Word of Salvation – Vol. 40 No.36 – September 1995

 

Uninhibiting Or God Exhibiting

 

Sermon by Rev. S. Bajema on 2Samuel 6:12-23

Scripture Readings: 2Samuel 6 and Hebrews 4:12-16

Suggested Hymns: BoW 122:1, 2, 4; 188; 378:1, 5-7; 17

 

Congregation,

Perhaps this text appears as a fairly unknown part of the Bible to us.  Look through Reformed sermon index files and it doesn't seem to be used at all.  It isn't that often preached or written about – an incident that appears as another interesting occasion in the very full life of David.

But this is not the case for a new thinking amongst many Christians today.  In fact, it is this passage and other similar passages which have become used to justify some extensive changes in the church today; changes which go even as far as having people rolling on church floors with laughter for hours at a time!

How could that be, we may wonder.  Well, it goes like this.  David is the man after God's own heart.  Like Daniel and like the Lord Jesus, he dares to have the freedom he knows he can have; the freedom that comes from living the way God wants him to.  David isn't going to let the devil take away what the LORD wants him to have.

So, at this time of tremendous joy, with the ark of the LORD entering Jerusalem, David expresses his uninhibited worship.  He becomes so taken up in the Spirit that he is literally able to let go of all things which hold him back – which Satan steals – so he enjoys the most special thrill of being in the Lord.

How do we know this is happening?  Verse 14, they say, shows it, with David wearing a linen ephod and dancing before the LORD with all his might.  Aside from dancing, which is David's personal response of joy, what does wearing the linen ephod have to do with it?  Well, they point out, this type of clothing only covered David's chest.  This was only a short version of the full clothing of the priest.

So, as David is there dancing around, he's doing it naked from the waist down!  That's being uninhibited, they say.  He is so much in the Spirit, anything earthly which could possibly hold him back, is gone.  All those negative inhibitions are gone.

You see, they go on, it's proven by Michal's reaction.  Michal is David's wife, and the daughter of Saul.  She really represents all those traditional elements in the church today which are always against the changes; those who are real bug bears when the LORD tries to mightily move through His people; those people who actually are so worldly in their attitude, that Satan uses them against the church becoming the power it can be.

In fact, they go on, those who most closely demonstrate what God wants His church to enjoy today are the sports heroes, the yuppies, and the entrepreneurs of our day.  They have this readiness to go beyond, to fervently and dedicatedly challenge the limits to achieve their best.  Really, Satan has stolen those qualities away from the church; we need to claim them back, and put God back where He belongs.

And then all those choruses about how we are to exalt the LORD on high speak about how we – you and I – are the ones who can put God up there where He belongs; we can pray hard enough and work long enough to make it happen..!.  If only we would!

IT'S UP TO YOU!  God can't do it without you!  This then, is THEIR PREMISE.  Our first consideration this evening.  This is what they believe; it's what they understand this text to mean.

Secondly, we will study HIS PROMISE.  Yes, we will reflect on what God's Word is saying here.  And then, in the third place, there is OUR PRAISE.

As we draw out what the text means, we'll see the difference it is meant to make in our lives and in the life of the church today.  So, firstly, THEIR PREMISE is that we must not let the thief rob us of our godly lifestyle.  We need to reclaim what Satan has stolen.

Now, let's note two things about THEIR PREMISE.  The first if these is that it sounds good.  If we are told that what is holding us back is only our attitude, that's something we can do something about!  And if we're told that the terrible disunity among Christians, which none of us likes at all, if that division can be fixed, aren't we interested?  For, they go on to say: If enough believers have this same spirit as David – this same uninhibitedness and fervour and zealousness – then the LORD is able to really get us together and to do amazing signs and wonders through us.

The latest phenomena of ‘slaying in the Spirit’ and 'holy laughter', is evidence.  Christians go away feeling good about their faith and themselves.  And here we connect with the second part to THEIR PREMISE.  You see, not only does this all ‘sound good', it feels even better.  And if only enough believers can experience this total immersion in the power of the Spirit, it will mean the most amazing things!

Rodney Howard-Browne, a key speaker about these new 'refreshings', expressed it this way about when asked whether or not the holy laughter was genuine or not: "Well, you see, they don't stop, they just keep on laughing.  That means it's from the Spirit."  It saddens me to say it, but what he said showed just how much this whole movement is not from the LORD!  For the Spirit is never separate from the Word.  And what does the Word say about it?

The Bible uses the word for "laughter" some forty times throughout.  Not one of them can be construed in any way shape of form as referring to this 'holy laughter'.  Actually, the message quite strongly from a number of these words about laughter, tells us quite the opposite.  Proverbs 14:13 says: "Even in laughter the heart may ache, and joy may end in grief.”  Also Ecclesiastes, that most relevant modern philosophical textbook, says: "Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart" (7:3).

THEIR PREMISE, congregation, tries very hard to make it feel even better.  They're interpreting Scripture to fit what they would like, even though the Bible itself doesn't actually say it.  Take than linen ephod, which apparently covered so little.  Looking elsewhere in the Old Testament, we find that this clothing, though shorter than the very intricate and adorned dress of Exodus 28, is still going down to the knees.  In the first book of Samuel, it's the same outfit worn by Samuel as he served in his childhood in the temple.  And it's the same clothing of the priests of Nob, who were slaughtered in a terrible raid.

And what could be done with this if David were virtually naked?  If that's what's meant by reducing himself to the level of the maidservants, as Michal refers to is verse 20, then why haven't we being seen this phenomena amongst those who believe this today?  Well, they make a bit of a joke about it, as though it just wouldn't suit the times we're in, but would it have suited David's time any better?  One speaker told his audience that he wasn't advocating they go this far, they would get too many complaints next week, and on top of it all, his wife would get upset!

So, why was David wearing this particular kind of linen ephod?  And how come Michal became so upset?  That's what we'll hear now with the second point, which is... HIS PROMISE.

A little background to the text is helpful here.  This is actually the second time the ark is on its way to Jerusalem.  In the verses before our text, the first attempt is described.  Now David was described then as also expressing a tremendous joy before the LORD.  Verse 5 says: "David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals."  By their own measure, this would have to be uninhibited worship.  With all his might must show us how much David has put his whole spirit into this.

So, with that kind of empowering, what went wrong?  How come the ark didn't reach Jerusalem?  A good question!  With that much of the right feeling amongst the people – that euphoria of joy, which would, those other Christians believe, include "holy laughter' – why didn't it happen?  They could do it, couldn't they?

No, it wasn't dependant on what they could do, either on their own or together.  It depended on how it fitted in with the will of the LORD.  And it was the LORD who has said that only the Levites should carry the ark.  That was why Uzzah, in verse 6, died when he reached out and took hold of the ark of God; he wasn't a Levite.  And though he had the best of intentions in saving the ark from falling, he wasn't following God's will.

But the second time David has got the people doing it who the LORD said should do it.  We notice as well as that, how careful David is to do it the right way, by sacrificing, in verse 13, a bull and a fattened calf.  This showed as much his thankfulness, also his intention of doing it God's way.  And how much he wanted to give the LORD all the honour is shown as he takes off his kingly gowns and wears the simple dress of a priest.

We have to remember that being one of the priests was no real jump in the Israelite social scene.  For Michal, David's wife and the daughter of the previous king, King Saul, it was something her father had never done, and would never have ever imagined stooping to such a low state!  That's why Michal is so upset.  This offends her pride.

And further, she cannot understand why David would become so wrapped up with this ark.  Her father had never done that either.

But then, brothers and sisters, wasn't this exactly the problem with Saul?  He had elevated himself in his heart way above the people.  But David here is thoroughly humble.  By his clothing, through his interaction with the people, he was the theocratic king, a king who is one with his people and a brother to his subjects.  He is a ruler, subject under God.

If there is any spirit which shows out from David here, it is completely different from anything he claims to have in himself.  It is simply humility.  And we take this further, for David points us in his humility to someone who is yet to come.  Because we know that as well as these times when David shows us to be a man of faith, there were times when he also acted with terribly evil malice.  So he stumbled and fell, too, in his Christian walk.

But as he showed most faithfully whose he really was, and the special place he had in the plan of that LORD, we see a quality that this Lord, Jesus Christ, would Himself show when He did come to fulfil all righteousness.  It was from David's family line that the King of all kings would come.

And let's take that linen ephod, the clothing of humility, and let's draw a line to when Jesus Himself wore just such a gown.  John 13 tells us, while describing that solemn occasion of the Last Supper:  "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist" (vss.3-4).

Congregation, our Lord wore the clothing of a priest as he served His disciples.  It's an image extended in Hebrews; for example, in these words of chapter 5: "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission" (vs.7).

We must see, brethren, that David wearing the linen ephod points to more even than his humble spirit; indeed, it shows us the very promise of God Himself about the Messiah.  HIS PROMISE.  That's what David lived on.

S G De Graaf says that David took on the priestly character of the linen ephod because: "After all, he was king of a people of priests.  At the beginning and end of the procession sacrifices were offered to the Lord and David blessed the people.  A large sacrificial meal was held, with David giving bread-cakes, meat and wine to the people.  They ate in communion with the Lord, who was now dwelling in Jerusalem."

It was after David had blessed the people and shared this food in celebration, that he returned to his own house to bless it, too.  Then Michal made fun of him in a crude way for "disrobing" himself before the servant maids.  Her behaviour was typical of Saul's spirit.  It showed the nature of unbelief as it is so proud in itself.  But the answer she received was typical of David, the believer: "I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my eyes.  But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honour" (vs.22).

How much more, congregation, don't we see the coming Servant of the Lord in this?  Isaiah tells us in chapter 53: "He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him" (vs.2b).

It all leads us to realise just how much we don't have in ourselves, or, for that matter, can ever have in ourselves.  Even the very things we want so much in this world, we're not meant to have.  In fact, we are the thieves, not Satan!  The great deceiver he certainly is, but nowhere in Scripture is he called a thief, as some say.  To follow that line of calling him a thief, when we are actually the robbers, is to shift the blame of who's responsible for this terrible mess we're in!

Congregation, that's what this new movement amongst Christians is really doing.  It shows us that it's not actually new, it's the age-old error of Arminianism infiltrating the church once again.  Arminianism believes it's not completely our fault, it's also what others do to us — in this case, the devil.  But, congregation, as much as we don't take it fair and square on our own shoulders, that's as much as we don't need the cross of Christ!

Then it's very telling that this movement speaks nothing about the devastating and eternally deadly impact of our sin.  There's no biblical message about the desperate need of repentance as we're humbled under the shadow of that wooden cross!  In fact, there isn't coming from those so believing even the praise that the LORD loves to receive.

We have come to the third part... OUR PRAISE.  So, why do we say that their praise isn't really praise?  Congregation, it's simply this:- it's not done the way God tells us it has to be done.  Though they may have the greatest of good intentions, the saying is true that the road to hell is paved with those good intentions, precisely because they are what we think is good and are not what the LORD says we ought to do.

Take, for example, Uzzah, who is killed as he tried to help support the ark of God.  I'm sure that he was just helping out.  The ark had been at their place, and to help the ark on its way they gave a neighbourly hand.  But the LORD had said in the books of the Law that only the Levites could be involved in the service of the ark.  Thus, Uzzah was instantly killed as he touched the ark.  And though he may well still have gone to heaven as a believer, the point is that the Word of God was clear about what they were to do.

OUR PRAISE is exactly that when it is praise and not whatever words or deeds we might want to raise.  Hebrews 4 puts the position: "The word of God is living and active."  Ignore it and you do so to your own peril – even, I have to add, endangering your eternal direction!

The last verse of the text is the most sever warning of what could and of what is happening to churches today: "And Michal, daughter of Saul, had no children to the day of her death" (vs.23).  The physical barrenness of Michal reflected the spiritual poverty of her heart.  She depended only on human pride, an empty and useless shell.

And it's no different, congregation, than those today who depend on their own achievements to be right with the LORD – whether they're outside or inside a church!  Then that nakedness, they say shows David's uninhibitedness only exposes their own spiritual nakedness.  What a terrible day it will be.

Your see, they weren't priests.  There was no sense of service.  The apostle James says that we should actually: "Grieve, mourn and wail.  Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up (4:9-10).

This is where OUR PRAISE begins; being right with the LORD because of the blood of Jesus.  This makes us realise that we can do nothing other than what God has told us to do.  It's when we put ourselves last and Him first that we're truly blessed.  In those words of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane: "...not my will, but yours be done" (Luke 22:42).

Congregation, of all ages in church history, ours is the most impoverished.  Despite the vast leap in modern technology, we have less knowledge than ever before in the church.  We fail to understand – as at no other point in time – what the LORD really requires of us.  If nothing else, this is the message of our text.

But praise God, there is something else still!  THE PROMISE has been fulfilled.  This whole line of covenantal history reached its height in God's own Son.  He did His Father's will perfectly.  And because of His Spirit in our hearts, we can know and live in the peace of this precious knowledge.  As priests serving the great High Priest, we have the assurance that He is able to sympathise with our weaknesses because He was tempted in every way, just as we are, yet was without sin.

Dear fellow saints, in the further words of Hebrews 4: "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need" (vs 16).  In the eyes of the world it will seem very inhibiting.  But it is God exhibiting.  And that's how He loves us to be!

Amen.

Let us pray...

Prayer:

Dearest Lord Jesus,

What greater comfort is there than your sacrifice upon the cursed cross of Calvary?  For you perfectly fulfilled your Father's will.  No more does there need to be an ark.  You are now among us, living in our hearts by your Spirit.

Each one believing has become a priest who can faithfully serve you; living lives which are the offerings the Father loves to receive.  May we continue to be so stirred to do exactly that in every part of our lives.

For the sake of your sacrifice, we pray.

Amen.