Brian Luke - I Have Set My Affection To The House Of My God - Class 4 - I Had Rather Be A Doorkeeper In The House Of My God

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   And now I’d like to call on our brother Brian Luke to give us the 4th session of the day which he entitles. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the House of my God brother Brian. Thanks, brother Ron, I’d like us to come back to an earlier chapter in Chronicles, the first of Chronicles Chapter 6. Now as you know, there were three main branches of the Levites and verse one tells us their names, the sons of Levi, the Gershon, Kohath and Murari.

2. 0:49

   And this chapter is about the the sons of Levi and their divisions and the line of the priests and the line of the singers. It’s an interesting chapter in that regard. So we have the three branches of them in verse one, and then it gives to us of the sons of Kohath, and in verse 4 it gives us the lineage of the priesthood. Eliezer was a son of Aaron and his son was Phineas. And so down the line it goes right through to verse 14 and verse 15, Azariah begat Seraiah and Seraiagat Jehozadak, and so on, under the time of Nebuchadnezzar and his invasion. So that’s the line of the priesthood. Then in verses 16 to 30, because the priests were of the greatest and most important office, it then gives to us the line of the principal person in each of the three divisions of Levi. So it repeats in verse 16, the sons of Levi, Gershon, Kohath, and Murari.

3. 2:07

   And the lineage of Gershon is given in verses 20 to 21, And the lineage of Kohath is given in verses 22 through to verse 28. All right. And then still following the principal person in each of those 3 divisions, we have the sons of Murari in verse 29, and that goes through to the end of verse 30.

4. 2:42

   So there’s the three main branches of the Levites, the priest to take it to one side, and then we’re given the line of the principles of those three main divisions of the Levites.

5. 2:58

   Then it says in verse 31, these are they whom David said over the service of song in the House of the Lord. After that the ark had rest. So from verses 31 to 48 we have the genealogy of the three principal singers. I wonder if in our ecclesial life we would attribute that kind of importance to singing and praise and song.

6. 3:27

   I wonder. I just suggest that the loveliest thing that you can do in ecclesial life is to combine your study of the word, which inspires the heart, with expressions of song and praise, which involve the heart and the feelings of our community. I think they’ve been some of the most happy times in our ecclesial life where there’s been a nice connection of those two things.

7. 3:54

   So often it’s easy to have a brother get the first one, but the second one involves us all, and perhaps we we don’t find it so easy time being like it is sometimes to get the practices in place and to be able to enjoy a multitude of people expressing themselves and joy to God. I mean, it’s like in Bible school when somebody turns up with a piece of music and within about four days we get it all together, don’t we?

8. 4:20

   You never know how it was done, even to the second last practice. Sure it will never work, but you know, there it is. The nights put on it works and it’s always a very, very wonderful and happy night. And that’s done really in Bible schools around the world. Same things done at Rathmines. Everybody rise and nobody has any idea what music we’re going to be singing.

9. 4:39

   And yet by I think it’s Thursday night also that there’s an evening put on and you’d think, you know, they’ve been working on it for weeks. So that’s something to remember in ecclesial life. If you’re going to have an effort and bring joy into meeting and the understanding of the word of God. See if we can combine that with something that involves more people, more hearts open, more giving expression to God, singing and making melody in their hearts so that the ecclesial whole is filled with, with people with exultant thoughts and, and expressions in their mind. And you know, David was great enough to always see that. One of the things that comes down through history about David is that isn’t he, wasn’t he an amazing man, a man of so many parts.

10. 5:25

    He could write, he could fight, he could bring together, he could revive, he could inspire, he could write Psalms, he could find the music, made instruments organized. What an incredible man he was. Man of all parts, an absolutely amazing man of God. Well after the and and these are they whom David said oh you see in verse 31 when the ark had rest they ministered before the dwelling place the Tabernacle.

11. 5:55

    The congregation with singing didn’t wait until the temple note this got underway before the temple when there’s just a Tabernacle there Tabernacle of David that he had set up. It was just a tense structure didn’t have any mercy seat and Caribbean they they had yet to come with with the art. When the art was brought in, he actually constructed this Tabernacle for them and never either had the other furniture that never came into the the Tabernacle of David.

12. 6:32

    The art came in and then these things began to happen. He didn’t wait until the building of the temple he got underway when as soon as that ark had arrived, he then instituted these things. They ministered before the dwelling place of the Tabernacle of the congregation with singing until Solomon had built the House of Yahweh in Jerusalem.

13. 6:53

    And then they waited on their office according to their order. Now we’re beginning to already understand that, aren’t they? Because the the order was made. We we saw that in those other references in our last study. It was an order established under David by the writing of the spirit upon his hand. And then that went down for hundreds of years.

14. 7:14

    All right. Did you notice this is all about the Levites? Pretty important people, these singers, weren’t they? We’ve only just been told who were the principal people down the line of the three main branches. The next people we’re told about are the principal singers. I don’t know that we attribute that degree of importance upon that office in our ecclesial life. So there’s something to take back home, isn’t it? And here we go, verse 33, three branches of the Levites. Well, there was a principle from each. And these are they that waited with their children. That’s an interesting thing.

15. 7:55

    We’re going to see how that develops with their children of the sons of the Koothites. He man a singer now he we he’s the one that had fourteen sons that we read about in the first Chronicles chapter 25. And you’ll see there’s a little reference there across in the margin. He meant a singer. Now he was in the Kohathites, Gershon Kohath and Murari. So he comes down that line and if you look back just a couple of names, you’ll see it says the son of Joel who had a boy called Joel Samuel, somebody said, and that’s where it says in the next little statement, the son of Shemuel. And that should be Samuel and he was the son of Elkanah. And that’s what it says in verse 34. So that’s our Samuel.

16. 8:56

    Isn’t that interesting? So He Man was the grandson of Samuel. This is a lot more interesting, this record than what we suspected, isn’t it Samuel El Karna and then back the other way to He man. Well, where does the lineage go back to verse 37? We’re still going back to cohab and it says the son of Tahath, the son of ASA, the son of Evie Asaph, the son of Korra, the son of Isphah, the son of Coat, the son of Levi, the son of Israel.

17. 9:39

    Well, that’s a very interesting genealogy, isn’t it? It starts from Kohath to Isha to Korra, and we all know who Korra was, don’t we? Korra, Dathan and a Byron in Numbers chapter the 16. They arose, didn’t they? And rebelled against the authority of Moses and an Aaron and Cora lost his life. And yet he’s a genealogy that continues on after him and runs right down to Samuel and to his grandson. Who was he man?

18. 10:20

    Now that’s an interesting thing because Joel didn’t go too well, did he? He didn’t. He didn’t go too good. There was two sons of Samuel and they were not as their father. But nevertheless, Joel had a son whose name was he man, and he became a remarkably wonderful person. So there’s some inspiration too, isn’t it? And sometimes you see that in the truth, somebody can come back the next generation.

19. 10:42

    They can be quite inspirational in eclosure life, whereas in fact their their parent was, you know, a bit hazy about things sometimes. Verse 39 and says and his brother Asaph, who stood on his right hand, even Asaph the son of Vera Kai. And then the genealogy runs down until we get to Gershon verse 43, who was the son of Levi, Gershon, Kohath and Murari. So Asaph is from Gershon and he man is from Cohab. What about Murari verse 44 And their brethren the sons of Murari stood on the left hand Ethan the son of Kishi. And he goes right back that says to Murari verse 47 the son of Levi. 3 branches of the Levites.

20. 11:38

    From each branch there were singers taken and their names were He Man from Kohath verse 33, Asaph from Gershon verse 39, and Ethan verse 44 from the sons of Marara. So we can see that the singers were taken from the three main branches of the Levites. There was a component of each and that’s what our chapter has outlined for us.

21. 12:11

    Verse 31 and 32 illustrate that they were brought into their office when the ark came in to the Tabernacle of David. When the Ark came to rest, then the singers voiced their their praise in continuous rounds of service in song. And obviously they were very, very important as far as Sir David was concerned. And that’s why their names are given after such a auspicious people.

22. 12:39

    Before that, if we come back to our chapter in Chronicles, the first of Chronicles chapter 25, we note firstly in verse one, what we noted in the previous study, that David was going to induct them into office in the company of very auspicious people. There was the King and the captains of the Host, and it says that they separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of he Man, and of Jedduthan.

23. 13:15

    Now we understand that now, don’t we? The three branches of the Levites all represented, except that where, as he was called Ethan in First Chronicles 6, here he is called Jedduthan. Why then did David bring in these captains of the Host? Why couldn’t if you bought him Princess or priests or other things?

24. 13:43

    Well, I think there’s a reason for that, and the reason is seen very beautifully in Second Chronicles chapter 20. What David was saying was that these men with their instruments and their praise to God are greater than military generals. 100 years later there is a threat from Edom and Moab and the children of Ammon against the Judah in the days of King Jehoshaphat. Then upon Jahaziel, verse 14, the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah.

25. 14:21

    This is the Second Chronicles 20, verse 14, Upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jehiel the son of Mataniah, a Levite of the sons of ASA, came the Spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation. And he said, Hearken ye all Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou King Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the Lord unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great battle, for the battle is not yours, but God’s tomorrow.

26. 14:57

    Go ye down against them. Behold, they come up by the clip of Ziz, and you shall find them at the end of the brook before the wilderness of Jerome. Ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, Stand he still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not nor be dismayed.

27. 15:17

    And tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you. And Jehoshaphat accepted that. He bowed his head with his face to the ground and all due in the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before Yahweh worshipping him. And the Levites of the children of the Koathites and of the children of the Qorite stood up to praise Yahweh, God of Israel with a loud voice on high. And you can understand what’s saying that in verse 19, because the three branches of the Levites were involved in the singing.

28. 15:49

    And they haven’t lost their ID, their, their, their customs and their, their abilities and their knowledge of the music and of the words and, and how to do it. Because here, just in this sudden instant, when they’re, they’re brought to this crisis in Israel, they know what to do. And they’re not, they’re not concerned about the about the enemy.

29. 16:09

    It’s one of their number in verse 14 that stood up and said to the king, don’t fear, O king, this matter is of God and God will deliver us. So when they should be preparing for war and sharpening their knives and getting their Spears ready, this group is standing up to praise Yahweh, God of Israel, with a loud voice on high. And they rose early in the morning and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa.

30. 16:32

    As they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, believe in Yahweh your God. So shall you be established. Believe his prophet, so shall you prosper. Imagine that the armies marching out, the king saying to them these things, who inspired him? Those singers, they were not ordinary men, were they? They were leaders in faith that had kept up a practicing culture through persistence.

31. 16:59

    There was ingrained into their minds from very young ages in such a way that they would never let it go. So that hundreds of years later, this is 100 years in the days of David, 100 years down the track, they knew exactly what to do at the right moment. And you think of your own children or your own grandchildren or great grandchildren, great grandchildren and what confidence would you have, my dear Ben sisters, that they would have in their heart the same strength of belief that you have or that your parents have. So you’re looking at something very great, very wonderful that that same strength of feeling is in those were at a moment’s crisis.

32. 17:53

    They went out into the street. So so to speak, and they led the army. They did when he had consulted with the people Verse 21, he appointed singers unto Yahweh and that should praise the beauty of holiness as they went out before the army and to say praise the Lord for his mercy endureth forever. And when they began to sing and to praise Yahweh said ambushments against the children of Ammon and when they got there, there wasn’t a living man to contend with them. What did it the song Who’s Greater, Benaiah or Joab or ASAP Jedotham?

33. 18:28

    And he man, it was the note of praise to God that brought God onto their side. And so those great generals were learning as much as what the the singers ever learnt and they had to come and see the importance of the induction of that office. I can imagine them standing there with all their generals uniforms and thinking, you know, this is kid stuff.

34. 18:48

    What am I being brought into this for? But David was teaching them and all the nation that there’s more strength in the voice of Solomon prize than there is in the training of military might. What amazing man David was. You look at all in verse one. What a unexpected bringing together of facts David and the captains of the hosts separated to the service of the sons of Asaph.

35. 19:17

    He managed to do then who should prophecy with harps. What’s different, what’s the more contrasting than a man of military might and a harp. But that’s what David had come to learn that the songs of God and the praise of God brought the great God of heaven on your side, and it was stronger than steel. And so these men are are enumerated for us that said that they prophesied with harps, with sultries and with symbols and the number of the workmen according to their service was it tells us in fact, of the sons that each one had Asaph is mentioned first in verse 2.

36. 20:05

    He becomes the principal of them. Then it mentions Judithan in verse 6, in verse 3 and he had six sons. And then it mentions he man in verse 4 and he had fourteen sons. Add that up 64 and 14. Yes, it makes 24 again, doesn’t it? So from each one of these principal families of the singers, there are key boys that are chosen 4IN Asaphs, 6 introduces and 14 in he man’s.

37. 20:53

    They are chosen to be these these leaders of song. You know, it really is an incredibly interesting record, isn’t it? It says that they were under the hands, verse 2 of Asaph. And then it says who prophesied according to the order of the King. But the AV is just hiding something there a little, because under the hands is the same expression as according to the order. So what that’s really saying is that there was their Father’s hands upon them.

38. 21:31

    My son, this is how you’re going to do it. And upon his hands, with the hands of the king, so to speak. So who was the the prime initiator and conceiver of the concept? It was David, wasn’t it? And ASA, he man and Jedduth were going to do exactly as the king said, and their boys were going to do exactly what Dad said.

39. 22:05

    There’s a miracle, isn’t it? Now, isn’t that an amazing thing, my dear? But I, I do find this, this whole study just just absolutely amazing. And there were 24 boys. And in verses 9 to 31, there were 24 courses. And this, let’s pick up the idea and we’ll come back to some of those words and pull out some of the beautiful things. But to see in verse 8, it says they cast lots ward against ward, course against course, as well as small as the great, the teacher as the scholar.

40. 22:44

    They weren’t all as skilful as each other. Now the first lot came forth for Asaph to Joseph. And if you swing across to Asaph’s names in verse 2, you’ll see that his second boy was called Joseph. C Got that Joseph mentioned in verse nine. The first lot came for him and he was the second son of Asaph.

41. 23:12

    Now the second lot came to get a line. And if you look across the game to verse 3, you’ll see that get a lie is the first mention of Jaduthan’s sons. All right, So it follows that pattern right through. And we have from verse 9 to 31, we have 24 of these boys, and with each of them there were 12. So they’ve got 3 principals.

42. 23:44

    We’ve got their 24 sons, and each one of those 24 has got 12 associated with him. 12 * 24 is 288. So we have a male choir of 288 boys, skilful with instruments under the hands of their fathers and the King’s hands is authority upon them. Now doesn’t that tell you something about David? Again, it really shows some great things in these things, right?

43. 24:20

    Even says, you know, when you’ve got something coming up in ecclesial life and you’re and you’re busy, the event can come and go and think, oh, I really never got into that. I know there must be many people that feel that way. I never never really got involved in that. And you know, we could have done so much more.

44. 24:38

    We could have turned that occasion into a really wonderful things. We had to learn this and you know, they’d have worked in with that. And if we had have gone on to do it this way. Oh, wouldn’t that have been marvellous if we if we’d seen the whole picture and developed it all had those feelings many times. All the event came and it went was OK, but it could have been special.

45. 24:58

    You know, David was the type of person who wouldn’t let it just be ordinary. It would be special because he came right down from his throne and all the things he had to worry about and his ill health and and 38,000 Levites and and a Kingdom that didn’t want him or half of them didn’t.

46. 25:14

    And so on training his son David Jonathan Solomon to take over all of those issues that he had. He came down from all of that and he saw that they were making the instruments the exact way that he had said they should. In fact, the designer, what does he know about designing of instruments?

47. 25:32

    Could you make a an instrument? Well, David did. The king, the shepherd boy, the warrior, the psalmist, the writer, the inspiring administrator. He could also design instruments and make sure that they were made according to that patent. Oh, what an amazing man, truly a great man. And these boys then had to learn from their father exactly how they should play those parts, what things should be said on this particular day, and what Psalm should be said on that particular day, and how they should sing it. And the parts, no doubt that they would hang. What an inspiration.

48. 26:10

    Arranging brethren, others that are associated with ecclesial administration. Do not say I’m too busy, I’ll just let the thing pass, but say I’ve got to make my, my contribution if I possibly can to this, this occasion that’s coming up. Because when it comes up, it must be special because it’s to God, not just another thing ticked off the eclosure program, but something special that’s going to involve everybody and lift up the hearts unto Yahweh.

49. 26:38

    Well, that’s what he was like. And because you see, God had seen in the, in the, in this, that there’s going to be 24 elders in the future, which are going to be typical of Jew and Gentile of the Saints. There’ll be king, priests and singers. Revelation 5. They lifted up their voice. They just made us kings and priests. They’re singers too, aren’t they? And there’s Jew and Gentiles, so there’s 12 of each for both Israel.

50. 27:04

    And there’s thousands of them. Not 288, but there’s thousands upon thousands. But because that’s the pattern of the future, therefore there was 2 * 12 back here. And they were gathered out of all of these families because God had that pattern in mind. And a beautiful thing. The Bible is a wonderful book. Nothing else like it is absolutely nothing else like it. So these boys are going to give in the lowly circumstances of Israel 3000 years ago.

51. 27:33

    They’re going to give a pattern of things that are going to expand out until they’ll be seen in all their beauty in the Kingdom of God. Let’s come back to ASAP. Then it says that he prophesied. This one had said if they prophecy with harps, he was definitely the leading individual. 12 psalms were written by this this Asaph a wonderful man indeed, and probably he was the chief musician almost certainly that you have referred to in the Psalms. It says Jaduthan prophesied with harps. See verse three.

52. 28:11

    Who prophesied with a harp to give thanks and to praise Yahweh? He man is spoken of as the King’s seer. Verse 5. These were the sons of him and the King’s seer in the words of God to lift up the horn. He was one of the the prophets around David. Remember Gad that we had in second Samuel 24? Well, there was other prophets.

53. 28:36

    Nathan was another one. He man was another one. David had a group of different prophets around him because he was a man of God. Saul. He didn’t know the prophets, was he? He came to Samuel and he said, you know where Samuel lives. And Samuel said I’m him. So I didn’t know who he was, but David did. He had all these prophets around him and he now was instituting this.

54. 29:02

    So all these singers were prophets. And that too is instructive. My dear brother sisters, isn’t in our ecclesial life because when we do make song to God, there’s got to be a content to it. We don’t just want tunes that are happy and nice and light and easy. That’s not really the point of it, is it? It is a praise unto God and it’s a very good thing. So beautifully illustrated in a lot of our hymns where the the content evidences that there’s a rich mind in the things of God. They are our best hymns.

55. 29:37

    You know, we think about a hymn book now, aren’t we? A new hymn book, a new new hymn book. Well, then the best thing you can do for that hymn book is to write a good solid hymn. If you’ve got the ability, you know someone has that and do it. Do it now because the diamond do it is now. But our most beautiful hymns are those in which there’s a real content.

56. 29:58

    These men were not found, you know, reading comics in their spare time. You wouldn’t find them caught on the Internet. You wouldn’t find them dribbling their nice way with novels. They were men of God, men of the Word of God. So therefore they had a mind that made sure that the praise to God had content in it.

57. 30:18

    There was power in what they were doing. And that’s what we need in our official life. Not just sweet songs, but sometimes seem to almost echo what you hear about sign. But something’s got content. So the mind is touched as the heart is touched. That’s important thing, very important thing. And I’m sure that that is becoming to our God.

58. 30:39

    They prophesied with harps. How do you do that? They’re playing an instrument. How do you prophecy with a harp? Where did that idea come from? It’s Samuel, isn’t it? First Samuel, chapter 10. In First Samuel chapter 10, Saul is trying to find his asses. And he has stumbled across the prophet, and the prophet anoints him with oil, and he is given direction. This is what it says in verse five, First Samuel 10, verse 5. After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the Garrison of the Philistines, And it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt be a company of prophets coming down from the high place, with a sultry and a tabore, and a pipe, and a heart before them, and they shall prophecy.

59. 31:52

    That’s where it comes from. It’s a Samuel piece of culture. He has linked together the praise of God with the knowledge of God, the study of the Word, to put it in our terms with singing and praise unto God. Samuel’s brought back and it says in verse 6, And the Spirit of the Lord will come upon thee soul, and thou shalt prophecy with them, and shall be turned into another man. Saul stumbled up to the House of Samuel and didn’t even know where he was, and he lived just round the corner, so to speak. If you look at the map and have a look where Giba was and where Naoth was, you’ll find look, it was just down the road and he didn’t have a blue clue who the prophet was and he lived alongside him and he thought you’d go to the prophet to find out where your answers were.

60. 32:49

    That’s how much he knew. In fact, his servant knew more about the prophet than he did. He said at least take a gift. Paul Saul was very happy to take a gift, but really he knew nothing of the prophet that lived down the road. Now that says oceans about Saul. David was an entirely different person, but in the mercy of God and isn’t it great He brought Saul into that company. He said Saul, I want you to experience something you’ve never known.

61. 33:14

    When you get involved in that company that are coming down the hill singing praise to God with their instruments, this company of province, you’ll be turned into another man. It’s like coming away for study weekend, isn’t it? All the other things that were worrying us back home, they sort of drop off after a while and we begin to see what’s really important. And let it be when these signs have come unto thee, that thou do as occasions serve thee, for God is with thee. And God gave him another heart.

62. 33:42

    It says in verse 10 when he came, Isn’t that beautiful? Saul saw that and forgot it, but David didn’t. In First Samuel 19, it’s David’s turn now. He’s going to go to Samuel’s house and he’s an extremity. He didn’t live close to Samuel, but he knew absolutely all about him. There was a kindred spirit in this man. And the first of Samuel 19, verse 18, it says when Saul was seeking to destroy David, what a crazy man. And there was David playing with the heart. You know it was though he was in the company of the prophets again, there was a young man in front of him playing with all the skill that he could, and endeavouring to turn that melancholy spirit away from the King. And you can imagine, my dear brother says, with what feeling he would have done that, with what sincerity he would have done that, to try and turn his father-in-law into another man and to take away that melancholy feeling that he had and disposition that everything was against him, and to convey to him a sense of positive well-being as he, as he was ruler of Israel.

63. 34:55

    David would have done that with all the skill of his heart and of his fingers, and Saul through a stort sword at him in the middle of it. He’d forgotten entirely what he had learnt in the company of the prophets, hadn’t he? But David escaped, escaped from his own house, Michael, Michael letting him over the wall. And he fled, verse 18, and escaped and came to Samuel, to Raymar, and told him all that Saul had done to him. He knew where to go, didn’t he?

64. 35:23

    And he, he and Samuel went and dwelt in Naoth, which must have been just outside of Ramo, eh, Ramo was the village and Naoth. Naoth means a dwelling. And I, I think it’s a lovely word, isn’t it? In the context? Because it was the dwelling was where the God of Israel was dwelling, Wasn’t he really in Samuel?

65. 35:46

    In that house was the Spirit of God dwelling. So there was Raima, but he was the dwelling. People called him. Then he went straight to him. He didn’t need to tell him where it was.

66. 35:58

    And all his troubles vanished. He was told Saul saying, Behold, David, is it Naoth and Raima and Saul sent messengers to take that. Where didn’t he go? Himself? And when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying and Samuel’s standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messages of Saul, and they also prophesied. And they never went home.

67. 36:25

    And Saul got to know, so he said other messages, verse 2, How silly can you be? And they also didn’t come home. They prophesied likewise and Saul sent messages again the third time and they prophesied author hadn’t even hadn’t any vestige of memory about what happened when he first met them in Rainmar and he was turned into another man.

68. 36:45

    Did he think that he could resist the power of God, the company of the prophets and mingling that with the the praise of God and the hearts up to God. There was no power in Israel that could be controlled by that that couldn’t be controlled by that. And so the great man comes up and all of his towering strength. It went also to Raymond, came to a great well that is in session and asked and said, where are Samuel and David? Oh, foolish man, It’s a terrible thing to read that, my dear friends.

69. 37:18

    He knew where they were. What was he asking for? Because he knew what he was doing was wrong. And once said, behold, where you’d expect, they’re perfectly fine. They’re not fleeing, they’re just staying still. They’re in the dwelling in Naoth. And he went thither to Naoth and Rhema, and the Spirit of God was upon him also.

70. 37:47

    Look at the mercy of God in that, my dear. And sisters, Wouldn’t Saul begin to feel that he was tracking along an old path? The Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on and prophesied as it happened to him in the very beginning. God was giving him another chance, until he came to the dwelling in Raima, and he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down naked all that down all that night.

71. 38:18

    Wherefore they say, his souls among the prophets. He was never seen them. David never forgot that occasion. You couldn’t forget it, could you? Well, you could. Saul forgot it, but there was David’s enemy, so to speak. There were souls enemy, and they were brought together in fellowship together in the company of the prophet who prophesied with heart. What a beautiful thing, my dear brother and sisters, when David left that house.

72. 38:52

    It says verse one that David fled from Naoth in Raymart and came to Jonathan. When he fled that house, he remembered the power of that room. There was big soul. There was his three groups of messengers. How many were there in total? We don’t know. There’s a lot of men in that room and they were completely dispowered by the presence of Samuel and the prophets in that room.

73. 39:15

    And one young man remembered that. And that was David. And I can imagine because you know, he he didn’t know a lot about Samuel before that. Because it’s not that many pages back, is it, that he was anointed, right? It’s not that many pages back. So he didn’t know Samuel in his early youth, before Samuel came to Bethlehem, it’s clear he had had no association with Samuel.

74. 39:42

    Yet in that brief time, there has been some associations which are very beautiful and important to this whole record. And David has had experiences there that he will never forget. And what he’s going to do is take what he learned in that little room and he’s going to take that out of Naoth and Raima. And he’s going to take that up to Jerusalem. And he’s going to concrete that whole concern and that power in an institution that will last in Israel for 400 plus years. What an amazing boy he was.

75. 40:19

    One man saw it and forgot it within years. And the other man saw and he’d never let it go. And he put that in a high position in Israel. He had seen that the singers that prophesied without were stronger than the greatest of the men. And he said, you generals, you come out and you see these men inducted into office. Believe that, my dear friend.

76. 40:41

    Sisters not theory isn’t when the greatest precious are upon us the release of our feelings in praise to God, finding him in the Word of God is the way through whatever the problem might be. That is the way David saw that what he must have felt like with Saul, what inches away. Saul could have just pulled out his sword and killed him perhaps, but he was involved in the things of God as David was Saul that wanted to throw a javelin and try three times already to do it, and then they were together in Samuel’s house.

77. 41:19

    David never forgot that and he took that little thing that happened in life. He took that to great things in the Kingdom. Very, very beautiful person he was. Samuel had been involved in teaching him great things. He never forgot that. Now let’s come back to our Chronicles, chapter first Chronicles 25. These young men that were so carefully instructed, we’re going to be involved in some of the greatest events in Israel’s history when the Temple was opened, these 288, the sons of Asaph, He Man and Judithan, they were brought together for this auspicious occasion.

78. 42:05

    Just think, my dear, and this is of the power of what we’re actually reading. You’ve got fourteen sons. Just imagine fourteen sons. I’ve got a daughter that’s got four sons, just four sons, and you know, she’s finding a handful. I had four sons and you know, they were a fair bit to do with 14 sons.

79. 42:35

    Imagine the table. Here we are. We need a table that size, wouldn’t we? Fourteen sons. It’s not that many years ago that people did have that. I remember being down at Riverton in New in Bicargo, rather in, in New Zealand. And I was asked how many children I had. And I said I have seven children and I’m used to people sort of going on a bit. So I thought, oh, here they go.

80. 42:57

    But it was an old couple and they’ve never said a word. And I said, oh, how refreshing. And then I knew why because this old brother, he quietly said to Brian, he said I was one of 12. And then a little bit later, not to be outdone, she quietly said from the other corner of the room, Brian, I was one of 14.

81. 43:23

    So there we were. He man might have been early in time, but it wasn’t the last 14 sons. How are you going to get those sons to learn to play together and to want to play and to learn their part and to work together and to listen to what Dad says because they’ve got to do it properly. These boys are going to be there when the temple is going to be open and the glory of God will fill the temple. These boys are going to be there. They’re only young lads, many of them, and they’ve got to learn to do it properly.

82. 44:05

    That’s the most inspirational picture for family life. You know, one of the saddest things in our eclesial life is the loss of our children. You know, it’s a pretty universal thing. It’s something we as a body need to really think about, really think about. We are losing our children. Our children are being influenced more and more by the world that we’re living in.

83. 44:32

    Sometimes we are to blame. I mean that we bring into our homes things that destroy our children’s minds. We do and we know we are and we won’t do something about, and we’re losing our children. You can go through a large areas of ecclesial life, my dear brother and sister, and see an increasingly less number of children, sometimes where ecclesial holes are going to be closed soon because they’ve got no future generation. I believe that our Heavenly Father will hold us responsible for that because we are not prepared to make the commitment we should to save our children’s lives. We have said their course that they have to do to be a whatever dentist, if you like, whatever it might be, is more important than them being in my home and it’s not. He will hold us responsible if we are prepared to allow the world to influence our children against the things of God. I can’t put it any other way.

84. 45:38

    I can’t see it any other way. I don’t want to be judgmental upon anyone. We’ve all got our sadness. We’ve all got our failures, but we are losing our children and that means we’ve got to get together. Love the truth. We’ve got to get together and say how we’re going to stop that happening because it’s got to stop or we’re going to increasingly dilute our ecleses.

85. 46:03

    Here were children that only knew one thing, 14 boys, and a whole lot of them learnt to do that properly. This institution went right through Israel and 300 and 5400 years later, after the exile, these boys came out of the woodwork and they were able to produce exactly the songs the way that David first ordained for them.

86. 46:26

    Think about that. How was that done? Well, anything I can think of, my dear friend sisters, is that in the training of those children there was such an ingrained consistency that those children were taught that when they had children they had to maintain that exactly as it had been, that there’d be no deterioration.

87. 46:47

    Otherwise, gradually, gradually, it would be lost, wouldn’t it? How was it that they were able to come out of Babylon and still have the same costumes, the same interests, the same music, the same harmony on the same day? And working with the priests? What an incredible wonder that is. And it goes down to good parenthood.

88. 47:08

    And I think we’ve got to help each other in that regard. My difference. We’ve got to be serious about it, though. We love our children. I love my children. I love my grandchildren. Remember my mother saying to me once, you know, I never thought I could love anything like my own children. And we were just sort of leaving the place.

89. 47:24

    But she said when your children come round, she said, I don’t know. That was the grandchildren. We do love our grandchildren and we love our children. We love all our children in our meetings. Were there ours or not ours? We love every one of them and we do not want to lose any of them. And we’ve got to do something about that because we are, as a body losing our children.

90. 47:47

    We must have to look at that problem more and more. Thank you.