Michal- The Critic Series

Michal

Sermon for 2/10/2002

2 Samuel 3:16

Introduction:

A. A practicing lawyer loved to attack his opponents through letters printed in newspapers. In 1842, he ridiculed the wrong man. James Shields did not take kindly to the anonymous writer who lampooned him in the Springfield Journal. Mr. Shields tracked down the attorney who had publicly embarrassed him and challenged him to a duel. The man was a writer, not a fighter, but he could not get out of the duel without losing his honor. He was given the choice of weapons and chose swords in hopes of using his long arms to his advantage. He trained with a West Point graduate as he prepared to fight to the death. On the appointed day he met Mr. Shields on a sandbar in the Mississippi River. At the last minute their friends intervened and convinced the men to stop the duel. The lawyer returned to his practice as a changed man. Never again did he openly criticize anyone. In fact, years later when he heard his wife criticize the southern people of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln said, "Don’t criticize them; they are just what we would be under similar circumstances." Do you have a critical spirit? Lincoln did, but he changed. Make the change today so you, like Lincoln, can be known more for your tolerance than your criticism.

WBTU:

A. Last week we talked about Judges.

1. The last judge was Samuel.

2. When Samuel was starting to get old, the people began to ask for a king.

3. The Lord answered the people’s request and the first king was Saul.

4. Saul started out good but in the end, he was a jealous maniac.

5. God started over with little David.

B. After his defeat of Goliath, David was a great commander in Saul’s army. Saul became jealous of him.

C. Story of David and Michal.

1. David and Saul’s daughter Michal fell in love.

2. King Saul agreed to give Michal to David in marriage, if David would go out and kill 100 Philistines.

3. David goes out and kills 200 Philistines and Saul is forced to give Michal in marriage to David.

4. One time Saul sent soldiers to David’s house to kill him. Michal warned David of her father’s plans and Michal took a statue and put it in their bed and disguised it as David. Michal told them men outside that David could not be disturbed because he was ill. During the delay, David snuck out through a window and escaped.

5. Finally, David was forced to flee into the wilderness to get away from King Saul. Saul continually hunted him down to kill him.

6. While David was in the wilderness, King Saul forced his daughter Michal to marry another man named Paltiel.

7. After King Saul dies, David returns to Judah and the people of Judah declare him their king.

8. A son of Saul, Ishbosheth, reigned in the north while David reigned in the south. However, the house of Saul grew weaker and weaker while the house of David grew stronger and stronger.

9. Abner, the commander of the army of the north, decides to join David and ally himself with David.

10. In the verses that were read we see that David requests that Michal be returned to him as his rightful wife. Ishbosheth agrees and Abner makes sure it is completed so that he can go with David.

11. So Michal rejoins David in Jerusalem as his wife.

12. She was his first love and it was a good political move. Aligning of the house of David with the house of Saul.

13. It was good for Michal because now she would be the First Lady of David’s White House.

14. Good lesson for us. If any disagreement has separated a husband and wife, let them be reconciled through the power of God, and live together in love. This is the will of God. He hates divorce and this is the ideal.

15. Should have turned out well, but it didn’t.

D. Read 2 Samuel 6:13-16, 20-23

E. It has been a long road for David. God had brought him all the way from the sheep pen to the palace.

F. Finally the house of Saul was no more and David was declared King of the land.

G. Now he was bringing the Ark of the Covenant into the tabernacle in his capital city of Jerusalem. What a glorious day of celebration and of worship.

H. Without his kingly robe and crown, David danced with all his might before the Lord. Years of longing and waiting had finally come to an end. God had blessed his people, and the king did not contain his joy. He even commanded others to join with him. 1 Chronicles 15:16 says he appointed singers and musicians to accompany the celebration as they entered Jerusalem. He was determined that everyone would know of this wonderful moment. The streets must have been filled with cheering crowds as the king danced and praised his way into the city.