Hope From the Word

Bill Luebkemann: You can never go wrong in seeking the Lord to fight your battles. That's what David learned to do. Pastor Bill Luebkemann is here to comment.

The Lord was on his side. The Lord was fighting his battles, and everybody was afraid of David. They're either going to be his good friend, or they're going to be fearful of him and stay out of his way. Don't do anything to annoy that guy.

He became famous and it was for the benefit of the nation of Israel. And he was doing the right thing here by asking God step by step, "What do you want me to do? How do you want me to handle this? Should I go up? Should I go out? Should I go after these people? Are you going to bring me the battle? Are you going to bring me the victory?"

Guest (Male): Those who say they are without problems are either not telling the truth or not growing and experiencing real life. The last time we were together, you remember that David was seeking to bring the ark of God to Jerusalem and ran into some real problems. Well, today on Hope From the Word, we'll hear that David seeks the Lord for answers. That's a good example to follow.

But before we get to the ark, we start off in 1 Chronicles 14. Let's join Pastor Bill as he begins with some review.

Bill Luebkemann: Last time, we looked at Chapter 13 and the first attempt of David to bring the ark to Jerusalem. We saw what a terrible calamity that was because they weren't following the Lord's direction. Uzzah reaching out to steady the ark because the oxen that were pulling the fancy new cart had stumbled, and the Lord's anger burning against him because of that, and him being struck dead because he had dared to touch the ark.

David being angry with God and afraid, afraid of God. David being afraid to bring that ark to Jerusalem, wondering how he could ever do that, sending it instead to the house of Obed-Edom. I'm not sure if that was a friend or an enemy. You're afraid of bringing it to Jerusalem, you think you'd send it to your enemy. "I'm going to stick it in your house and God will take care of you."

Well, it turned out the ark remained in that household for three months, and the Lord blessed everything that Obed-Edom had. So moving on now, we'll come back to the ark in Chapter 15, which we'll get to in a few minutes. Now, Hiram, King of Tyre, sent messengers to David along with cedar logs, stonemasons, and carpenters to build a palace for him.

And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom had been highly exalted for the sake of his people, Israel. In Jerusalem, David took more wives and became the father of more sons and daughters. These are the names of the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, Ibhar, Elishua, Elpelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Beeliada, and Eliphelet.

It seems like as David went on, he used longer names. I guess he decided he didn't like the shorter ones. But let's go back to verse one of Chapter 14. Hiram, sending these messengers along with the cedar logs, stonemasons, and carpenters to build a palace for David.

Hiram here recognizing, we see that David was an excellent fighter. He was a man of war. He knew how to win a battle, but he also knew how to be friendly with people that wanted to be friendly with him. And this guy, Hiram, King of Tyre, was a friend, not an enemy, and he wanted to bless David.

Perhaps he wanted to keep good relations with David because he knew that if he fought him, he would lose. But he's a friend. He sends along skilled workers and raw materials so that they can build a palace for David. Sign of respect to him, maybe a sign of friendship, reaching out his hand to him.

David knew that the Lord had established him as king. Look, David was anointed king by Samuel a long time before this, maybe some 20 years or so. And for a long time, Saul was pursuing David all around the place. And David knew during that time that he had been anointed the king, but it just hadn't happened yet.

And then when Saul died, when Saul was shot with an arrow by the Philistines, I believe, here you have David for seven years being the king in Hebron, not really having the kingship of the whole nation. But now he is the king of the whole nation. All these many years having gone by since Samuel had anointed him.

And all the while, he knew what the Lord was doing. This was not the first time that he knew that he was the king. It says here he knew that the Lord had established him as king. This was now the time when he was really in power, really in practicality, in practical ways, not just that the Lord said it's going to happen, but it had happened.

And his enemies had been eliminated and he was established and set up there and getting a palace built for him. And he knew that his kingdom was highly exalted. People were either afraid of them or they were their friends. You have the Philistines who would fight them in battle and no doubt were afraid of them. And if they weren't afraid of them, they're going to become more afraid as time goes on.

Then you have this guy, Hiram, King of Tyre. I think that's where Goodyear headquarters. And he wanted to be friends with them. So his kingdom was exalted. And other people were afraid of him or they were friendly with him. They looked up to him. He was highly respected. And it says here something interesting, "for the sake of his people, Israel."

These things being done for the sake of the nation. David wasn't made king just so David could be king, so God could bless one man. He was made king because God wanted to pick the right guy to be king over the nation of Israel so that the whole nation could be blessed. These were God's chosen people. And we know David was a man after God's own heart even though he made many mistakes, one of which is illuminated in the next verse here.

But even so, God had picked a man who was a man after God's own heart. And he did these things. He established the kingdom. They had peace with their neighbors for the most part. He was highly exalted, and it was done for the sake of his people. Remember, they wanted a king. They wanted to be like everybody else. God encouraged them not to have a king. And their first king turned out to be a terrible king.

He was an earthly king. He was somebody that they could look up. "Yeah, he's head and shoulders above the rest. Just look at the guy. He's a fabulous king." David might not have been much to look at, but David was the guy who was chosen by God instead of chosen by them.

Look, I know God chose Saul also, but he chose what they wanted. They wanted a guy that looked like a king, and they got one that looked like a king. But he didn't care much for them. David, a guy that was exalted and a guy that was living after the Lord's own heart or seeking after God's own heart, David was a king that would bless the people and the Lord having done all this for this nation that he loved so much.

Unfortunately, David did make some mistakes along the way. And the one that's in front of us now, he took more wives and became the father of more sons and daughters, even though it was commanded that the king should not multiply wives unto himself. In fact, all the way back in Genesis 1:1, it says the man shall leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife and the two shall become one flesh. It didn't say the eight or the 12 or the 24 or some other number.

Whenever you see multiple marriages in the Old Testament, it's never endorsed by God. He doesn't tell them to do this. He may bless them, but if he does bless them, he's blessing them in spite of their mistakes, not because of them. And in fact, if you read David's life and you go through what we've been going through here in these last few books and we're going to continue to go through it, the more you read about David's life, the more you find out that so many of his problems were related to his family.

And his wives and kids and the various things related to wives and kids and family caused so much of his problem. And God blessed him in spite of his mistakes and his errors here, but you wonder how much more so he could have been blessed if he had done it God's way. He took more wives. He had more sons and daughters. Here's the name of the children that were born to him there in Jerusalem.

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel... now this was again, this was kind of like a step up, instead of just being king in Hebron over one or two tribes, he's now king over the whole nation. And remember, he had been living with the Philistines for a while there in the land of the Philistines for a year and a half or so.

He was even going to fight with them in battle, but Philistine kings didn't want him. They were afraid he would turn on them in battle. And now they find out, "well, he's up to his old tricks again. He's become king of the whole nation and he's going to give us a harder time." It's a shame the Philistines didn't reach out a hand in friendship like Hiram, King of Tyre, did.

They could have sent him a gift and said, "hey, for old times' sake when you were living with us for those 18 months, we were happy to help you and here's a gift and we want to be friends." And who knows how things would have worked out differently? They were not interested in the things of the Lord, of course.

When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over all Israel, they went up in full force to search for him. But David heard about it and went out to meet them. Now, the Philistines had come and raided the valley of Rephaim, so David inquired of God, "shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?" The Lord answered him, "go, I will hand them over to you."

So the response of the Philistines was, they heard David was king, and the response is none of this friendship stuff, none of this, "let's get along and do the right thing." The response was to march out in full force looking for him. "Where is he? We're going to get him." They didn't have to go look for him because David was all set to march out and meet them.

Remember, he was the guy that took on that one Philistine with that sling, put it right square in the forehead there. And he went out and marched out to meet them, not afraid of them at all. They raided this valley here, which is thought to be a valley that was probably to the south and west of Jerusalem.

And David inquired of God, something he should have done when he went to get that ark. He should have said, "God, should we get the ark and what's the way to go about that?" Instead, when he went to get the ark, he asked everybody but God. Kind of ran a democracy there. Now here he's back to asking the right person. "What do you want me to do with these people, Lord? Should I go and attack them? Are you going to give them over to me?" And the Lord said to him, "go, I will hand them over to you." So ask first from God. Ask first, and then let God work.

So David and his men went up to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them. He said, "as waters break out, God has broken out against my enemies by my hand." So that place was called Baal Perazim. The Philistines had abandoned their gods there, and David gave orders to burn them in the fire. Baal Perazim, by the way, means the Lord who breaks out.

So David went up there and he defeated them. He fought them in battle. He won the battle. He asked God. God fought the battle for him. God said, "I'm going to hand them over to you. Go fight them. You're going to win. I'm going to hand them over to you." This was not a thing where it was superior strength against inferior strength. The Philistines were very strong. This was a thing where you have God's hand on these people and not on these people. So these people win. God's hand was on them. He was blessing them. They were walking in his will.

And he said this thing, "as waters break out, God has broken out against my enemies by my hand." Just imagine the dam breaking and the waters breaking out, or the levee or the dike and there's a flood. And then they're putting up the sandbags and making the wall higher to keep the water from coming through, but you're unsuccessful and the water breaks through and there's a flood.

And he says, "as waters break out, so has God has broken out against my enemies by my hand." He's allowed me to defeat them. God did it, but he did it through me. Doesn't take any credit for himself. He doesn't say, "aren't I so good? Look what I did. Aren't I something else? I'm a legend in my own mind. I'm going to get my name and picture on the front of a magazine."

So that place was called Baal Perazim, again meaning the Lord who breaks out. Meanwhile, the Philistines abandoned their gods. They brought all their gods with them, thinking that they could win the battle because they have their gods with them. I am never ceased to be amazed at that.

Somewhere in Isaiah, I think, it talks about, "what are you people doing? You cut the wood in half. You get some wood, you cut it in half, put half in the fire and burn it to make you warm. You take the other half, you carve it into an idol. You set it up and you say, here is my god. My god saved me."

We do the same thing today when we give credit to every possible thing other than God for when anything good happens. Get a new job. "Well, we got a new job because we're smart and we got education and went on the interview and wow, then we were smarter than the next guy." God got you the job. And if you remember that, you may be successful at working at it too.

We get healed. We say, "well, thank goodness for the doctors. I'm really glad that guy went to that medical school and he knows all about what he's doing." The Philistines brought their gods with them thinking, "we can't lose if we have our gods with us. We'll bring them with us." It's great to bring your god. Pack him in your suitcase. "I'm going on vacation. Got my god with me. I'm all set. Did you bring the Excedrin? Don't need that. Got my god. Just ask him to take care of me."

And they left their gods there. Their gods were so useful, they left them behind. They took off. And David gave the orders to burn them in the fire. Get rid of those gods. They're no gods at all. Philistines didn't learn the lesson though, because it says in the next verse: once more the Philistines raided the valley.

So David inquired of God again, and God answered him, "do not go straight up, but circle around them and attack them in front of the balsam trees. As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move out to battle because that will mean God has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army." So David did as God commanded him and they struck down the Philistine army all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

So David's fame spread throughout every land, and the Lord made all the nations fear him. Look, the Philistines didn't learn their lesson. They decided, "you know, we must have made a tactical mistake. We should have brought more gods with us. Surely if we have more, maybe that'll do it." Maybe they thought they had a different technique, a different way. They obviously weren't understanding what was going on here.

And the Philistines decided to come in again. And David was very wise here, because a lot of people just don't ask God. But he had asked the Lord previously, and the Lord had told him, to go and fight this battle. Now he could have had an excuse of not asking God again because, well, God already gave me the okay. He told me to fight them, and I fought them. I guess I'll just go fight them again.

We need to have a relationship with the Lord where we're into his word and we pray and we seek him daily, because yesterday's word from God is old today. We need something new today. We need the Lord to be guiding us and leading us every day. And David was very smart here. He didn't take yesterday's word from God for today.

He didn't say, "well, God told me to fight him, so every time the Philistines come in now, I guess I can fight him." He asked God. And it's a good thing he did, because the Lord had different plans for this one. Can you see if he didn't ask him, he would have gone marching in the same way he did the last time and who knows what might have happened?

David inquired of God again, and God said, "look, we're not going to do the same battle plan. You're going to circle around and come in from behind this time. And you're going to attack them in front of the balsam trees, but you're going to wait till you hear the angels marching in." Look, this can only be the sound of angels.

As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, who else would be marching in the trees but angels? Or maybe God just set up loudspeakers up there and he was playing some marching movie through them. Whatever it is, the Lord says, "when you hear the sound of marching, that will mean God has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army."

So you're just going to circle around. You're going to wait. You're going to hear the marching. God will be out there in front of you. What bigger picture could you get? Or what better picture could you get of the Lord assisting and the Lord helping and the Lord really doing the work and David just being along for the ride?

He just shows up to get the credit. You know, got the swords and everything, but the Lord is doing all the fighting. He doesn't take the credit, by the way. He gets some, though, because David's fame, it says, spread throughout every land. The Lord made all the nations fear him. The Lord was on his side. The Lord was fighting his battle and everybody was afraid of David.

They were either going to be his good friend, like this guy was up in Tyre, or they're going to be fearful of him and stay out of his way. "Don't do anything to annoy that guy. Leave him. Send him a gift. Try to develop some trade or business relationship with him, maybe."

He became famous and it was for the benefit of the nation of Israel. And he was doing the right thing here by asking God step by step: "what do you want me to do? How do you want me to handle this? Should I go up? Should I go out? Should I go after these people? Are you going to bring me the battle? Are you going to bring me the victory?"

After David had constructed buildings for himself in the City of David, he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. Then David said, "no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God because the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before him forever."

So David then won the battles, set up some buildings for himself. Remember, the guy from Tyre had sent down some skilled workers and some raw materials. Some translations say he built houses for himself. Here it says buildings in the NIV.

So he got some buildings set up. He had a bit of a palace going on there. And he set up a tent for the ark, a temporary place for it. I'm not really sure why he didn't move the Tabernacle, which was in Gibeon at this point. The ark would stay with the Tabernacle, be behind the curtain in the Most Holy Place.

I'm not sure why he didn't bring the whole Tabernacle to Jerusalem. There's different feelings on that. Some people feel like he felt if he brought the whole Tabernacle, that would lower the sense of urgency to build a temple for God. Some people thought that maybe he kept the sense of urgency higher by not having a place for it.

I guess you can think whatever you want there. Maybe the Lord would have preferred for him to move the Tabernacle, but he didn't do it. The ark had been separated from it, captured by the enemy. It was being returned now. His plan is to bring it to Jerusalem.

But David, in the meantime, since the last disaster when Uzzah had that place named after him, Perez-Uzzah... since that disaster, that big PR problem, a lot of people were no doubt afraid of the ark. David was afraid of God. But he must have done some reading, because now he seems to know more about how to do it.

He says no one but the Levites can carry the ark. Why? Because the Lord chose them to carry the ark and to minister before him forever. So he's now read up a little bit on the five books of Moses. And he realizes, "we have to have the Levites carry it because they were chosen and they're the only ones that are allowed to carry it and they're the only ones that are allowed to minister before the Lord forever."

So he's going to do it right this time because he's taken the time to inquire of God, something he didn't do the last time. He inquired of everybody else: "hey, should we get the ark back in Jerusalem? Yeah, what do you think? What do you think? Hey, what do you guys think? What do you all think? Let's get it back. Yeah, it's a done deal. Let's do it."

Always ask God what he wants. Just because it's a democracy, just because a million people say let's do one thing doesn't mean that's what the Lord wants.

Guest (Male): Good counsel from Pastor Bill Luebkemann. Stay with us for more Hope From the Word as Pastor Bill will return in just a few minutes with more on the ark of God.

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Either email us through the website at ccmarlton.org or call 856-983-1662. David, having discovered God's way, handles the ark the right way—God's way. Once again, here's Pastor Bill.

Bill Luebkemann: David brought them all together here, and the purpose was to do this right and to get all the Levites there and to bring this ark into Jerusalem and to be sure that we honored God and did it the right way.

Then David summoned Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab the Levites. He said to them, "you are the heads of the Levitical families. You and your fellow Levites are to consecrate yourselves and bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. It was because you the Levites did not bring it up the first time that the Lord our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way."

Guest (Male): Lesson learned: always inquire of the Lord and you'll never go wrong. We'll get back into 1 Chronicles next time on Hope From the Word with Pastor Bill Luebkemann.