died there beside the Ark of God. Loud, festive, joyful, marching along. We're going to take it up to Jerusalem. The oxen stumble. Uzzah, who's walking along with the ark, steadies it or catches it and then dies. The text does not tell us whether or not he just fell over dead, like his life just left him, or if there was this was accompanied by some sort of noise or display, whether this was loud or quiet. David is going to call it Perez Uzzah. They rename that place, and that Perez means breach or outburst, which could be referring to God's anger, but could also be referring to what it was like when it happened, or both. Whether he touches it and just falls, or whether he touches it and something happens, the music stops, everyone stops, the procession stops. And suddenly it's like, what. What just happened here? And David has a response that I think is very common and that we see culturally quite often as well. It says this.
> And David was angry because the LORD had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzza to this day.
David's response is anger. And I think we see that all the time. I think we feel that at times that even if you've read this story before, I think sometimes what happens if you've grown up in the church or you've been around the church for a while, if you've read a lot, you just kind of sometimes move past this stuff. Like you start reading, you know what's going to happen, you just kind of work your way past it. You don't really think about it. But there is something in us that goes, He, he touched the ark to help was going to fall. Doesn't it feel a little like God overreacted? Should he die for that? Now I will say the ark should not have been on a cart. Uzzah and Ahio were Levites. They should have known that you carry the ark. That's in the law. They should have known that Levites carry the ark. They're often referred to as the those who carry the ark, not those who haul the ark on a cart. It's a. It was built in. It had poles. I think it had the poles on it, because otherwise they would have had to have touched it to get it on the cart. They just didn't carry it. They were traveling with it the way the Philistines had traveled with it. David was king. He should have known this. He was supposed to have a copy of the law that he made himself for himself so that he would know the law, so that he would follow the law. But they are not doing what they're supposed to. But there's still something that goes, yeah, but should he die? And I think culturally, we feel that a lot. And you'll hear people say stuff like that about God. They'll say, well, if God's like that, I'm not going to follow him. If that's the way he treats people, if that's the way he is, who does he think he is to act that way? I've seen interviews with famous people where they said, you know, interview. He said, you're a famous atheist. What happens if you die and you see God? He said, I'll start by saying, how dare you? And there's this general tone of who does God think he is? And the reason sometimes we feel that or think that is because we have placed humanity as central. And therefore God has rules he must follow in regard to us. We're first, we're primary. So God can't step over bounds when it is in regard to us. Not he's first, he's primary, and we have rules in regard to him. We. We read this, and we didn't immediately go, don't touch the ark. We went, don't kill Uza. Because there's something that we think is sacred, and it's not God. It's. It should baffle us. It should resonate with you. It should. It should bother you that we think that Uzzah should have more consequences from touching a hot stove than from touching the ark of the covenant of the Lord who sits enthroned above the cherubim, That we think there should be more consequences to simple things in life than to crossing a line to where God in His holiness has made his presence known. So he responds with anger. And I think that's a normal response. I don't think it's the correct one. Then
> And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and he said, "How can the ark of the LORD come to me?"
He responds in the way that I think is the appropriate response. And David was afraid of the Lord that day. And he said, how can the Ark of the Lord come to me? This is when the Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. That when you realize he's different than you, bigger than you, more glorious than you, more dangerous than you, you've begun to understand the world. That's why it's the beginning of wisdom. And so David, they now all of everybody's eyes. In everybody's eyes. The Ark of the Covenant is different now. Everybody has backed up and now everyone is treating it with respect and reverence. This isn't the same type of celebration anymore. And David says, how? How can it come to me? We're not taking this to the city of David. If Uzzah is going to die, I'm not. I can't. If he dies for touching it, I probably can't get within 10. He just says, I'm not. So then it says this, which I find humorous and maybe I shouldn't.
> So David was not willing to take the ark of the LORD into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.
> And the ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months. And the LORD blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that he had.
I just. I wonder how that came about. This thing is dangerous. Hey Obed, we got something for you. You're going to need to store this. Don't touch it. I don't know if Obed was with him. We do find out in First Chronicles he's a Levite. That doesn't seem to apply here or matter. Maybe that's why they picked him. But if that's why they picked him, they don't tell us that in Second Samuel. It just seems like David was like. And then they were just somebody's house was close and they were like, here you go. And they give it to him. So that's what happens.
> And it was told King David, "The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing.
So they said, hey, just want to let you know Obed edom's doing great because of the ark. And he's like, let's go get it seems as if he was worried that maybe God was going to punish. God was upset about how they'd handle it. It was going to go poorly. He gives it Obed edom. It goes well. And he goes, oh, well, then we can. That can we can get that into the city. They do. Beginning of chapter, verse 13 is very important, says this.
> And when those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling.
When those who bore the Ark of God, they're carrying it this time. So in that three month interim, they learned what they were supposed to do, or they knew it immediately and said, we shouldn't have been doing this. But we just know that this approach is different. They are now carrying the ark and it is accompanied with sacrifices. This whole procession seems more worshipful this time around and at least is trying to follow the guidelines given. So that's what's happening. It's accompanied by sacrifices. And they're going. And
> David danced before the LORD with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod.
David is celebrating. It's still worshipful, but he's dancing before the Lord with all his might. A lot of dancing, aggressive dancing. You've been at a wedding before where you saw someone dance with all their might. Like all that they could muster to dance, they were doing that. That's what David's doing. He's wearing an ephod, which is what priests wore. It's normal priestly garments. They're actually at times described as those who wear the ephod. So he's wearing priestly garments. This whole thing is more worshipful and the people would have recognized it as a priestly garment. The same way that you can, you know, play a game called Spot the Nun. And it's easy because of the way they dress. Same kind of thing. All right.
> So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn.
So still celebratory, joyful, and this time, though I think more worshipful. As the Ark of the Lord came into the city of David,
> Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.
David's coming in, leading this procession, leaping, dancing with all of his might. She sees him and she hates him. Now we'll quick note to married couples, be careful the types of thoughts in your heart that you harbor towards your spouse. Be mindful of the way that you talk to yourself and think about your spouse. They are going to do annoying things at times it will feel like that's their main thing they do. But it's up to you to consistently seek good and joy and hope and love for your spouse. That's not what this passage is about, so I'm going to stop talking about it, but I just thought I'd give you that little aside.
> And they brought in the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
> And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts.
> And he distributed to all the people, to the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, a cake of bread and a portion of meat and a cake of raisins. Then all the people departed, each to his house.
> And David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, "How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the servants of his servants, as one of the vulgar fellows would shamelessly uncover himself!"
> And David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the LORD—and I will celebrate before the LORD.
> I will be more lightly esteemed than this, and I will be abased in your eyes. But by the servants of whom you spoke, by them I shall be held in honor."
> And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.
And they brought the ark, brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it. So it's been in. It had been in the tabernacle, which is a tent. David sets up a tent for it in the city of David. The tabernacle still is set up somewhere else and they don't come together until they build the temple. So just so you know, the tabernacle still somewhere else with all the instruments of the tabernacle. But the ark now is in the city of David in a tent. And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. So this whole thing is worshipful. And it's unclear. We don't know if it would have been approached the same way the first time, but it certainly is now. And he blessed the people and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed, each to his house feeds everybody bread, meat, cake of raisins. Which I learned this week that a cake of raisins is not cake with raisins in it. It is just raisins smushed together, which they loved. It was a treat to have it's high, high calorie food that they were excited about. Some of you don't like that because you don't like raisins. But they were pumped. But it's like David has this and then he gives everybody like a half rack of ribs, some cornbread and banana pudding. He just feeds everybody. It's a celebratory moment. That's what's happening here. And so they just highlight that David feeds everybody instead of just sending them home.
And David returned to bless his household. So he's blessed the people he's now going to go back bless his household. But Michal, the daughter of Saul, came out to meet him. So he's coming back joyfully going to bless his household. She comes out to meet him and said, now we're going to read what she said in a second. But this is our second instance where we're going to see the self centered view, the man centered view, coming in contact and conflict with the God who centered view. It's on a different level than the situation we saw with Uzzah. But it's the same kind of thing at work here. And so we're going to see what she says. She says how the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants, female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself. Okay, so she says, well done. Made a big deal of yourself today, how you've honored yourself today. That's sarcasm. She doesn't mean it. Then she says, you've uncovered yourself like a shameless, vulgar fellow in front of the eyes of your female servants. Sorry, your servants. Female servants. Now, we were told what he's wearing, which is an ephod, he's not scantily clad. Ephods aren't like highly revealing outfits. It wasn't like when you went to see the priests. They were all not wearing much. They were wearing ephods. But ephods are thin linen garment, a very simple linen garment. And it was something that priests wore. It was not something a king should wear. We're also told earlier in the text when she saw him leaping and dancing, she despised him. It doesn't say when she saw him almost naked. So it's not just what he's wearing. That's what she's saying to him. But there's something else about the leaping and the dancing. And the whole thing is just dishonoring in her viewpoint. Now, I think to a king, it would look odd to see a king in an ephod. And I think in her eyes it would be very odd. It's a little bit like, because it's not a revealing outfit. But I'm going to try to help you have a connection point here. My grandmother, both my grandmothers would wear a house coat. My mom sometimes would wear a housecoat. And then if someone came around or if you went in, they'd say, I'm sorry, I'm in my house coat. Or, I can't do that, I'm in my house coat. Or, oh no, my house coat. Like that. Now a housecoat starts here Goes to here and then all the way down to your ankles. It's one of the least revealing pieces of clothing that you could possibly wear, but it feels like underwear somehow. And you don't want people to see you in your house coat. To be fair, I wouldn't want any of you to see me in a house coat. So I understand the. You know, but I think that's a little bit. What's happening here is. It's not revealing as much as what are you wearing? What is this? You're the king. And in her mind, it says that she's the daughter of Saul. It doesn't call her the wife of David, which it could say calls her the daughter of Saul. And I think that's to try to help us key in on how Saul would have handled this and how she would have understood what a king is supposed to do. That's how she's framed it up in her mind. This was a day to honor David, and oh, my goodness, how he's dishonored himself today. It was a day to put on display his kingliness. Bringing the ark to the city was to establish more of his power and his control and his position and his kingliness. And what he's doing done, wearing an ephod and really flopping around, dancing and bouncing and whatever that was. Oh, my. What on earth. That's what she meets him with. What are you. What. What. What are you doing? You look like a shameless fellow. What a. What a moron. Nobody wants to see their king jumping around like some goon in the street. That's what. That's what she's coming at him with. So he responds.
And David said to Michal, it was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as a prince over Israel. The people of the Lord and I will celebrate before the. The Lord. She says she was viewing it through the eyes of servants. What did the people think about what's happening? That's what she was doing. And David says, irrelevant. Don't care. That's not who I was dancing for. It was before the Lord. I will celebrate before the Lord. It's about his eyes, not anybody else's.
I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes. He said, oh, you're going to think worse of me, but the female servants of whom you've spoken, by them I shall be held in honor. So she's dishonored him, disrespected him. He said, it's going to get worse. I'm going to be more abased. He said, but the people that you're worried about, they'll hold me in honor of.
And Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no child to the day of her death. Which is an interesting note at the end of that story, because it doesn't tell us why. Which is a thing that people do, though, when they tell you a story. Sometimes they'll be like, buddy was never seen again. Yeah, but he never came back to that side of town. Yeah, but they broke up after that. And it's like, what does that mean? It's like just saying that's what this feels like. It is accomplishing that there will be no grandson of Saul on the throne. So him marrying into the Saul's lineage is. That's not going to continue. So that's accomplished. You can then infer either a rift between her and David or God not blessing her from this point on, because their. Their understanding was that children certainly were a blessing from God, and God oversaw that whole process. And so it just makes the note. And then you're like, why'd you write that? And it's like, all right, let's talk about chapter seven. It's just in there now. She comes to David and says, the point of today was to honor yourself. The point of today was like, you've dishonored yourself. Because in her mind, it's. It's. You're putting yourself on display in front of people. And David says that this is about the Lord. The day was for the Lord. I'm in front of the Lord. This is before the Lord. That stuff doesn't matter. And there's a way. This is why I said it's. It's Michal's interaction with this self versus the this man center versus God center is lower than the one when we're considering Uzzah. Because when we're considering Uzzah, we're considering are there sacred things, lines that God can't cross? But Michal's, on a much more practical basis of what's the point of today? Who's the point of today? What's the point of worship? What's the point of celebration? How often have you walked through life with Michal's lens on, which is, what do other people think of me? How am I being viewed in the eyes of other people? It's really interesting when you can begin to see this in children. Sometimes children for a long time are just kind of free. They're just doing whatever the heck they want. And then you'll see them start being able. And it's real obvious, but they're thinking about how you're thinking about them or how these people are thinking about them. They begin to be more aware of the eyes of the people on them. And there's something to Paul talks about, like, work as unto the Lord, not as unto your boss. There's a way for us to live as if my goal, my highest hope in life is to enjoy life, have life, be good and have everyone else around me, affirm me and be excited about me. And what I'm doing is actually putting myself on display to them. And there's a way to walk through life where it's about God is the one viewing me and he's the one who matters. And let me live in a way that honors him, let me live my life before Him. And one of those puts him central and one of those puts us central. So that David seems genuinely like, what are you. This today was about the Lord. It's not about anything else. It's not about me. Bringing the Ark of the Covenant to, to this city shouldn't be about me. Okay, so I said my hope was that we would begin to move ourselves out of that central position. Because there are distinctions between a man centered viewpoint and a God centered viewpoint. A God centered viewpoint says that God comes first, that he created everything and that there are actual morals that come down to us, that we are to live in line with the way he's designed the world and we're to relate to him the way that he tells us to. A man centered viewpoint says, no, we I get to decide. And if there is a God, he has to respect my boundaries. Which just so you know, the I'll decide what's right and wrong began in the garden. That was the first sin of humanity. Will be the ones who have the knowledge of good and evil. Thank you very much. We'll be the ones who choose what's right and wrong. So this idea that we'll pick, we'll decide what's good, we'll decide what's bad, we'll decide what's right. And God has to. And you'll hear people at times say things like, well, God couldn't do that because. And then their reasoning is some, some way that he would cross a boundary with us. There are times even where you're reading a text and they'll go, well, God can't do that, because he can't do. And it's like, well, he just did it. So you maybe need to go back to figuring out how you understand God. It says he does that. And there's part of us that doesn't want that. We don't want a God who chooses. We don't want a God who chooses winners and losers. We don't want a God who gets involved in life. We don't want a God who steps in and does things. We don't want a God who respects and defends his own holiness. There's a lot of things that bother us as humanity, and it's because we're trying to sit on a throne that's designed for him. That's why we don't like it. There are things God doesn't do, but it's because of who he is, not who we are. We're downline from Him. And then on a much more daily basis, there's a way for you to just walk through everything like it's about you. There's a way for you to show up in worship this morning like it's about you. You can get in the habit where you don't sing songs you don't like. Why are we singing? You can hang out there and go, yeah, I don't really. I'm not, you know, singing is not my thing. So you hang out and come in a little later. And your thing is people. So you talk to people. They're trying to sing or whatever. Hey, it's good to see you. You sit there, you get your phone out, you do other things because you're confused about why we're. There's a way for us to do that in our community group. And you'll hear it. You need to listen to yourself. You can hear it. Sometimes you'll say, yeah, I just am not really getting what I need out of that. What. What you need out of it is obedience and an opportunity to serve people. Doesn't sound like you're getting that. I'll agree with you. What you get out of that is belonging to the people that God tells you to belong to. But there's a way to show up to your group and be asking, are they treating me the way I want to be treated? Not am I treating them the way I want to be treated? Which is the way Jesus says it. I don't feel like they care about me enough. I don't feel like they love me enough. I don't feel like they do this enough. You find this one. It's real easy to not show up to your group meeting times. Because I just had some stuff going on, right? Because that group's about you. It's not about the other people who need you there so that you can love them, so that you can serve them. You're complaining about your group instead of making things better. Usually when you're frustrated with your group about something, it's an area that you're good at. And I'm thankful to Jesus that you're in that group so that you can make it better, not tell them that they're the worst. There's a way for you to exist in church family. Like, this is about you, and you're confused. And I'll add, probably miserable, because that's a terrible way to go through life. Michal had a day that could have been joyfully worshipful. She's miserable. Have you ever felt that? Have you seen that in yourself? You're just upset with everything, frustrated about everything. I'm willing to tell. My guess is that you're trying to sit on a throne that's too big for you and in a seat that doesn't belong to you, and therefore you're miserable because you weren't ever supposed to be there. But if you get in a position where everyone just annoys you, everyone bothers you, everyone falls short of your expectations, I will tell you who is central in your life and who matters the most. And I will tell you that you're wrong and you won't find joy there. We hear this stuff all the time. People will say things like, well, God just wants me to be happy. As if he centered that in his viewpoint for how life would work, our individual happiness. The reality is he does want you to be happy, but you don't know how to get there. You've picked something that won't actually accomplish your joy. It's actually only found in Him. It's only accomplished by Him. It's only carried out by Him. It's only kept by Him. And that when he calls us to him, he's actually calling us to joy. But when you read your Bible and you go, well, I know it says that, but I know that God wouldn't want me to be unhappy, so I get to do whatever I want. You're wrong and you've centered the wrong thing. In a moment, we're going to take communion together, which is a celebration of what Jesus has accomplished for us, that he died on a cross to rescue us, to pay for our sin. We're. We're going to. At the Last Supper, he said, this is my body broken for you. As he broke bread, he said, this is my blood poured out as a new covenant for you. That we would be forgiven, that we would be redeemed. But if we don't understand the glorious, unapproachable holiness of God, then we won't see the beauty of the gospel. You won't. You won't be able to wrap your mind around what you're getting to partake in. That he came as someone who could be touched, that he came as someone who died for us. If you've centered humanity, then you'll put it somewhere in like, well, of course he would. You won't see his humility, you won't see his suffering as glorious. You won't see it as wonderful. You won't be captivated by it. It won't break your heart and make you fall in love with him all at the same time. If we don't understand how big and how glorious he is and how much he did not have to come save us, except for the fact that he is really, really good and really, really loving. And he chose to redeem and to rescue people who did not deserve to be redeemed and rescued. And it is only by his grace and glorious goodness that we are welcomed in, not by some sort of centered excellence of humanity that he had to come get us. The band's gonna come back up. We're gonna sing in a moment. We're gonna take communion first. I want you to just ask the Lord, where have I centered myself? Is it in my philosophy? Is it on a high level in the way that you're supposed to interact with humanity as a whole? Or is it just in my daily life? Where have I failed to see that I'm supposed to live out in front of you and just talk to the Lord and then repent and then celebrate that we are saved by grace and grace alone, through the work of Christ and not through our ability to get this right, That God in his goodness, graciously removes us from the center. We have a hope in Him. Let's pray, Father. As we come to the table, as we come to partake in something more glorious than the ark of the covenant, that your Son would come and die to rescue us, to bring us hope, to bring us life and that we might celebrate together and remember together his sacrifice on our behalf. Lord, we pray that we would come in a way that helps remind us that you are central so that we might have the joy of self forgetfulness. In Jesus name, Amen. If you are not a Christian, we. We would ask you to refrain from participating in communion, but we would invite you to come know Christ as your savior. When you're ready. Let me take.
2 Samuel 3-4
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
2 Samuel 1
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning. Through snow and ice and disconnected H VAC units, we have finally gathered together, and we are getting ready to finally start Second Samuel. So if you're with us in the fall, we finished up First Samuel. We. We took a break with the Remember series and Give series, and now we get to start Second Samuel. We kind of jump into the middle of the story. First and Second Samuel actually were written as one book together. If you remember this when we first started, it's written as one book together because of how scrolls worked back in the day, they had to divide it in two separate scrolls. So it's one story. And we're jumping in the middle of a story at the beginning of 2 Samuel chapter 1. And we jump in the middle of a sad moment. And what we're going to see today is a lament that David has wrote for the people of God. And there are times where it's good to be sad. And when tragedy hits, when loss hits, there's something in us that aches for a response. I remember in 2001 when 911 happened, that as a nation, we were just collectively at a loss of words, and there was just a deep sadness for what many of us witnessed on TV and all the horror and the pain that came with that. And in November, two months after. I remember at the cmas, which is the Country Music Awards, Alan Jackson, he performed a song that he had written just a few weeks before. It's called Where Were youe In the World? Stop Turning. And the whole song is. It's a lament. It's country music, but it's a lament that captures how everyone felt in that moment as we witnessed all the pain and suffering at 9 11. And I just remember watching that with my parents and just being. Just felt it. You felt it in the room. And, you know, people outside of country music that don't even like country music, which is quite a few people, they actually, some of them very much appreciated the moment because what he was doing was capturing what we just felt. And that's what lament does. It captures this. This suffering, this. This loss, this pain that we feel. And it's good for. For us to sit in that. And poetic songs and poetic laments capture that. And that's what we get to see today as we jump into the middle of a story where we finish up in Second Samuel. We see the death of Saul and Jonathan and the defeat of Israel. We're going to walk through how David finds out about this. Then we're going to see how he laments and then as Christians, we're going to be able to sit in this and understand the importance of. Of what it means to be a people who lament. Well, so I'm going to pray for us, and then we'll walk through this together. Heavenly Father, I thank you for your word. It is precious, it is a gift, and it communicates wonderful, eternal truths that mold and shape us and conform us into your image in new and better ways. And I pray that you would do that to us this morning as we read and study and sit under the authority of your precious word. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.
Okay, so if you weren't here for First Samuel, let me just give a quick summary. If you were here and it's been months, let me just help us remember. In 1st Samuel, God calls the final judge and the period of the judges and prophet Samuel. Because first and Second Samuel in the Old Testament is the beginning of the age of the kings. So the people are longing for a king. They want a ruler. They had God as their ruler. They had God as their king. And God used judges to reign them in at times. But this moment, they want a king. They go to Samuel. Samuel listens to the Lord, gives them their first king, which is Saul. And at first it goes well. Saul fits the bill. He looks like a king. He's tall, he's handsome. He leads the people, and they beat, they defeat the Ammonites. They do all kinds of things like this. And it's wonderful. And then as you keep reading, you see that his heart actually isn't fully for the Lord, that he has moments of deep faithlessness. And in his faithlessness, God rejects him as king. He anoints David, who is the next king of Israel. If you're familiar with anything in first and Second Samuel, you're probably familiar with the story of David and Goliath. That is when David steps onto the national scene after he's anointed by Samuel and he becomes a hero. He defeats Goliath, and then Saul appreciates David for, like, 10 minutes. It seems it's not very long. He, like, invites him to marry his daughter. He marries into the family. Things are good for a moment. And then quickly, I think Saul realizes, oh, David is the next king, and he becomes a threat. And the whole rest of 1st Samuel is Saul trying to kill David over and over and over again until finally we get to chapter 31 of 1st Samuel, when finally God brings judgment upon Saul and his house, and they're defeated by the Philistines.
In 1st Samuel 31 it says,
> Then the battle went hard against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was badly wounded by the archers.
> Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through and mistreat me." But his armor-bearer would not, for he was very afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it.
> And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword and died with him.
> So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together.
So that is the end of Saul and 1st Samuel, or 2 Samuel chapter 1 picks up right where that leaves off a few days later. Verse 1.
> After the death of Saul, when David had returned from striking down the Amalekites, David remained two days in Ziklag.
> And on the third day behold, a man came from Saul's camp with his clothes torn and with dirt on his head. And when he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage.
So while Saul was fighting the Philistines, David was facing off with a band of Amalekites who had kidnapped him and his men's families. So he goes, he defeats them, and this is them kind of resting after the battle. And then all of a sudden, verse two, it says, and on the third day, behold, a man came from Saul's camp with his clothes torn and dirt on his head. And when he came to David, he fell to the ground and paid homage. So clothes torn and dirt on your head. That was an immediate sign to David and his men that something bad has happened. That's a sign of lament. You're in your garments, you put dirt on your head. Something major has happened. Which David said to him, verse three, where do you come from? And he said to him, I have escaped from the camp of Israel. And David said to him, how did it go? Tell me. And he answered, the people fled from the battle. And also many of the people have fallen and are dead. And Saul and his son Jonathan are also dead. So this is the first that David hears of this, that Saul, Jonathan, his friend, they're gone.
Now, put yourself back in when we finish this up in the fall, and remember all that David went through to get to this moment and understand the complexities of how he must have been feeling. Saul tried to kill him over and over and over and over again, hurling spears, chasing him in the wilderness, chasing him in and out of towns, and finally it's over. And David had opportunities. He had opportunities to kill him himself. He had two opportunities with his hand in his life, and he spared him because he would not raise his hand against the Lord's anointed. He said, God will bring judgment on Saul. I will not. And it's finally happened. So that's in the background. And then also, Jonathan was one of his closest friends. Jonathan was a dear friend to him. If you remember when we walked the story of David and Jonathan, we got to see Jonathan, who was the next in line to be the king. Saul's son was. He was beloved by the people. He was a mighty warrior. And when David steps on the scene, he yields. It's very clear that he trusts that God has anointed him to be the next king. And that doesn't happen in the Old Testament, that doesn't happen in history. People don't give up their right to the throne like that. But he's a faith filled man and he trusts the anointing that David has. And you see, even when they talk, he longs to be serving in David's court one day. And he also. We saw how much Jonathan honored his father. He called him out at times for how he was pursuing David, but he honored him and stood by him in this battle. And his friend Jonathan is dead. So there is a lot happening in the soul of David as he receives this.
And then in verse five, it says,
> And the young man who told him said, "I happened to be on Mount Gilboa, and there was Saul leaning on his spear, and behold, the chariots and the horsemen were closing in on him.
> And when he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. And I answered, 'Here I am.'
> And he said to me, 'Who are you?' And I answered him, 'I am an Amalekite.'
> Then he said to me, 'Stand beside me and kill me, for anguish has seized me, and yet my life still lingers.'
> So I stood beside him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen.
> And I took the crown that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm and brought them here to my lord."
Okay, if you're reading first into second Samuel, just chapter 31, straight into this right here. That's quite jarring because those aren't the same stories. That is two different tellings of what happened. And I just want to show you the differences in this. I've got a chart up here. And first Samuel, chapter 31, the narrator tells us that archers surrounded Saul and badly wounded him. But when the Amalekite retells, he says, no chariots and horsemen were close upon him. And in 1st Samuel 31, the narrator tells us that Saul turns to his armor bearer and asks to kill him because he doesn't want to be mistreated. But Amalekite says no. He called out to me. He said, I'm. He said, ask me to kill him. In 1st Samuel 31, we see that the armor bearer refuses. So Saul kills himself, but the Amalekite says, no, I killed him. The only part where. Where it is similar and you can line them up in compatibility is when it says in 1st Samuel 31 that the Philistines recovered just the armor. And then we get in the Amalekite retelling that the crown and the armlet he had so that you can line up, but everything else is different. So when we come upon situations like this in the Bible where there's. There's two differences there, that's an opportunity to lean in and to ask why? Why are these accounts different? And if you are undiscerning and you hop on the Internet and you get into the deep pages of Reddit or Google or wherever you go, you might find the lazy approach that's like, aha. Contradictions. See, your Bible is not trustworthy. And that's an opportunity to just sit in it longer, to ask deeper questions, to be more thoughtful and discerning. And once you do that, it's very clear what's happening. The Amalekite is lying. He's a liar. He's an opportunistic liar. He stumbles upon the battle. He sees Saul. Everyone knows that if Saul's dead, David is the next king. This is an opportunity for him to be rewarded in his mind. Grabs the crown, he grabs the armlet, he makes up a story, he leaves. And then he comes and he tells David the story. So he tells him this. Now David begins to really lament.
Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him.
> Then David took hold of his clothes and tore them, and likewise all the men who were with him.
> And they mourned and wept and fasted until the evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the LORD, and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
For Saul and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword, which is just a picture. When, when the leader mourns and laments, everyone does. They follow suit. They tear their clothes, they weep, they fast. Which just as a thing to think about, that's one of the reasons for fasting. Like we're in the south and when someone dies, we eat. Which I think can be fun, but also have a category for fasting is good for the people of God to actually to. To fast and to pray and depend upon the Lord. And that's what they do until evening.
And David said to the young man who told him, where do you come from? And he answered, I am the son of a sojourner and Amalekite.
> And David said to the young man who told him, "Where are you from?" And he answered, "I am the son of a sojourner, an Amalekite."
David said to him, how is it you who. How is it you who were not afraid to put out your hand to destroy the Lord's anointed? So this is about the moment the Amalekite begins to realize that he has made a massive mistake. Because David had multiple opportunities to do just this. David could have ended Saul's reign, could have taken the throne, could have seized power. But he feared the Lord and he trusted the Lord. And he was not going to do and raise his hand against the Lord's anointing. He was going to trust the Lord when the Lord decided to bring judgment. So how in the world could this Amalekite, this person who belonged to a people who were enemies of God, think that he could raise his hand against the Lord's anointed and this would somehow be rewarded? This is not the case. And he realizes he has made a mistake, that condemnation is coming.
Then David called out, called one of the young men and said, go execute him. And he struck him down so that he died. And David said to him, your blood be on your head for you, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, I have killed the Lord's anointed.
> And David said to him, "How is it you were not afraid to lift your hand to destroy the LORD's anointed?"
> Then David called one of the young men and said, "Go near and execute him." So the young man struck him down, and he died.
> And David said to him, "Your blood is on your head; your own mouth has testified against you, saying, 'I have killed the LORD's anointed.'"
So the Amalekite, his reward for opportunistic lying is execution. And that's is another example from the scriptures of the dangers of lying. You can do a whole sermon on that right there. But that's actually not the main point of this story. And we're going to move on to what is the main point, which is this moment of loss for David and the people. And David is going to enter into a lament that he has written. We get the setup for that in verse 17 when it says,
> And David took up his lament over Saul and his son Jonathan, and he ordered that The Song of the Bow be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar.
So what we're about to read is a lamentation, a poetic sadness that the people of God are meant to read for centuries to come. And we also see that it's recorded in the book of Joshar, which. That is a Jewish history book that's referenced a few times in the Old Testament. It's lost to history. We don't have any more copies of it, but it was written in the Book of Joshar for the people, and it was recorded here in these scriptures for the people to remember and to lament together. So we're going to read this lament. But as we read this, I want us, as we catch this poetic capturing of the sadness of the people of God and David, we should remember the complexities of how David is feeling in this, of everything that's happened to him and everything that even Saul and his relationship and how complicated that was, that Saul was his enemy, that Saul wanted him dead, but Saul was also his father in law. Saul was also his king. Saul was also his commander. And now he's gone and so is his friend Jonathan. So there's a lot happening here. And we'll read this lament together. He said.
> Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen!
> Tell it not in Gath; proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines be glad, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised rejoice.
> O mountains of Gilboa, may you have neither dew nor rain, nor fields of offerings; for there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil.
> From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan did not turn back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty.
> Saul and Jonathan, beloved and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions.
> O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with crimson in luxury, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.
> How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan lies slain on your high places.
> I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women.
> How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!
If you have a title for this lament, it's how the mighty have Fallen, which I got curious and I was wondering, and as best I can tell, that is where we get the sarcastic play on Lament, oh, how the mighty have Fallen. So this is. It comes back to this. It's how the mighty have fallen. One of the things he laments in the loss of Saul and Jonathan and this army is that the daughters of the Philistines rejoice. And this is. This is a picture of the people in Gath and Ashkelon. These are cities in Philistia. They're all celebrating. So not only have they lost their leader, but also their enemies are rejoicing and they're sad.
You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor fields of offerings. For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul not anointed. With oil. Mount Gilboa is where this battle happened. It's where Saul died. And David curses it. He curses it. He wishes this place to be as desolate and devoid of the life that was taken there. Cursed be Mount Gilboa. Says, from the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back. And the sword of Saul returned not empty. Which, every now and then the ESV translations get a little clunky. I think it's helpful if you reverse this. The bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty from the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty. What that is saying is that they once were mighty warriors. They. They once fought for Israel, they slayed their enemies, and now they're gone and they're lamenting the loss of their mighty warriors. So Saul and Jonathan, beloved, beloved and lovely in life and death. They were not divided. They were swifter than eagles. They were stronger than lions. And we've seen this, we talked about this, that they, that. And through everything that was going on with Saul and David, Saul or Jonathan, honored both his friend and also his father. And they fought together, and they were mighty in battle. You read that in First Samuel. Together they were mighty warriors who defeated their enemies. They were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.
You, daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. Remember how when he reigned, how prosperous we were. How, how the daughters of Israel had scarlet and gold. He says, oh, how, he said, how, how the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle. And this refrain leads into David reflecting on his friendship with Jonathan. Jonathan lies slain on your high places. I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan. Very pleasant have you been to me. Your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women. So we catch this final glimpse of David's great love for his friend. And he describes this brotherly love that he had with Jonathan as surpassing the love of women, which we talked about this in the David and Jonathan sermon in First Samuel. If you weren't here, I'd encourage you to go back and listen to it. But just a moment to sit in that idea. It is good to have deep friendships like this. And more specifically, it is good for men to have deep friendships with other men. And a time where it is regularly written about that, that male. That male loneliness is a crisis. It's talked about as an epidemic, that men, especially young men, suicide rates are through the roof, substance abuse is through the roof. Drug overdoses has been through the roof. Sports gambling is an absolute disaster right now for young men. And on and on and on. It's just, it's regularly observed there's something wrong and that they're. There's a need for men to have deep friendships. And we aren't culturally set up well to do this. The men aren't culturally set up well to do this. In fact, it's very apparent that culturally we don't understand a depth of friendship like this. Because people read this and they, they, they jump to, oh, something, something sexual in nature must have been going on between those two. I mean, that is, that is, that is what some people will argue that this is evidence that something was happening between those two men. And it's like we've so misunderstood and are so underprepared to understand how important is to have deep relationships with other men that you can walk side by side and that you can see as brothers. So we, we need to, to grow in this. And especially if you're, if you're married. Let me just say this very clearly. If you're married and your wife is your only friend, nowhere in the Scriptures do I see that as wise. You should absolutely have friendship with your wife. Also, you should have depth of relationship with other men. She should not be your sole confidant. We have care nights where we separate the men and women. And one of the reasons we do that is so that men can grow in friendship and brotherhood and accountability and depth. And that matters. So you can go back, listen to that sermon. More was said there, but I'll move on. And he is just lamenting the loss of this great friend that he had. Verse 27. He ends, how the mighty have fallen and the weapons of war perished. So he ends that refrain, the reminder of what they lost in Jonathan, what they lost. And when you think about what David's doing on behalf of the people of God and personally, and thinking about this, it's very peculiar because you have to recognize that ultimately for David, this is a good thing for him. He's not going to have to look over his shoulder. He's not going to have to be on the run. He's not going to have the threat of death hanging over him over and over and over again. Saul for years has made his life miserable. And you can see this very clearly not just in First Samuel, but when you read the Psalms, particularly the Psalms that David wrote while he was on the run from Saul. You see this in Psalm 57. 4. It says, My soul is in the midst of lions. I lie down amid fiery beasts, the children of man, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp, sharp swords. I mean, you see the distress as. As Saul and his men, and all the lies and all the. All the slandering, all the. The threats. In Psalm142.3, another Psalm he wrote on the run from Saul, it says, when my spirit faints within me, you know my way in the path where I walk, they have hidden a trap for me under the threat of being captured continuously. Psalm 54, another Psalm that he wrote while on the wrong from Saul, he says, for strangers have risen against me. Ruthless men seek my life. They do not set God, God before themselves. They seek Saul and his ambition, but they don't consider the Lord. And you see the turmoil that David was in for years. So it's reasonable to assume this moment that he hears of Saul's death, that he's relieved. But that's found nowhere in this lament, not for a moment as you celebrate this, even though ultimately this is for David's good and he knows now I'm able to step into the throne that God has prepared for me, he still appropriately laments. He laments the loss of this nation's leader. He laments the loss of his king, he laments the loss of his friend. And he does this for himself and the people of God to remember. And I think David's response is exemplary. I think it's a very helpful example for us to have this category of lament, even though good things may await us, because I think as Christians, we are just in America. I think we're weaker here. And I see this in a few different ways. I see this in the way that some Christians approach funerals. And I'm not here to attack you. If you've said this or if you believe this, I do want to correct you. I've heard Christians say, well, this brother or sister died, and we're not having a funeral, we're having a party. We're having a celebration because we know where they are, and where they are is far better. So there will be no tears. We will celebrate. And I just go, where do you get that from the Scriptures? Where do we get that idea that we smile in the face of death? Where do you get the idea that we should just be happy? We know that good things just. David knew that good things awaited him. But in the moment of death, the appropriate response is lament. I see people when they lose a job, some Christians come alongside them and they're quick to just want to point out things and they'll say things like, yeah, you know, but it's an opportunity for you to trust the Lord. And it seems like you're really upset about losing this job. You might want to check your heart. It's possible that you have some idolatry for this job. It's possible that you have some control idolatry, that you're trying to control everything. And this is an exposure. God is working in this trial to teach you you should be joy filled. And it's like, whoa, he just lost his job. She just lost her job. There's a moment that it's appropriate to be sad. And certainly we can work through the other things later and count it joy for sufferings. But must we jump straight into the good things that might away? This happens with health trials, various members of our church going through all types of health trials and battles. And I appreciate some of the optimistic culture that surrounds all of that. You hear people say, you know, God's got this and, and, and we're, you know, just. And I appreciate aspects of that that rally in a way that's appropriate and good. But there also, there's a moment and there are days that it's just okay to be sad. It's just okay to lament the reality of suffering. And we should hold these together because human emotion is far more complex than this. We as Christians should be the best at this, y', all to have moments where we are just sad for the reality of death and loss and suffering, while also having our hope secured and tethered to the reality of the future promises that await God's people. We should be able to hold both intention together. And no one exemplifies this better than Jesus Christ.
When you get to the Gospel of John in chapter 11 with the recounting of the story of the death of Lazarus and his resurrection, when you read that in verse 11, it says, after saying these things, he said to them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. And that's important because Jesus absorbs the reality that his friend is dead, that Lazarus is dead, while also saying, I'm going to raise him. Jesus knows exactly what he's about to do. He's about to raise Lazarus from the dead because that resurrection is going to point forward to later, not far actually down the road where Jesus Christ will be resurrected, which again points to the future resurrection. So he's doing something bigger here. He knows what he's about to do. He knows the good things that are about to happen. And yet when he meets his friends Mary And Martha, verse 32, it says now, when Mary came to see to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews would come with her, also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, where have you laid him? They said to him, lord, come and see. Verse 35. Jesus wept. And I think that's important because I think if some American Christians would have written this story, they would have said, Jesus comes on the scene and he sees them weeping and he says, dry your tears because I'm about to do something big, I'm about to do something good. I'm going to do something glorious. But he doesn't. He sees his friends who are broken and in tears, and he's deeply moved in his spirit and he weeps. It doesn't say he cried a few tears, it says he weeps. What a wonderful example we have in our Savior. And seeing the need to lament, knowing that good things may await. But the reality is, is that death stings. Yes. Oh, death, where's your sting? That's future looking. But the sting is now. And there are moments where that recognizing that and living in that reality is beautiful and good for our souls. We should be a people who do this well. We should be a people who both hold the reality of death in front of us and cry. And also hold the reality of the future resurrection and new heavens and new earth, where there is no more death, where there is no more sting, where there is no more tears. And hold those both together. I mean, that's when Paul is writing to the Thessalonians. In 1st Thessalonians 4, he says, but we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others who do not have hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. And I think some people just jump to the we have hope. We have hope. And it's like. But it presupposes what he just told them. He says, may not grieve as others who do not have hope. But he doesn't say, don't grieve. He says, no, we're going to grieve, but we're going to do it as those who have hope. Those who are grounded in the hope of the future resurrection. And that's what we're called to do. That when someone dies, the appropriate response is, if they're a Christian, is not, let's have a party. It's like, no, no, Death is awful. Now, we had a funeral here three weeks ago for one of our members, Ms. Valerie. And she was 93 years old. And y', all, she suffered greatly in the last few years of her life. And I could hold the thought in my head that says, I'm so thankful for where she is now. But when I sat with her family, I said, y' all should feel this death stings and it's okay to be sad. And we could hold both of those thoughts together. That when you experience loss, when you lose something, that you can be sad while also having your faith anchored in the reality that one day there will be no more losing, there will only be gain. That we as Christians can have sufferings. And know what James 1 says, when it says, count it all joy. My brothers know what Romans 5 says, that suffering produces character, care produces endurance. Like we can have all these together while also being faith filled and sad and also putting our hope in what is to come and growing and maturing along the way that we should be able to hold these both together. Because we as Christians live between the already and the not yet. We live between the reality of present suffering and the future promises that await. And we should be a people who lament well personally, but also we should help others lament, brothers and sisters. Do not rob others of the opportunity to both grieve and be sad and let God meet them in their grief. Because I think sometimes because we're uncomfortable, because we don't like the silence, or because we lack the theological depth to understand how we should respond. And we'll just offer shallow truisms or Christian niceties. We need to grow in helping other brothers and sisters who are lamenting suffer well and lament well so that God can meet them in their grief and grow their faith in wonderful ways.
I was on the Internet the other day and I saw one of my friends from college post this, one of the most moving things I've ever read on grief. And him and his wife had struggled with infertility for years. They six months ago had twin boys and were excited and did the gender reveal and all the things. And we're all very excited. And at 22 weeks, everything fell apart. They had emergency delivery and their boys lived for only a day. And then this past week, after six months of reflecting, he wrote this. And I Want to ask permission for me to read this because I found it to be very moving, very helpful. How God can meet us in our grief and our lament. And here's what he wrote. He said, grief is about allowing loss to enlarge my heart and increase my capacity to hold both joy and sorrow. Grief is teaching me that my boys live on in me and will always be a part of me. Grief is instructing me to cry out to God and complaint and lament long enough to hear him whisper, I know what it's like to lose a son. Grief is increasing my longing for heaven and the renewal of all things. Grief is daring me to believe that despite our loss, God is still writing a good story. Grief is consistently inviting me to choose life in the face of death. I'm a different person than I was six months ago. But as a friend who knows what it's like to lose a child, has told me I want my child back, but I don't want the old me back. I think I'm just starting to believe him. So it is through grief that I echo the words of Nicholas Wolterstaff in his book of Lament of a Son. I shall look at the world through tears. Perhaps I shall see things that dried eyed I could not see. I read that and I just was like, you don't arrive at that conclusion without having your faith so deeply anchored. The reality that one day he will make all things new, but he's sufficient to meet us in the moment of lament that comes through faith filled lament. You don't see God like this without him meeting us in our grief like this, knowing that God in our suffering gives us eyes to see, even if those eyes are stained with tears. You don't embrace this without faith filled lament. You don't refuse it. You lean into it. And that is something that we need to grow in as Christians. We need to grow in learning to lament well. We need to grow and having this trusting the Lord in the middle of the suffering and the loss.
And one of the ways we get to do that is through taking the Lord's Supper and through singing, which we're going to do in a moment. We're going to take the Lord's Supper and we're going to sing a song of lament. As we come to the table as Christians, we're reminded of what Jesus instituted for us on the night that he was betrayed. He took bread and he broke it. He said, this is my body that was broken for you. And he took the cup of the new covenant. He said, this is my blood that was shed for you, that as often as you eat and drink this, you proclaim my death until I return. Jesus instructs his church to practice this practice, to remember that he secured salvation for us on the cross while also pointing forward to one day when the final feast happens. And that we as Christians live in the middle between both. So we don't come to the table all the time with just joy filled hearts. Sometimes we come with heavy hearts, and that's good. If you're a Christian, you get to consider your sin, you get to consider our sufferings, and we also get to consider our Savior who meets us in our sufferings. And in a moment you'll come to the table and I invite you to. If you're not a Christian, we don't want you to come to the table. We want you to come to our Savior. That walking through this life will be filled with suffering, it will be filled with trials, it will be filled with death. And I hope that reality is impressed upon your heart to see that there is someone who can meet you in that and can point you to the hope that we have that is secure. So don't come to the table, come to Jesus Christ in faith. But the band's going to come up now. They're going to take the Lord's Supper, and then we're going to sing a song of lament that is meant to help us learn how to grieve well, how to lament well. And we will sing this out together.