Life is full of choices.  

Life is full of choices. When it comes to serving the Lord and obeying Him, we have choices too. The choice is to obey or oppose. There is no in-between; if we talk about obedience yet do not obey, we are in opposition to the Lord’s will.

In 2 Samuel 6, David obeyed God and brought the Ark of the Covenant Home to Jerusalem.

David is ecstatic about the presence of God coming home to His people, and in the verses we will read, you will see that he is worshiping, sacrificing, dancing, and leaping before the Lord.

Today we will pick up where David is dancing with all his might.

2 Samuel 6:16-23:

16 As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart. 17 And they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it. And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. 18 And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts 19 and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed, each to his house.

20 And David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!” 21 And David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will celebrate before the Lord. 22 I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes. But by the female servants of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honor.” 23 And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.

In our 2 choices, obedience and opposition, we need to understand that obeying the Lord’s Will Brings Blessing (6:16-19)

David’s predecessor King Saul had no interest in the ark, God, or His presence. Remember, he left the ark in the house of Abinadab for his entire forty-two-year reign. Saul never sought to establish a place of worship for the people and never sought to make God a priority.

On the other side

David was crowned King over Judah, then 7 ½ years later crowned as King over all of Israel. David made Jerusalem his political and religious capital, and he wasted no time in seeking God and abiding in the Lord’s presence.

We must check ourselves and see if we are a David or a Saul.

So many have wasted 42 years, give our take, but enough is enough. It is time to let God have His rightful place.

Obeying the Lord’s will brings blessing in two ways.

Obeying the Lord’s Will Brings Blessing to Me (6:17)

First, obeying the Lord’s will brings blessing to yourself. Having set the ark in its place, we see that David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. The primary purpose of the burnt offerings was “to atone for man’s sin by appeasing God’s wrath.” The peace offerings were principally “a festival meal,” celebrating or expressing “peace” with God.

David’s obedience allowed Him to know the blessings of God in a deep and personal way.

Obeying the Lord’s Will Brings Blessing to Others (6:18-19)

Verses 18-19 say, “And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed, each to his house.”

David was so taken up with God’s blessings that he wanted to pass God’s blessings on to others as well. David’s blessings overflowed to all those around him. The same is true for us. So many think that they are ok because God is blessing their lives. What they don’t understand is that sometimes those blessings are coming from someone else’s obedience. God doesn’t honor sin. If you are living disconnected from Him and you’re being blessed, you better know that those blessings are an overflow from others.

The second response to God’s will is opposition and that brings misery. (6:20-23)

After the great celebration ended in the city and all the people went home, David also returned to bless his household. The blessings that David had experienced and shared with others he now wanted to share with his household. But when he got to his house, Michal, the daughter of Saul, who earlier in the day “despised him in her heart,” came out to meet David and said: “How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!”

Michal thought that David’s behavior was vulgar and completely unbecoming of a King. Michal was appalled that he would set aside his royal robes for an ephod. The author of Samuel notes three times in this section that Michal is “the daughter of Saul” (6:16, 20, 23) rather than “the husband of David.”

Why is that?

There was a time when Michal loved David and even saved his life from her father, but it doesn’t seem that way now. So why is Michal referred to as “the daughter of Saul” rather than “the husband of David”? I believe the answer is that her relationship with the Lord was similar to Saul and not David.

Saul had no heart for the Lord. He did nothing to restore the Lord’s presence in Israel. He merely paid lip service to God and had no relationship. On the other hand, David had a deep and personal relationship with God. Michal’s understanding of worship was a mere outward formality. To her, outward appearances were significant. Michal represents people who go through the motions for appearance’s sake only. They act, but they don’t do. They have the motions, but there is no heart relationship with God.

Is your obedience and worship like Michal or a David

Listen Outward appearance. Don’t impress Jesus. He sees your heart. If you claim to be a Christian but have no relationship, then you are a liar. David knew how to focus on the Lord and to give Him his all.

Michal cared about David’s status as King.

But David cared about his status with God,

What do you care about?

Who matters to you