2 Samuel 6

Order of Service

• Announcements
• Hymn — O Worship the King
• Call to Worship — Psalm 134
• Hymn — O Worship the King
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Sin
• Assurance of Pardon — Ephesians 1:7
• Sacrament of Baptism (Ramsay, Wyatt, and Griffin Rushing)
• Prayer
• Hymn — Spirit of the Living God
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering
• Prayer of Dedication
• Hymn — Holy, Holy, Holy
• Scripture Reading — 2 Samuel 6:1–10
• Sermon
• Prayer
• Hymn — Take Time to Be Holy
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: Approaching a Holy God with Careful Attention

Scripture: 2 Samuel 6:1–10

I. Pay Careful Attention to Detail

A. The death of Uzzah was not arbitrary — God is in the details of his holy law

• Israel failed to carry the ark on poles on the shoulders of the Levites as commanded in Numbers 4 and Numbers 7
• The ark was placed on a new cart drawn by oxen, in direct violation of Numbers 7:9
• Uzzah and Ahio were from the tribe of Judah, not the tribe of Levi

B. The church today is dangerously sloppy with the details of God's word

1. Vague slogans ("WWJD," "No creed but the Bible") shield people from careful doctrinal work
2. Conscience is wrongly used as a trump card to avoid hard investigation of Scripture
3. God's word does not bow to our conscience — our conscience bows to God's word
4. Creeds and confessions matter; God expects his people to be people of the details

II. Pay Careful Attention to Paganism

A. The place of Uzzah's death, Perez-uzzah ("the bursting forth"), echoes Baal-perazim in 2 Samuel 5:20, where God burst through the Philistines

• God is treating his covenant people as he treated the pagan Philistines

B. Israel imitated Philistine practice in transporting the ark

• In 1 Samuel 6, the Philistines placed the ark on a new cart pulled by a cow
• Israel placed the ark on a new cart pulled by oxen — the same pagan method
• Whether inside or outside the visible covenant community, treating God like a pagan results in being treated like a pagan

C. The "whatever works" mentality dominates our world and corrupts the church

1. Syncretism — incorporating pagan practices into worship for pragmatic results
2. Psalm 1 contrasts two paths: the righteous meditate on God's word; the wicked pursue whatever is quickest
3. The Bereans searched the Scriptures to test what they heard — this is the model
4. God cares as much about the means as the end, the path as much as the destination

III. Pay Careful Attention to Our Joy

A. The occasion was genuinely joyful — 2 Samuel 6:5

• David and all Israel celebrated with songs, lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals
• The ark had been neglected under Saul; David's first act as king over all Israel was to restore it to the center of national life

B. Joy and excitement do not excuse carelessness with God's word

1. Psalm 2 calls us to rejoice with fear and trembling
2. Mountaintop experiences do not give license to be less than careful in obedience
3. Israel's joyful occasion ended abruptly because they did not respond to God's blessings with obedient joy

C. Jesus Christ is the perfect fulfillment of all three demands

1. He kept every jot and tittle of the law — every detail
2. He did not take the quick path but walked the path of the cross
3. His joy always flowed from obedience: Psalm 119:111, Isaiah 11:3, John 15:10–11
4. Through union with Christ, his joy of obedience becomes ours
5. David's cry — "How can the ark of the Lord come to me?" — is answered only in Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the life