When God Is At Home With You

When God is at Home with You

2 Sam. 6:9-12

INTRO: Does Jesus live at your house?

"Does Jesus live at your house?"

I heard a child once ask:

Her little brow was furrowed

As she struggled with a task.

I saw her eyes were shadowed,

Her face marked with a tear;

The voice a wee bit wistful

For the answer she might hear.

"He used to live at our house,

With Mamma—Daddy, too.

But now He’s gone away somewhere.

I don’t know what to do;

For Daddy’s not the same today,

And Mamma laughs no more.

They never bother much with me;

They say I’m just a bore.

"It didn’t used to be this way

With Jesus in our home,

For every night my daddy came,

When all my curls were combed,

To help me say my bedtime prayer

(And Mamma helped me, too);

And they’d smile and tuck me in,

But now—they never do.

"Could you tell me where Jesus is,

For everything seems black?

We want Him in our house again;

We want Him to come back.

And when He comes we’ll keep Him,

For we truly need Him so—

If Jesus lives at your house,

Oh, don’t ever let Him go!"

The child then turned and left me

While I pursued my way

And thought of many home fires

That could be bright today.

Does Jesus live at your house?

How much these words portend.

Yea! On this question’s answer

Our hopes—our all—depend.

A. Today we will see the difference the Lord makes in a home

1. To do that we shall first see mistakes turn to tragedy

2. But in that, one man’s home will also be blessed

B. Uzzah’s Blunder

1. For 40+ years the Ark had remained in Kirjathjearim a town

approx 8 miles west of Jerusalem

a. David decides it is time to bring the Ark to the capital

Jerusalem

b. He places the Ark on a cart pull by oxen

1. WRONG! Priests were to carry it on their houlders using the staves

c. While traveling the oxen stumbles & the Ark shakes & is

about to fall to the earth

d. Uazzah reaches out to save the Ark, to keep it from falling

2. God instantly kills Uzzah

a. God requires complete perfect obedience

1. Good intentions are not good enough with God

3. This shocks, discourages & makes King David fearful

a. He has to rethink taking the Ark to Jerusalem

b. So He places at a local residents. Obededom’s home

I. The ARK: The Seat of God

A. The Precious Instrument of Worship

1. Box of Gold

a. Containing: Tablets, bowl of manna & Aaron’s Rod

2. Mercy Seat

a. Cherubim’s stretched out wings facing inward

3. Center of Worship

a. God’s presence, High Priest annual atonement sacrifice

b. Only touched 1x a year with blood by only the High Priest

4. Untouchable: Only the high priest. Levites could carry it but

only with staves or long poles for handles

a. Through out Lev. Law the priests were warned about

handling holy things or die

1. Handle all Holy things with consecrated hands or suffer

2. The Ark specially handle with Holy Care

B. The visual Presence of God

1. Where Ark is…. God is

a. Led the people in the wilderness from camp to camp to the

promised land

b. Led the Army of Israel around Jericho

c. Led armies in many many other battles

2. His Seat of Judgment & Mercy

a. When the leader. Prophet, King needed guidance

1. Called for the Ark so as to call upon God’s leadership

3. Israel’s confidence, God is with us

C. No Guarantee of His Presence

1. Ai’s defeat

2. Israel army defeated by Philistines Eli Priest

3. Symbol of God’s presence & blessings

a. Need more than religious artifacts, furniture & rituals to

obtain God’s blessings

II. God at home in our home

**Simeon the Hermit Five year old Brian was impressed by the story of Simeon the Stylite, a Syrian hermit who lived in the 5th century. This man was admired as a saint because he lived for more than 35 years on a platform atop a high pillar. Determined to follow Simeon’s example, Brian put the kitchen stool on the table and started his perilous climb. When his mother heard some strange sounds in the kitchen, she came in, and shouted, “Brian! Get down before you break your neck!” As the youngster obeyed, he muttered, “You can’t even become a saint in your own house.”

A. Obededom’s Predicament

1. 3 month visitor but didn’t know how long, could have been

longer

a. Not a short stay,

b. God already lived in this home & was always welcome

2. To honor God is to:

a. Protect his family