David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand. He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark. They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.
When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God.
Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.
David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, “How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?” He was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household.
Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.
As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.
They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.
When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”
David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” (2 Samuel 6:1-22 NIV)
Want to see Christians argue? Here’s what you do: Ask about the best way to worship. It’s hard to think of any other area in which there are such strong personal preferences among Christians. You know. You have strong personal preferences. Some of us like old hymns. Some of us never want to sing another old hymn again. Some of us wish we had a pipe organ. Some of us wish we had guitars and drums. Some of us wish we didn’t have to sing songs at all. See what I mean? It’s hard to think of any other area in which there are such strong personal preferences as in worship.
And then we look at what other churches are doing… At some churches, the pastor wears ripped jeans and a tank top. At other churches, the pastors wear ornate robes. Some churches have stained-glass windows. Other churches have jumbo screens. Some churches ask you to be quiet and somber. Other churches hand you ear plugs so that you’re ready for the jam session! We could go on and on, couldn’t we? Formal. Informal. Traditional. Contemporary. Who’s right?
Who’s right? Let’s ask King David. He knew a thing or two about worship. In fact, King David is the greatest worship expert in the Bible. Did you know that? The Bible has a songbook: The book of Psalms. There are 150 Psalms. Do you know how many David wrote? At least 73 of them. Can you imagine if half of the songs in our hymnal were all written by the same person? David had this amazing combination: He was a warrior and a poet. He fought battles and played the harp. He would have played football and been in the marching band at the same time.
And worship was always on his heart. Last week, we heard how God helped David conquer Jerusalem. Now that he had a capital city, David wanted to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. Do you know what this ark thing was? The ark of the covenant was a rectangular box. God had commanded Moses to make it hundreds of years earlier. The ark was covered with gold. On top were two golden angels facing each other. Inside were kept the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, along with a jar of manna, and the staff of Aaron the high priest. The ark of the covenant symbolized the presence of God himself. It was the center of worship for the Israelites.
But for decades, the ark of the covenant had been stuck at some guy’s house. It was in the little town of Baalah at the home of Abinadab. That showed the low priority that King Saul and the Israelites had placed on worshiping God. David said, “We can do better than that!” He rounded up 30,000 people to go with him and bring the ark of the covenant up to Jerusalem. “We want worshiping God to be at the center of our lives again!” It was a big day: “David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.” A 30,000-plus-person matching band bringing God’s ark home!
Until one of the biggest shocks in the Bible. As they were walking, the oxen stumbled. “Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God.” Makes sense, right? He wanted to keep the ark from falling. Except, “the LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God.” You say, “What in the world?” Uzzah got struck down dead in the middle of the party. God had commanded that no one touch the ark or face death. Does God really want his commands obeyed? Absolutely.
David was in shock. This was not how it was supposed to go. “David was angry because the LORD’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah.” I wonder whom he was angry at. I bet he was sinfully angry at God: “Come on, God, did you have to do that?” I bet he was angry at Uzzah: “Why did you touch it?” I bet he was angry for himself: “My special day is ruined!” But he wasn’t just angry. “David was afraid of the LORD that day and said, ‘How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?” Can you imagine what he was thinking? “If all it takes is one sin to deserve that, I’m too sinful!” The 30,000 went home, and the ark was sent to someone’s house.
What can we learn from this? The Word of God is written for us to learn it and apply it to our lives. I go back to one specific phrase: “The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act.” There is a need for reverence in the presence of God. Do you know what reverence is? Awe. Respect. Honor. Because God is GOD! We’re like this. He’s like THIS! We’re sinful. He’s perfect. Just one sin should be the end of us. We need to remember that. There’s only one way to worship God: With humility. With reverence. Can you see that?
When I was a teen, I had friends who wore shirts that said, “Jesus is my homeboy.” Have you seen those? It was cool! But Jesus isn’t your homeboy. He is the Almighty God! People say, “God doesn’t care what you believe, just as long as…” Yes, he does! God does care what you believe. God does care what you do. If you walk in here like it’s your living room and plop down like you’re watching a show and day-dream through the service, watch out! That’s not worship. If you expect worship to be a rock concert for you to enjoy yourself, that’s not worship. Here’s a news flash: “We’re not worshipping you. Or me. We’re worshipping the God of the universe!”
Do we treat God with reverence? If not, here’s what we deserve: To be struck down dead. Every time we use God’s name in vain, we deserve to be struck down dead. Every time we roll our eyes at God’s Word, we deserve to be struck down dead. Every time we break any one of God’s commands, we deserve to be struck down dead. Do you realize how serious that is? How serious all of this is? No sinner deserves to stand in God’s presence. God wants reverence in worship. Uzzah died. David went back to Jerusalem in fear. The ark went to some Obed-Edom’s house.
And God blessed him. We don’t know anything about Obed-Edom, but God did. God blessed him. The ark symbolized God’s presence. If God is with you, what happens? You’re blessed! David noticed. He thought, “Maybe we should try this again.” Three months later, they went to get the ark, just like before. But there’s one added detail: “When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf.” After just six steps, David stopped to offer sacrifices for their sins. “God, we can only do this with your blessing. We can only do this with your forgiveness and your grace.” So much reverence. So much care.
But also so much joy. “David was dancing before the LORD with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets.” Wait a minute. David was dancing. In church? There were shouts. In church? Trumpets and instruments? You bet. Why? There was joy. There was so much joy. We deserve God’s wrath, but he doesn’t strike us dead. Instead, he comes to us. He stays with us. He loves us. He forgives us. That brings joy! David—this mighty warrior—danced before the LORD with all of his might.
And somebody didn’t like it: His wife. David’s wife Michal saw it, and she cringed. Actually, “when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart.” According to Michal, there was too much joy. Too much dancing. So she mocked David. Sometimes people ask if there is sarcasm in the Bible. It’s right here! “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants.” This dancing wasn’t fit for a king. David was a disgrace. You can’t worship like that!
Do you know who Michal sounds like? Most of us. Let’s be honest. If there are two sides when it comes to worship—reverence vs. joy—which side do Lutherans fall on? Reverence, isn’t it? There’s no clapping at church, right? No laughing. Keep your hands folded. Certainly don’t raise them above your head! At church, you don’t show emotion. You just sit still, right? I once heard someone say, “Jesus came to bring people joy, and the church does everything it can to take that joy away.” If we had been there with David, we would have felt uncomfortable. “Why are they so happy? Why are they celebrating? Why aren’t they bored? What is wrong with them?”
David explained: “It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD.” David said, “God is so good. He chose me. I didn’t deserve it. I don’t deserve it. But God is so good! How can I not be joyful?” Is it any different for us? God is so good. He chose you to believe in Jesus. Jesus lived for us. He died for us. He forgives us. Jesus was struck down so we could live. Jesus took on our punishment on the cross, so we can be free and forgiven. By grace. By faith in Jesus. If that is all true—and it is!—how could we not be joyful?
So which is it? Reverence or joy? Both. Can you see that? If you walk into church half asleep and slump down in a chair just waiting for the hour to be over, you have no idea who God is. If you think you can do what you want and say what you want and worship should be about you, you have no idea who God is. He is the Almighty God. How can we not come with a humble, repentant heart? But, if you sit in your chair stoic and serious, you also have no idea who God is. If you have no emotions as you hear God’s Word, you have no idea who God is. He is gracious. So much love. So many blessings. There isn’t one right way to worship God. But two things are always part of Christian worship: Reverence for God’s holiness and joy at God’s grace.
Martin Luther understood that. In his catechism, he wrote explanations for each of the 10 Commandments. Do you know how he started each explanation? “We should fear and love God.” “We should fear and love God.” “We should fear and love God.” It doesn’t sound like those words go together, does it? Should we fear God or love God? Yes! Both. Reverence and joy. Sin and grace. That’s the Bible’s message. We have an Almighty God, and we don’t deserve to stand in his presence. Yet, we have a God of grace who forgives in Jesus. If worship lacks reverence, you don’t fear God. If worship lacks joy, you don’t love God. We need reverent joy.
That’s our goal. I’d be the first to say that our worship services aren’t perfect. I would never claim that. But this is our goal: Reverence and joy. We enter humbly. We confess our sins. Every Sunday. How could we not? How could we pretend that we’re good? We always need to repent. But then we get filled with God’s grace and leave with joy. How could we not? How could Jesus’ salvation not move us? How could God’s forgiveness not excite us? We kneel and we dance. We bow and we soar. Old songs or new songs, it’s all about this: Reverent joy in Jesus.
Comments