INTRODUCTION: Do-overs
ISRAEL HISTORY RE-CAP:
slaves in Egypt
God sets them free - through the Red Sea
40 years of wilderness
entering the promised land
leaders called judges: everyone did what was right in their own eyes
1 Samuel - transition from judges to monarchy - Saul first king
War in 1 Samuel 4
1 Samuel 4:3 (NLT) - 3 After the battle was over, the troops retreated to their camp, and the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord allow us to be defeated by the Philistines?” Then they said, “Let’s bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from Shiloh. If we carry it into battle with us, it will save us from our enemies.”
1 Samuel 4:6-11 (NLT) - 6 … they were told it was because the Ark of the Lord had arrived, 7 they panicked. “The gods have come into their camp!” they cried. “This is a disaster! We have never had to face anything like this before! 8 Help! Who can save us from these mighty gods of Israel? They are the same gods who destroyed the Egyptians with plagues when Israel was in the wilderness. 9 Fight as never before, Philistines! If you don’t, we will become the Hebrews’ slaves just as they have been ours! Stand up like men and fight!” 10 So the Philistines fought desperately, and Israel was defeated again. The slaughter was great; 30,000 Israelite soldiers died that day…11 The Ark of God was captured…and the two sons of Eli, were killed.
1 Samuel 4:21-22 (NLT) - 21 She named the child Ichabod (which means “Where is the glory?”), for she said, “Israel’s glory is gone.” She named him this because the Ark of God had been captured and because her father-in-law and husband were dead. 22 Then she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the Ark of God has been captured.”
1 Chronicles 13:7-11 (NLT) - 7 They placed the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it from Abinadab’s house. Uzzah and Ahio were guiding the cart.8 David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments—lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and trumpets. 9 But…the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the Ark. 10 Then the Lord’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and he struck him dead because he had laid his hand on the Ark. So Uzzah died there in the presence of God. 11 David was angry because the Lord’s anger had burst out against Uzzah.
1 Chronicles 15:13-15(NLT) - 13 Because you Levites did not carry the Ark the first time, the anger of the Lord our God burst out against us. We failed to ask God how to move it properly.” 14 So the priests and the Levites purified themselves in order to bring the Ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to Jerusalem. 15 Then the Levites carried the Ark of God on their shoulders with its carrying poles, just as the Lord had instructed Moses.
1 Chronicles 16:7-36 (ESV) -
7 On that day David gave …this song of thanksgiving to the Lord:
8 Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon His name;
make known His deeds among the peoples!
9 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
tell of all His wondrous works!
10 Glory in His holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
11 Seek the Lord and His strength;
seek His presence continually!
15 Remember His covenant forever,
the word that He commanded, for a thousand generations,
23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Tell of His salvation from day to day.
24 Declare His glory among the nations,
His marvelous works among all the peoples!
25 For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and He is to be feared above all gods.
27 Splendor and majesty are before Him;
strength and joy are in His place.
28 …ascribe to the Lord glory and strength!
29 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name;
bring an offering and come before Him!
31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,
and let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
34 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
for His steadfast love endures forever!
35 “Save us…that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in Your praise.
36 Blessed be the Lord…from everlasting to everlasting!”
Then all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the Lord.
HEBREW: kabod
GREEK: doxa
Illust: Caravaggio found in France
Attempt #1 - David consulted the
Attempt #2 - David consulted
Attempt #1 - David did what
Attempt #2 - David did what God
Attempt #1 - David was shaped by the word on the
Attempt #2 - David was shaped by
1. Be
by God’s Word
ROMANS 12:2 (MSG) - Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
James 1:22-24 (MSG) - 22-24 Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.
2. Be
by God’s Grandeur
1 Chronicles 15:27 (NLT) - 27 David was dressed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who carried the Ark, and also the singers, and the choir leader. David was also wearing a priestly garment.
“We are not here to create God. We are here to behold God. To set our sights on a higher person. To see who Adam hid from. Who the psalmist sang to. Who the prophets spoke for. Who the disciples walked with. And who Jesus came to make known.” – Jackie Hill Perry, Holier Than Thou
“God must have no bounds, no limits, no stopping point, no point beyond which He can’t go. Otherwise, he is reduced to a little god that we pal around with, the man upstairs, the god who helps us win baseball games and be on time when we hit traffic. That isn’t the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He isn’t the God who laid the foundations of Heaven and Earth. He is reduced to a little cheap god that we have made, not the infinite God who made us. Our God is, indeed, a consuming fire.” - AW Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy
3 Be
by God’s Fire
Malachi 3:2-3 (NLT) 2 “But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes. 3 He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the Lord.