“Let us bring the ark of our God back to us for we have not inquired at it since the days of Saul.” That is a long time. Saul had died a minimum of 7 years prior to this point. It was possibly well over 10 years. This is bound to be a momentous occasion. With great pomp David plans on doing this, yet he failed to search the Scriptures regarding how the ark should be transported. David’s mindless mistake cost Uzzah his life. Do I ever approach the Lord without thinking it through? He bids me come boldly before the throne, but there is a protocol. It is only by the blood of the Lamb that I may enter. There was only one gate into the Tabernacle. It led by the altar of sacrifice. Do I appreciate what it cost Him for me to enter? Or do I just cavalierly waltz in expecting the Holy Almighty to bow at my presence?
Uzzah’s death angered David. He abandoned the whole project and left the ark in the home of Obed-Edom a Gittite, a man from Gath. Gath was the Philistine city from which came Goliath and his brothers. Wouldn’t you be a little reluctant to receive the ark after this event? I would. He was probably a member of David’s bodyguard, so he was a good obedient soldier and received it.
Yet the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all in his house. Who do you suppose was the first to notice the blessing that Obed-Edom received. How did they note it? When the author of life takes up residence in your house, do you not believe that it would make a difference? I suspect that Obed’s house became brimming with life. How great is that? It forever changed him. The same name is used in 15:24&25; 16:5,38; 26:4-8,15. I believe they are the same. He so fell in love with the glory of God that he gave up his military career and permanently pursued the glory of God serving as a doorkeeper/gatekeeper/musician. How cool is that? He could no longer live without the glory of God. Both Psalm 81 & 84 are written to be played on an instrument of Gath. I think this is in memory of Obed-Edom. It is Psalm 84:10 which says:
For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
That was Obed-Edom. He so encountered the presence of the Glory of the Lord that it changed his whole life. He went from a military man to a man of the cloth. Indeed we serve a glorious King. Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
PSALM 139
She looked kind of frumpy. At forty-seven-years-old, she certainly was not the kind of woman that you would expect to see on the cover of any beauty magazine. She was 50-75 pounds overweight. She wore no visible make-up and did not shape her eyebrows; they were rather thick. Her hair was kind of Medusa looking. Her dress was plain. Britain’s Got Talent host asked her what she hoped to accomplish by coming on the program. She replied, “I have hopes of becoming a professional singer.” Immediately, snickers appeared on the face of each panelist. Her name was Susan Boyles, and she sang I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables. After the first line, the camera angle switched to the panelists. The astonishment was clear upon their faces. Boyles gave a flawless performance, turned and began to march off the stage. The crowd and two of the panelists rose to their feet in a standing ovation. Clearly they had misjudged Ms. Boyles.
We all long to have someone of significance know everything there is to know about us and still desire us and think that we are wonderful. Our great God and Savior is that person. He knows all there is about us. He has studied us completely. Nothing is hidden from His sight. He knows our thoughts and our words before we know them. His Spirit is ever with us, and like Jonah we cannot get away from Him. He knows even the agony of the inhabitants of those in hell. He knows where dark things sleep in the depths of the sea and in the sordid depths of our minds and souls. He knit us together in our mother’s womb. In light of all this knowledge, David asks the Lord to search him and reveal any wicked way. Indeed God does have this kind of knowledge about our lives. For those of us who are born again, not only does He know everything that there is to know about us, but He also is delighted with us. Like the panelists with Susan Boyles, He jumps to his feet in feeling His pleasure in us. There is a difference with us though. Ms. Boyles walked away from the stage still looking frumpy, nothing had changed about who she was before or after her encounter with Britain’s Got Talent. We step back from our encounter with the Creator forever changed for the better. We become new creatures when we meet Him. He purifies us of the things He doesn’t like and gives us the things He does like. He gives a flawless performance in changing us and then stands back and applauds us, His work. Such knowledge for us is difficult to attain, but it should motivate us to step back and return the applause to the One who changed us. That is His glory! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
ZECHARIAH 1
It was an early April snow, very unusual for Oklahoma. The storm dumped 6-8 inches on us overnight. For northern states that have the equipment to remove snow, it would have been nothing. But for us, it is safer to just call off school for the day and let it melt. It would all be gone in a day anyway. With school out, our neighborhood decided to have a snowball fight with the guys from a nearby neighborhood. I was one of the youngest in the group. I think that I was in the 7th grade. I was able to sneak up on a guy two years older than I, and I nailed him. He wasn’t about to take that from a squirt like me. So he began his revenge. I was getting hammered terribly, but then my brother, a senior in High School, saw my plight. He came to the rescue. Boy did he come to the rescue! I almost felt sorry for the guy who was pummeling me. It kind of ended the snowball fight. Now, my brother and I once in a while would have a disagreement (usually I was the aggressor), but I had never seen anger like that out of him! He was zealous for me.
The Lord says,
I am zealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with great zeal. I am exceeding angry with the nations at ease; for I was a little angry, and they helped—but with evil intent. Therefore thus says the Lord: I am returning to Jerusalem with mercy; My house shall be built in it.The Lord was indeed a little angry with His people, Judah. He used other nations to kick them out of the land. But as His tool of disciplining His children, they had evil intent. The result? The Lord was very angry. My brother might get angry with me, but you’d better not mess with me. The Lord gets angry with the disobedience of His children, but you had better not mess with His children! That is part of His glory. Indeed, we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
JAMES 1
Where is Jesus in this chapter? First He permits us to fall into trials for the testing of our faith. He does what? To my simple mind that does not sound like much glory! Why can’t He just keep the trial away? To my simple mind that would seem like more glory. But if we did not experience the trial, we would never know His power to change us through the trial. And He wants us to become perfect like Him. How was He perfected as a Man? Remember Hebrews? He learned obedience, even to the point of death upon a cross. As we go through trials, He is making us like Himself. We are going through trials that He Himself has endured. Jesus, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross despising the shame. We endure the trials, perhaps despising the shame, because of the joy set before us.
What does Jesus give us as we endure the trials with joy? He gives us patience, wisdom and the crown of life. It is gracious of Him to do this because we ought to endure those things without reward. Yet He freely gives us reward. He knows the temptations that we have been through; He experienced the full intensity of all our temptations through His life. In every temptation that Jesus experienced, Satan tempted Him to its fullest strength. Jesus wrestled with the temptation to turn from the Father’s cup of suffering when He was in the Garden of Gethsemane. Having gone through all temptations Himself, He leads us through our trials by His word of truth. He does that so that we might be the firstfruits of His creatures.
If He leads us through by His word of truth, then how important it is that we become hearers and doers of His word! What precious gifts He has given us in His word! Indeed we serve a glorious King! Speak His glory to someone today!
--Pastor john
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