2 Sam 6:1-23 and 1 Chron 15:1-29 tell the story of how David the king brought the ark of the covenant – the symbol of God’s presence with His people – back to Jerusalem. Both stories are needed to gain a fuller picture of what happened in the two stages of the story: the first journey characterised by death (the death of Uzzah) and the second by dancing (David’s worshipful response to God’s presence.)

1 Chron 15 acts as an interpretation of 2 Sam 6, for in that chapter, there is no explanation as to why God’s anger should burn so fiercely against Uzzah. In the three months between the first and second journey, David has clearly sought God. He may have been frustrated and even angry with God, but he is wise enough to seek God for an explanation and in 1 Chron 15:13 says, ^‘‘It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the Lord our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way.’

David’s initial reaction – of frustration and anger – did not become his final reaction, and this is one reason he has so much to teach us. He was prepared to seek God for understanding and was big enough to change the way he did things: ‘So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves in order to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. And the Levites carried the ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the Lord.‘ (1 Chron 15:14-15)

David learnt the lesson we would all do well to learn: worship is all about God. It means doing things God’s way and putting God first; self-forgetful abandonment is necessary. Michal represents the Pharisee in all of us: how we like to do things decently, in order, with decorum, all the time being more concerned about appearances than about God. Such worship is grievous to God (see Amos 5:21-24) because God looks at the heart. Michal remained barren after this; to despise those who worship God is a dangerous thing to do.

Our worship must be focussed on God and not on our selves. It must involve our whole hearts – and at times we will run the risk of being accused of being undignified, reckless, even perhaps a little crazy. What matters most? – the acclaim of people or the acceptance of God?

There are some passages in the Bible which cause us to wonder why, which arouse in us confusion, bewilderment and even anger. 2 Sam 6:1-23 is one such passage, the tale of how David sought to bring the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem and how one man’s apparently innocent gesture resulted in death. The lessons to be learned from this passage are not easy.

After years of being a fugitive from the king, David is now crowned king and wants to bring the symbol of God’s presence back to its rightful place. Taken by the Philistines many years earlier, the ark was a sacramental sign of God’s presence which had proved too hot for the Philistines to handle and now David wishes to unite the religious and the political by bringing it to his new capital city. It was a day of celebration which turned to mourning; carrying the ark on an ox cart, the cart stumbled; Uzzah reached out a hand to steady the ark and died on the spot.

David, we are told, was angry at what God had done (2 Sam 6:8) and so often, we too feel like this. God’s ways are so often incomprehensible to us and we do not understand what He does. Uzzah’s actions seem so ordinary and reasonable, but in actual fact, by moving the ark on a cart instead of being carried by the Levitical priests on poles, the people were trying to do things their way rather than God’s way.

How often do we feel we need to protect God and keep Him safe? We fail to realise that God is not benign or cosy; we cannot control Him (or fit Him into a box). David had failed to read the instructions given and it took three months of fear, awe and learning for David to understand his mistake and do things differently.

The second time, David and the people had learned their lesson. The ark was transported properly and there was great celebration and rejoicing – and sacrifices along the way. David had learned the lesson that reverence and awe can go hand in hand with joy and dancing. What happened this time was that David lost himself in the awesome love and holy majesty of God. His wife did not understand this; she viewed his reckless worship as something that was vulgar and undignified. David’s heart was given over to God, however, and he had learned the lesson that nothing was more important than worshipping the Lord whose presence makes all the difference.

August is a month of holidays and general changes in routines. We’re having building work done at the moment on the roof, guttering, doors and notice board. Here’s what’s happening at GPCC and the area in August.

Sundays

Our meetings on Sundays will still be at 10.30 a.m. and 6.00 p.m., with the meeting at Cherry Tree Court on 11th August at 10.30 a.m.

Midweek

We don’t have midweek meetings in August, but may be holding some prayer & Bible studies in homes this month. More details to follow.

Team Building Day

Our next Team Building Day is on Saturday 10th August between 4 and 6 p.m. Join us and Sarah Davey to investigate what church looks like, how we can find our role and giftings in God and what our mission field really looks like! Stop for a takeaway and further fellowship at the end of this session.

Family Fun Day

Our Superhero Party will be on Wednesday 14th August between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at GPCC, organised by the Dearne Area Team. We’ll be doing superhero crafts and will have entertainers coming in for part of the session. Free entry & free lunch provided. Come in superhero costumes if you can!

There’ll be another fun day on Wednesday 28th August between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at Hanover Street Park in Thurnscoe, a picnic outdoors with crafts and other fun (bring your own picnic blanket.)

Family Events

If you’re looking after children in August, there are a number of community events happening, including the ‘Go Wild In Thurnscoe’ sculpture trail where you can find Vincent the sun bear and other animal sculptures in a variety of locations in Thurnscoe.

There is also the ‘Bounce Into Summer’ event at the Welfare grounds in Goldthorpe on Wednesday 21st August from 12 noon.

We were thrilled to hear from Fredrick and Reeba in Bangalore recently and to see the photos they sent of the recent baptismal service in their new building. We supplied some money towards the building of the baptismal tank, so it was a special privilege to see the completion of this project and to know that Hindus who have converted to Christianity were baptised in this service.

Garry spoke tonight from Gal 3:1-6, a challenging passage which reminds us that we can start the journey of faith well, but can easily fail to grow and develop as we should. Ultimately, we need to understand that our birth into the new life means accessing a spiritual realm, and this demands our whole attention. Only when we are born again can we understand the mind of God (1 Cor 2:12-3:4), but the challenge throughout life is whether we will choose to live in the physical realm only or whether we will choose to access the spiritual life God has for us. This life is available for us, but we have to access it!

Our natural state is ‘unspiritual’ (Rom 7:14) and Eph 2:1-6 clearly tells us what we were like prior to coming to faith. Now, however, we live not in the realm of the flesh but in the realm of the Spirit (Rom 8:9). Just as a baby has to learn to control its body (learning to master head control, roll over, sit up and eventually stand and walk and learn to talk), we have to learn to live in the spiritual realm. This happens, Peter says, as we get rid of our old nature (‘rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind‘ 1 Pet 2:1) and crave (yearn with longing) pure spiritual milk (1 Pet 2:2) so that we can grow up in faith. We need the word of God for this (Matt 4:4) and the easiest way for us to tell if we are making true spiritual progress is to judge how quickly we turn to God in prayer.

The spiritual life requires more than cosmetic change (such as adding spotlights or ‘go faster’ stripes to a car!) It requires the kind of change which makes a real difference (in car terms, putting in a bigger engine, for example!) This can only happen as we put to death the old nature. An old Cherokee proverb talks about life being a fight between two wolves, and who wins the fight comes down to which wolf we feed. Will we feed the old nature, slipping back into familiar ways and well-worn reactions, or will we learn to allow God to renew our minds and transform our thinking?

It can be hard to measure spiritual progress, because it’s often invisible, but actually, the easiest way to tell which wolf we are feeding is how willing and quick we are to pray. We can look spiritual to others and can even persuade ourselves we are, but Rev 3:17 reminds us that God’s evaluation is often very different to ours. What matters is that we develop our prayer life, for it’s there that we learn what pleases God and make the choices that are necessary for spiritual growth. God’s challenge is for us to be spiritual and see what God can do with that.

The conclusion from our series on ‘Battles and Blessings’ reminds us of the following truths:

Life will always have battles as well as blessings. We’d prefer a life of blessing and no battles, but the two things run together like the parallel tracks of a railway. If we learn to accept this, we will save ourselves a lot of heartache and time asking the questions ‘Why me? Why this? Why now?’

God is a God who loves to bless His people. His natural inclination is to bless; He loves to bless (see Ps 67, Eph 1:3, Ps 84:11). We need to grasp the goodness of God and trust in God’s character, no matter whether we’re in a time of battle or a time of blessing. Remember, ‘what’s true in the light is still true in the dark.’ (‘Weep With Me’, Rend Collective) God does not change and is good all the time. God’s blessings are there for us at all times. The Voice version of Ps 67 says, ‘The land has supplied a bountiful harvest, and the True God, our God, has poured out His blessings to us all. God is the source of our blessings; may every corner of the earth respect and revere Him.’ 

Our part is to seek God first, instead of chasing after blessings. Thomas Jefferson spoke about the pursuit of happiness as an inalienable right of humanity, but I’m not sure I totally agree with him. I believe the pursuit of God is the only true pathway to happiness and that happiness is actually a by-product of a life well-lived, as Eleanor Roosevelt said. It’s when we seek God first, when we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, that we can live in that life of blessing because God’s generosity and provision then become the bedrock of our lives and we have a solid foundation on which to build.