Second Samuel 5:21

 

 

The Bible says in Second Samuel 5:21-25, “And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them.[22] And the Philistines came up yet again, and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim.[23] And when David inquired of the LORD, he said, Thou shalt not go up; but fetch a compass behind them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees.[24] And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.[25] And David did so, as the LORD had commanded him; and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer.” In verse twenty-one it says that David and his men burned the images of the false gods. One of the things that leaders of countries will answer to God for: what did they do to encourage true religion and to get rid of false religion? When America was founded, freedom of speech and freedom of religion was the law of the land. That is why Christian teachers were free to take the Bible into the classroom and read from it and pray all the way from 1776 until about 1960. That was America: a place of freedom of speech and freedom of religion. If a local school district and the parents did not like a particular teacher, they could always change. That system worked fine, and kids heard the Word of God a lot. But something terrible happened where that freedom was taken away. Because of the action of atheists who complained about this freedom, the Supreme Court took that freedom away. In effect, they replaced Christian teachings with atheist and secular teachings. They forbid the teaching of the Bible and prayer in schools as if it is a crime. As the decades have gone by, they have helped produce entire generations of young people who do not know God’s Word. The attitude of anti-biblical and anti-Christian sentiment has spread throughout society. Many now think that if it is wrong to teach the Bible in schools, it must be wrong anywhere else. This happened because of the leaders of our country in the 1960s making the wrong decisions about what to do with true religion and what to do with false religion. Atheism is a religion, and it was given great power to decide many things in our country.  

 

In verse twenty-three once again David asked the Lord what he should do. Notice that God said to David in verse twenty-four, “And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the LORD go out before thee, to smite the host of the Philistines.” The “going in the tops of the mulberry trees” was the wind blowing in the trees. The wind symbolizes the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 3:8, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” The Spirit of God leads a person to Christ, and then once a person is a Christian, that same Holy Spirit seeks to lead every step of the believer. Make sure that you do what David did and listen for the moving of the Spirit. It says to Christians in Ephesians 4:30, “And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God….” It also says to Christians in First Thessalonians 5:19, “Quench not the Spirit.” If you do not learn to be sensitive to the Spirit and to follow the Spirit, then you will learn some hard lessons in life. Because David followed the leading of the Spirit, it says in verse twenty-five, “And David did so, as the LORD had commanded him; and smote the Philistines from Geba until thou come to Gazer.”

 

The Bible says in Second Samuel 6:1-5, “Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.[2] And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims.[3] And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart.[4] And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God: and Ahio went before the ark.[5] And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.” This was a time of great revival and great victory for the people of God. God can do this for any people and for any nation. It is called revival. It is called having the grace of God poured out upon your land. David was God’s choice to lead the nation. What a blessing that was. We ask for the same blessings. We ask for God to give us leaders who are after His heart. If God could do that in the days of the law, then there is even more reason that the Lord will do it in the age of grace in which we live. Of course, the ultimate fulfilment of that very thing will happen when Jesus comes back and rules the earth from the throne of David in Jerusalem. 

 

The Bible says in Second Samuel 6:6-10, “And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it.[7] And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.[8] And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perez-uzzah to this day.[9] And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me?[10] So David would not remove the ark of the LORD unto him into the city of David: but David carried it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.” Why did Uzzah die when he touched the ark? That is because of what was in the ark. The table of stone of the Ten Commandments was in the ark. Of course, the Ten Commandments represent the law. The law cannot save: it can only condemn. No one has been able to obey the law perfectly except for Jesus. Failure to obey the law brings a penalty: death. That is why Uzzah died: in order to teach this lesson. The Bible says in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” It says in Galatians 3:10-13, “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.[11] But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.[12] And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.[13] Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:”

 

The Bible says in Second Samuel 6:11-15, “And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed Obed-edom, and all his household.[12] And it was told king David, saying, The LORD hath blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the city of David with gladness.[13] And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.[14] And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.[15] So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.” David is extremely happy and over-joyed that they now have the ark of God, and they are taking it to Jerusalem. Building up God’s work is the most important thing that anyone can be involved with in this life. There are many who tear down God’s work. Unbelievers tear it down where they can with the court cases brought by atheists, and the unwise decisions of judges, and the removal of the Bible from the classroom, the workplace, and other places. Unspiritual believers also tear down the work of God by their bad testimonies that ruin the testimonies of the work, by their lack of zeal to serve the Lord Jesus, and by not using their own gifts and resources to build up the work of Jesus’ church. No wonder David was so happy. He knew all that had gone wrong in the past. He knew how rare and how blessed was a victory for good and for truth and for righteousness. Verse fourteen says that “David danced before the LORD with all his might.”

 

The Bible says in Second Samuel 6:16-23, “And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.[17] And they brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.[18] And as soon as David had made an end of offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts.[19] And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. So all the people departed every one to his house.[20] Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself![21] And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel: therefore will I play before the LORD.[22] And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour.[23] Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.” What we see in these verses is the end of a marriage. David had many wives and many concubines, but Michal was David’s first wife, and so she was the most important at least up to this point. But Michal had both spiritual problems and other issues. She did not like the way that David danced and celebrated before the Lord. She did not like the fact that David became king in the place of her father, Saul. And then she rebuked and criticized David to his face. She forgot that he was king. She forgot that he was her husband. The result was that she lived in the house for the rest of her life, but not as a wife. One person can destroy a marriage, and Michal showed us exactly how it is done: with the tongue speaking condemning and critical words. Unfortunately, it was not the last time that a marriage has been destroyed that way.

 

The Bible says in Second Samuel 7:1-7, “And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the LORD had given him rest round about from all his enemies;[2] That the king said unto Nathan the prophet, See now, I dwell in an house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.[3] And Nathan said to the king, Go, do all that is in thine heart; for the LORD is with thee.[4] And it came to pass that night, that the word of the LORD came unto Nathan, saying,[5] Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the LORD, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in?[6] Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle.[7] In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar?” Just because something is a good idea does not mean that God wants you to do it. That is why we always ask the Lord for His will. We do not always know the mind of the Lord. Sometimes His holiness is at stake. Sometimes God is planning for the judgment and what will be said there. Sometimes God is bringing judgment now. We just do not know, and so we want to make sure that we seek His will and that we are surrendered to His will. God did not want David to build a temple, and so David never built the temple. His son, Solomon, built the temple. But God did allow David to prepare for the building of the temple.

 

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Copyright; 2020 by Charles F. (Rick) Creech
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