[Sorry, no sudio here. There is video on Facebook and YouTube.]
Sermon – Time to Worship
2 Samuel 6:12-16b; Revelation 7:9-12
Farmville Presbyterian Church
6/29/25
One of my favorite memories of my youngest daughter, Rachel, is when she was a little person in worship. When she young out in the congregation and heard a song that spoke to her, she would begin dancing. It might be out at outdoor service or inside for regular worship. If she had the room, she would stand up and begin swaying and spinning out of joy. She has always loved music, and she felt what many of us have also learned over the years: that God speaks to us through music and worship. There are so many options for the Holy Spirit, maybe it is a prayer or music or preaching or reading or the children’s lesson or the congregational fellowship or something else that happens that might pluck our hearts. When worship no longer stirs our hearts somehow, however, it feels like a part of us has died. That is how seriously we should take our experience of God in worship. Rachel was experiencing God in those days long ago even though she did not know it or could put words to her movement. She did not know who God is or Jesus or the Spirit, for that matter, but she connected to joy in worship. I wish she had that same feeling today, but that is in God’s hands. All I know is that we are here because it is time to worship.
King David was taking his life in his hands. Literally, he was risking his life to get the ark of the covenant to his capital Jerusalem. Decades before, the Israelites had lost the ark in a fight with the Philistines (1 Samuel 4). The Philistine army seized the ark and took it home as a trophy to their god. It did not go so well for their god or their people. Everyone was afflicted in obvious and painful ways. It got so bad that the Philistines had to give the ark back. Everyone was scared of it, so they put it on a cart pulled by oxen, and they basically left it to God to bring the ark home. It made it back to Israel, but it basically stopped at someone’s house where it was kept for a good while. David got it in his head decades later to bring the ark from that home to his home Jerusalem where he had established his capital. It did not get very far, however, before the cart carrying the ark had an issue. One of the oxen pulling the ark had trouble and the cart bumped or slipped or something and one of the attendants, poor Uzzah, died trying to do something good. He reached out to stead the ark. I’m not sure he got the safety video before they left. No one was meant to touch the ark, and David was so upset that he left the ark there for months. That story is recorded in the beginning of this chapter.
Today’s reading is where it picks up and ends. David has second thoughts about leaving the ark to its home and decides to bring it to Jerusalem again. He goes in with worship on his heart to deliver it to Jerusalem. It is a grand spectacle, a massive parade with music and sacrifice and worship. Finally, they arrive in Jerusalem, and David is worshipping his heart out. Even his clothes are largely missing, and David doesn’t pay any attention. His focus is on the worship. Every ounce of his being is going to the celebration of God.
I find it interesting that the king of Israel that is most cherished, most elevated, most remembered, and most important is David. His son, Solomon, brought Israel to its pinnacle. He made Israel the biggest and richest and most glorious that it ever was. He secured its peace and was renowned for his wisdom. He is also known as the author of significant portions of the Bible, but when people think back to the king that could restore Israel, it is David. Jesus is called of the house of David. That would make him of the house of Solomon, also, but it is David who is the focus. The messiah had a kingly role, and that role was to be a new David.
I think it is because of his heart for worship. Even though Solomon built God’s FIRST TEMPLE (something David was not permitted to do), he was also known for erecting shrines to all kinds of gods for his many, many wives of other faiths. Saul, the very first king, had a devotion to God but never like David, and he got confused over the years. David, however, had a passion for God and the worship of God that we see in the psalms and especially right here. He has a singularity of devotion to God that is remarkable. I’m not sure there has ever been another David.
That leaves the rest of us in an interesting situation. Should each and every one of us be more like David? Call me crazy, but I feel like the answer needs to be a resounding “YES,” but actually living that out can be a bit tricky. He did eliminate a bunch of people in service to God, and I mean a bunch of people – the song on the street was 10,000s. He also had many wives and children by those wives. It is not clear whether that was something he really needed to do for God. He led the people in devotion to God. That is useful. We could live in ways that inspire others to give God some praise or thanks. He was also not afraid to worship – to let his heart out.
Imagine that. He did not care what others thought, he opened his heart to worship. He did not care what was expected or accepted, he let his heart out. Like little Rachel, he embraced being stirred in the Spirit and loved it. This is one of the hardest things for Presbyterians to get our heads around. No, we will not end up with a praise band, nor am I advocating for cartwheels in worship. There are expressions of worship that are too far, my favorite being the barkers who ran around on all fours barking like dogs in worship. I’m not sure how that brings glory to God, but I also have to be careful in judging. It would have been easy to judge David in his extravagant display, and that went poorly for his wife Michal.
At the heart of who we are and what we do is a love of God. Worship can look like all kinds of things, but it is all done out of this love for God. Revelation 7 is an expansive view of this love and gives us a glimpse of what our future might entail. Honestly, there are plenty of folk who might see heaven as a boring place, singing to God all the time, but I’m not sure those people understand what worship is. That means they do not understand who God is. They also do not understand who we are in this great picture of love. If you have ever loved someone so much that you wanted to be with them all the time, if someone else made you so happy that you delighted to be with them, if someone else has ever filled your world with color, then you begin to get how glorious our life in God can be. The heart of love that God has given us all will one day be filled. The more that we can fill it now will make our lives more special, but one day we will truly know glory. We should all consider what we might do for the love and worship of God. What about God delights us and makes us want to worship? When did we know God’s worship in the most profound ways? How can we hold that heart, again? It is always time to worship. To God be the glory. Amen.