When Your Window Shapes Your World | 2 Samuel 5–6

INTRODUCTION

Do you know that two people can look through the same window and see completely different things? The truth is, our inner lens, the condition of our heart, shapes the world we live in. Every person looks at life through a window, the window of the heart. Some of us have clean windows, others fogged by pain.

So, how do you see through your window today? With faith and joy or with hurt and bitterness? Because the way you see determines the life you live.

As we turn to 2 Samuel 5 and 6, we see David’s journey from promise to palace, from warfare to worship. We also see through our window of the heart of two people: David and Michal.

Today we are going to look at 2 Samuel 5 & 6:

• David becomes the King of Israel.
• He establishes the city of Jerusalem.
• David brings the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem.
• The heart of David and Michal

1. GOD FULFILS HIS PROMISE

2 Samuel 5:1-5

¹All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. ²In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’”

³When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.

⁴David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years. ⁵In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned over all Israel and Judah thirty-three years.

The Lord fulfilled his promise to David.

The Lord Fulfils His Promise to His Chosen Servants.

God fulfils his promise to people who depends on his providence and align their desires with his purposes. Though the fulfilment of God’s promise may seem to be delayed and jeopardized, God is faithful to bring them to realization. David had to wait a long time. He had to trust in God. David had his ups and downs. But God was faithful to bring David to the throne that he had promised him. The Lord’s people must trust in his timing and not resort to wrong doing while waiting for the fulfilment of the divine promise.

2. DAVID CAPTURES JERUSALEM; 5:6-25

2 Samuel 5:6-7

David Conquers Jerusalem

⁶The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” ⁷Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David.

The city of Jerusalem was actually given to the tribe of Benjamin in their allotment. So this is an extremely great political move on David’s part to choose a city that had not yet been inhabited by the Israelites. Benjamin had not been able to take it, but yet it was part of their tribe, which is of the house of Saul. So he’s gaining greater unity and political mileage by doing this. Jerusalem is centrally located. So it was easy to establish it now as the national capital.

David’s Prosperity

2 Samuel 5:9-10

⁹David then took up residence in the fortress and called it the City of David. He built up the area around it, from the terraces inward. ¹⁰And he became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.

Application: I take great comfort in that, knowing that God does not demand perfection of us. David was not perfect. It’s the heart attitude that matters. The Lord Almighty was with David.

2 Samuel 5:11-12

¹¹Now Hiram king of Tyre sent envoys to David, along with cedar logs and carpenters and stonemasons, and they built a palace for David. ¹²Then David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.

The King of Israel should never be thinking in individual terms. We Must Never Think of Our Blessing in Individual Terms. God promotes us and blesses us for the sake of his people.

2 Samuel 5:13-15

¹³After he left Hebron, David took more concubines and wives in Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him. ¹⁴These are the names of the children born to him there: Shammua, Shobab, Nathan, Solomon, ¹⁵Ibhar, Elishua, Nepheg, Japhia, ¹⁶Elishama, Eliada and Eliphelet. (The account of children are looking ahead and the narrator summarizing it).

David behaved like other ancient king, gathering more wives., We should not imitate this.

David’s Battles with the Philistines

2 Samuel 5:17

¹⁷When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold. ¹⁸Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; ¹⁹so David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?”

The Lord answered him, “Go, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hands.”

We’re given account of another battle with the Philistines.

2 Samuel 5:22-23

²²Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim; ²³so David inquired of the Lord, and he answered, “Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them in front of the poplar trees.

Both times, David asked the Lord what he should do. We are to take notice these repetitive phrases in v19 & 23 “David inquired of the Lord and the Lord answered him, David obeys.”

Lesson 1: You Can Never Go Wrong by Stopping to Inquire of the Lord. We will never get off course if you stop, slow down and ask the Lord what you are supposed to do.

Lesson 2: You May Indeed Go Wrong if You Simply Follow the World Methods of Doing God’s Work. It might not work out for you.

Lesson 3: God Sometimes has Different Strategies for the Same Situation. Same enemy, same battle, same place, but God had a different strategy.

Lesson 4: The Lord is Very Involved as a Warrior.

2 Samuel 5:24-25

²⁴As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.” ²⁵So David did as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

It is not just David going out to fight the Philistines. The Lord is there. The Lord has an army. That army led by the Lord is marching in the trees above David, before David. They hear that army. There is a spiritual dimension to this physical battle. The Lord is Very Involved as a Warrior.

David had learned to inquire of the Lord in battle, but now we see him forget that lesson in worship — and the result is costly.

3. THE ARK AND REVERENCE FOR GOD’S PRESENCE

The Ark is the great symbol of God’s presence with Israel.

2 Samuel 6:1-5

¹David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand. ²He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark. (The ark was captured by the Philistines in 1 Samuel 4. The ark came back to Baalah (Kiriath Jearim), Israel in 1 Samuel 7 and was there until now, 20 yrs.) ³They set the ark of God on a new cart (earlier the Philistines transported the ark in a new cart. David is copying the Philistine strategy, not God given instructions regarding the ark. Earlier David inquired of the Lord, but notice we will not find that repetitive phrase, “David inquired of the Lord.” It’s missing.

And I think the writer wanted us to hear it over and over before, so that its silence here is loud. There is going to be consequence for not inquiring of the Lord.) and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart ⁴with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. ⁵David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals.

The ark represents the presence of the Lord. The Lord’s Willingness to Dwell Among His People is Cause to Celebrate, but He Expects His People to Respect His Holiness. The Lord wants to dwell among his people. The Lord wants to be imminent, present with his people, not transcendent. There is a reason to celebrate that. The Lord cannot be treated in a casual way.

2 Samuel 6:6-8

⁶When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. (Num. 5:15. Kohathites, a branch of the Levites, are to carry the ark, not on a new cart but by a pole. They are not to touch the ark.) ⁷The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God.

⁸Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.

The Ark was designed for one thing only, “to reside in the Holy of Holies.” It was only to be seen by the high priest once a year, and even when transported in the wilderness journey, it was to be covered and carried by the Kohathites on their shoulders. So Uzzah’s touch, though well-intentioned, violated God’s command. David was angry….

2 Samuel 6:10-11

⁹David was afraid of the Lord that day (David’s anger turns to fear) and said, “How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?” ¹⁰He was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. ¹¹The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household.

¹²Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. ¹³When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord (Now they are carrying on poles, the right way) had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. ¹⁴Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, ¹⁵while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

More details of this in 1 Chronicles 15.

1 Chronicles 15:1-2

¹After David had constructed buildings for himself in the City of David, he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. ²Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before him forever.”

1 Chronicles 15:12-15

¹²He said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are to consecrate yourselves and bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. ¹³It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the Lord our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way.” ¹⁴So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves in order to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁵And the Levites carried the ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the Lord.

4. BITTERNESS OR BLESSING: THE STORY OF MICHAL

2 Samuel 6:14-15, 17-19

¹⁴Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, ¹⁵while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

¹⁷They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. ¹⁸After he had finished sacrificing he burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. ¹⁹Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.

It’s celebration  time. It’s like everyone getting food boxes. David is genuinely celebrating before the Lord and he has made Jerusalem the central sanctuary for the Lord. But there is family trouble. There is great rejoicing and work of the Lord happening on one side, but on the other side there is family trouble.

But now let’s see the same celebration through the eyes of Michal.

2 Samuel 6:16

As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.

a. Michal is addressed Saul’s daughter. The first time we hear about her is that she is madly in love with David; 1 Sam. 18:20. She is then given in marriage to David. She won the man that she loved. Michal was loyal to the man that she loved. She took risks for the man she loved when she hid David in her room and then let him flee from her father, Saul. After David fled, Saul, her father gave her to Paltiel to be his wife. As Michal was living happily with him, she was taken from her new husband and brought back to David’s palace; 2 Samuel 3. This time, she is brought back but David have lots of other women in the palace now.

In the meantime, her father and all of her brothers have perished. She is alone in the world. I do not think she is thinking too favourably about David now, after she was taken away from her husband for political reasons.

b. She’s looking out the window. That is the last place we left her as she was looking out of the window in 1 Samuel 19, when David fled for his life from her father, Saul. Now she looks again, she sees that man, David coming back but everything has changed.

c. She despised him in her heart. David was leaping, he was dancing before the Ark. David was a passionate worshipper. I feel she was despising David not really for what he was doing, but the condition of her heart at this time. Michal was hurt now.

2 Samuel 6:20

When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, (She says very sarcastically.) “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”

I do not think this is much about David’s dancing but how much the world has changed through her window and the condition of her heart. Michal was a woman with a victim mentality. She was a victim. Her life had been torn apart. First she was taken from David. She was given to Paltiel. She was then forcefully taken out of him and brought to David’s palace. Michal is now surrounded by other wives of David, and she is utterly alone.

When bad things happen to us, we tend to take them into our heart and make them our identity.  She is very bitter. The biggest problem with bitter words coming to you is that you usually pass on that bitterness to others if not checked. We usually tend to draw bitterness from others and pass it on to others.

See how David responds to Michal’s sarcasm and bitterness:

2 Samuel 6:21-22

²¹David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. ²²I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”

David is sarcastic again. He is doing the right thing by defending his action of celebrating before the Lord, but in the process he is hurting Michal. He did not think a minute that Michal is hurt and he is responsible to snatch her from her husband. Maybe all she needs is a hug or some words of assurance. David had forgotten how he started rebuilding Israel after Saul’s death, to affirm and show kindness and peace and unity and a forgiving spirit.

We are disappointed that David and Michal completely miss each other. They both have swords out, daggers and they cutting each other to pieces. They fail to understand one another.

2 Samuel 6:23

And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.

So the relationship was over. We do not know if they never stayed as husband and wife or God did not give her children. But people do not want to be together if they are cutting each other with words. There was no more relationship with David and Michal. There will never be any coming together of the house of Saul and the house of David. That idea is over, it is done.

Sarcasm, hurt, bitterness.

Whatever the reason, the absence of blessing in Michal’s life is symbolic of what bitterness can rob us of — joy, intimacy, and fruitfulness.”

Guard Your Heart from Bitterness, it Can Rob You of Blessing.

How does my world look like my window? Three self-check questions:

1. Do I have a victim mentality?

Do I say things like, “Well, I just have trust issues. I just don’t trust people because they’ve always betrayed me.” That’s probably, maybe that’s true. Bad things have happened. And so now we’ve accepted it as an identity, and we kind of just say, “It’s who I am.”

It’s healthy for us to inspect our identity occasionally and see if there’s any victim mentality in there. It’s unhealthy for us to continue living in a victim mentality. And it is possible for us to overcome a victim mentality. Overcoming a victim mindset begins with renewing of our mind by the Lord. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.”

2. Have I become bitter?

Even a little bit? Have I formed a habit of reliving my disappointments, repeating my difficulties, rehearsing the pain in my life to the point where now I may bubble over with bitterness? Are you rehearsing your pain?

Here is a test to see if we are bitter by any chance:

Can I share someone else’s joy?

Do I get angry over small things?

Am I difficult to please? Am I impossible to please?

Friends, How is your Window? Bitter or Blessed? In 2 Samuel 6, David and Michal looked through very different windows. David’s heart overflowed with gratitude and worship; Michal’s heart was hardened by pain and resentment. One celebrated God’s presence, the other despised it. How is your window?

Friends, we can get over this by the grace and Spirit of God. We need to get over it for healthy relationships. Remember hurting people hurt people. When someone is hurting, they do hurt people. Michal was bitter because of her experiences. David did well, did the right thing. He brought the Ark and celebrated before the Lord but Michal’s words made David sarcastic as well. Likewise, one negative word can change our mood. Are you like that?

Ephesians 4:31–32

³¹Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³²Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Only in Christ can our bitter hearts become whole again. He bore our pain, that through His Spirit, we might live healed and free. I trust that the Holy Spirit is going to help us handle these things and remind us that we have the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives that we can push through these things.

“The God who fulfilled His promises to David and also heal a wounded heart. He can cleanse our window and help us see life again through His grace.”

LIFE APPLICATION

Trust God’s Timing

Remember Your Blessing Serve Others

Inquire of the Lord Before Acting

Revere God’s Presence

Guard Against a Victim Mentality

Guard Your Heart from Bitterness, it Can Rob You of Blessing.