A Hopeful Warning - 1st Samuel 6

Let's pray. Good morning. We are glad to be here this morning, and we're glad to be able to spend some time together, glad to be able to read Scripture together, glad to be able to sing together and to gather around the table in celebration of the gospel and in remembrance of Jesus. And so I'm going to open with a word of prayer, and then we will begin with the 95th Psalm. Father in heaven, I thank you so much that we can be here. I thank you so much for your people. I thank you so much for your word. I thank you for the gospel and how it changes and transforms. And so I ask that as we worship and if we open your word this morning, that you would be with us to guide us, to teach us, to give us strength, and help us to see your goodness. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

If you would, stand with me as we read from the 95th Psalm. We're going to read verses three through six. For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all God. In His hand are the depths of the earth. The height of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for He made it. And His hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker. This is the word of the Lord. I was buried beneath my shame. Who could carry that kind of weight? It was my turn. Till I met you. I was breathing but not alive. All my failures I tried to hide. It was my turn. Till I met you. You called my name, and I ran out of that grave. Out of the darkness into your glorious day. You called my name, and I ran out of that grave. Out of the darkness into your glorious day.

Out of the darkness into your glorious day. Now your mercy has saved my soul. Now your freedom is all that I know. The old made new. Jesus, when I met you, you called my name, and I ran out of that grave. Out of the darkness into your glorious day. You called my name, and I ran out of that grave. Out of the darkness into your glorious day. I needed rescue. My sin was heavy. The chains break at the weight of your glory. I needed shelter. I wasn't open. Now you've come. You call me citizen of heaven. When I was broken, you were my healing. Now your love is the air that I'm breathing. I have a future. My eyes are open. 'Cause when you call my name, I ran out of that grave. Out of the darkness into your glory.

glorious day. You call my name. I ran out of that grave. Out of the darkness to your glorious day. I'm worthy of every song we could ever sing. Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring. Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. We live for you. Jesus, the name above every other name. Jesus, the only one who could ever save. Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. We live for you. Oh, we live for you. Holy, there is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those around me. Worthy of every song we could ever sing. Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring. Worthy of every prayer we could ever sing. Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring. Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. We live for you.

Jesus, the name above every other name. Jesus, the only one who could ever say. Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. We live for you. Oh, we live for you. Holy, there is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those around me. I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation. I will put my trust in you alone, and I will not be shaken. I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation. I will put my trust in you alone, and I will not be shaken. I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation. I will put my trust in you alone, and I will not be shaken.

Holy, there is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those around me. For more information, visit www.fema.org. For more information, visit www.fema.org. For more information, visit www.fema.org. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Amen. Amen. Amen.

I put my soul on Jesus. When the mountains shake, I put my trust in Jesus the moment I awake. And when my soul is lost at sea, He will be my rock. My vision be in Christ alone. This grace is always God. His love is like the mighty ocean. His love for me will never stop. Oh, His arms are strong enough to carry me through it all by the grace of God. So I, upon His shoulders, safely brought this far. Helper of my helpless soul, the King of broken hearts. His love is like the mighty ocean. His love for me will never stop. Oh, His arms are strong enough to carry me through it all by the grace of God. When breath grows still and night draws near, I will not be afraid. I know the plans He has for me. Don't finish at my grave.

His love is like the mighty ocean. His love for me will never stop. Oh, His arms are strong enough to carry me through it all by the grace of God. As he mentioned earlier, we spent some time this past week camping, and what anybody would ask me as they saw the weather forecast for this week, specifically for Thursday into Friday, they'd be like, "Are you sure you really want to do this?" And of course, I can't say, "Well, I don't know if this is a good idea or not." Of course it's a good idea, right? We know what we're doing. Now that we're on the other side about it, I can be smug about it and say, "Look, we did know what we were doing." But there were a few moments during this when the rain started, and we are in a tent, not a camper, and a couple gusts of wind came, and then five or six inches of rain fell, that there were times where I doubted that our shelter really was going to hold. Now, it did.

And I think probably by the grace of God that we, you know, mostly dry, a little damp, but that was mainly because everybody was damp the whole time, it was raining. And as we think about shelter, there's a lot of things in life that we trust, and maybe we brag about, or maybe we are smug about those things that we trust in. But the reality of our trust in those things is that ultimately, every single one is prone to build. The song we just sang, "By the grace of God," the heart of that song comes from Deuteronomy, the 33rd chapter, where you hear these words, "There is none like God, O Yeshurun." It's just a poetic name for Israel. "There is none like God, who rides through the heavens to your help, through the skies in His majesty. The eternal God is your

dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms." And the picture in this song in Deuteronomy 33 is that there is no more place that is secure than in the arms of God. It's a shelter that won't tip over, it won't leave, it won't be blown away by the winds, and no matter how hard the storm rages around you and near you, the eternal God is your dwelling place. And underneath are the everlasting arms. In Luke's Gospel, and in the other three of the other, two of the other Gospels, there is this account where there's a literal storm, and there's wind, and there's waves, and everything's blowing, and the disciples think that they are going to sink and drown. And Jesus is asleep in the boat, and I imagine the disciples were probably a little annoyed

at that. Instead of helping, Jesus is asleep. In fact, one of the Gospel councils said, "Don't you care that we are perishing?" And Jesus will awake, and He will calm the storm, and in Luke's Gospel, He will say to them, "Where is your faith?" I don't think Jesus is being petty. I don't think He is being a little bit snarky with them. I think He's saying to them that as long as I am in the boat, you're safe in the storm. But I'm not distant, but I am here with you. And as we encounter the challenges and the storms and the joys and the goodness of life, we need to be reminded that in all of those things our shelter is in God. He upholds us with His everlasting arms. And even in the midst of the storms, He is with

us. I don't think there's a better way for us to see that and to experience that than through the Lord's Supper, which literally is a picture of God coming to be with us and giving Himself for us in forgiveness and in redemption and a new covenant. So as we pray and as we pray, let's be reminded where our shelter and our hope is. Father in Heaven, I thank You for Jesus' grace, and I thank You that He came. I thank You that He went to the cross, and I thank You that He took our sins. I thank You that He rose again. I thank You that one day He is returning to bring us home. So in this minute, well, we are in the storms, chaos applying for you. Whether we're filled with joy, just excitement, remind us that You are our hope

and our sorrows, You are our hope and giver of blessings. So whether we come with joyful hearts, Your sorrowful heart and make with You, remind us that You are with us, You are near to us. Strengthen us in the Gospel, I ask that You bless this bread. Remember the sacrifice of Jesus, that You would bless this cup, that we would see this new covenant that was given in His name. It's in His name you pray. Take the bread with me as we remember Jesus, and He says, "This is my body, just for You to do this." And as we take this cup, Jesus says, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, just for You to do this." And as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim Jesus, and I would encourage us not just to proclaim in these moments, but proclaim as we walk and as we move through outline.

We're going to be in 1 Samuel. We're going to be in chapter 6. Everybody need to jump ahead past the big block of Scripture. I don't want to have to do that slide by slide. We're going to take a look at this hopeful warning. We're going to kind of walk through parts of this chapter. There is a lot happening here. And so we will stop and read a little bit, and then we will unpack it, and we'll sort of see what happens throughout this chapter. So before we do that, let's go to God in prayer. Father in heaven, I thank you for your goodness, and I thank you for your word, and I thank you for your church. And I ask that as we read through this chapter, as we look at this chapter this morning, that you would help us to see the greatness of your sovereignty.

How in every situation, no matter how bleak, or how hopeless, or how much that it seems, your glory has departed from the lives of your people. That you are in control, and you are moving all things according to your purposes. Help us to be able to rest in your sovereignty. That also help us to look at our faith. That we would not be like the men of this city, who seemingly with their actions and their voices proclaimed your glory, but with their actions they treated you with indifference, disrespect. So help our faith be more than our words. Help it to be deeper than just thinking the right things. That we would not just sing about your glory, or acknowledge your glory with our intellect, but that we would live all of our days for your glory.

So help us to see hope this morning, and warn us where our hearts begin to wander. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So as we begin this text, and we'll kind of take a look as we move through it, one of the things we have in this is there are a lot of things in here that will seem foreign. There are the Philistines that they try to make amends with God, and they're making golden tumors and golden rats, trying to send away their disease and plague away from them, trying somehow to appease God. And some of these rituals and some of the commands of God, we'll see, that are ignored in the later part of this chapter. They can seem strange and distant for us. And so I want to think about this just a little bit.

It may be a way that at least has helped me think about how to deal with these kind of situations and texts of Scripture. So one of the things, if you go to just about any museum, especially a museum where there's going to be kids, most of them have some sort of movie theater where you can go and sit. And so, for example, in Dulles, the Air and Space Museum, you can watch the IMAX movie with the jets or whatever they're showing at the time, and sort of feel what's happening. But we were at one museum, and it may have been the aquarium in Baltimore, and they had what they called a 4D movie, which seems like one extra than what actually exists, right? And so we go and we sit, and we're like, "Well, what's going on with this?" And as the waves come splashing,

there's sprayers under the seat, and all of a sudden you're feeling the waves, and the one that really got everybody is they're kind of going down through the cave with the bats, and so you're sort of feeling it because the screen's wide enough, it captures your peripheral vision, and you feel like you're moving through this, and all of a sudden the bats start flying, and air starts puffing out of the seats in front of you, and people are screaming because they think there's bats loose in the theater, and so you weren't just seeing it, but you were sort of feeling a little bit of what was happening while you are there. And one of the reasons for some of this description, specifically when God calls His people to behave in a certain way in relation to their worship with Him,

these ceremonies are designed to teach, sort of to be an enacted teaching. So, for example, with the glory and the greatness and the power of God surrounding the ark, which plays the center point in our text this morning, you see the ark representing to God's people, God's presence. You also see it representing His holiness and separation from sin, and so the ark had to be separate. And so it wasn't just a ritual, but it was God demonstrating to the people with a visual picture. The reality of His nature. In the ark, you see God's leadership, both in the symbolic way of God's people being led through the wilderness, and assembling their camp around the ark, but also in the law of God that is contained within it. And in the manna that is kept in the ark, you're reminded of God's provision and Aaron's staff showing the authority of the priesthood.

You have this picture that leads to a deeper understanding of who God is and what He has done for His people. That His presence is with His people. That His power is watching over and protecting. That His provision has fed them. That God is with His people. And what we see with this powerful picture, especially at the end of this chapter, is God's people begin to take this very, very light. So the first part of this text this morning, as we see this display of... ...for the Philistines, but for those of us who seem to find ourselves in impossible circumstances. And the way this text begins is, "What should we do with the ark of the Lord?" And 1 Samuel 6 begins like this: "The ark has been taken from the Israelites in battle, has been in the control of the Philistines."

And in chapter 6, verse 1, "The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines seven months." And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners and said, "What shall we do with the ark of the Lord?" And the answer is remarkable. Because even though the advice is really weird, they're going to say, "You've been afflicted with tumors. You've been afflicted with mice." It's possible that the affliction and plague God sends that follows the ark through the major cities of the Philistines, it's possible that it's the bubonic plague. And so you are to take things that symbolize this plague. I don't know who you get to sort of model for the tumors, right? It seems weird to us. But you are to take golden tumors and golden mice and to put them within the ark.

And this advice, what you find near the ark, even though the advice is weird, and it comes from a thoroughly unbiblical source, right? Diviners, forbidden by the Old Testament law, it's actually a pretty solid and pretty biblical device. In verse 3, these diviners say, "You need a guilt offering." That God commands a guilt offering for your transgression. And so they provide a guilt offering. And in verse 5, they say, "God deserves the glory." So they say, "Glorify God in this." And in verse 6, it's remarkable, because they say, "Remember what God has done to the Egyptians, and don't harden your hearts." There's a memory in the nation of the Philistines of what God has done, and these people who are thoroughly anti-God say, "Bring a guilt offering." Not necessarily as God prescribes, but the same principles. Give Him the glory in this. And don't harden your hearts and bring further judgment upon yourself.

And what's interesting, even though this is good counsel from a suspicious source, there is a hint of doubt and reluctance in the leader's return of the ark. Let's pick it up in verse 7. So here's what they tell them to do. "Now then take and prepare a new cart with two milk cows, on which there has never come a yoke, and yoke the cows to the cart, but take their calves home away from them, and take the ark of the Lord and place it on the cart, and put in a box at its side the figures of gold which you are returning to him as a guilt offering, and then send it off and let it go its way and watch. If it goes up the way to its own land, to Beth Shemesh, then it is he, this is God, who has done us this great harm.

But if not, we shall know that it is not by his hand, not his hand that struck us, it has happened by coincidence. And so this seems like it starts out pretty well, because it begins with a new cart, where they want to show some respect for the ark of the covenant. They are not going to get an old, run-down, broken farm cart, but they are going to get a brand new one and on it placed the ark of God. They are going to have a box filled with their golden offering to God. And at the start, it sounds like they are doing pretty well in terms of respecting God. However, the advice seems as if it is designed to fail. So they are called to pull these untrained cows that have never pulled a cart, cows who have been separated from their calves.

And these are cows who are producing milk, who are used to being milked or having their calves eat of this milk, who are going to endure some discomfort without their calves, and then take their calves in the opposite way from the cows. And then we are just going to let the whole thing go. We are not going to lead them home. We are just going to let these cows, who are going to be uncomfortable, wanting to be with their calves, who have never been hooked to a wagon. Let's just see what happens. The intention here, I think, is to do this in the least likely way possible. Right? If you've asked, maybe you did this as a child. I know I never did, right? You're asked to do something, and you don't want to do it, but you know you have to.

And so it's like, well, can you pick this up and put it away? And it's like, well, it's so heavy, right? I can't lift it. Or you do it in the absolutely slowest, most passive, aggressive way possible. This is what the Philistines are doing. He said, "You send this home. You need a guilt offering. Don't harden your hearts against the glory of God." And they say, "Yeah, I'm going to do it, but I'm going to do it in a way that's designed to fail." Let's pick it up in verse 10. "And the men did so, and they took two milk cows and yoked them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. And they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the box with the golden mice, and the images of the tumors,

and the cows went straight in the direction of Beth Shemesh. Along one highway, lowing as they went, they turned neither to the right nor to the left in the lords of the Philistines. These are the rulers of the five major cities of Philistia. They went after them as far as the border of Beth Shemesh. And so here, I think by the hand of God, they hook up these cows to the cart, who've never pulled the cart, and they pull it straight down the road. Neither to the right, neither to the left, directly to the place they had never been, despite wanting to go back to where they came from. They don't get distracted. They don't tip over the cart. And what we see here is God's sovereign here in the return of the Ark of the Covenant.

In chapter 5, we saw God being sovereign over the God of the Philistines, and now, in the safe return of the Ark, with two untrained cows, right? You see God at work again, but it's even more than that. This city that has been mentioned multiple times in this text, Beth Shemesh, this location couldn't be any more part of the plan of God if the Philistines had planned it. It's just close to them. They said, "We're going to send it down the road. Closest Israelites are over here. We'll see if it actually makes it." Beth Shemesh, the town that's given to the Levites, specifically to the Levites of the clan of the Kohathites. And the work of the Kohathites, they're specifically given to carry the holy things of God. So when the tabernacle is packed up, they go into the holy place, and they pick up the candlestick, and they transport it.

They pick up the altar of incense, and they transport it. They pick up the table of showbread, and they transport it. And then they take the curtain between the holy place and the holy of holies, and they fold it over the ark, and they put rods through that. And the ark draped in this curtain is then carried by the Kohathites, the one group of Levites in the people of God, who can properly handle, carry, and are directed by God to care for the ark of the covenant. Do you think that it is an accident that they hook these cows up, and the cows head off in a straight line, and they end up exactly at the people who are directed, commanded, and instructed by God to care for the ark of the covenant? I think what you see here is the sovereign hand of God.

And what we see between chapter 4 and chapter 6, we see God's providential hand at work in the events surrounding the ark of the covenant. And what's interesting is if you are an Israelite in 1 Samuel 4, all you see is hopelessness, right? You see this Ichabod, the name of that baby who was born, whose name means God's glory has departed. But then, if you look at it from God's perspective, you see the power of God triumphing over the Philistines. You see God's power is greater than anything in the world. It's not limited by geography. It's not limited by the enemies of God. It's not limited by two dumb cows and a cart, that God through this whole thing is in control. What's also interesting about the first half of this chapter is there's two references.

One that is sort of explicitly mentioned in the text, and one that's sort of literary that we see play out in the rest of this book. The specific reference is earlier when these diviners were giving instructions, and they said, "Don't harden your hearts like they did in Egypt, where they didn't let God's people go." And what these spiritual pagan leaders are saying is, "The ark needs to go." Just like Egypt, God's people needed to go. There is a reference to the Exodus in this account that would call God's people's mind, not just to the fact that God brings the ark home, but that God has brought them out of the same situation. That He brought them out of the land of their enemies filled with pagan gods in a miraculous and powerful way and brought them to the promised land.

That God takes the hopeless and He brings it to pass through the power of His might. And secondly, if you read through the book of Samuel, this actually pictures the beginnings of the life of Abraham. He runs the land of the Philistines in exile, ultimately returns to lead His people, specifically from Jerusalem, bringing the ark back into the center, into the capital of God's. He wants you to see that nothing is hopeless with God. It seems like this is impossible. Throw this on a cart with some untrained cows, see where it goes, and God takes it straight to where it needs to go. There is nothing hopeless with God. The text now takes a pretty hard turn. On one hand, we have this picture of hope and deliverance surrounding the ark, and how God in His sovereign power is greater than any God, greater than any distance.

He works things according to His purposes. He delivers out of captivity. And even when all is lost, He is at work, and He is triumphant, and then judgment falls upon the people of God. The second part of this text starts with joy. It seems like things are going back to normal. Verse 13, "Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley, and when they lifted up their eyes, they saw the ark, and they rejoiced to see it." You see the ark coming down? Probably a bit of disbelief. Is that the ark? What is that? It's the ark of the coming, and they rejoice. These are the people who are to carry and care for the ark. While it begins joyfully, it ends with disaster. Look at how it ends in verse 19.

And he struck some of the men of Beth Shemesh, because they looked upon the ark of the Lord. He struck 70 men of them, and the people mourned, because the Lord had struck the people with great blow. And in chapter 7, we find these words, "The men of Kirith-Jerim came and took the ark of the Lord, brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill, and they consecrated his son Eliezer to have charge of the ark of the Lord. And from the day that the ark was lodged at Kirith-Jerim, a long time passed, twenty years, and all the house of Israel remembered that the Lord, that what begins with joy very quickly turns to mourning and to fear." And I want us, for a moment, to think about the judgment of God. Because likely, if we are honest

with ourselves, we struggle with the reality of God's judgment. It's easy to see others as deserving of God's judgment. It's much easier to point out everybody else's wrongdoing than our own. Drive down the road in Winchester for about five minutes, real easy to be like, "Oh, nice turn signal, idiot." "The light's green. Go ahead and go through it." Real easy to point out everybody else's wrongdoing. But it's funny because my drive is perfect. Those standards that I apply to others don't apply to me. I'm doing it right. And in this text, the first part begins with the bad guys, the Philistines. They've attacked the Israelites. They've stolen the ark. They worship false gods. And in our minds, they deserve judgment. However, then we see the good guys, the Israelites. They've been attacked. They've lost the ark. We might even overlook the fact that it was through their own disobedience

but they worship the one true God. Seven men died. The ark goes into this house for the next 20 years. We struggle with God's judgment. It seems like God should have punished the Philistines harder. Maybe just left the Israelites alone. Part of the reason is that none of us like to get into trouble. And when we begin to think about God's people facing judgment, it begins to hit a little close to home. If the good guys are experiencing this, what about me? I think it's extremely easy for us to minimize our wrongdoing while maximizing someone else's wrongdoing. We make our stuff small and their stuff big. Take a look at what happens in Beth Shemesh, beginning in verse 14. The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth Shemesh and stopped there. A great stone was there, and they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a bird offering to the Lord.

And on the surface, this seems like a great plan. We got wood. Let's make an altar. Let's celebrate God. We'll put our ark up on the rock. We'll put all these golden tumors and mice on the rocks so everybody can come and rejoice. We're going to kill the cows. We're going to celebrate. We're going to feast. It's going to be joyful. The problem with this is the Bible, right? While it seems like they're referencing the ark, right? The animals use the bird offerings according to Leviticus for only to be male meals. And it's not like these guys are just people celebrating God. These guys are priests, right? They're the house of Levi. Their job is to care for the ark. And look at what it says in verse 15. And the Levites took down the ark of the Lord, and the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them up on the great stone.

Beth Shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrifices on that day to the Lord. And they throw the ark up on this big rock with the offerings from the Philistines, almost as if they are setting an idol off. Right? They're not looking at God. They're looking at the ark. They've confused this picture of God's presence for God Himself. And they're treating this holy object as if it is God. And they're not worshipping God, they're worshipping the ark. The people who God has entrusted this responsibility to serve Him have blatantly disregarded His goodness. They throw everything up on a field in this rock. And while these actions have the appearance of goodness and worship, in their heart it's rejection of God's commandments. They're not even supposed to look upon the ark. When the Kohathites moved it, they would collapse the curtain in the tabernacle,

and they would fold it over the ark so that even their eyes wouldn't see it, let alone the eyes of the people. And here it comes, and they throw it up on a big rock, treating it not with the reverence they would treat God. They're treating this representation of God's presence, provision, protection, and God brings judgment. We have to understand that this is something that, through their decisions, they brought upon themselves. And probably most of us have experienced that where we've ignored advice. And I've shared this with some of you before, but I'll share it again. We were talking about it this week. When Rachel and I were first married, one of the things that we got as a wedding present was a grill pan for your pizza to put on your grill. So you turn your grill to like 500 degrees

with this metal pan on there. Get it so super hot. Throw your pizza. It could be a frozen pizza. And it comes out like beef crispy. It was wonderful. And so like the first time we go to get it, we get it like, I mean, this thing is incinerating the hot. We put the pizza on there. And then we go to get the pizza off the grill, and this pan itself had to be like 600 degrees plus, right? So even like an oven mitt, you touch it, and you go, "Whoa, that's too hot." And so what I did in my infinite wisdom is I went and got some long, like, kebab skewer sticks. And some of you can already see where this is going. Out of the kitchen. And Rachel's like, "That's a really bad idea." I was like, "No, I know what I am doing.

I am the master of my destiny. Step aside and let my genius prevail." And so I thread these skewer sticks through this incineratingly hot metal pan with the pizza on it. And I'm walking, and it's precarious. Because if you look at, like, wooden kebab sticks, they're not thick. They're not strong. And I get in the house. I get up and step into the living room. And, like, I had to step around something, and the pan gets out of balance, and I'm like this. And next thing I know, the pan slides down those skewer sticks into my hand, and I end up, and the good thing is, third-degree burns don't hurt. Like, I have a scar. The pan literally just melted in. Like, I drop it, and Rachel's in the corner. You know what she's doing? Laughing at me. Like, she's just like, it's the funniest thing.

And I'm like, and I'm mad. I'm like, here I am, third-degree burns, and you're laughing at me, right? So whose fault was this? It certainly wasn't mine, right? I ignored the instructions. I ignored the good advice. I ignored wisdom, and I ignored common sense. Whose fault was it when my blatant disregard for anything resembling wisdom came home to roost? I still got a scar on my hand to remind me of this. I've learned from childhood that don't touch hot things. There's only one person whose fault it was, and I can't even tell you who that was because I'm not going to admit that I was in any way of fault. And here's these people in Kirith-Jerom, and they're doing everything that God has told them to do. It should not be a surprise to them that it ends back. Just as it shouldn't have been a surprise to me that my ill-fated pictures ended up with me getting hurt.

This example in Kirith-Jerom, in this Beth Shemesh here, it should serve as a warning to us. And you say, "Well, I don't have an ark." Two things: don't mistake your proximity to God for a relationship. That's what happens with these people. They mistake the fact that they're Levites and they're Israelites with relationship with God. And don't let your heart become distracted. In many ways, this text describes us. We may know and we may acknowledge, but our hearts are not moved and our behavior is not changed. And we like to divide the world into good guys and bad guys. And one of the remarkable things about this text is there is no good guy. There are no good guys. In Samuel chapter 6, everybody's a bad guy. And the thing about our world, when it comes to our standing with God,

there are no good guys and bad guys. There are bad guys and Jesus. This is where we come to this question. The question asked by these people upon who judgment had fallen. Who is able to stand before the Lord? The Philistines can. The Levites who handle the ark can. Who can stand? And the answer is nobody can stand before the Lord. Paul says it this way in Romans, "As it is written, no one is righteous. No, not one." As he quotes from the Old Testament, he says, "No one understands. No one seeks God. All have turned aside. Together they have become worthless. No one does good. Not even one." But then the good news is this. There is one who can stand before us and God. There is one who can stand before God. Now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law.

Although the law and prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile. For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And all are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption of Christ Jesus. Let people in their despair cry out, "Who can stand before God?" We, if we are honest, we see that. Maybe we're like the Philistines who have gone our own way, or maybe we're like these men of Beth Shemesh who intellectually knew God. Their lives didn't match. Both the Philistines in chapter 5 and the Israelites in chapter 6 say the same thing. Who can stand before God? And the answer is we can. Jesus. And not only can He, He did.

And He takes all of our rebellion, and all of our self-centered, and all of our worship of false idols. And all of those things we pursued other than God, and He takes them to the cross. And He dies in our place and for our sins. He rises again in faith. And through Him, in His death and in His resurrection, we begin to pray like Jesus did. And for God not only took away our sins. We can stand before God in place. Let's pray. Father, help us. Help us not to live like the Philistines. Reluctantly try to do the bare minimum to avoid judgment. Help us not to live. These Israelites who see the Ark coming initially to join us, don't know. Help us to live for you and poke our hearts and minds and our actions.

Thank you. Jesus stood in our place. We can stand before you. With our hearts cleansed and our consciences cleaned by the forgiveness of this valley, Jesus. Encourage us, strengthen us, restore to us the joy of this valley and salvation. In Jesus' name we pray. We're going to stand and sing, "All I have is Christ."

I once was lost in darkest night, yet thought I knew the way. The sin that promised joy in life had led me to the grave. I had no hope that you would own a rebel to your will. And if you had not loved me first, I would refuse you still. But as I ran my hell-bound race, indifferent to the cross, you looked upon my help to stay, and led me to the cross. And I beheld God's love displayed. I stood in my place. You bore the wrath reserved for me. Now all I know is grace. Hallelujah. All I help is Christ. Hallelujah. Jesus is my light. Hallelujah. All I have is Christ. Hallelujah. Jesus is my light. Now Lord, I would be yours alone, unless all I might seek the strength to follow your commands.

"The truth could never come from me." "Oh Father, use my ransom light in any way to choose." "Oh Father, use my ransom light in any way to choose." Father, use my ransom light in any way to choose." "Aleluia, all I have is blessed." "Aleluia, Jesus is my love." "Aleluia, Jesus is my love." "Aleluia, Jesus is my love." "Aleluia, Jesus is my love." "Aleluia, Jesus is my love." "Aleluia, Jesus is my love." "Aleluia, Jesus is my love." "Aleluia, Jesus is my love." "Aleluia, all I have is Christ." "Aleluia, Jesus is my love." "Aleluia, Jesus is my love." "Aleluia, Jesus is my love." "Aleluia, Jesus is my love." "Aleluia, Jesus is my love." "Aleluia, Jesus is my love." "Aleluia, Jesus is my love." "Aleluia, Jesus is my love." "Aleluia, Jesus is my love."

We are thankful for those who are helping with our children's church this morning. We're thankful for the work they do for our kids. There's no men's breakfast here in August, but plan on September 21st at 9:00 a.m. gathering together to share some fellowship and some food and some time in the Word of God. As we seek to grow closer to Him. I'm going to pray, read a verse of Scripture, and we'll sing the doxology. Father in Heaven, thank You for the grace that You have poured out in our lives. May You use us in any way and in many ways to show the goodness of Your glory and grace to the world that surrounds us. Thank You for Jesus. Thank You for our brothers and sisters in Christ. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

2 Thessalonians, Paul leaves the church with this: "Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace at all times and everywhere." The Lord be with you all. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him, above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.