The Ark is being brought back
to the City of David for the first time in many years. The Ark, symbolic of God's presence,
God's blessing, the Gospel. And as it's brought into the
City of David, we read of David, the man after God's own heart,
and picture this in your mind. While the Ark's being brought
back, he's dancing. He's leaping for joy. He's shouting. And he doesn't have his royal
apparel on. He's dressed in a plain linen
garb, just like everybody else was, for some reason. When they're
bringing back the Ark, he doesn't want to wear his royal apparel.
He puts on a plain linen garb, dressed just like everybody else.
And here he is leaping and dancing before the Lord. Now, how many
times have you read that passage of scripture and you thought,
well, should we dance? Should we leap? And so on. I've certainly thought about
that. Every one of us have, you know, as far as what David was
doing. I've never tried the dancing
stuff. I've seen folks do it on TV and
they call it interpretive dance. I have danced in my heart before
the Lord. I've leaped in my heart before the Lord. And I've shouted
in my heart before the Lord. Now listen, if you can do it,
if you can dance before the Lord physically, if it's before the
Lord, do it. I wouldn't say not to do it. David did. But it must
be before the Lord. His wife, Michael, watched him
do this. And the scripture says she despised
him in her heart. She was utterly critical of something
that she couldn't enter into. She couldn't understand. And
so she despised him in her heart. I pray the Lord will deliver
me and you from just being utterly critical of something we really
don't understand. That's what was going on with
Michael as he despised David in her heart. I want to look
at all the events that led up to this. We know at this time. We know from the account of Chronicles
of this same thing that after the defeat of the Philistines
in 2 Samuel chapter 5, David was recognized as the most powerful
man in the world. That's how powerful he was. Let
me read you the scripture from 2 Chronicles 14, 17. And the
fame of David went out into all lands, every other nation. And the Lord brought the fear
of him upon all nations. Every nation was afraid of this
mighty warrior king, David. And at this time, David has no
enemies. And now he can concentrate on something else, now that all
of his enemies have been defeated. And he thinks of bringing the
ark of God back to Jerusalem. It had been in the house of Abinadab
for many years and David wanted to be brought back to the city
of David. So we read in 2 Samuel chapter 6 verse 1. And David
gathered together all the chosen men of Israel. 30,000. And David arose and went with
all the people that were with him from Baal of Judah to bring
up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name
of the Lord." Now, that gives us some idea of the significance
of this ark. This ark is called by the name
of the Lord of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubim. And they
set the ark of God upon a new cart. and brought it out of the
house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah, and Uzzah and Ahio, the
sons of Abinadab, graved the new cart. Now, it had been in
Abinadab's house for many years, and so they get the ark, and
they are going to transport it back to Israel, and they put
it on a new cart. Now, why did they put it on a
new cart? There were specific instructions
given in the law of God as to how that ark was to be transported.
There were staves with rings on the ark. The staves would
be put through. They would put it on the shoulders of the priests.
They would transport the ark and it would be covered with
badger skin so that nobody could see it. And they disregarded
all that. They'd simply put it upon a new
cart. Now, where did that come from?
In 1 Samuel, chapter 4, we read of the Philistines defeating
Israel, and they took the ark and brought it into the land
of the Philistines. Now, turn with me to 1 Samuel,
chapter 5, verse 1, where they're getting the ark back. Then came
all the tribes of Israel to David and to Hebron, and spake, saying,
Wait a minute, I'm in the wrong place. 1 Samuel, chapter 5. I
was reading in 2 Samuel. I thought, where am I going with
this? 1 Samuel, chapter 5. In chapter
4, like I said, the ark was taken by the Philistines. And here's
what happened. Chapter 5. And the Philistines took the
ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod. When the
Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house
of Dagon and set it by Dagon. And when day of Ashtaroth rose
up early in the morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face
to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon
and set him in his place again. And when day arose early on the
morning, the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon
his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord, and the
head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon
the threshold. And only the stump of Dagon was
left to him. Therefore, neither the priests
of Dagon, nor any that came into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold
of Dagon and Ashdod unto this day. They were scared to death.
But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and
he destroyed them, and smote them with emeralds, cancers,
boils, even Ashdod unto the coasts thereof." Now, they gutted out
of that place because It was killing everybody, the Ark. That's
what they thought. They thought the Ark itself was
God, so they said, let's get it somewhere else. And the same
things happened. Look in 1 Samuel 6. And the Ark of the Lord was in
the country of the Philistines seven months, and the Philistines
called for the priests and the diviners. Now, this is after
it had gone several different places, and everywhere it went,
somebody was killed, or many people were killed. And the Philistines
called for the priests and the diviners, saying, what shall
we do to the Ark of the Lord? Tell us wherewith we shall send
it to his place. And they said, if you send away
the ark of the God of Israel, send it on empty, but in any
wise return him a trespass offering that you then you should be healed
and it should be known to you why his hand is not removed from
you. Then said they, what shall be the trespass offering which
we shall return to him? And they answered five golden
emeralds and five golden mice, according to the number of the
Lords of the Philistines. For one plague was upon you all
and on your Lords. Wherefore, ye shall take the
image of your emrods, and the image of your mice that mar the
land, and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel. Peradventure
he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods,
and from off your land. Wherefore then do ye harden your
hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaohs hardened their hearts,
when he had wrought wonderfully among them? Did they not let
the people go, and they departed? Now therefore make a new cart." adopting the methodology of the
Philistines at this time. They thought, well, it'll work
for them, it'll work for us. Look what happened. Now, therefore,
make a new cart, and take two milk kind, on which there hath
come no yoke, and tie the kind to the cart, and bring their
calves home from them, and take the ark of the Lord, and lay
it upon the cart, and put the jewels of gold which you returned
him for trespass offerings, and a copper by the side thereof,
and send it away, that it may go. And see, If it goeth up by
the way of his own coast to Beshemesh, that's in Israel, then he hath
done us this great evil. But if not, then we shall know
it was not his hand that smote us. It was chance that happened
to us. You know, they're trying to work
things out. It's either providence and God's sovereign chance, one
of the two. We'll find out which. They understood. They didn't
really believe in God's sovereignty at all. And the men did so, and
took two milk hides, and tied them to the cart, that new cart,
and shut up their calves at home. And they laid the ark of the
Lord upon the cart and the coffer with the mice of gold and the
images of their imrods, and the kind took them straightway into
the way of Beshemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as
they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
And the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border
of Beshemesh." They saw that it was taking them to Beshemesh. If you go on reading this chapter,
The cart is brought in to Bestiamus and the Israelites are rejoicing
when they see the Ark of the Lord finally return. We're going
to start being blessed. And you know, the men of Bestiamus
came to the Ark and they opened up the lid. And do you remember
what happened? Over 50,000 people were killed
because of that. They began to pry into things
they had no business prying into. Remember, the ark was supposed
to be covered with badger skin, so no one could see. But here
they open up the ark, and God kills 50,000 of them, and they're
scared to death. They don't know what to do. Look
in verse 19 of 1 Samuel chapter 6. And he smote the men of Beth-shemesh,
because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. Even he
smote of the people 50,000, three, four, and ten men. And the people
lamented, because the Lord had smitten many of the people with
a great slaughter. And the men of Beth-shemesh said,
Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God, and to whom shall
he go up from us? And they sent messengers to the
inhabitants of Kirgeth-Jerim, saying, The Philistines have
brought again the ark of the Lord. Come you down, and fetch
it up to you. And the men of Kirgeth-Ammath came and fetched
up the ark of the Lord and brought it into the house of Abinadab
in the hill and sanctified Eliezer, his son, to keep the ark of the
Lord and came to pass by the ark of Boden, Kierjeth, and Jerim,
that the time was long, for it was twenty years, and all the
house of Israel lamented after the Lord." Now, here the ark
is in this place for twenty years. Now, during this time, David
has come to power and he wants to restore the ark back to its
rightful place. So let's turn to 2 Samuel 6,
twenty years later. Remember this new cart that it's
brought on. Verse four. And they brought
it out of the house of Abinadab after it had been there so many
years, which was a Gibeah. Accompanying the ark of the Lord,
and Ahai went before the ark, and David and all the house of
Israel played before the Lord, in all manner of instruments,
made of firwood, even on harps, and on psalterings, and timbrels,
and corns, and on cymbals." They were having a big time at this
time. I mean, it was enjoyable. We're bringing the ark back.
They were so excited. Verse 6, "'And when they came
to Nachan's threshing floor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the
ark of God, and took hold of it. For the oxen shook it, and
oxen shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen
shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen
shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen
shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen shook
it, and oxen shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen
shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen shook
it, and oxen shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen shook it,
and oxen shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen
shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen shook it, and oxen shook
it, and oxen And there he died by the ark of God. As soon as
Uzzah did that, God killed him. And David was displeased. He should have been displeased
with himself. It's David's fault this took place. David should
have had the ark transported the way the law said. He had
a copy of the law. He had read it before, but he just overlooked
it. He thought it worked for them. It'll work for us. This is a
good way to do it. He was displeased. He should have been displeased
with himself. He should have been displeased with us. You say,
what was wrong with what I did? God doesn't need my help. He
does not need my help. And when he seeks to steady the
ark, he's coming into God's presence without the priest. Only the
priest, the great high priest, could see the ark. It was supposed
to be covered. No one else was allowed to touch
it. The ark represents the Lord Jesus Christ and his great salvation. And he should have been far too
afraid to touch the ark, having some understanding of what it
was. But he put out his sacrilegious hand and steadied it. And God
killed him. And David was upset. He was displeased because the
Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah, and he called the name of the
place Perezuzzah to this day. And David was afraid of the Lord
that day and said, How shall the ark of the Lord come to me?
So David would not remove the ark of the Lord unto him into
the city of David, but David carried it aside into the house
of Obededim, the Gittite. And the ark of the Lord continued
in the house of Obededim the Gittite three months, and the
Lord blessed Obededim and all his household." I'm sure in a
very unusual way. Now, three months later, as David
hears how this house has been blessed, verse 12, and it was
told the king David, saying, the Lord has blessed the house
of Obededim. and all that pertaineth unto
him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up
the ark of God from the house of Obededim into the city of
David with gladness. And it was so that when they
bear the ark of the Lord, notice it's not on an ox cart anymore.
You know, let me point this out. In chapter five, We read, I think
it's in verse, let me find it. Well, it's during some of his
battles, I've got it written down here somewhere, I can't
find it, but during some of his battles in the previous chapter
where he was defeating the Philistines, he would first inquire of the
Lord as to whether or not he should fight, and the Lord said,
go fight. Two times we read where he inquired of the Lord. He is
going to bring the Ark back. We don't read anywhere where
he inquired of the Lord. He didn't seek the Lord's direction
on any of this. He just simply said, let's go
back. As a matter of fact, if you read the Chronicles account,
it says that he consulted with the men and the captains and
the mighty men. He didn't ask the Lord about
anything. He just said, let's do this. It seemed like the obvious
thing to do. He didn't consult with the Lord. And so you see
what happens. As it takes place now, he changes
it. When he comes back after the ark, this time he uses the
priests and the staves and the badger skin. And so let's go
on reading verse 13. And it was so that when they
that bear the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed
oxen and fatlings. I guess they were very scared
after what had taken place. They weren't going to do anything
without sacrifice. They just went six steps and then they
started sacrificing. I don't know if this went over
and over again, but Then we read in verse 14, And David danced
before the Lord with all his might. And David was girded with
a linen ephod. It was what everybody else wore. He wasn't wearing his kingly
garments at this time. He was wearing linen. So David,
verse 15, and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of
the Lord, was shouting with the sound of trumpet. Now, why was
he rejoicing so much? Well, let's remember a few things
about this ark. And I believe if God gives me
and you the grace to see what this ark means, it'll make us
sing and shout and dance for joy in the presence of the Lord.
Now, this ark, a golden box, wood and gold, picturing the
two natures of Christ, the deity and the humanity of Christ. Now,
inside that ark, there were three things. There was the law, there
was Aaron's rod that budded, and there was a golden pot with
manna in it. First, there was a copy of God's
holy law, the one that they had broken, the one that the Lord
Jesus Christ kept. perfectly. Christ, our righteousness. What a blessed thing to have
Him as my righteousness before God. Does that ever get old?
Does that ever get something you get tired of? Let's move
on to something else. No, this is the most good. Christ
is my righteousness before God. And when the Lord gives me the
grace to believe that, To really enter into it and to know that
his righteousness is my righteousness, I need nothing else. I leave,
and I dance for joy in the presence of the Lord. I'm so happy about
that. Next, there was Aaron's rod that budded. It was a piece
of wood, just a rod. It didn't have roots. It was
a dead piece of wood. But out of that wood, life came
out. Buds. Christ Jesus our life. Now, when I look at my personal life,
well, from a self-righteous mood, I feel like it's OK. But when
the Lord gives me grace to see my personal life, what it is,
I'm so ashamed. There isn't one thing I can feel
good about. But Christ is my life. The life of Christ is my life
before God. If you want to know the truth,
I've said this many times, if you want to know the real truth about
me, read the life of Christ. That is my life before God. He said, I am the way, the truth,
the life. His life is my life before God. I have nothing to be ashamed
of. And that makes my heart dance and leap for joy before the Lord. There was a golden pot of manna. Christ, my food. He is who I live on, feeding
off Him. And feeding off Him, I leap and
dance for joy. You know, what I'm talking about
now is something that I love. It makes me... If what I'm saying
is true, that Christ really is my righteousness, that Christ
is my life, that Christ is my food, if that's so, I've got
every reason to dance before the Lord and to rejoice, to leap
for joy. Over that ark, we have the mercy
seat. The lid of propitiation is how
the New Testament is translated. It's where we get the word propitiation
from. Christ my The reason for God's anger has been removed
through the Lord Jesus Christ. God doesn't have a reason to
be mad at me. No reason there. Christ has made
propitiation for all my sins. being justified freely by his
grace through the redemption of King Christ Jesus, who God
has set forth to be a propitiation, a mercy seat through faith in
his blood to declare his righteousness, not merely his forgiveness, not
merely his mercy, but his righteousness for the remission of sins that
are passed through the forbearance of God. Now, can you see why
David was dancing and leaping for joy and jumping? The ark
is being brought back. And he was doing this before
the Lord. Verse 16. And as the ark of the
Lord came into the city of David, Michael, Saul's daughter, looked
through a window and saw King David. Now remember, this is
King David's wife. You remember in 1 Samuel 17,
where Saul said, whoever defeats the giant, he's going to get
my wife. Well, David did. I mean, my daughter, David, did
it. And that's who she is. Now, as
the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michael, Saul's
daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and
dancing before the Lord. And she despised him in her heart. She scorned him. She disesteemed
him in her heart. She was a stranger to that kind
of worship. She couldn't understand. She
couldn't understand why David would be doing this. So she was
critical of that which she could not understand. She was a stranger
to the beauty of the ark. So she despised him in her heart. Verse 17. And they brought in the ark of
the Lord and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle
that David had pitched for it. And David offered burnt offerings
and peace offerings before the Lord. And as soon as David had
made an end of offering burnt offerings and peace offerings,
he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. And
he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude
of Israel, as well to the women as men, to everyone a cake of
bread and a good piece of flesh and a flagon of wine. So all
the people departed, everyone to his house. Now, David blessing,
everybody got the exact same thing. I love thinking about that. I'm
going to get the same thing Moses got. I'm going to get the same
thing the Apostle Paul got. And the Apostle John, I'm giving
Christ. Now, what in the world could
you have in addition that would make anything any better? It's
blasphemous, isn't it? They got the same thing. And everyone departed to his
house, verse 20. Then David returned to bless
his household. And Michael, the daughter of
Saul, came out to meet David. and said, and I can just hear
her sarcasm, how glorious was the king of Israel today, who
uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his
servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovers
himself. Now, this woman, Michael, David
had been in love with, and he was good to her, and really she
was good to him before this. As a matter of fact, she hid
him from her dad one time to protect him. And when David was
brought back into power, Saul, while he was fleeing Saul, Saul
had taken Michael and brought her back into his house. He took
his wife. But when he came into power, he said, this is the one
thing I require. I want Michael back. So he loved
this woman. But here she comes out with this
sarcasm. She wanted him to wear his royal
apparel and was mad that he wore a simple linen garment. He made himself no different
from anybody else. He exposed himself. Now look
at the language. And Michael, the daughter of Saul, verse 20,
came out to meet David and said, How glorious was the king of
Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids
of his servants. He uncovered himself to the nobodies.
He made himself vulnerable. You should have been wearing
that royal garb, but you're wearing this plain linen stuff. The only
people who can appreciate you are the servants of your handmaids.
I mean, the nobodies. You were wrong in doing this.
And you made yourself as one of the vain fellows shamelessly
uncovers himself. You, the mighty king of Israel,
made yourself the lowest person you could be. She didn't understand
this. You see, when you are before
the Lord. Two things. You know this describes
you. But you also know that in Christ. You're accepted. When you're
before the Lord, those two things are true. You know this describes
you. And this is what she was so upset about. She said, you've
made yourself vulnerable in a way that's wrong. You shouldn't have
done this. She liked David as long as he's a mighty warrior.
She loved him as long as he was defeating Goliath and got all
this glory and was wearing his kingly garb. But when he becomes
like everybody else, When he becomes, as she called, a shameless,
vain fellow, a nothing, a nobody who only nobodies could appreciate,
she despised him in her heart. You know, someone who doesn't
really know Christ could never let themselves be uncovered.
They always got something to protect. They can't be real. They would never make themselves
vulnerable. They know nothing about honesty
before God. Now, what David was saying at
this time, you know, when she said this, David, what David
wouldn't say, well, I disagree with that. No, he said, that's
that's what I am. And that's what grace does with
somebody. It makes them honest before God. Read Romans chapter
seven, Paul's description of himself. So let's look at David's
reply, verse 21. And David said unto Michael,
it was before the Lord. He wasn't dancing before anybody,
but before the Lord. He wasn't thinking about anybody
else at this time. It was before the Lord. This
was not for an audience. This was not for a crowd. This
was not to try to impress anybody. This was before the Lord. And David said unto Michael,
it was before the Lord. And look what he says next, which
chose me before thy father and before all his house. He was rejoicing in his election.
The Lord chose me over your father. Now, when someone understands
election, and understands that God has chosen them, it does
at least these three things. Anybody who really believes election,
it always does this. Number one, it creates strong
devotion to God. He chose me. Oh, I want to give
myself completely to him. Number two, it creates a disregard
for human opinion. Was David trying to cover his
tracks to make up to Michael? No, he said, I don't care what
you think. I was standing before the Lord. I was dancing before
the Lord. This wasn't before you. He chose
me. And I don't care what you think
is what he's saying. You know, you criticize for me. For that,
it doesn't bother me, because I was doing this before the Lord. And it also creates a low opinion
of yourself. Let's go on reading. In verse
21, and David said unto Michael, it was before the Lord which
chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint
me ruler over the people over Israel. Therefore will I play
before the Lord. Now, what does it mean to play
before the Lord? If I look the word up, and it means to Laugh
with pleasure. To laugh with pleasure because
you're delighted. It's not talking about playing
some kind of game. It means before the Lord. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. You know, in my heart, I laugh
with pleasure over that. That gives me some hope. That
gives me strong consolation. When I hear that you're complete
in Christ, in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in
a body, and you're complete in Him, I laugh with pleasure. When I hear, by grace are you
saved, I laugh with pleasure. I'm so thankful. When I read
that He by Himself purged our sins, I laugh with pleasure. I'm glad. He said, I'll play
before the Lord. Verse 22, now remember election
causes people to have a low opinion of himself. He says to her, he
says, I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in
my own sight. And of the maidservants, which
thou hast spoken of, The nobodies, the nothings, they're going to
see me in honor. You see, nobodies all believe
in somebody, the Lord Jesus Christ. They're all nobodies, and they
all rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what she couldn't
enter into and couldn't understand. He said, I'll be base in my own
eyes. Aren't you thankful that God
has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
things which are mighty. And the, what's he say? The base
things of the world. And the things which are nothing. And the things which are despised
have God chosen. I mean, nothings. How do you
even describe nothing? I mean, there's nothing you can
describe to give a definition of nothing. Nothing. That's who
he saves. He says, I'll be more base in
my own eyes, and those maidservants which thou hast spoken of, them
shall I be had in honour. Therefore, Michael, she was given
the greatest curse an Israelite woman could have. She had no child until the day
of her death. Now, did the Lord close up her
womb, or did David just have nothing to do with her anymore?
I don't know. But she had no child. into the day of her death. David dancing and leaping for
joy before the ark of the Lord. Now, I want to ask you a question.
I'm asking myself this. When you hear the gospel, and
I'm not looking for an audible response. I'm really not. I remember I remember when I
was ordained, 19, I think, 84 at 13th Street Baptist Church.
I remember the preacher was preaching. And it wasn't Henry, but it was
somebody else. But when he was preaching, he
stopped in the middle of his sermon, and he said, I need some
help. You all help me. Come on, let's
get some response out of this. You all seem so dead. I mean,
he was wanting a response. And I thought, does the truth
need our help? Not at all. I'm not talking about
trying to elicit some kind of emotional response. So don't
somebody think, well, if I don't shout and so on, you must think
I'm not hearing anything. That's all I'm saying. I think
this is more done in the heart. Now, as far as this dancing,
I'm not going to have good grief. I can't dance anyway. If I started
trying to dance, everybody would laugh at me and throw me out
of here. This is something done in the heart. Now, when you hear
the gospel, Does it cause you to dance and play and leap in
your heart before the Lord? You know, the only way I know
how to do anything is in my heart, if it's going to be before the
Lord. I mean, that's one of the things, public prayer, for instance.
It's so hard to pray publicly because I know there's people
listening. That just makes it difficult. Some people have more
of a gift of it for others, but just like when we sing, And I'm
standing up here. I enjoy the song so much better
down here. Because when I'm up there, I
think, well, people are looking at me. You just don't like that
kind of stuff. The only way you can ever really
do something before the Lord is when it's in your heart where
no man can see. Now, when you hear the gospel,
does it cause you to dance and play and leap in your heart before
the Lord? If it doesn't, you're not hearing
the gospel as gospel. You're not hearing His good news,
and here's why. I can tell you why. If you're
not rejoicing... Now, I'm talking about the gospel
being preached. Now, I can realize that if somebody brings a message
where he uses scriptural terms, but it's still not the gospel,
I'm not going to rejoice in it. So I'm not... No. But in hearing
the gospel, whatever the true gospel of God's grace is preached,
and it doesn't cause me to leap and dance for joy, it's because
I'm not hearing as a sinner. It really is that simple. If
you hear, if I hear as a sinner, we will rejoice. If you're a sinner, you can't
help but rejoice in the ark. Your righteousness before God,
your life before God, your food, the perpetuatory sacrifice of
Christ. Oh, you're going to dance and leap and sing and play and
laugh in pleasure before the Lord. Now, Michael criticized
him. She criticized what she was an
utter stranger to. Now we're getting ready to take
the Lord's table. And I pray that the Lord will
enable us. I do. You all want to dance and
leap before the Lord in joy. Don't you? You know what's going
to happen when I start thinking that way? I think I need to do
this. I need to do this. As soon as I start thinking that
way, I'm going to go stone cold dead. So may the Lord deliver
us from thinking I need to do this to prove to myself something
about myself that I'm real spiritual or have some joy and so on. But
simply at the thought of the broken body and shed blood of
Christ that gives me this perfect righteousness before God's law,
that this is my life before God, that this is my food, that this
is the propitiation for my sins. As we observe the Lord's table
in remembrance of Christ, may we leap and dance and play before
the Lord. Let's pray together.