Michiana Covenant Presbyterian Church

It is worth saying out loud that the first offspring of David to prefigure our Lord Jesus was David's daughter, Tamar. David has been called to be what Israel failed to be. But David has fallen short. We saw last time that Nathan said that David's sin with Bathsheba would be echoed in what David's "neighbor" would do publicly. 2 Samuel 13-20 (eight chapters) will flesh out that prophecy. God had warned that he would visit the sins of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation. Sin has consequences–and those consequences can prove deadly. But God also promised that he would show mercy to a thousand generations of those who loved him. So even as we witness the judgment to the third and fourth generations – let us also watch for God's mercy – (after all, a thousand generations would be 25,000 years! and we've only made it 3500 years so far!)

[Sung Psalm: 32] God is is a righteous judge. The problem is, how can a righteous judge justify sinners? Only if his righteous judgment is satisfied. And that is why God "put forward" Jesus "as a propitiation" - as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Jesus took the penalty for our sin in order to show God's righteousness, because the only way for a just God to justify sinners is if he first deals with sin. In 3:27-31, Paul says that God is not only the God of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles, and he will justify both Jews and Gentiles in the same way–by faith: "For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law." (3:28) But Paul recognizes that some people will hear this as an attack on the law. Is Paul overthrowing the law of Moses? (v31) To that, Paul says, "May it never be! Rather, we uphold the law." Okay, Paul, prove it! You say that we are justified by faith, apart from works of the law, but then you say that you uphold the law – show us how! That is what Romans 4 is all about. Ro

The story of David's sin with Bathsheba is justly famous. The author of 2 Samuel uses it as the setting for all of the problems that afflicted David's house later. Many pastors and commentators have pointed out that the context is given in verse 1. In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle... David sent Joab to attack the Ammonites. In other words, rather than lead his people into battle, as the LORD's anointed was supposed to do, David stayed home. David's sin is seen clearly in the light of the context of 11:1 and 12:26-31. David's sin is couched in the context of David's failure to do what God called him to do. There are three things to remember from this passage: 1) When you stray into sin, the reason is that you have failed to do what God calls you to do. Sin is always a failure to love God with all your heart – so when you sin, ask yourself, "where did I turn away from the path?" 2) You need to remember that Jesus is the LORD's anointed – the Messiah who never strayed from his path

[Sung Psalm: 119:137-144] Before the coming of Christ we heard many voices in the Old Testament proclaiming that God is righteous, and we saw many pictures that bore witness to the righteousness of God. But it is only in the gospel that the righteousness of God is revealed. What is the difference between witnessing to the righteousness of God and revealing (or manifesting) the righteousness of God? Moses bore witness to the righteousness of God when he led Israel out of Egypt, testifying that God delivers his people from bondage. The sons of Aaron bore witness to the righteousness of God when they offered sacrifices on the altar, testifying that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. King David bore witness to the righteousness of God when he established his throne in Jerusalem, testifying that the kingdom of God endures forever. We could multiply examples of words and signs in the OT, all of which testified to the righteousness of God – all of which pointed forward to the coming of the

Mephibosheth is lame in both feet. And yet he sits at the king's table among the king's sons – who are called priests. We saw last time that 2 Samuel 7 prepared us for understanding how the Son of David will be a kingly priest according to the order of Melchizedek. 2 Samuel 8-10 now prepares us for understanding what the steadfast love of the king looks like. He is faithful and kind to the lame. We saw in chapter 5 how the Jebusites of Jerusalem had mocked David, saying that the blind and the lame would ward David off. Now we see that David brings the lame into his city and cares for them – because such is the steadfast love and kindness of the King. At the very center of chapter 9 is verse 7 – David's covenant protection and provision. This is not mere "protection" – but provision – restoring his inheritance, feeding him at his own table – treating him as his own son (how God deals with us). To put it simply: "we are the Lord's Mephibosheths, and there is absolutely no reason why we should be eating continua

[Sung Psalm: 14] I once met a man who openly declared that he had broken at least nine of the ten commandments (taken strictly in a literal sense!), and yet he proclaimed that he was a good man. What would Paul say to such a man? Sometimes we seem to think that we need to prove that he is not a good man. And we point to Romans 3 – "there is no one who does good." But remember that in the previous chapter Paul said that "when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things of the law...they show that the work of the law is written on their hearts." (2:14-15) In other words, sometimes even unbelieving Gentiles "do the things of the law." So I think Paul would say to this man, "I do not doubt that you love your wife and your children. I do not deny that in many respects you are a good and honorable man, but according to your own testimony, you have admitted that you are under the power of sin, after all, your conscience is already both accusing and defending you." Paul's point is not that fallen human

The pattern of ancient kings was to establish themselves through two things: victory in battle – and then once they had proven themselves militarily, they would embark on great building projects, in order to leave monuments to their great might. After all, if you are going to devote your resources to building, that means that you are secure militarily. But David has built his house – with the help of Hiram of Tyre - and now his conscience gets to him: See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent. There is a sense of guilt here – how can I live in such splendor, while the ark of God has only a tent to cover it? And the prophet Nathan responds by encouraging David: sounds great to me! Go for it! The LORD has been with you in battle, so surely the LORD is with you in building as well! But building a temple is different from other building projects. Building a temple signifies that God is on your side! If David builds the temple, then it has the effect of saying that David is the gre

[Sung Psalm: 147] Here in chapter 2, Paul begins a series of questions that will run through chapter 11. You can outline these central ten chapters of Romans around Paul's questions. And we'll highlight them as we go through the book. Our passage today flows out of the principle stated in verse 13 that "it is not the hearers of the law that are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified." What does it mean to be a doer of the law? It does not mean that you never sin! After all, the law itself taught Israel how to offer sacrifices for sin. So being a doer of the law cannot mean someone who never sins. So what does it mean to be a "doer of the law"? Put simply, it means that you not only hear what Gods says, but you do it! When God says, "repent of your sins and believe in Jesus," you respond by repenting of your sins and believing in Jesus. When God says, "love the Lord your God with all your heart," you respond by loving God. When God says, "love your neighbor as your yourself," you

Last time we saw how David defeated his enemies – and how he established his new capital city – and how he had lots of sons. But there is more to being a king than this. After all, Saul had defeated his enemies at the beginning of his reign as well! And Saul had several sons. So how will David prove himself better than Saul? Where had Saul failed? Saul had failed in the area of worship. Saul had offered sacrifices without Samuel. Saul had tried to bring peace offerings out of the best of the devoted plunder of the Amalekites. A king, in the biblical sense of the word, is more than just a political leader. He is also supposed to lead his people in worshiping God. He is not a priest, but he is the one who goes before his people, not only in battle, but also in worship. We saw last time how the promises to Abraham begin to come true in David: the land and the seed and the blessing to the nations – but all of this can only come true if God is with us. The presence of God is more important than any victory in ba

[Sung Psalm: 86] What is an apology? When someone "apologizes" for a mistake they are defending their action by explaining the circumstances. "I'm sorry that I ran into your car – I was watching the dog that ran into the street." That is an apology. It may include an expression of regret ("I'm sorry that I smashed your car") but it also at least implies a defense. The classic case was Pope Benedict's "apology" after calling Islam a religion of violence. He did not repent of what he said. He apologized. He said that he sincerely regretted "that certain passages of his address could have sounded offensive to the sensitivities of the Muslim faithful." It was not repentance. He clearly believed that what he said was right. There was no need to ask for forgiveness, because he did not sin in what he had said. And so he issued an apology – a defense with an expression of regret. And sometimes an apology is all you can offer. But Paul's point in chapter 2 is that an apology is not enough! God's kindness is designed t

The point of 2 Samuel 5 is to highlight certain key themes that we see in David's reign. Indeed, chapter five is designed as a prelude to chapters 6-7 – the coming of the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, and God's covenant with David. What are the central themes of the chapter? The city of David. The children of David. And David's interactions with the surrounding nations. Think about that. What are the three parts of the promise to Abraham? The land, and the seed, and the blessing to the nations. The land is now focused on the City of David – the stronghold of Zion – which, by the way, is where Abraham had taken Isaac, when God had told him to offer Isaac on the mountain! The seed is now focused on the Son of David. The house of David will now become all that Israel failed to be. And the blessing to the nations was that those who curse you will be cursed – those who bless you will be blessed. The Gibeonites and the Philistines try to curse David. The king of Tyre seeks to bless David. So as God prepares

Israel was presently divided into – yes, you guessed it! Two camps! Mahanaim had originally been named by Jacob when he came back to the Promised Land. At Mahanaim the angels of God met him, and so he said, "This is God's camp" (the two camps being the angels and Jacob). Then, as soon as he hears that Esau is coming, he divides his own company into "two camps" in 32:7, and prays to God for mercy - thanking God that though he left the land with only his staff, now "I have become two camps" (32:10). Now under David and Saul's son Ish-Bosheth, the house of Jacob is divided once again.

[Sung Psalm: 19] When we do not love and fear and honor God as our God, then God gives us over to sins against others. And this is why our repentance must always start where the prodigal son did: "I have sinned against heaven and before you" (Luke 15:18). If you think about it, this is why modern people don't see a problem with sexual sin. They don't believe that there is such a thing as sin against God, and so as long as "nobody gets hurt" there is no sin. (And on the flip side, if I feel hurt, then someone must have sinned against me). We have exchanged the glory of God for images. We have exchanged the truth about God for a lie. And so all we have is life under the sun. There is no room in the modern world for sin against God...

We have come to the "hinge" of the book of Samuel – the central turning point. There are three songs in the book of Samuel – Hannah's thanksgiving at the beginning – David's lament over Saul and Jonathan in the middle – and David's thanksgiving at the end. It is worth noting that Hannah's Thanksgiving had been sung more than 80 years earlier – just after the birth of Samuel. Now Samuel is dead – and still Hannah's prayer has not been answered: "The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the power of his anointed." Do you sometimes feel as though God is slow to fulfill his promises? What is God waiting for!?! If God's purpose is to destroy his enemies and exalt his Messiah – why take so long to do it?!! The simple answer is this: If God had done that – then you would never have been born. If God had made everything right "back then" – then we never reach today. And this is

[Sung Psalm: 40] As we saw last time, the Gospel of God – the good news that God has proclaimed to us – is "concerning his Son." The good news is not good news about you or me. The gospel is the good news about Jesus. Verse 2 relates the "gospel" to the OT scriptures - The prophets promised the gospel beforehand. They spoke of the good news ahead of time. Verse 3 then states clearly what the gospel is all about: The gospel is about the Son of God: The Son who was of the seed of David according to the flesh, The Son who was declared the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead THIS is what God had promised beforehand through the prophets: that he would take David's son and exalt him to his right hand. And it is only in Jesus Christ that we discover that only the Eternal Son of God could become the eschatological Son ("eschatological" means "about the last times") so "eschatological Son" means the last days Son of God). And it is only by the resurrection from the d

In 1 Samuel 30, David and his men face three temptations in the wilderness: materialism, militarism and moralism. And as we see tonight, even as his men spoke of stoning him, David "strengthened himself in the LORD his God," and inquired of the LORD. And unlike Saul, God answers David, and told him to overtake the Amalekites and destroy them. David will do what Saul would not!

[Sung Psalm: 110] What is the point of preaching? We live in the "information age" where we are overloaded with information and images, sights and sounds. A thousand years ago if there was an earthquake in Japan, you NEVER would have heard about it. But last month, we heard about it within minutes. With all of the information that pours in through television, radio, and internet, why do you sit and listen to a preacher for half an hour on Sunday morning? Later, in Romans 10, Paul will ask "how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?" (Romans 10:14) And so Paul concludes that "faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ." (Romans 10:17) In an "information age" where words and images bombard us constantly, we are too easily distracted. We need the simplicity of the preaching of the Word to draw us back to Jesus. No matter how complicated and high-tech our world may become, we will always need to have a simple messenger st

[Sung Psalm: 85] I've titled the sermon, "the Holy Kiss" – because when you really understand what a "holy kiss" is – you realize that it embodies everything that Paul is talking about here. In 1 Thessalonians, Paul has been urging us to walk in faith, hope, and love, as we await the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we've seen that hope has to do, particularly with our goal – our focus – what are we aiming towards?! What is the hope that endures? Only one hope can survive Judgment Day! Because only one hope has already passed through Judgment Day. Our Lord Jesus Christ – the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us – He is the one who has passed through Judgment Day! The Final Day has already come for Jesus! And he has triumphed – and so in him, the light of the world has dawned! And so you are not in darkness...

Tonight we watch as David follows the pattern of the LORD himself as he descends into the realm of the Philistines. You may remember that Yahweh himself had gone before David to Gath – when the ark of the covenant was taken captive! Now the LORD's Anointed is following the path of Yahweh himself – as David spends 16 months in Gath (the ark had spent 7 months in Philistine territory). David will pass through his own humiliation to glory, as he remains in exile awaiting the day when the LORD will vindicate him and establish his house. You might wonder, "Is there any other way? That sounds hard!" Yes, it is. And yes, there is another way: the way of Saul -- which is a one-way ticket to the grave. What is the difference between David and Saul? In a word, repentance. Saul is so focused on his kingdom that he loses sight of God's kingdom. David recognizes that "yours is the kingdom" (1 Chron 29:11) – and so when David sins, he recognizes that he has sinned against God, whereas when Saul sins, he only sees his si

[Sung Psalm: 32] Last time we looked at how we are to respect those who labor among us, who are over us in the Lord, and who admonish us. In other words, respect your elders and esteem them very highly in love because of their work. And then in verses 13-15 he talked about how we ought to conduct our life together. God made us to live in harmony with him – with one another – with ourselves – and with all creation. And when that harmony is functioning properly, that is what we mean by peace. We need to "admonish the disorderly" and thus put back together that which is falling apart. That which is orderly is that which is directed by and to Jesus. That which is disorderly is that which is directed at something else. And then encourage the "small-souled." How do you encourage the small-souled? Build up their souls! Feed their souls! Show them Jesus! Nourish their souls with the gospel of Jesus Christ!