Lessons from David: How to Be a Giant Killer (14 page)

I have a purpose that’s bigger than me. It’s not about having a large facility, being recognized by millions of people, or anything like that. It’s about the message! That’s why I redirected my staff and said, “Ask me questions about the ministry, how it started, some of the hardships we’ve been through, and lessons we’ve learned that could help someone else overcome their hardships, but keep this publication focused on the message.” We must always stay focused on the message—not the messenger!

A Man of Purpose

I use a lot of personal examples when I minister. In fact, I just used one in the last few paragraphs. But my purpose in doing this isn’t to bring attention to myself, but rather to illustrate my points. I’ve found that personal examples are one of the best ways people can relate to, understand, and apply the message I’m trying to communicate.

Ronald Reagan was one of the best presidents we’ve ever had. He is credited with ending the Cold War, among many other things. Although I don’t necessarily agree with everything he did, he was a great president. As he was leaving public office, he received a tremendous amount of recognition. As people started thinking about his legacy, one of the questions often directed toward President Reagan concerned what made him such a great man. Almost every time, without fail, he responded by saying, “There’s nothing great about me. I’m an ordinary person—but I had an extraordinary message! I’m not a great man. I’m a man who had great ideas and great purpose!”

Ronald Reagan wasn’t out to build his legacy. He had a philosophy and a goal of less government and more personal responsibility. He had a vision of overcoming the Soviet Union and the Cold War problems through strength and refusal to back down. It wasn’t just détente or business as usual. Reagan’s purpose—which was bigger than himself—drove him and caused him to succeed.

In the same manner, my God-given purpose motivates and spurs me on. The Lord touched me and changed my life. He burned a revelation in my heart, and I’m doing everything I can to get this message out. These truths I’m sharing about David have become real to me and have transformed my life. I believe the Lord wants them to become real to you and impact your life and the lives of millions of others too. That’s what drives me!

If I were in ministry just for my own personal benefit, I would have quit a long time ago. It’s true, we are prospering and enjoying a certain measure of success right now. However, I’ve been in ministry now for over forty-five years. We’ve lived through decades of hardships and trials. If this was about me, I would have given up and changed careers decades ago. There are other ways I could have provided for my family. I could have done something else and made a mark. But this isn’t about me. It’s about serving the Lord and accomplishing His goals. I have a God-given purpose that is bigger than myself!

“I Choose to Serve God”

This is one of the reasons why David was a man after God’s own heart. When David’s life, kingdom and legacy were literally on the line, what mattered to David was serving God. He didn’t care about all those other things. He said, “If it pleases God and that’s what’s best for the nation, then I’ll come back. But if the Lord is through with me and it’s better for the nation that I be gone and Absalom rule, then that’s fine with me!”

I can truthfully testify to you today that if God were to tell me that I was doing more damage than good, and it was better for the body of Christ that I do something else besides minister, I would. I’m not saying that I would completely like it. I wouldn’t necessarily enjoy it any more than David enjoyed facing death and having his own son try to kill him. I’m not saying it would be pleasant. But I can honestly say that if I felt that it was to the kingdom of God’s advantage that I no longer minister, then I would get out of the ministry. If it would please God and glorify Him to use someone else and to have me promote them and help them succeed ahead of me, I would do it with all my heart. Not many people can say that!

What about you? Have you been accepting responsibility for your actions or do you still shift the blame? Are you claiming that something or someone else is to blame for your difficulties - your dysfunctional family, hormones, genetics, chemical imbalance, or the like? Examine your heart.

If you’ve been guilty of any of these things, you can repent and start changing your heart. You can begin by dying to yourself and saying, “Lord, please help me get to the place where serving, exalting, and pleasing You is more important to me than doing my own thing.” If you honestly do this, the process of change will begin.

You can change your heart, but you can’t do it by yourself. God has to change your heart. It requires His power, but it’s your choice whether that power functions or not. You must stop exalting yourself and living by your own self-will. Quit acting like Saul and saying, “It’s their fault. They made me do it!” or “I don’t care if I lose everything from God, just make me look good in the eyes of people.” Stop acting like Absalom and saying, “It’s all my father’s, mother’s, sister’s, brother’s—somebody else’s fault. It’s not mine!” You aren’t accepting the fact that you are the one who started this whole process. You’re simply shifting blame so you feel justified.

This is nothing more than vengeance on your part. That’s not operating like a person after God’s own heart. You need to change that! The good news is you can change. It starts with a decision, but it doesn’t end there. You have to walk it out.

Cultivate a Sensitive Heart

The contrasts between these three kings really brings out and magnifies the traits that made David a man after God’s own heart and it reveals how you and I can become people after God’s own heart today. But the choice is up to you. You choose what your heart is going to be like.

Whatever your heart is like right now is the result of the choices you have made in the past. You might not have intentionally and with understanding said, “I want to be a hard-hearted person,” but you have made choices that have hardened your heart toward God. You can start making choices today that will soften and sensitize your heart toward God. My book entitled,
Hardness of Heart
, goes right along with this. It instructs you on how to cultivate and keep a a heart that is sensitive toward the Lord.

Chapter 15
Follow God’s Order

The Ark of the Covenant was made in Moses’ day, approximately 400 years before David’s story. By the time David was crowned king, it had been sitting for years in Abinadab’s house, in Kirjathjearim (1 Samuel 7:1), or what is called Gibeah (2 Samuel 6:3).

After David was crowned king, he intended to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, the city he had chosen as his royal city and residence. The Ark symbolized God’s presence, and it didn’t seem good to him not to have it in Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 13:2-3). So David had the Ark placed on a cart that was pulled by oxen, and they started for Jerusalem. It was a great company of people, and they were rejoicing and praising God with instruments. But while they were on the way, something terrible happened—

And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God.

This judgment upon Uzzah seems harsh and the Scripture says, “David was displeased, because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah” (2 Samuel 6:8). You might be able to identify with David here. I know many people who feel like God failed them and they are mad at Him or at least displeased with Him as David was, but God is never wrong.

There was a reason for what happened. David didn’t know what that reason was at the time, but he later realized he had missed it instead of God. We should learn a lesson from David here. From our point of view, it sometimes looks like God’s promises aren’t true, but that’s never the case. If some of His promises didn’t come to pass, you can count on the fact that there was something the Lord told us to do that we failed to do. Never forget that!

David didn’t realize it, but there was a prescribed order as to how the Ark was supposed to be approached and handled (Numbers 4:15). The Ark had to be kept behind a veil in a place called the “holy of holies,” which was in the tabernacle. On either side of the mercy seat of the Ark were two gold cherubims—warrior angels. They were there as a symbol to let people know that angels kept people from the presence of God. This was intended to depict the separation between a “holy God” and “unholy man.”

Only the high priest could go in to where the Ark was, and he could only do that once a year to make atonement for the people’s sins and for his own sins (Leviticus 16:34). If he didn’t do everything just right in there, God would smite him. A first-century historian named Josephus recorded that they actually had a rope tied around the high priest’s ankle with the end of it trailing out beyond the veil. That way if the priest was struck dead while in the holy of holies, they could drag him out. They certainly couldn’t go in after him to get him or they would be struck dead too!

When Jesus made atonement for our sins, this veil that seperated man from the Ark was rent in two (Matthew 27:51). Now we have direct access to God! But in the Old Testament, this separation between a holy God and unholy man had to be enforced. People couldn’t just approach God. None of us are worthy. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

There are a lot of people today who don’t understand and appreciate these things and they talk about God in a way that doesn’t reverence Him. They think God is love (1 John 4:8), therefore He will just accept them. But God is a holy God too! The only reason we have access to Him today is because a price was paid. The Scripture says that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). A price had to be paid and before that price was paid, man could not just come into the presence of God.

There Is a Prescribed Order

God had specific instructions about how to handle the Ark of the Covenant. It was to be carried between two poles by the Levites so that it would be supported properly and couldn’t fall (Exodus 25:12-15 and Numbers 4). This also kept it out of reach so no one could bump into it and bring judgment on themselves. But David was bringing the Ark to Jerusalem on a cart that could easily bounce and tip over, and sure enough, that’s exactly what happened. The oxen stumbled and the Ark was about to fall over. Then Uzzah, trying to brace it, reached out and touched it—totally violating God’s prescribed order. So God struck him dead!

Sin’s price had not yet been paid, so no one could touch the presence of God and get away with it. David got very upset when Uzzah was struck dead. His intentions were good. The Lord could have adjusted His rules, but that’s not how it works.

Sometimes we are tempted to think that the Lord is too bound to His word. Our intentions are good, so we think He should just perform our every wish even though we are full of doubt or fear or bitterness or whatever. But we have to conform our actions to God’s standards, not the other way around. The next verse says:

And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me?

David humbled himself before the Lord. That’s one of the qualities that made him a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). Instead of being mad, David feared the Lord. David quickly realized there’s only one God—and he wasn’t Him! That’s a very wise thing to do when it looks like God’s not coming through for us. We should humble ourselves and proclaim God’s faithfulness, even when it doesn’t look like He’s been faithful to us.

David had the Ark moved to Obed-Edom’s house. After three months, he was told that Obed-Edom was being blessed because of the Ark. So once again David wanted to bring the Ark to Jerusalem. He said,

None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the LORD chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.

This indicates that David had finally gone back and asked God, “What happened with Uzzah? Why didn’t this work?” He went back to God’s Word and found the proper way to carry the Ark. David revealed to the Levites what God told him:

Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the LORD God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it. For because ye did it not at the first, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.

Uzzah died because David didn’t follow God’s prescribed order. He hadn’t sought the Lord the first time about how to handle the Ark. There are a lot of applications I can make from this, but one of them is that many people, even so-called Christians, say, “It doesn’t matter how you seek the Lord. You can be a Buddhist, a Hindu, a Muslim, or whatever. There’s only one God, but there are many paths that lead to Him. Just as long as you believe in some divine being and as long as you do your best, that’s good enough.” Boy, if you are paying attention to this example from David’s life, you can see that there is a proper order to seeking the Lord. David desired a good end but because he didn’t do it the proper way, a man died needlessly.

I have talked to many people who had this same attitude that it doesn’t matter the way you get there, just as long as you believe there’s a God. Others believe that God is a good God so He’s going to accept them regardless of which way they choose. That’s not right. There is a right way and a wrong way to relate to God.

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Acts 4:12