Ever watch White Wolves? For those of you that haven't had
the privilege, a group of teens and their leader go on a backpacking trip, very
much like the wilderness trip, with less canoeing. Their goal is to get to the
top of Eagle Rock. They eventually make it to the top and disaster strikes!
Their trip turns into a rescue mission and they go through struggle after
struggle on the way. At one point, after yet another plan doesn’t work out as
anticipated, Kara gets overwhelmed and yells out, “No, I can’t do this anymore,
I wanna go home!”
Do you ever feel that way? Things get frustrating or scary
or hard and you’d rather give up than keep going?
To set the stage before we read our passage for today, you need
some background info. The passage talks about that Ark of the Covenant which
was like a treasure chest that the Israelites had constructed—according to very
specific guidelines God had given them. It held “the
gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the
covenant” (Heb 9:4). Most importantly, it was what God used as a seat;
His presence was considered to be with the Ark.
Now, the Philistines had captured the Ark (1 Sam. 4), but it brought destruction
upon them (1 Sam. 5) so they returned it (1 Sam. 6). But it’s now been in
Kiriath-Jearim (aka Baalah of Judah),
which was a town right on the border of Israel, for about 20 years. David
becomes king and wants to bring the Ark
under his care, to his town.
Read 2 Samuel 6:1-5. People are excited, they’re bringing
the Ark of the Covenant back to its home. And it’s a pretty big deal too…
30,000 troops parading it home with huge fanfare!
Read 2 Samuel 6:6-7. Um, what? Seems like Uzzah was doing
the smart thing (not letting the Ark of the Covenant fall on the ground and get
all dirty). If something starts to fall, I would be trying to stop it from
hitting the ground too, so why’d God get so angry?
Read 2 Samuel 6:8. David’s angry and I can’t say I blame
him. Here he is, trying to do the right thing (bring the Ark back to where it belongs) and God
overreacts to it almost falling.. or it being saved from falling. What do you
think David’s gonna do next? What would YOU do?
Read 2 Samuel 6:9-10. Yea, you catch that? David got angry
and scared, so he quit. He just left the Ark
at some guy’s house (or threshing floor) and went home. He decided, “No, I can’t
do this anymore, I wanna go home!”
My guess is he probably went home with his head hung low
because he had failed on his goal to retrieve the Ark of the Covenant. God did
things he didn’t understand, so David went home and left things unfinished. He quit.
Sometimes quitting is a good thing (like people who quit
smoking or quit biting their nails), but quitting can also be a bad thing (like
when you stop playing an awesome game (Monopoly) halfway through instead of
finishing).
There are plenty of bad habits that should be quit, but
that’s not what we’re talking about here. When life gets difficult, when you’re
scared or frustrated or confused, don’t give up. These are times when God is
doing something and wants to teach us through it and we need to continue on.
Have you ever quit something—a hobby, a sports team, a
musical instrument, a grade? How’d it make you feel?
Do you give up easily or try to work through things?
Romans 12:12 says “Rejoice in hope; be patient in
affliction; be persistent in prayer.” How does this apply to what we’re talking
about?
This story doesn’t end there though. Let’s see what happens
after David quit. Read 2 Samuel 6:11-15. David got over his fear and decided
once again to bring back the Ark of the Covenant. What’s different this time?
Sometimes you need to walk away—you might be in a bad place mentally or
spiritually and just need a break, a chance to think through things and then
come back. I think this is where David was at. Things were not working out the
way the way David thought they should, so he calls a Time-Out for three months.
But David wasn’t twiddling his thumbs for those three
months. The text doesn’t say what he did during those three months, but I think
he spent lots of time with God, praying and working on his relationship with
Him. David left scared of what God was going to do and then was celebrating the
Lord three months later-something had obviously changed.
David also did something else during those three
months—research.
How was the Ark of the Covenant moved in verse 3?
______________________
How was the Ark of the Covenant moved in verse 13?
______________________
Why the change? David went back and read the Law and found
out the proper way to move the Ark. There were
gold rings on the corners that were to get poles through them so it could be
carried without being touched and the Levites were the only ones who should be
doing the transporting. These were things David had ignored the first time
around.
To live an unleashed life, we can’t be quitters. When life
gets hard or confusing, we can’t bail on God. However, sometimes when things
get overwhelming, we may need to do like David did and call a Time-Out and
pray, restore our relationship with God, and get in the Word to figure out our
next step.
When you feel like quitting, what are some things you can do
to take a Time-Out and try again?
How does this idea of taking a Time-Out relate to what we’ve
been doing this week?
How can you make this practical once you get home?
Matthew 11:28-30 "Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I
will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am
gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is
easy and My burden is light."
Oh and this story still isn’t over. Read 2 Samuel 6:16-23,
keeping in mind that Michal is one of David’s wives.
David is clearly excited about the Ark’s
return and is dancing down the street like a fool. His wife is a bit of a
killjoy and tells him how much of a fool he is. David lets her know that when
it comes to praising and worshiping God, he’s happy to look like a fool to
others cause God is the only one who matters.
Do you know the David Crowder song, Undignified? It is based
on David’s response to Michal in this passage. As we live unleashed lives, we
should be so focused on God and worshiping Him that we shouldn’t care what
others think.
A few years ago, my mom was a youth leader and came to youth
group with her hair dyed blue and spiked. Why? Because one of the teens
asked/dared her to… My grandmother (among many others I’m sure) thought it was
crazy that she’d do something like that. My mom was willing to be undignified
and look a little foolish with spiky blue hair to encourage this teen. She
wanted this teen to see the love of Christ through her and if that meant
looking foolish, so be it.
Do you feel free to worship God how you want or do you fear
looking foolish?
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done to serve the
Lord?
How is this relevant this week?
How can you make this practical once you get home?
For youth group, I wrote a few of the devotionals
we put in a booklet for the teens. The second trip we did was a Missions Trip to New York where we did some Street Evangelism in NYC and some work projects in Upstate NY. Prior to this trip we read Unleash by Perry Noble and focused on that and the life of David.
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