Awful Presence

Listen to sermon here.

Sermon Outline

The situation—the ark of the covenant is coming back to Jerusalem (vv. 1-4)

• What was the ark? (Ex. 25:10-22)
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• What did the ark represent? (Ex. 25:22, Lev. 16:11-17)
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• Where had the ark been? (1 Sam. 4-7)

The Violation (vv. 6-7)

• No one ever asked God about moving the ark (2 Sam. 2, 5:19, 23)
• The Levites were the only ones that were ever allowed to move the ark (Deut. 10:8)
• David and the Israelites clearly violated God’s commands about transporting the ark (v. 3, Ex. 25)
• No one was to ever touch the ark (Num. 4:15)

**The whole way it was managed showed a blatant disregard for the holiness of God,
the commands of God, and a lax attitude towards the presence of God and the
judgments of God.

The Celebration (v.12-14)

• “Who is this King of Glory?” (Psalm 24)

APPLICATION

Be warned: Good intentions do not justify disobeying God’s commands.

• God’s work done God’s way receives God’s blessing. However, God’s work done OUR way, is still disobedience.
• What commands might I be dismissing under the pretense of “good intentions?” (Ps. 19:8)

Be Confronted: The presence of God is an awful thing. (Job 40, 42)

• “Awful”= originally meant something that fills us with fear, awe, dread, reverential
  wonder.
• We must be careful not to let privilege become presumption.
• Do we feel the weight of God’s presence and holiness personally and corporately? (Ps. 145:3)

Be comforted: God has always made a way to be present with his people.

• Jesus perfectly fulfilled everything the ark represented and symbolized (Heb. 9)
• “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God?” Answer: WE ARE! But only in
  the blood and name of Jesus Christ. (Heb. 4:14-16)