David Anointed King - 2 Samuel 5:1-5; 6:1-5; Psalm 150

 10/22/2023 “David Anointed King” 2 Samuel 5:1-5; 6:1-5; Psalm 150

What is something that you had to wait a long time for? I’m not talking about the waiting in line type of long. But the years type of long? What is something that you deeply desired, maybe even something that you knew that you were called to, but didn’t materialize within your time frame?

Now that you have that type of waiting in mind, I want to ask you, how do you keep hope in the midst of the waiting? How are you patient? How do you praise God in the midst of the waiting?

In today’s scripture passage we find David being anointed King. Only this isn’t the first time that David was anointed. When David was still a young boy, tending sheep for his father Jesse, the prophet Samuel came to his father’s household and told Jesse that one of his sons was to be the ruler of Israel. The King. 

Only there was a problem. There already was a king named Saul. Samuel wasn’t even sure that he wanted to anoint another king at first - telling God that surely Saul would kill him if he ever heard. But God assured Samuel that he was called to anoint David as king and he was faithful to do so. 

Fast forward. David is now the king of Judah. And now the rest of Israel comes to him, asking David to be their king as well. David was powerful at this point, but his rule was contained to the Southern kingdom. Now people are looking to have David as their king. Maybe they recognize that God is doing something through him. Maybe they are just trying to make a political play. Maybe they are craving security. But whatever leads them to ask David to be their King - he agrees.

And David is anointed for the third time as King. 

The third time, friends! It takes three anointing before David becomes the king that God intended him to be. And more importantly than the actual number of anointing themselves, it takes all of the years of time in between each of those anointing for God’s promises to be fulfilled to the fullest extent.

The problem is that you and I - well many of us aren’t patient people. We would start to wonder if we misheard God or we would try to make things happen in our own way in our own timing. 

But not David. David rejoices. David’s first response is to praise God. David gathers together 30,000 men and has them march the ark of the covenant back into the city. The covenant symbolized the presence of God. So what is David saying by taking such an action - you and you alone are going to rule, O God.

And the people are so excited that they are dancing before the Lord has hard has they can, playing instruments and singing songs. 

Friends, when is the last time that we said with our lips and our actions that you, O God, are the one who is going to rule our lives. Not ourselves. Not others. But you?

Now am I saying that our action to seal that type of commitment needs to look like David’s with singing and dancing and shouts of praise? No. But when have we been that committed to letting God be in control, O people of God? When have we been that joyful in the Spirit?

The Psalmist understood that type of joy. In Psalm 150 we find this song and prayer of unbound praise, telling the people to praise God in every place and with all that they have at their disposal. Singing the praises of God.

The Psalmist who penned 150 knew something about pure praise of God. I say pure, because he had no other intention but to lift up God’s name. Think back over the last several weeks as we have unpacked the Psalms together. Even the Psalms of praise often talked about God defeating enemies, bringing vindication, or offering judgment. But here we find a Psalm that praises God for who he is, not what he has done.

David wasn’t praising God because he was now fully king. He was praising God for who God is - knowing that such utter dependance upon God would be central to his kingship!

Praise him because of his mighty deeds and because he is greater than anyone own anything else. Remember, friends, that this is the final of 150 hymns or Psalms that became the songs of ancient Israel. These are the prayers that Jesus would have prayed in the temple and in his home. Because it is the last one it is calling all who declare it to remember God’s mighty deeds testified throughout the rest of the Psalms and scripture. How he brought his people out of captivity and into the promise land. How he sent the prophets to offer guidance. How he made a way through the flames and fire. It’s not just about praising God for what God has done in your life, though that alone is great, but for the magnitude of what God has done throughout scripture. 

God is worthy of incomparable praise because God has shown us love and mercy through incomparable things. Even on your worst of worst days brothers and sisters, you are still loved as a child of God and can offer up a song of praise. 

Every day, I pray through some of the Psalms. Sometimes with other people. Sometimes on my own. But this is one of those Psalms that comes up every single day. Recently, I was talking with another one of these Psalm-prayers and she noted that we lose something if we don’t return to the prayers of Jesus. But we also lose something if we can’t figure out how to speak their truth in language that connects with hearts and lives today.

For the Israelites, this was the language that they were familiar with. The ancient language that defined them and their relationship with a holy God. But what does that look like for us today? What is our language of faith and our daily experience?

Now let me be very clear here - I want you to think about this because it speaks to how you connect with God and possibly God is laying it on your heart in order to invite someone else in to praise through this language. But we do not use our langue of praise to control other people. Rather I want you to think about what language and behavior that we have around praising God that may stand as a testimony to other people.

Take a moment and close your eyes. If I say the word “praise” and “worship” what comes to your mind? What image do you have of praising God? For some it may be shouting for joy or lifting holy hands. Singing praise songs or the hymns of the faith. 

And those are all valid and true, my friends.

Friends, how we praise God isn’t about what other people will think about our praise, its simply about responding to God’s grace and goodness in our lives in whatever way the Spirit moves us. And worship, true worship that comes from the heart, friends that is pleasing to God.

So how is God inviting you to worship through this Psalm and the example of David? And what do you need to let go of our set aside in order to be attentive to praising God alone? Let us be the people of praise, my friends. Amen.