31 July 2011

Psalm 93, 96; 2 Samuel 6:12-23; Rom. 4:7-12; John 1:43-51

David rejoices that the ark of the Lord will finally come to the capital of land, it will be the crowning jewel of the city of David. David’s offering of this city to be the city of God is proven to be acceptable to the Lord by the ark coming there. If God had rejected David’s plan, the ark would never have been allowed to come up to the city. David’s delight translated to action, dancing before the ark and rejoicing before all the people. His actions caused the people to love him more but his wife, Saul’s daughter, Michal, to despise him. David’s concern is not with the propriety of the king’s actions but rather with God’s glory. He is willing to check his dignity at the door, his honor pales in comparison to God’s. Are we willing to abandon ourselves to the worship of the Lord?

Nathanael is a skeptic. His skepticism is founded in Scripture, Messiah doesn’t come from Nazareth and he is right, Messiah wasn’t supposed to come from Nazareth and, as we know, Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the city of David, just as Messiah was intended to do. His brother prevails on him to come anyway with an extraordinary claim, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." He gets wrong not only Jesus’ city of origin but also his father although both are honest mistakes. Nathanael, when he decides to see for himself, makes even greater claims concerning Jesus, Son of God! King of Israel! When he saw Jesus who had first seen him, his heart gave way and he offered worship without restraint.

Have your “lawless deeds” been forgiven, have your sins been covered? The mercy seat of God, the ark which David danced before, contained the commandments of God and the ark had a covering on it which kept the judgment of God on sin against His law “covered.” It was on the cover that the blood of sacrifice was thrown by the high priest once a year to atone for the sins of the nation. The covering and the sacrificial blood thrown on it were important for continuing the covenant and the celebration when the high priest emerged from the holy of holies was powerful, they knew that they were still God’s people. Here, the writer says that those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and our sins covered are blessed. Do we worship as those who are thus blessed by the grace, mercy and love of God? What we have received is extraordinary and the lack of dignity at the cross in His suffering should surely bring us to lose our own in worship.

I love Thy kingdom, Lord,
The house of Thine abode,
The church our blessed Redeemer saved
With His own precious blood.

Tune