The Citadel: My Heart, God's Throne

Lessons from King David, Part 1 of 3

July 6, 1997

2 Samuel 5:1-5; 9-10

Psalm 48 Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God ... walk about Zion

2 Corinthians 12:2-10 My grace is sufficient for thee; my strength is made perfect in weakness

The stories of the Old Testament are fascinating, and more. They are graphic pictures of the way the life of faith is, or is not to be lived.

The Exodus and the forming of the people of God into a kingdom give many insights into our understanding of the church, even to this present moment.

But narratives have their limits. And too often we read into stories what we want to see. Joshua enters the Promised Land, and the people of God "live happily ever after." Only in fairy tales! The faith walk with God is never that simple. In building kingdoms and noble lives, in human marriage and the covenant walk with our God, there is no substitute for an on-going relationship of trusting love.

When David became king of Israel nearly 500 years after Joshua had fought the battle of Jericho there were still areas of the Promised Land that were in rebellion against the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The kingdom itself had general ownership within its boundaries, but within those bounds were unsublimated pockets of resistance; areas yet to be civilized; or even some places in open defiance of the central purpose of Israel, which was to honor God.

One of these pockets of resistance was Mount Zion, Jerusalem, the very heart of the Promised Land. Because of its fortress-like characteristics, the Jebusites that occupied the high ground were so entrenched that centuries of judges and leaders, and even Saul the first king had thought it was not worth the bother to bring the Jebusites into the kingdom or else drive them out.

David knew that Israel would not be a noble kingdom with its heart unsubjugated to its central purpose. What would Israel be without Jerusalem? So David found a way— he addressed the task at hand, and the rebel garrison became Zion, the City of David, and Jerusalem is now synonymous with God's Presence!

THERE WILL BE NO UNCHALLENGED REBEL AREAS IN GOD'S KINGDOM

There are areas in all our lives that need to be disciplined. No one is perfectly tuned to a Godly statement of mission that has no room for improvement. But we do not have to live with chronic insubordination to the worship of God. We do not have to live with inner rebellion.

[One red herring pseudo-scholars use to question Old Testament lessons based on war and conquest is the question of God's apparent ruthlessness with rebels. Our God cares for the people of the earth, all nations, all people. This is the great God we have come to know and love, revealed in Jesus Christ. But that ruthlessness and absolute unwillingness to compromise can be, and should be turned against the inner foes, the pride and unbelief and self-worship that threatens every man and woman that decides to follow God. we should have no mercy on the foes within. Bring them to the cross, and let them die there with Jesus, who was made sin for us, so that we might be His righteousness! If that is "spiritualizing" historical texts, so be it. The conquest of Jerusalem to be the heart of worship is just as valid to your needs as crossing the Red Sea is to help you understand your baptism and deliverance from sin.]

THERE WILL BE NO PROPRIETARY ATTITUDE TOWARD HOLY THINGS

After David set Jerusalem free to be a place where God was to be worshiped he still did not take worship there for granted. He never felt he had "the right" to have charge of holy things. One little story-within-the-story makes that point clear, even though it is so brief we might miss it.

David had conquered all the Jerusalem area, but he, personally, did not own any of it. He knew there should be a place of sacrifice. He, in one particular time, was in need of repentance and worship. So he went to the place where Abraham had offered Isaac, the place where the temple one day would stand, and said, "Here is the place I need to set up an altar to El Shaddai, God Almighty."

But the place was owned by a Jebusite shepherd named Araunah. Being a good and loyal subject of the king Araunah simply said, "King David, you can have this whole hilltop! It is yours!" But David said, "I will not offer offerings unto the Lord my God of that which costs me nothing!" So he paid Araunah fifty shekels of silver for the land and the oxen he was driving, and there David built an altar. (In 2 Samuel 24)

THERE WILL BE NO END IN RETURNING TO THE CITADEL; WORSHIP WILL ALWAYS BE THE CENTER OF KINGDOM REALITY

Jerusalem became the focus for all the worship of God. God's people came there when they could; when they couldn't they prayed toward Jerusalem. Jerusalem was not a one-time conquest to be forgotten and taken for granted. Going up to Jerusalem became the high point of every person of faith.

Worship, true worship, has to be like that. When all idols have been cast down, and all rebellions have been ruthlessly dealt with, then at the heart of our being we turn toward Jerusalem. We go to the place of worship when we are supposed to go, when we are able. We look to the heavenly Jerusalem every day of our lives. We come to live with the reality of a Jerusalem, a Citadel within where God reigns without a rival, and where we worship with joy.

GOD'S GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR THE WAY LIFE IS REALLY LIVED

Even with genuine faith and great discipline, life is not fair. Narratives don't tell the whole story. We don't just simply "live happily ever after." The epistle lesson for the day helps complete the lesson that King David began for us.

When the rebel pockets of resistance have been ruthlessly addressed, and when we are worshiping the best we know how— humble attitude, discipline, faithfulness— there will still be things that challenge us to the very depths.

Whatever Paul's famous/infamous "thorn in the flesh" might have been, it wasn't a pocket of rebellion. But it was a source of pain. So Paul prayed again and again that it might be removed. It wasn't. But instead these words: (from The Message, 2 Corinthians 12:)

"Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he did in fact was push me to my knees ...I begged God to remove (the handicap.) Three times I did that, and then He told me, 'My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.' Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focussing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, those limitations that cut me down to size— abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get the stronger I become."

So, the bottom line is: GRACE!

No compromise with God's enemies— but no quitting when times get hard, either. The bottom line is God's grace!

Prayer

He Giveth More Grace 101