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Sermons from Commons Church. Intellectually honest. Spiritually passionate. Jesus at the centre. Since 2014.
So the wisdom we explore isn't about how to get a 100% of what you want, but instead how to face this truth. There is an insecurity to securing everything. We've been in a series called becoming king. It's about David and the lives that intersected with his in the old testament books of first and second Samuel or what the Hebrew scriptures call the Tanakh. And we've recapped how we get to David from the last of them judges.
Speaker 1:We've talked about Goliath, Saul, and Jonathan. And all the while, David has not been king. Before we get to this climactic moment in the story, I wanna say something about the friendship David had with Jonathan, Saul's son. Jeremy took us on this great journey through the language of love or person to person love that we see in David and Jonathan's, I love you man relationship. And the details of their story together occupy only a handful of chapters.
Speaker 1:And what is tragic to me is that Jonathan never gets to see David soar. Jonathan is loyal to David while they outsmart Saul. Jonathan and David make these BFF covenants on battlefields and in the wilderness while David slips through Saul's traps. But in the end, Jonathan is killed and David becomes king. And as far as we can tell, David never makes another friend like Jonathan.
Speaker 1:Others will influence him, Nathan the prophet, Abiathar the priest, but no one will come close to what David and Jonathan had together. And I can't help but wonder, what could be different if David would have opened himself up to love like this again? Because as quickly as it will rise, the house of David will fall. His own sons will betray him and everything he stands for in ways that include some of the most vile tales in the bible. Could friendship, tried again, have made a difference?
Speaker 1:What might have happened if David would have cultivated a relationship like the one that he had with Jonathan? Maybe this is where we begin to learn from what David didn't do. If a relationship you loved is no longer in your life, try not to close down. Life may very well be long, and we will need other loves to get us through. But at last, you have waited so patiently to David today, David becomes trumpets, No.
Speaker 1:You didn't do it. Not a man did it. You did not do it. We didn't get trumpets at 10:30 but you can imagine them. Today, David truly does become the king.
Speaker 1:But before we dive in, let us pray. Loving God, we think back to the Psalms, this ancient prayer book marked all over with David's own name. And we trace expressions therein about being the king. For you meet the king with rich blessings, you set a crown of fine gold on his head. And let's be honest, none of us likely feel like we have a crown of fine gold upon our heads.
Speaker 1:But what if for a moment, we imagine ourselves blessed? Blessed with the breath that moves in and out of our lungs. Blessed with family and friends who aren't perfect but we adore. Blessed with some sense of rest after a long fight to feel free. So back to Psalm 21.
Speaker 1:Oh Lord, you bestow on the king blessings forever. You make this royal one glad with the joy of your presence. And we pray that for ourselves today, that through all that troubles us or weighs us down, might we seek and find something of divine blessing resting up in our lives. May we be glad in your presence. Amen.
Speaker 1:Alright. So today we finally get there. David becomes the king. We'll spend our time in second Samuel five to seven and we'll talk about becoming king like actually priest things, everything you ever wanted, and David prays. But before we jump in, I want you to check-in with yourself about something.
Speaker 1:It's a thought experiment of sorts. Of the things you wanted and pursued in your life, of what percentage would you say you obtained those things? Like, are you a 100%, I got everything I ever wanted and then some? Or you say 75%. Like, I've done pretty well, some things didn't work out the way I thought, but you know what?
Speaker 1:Not bad, above average. Maybe you're like 50%. It's comsi comsi. Things half worked out for you. Perhaps you're 25%.
Speaker 1:It's been a struggle. Your life hasn't gone the way that you hoped it would. Now don't worry, I'm not going to ask you to shout it out. We're honestly not that kind of church. I simply want you to check-in with yourself.
Speaker 1:What percentage would you say you've gotten what you wanted in your life? Now, it's true. As far as we can tell, David didn't grow up dreaming of being a king. The shepherd brother was making his way in the world herding sheep. But once the promise of kingship is open to him, you can't argue that he didn't want it.
Speaker 1:So when we get to second Samuel five, there's this exaltation as a part of David's story. All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, we are your own flesh and blood. In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the Lord said to you, you will shepherd my people Israel and you will become their ruler. When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord and they anointed David king over Israel.
Speaker 1:And just like that, David is king. And in chapter five, we see what kind of king David is, and it's outstanding, really. The people call him their flesh and blood. This reference goes all the way back to Genesis when Adam wakes up to see Eve for the first time and declares her his own flesh and blood. So we're in a new creation story.
Speaker 1:And then there's reference to David as the shepherd king. And this is a unique description for a king. It only occurs in one other place in the David narrative. David's way of leading the people, of liberating the people, like in Exodus, is as a shepherd. So it's a new Exodus story.
Speaker 1:Now further into chapter five, David makes Jerusalem his capital. And Jerusalem is this major focus in second Samuel. And what's going on here is that David defeats those who Joshua failed to get rid of when settling in the land. So that's four hundred years of unfinished business that now provides a place of belonging. It's a new settlement story.
Speaker 1:In fact, David defeats his old foes, the Philistines, doing what Saul couldn't do. He's so popular, and Jerusalem is so magnetic that foreign king sends cedars and masons to help David build his palace. But like the infomercials say, that is not all folks. David is rolling in his success. He's got more concubines and more wives honestly than he knows what to do with.
Speaker 1:There are 11 kids, his kids, named in verse 14. Like, what virility. So David has it all. He's got the crown. Check.
Speaker 1:A palace. Check. The girls. Check. Check.
Speaker 1:This is ancient sexual politics after all. He's got a heap of kids, spoils from defeating the Philistines. David even has his God. We're told in verse 10 that the Lord of hosts was with him. Check.
Speaker 1:Up until this point, the story has been about David's rise. But now that he's ascended, a new story has begun. Who will succeed him? Or what comes next? You just can't stay at the top forever.
Speaker 1:Observing David's story is so helpful because on the one hand, we're so tempted to see this linear perspective of upward mobility. First, the shepherd is anointed, then he serves with king Saul, then he defeats a giant, then he makes a covenant with the king's son. You get it. Right? He's rising.
Speaker 1:He's rising. He's rising. But below the surface of David's life is another story. An ancient story with cyclical themes. How do we recover what is lost like Eden?
Speaker 1:What does liberation look like like Exodus? Can we make a world safe enough for all to belong. So the wisdom we explore isn't about how to get a 100% of what you want, but instead how to face this truth. There is an insecurity to securing everything. But before David steps off the edge of all of his successes, we get to enjoy the best parts of the king a little longer.
Speaker 1:In chapter six, king David is not just a king. He positions himself as a priest. What happens is that the forgotten ark of God last mentioned way back in first Samuel seven is retrieved by David and his men as they move this sacred object to Jerusalem. So we take this interesting priestly detour in the story. And David actually makes two attempts to bring the ark to Jerusalem.
Speaker 1:In the first, he uses modern technology. It's not AI or three d printing. It's a cart, an oxen, so that's fancy. And the ark is loaded onto the cart and they onto the cart and they set out. David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, cisterns, and cymbals.
Speaker 1:Whoop whoop. It's a party. As they come down the hill, the cart lurches and a man named Uzza attempts to steady the cart, but the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah and God struck him there dead. David gets spooked and calls a three month break stashing the ark at the home of Obed Edom the Gittite. When David hears that Obed Edom has been hashtag blessed on account of the ark, he knows it's time to try again.
Speaker 1:Only this time, he goes back to the way things used to be. Men carry the ark with poles just like the law prescribed in Exodus 25. So David dances again and this time he wears a linen ephod, a priest's garment. And every six paces, he makes sacrifices to the Lord. And as the ark comes into the city of David, Michael the daughter of Saul also known to us as David's wife looks out her window and sees David in her mind making a fool of himself, exposed, yes, for all to see.
Speaker 1:And upon seeing him like this, she despises David in her heart. Cut to a quieter scene. The ark has been installed in the tent, David pitched for it, copious offerings have been made and after everyone eats these tasty little treats, they go home. And Michael confronts David. She says, he's behaved shamefully.
Speaker 1:Even the slave girls saw him naked. This is no way for a king to act. And David replies, sidebar though, if you sang a lot of worship songs in the early odds, you'll know this line. 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.
Speaker 1:And the part we didn't sing is this next gut punching verse. And Michael, daughter of Saul, had no children to the day of her death. Now what's the point of all this pageantry? The ark is recovered and moved to Jerusalem. A dead guy is left laying in a field.
Speaker 1:And the scene ends with a childless woman fading into the night. It's fair to be of at least two minds here. On the one hand, you can't deny the vitality of the liturgical procession, the music, the dancing, the sweet smelling sacrifices. What these rituals do is remind the people of their sacred back story. So when king David acts as a priest, it's provocative.
Speaker 1:But there is another side here, a reading you can't deny, the likelihood that David is leveraging these rituals to lock in his power. After all, Assyrian kings did the same thing. They would bring a god with them into a royal city. Behind the singing and the dancing, David is making political calculations and the narrators make sure we don't miss the deeper meaning when they take us into a domestic argument. We're being reminded that Michael is the last link to the house of Saul.
Speaker 1:So when she uses her voice to confidently remind David that he's an embarrassment to kingship, and he shuts her down in more ways than we will ever know, leaving her barren and alone, The storytellers want us to see that the end has truly come for Saul. A new king is here. And even as I experience grief for this woman caught between two warring houses and poor Uzza caught up in a sublime power on the move, I'm pulled toward an invitation in our religious life that rituals help us manage our dissonance. Who of us has not had conflicting motivations for what we pursue? To do good and to get power.
Speaker 1:To love so that we are loved. To display generosity while calculating what we'll gain. So I'd argue that when David takes off his robe and puts on a linen garment to transform himself from king to priest, he is modeling something for us. The easy ways that we can be priests for ourselves too. We are priests when we employ the tools that put our humanity in right relationship with the living God.
Speaker 1:For us as Christ followers, the tools are Eucharist and baptism, their liturgical seasons and community life, it's scripture and prayer. These are the places where we become priests for ourselves and for the world. And I get the temptation to want to disassemble these biblical texts when they offend us, songs when they don't represent us, rituals that feel like they have lost their meaning. But what if it's true that if something important has stood the test of time it is likely to keep on standing even after we have all dropped dead. There's actually a term for this phenomenon.
Speaker 1:It's called the Linde effect. It means that the longer a non perishable thing has lasted, like a story, a ritual, a prayer, the longer it is likely to last. Whatever is going right or wrong for you, please don't give up on the paths of faith that will pull you through. Second Samuel chapter seven. It's a watershed moment.
Speaker 1:David is in his palace and he's at ease. We're told he settled and the Lord gave him rest from his enemies. So David turns to the prophet Nathan and says, what do you think of the idea of me building a house for God? It just doesn't seem right that I live in this house of cedar and the ark of God stays in a tent. And Nathan the prophet says, yeah, go for it.
Speaker 1:The Lord is with you. Only that night, the word of the Lord comes to Nathan and honestly gives him an earful. The divine voice says, what do I need a house for? I've been content to move with the people wherever they went. Did I ever command a leader to build a house of cedar for me?
Speaker 1:No. Remind David that I'm at the heart of every part of his story and tell him that as much as he wants to build a house for me, I'm gonna build him a house. And God says it will go like this. When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my name and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
Speaker 1:And then God says, I will never take my Chesed, my steadfast love from David's family. David's house will last forever. Now obviously, this promise means a lot in Jewish and Christian faith. This is where we get messianic hope. And it's interesting to me that this promise spins out from the peak of David's power.
Speaker 1:So let's talk about that for a moment. In the ancient world, building a temple was a way to establish the security of a king. So even though the temple gets put off to Solomon the house God builds in David through his family lasts at least until the fall of Judah to Babylon in May. And even after exile, the dream of Messiah doesn't die. Now remember, in the life of Jesus, people were excited because they thought, finally, one who comes to us from David will free us from our enemies just like David did.
Speaker 1:And funnily enough, Jesus resists this idea of Messiah. If Jesus is a new David, he didn't come to usurp power or swing a sword against empire or carry an ark across the desert. In fact, we'd theologically say Jesus was the ark. Divine presence in our own flesh and blood. So here's what I think is going on with the prophet Nathan.
Speaker 1:God wants David to remember that no matter how secure he feels right now, he is meant to commune with more. Now earlier this month, my husband Jonathan and I spent a long weekend at a cabin in the woods. It was cold, but it was wonderful. And before we left, we were having conversations about what it means to be decidedly middle aged. Now, we're young ish, we're healthy, but we're also pretty established in our careers and in our communities.
Speaker 1:We've got a lot of work behind us to be really healthy, and we don't really lack for much of anything. So the questions kinda dangle. What's left? What's next? What are we working for?
Speaker 1:What happens when you get everything you ever wanted? Now, I truly wish I could tell you that from this cabin in the woods, we solved this human predicament. We did not. But the cabin gave us a place just to pause, to let the questions linger, to make sure we'll hear God if God chooses to speak. The part of David's story we covered today, it actually ends with a prayer.
Speaker 1:But before David prays, Nathan tells him how much more was going on beneath the surface of David's life. It was God who took him from the pasture. It was God who had God's eye on this boy with his sheep. It was God who had planned to use him for a higher purpose. It was God who was with him wherever he went.
Speaker 1:It was God who stood up for him when his enemies rushed to harm him. It was God who elevated David's name as one that brought comfort and peace. And it will be God who stays near as David breathes his last breath. It will be God who moves through the children David won't have the heart to correct. It will be God who will write a holy story with David's life long after he's gone.
Speaker 1:Everything from now on will center the steadfast love of God. You may get everything you ever wanted or you may lose it all. And still, we are made to commune with more. More mystery in our own stories, more love in our relationships, more life even as we approach our own death. So before David goes back to fighting and he does, before his kids make a mess of what they're given and before David breaks into Bathsheba's life, we are left with a moment to pause and to pray.
Speaker 1:I think that's something that we can all take from second Samuel five to seven. The story of David becoming king reminds us that when we get to the top of a job or a journey or a desire finally fulfilled, we need to seriously ask ourselves, what do I do if I get everything I ever wanted or even 75% of it or 50 or maybe just 25. Becoming king might not be everything it's cracked up to be. And still there will be no end to how deep and far David's life will go with God. And so we go forward to find deeper meaning in our lives with these stepping stones of an ancient story, experiences of priestly awe and the ways God speaks and we seek to listen.
Speaker 1:Let us pray. Loving God, before we get up and move into our day, we pause and we pray. These are such simple words with such important invitations. To pause is to go inward, to pay attention to what we want, what we need, what we feel, to praise, to trust in something so much bigger than what we know, than what we feel, than what makes us sad. So help us to steady ourselves as we commune with all of creation and with you.
Speaker 1:Spirit of the living God, present with us now, enter the places of our heartache and our worry, and heal us of all that harms us. Amen.
Speaker 2:Hey, Jeremy here, and thanks for listening to our podcast. If you're intrigued by the work that we're doing here at Commons, you can head to our website commons.church for more information. You can find us on all of the socials CommonsChurch. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel where we are posting content regularly for the community. You can also join our Discord server.
Speaker 2:Head to commons.churchdiscord for the invite, and there you will find the community having all kinds of conversations about how we can encourage each other to follow the way of Jesus. We would love to hear from you. Anyway, thanks for tuning in. Have a great week. We'll talk to you soon.