Hope From the Word

Guest (Male): David wants to build a house for God, a worthy desire, but is it God's will? Pastor Bill Luebkemann offers these thoughts.

Bill Luebkemann: And Nathan here, who was a prophet but didn't bother to check in with God on this one, just off the cuff said, "Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you." Well, God was with him. There's no doubt about that. But just because God is with you doesn't mean whatever you have in mind is what God wants. And so easily we convert our own will to God's will. We think if we want to do it, it must be what God wants. If the other person is doing something different than what we're doing, since we could never be out of God's will, it must be the other person that's out of God's will.

Guest (Male): One of the great things about being a Christian is knowing that God has a plan for your life. The Bible talks about the good works which he has prepared beforehand for you to do. That sounds like a plan. But are you getting ahead of the Lord or lagging behind? Is what you're doing God's will? Has he told you no, but you're pressing ahead anyway?

We'll address these issues today on Hope From the Word with Pastor Bill Luebkemann. And there's a lot to cover, so let's get started. Head over to 1 Chronicles chapter 16 as we begin with some review, providing some necessary context.

Bill Luebkemann: Picking up in verse 19 down to 36, just to set the stage here, but this was David writing a psalm of thanksgiving to the Lord. For the first time ever, he was appointing permanent regular worship leaders to lead the worship, to play the instruments, and to praise the Lord. He gave them this psalm of thanks.

The first part of it basically revolved around a call to praise or an exhortation to praise, different ways to praise. Then he got into a reminder of who God is. He is the Lord our God, his judgments are in all the earth. He got into how faithful God was, that he kept his covenant, the covenant that he made with Abraham, that he continued it with Isaac and confirmed it to Jacob, and that it was an everlasting covenant that they would have the land of Canaan as the portion they would inherit.

We remember how the Chronicler, who wrote this book, was educating these people as they returned from exile. This is your land, and God gave it to you, and the promise is still good. He's the same God who made this covenant and who kept it, and he's still the same God today that he was hundreds of years ago when these things happened.

When they were but few in number, few indeed, and strangers in it, they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another. He allowed no man to oppress them. For their sake, he rebuked kings. "Do not touch my anointed ones. Do my prophets no harm." There was perhaps a reason why he was saying when they were small in number, because they were small in number once again, relatively speaking, as they returned from captivity.

The Chronicler is reminding them back in the time of Moses, in the days when they were in Egypt, when they went into captivity. As that started out as a blessing to be in Egypt, then it became captivity. They were small in number those days. Even though they grew a lot when they were in Egypt, they were relatively speaking still small, strangers. But God always provided for them.

Here they were again, returning to the land, smaller in number. Many of them had died, and of the ones who lived, many of them were not returning. Some of them stayed in Babylon and didn't bother to go back. So there were relatively few of them going back compared to the land being occupied again by other people. He's reminding them here the Lord kept your ancestors safe, and he's going to keep you safe as well.

Sing to the Lord, all the earth. In verse 23, it seems like we have more commands here about praising the Lord and different ways to do it. Sing unto him, proclaim his salvation day after day. I reminded you on Sunday about it being his salvation, not your salvation or my salvation, but it's all his idea. He thought the whole thing up. He created the whole thing. He invented it. He's the redeemer and the inventor of it, the creator.

Today, inventors invent things, but usually they invent them out of other things. Nobody's invented any new elements on the periodic table. Those elements are fixed. They may discover one or two new ones once in a while or give a name to something, but there are no new ones. Any invention made today is made out of what existed before. But yet God made matter out of nothingness, created us from nothing, out of the dust of the earth. He made humans.

This whole idea of salvation is completely his. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all the peoples. Tell everyone about it. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise. He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.

If you're on our email list, I sent out a picture this week of the Milky Way galaxy as taken from the top of a volcano in Hawaii. It's a great picture. I changed my wallpaper on my main screen. I had another outer space picture, but it was time for a change. It's awesome to see that. How great is the Lord and how worthy to be praised. He made the heavens. The gods of the other nations are idols. They're nothing. An idol is nothing in this world.

Splendor and majesty are before him. Strength and joy are in his dwelling place. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. We don't give him what's not like he needs it. It's not like God says, "Oh, I need some more glory. Can you loan me some? Can you loan me a twenty worth of glory?" We're just acknowledging what he has already. It's his glory, his strength, and it's due his name.

Bring an offering and come before him. They never went before the Lord empty-handed. Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. Tremble before him, all the earth. The world is firmly established. It cannot be moved. He created everything. When we give back to him, whatever our offering is, it's just a part of what he gave us. He gives us so much. We just look to give back to him the firstfruits of what he's given us. If we can't do that, then we probably don't believe it came from him in the first place.

Let the heavens rejoice. Let the earth be glad. Let them say among the nations, "The Lord reigns." Let the sea resound and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant and everything in them. Then the trees of the forest will sing. They will sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. You see all of creation in a way would be joining in to praise him.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. That's amazing because nothing else endures forever, certainly nothing in this world. Cry out, "Save us, O God our Savior, gather us and deliver us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, that we may glory in your praise." Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Cry out to him and call upon his name and praise to his name. And then all the people said, "Amen," and praised the Lord.

The last two Sundays, if you're interested, we went through this psalm of praise in church on Sunday morning, so if you're interested in hearing it in more detail, help yourself to a CD. This was the first time that they had organized worship there in Jerusalem, there where the ark was. Not where the tabernacle was, because the tabernacle was still in Gibeon. We're going to see that in a minute. Some people were confused about where the tabernacle was. We're going to see in these verses here the ark was in Jerusalem. The rest of the tabernacle, everything that they needed to worship the Lord, was still in Gibeon. I'm not sure why David brought just the ark and not the tabernacle.

Verse 37 is where we'll pick up for tonight with new material. David left Asaph and his associates before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister there regularly according to each day's requirement. He also left Obed-Edom and his 68 associates to minister with them. Obed-Edom son of Jeduthun and also Hosah were gatekeepers. Remember, the ark had been at the house of Obed-Edom when David was afraid to bring it to Jerusalem. He said, "Well, you take it, and if anything happens, it'll happen to you."

I'm not sure if this guy should have felt privileged or honored or rejected or what he should have felt. But you see here that this is the first time that they really had permanent worship set up there. David left this guy Asaph and his associates before the ark. He left them there, and they did this stuff to minister there regularly according to each day's requirement. Now, that does not mean they were there 24/7, I don't think, but it seems to mean they were there every day ministering before the Lord, whatever the requirement was for that day. Maybe Sabbath day might have been different than some other day, but they met the day's requirements. They did what needed to be done to worship the Lord on those days.

Now, the offerings and what have you, they would have been happening at the tabernacle over in Gibeon. We'll see that in this next section here. David left Zadok the priest and his fellow priests before the tabernacle of the Lord at the high place in Gibeon to present burnt offerings to the Lord on the altar of burnt offering regularly, morning and evening, and in accordance with everything written in the law of the Lord, which he had given Israel. With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and designated by name to give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever.

Heman and Jeduthun were responsible for the sounding of the trumpets and cymbals and for the playing of the other instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were stationed at the gate. Then all the people left, each for his own home, and David returned home to bless his family.

So what we have here is a split system here, part of it in Jerusalem, part of it in Gibeon. In Gibeon they had the tabernacle. That's where they had the altar. That's where they made the sacrifices. That's where they killed the animal, poured out the blood, burned the fat, did the thing on the altar. They did that there morning and evening, and that was taking place in Gibeon. David had that thing going on there.

But in the meantime, he had the ark representing the presence of the Lord here in Jerusalem in some kind of a tent. That represented God's presence in their midst, and they were worshipping God and praising his name and playing instruments on a daily basis before the Lord there. When he brought it all together, I don't know. It doesn't really say. Certainly in the time of the temple, when the temple was built by Solomon, it all moved in and took place in one place. Whether or not they moved the tabernacle to Jerusalem before that, I don't know. It seems like a lot of extra work to have things in two places there, especially in this time when communications wasn't so good. But you left somebody there, they did their job, and he left the crew in Gibeon and the other crew in Jerusalem.

All the people left, each for his own home, David going home. But these guys that were in charge of worshipping God, praising his name and praying, and making the offerings in the two places, they didn't go home. They stayed there. That was their duty. They lived nearby, but they continued to do these things on a regular basis.

And so we get this impression or this feeling here that this is just David. He's just blessed. He's just overwhelmed with the sense of what God has done for him. We're going to see that here as we come up in the next chapter 17. After David was settled in his palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, "Here I am living in a palace of cedar while the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under a tent." Nathan replied to David, "Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you."

Here's an example of the best-laid intentions or best-laid plans. Here the best idea, the best thing he could think of, just wasn't what God wanted. This is a reminder that we always need to be careful because what seems logical and ordinary and right in our own minds is not always what God wants. Here was David, and he was settled in his palace now. He's had victory over his enemies. He's managed to get the ark back to Jerusalem. They're worshipping God there. They're making the offerings. It is just going as well as it can go. Saul is ancient history. David's ruling the roost, if you will.

He's settled in his palace, which is a palace of cedar. That was a kind of a wood that was highly prized at the time. What that speaks to is luxury and comfort. He had the latest stuff in his palace. This was a modern building there. It was very comfortable for him. For the time, this guy was living in luxury. We need to appreciate what the Lord has given us here.

David was settled in, and he was comfortable, and he said, "This isn't right. I've got this palace, and I'm so comfortable, and it's luxurious and it's the pride of the land here, and the Lord's presence represented by the ark is in a tent outside." I remember when I was a kid I used to like to sleep out in the backyard in a tent once in a while until it got spooky at about 9:30 at night, in which case I would come inside and sleep the rest of the time inside. Who would ever think a tent outside was as nice as living inside? It was fun to do once in a while, but never too much fun.

And here he's thinking, here's the ark of God outside in this tent. Something's not right here. Why do I have the house and he's got the tent? Why is that? He's God, and I'm not. And so you have to give the guy credit for what he wanted to do here. He wanted to build a house for God. He doesn't exactly say that. He doesn't say, "I want to build a house for God. Is that okay?" It's kind of what's not said that's in between the lines.

Nathan here, who was a prophet but didn't bother to check in with God on this one, just off the cuff said, "Whatever you have in mind, do it, for God is with you." Well, God was with him. There's no doubt about that. But just because God is with you doesn't mean whatever you have in mind is what God wants. And so easily we convert our own will to God's will. We think if we want to do it, it must be what God wants. If the other person is doing something different than what we're doing, since we could never be out of God's will, it must be the other person that's out of God's will.

Here the best-laid plans are mixed up here. Nathan replying to David, "Whatever you have in mind, do it." But that's not what God wanted. God was gracious here, and God could have done this a lot of other ways. But you see, God let the guy down gently. He didn't even tell him the reason why he couldn't build the house for him until years later.

That night the word of God came to Nathan saying, "Go and tell my servant David, 'This is what the Lord says: You are not the one to build me a house to dwell in. I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought Israel up out of Egypt to this day. I have moved from one tent site to another, from one dwelling place to another. Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their leaders whom I commanded to shepherd my people, why have you not built me a house of cedar?'"

God is saying to him, "Tell David this is what the Lord says: You're not the one who's going to do it." He doesn't say why. Sometimes we don't get the answer we want from God and we don't understand why not. Here was a very logical thing. "Lord, wait a minute now. Let me get this straight. I'm not asking you for anything. I want to build this for you. I want to do it for you, and you're telling me no?"

How many of us spend time in our lives doing things for God which is not what he called us to do? I remember Victor Barbella talking about how we spend our time making things for God, and then we say, "Here it is, God. I made it for you," and he says, "Well, what is it? I can't tell what it is. But it's for you, Lord." It's not what he wanted.

David didn't get all mad here as you're going to see in the next part of this chapter and say, "Why didn't God allow me to build him a house? That's not fair. I want an answer for that." The Lord says, "I never lived in a house. From the day I brought Israel out of Egypt, through the desert 40 years, through the conquering of the Promised Land and through the 400 years or so that it took to get to this point, I never lived in a house. I lived in a tent and moved around from one place to another. And I never even asked for a house. Did I ever say I needed a house?"

The fact is, nothing could contain him anyway. "Did I ever say to any of their leaders whom I commanded to shepherd my people, why have you not built me a house of cedar?" He didn't ask for it. He didn't need it. It wasn't required. And you know, the fact is the Lord always put them first in everything. David got his palace first, and Solomon got his palace first, and God's palace came later. He said, "I never had one. I didn't ask for one."

Now, he's not being nasty here like we would be. He's being exceedingly gracious here. Just because it seems like a good thing to do doesn't mean it is a good thing to do. And just because it's more than God asked for, David wanted to do more than what God asked for, not less. How many people today want to do the least bit they can for God? What is the least requirement? How can I serve God in the least possible way and still get into heaven just by the skin of my teeth?

How many people who are dating want to know just how much can we get away with before we get married? What's the line? Because we want to get as close to it as possible. When we should be saying to ourselves, we want to stay as far away from it as possible. If you're asking where the line is so you don't go across it, you're asking the wrong question. And David wanted to do more than what God was asking for.

He got to have a part in it. "Now then, tell my servant David, this is what the Lord Almighty says: Go give David this message, tell him this: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name like the names of the greatest men of the earth. And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also subdue all your enemies."

The Lord said, "Tell David this. Let's remember and rehearse the things he did." Remember, we saw that back in this psalm here that we should be remembering the things that God did for us. We should be writing them down in our own lives and remembering them as well. God is just reminding him, think about where you came from. You were a shepherd boy, the youngest of all the brothers out in the field. Your father didn't even volunteer that he had another son until Samuel twisted his arm. "Don't you have any other sons?" "Well, I just got this one little scrawny kid out there in the pasture."

God said, "I took you from the pasture, from following the flock. You were tending sheep. You were a shepherd, and now I've made you ruler over everything. You went from tending your own little tiny flock here to ruler of everything, literally from the lowest position to the highest in the land." He climbed the ladder, no glass ceiling here. We're at the top. We went from the bottom to the top, and God did it all in one shot just about.

And furthermore, the Lord was always with him. "I have been with you wherever you have gone." Look at all the times God protected David from Saul. Saul was out to get him, never successful. And how David honored God by never trying to kill Saul himself. It was always God's protection. "And I have cut off all your enemies from before you." One of the earlier scenes when we saw David was when Israel was cowering at the sight of the Philistines, especially the giant. David said, "We don't have to take that from you. I'm coming after you in the name of the living God." And with his sling and one stone, he knocked the guy over, and with his sword, he cut off his head.

That was just the beginning. Now all your enemies are subdued everywhere around you. He could have won these battles or lost them. It was in the Lord's hands. It's not in our own hands. There are many times in the Bible when the army was better and they lost. And there are other times when the army was worse and they won. It was because God was fighting for them or not. It had nothing to do with their fancy abilities.

The Lord said, "I've done all this for you, took you from the bottom to the top, cut off all your enemies, and now I'm going to make your name like the names of the greatest men of the earth." Who were the greatest men of the earth at this time? Well, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob maybe, Moses. What a privilege to be numbered among that company. And listen, you are too, if you've given your life to the Lord.

Guest (Male): You've been listening to Hope From the Word. We're currently in a study of 1 Chronicles. You can hear this message or more Hope From the Word with Pastor Bill Luebkemann by going to ccmarlton.org. Pastor Bill's messages can also be found by downloading the Hope FM app on your smartphone or tablet. If you prefer to listen via podcast, you can find Hope From the Word wherever you find your podcasts.

We'd love to have you join us at Calvary Chapel of Marlton either in person or online. Our Sunday service begins at 10:00 AM, and there's a Wednesday evening service at 7:00. To catch us online, you can subscribe to our YouTube channel at Calvary Chapel of Marlton or just go to our website for the link at ccmarlton.org. And if you take a moment to write Pastor Bill, it would be such a blessing to us. We're thankful each and every time we hear what God is doing in our listeners' lives. And we want to pray for you too. Either email us through the website at ccmarlton.org or call 856-983-1662. We'll continue our study in 1 Chronicles next time on Hope From the Word with Pastor Bill Luebkemann, a presentation of Calvary Chapel of Marlton.