Brian Luke – I Have Set My Affection To The House Of My God – Class 1 – This Is The House Of The Lord God

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But this time it is our
privilege to begin to give our

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attention to our brother Brian
Luke as he deals with the

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subject.
I have set my affairs to the

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House of my God, and he’s
entitled his first session.

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This is the House of the Lord
God, Brother Brian.

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Dear brother Ron and my beloved
brethren and sisters and young

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people, I must say that just
looking around made me think

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that we perhaps were in the
wrong spot for the moment

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because I thought that Idlewild
was up on the mountains.

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And yet looking around here just
reminds me so much of of being

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at the Bible school and seeing
all of your faces.

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And I would like to say, you
know, Ron has said how

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privileged it was for the local
brethren sisters to be here and

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to see so many of you come from
such wide distances to be here.

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And I just feel a bit like a
local at the moment because I’ve

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been enjoying the, the domestic
environment here.

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And I just have really felt just
how true that is.

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You just wouldn’t know what it
means, I suppose, coming from

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other ecclesias to feel how a
group of three or four brethren

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sisters in this locality feel
when suddenly the whole place is

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is filled with familiar faces
and warm faces.

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And it does mean a tremendous
amount to them.

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And I’ve been thankful to
experience just what that means.

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You know, it’s something about
brotherhood, isn’t it, that

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there is such a desire to travel
and to be with each other.

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That’s a tremendous spirit.
And I pray that it might

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continue.
We are a small community, but

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it’s part of our our wonder as
Christa Delphines to be able to

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have that tremendous bond that
brings us together.

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I don’t really earnestly believe
there is anything like that in

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the world.
And your coming here today is

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part of the perpetuating and
maintaining of that spirit, that

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spirit of sacrifice and
dedication.

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Now, this is not altogether an
easy study.

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This is quite a day today.
You’re feeling frisky now, but

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by the end of the day you’ll
probably be glad that the, the,

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the 5:30 has come.
We’ve got some difficult

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chapters here, though.
They look difficult, don’t they?

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First Chronicles 2221 through to
First Chronicles 29.

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There’s a lot of detail there
and it’s probably a section when

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we’re doing the readings that we
say, well, now what was all that

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about?
And young 13 year old or 14 year

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old stumbling over all the, the
names of the different priests

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in, in First Chronicles chapter
24.

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And you’re finding it awkward to
sort of make some comment about

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this section to the children
when we’re dealing with this

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section of Chronicles.
Well, I hope that after today we

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might be able to say, well, you
know, really there are a lot of

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details there, but why aren’t
they interesting chapters?

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And what a wonderful prospect
they have left for the future

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Kingdom which is to come,
because that’s really what

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they’re there for if you come to
the 29th chapter.

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You get some sense of what these
last chapters in Chronicles are

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all about.
Thus it says in verse 26, David,

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the son of Jesse, reigned over
all Israel.

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It’s a very summary statement
full of powerful reflections.

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And the time that he reigned
over Israel was 40 years.

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A seven years reigned he in
Hebron, and 30 and three years

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reigned he in Jerusalem.
He was 70 years old when he

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died.
He died in a good old age, full

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of days, riches and honour.
And Solomon, his son reigned in

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his stealth.
But in the latter part of his

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life, there was a season of
extreme interest, and that’s

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what we’re looking at today.
We don’t often look at this

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section of his life.
And there was a burning theme in

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that part of his life expressed
in two beautiful little

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statements, one in First
Corinthians 29.

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Just turn the page back to verse
3 where it says, moreover,

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because I have set my affection
to the House of my God, isn’t

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that a beautiful expression?
I have set my affection to the

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House of my God.
Therefore I have of my own

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proper good of gold and silver,
which I have given to the House

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of my God over and above all
that I have prepared for the

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house and so on.
Because of that affection to the

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House of God.
David had brought all of his

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life and all of its
fruitfulness.

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He had brought it to that ’cause
that’s one beautiful little

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expression.
The other one is more towards

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the beginning of this latter
section, Chapter 22.

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He has found where the sacrifice
will be made, where a temple

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will be built.
And so he addresses Solomon that

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has this tremendous unique
responsibility upon his youthful

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shoulders.
David said, Solomon, my son is

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young and tender, and the house
that is to be builded before the

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Lord must be exceeding
magnifical.

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Only David could put that
together.

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Right of fame and of glory
throughout all countries.

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What a mind he had.
I will therefore now make

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preparation for it.
So David prepared abundantly

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before his death.
I have set my affection to the

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House of my God.
And so his latter years, my dear

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brothers, sisters, were given to
this.

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This dedicated purpose he was
going to put aside and put aside

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and prepare and concentrate and
organize so that that house

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would become the great place
that it should be, bearing the

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name of the God of Israel.
I have set my affection, said

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the older man, to the House of
my God.

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And what a life, my dear Red and
sisters, David’s had been, just

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in brief sketch.
Just let your mind run through

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these thoughts and imagine that
perhaps we were there in First

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Chronicles 29 on what we might
call the great congregation of

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David’s life.
And standing up in front of us

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is an old man, it says.
And David stood up on his feet.

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Well, where else did a man stand
from?

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But the point of that was this,
that it really was an amazing

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thing that he was standing there
because there’s only a short

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time before he was.
So I’ll you might remember, he

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was so cold, he was so almost
death stricken that it needed

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unusual means by which they
could try and bring some warmth

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into the old King’s frame.
And now we begin to see some of

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the wonder of this remarkable
man that Despite that that

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remarkable inability that he had
a description that’s not found

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anywhere else in Scripture.
Despite that, that man got out

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of that bed and he set his
heart, his heart towards the

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things of God and he
concentrated upon that purpose

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and he prepared abundantly
before his death.

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What an inspiration.
Don’t often look at this part of

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David’s life, do we?
We look at his youth and the

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brilliance of his youth and the
stone that went through Goliath

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and so on.
The the more brilliant parts of

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his life, but this area of his
life was really very, very

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wonderful.
So the mind is, is watching him

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putting those things together
and standing before Israel.

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This is perhaps some of the
thoughts that would have gone

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through our mind, the mind of a
perceptive person in Israel and

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filled him with the greatest
emotion.

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This is the David who kept the
few sheep on the space and

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broken hills of Bethlehem
despite the lion and the bear.

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This is the David that rose to
national prominence in the

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Valley of Elah when he put his
youthful foot upon the crown of

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the Philistine champion whose
harp then later so skilfully

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assuaged the evil spirit of
Saul, who won the hearts of the

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valiant of Israel, of their
singing women, of soul’s

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servants, even of soul’s
daughter, and yes, even of his

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eldest son Jonathan.
This is the one who built faith

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and love and wisdom into that
group of discontents who were

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with him in the wilderness and
later became his principles.

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This is the David who rose to
the throne over all Israel,

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Israel and Judah, and in the
summer of his life vanquished

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the Gentiles on every side and
established Jerusalem, the

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strong and indivisible capital
of a nation under God.

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This is the David that gave us
Psalms and personally designed

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the instruments to go with them.
And a new and beautiful order of

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worship was established in
Israel.

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A wide bearing mind who executed
justice and mercy to all in the

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land and brought us close to the
God of our fathers who loved

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Yahweh and received promise of
an eternal throne not equalled

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by any other man and a son to
sit there on even the Son of God

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over whom later we we wept in
unbelieving sorrow when the news

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of Bathsheba and the Uriah
filled it in hushed whispers

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throughout the land.
Our David then shamed by his

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son, who endured the stones of
Shimiai, and let his stinging

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words of jealousy fall upon the
shield of his faith.

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Our king in Jerusalem again, the
father of wise young Solomon,

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Old, tired, weak, cold.
Frequently I’ll still beset by

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jealous rivalries, but despite
every adversity, actively

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pursuing the preparation of the
House of Yahweh Elohim.

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Not to build it, or to see it in
fact, but giving everything he

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had to prepare for it.
There’s something young and

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refreshing about David in every
area of his life, a buoyant and

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powerful spirit.
What’s so thrilling, my dear

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brothers and sisters in this
study, is to see that what we

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know of David of old, in all of
the early parts, in the middle

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parts of his life, which was so
inspirational, we’re going to

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find that it’s the same person
in an older guise in these last

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few years of his life.
It’s the same person.

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And that’s inspiration, wasn’t
it?

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He won’t see that house.
You’ll never prepare it in the

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sense of actually building it,
but he did everything he

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possibly could to make sure that
it would happen.

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What an inspiration he truly
was.

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Now, it’s the numbering of
Israel that really was the the

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turning point, the pivotal event
that sent him into this last era

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of his life.
We know that David was old

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because it tells us that in
Chapter 22, doesn’t it?

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We just read in verse 5.
So David prepared abundantly

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before his death.
So he was old when he began this

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work.
Confirm chapter 23, verse 1.

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So when David was old and full
of days, he made Solomon his

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son, king over Israel.
So this is set in the last few

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years of his life.
There are two records of the

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event.
There’s First Chronicles 21 that

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our brother read for us today
and there’s Second Samuel 24.

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They are parallel passages.
When you think of the outcome of

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this event, it’s really is very
significant, isn’t it?

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The outcome of the numbering of
Israel was as as we might say in

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in four things.
A humbled king, a chastised

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nation.
There are 70,000 men lost.

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A new place for sacrifice in
Israel has been found.

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It was at Gibeon where the altar
was.

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Now sacrifice will be made in a
different place in Jerusalem.

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And fourthly, it provided A
tremendous impetus for the old

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King in the latter years of his
life to prepare for the house

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that would be built upon the new
site.

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A humbled king, a chastised
nation, a new place for

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sacrifice, and vast preparations
for the house that will be built

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there.
You know, that’s inspirational

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in itself, isn’t it?
Out of sin and repentance and

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sacrifice came praise and
worship for centuries

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thereafter.
You know, this is a token of

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what our God is like, isn’t it?
You might have thought that such

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an event could never bring forth
good things, but it’s not true,

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isn’t it?
When God Forgives, he truly

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forgives.
And he forgives it absolutely.

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And the man that is said to be
the Sinner in the story is the

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one that prepares the place and
finds the place, is given the

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knowledge of the place, and
after that, centuries of true

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worship will be based upon that
very place.

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What an amazing thing is the
mind of our God.

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Now, it’s interesting to come
back to the Samuel record,

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second Samuel 24, this great
rebound of faith in David’s life

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and of the Kingdom really.
I suppose this is one of the

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reasons why we really love
David, isn’t it?

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We sometimes feel that we can
draw near to people like David

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because there was some failures
and all of us that feel that in

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our own lives from time to time.
And so David is someone that we

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sort of feel we could go up to
because he would understand.

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And it’s this tremendous rebound
of faith that’s so inspirational

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00:16:12,160 –> 00:16:13,880
about David.
Doesn’t matter whether it’s his

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00:16:13,880 –> 00:16:16,560
early life or it’s his later
life, it’s always a tremendous

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00:16:16,560 –> 00:16:20,720
sense of rebound toward God.
He gets over his problems and he

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00:16:20,720 –> 00:16:25,680
comes up in faith toward God.
Now I don’t know if you’ve ever

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00:16:26,320 –> 00:16:28,480
read this carefully, my dear
brother and sisters in Second

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00:16:28,480 –> 00:16:32,480
Samuel 24 because it it is
important to read it to read it

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00:16:32,480 –> 00:16:38,600
carefully because it says, as
the opening indicated to this

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00:16:38,600 –> 00:16:45,120
story, that the reason it all
happened was because of God’s

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00:16:45,320 –> 00:16:52,960
anger toward Israel.
It says, and again, the anger of

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00:16:52,960 –> 00:16:57,920
the Lord was kindled against
Israel and he moved David

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against them to say go number
Israel and Judah.

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00:17:04,920 –> 00:17:10,359
Now, in the Chronicles record,
it says that Satan moved David

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00:17:10,920 –> 00:17:15,920
to do this matter.
I want to just push that point

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00:17:15,920 –> 00:17:19,400
right home in our minds because
that’s why the event occurred.

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It says that it was again, that
the anger of the Lord came.

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00:17:24,160 –> 00:17:28,920
And that seems to refer back to
Second Samuel chapter 21 where

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there was a famine in the days
of David three years, year after

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00:17:32,200 –> 00:17:35,240
year.
And David inquired and Yahweh

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00:17:35,240 –> 00:17:38,200
answered, it is for Saul and for
his bloody house because he slew

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the given arts.
That seems to be the first

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00:17:40,720 –> 00:17:44,240
occasion.
And so the again in chapter 24

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00:17:44,240 –> 00:17:47,280
verse one is taking that in
mind.

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00:17:48,720 –> 00:17:53,720
But why do you think it was that
God’s anger was kindled against

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00:17:53,760 –> 00:17:55,240
Israel?
It doesn’t actually say that,

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00:17:55,240 –> 00:18:00,160
does it?
I suppose the most likely way to

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00:18:00,160 –> 00:18:03,320
come to an answer to that is to
say, well, what actually

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00:18:03,320 –> 00:18:10,880
happened and what happened was
that there was 70,000 of Israel

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00:18:11,040 –> 00:18:16,400
are taken out verse 15 So the
Lord sent a pestilence upon

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00:18:16,440 –> 00:18:20,000
Israel.
His anger was upon Israel.

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00:18:21,080 –> 00:18:24,960
The Lord sent a pestilence upon
Israel from the morning even to

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00:18:24,960 –> 00:18:27,840
the time appointed and there
died of the people from dead

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00:18:27,840 –> 00:18:35,000
even to be a Sheba 70,000 men.
No doubt the cause is related to

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00:18:35,000 –> 00:18:39,760
that outcome and it’s clear that
God was not angry with David, is

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00:18:39,760 –> 00:18:41,160
it?
That’s very clear.

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00:18:41,800 –> 00:18:43,520
That’s a very important part of
this story.

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00:18:43,560 –> 00:18:46,480
Really.
His feelings were against

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00:18:46,480 –> 00:18:48,960
Israel.
The king became involved.

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00:18:49,920 –> 00:18:53,280
He was made sin, as it were.
He was enveloped in the

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00:18:53,280 –> 00:18:56,680
circumstances, but Israel’s
Israel was the cause of God’s

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00:18:56,680 –> 00:19:00,240
anger and Israel was the one
that received the judgement.

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00:19:01,480 –> 00:19:05,080
Well, I suppose it’s really not
too difficult to understand what

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00:19:05,080 –> 00:19:10,280
God was doing.
Many years of prosperity, of

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00:19:10,280 –> 00:19:14,520
superiority among the nations
had no doubt generated a lot of

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00:19:14,520 –> 00:19:17,360
people in Israel that were
wealthy and well to do.

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00:19:17,360 –> 00:19:21,760
And and the situation of pride
and prosperity always comes in

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00:19:21,760 –> 00:19:25,320
its way.
There was an independence, no

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00:19:25,320 –> 00:19:29,240
doubt, as we are feeling in our
own good years, an independence

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00:19:29,240 –> 00:19:32,800
of God because people don’t feel
the same need of him.

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00:19:32,880 –> 00:19:35,560
When there was battles and David
was going out against this

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00:19:35,560 –> 00:19:38,360
nation and against that nation,
then the nation was driven

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00:19:38,360 –> 00:19:40,600
together, weren’t they?
Because they’re common enemies.

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00:19:41,080 –> 00:19:44,600
But now the times have been good
and there’s been plenty and

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00:19:44,600 –> 00:19:48,800
prosperity and that Israel is
clearly an advantage nation.

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00:19:49,680 –> 00:19:52,000
And so we can imagine in the
ranks that there are many men

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00:19:52,000 –> 00:19:55,560
that have become much less godly
than they were in the early days

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00:19:55,560 –> 00:19:58,680
of David.
Swelling ambitions were around

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00:19:58,680 –> 00:20:01,560
the king.
They were against the king.

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00:20:03,360 –> 00:20:07,160
There were angry spirits about.
They’re just a little insight

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00:20:07,160 –> 00:20:11,480
into that Psalm 71.
You know that this is the Psalm

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00:20:11,480 –> 00:20:14,840
of David’s old age.
We’ll be coming to it, in fact,

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00:20:14,960 –> 00:20:18,720
tomorrow.
But just a little insight into

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00:20:18,720 –> 00:20:22,120
just what the circumstances were
like out there in Israel.

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00:20:30,400 –> 00:20:35,000
In verse 9 of Psalm 71, is this
the Psalm of David’s old age?

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00:20:35,280 –> 00:20:38,760
We know it is.
He tells us that in verse 17 and

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00:20:38,760 –> 00:20:41,840
18.
O God, Thou hast taught me from

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00:20:41,840 –> 00:20:46,600
my youth, and hitherto have I
declared Thy wondrous works.

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00:20:47,280 –> 00:20:53,920
Now also, when I am old and grey
headed, O God, forsake me not

286
00:20:55,440 –> 00:20:59,440
until I have showed thy strength
unto this generation, and thy

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00:20:59,440 –> 00:21:01,320
power to everyone that is to
come.

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00:21:01,440 –> 00:21:05,280
That’s David, isn’t it?
But look at verse 9.

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00:21:06,000 –> 00:21:11,640
Was the king lying back in idle
pleasure, where all his servants

290
00:21:11,640 –> 00:21:14,040
at his beck and coal was
everybody behind him?

291
00:21:15,480 –> 00:21:20,080
He was old.
I’ll cold and fraught with

292
00:21:20,080 –> 00:21:23,320
enemies.
Cast me not off in the time of

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00:21:23,320 –> 00:21:27,240
old age.
Verse 9 Forsake me not when my

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00:21:27,240 –> 00:21:33,600
strength faileth, for my enemies
speak against me, and they that

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00:21:33,600 –> 00:21:37,160
lay wait for my soul take
counsel together, saying, God

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00:21:37,160 –> 00:21:40,560
hath forsaken him, persecute and
take him, for there is none to

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00:21:40,560 –> 00:21:42,520
deliver him.
They thought he was a lost

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00:21:42,520 –> 00:21:49,800
cause, and so being so long in
that bedroom, in that cold state

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00:21:49,800 –> 00:21:52,600
of inactivity, they thought he
was finished.

300
00:21:53,920 –> 00:21:56,360
And of course, what happens in
times like that is that people

301
00:21:56,360 –> 00:21:58,200
begin then to debate the future,
don’t they?

302
00:21:58,720 –> 00:22:02,200
Succession becomes the obsession
of the public’s mind.

303
00:22:03,040 –> 00:22:08,200
What’s going to be hereafter?
And you know, just before this

304
00:22:08,200 –> 00:22:13,400
time or just after this time,
Adonager was the one, his second

305
00:22:13,400 –> 00:22:18,480
son, who had arisen against him.
And that’s instructional because

306
00:22:18,640 –> 00:22:21,080
you’ll remember the
circumstances out of which David

307
00:22:21,080 –> 00:22:25,040
was raised when Adonager
endeavoured to usurp the throne.

308
00:22:25,760 –> 00:22:28,400
David was was clearly gone as it
were.

309
00:22:29,000 –> 00:22:30,440
He was in that bed of
languishing.

310
00:22:30,440 –> 00:22:33,960
He was cold and Abishag was
given him to try and warm up the

311
00:22:33,960 –> 00:22:38,920
old body.
It was a unique experience in

312
00:22:38,920 –> 00:22:43,080
Israel.
A donager rose up and he wasn’t

313
00:22:43,080 –> 00:22:44,800
without principles that came
with.

314
00:22:45,680 –> 00:22:50,640
He was able to obtain the the
popularity of the king and many

315
00:22:50,640 –> 00:22:53,880
important people, even Joab that
had not gone with Absalom.

316
00:22:54,480 –> 00:22:57,360
Joab now switched camps, so do
one of the high prinests.

317
00:22:59,320 –> 00:23:01,480
So it shows us, my dear and
sisters, what we would never

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00:23:01,480 –> 00:23:05,720
have imagined, that he arrived
at the end of his life when he’s

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00:23:05,720 –> 00:23:08,600
got all these laurels of
achievement on every side.

320
00:23:09,320 –> 00:23:13,120
Yet there are bitter and evil
spirits in that Kingdom that are

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00:23:13,120 –> 00:23:17,720
seeking his, his downfall and
would wish him evil as speaking

322
00:23:17,720 –> 00:23:19,400
against him.
In the corridors of power

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00:23:19,560 –> 00:23:22,880
outside that bedroom, there’s
all kinds of intrigue going on.

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00:23:23,760 –> 00:23:26,840
And all that David says is, Oh
God, be not far from me.

325
00:23:27,480 –> 00:23:33,520
Oh my God, make haste for my
help now also when I’m old and

326
00:23:33,520 –> 00:23:35,400
Gray headed, Oh God forsake me
not.

327
00:23:36,680 –> 00:23:39,200
What did he want to do until I
have showed thy strength unto

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00:23:39,200 –> 00:23:43,040
this generation and thy power to
everyone that is to come.

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00:23:43,040 –> 00:23:46,400
Your beautiful man, wasn’t he
remarkable man?

330
00:23:47,280 –> 00:23:50,560
And I think that those thoughts
help us when we come back to

331
00:23:50,560 –> 00:23:56,200
Second Samuel chapter 24 by
taking in that, that national

332
00:23:56,200 –> 00:23:59,680
situation, that national
picture, that helps us to

333
00:23:59,680 –> 00:24:04,680
realize what God was doing.
Was he not carving out 70,000?

334
00:24:05,760 –> 00:24:08,520
Was it not his choice as to who
they were?

335
00:24:09,040 –> 00:24:14,160
It was the Lord sent a
pestilence, verse 15.

336
00:24:16,160 –> 00:24:18,760
I don’t imagine for a moment
that that was arbitrary.

337
00:24:19,760 –> 00:24:24,360
I think that God was taking out
of that nation 70,070 because

338
00:24:24,840 –> 00:24:27,520
they were like Gentiles, though
they were in the Kingdom of

339
00:24:27,520 –> 00:24:30,640
Israel and they had never seen
that God had have given them

340
00:24:30,640 –> 00:24:34,000
that man.
They would see his sins, they’d

341
00:24:34,000 –> 00:24:37,800
see his failings, but they never
saw that God was behind that

342
00:24:37,800 –> 00:24:38,680
man.
He was.

343
00:24:39,680 –> 00:24:41,920
It was God that gave him
strength to tear the lion and

344
00:24:41,920 –> 00:24:43,440
the bear.
It was God that gave him the

345
00:24:43,440 –> 00:24:46,120
direction to the sin, the stone
into into Goliath.

346
00:24:46,120 –> 00:24:48,600
It was God that gave him the
strength to Vanquish the

347
00:24:48,600 –> 00:24:50,920
enemies.
It was God that gave him the

348
00:24:50,920 –> 00:24:53,400
Psalms and the inspiration for
Israel.

349
00:24:53,560 –> 00:24:56,040
You couldn’t deal with a man
without realizing that, never

350
00:24:56,040 –> 00:24:58,520
mind his sins.
It was God that forgave him.

351
00:24:59,880 –> 00:25:02,240
But there were men who wouldn’t
forgive that and who wouldn’t

352
00:25:02,240 –> 00:25:06,480
have acknowledged that.
And consequently there was this

353
00:25:06,480 –> 00:25:10,240
growing discontent in the
nation, and the old man was

354
00:25:10,520 –> 00:25:13,960
physically incapable to deal
with that situation.

355
00:25:15,480 –> 00:25:18,080
And again the anger of the Lord
was kindled against Israel, and

356
00:25:18,080 –> 00:25:23,720
he took 70,000 out of that
nation, 70,000 that acted like

357
00:25:23,720 –> 00:25:26,600
Gentiles, as though they had no
knowledge or revelation of God,

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00:25:27,480 –> 00:25:30,400
and he treated them like a
70,000.

359
00:25:31,520 –> 00:25:34,560
And what a security He was
therefore providing for the

360
00:25:34,560 –> 00:25:38,200
young, the Solomon, when he
should come to reign, that those

361
00:25:38,200 –> 00:25:41,720
troublemakers were generally
eased out of the nation.

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00:25:42,560 –> 00:25:46,600
Well, that seems to make sense,
doesn’t it, as to why God did

363
00:25:46,600 –> 00:25:49,400
that.
And I repeat again that it

364
00:25:49,400 –> 00:25:53,480
wasn’t his anger against the
David in this event.

365
00:25:54,000 –> 00:25:58,560
That was the prime thing.
The prime cause was his anger

366
00:25:58,560 –> 00:26:03,440
against the people.
So in a sense, my dear Bernard

367
00:26:03,440 –> 00:26:07,880
sisters, in a sense, David’s
going to suffer in this matter

368
00:26:09,480 –> 00:26:14,080
on behalf of the people.
True, He’s going to be involved

369
00:26:14,080 –> 00:26:19,480
in the transgression, but it
wasn’t he that was the ’cause it

370
00:26:19,480 –> 00:26:21,400
was the people for whom he would
suffer.

371
00:26:21,840 –> 00:26:24,160
That’s got very beautiful
overtones.

372
00:26:24,720 –> 00:26:28,360
In a sense.
He was made sin for the people’s

373
00:26:28,480 –> 00:26:32,240
sin.
There’s a a very lovely overdrop

374
00:26:32,240 –> 00:26:36,400
on this whole thing that where
true sacrifice was going to be

375
00:26:36,400 –> 00:26:38,640
made and the place for that was
going to be determined.

376
00:26:38,640 –> 00:26:41,640
It would come out of this event.
They never knew that it should

377
00:26:41,640 –> 00:26:43,720
be there that the temple was
going to be built.

378
00:26:43,720 –> 00:26:46,520
They never knew that sacrifice
should be made there.

379
00:26:47,080 –> 00:26:50,680
Deuteronomy chapter 12 had
spoken about a place, a place,

380
00:26:50,680 –> 00:26:52,480
hadn’t it?
That I would put my name there

381
00:26:52,480 –> 00:26:55,240
and it true sacrifice will be
made and no one knew where that

382
00:26:55,240 –> 00:26:59,680
was.
Well, it not yet been declared.

383
00:26:59,800 –> 00:27:04,120
One has to indeed wonder if
David had not some revelation

384
00:27:04,760 –> 00:27:07,840
when he took the head of Goliath
all the way 25 miles up to

385
00:27:07,840 –> 00:27:10,520
Jerusalem and laid it.
Well, it would have been outside

386
00:27:10,520 –> 00:27:12,040
the camp, wouldn’t it?
Because he couldn’t have gone

387
00:27:12,040 –> 00:27:13,840
inside.
It was filled with Jevezites.

388
00:27:14,200 –> 00:27:16,440
So he laid the head of the
serpent, as it were.

389
00:27:16,600 –> 00:27:21,440
He laid that at the well.
Perhaps it was in this very

390
00:27:21,440 –> 00:27:23,680
place.
The fact that he went all that

391
00:27:23,680 –> 00:27:26,840
way with the head of Goliath is
a clear intimation that he had

392
00:27:26,840 –> 00:27:29,160
some knowledge of things to
come.

393
00:27:30,560 –> 00:27:34,720
But in this incident it becomes
crystal clear, in fact, by the

394
00:27:34,720 –> 00:27:37,320
very Angel himself, and David
senses that.

395
00:27:38,040 –> 00:27:41,120
And so in that very place where
true sacrifice would be made,

396
00:27:42,000 –> 00:27:45,120
it’s interesting to see that we
have these overtimes of the

397
00:27:45,120 –> 00:27:49,000
greater, the greater than David,
the son of David, who too would

398
00:27:49,000 –> 00:27:52,960
be made a sin, that he might
take away the sin of his people.

399
00:27:54,640 –> 00:28:00,240
Was it wrong to number Israel?
Well, it doesn’t actually say it

400
00:28:00,240 –> 00:28:02,760
was wrong.
You come back to Numbers Chapter

401
00:28:02,760 –> 00:28:08,560
1.
There are some statements made

402
00:28:08,560 –> 00:28:14,440
about this, this matter that
don’t seem seem to have got into

403
00:28:14,440 –> 00:28:20,520
our our history or into our
knowledge, but they’re not

404
00:28:20,520 –> 00:28:24,800
altogether supported.
It was not a wrong thing in

405
00:28:24,800 –> 00:28:29,600
itself to number Israel.
In fact, Numbers Chapter 1 says,

406
00:28:29,600 –> 00:28:32,320
Take you the sum of all the
congregation of the children of

407
00:28:32,320 –> 00:28:35,960
Israel after their families by
the House of their fathers, with

408
00:28:35,960 –> 00:28:39,000
a number of their names, every
male by their poles, from 20

409
00:28:39,000 –> 00:28:41,520
years old and upward.
All that are able to go forth to

410
00:28:41,520 –> 00:28:45,440
war in Israel, Thou and Aaron
shall number them by their

411
00:28:45,440 –> 00:28:50,000
armies, and with you there shall
be a man of every tribe,

412
00:28:50,000 –> 00:28:52,600
everyone head of the House of
his fathers.

413
00:28:53,720 –> 00:28:58,400
Verse 19.
As the Lord commanded Moses, so

414
00:28:58,400 –> 00:29:01,000
he numbered them in the
wilderness of Sinai.

415
00:29:02,960 –> 00:29:07,760
But here it clearly was a
numbering commanded by God.

416
00:29:09,280 –> 00:29:14,200
But the numbering in itself
can’t be the evil, surely, Or

417
00:29:14,200 –> 00:29:16,960
here he was commanded by God to
do that very thing.

418
00:29:17,280 –> 00:29:24,680
Now David says in Psalm 33,
which is a very relevant passage

419
00:29:24,680 –> 00:29:35,960
to the numbering of Israel.
There is no king Psalm 33 and

420
00:29:35,960 –> 00:29:39,520
verse 16.
There is no king saved by the

421
00:29:39,520 –> 00:29:44,760
multitude of an host.
A mighty man is not delivered by

422
00:29:44,760 –> 00:29:48,680
much strength.
So numbers is not really the

423
00:29:48,680 –> 00:29:53,000
question.
David wrote Psalm 33, but in the

424
00:29:53,000 –> 00:29:56,000
first of Chronicles just keeping
our hand in in Samuel.

425
00:29:56,000 –> 00:29:58,280
If you’ve still got it, but
turning back to the other

426
00:29:58,280 –> 00:30:06,000
recording verse of Chronicles
21, verse Chronicles 21 and

427
00:30:06,000 –> 00:30:21,650
verse 3, there’s this important
little passage we read here in

428
00:30:21,650 –> 00:30:24,170
verse 3 of Joab’s comment to
him.

429
00:30:25,410 –> 00:30:32,800
And Joab answered, Yahweh make
his people his people, and 100

430
00:30:32,800 –> 00:30:38,880
times so many more as they be,
if they’re multiplied 100 times

431
00:30:38,880 –> 00:30:42,760
more.
But my Lord the king, are they

432
00:30:42,760 –> 00:30:49,320
not all my Lord’s servants?
Why then doth my Lord require

433
00:30:49,320 –> 00:30:53,200
this thing?
Why will he be a cause of

434
00:30:53,200 –> 00:30:58,800
trespass to Israel?
Now I suppose we’re inclined to

435
00:30:59,360 –> 00:31:02,840
think that they’re very good
words from Joanne, but stop and

436
00:31:02,840 –> 00:31:06,760
think for a moment.
We know there is intrigue all

437
00:31:06,760 –> 00:31:10,760
around David.
The Psalm tells us that so does

438
00:31:10,760 –> 00:31:14,640
the first of Kings chapter one
with a donagers usurpation

439
00:31:14,640 –> 00:31:17,640
having occurred all right in
this very period of time.

440
00:31:19,880 –> 00:31:21,800
David’s aware that those things
are happening.

441
00:31:21,840 –> 00:31:24,000
He’s incapable of resisting
them.

442
00:31:26,480 –> 00:31:31,720
If Joab comes to him and says,
But my Lord the King, are they

443
00:31:31,720 –> 00:31:35,800
not all, my Lords, servants?
And if you’d had a life’s

444
00:31:35,800 –> 00:31:38,560
experience with Joab, what would
you think to yourself?

445
00:31:41,200 –> 00:31:44,120
They sound so glib, so, so fair
words.

446
00:31:45,360 –> 00:31:47,640
But knowing Joab, my dear
brother and the sisters, David

447
00:31:47,640 –> 00:31:52,520
would have read that another
way, wouldn’t he?

448
00:31:52,520 –> 00:31:56,880
Joab clearly has perceived the
concern of the king.

449
00:31:58,320 –> 00:32:01,520
But David would know Joab
through and through, and there’s

450
00:32:01,520 –> 00:32:04,320
nothing that would perturb him
more than having Joab make these

451
00:32:04,320 –> 00:32:07,000
fair words.
Does Joab really believe those

452
00:32:07,000 –> 00:32:08,640
words?
Why?

453
00:32:08,640 –> 00:32:10,240
He’s just been in the pocket of
Edonager.

454
00:32:11,840 –> 00:32:14,360
He’s just trying to set up a
rebellion against David.

455
00:32:14,360 –> 00:32:16,360
If it’s not just before, then
it’s just after.

456
00:32:16,360 –> 00:32:22,000
It’s in this period of time.
So verse 3 shines in a different

457
00:32:22,000 –> 00:32:24,040
light when you put the
background behind it, doesn’t

458
00:32:24,040 –> 00:32:26,320
it?
That’s not a statement of

459
00:32:26,320 –> 00:32:28,040
fidelity.
It’s a statement of absolute

460
00:32:28,040 –> 00:32:31,800
treachery.
Joab doesn’t mean a word of that

461
00:32:31,800 –> 00:32:34,680
because Joab is setting the
people against David at this

462
00:32:34,680 –> 00:32:39,560
very time.
So we have to put put the

463
00:32:39,560 –> 00:32:42,440
records together because that’s
very instruction.

464
00:32:43,200 –> 00:32:47,120
Joab’s words sometimes sound, my
dear and sister, so right.

465
00:32:47,960 –> 00:32:50,760
The denial found.
The indelible rule with Joab is,

466
00:32:50,760 –> 00:32:54,120
if you think this, that Joab
will be thinking for himself.

467
00:32:54,120 –> 00:32:57,320
You’ll always be correct.
It’ll always work out right in

468
00:32:57,320 –> 00:33:00,360
the overall picture.
Joab will think for himself.

469
00:33:00,960 –> 00:33:03,040
In the case of Absalom, what was
he told to do?

470
00:33:03,280 –> 00:33:05,000
Leave the young man?
What did he do?

471
00:33:05,520 –> 00:33:08,840
He did the very opposite of that
in the case of Edonager.

472
00:33:08,960 –> 00:33:12,840
He thought, right, the time is
up, David can never go at that.

473
00:33:13,160 –> 00:33:17,160
He went with Edonager, but of
course was found to be failure.

474
00:33:17,840 –> 00:33:21,560
Joe will always put his own case
first, whether it’s the case of

475
00:33:21,760 –> 00:33:26,720
Abner again, who came to bring
peace to Israel, or later Sheba

476
00:33:27,480 –> 00:33:31,680
or Amassa.
In all of those cases, you’ll

477
00:33:31,680 –> 00:33:34,920
find that Joab will think for
Joab as #1.

478
00:33:35,600 –> 00:33:40,960
So verse 3 has more behind it as
read by David than what we might

479
00:33:40,960 –> 00:33:44,760
imagine.
And so verse 4, his words

480
00:33:44,760 –> 00:33:49,880
prevailed against Joab.
It seems, doesn’t it, from verse

481
00:33:49,880 –> 00:33:54,360
three that David had been
troubled to think that that the

482
00:33:54,360 –> 00:34:00,120
Kingdom was getting away from
him, that Israel really was

483
00:34:00,120 –> 00:34:05,920
moving away from him, and that
the motive of the consensus was

484
00:34:05,920 –> 00:34:11,360
therefore to sort of number them
and say these are mine because I

485
00:34:11,360 –> 00:34:14,639
numbered them.
I send out my servants to

486
00:34:14,639 –> 00:34:17,880
determine the number of Israel
and it was such and such and

487
00:34:17,880 –> 00:34:22,000
they are my servants.
They belong to me as king of

488
00:34:22,000 –> 00:34:24,520
Israel.
That seems, doesn’t it, to be

489
00:34:24,679 –> 00:34:28,560
the motive behind that.
Now my dear brother says, I

490
00:34:28,560 –> 00:34:31,679
can’t explain all the way in
which God brought that

491
00:34:32,159 –> 00:34:36,560
determination upon his mind, but
I do know that the record says

492
00:34:36,560 –> 00:34:38,960
that Yahweh moved David to do
that.

493
00:34:39,520 –> 00:34:42,360
Or as it’s put in First
Chronicles chapter 21 verse one,

494
00:34:42,600 –> 00:34:46,960
and Satan stood against Israel
and provoked David to number

495
00:34:46,960 –> 00:34:52,159
Israel.
Perhaps there were shades of

496
00:34:52,159 –> 00:34:56,560
uncertainty that were cast into
his mind and in the depth of his

497
00:34:57,520 –> 00:35:01,720
of his physical weakness and of
his inability to cope with the

498
00:35:01,720 –> 00:35:03,720
enormity of this empire that
he’d build up.

499
00:35:04,960 –> 00:35:09,000
He was momentarily shaken and he
thought, well, I’ll create a

500
00:35:09,000 –> 00:35:12,240
numbering of the of Israel and
therefore they will all know

501
00:35:12,240 –> 00:35:14,640
that it was my people that went
out there and numbered them.

502
00:35:14,640 –> 00:35:16,240
Why didn’t Joab want to be
involved in that?

503
00:35:19,000 –> 00:35:24,840
Well, if you were Joab and your
own position is #1 you wouldn’t,

504
00:35:24,840 –> 00:35:27,520
with David in that kind of
condition, want to be away from

505
00:35:27,520 –> 00:35:30,200
the Kingdom, would you?
You wouldn’t want to be, you

506
00:35:30,200 –> 00:35:33,160
know, free booting all over the
land, numbering every Tom, Dick

507
00:35:33,160 –> 00:35:37,440
and Harry in the land when the
great issue of succession was

508
00:35:37,440 –> 00:35:41,520
facing you in Jerusalem.
You’d want to be right there,

509
00:35:41,920 –> 00:35:45,120
right where the power was.
Because, of course, that was

510
00:35:45,240 –> 00:35:48,360
Joab’s motive.
He was always interested in his

511
00:35:48,360 –> 00:35:53,720
own position, and so to be sent
away on this, this long business

512
00:35:53,720 –> 00:35:57,720
that took in fact over nine
months was contrary to Jehovah’s

513
00:35:57,720 –> 00:35:59,840
interest and hence the fair
words.

514
00:36:00,440 –> 00:36:04,520
It’s the last thing that Jehovah
wanted to be sent away at this

515
00:36:04,520 –> 00:36:06,520
period of time.
He wanted to be right there

516
00:36:06,800 –> 00:36:09,760
where he could make his
influence felt.

517
00:36:13,360 –> 00:36:18,840
So he says in verse 3, Why does
the king delight in this matter?

518
00:36:19,320 –> 00:36:22,720
And it is an amazing thing that
the king was very strong in this

519
00:36:22,720 –> 00:36:26,400
matter.
That’s in the second Samuel 24

520
00:36:26,400 –> 00:36:29,400
and verse 3.
But why doth my Lord the king

521
00:36:30,120 –> 00:36:35,520
delight in this matter?
And that, my dear?

522
00:36:35,520 –> 00:36:38,600
And the sisters, there may have
been the very means by which God

523
00:36:38,600 –> 00:36:41,360
brought that provocation before
David.

524
00:36:42,200 –> 00:36:45,920
For if it hadn’t been Jove that
said those words, the king might

525
00:36:45,920 –> 00:36:49,400
have been persuaded.
But being Joab, the king saw it

526
00:36:49,720 –> 00:36:53,360
in another way.
Now in the subsequent verses,

527
00:36:53,360 –> 00:36:57,480
verses 5 to 9, we have the
record of the numbering, and it

528
00:36:57,480 –> 00:37:01,600
was quite a business.
It says they passed over Jordan

529
00:37:01,600 –> 00:37:05,000
and pitched in Arawa on the
right side of the city.

530
00:37:05,000 –> 00:37:07,040
So they’re on the eastern side
of Jordan.

531
00:37:07,040 –> 00:37:12,960
They really took in the whole 12
tribes that life in the midst of

532
00:37:12,960 –> 00:37:15,360
the river of Gad and toward
Jaisa.

533
00:37:15,360 –> 00:37:18,560
They came to Gilead, still on
the eastern side of the Jordan,

534
00:37:19,480 –> 00:37:23,080
and to the land of TA Tim
Hodchi, and they came to Danjan.

535
00:37:23,280 –> 00:37:25,600
They’re right up the north now,
Dan to Beersheba.

536
00:37:25,600 –> 00:37:29,320
So they’re right up the north
and about to Sidon, even beyond

537
00:37:29,360 –> 00:37:34,280
Dan to the coast, and came to
the stronghold of Tyre, up in

538
00:37:34,280 –> 00:37:36,680
the area of Phoenicia, Tyre and
Sidon.

539
00:37:37,600 –> 00:37:39,080
So they went to the very
extreme.

540
00:37:39,560 –> 00:37:42,360
They were going to count, as it
were, the last man, so it

541
00:37:42,360 –> 00:37:46,400
seemed, and to all the cities of
the Hivites and to the

542
00:37:46,400 –> 00:37:48,480
Canaanites.
And they went out to the South

543
00:37:48,480 –> 00:37:51,280
of Judah, right down through the
land on now the western side of

544
00:37:51,280 –> 00:37:54,840
the country, even to Beersheba,
damned to Beersheba.

545
00:37:55,640 –> 00:37:59,040
So when they had gone through
through all the land, they came

546
00:37:59,040 –> 00:38:04,920
to Jerusalem at the end of nine
months and 20 days, and Job gave

547
00:38:04,920 –> 00:38:07,280
up the sum of the number of the
people unto the king.

548
00:38:08,160 –> 00:38:14,120
And there were in Israel 800,000
valiant men, and in Judah 500

549
00:38:14,120 –> 00:38:20,080
thousand, 1,300,000 together.
Now it’s interesting to go back

550
00:38:20,080 –> 00:38:21,480
to Chronicles.
We’re doing a bit of this.

551
00:38:21,480 –> 00:38:29,040
So perhaps put a little marker
in Second Samuel 24, Come back

552
00:38:29,040 –> 00:38:34,240
to First of Chronicles again in
chapter 21, and there we find

553
00:38:34,240 –> 00:38:41,720
that jab really betrayed the
trust that was given to him in

554
00:38:41,720 –> 00:38:48,840
First Chronicles 21 and verse 6
it says but Levi and Benjamin

555
00:38:48,840 –> 00:38:54,160
counted he not among them, for
the King’s word was abominable

556
00:38:54,200 –> 00:38:58,040
to Joab.
That’s a bit of Gaul, isn’t it?

557
00:38:58,640 –> 00:39:01,320
Why didn’t he count Levi?
Why didn’t he count Benjamin?

558
00:39:01,320 –> 00:39:02,760
Why didn’t he do the job
properly?

559
00:39:03,840 –> 00:39:05,640
He just really did what he
wanted to do.

560
00:39:05,640 –> 00:39:08,080
And when he’d finished with
that, he came back home.

561
00:39:08,640 –> 00:39:11,680
I suppose it was a more
difficult area to go into,

562
00:39:11,680 –> 00:39:14,600
wasn’t it?
Benjamin, of course, was the

563
00:39:14,600 –> 00:39:17,600
tribe of the previous dynasty,
and so he would have been

564
00:39:17,600 –> 00:39:21,720
unlikely to want to go into the
area of Benjamin where the

565
00:39:21,720 –> 00:39:24,080
Kingdom of Judah was never all
that favoured.

566
00:39:24,320 –> 00:39:26,240
David’s line was never all that
favoured.

567
00:39:26,840 –> 00:39:29,240
So he he skipped Levi and he
skipped Benjamin.

568
00:39:30,000 –> 00:39:35,000
He counted them not.
We might also notice that

569
00:39:35,000 –> 00:39:38,120
there’s a tremendous increase on
the numbers that are given back

570
00:39:38,120 –> 00:39:43,200
in Numbers chapter one.
In Numbers chapter 1, the number

571
00:39:43,200 –> 00:39:47,960
was 603,550.
As we said, the number now is

572
00:39:47,960 –> 00:39:50,960
well over a million.
So there’s been a substantial

573
00:39:50,960 –> 00:39:56,320
increase.
And then it says in chapter

574
00:39:56,760 –> 00:39:59,480
Second Samuel chapter 24 and
verse 10.

575
00:40:00,080 –> 00:40:02,640
Something which is so indicative
of David.

576
00:40:05,760 –> 00:40:08,880
David made his mistakes but he
was a God fearing man.

577
00:40:10,040 –> 00:40:15,200
It says in verse 10 and David’s
heart smote him after he had

578
00:40:15,200 –> 00:40:20,160
numbered the people.
It keeps on saying that it’s all

579
00:40:20,160 –> 00:40:25,320
about what David did.
And David said unto Yahweh, I

580
00:40:25,320 –> 00:40:32,040
have sinned greatly in that I
have done, and now I beseech

581
00:40:32,080 –> 00:40:36,960
thee, O Lord, take away the
iniquity of thy servant, for I

582
00:40:36,960 –> 00:40:42,640
have done very foolishly.
There’s a sense of full

583
00:40:42,640 –> 00:40:46,800
responsibility by David.
Isn’t four times in that

584
00:40:46,800 –> 00:40:51,000
statement.
He says the fault lies with me

585
00:40:51,880 –> 00:40:54,240
and his heart smote him.
After that he had numbered the

586
00:40:54,240 –> 00:40:56,960
people.
You know, in a cold world that

587
00:40:56,960 –> 00:41:05,760
we live in that is in fact not
concerned is it with sin at all.

588
00:41:06,960 –> 00:41:12,280
You never see a person today
rarely see a person today that

589
00:41:12,280 –> 00:41:16,840
is concerned about their sin.
The most atrocious evils are

590
00:41:16,840 –> 00:41:20,200
read in our papers and in that
sense, my dear and says we

591
00:41:20,200 –> 00:41:24,640
become don’t we inured to the to
the wickedness of sin against

592
00:41:24,640 –> 00:41:27,880
God.
Well, he’s a king for 40 years

593
00:41:28,440 –> 00:41:31,000
tells this person to do what
tells that person to do whatever

594
00:41:31,000 –> 00:41:35,680
he likes a king.
But it says there in verse 10 of

595
00:41:35,680 –> 00:41:39,040
a sensitivity of his position
before God.

596
00:41:39,040 –> 00:41:40,640
That would be the envy of all of
us.

597
00:41:40,800 –> 00:41:43,480
David’s heart smote him after
that.

598
00:41:43,480 –> 00:41:47,160
He had numbered the people.
What a beautiful man he was the

599
00:41:47,160 –> 00:41:49,960
same kind of person wasn’t that
we found in the beginning a

600
00:41:49,960 –> 00:41:53,520
sensitivity of God, a love of
God and all that he stood for.

601
00:41:53,760 –> 00:41:59,280
I have sinned, I have done the
iniquity of thy servant, I have

602
00:41:59,280 –> 00:42:01,720
done very foolishly.
My dear Princess, That’s a

603
00:42:01,720 –> 00:42:06,800
wonderful thing as we live in a
in an age that is just just cold

604
00:42:06,800 –> 00:42:11,000
towards sin.
What’s sin churches, they don’t

605
00:42:11,120 –> 00:42:15,200
concern themselves about sin.
The factos or fornication or

606
00:42:15,200 –> 00:42:17,680
whatever it might be.
Let them all come in Sodomite’s

607
00:42:17,680 –> 00:42:20,000
the law.
What’s sin?

608
00:42:20,640 –> 00:42:25,640
But with David there is always
isn’t a beautiful sensitivity of

609
00:42:25,640 –> 00:42:30,600
his position before God.
His heart internally smote him

610
00:42:31,320 –> 00:42:32,720
after he had numbered the
people.

611
00:42:32,720 –> 00:42:35,840
What a lovely man he was, a God
fearing man.

612
00:42:36,760 –> 00:42:42,200
And so verse 11 when David was
up in the morning, the word of

613
00:42:42,200 –> 00:42:46,200
the Lord came unto the prophet
Gad David seer saying, Go and

614
00:42:46,200 –> 00:42:49,800
say unto David, Thus saith the
Lord, Ioffer thee 3 things,

615
00:42:51,400 –> 00:42:55,440
choose the one of them.
So Gad came to David and told

616
00:42:55,440 –> 00:42:58,120
him, and said unto him, Here’s
the three things.

617
00:42:58,720 –> 00:43:03,640
Shall 1 seven years of famine
come unto thee in thy land or

618
00:43:03,640 –> 00:43:06,400
two?
Wilt thou flee 3 months before

619
00:43:06,400 –> 00:43:12,000
thy enemies, or three?
And shall there be 3 days

620
00:43:12,000 –> 00:43:16,200
pestilence in thy land?
Now advise and see what answer I

621
00:43:16,200 –> 00:43:20,560
shall return to him that sent.
Now, my dear sister, see this,

622
00:43:20,560 –> 00:43:23,640
that it wasn’t David’s intent
originally to be involved in

623
00:43:23,640 –> 00:43:26,240
this.
God has involved him in it.

624
00:43:27,240 –> 00:43:30,920
His anger was not with David,
His anger was with Israel.

625
00:43:30,920 –> 00:43:33,680
It’s an amazing story.
It’s an incredibly interesting

626
00:43:33,680 –> 00:43:36,000
story.
It’s a unique story.

627
00:43:36,480 –> 00:43:40,040
I can’t think of anything else
quite like this where it

628
00:43:40,040 –> 00:43:43,040
specifically says that Yahweh
moved David to do this.

629
00:43:44,320 –> 00:43:47,200
David has become involved, but
my wording has accepted the sin,

630
00:43:47,200 –> 00:43:49,800
hasn’t he?
It’s all him in verse 10.

631
00:43:50,440 –> 00:43:51,960
He doesn’t worry about the sins
of the people.

632
00:43:52,040 –> 00:43:54,600
He could have gone on for a
whole 2 hours about all the sins

633
00:43:54,600 –> 00:43:56,280
of the people and about those
people in his palace.

634
00:43:56,280 –> 00:43:57,440
He had a sort of word about
that.

635
00:43:59,880 –> 00:44:03,160
Just like so often, it’s easy to
point out other people’s sins

636
00:44:03,560 –> 00:44:06,880
when you know you’ve got your
own and sort of you hide your

637
00:44:06,880 –> 00:44:09,480
own by enumerating other
people’s sins.

638
00:44:09,840 –> 00:44:11,560
But David was greater than that
wasn’t.

639
00:44:13,720 –> 00:44:18,800
And he says in verse 14, I am in
a great straight, let us fall

640
00:44:18,800 –> 00:44:24,240
now into the hand of Yahweh, for
his mercies are great, and not

641
00:44:24,480 –> 00:44:26,480
let me not fall into the hand of
man.

642
00:44:27,840 –> 00:44:30,760
So the Lord sent a pestilence
upon Israel from the morning

643
00:44:30,760 –> 00:44:35,080
even to the time appointed, and
70,000 people from Dan even to

644
00:44:35,080 –> 00:44:37,160
be a Sheba.
There’s a little take off I’m

645
00:44:37,160 –> 00:44:40,440
sure of verse 2 there, isn’t it
where the command was, go now

646
00:44:40,440 –> 00:44:43,840
through all the tribes of Israel
from Dan even to be a Sheba.

647
00:44:44,480 –> 00:44:49,120
And the Lord followed up and the
Angel went through that land and

648
00:44:49,120 –> 00:44:51,760
there fell from down even to be
a sheba, as though it was

649
00:44:51,760 –> 00:44:57,080
following the course of those
who took the census and 70,000

650
00:44:57,080 –> 00:45:01,800
men were taken.
What import the figures, if so,

651
00:45:02,400 –> 00:45:07,640
in such a brief time after it’s
wrong at least by the 70,000.

652
00:45:09,920 –> 00:45:14,360
So we have and David a man of
tremendous the conscience toward

653
00:45:14,360 –> 00:45:16,320
God.
He’s made his choice that he

654
00:45:16,320 –> 00:45:20,160
would fall into God’s hand and
this great tragedy has occurred.

655
00:45:21,680 –> 00:45:24,240
Now look at the the quality
again of of David.

656
00:45:25,440 –> 00:45:32,840
It says in verse 16.
And when the Angel stretched out

657
00:45:32,840 –> 00:45:36,680
his hand upon Jerusalem to
destroy it, the Lord repented

658
00:45:36,680 –> 00:45:39,720
him of the evil and said to the
Angel that destroyed the people.

659
00:45:40,520 –> 00:45:43,440
It is enough.
Stay now thine hand and the

660
00:45:43,440 –> 00:45:48,640
Angel of the Lord was by the
threshing place of all runner,

661
00:45:48,640 –> 00:45:55,160
the Jebusite.
So the Angel has come back,

662
00:45:55,160 –> 00:45:57,800
having done the complete circuit
of Israel, has come right back

663
00:45:57,800 –> 00:46:02,440
to Jerusalem itself.
And it is at that point that God

664
00:46:02,440 –> 00:46:05,920
stops the play.
And you might have thought that

665
00:46:05,920 –> 00:46:09,560
if it was against David that
God’s anger was wrought, and

666
00:46:09,560 –> 00:46:11,480
then in fact He would have
allowed that to proceed.

667
00:46:11,480 –> 00:46:14,880
But He stops it just in front of
Jerusalem.

668
00:46:16,400 –> 00:46:18,440
Now let’s come over to the
Chronicles record again.

669
00:46:18,440 –> 00:46:25,680
Now we’ll take it up from there.
I’m sure that God took out of

670
00:46:25,680 –> 00:46:28,960
Israel the ones that He wanted
to take.

671
00:46:31,160 –> 00:46:37,160
And in verse verse 15, we have
the record now a little more

672
00:46:37,160 –> 00:46:40,480
amplified here concerning the
subsequent events.

673
00:46:40,800 –> 00:46:43,600
God sent an Angel unto Jerusalem
to destroy it.

674
00:46:44,200 –> 00:46:48,760
That’s very emphatic.
And as he was destroying, Yahweh

675
00:46:48,760 –> 00:46:50,120
beheld.
Now do you notice the

676
00:46:50,120 –> 00:46:53,080
difference?
God sent an Angel, but Yahweh

677
00:46:53,080 –> 00:46:56,840
beheld and he repented him of
the evil and said to the Angel

678
00:46:56,840 –> 00:46:59,800
that destroyed it is enough.
Stay now thy hand.

679
00:47:00,320 –> 00:47:05,200
So 1 Angel with superior name
bearing qualities.

680
00:47:05,560 –> 00:47:10,280
It’s a sort of an echo isn’t it,
of Exodus 23 where God had one

681
00:47:10,280 –> 00:47:14,280
Angel that bore his name in a in
a greater sense than the other

682
00:47:14,280 –> 00:47:18,000
Angel, and he was sent in place
of the previous Angel that was

683
00:47:18,000 –> 00:47:20,480
promised.
And so here we have one Angel

684
00:47:20,480 –> 00:47:24,200
giving command to another.
And as he was destroying, Yahweh

685
00:47:24,200 –> 00:47:27,600
beheld, and he repented him with
the evil, and said to the Angel

686
00:47:27,600 –> 00:47:30,280
that destroyed it is enough,
stay Now thine hand.

687
00:47:31,920 –> 00:47:34,920
And the Angel of the Lord stood
by the threshing floor, born

688
00:47:34,920 –> 00:47:39,840
onan the Jebusite or runner in
second Samuel 24 is onan the

689
00:47:39,840 –> 00:47:44,280
Jebusite here in verse 15.
And David lifted up his eyes and

690
00:47:44,280 –> 00:47:46,640
saw the Angel of the Lord stand
between the earth and the

691
00:47:46,640 –> 00:47:50,720
heaven, having a drawn sword in
his hand, stretched out over

692
00:47:50,720 –> 00:47:53,880
Jerusalem.
So the threat was still there.

693
00:47:54,600 –> 00:47:57,000
It was stayed, but the threat
was there.

694
00:47:59,080 –> 00:48:01,400
Then David and the elders of
Israel, who were clothed in

695
00:48:01,400 –> 00:48:05,720
sackcloth fell upon their faces.
And here’s the greatness of this

696
00:48:05,720 –> 00:48:11,600
amazing man.
David said unto God, Is it not I

697
00:48:11,600 –> 00:48:13,480
that commanded the people to be
numbered?

698
00:48:14,760 –> 00:48:18,240
Even I’d is that have sinned and
done evil indeed?

699
00:48:19,680 –> 00:48:23,520
But As for these sheep, what
have they done?

700
00:48:25,560 –> 00:48:30,080
Let thine hand, I pray thee, O
Lord, my God, be on me and on my

701
00:48:30,080 –> 00:48:33,880
father’s house, but not on thy
people, that they should be

702
00:48:33,880 –> 00:48:36,560
plagued.
Now an actual fact, my dear.

703
00:48:36,560 –> 00:48:41,680
And sisters, it was all the
other way around, wasn’t it?

704
00:48:41,680 –> 00:48:46,440
Was the people’s sins that God
was moved by, Not David’s.

705
00:48:46,640 –> 00:48:50,560
But David sees it entirely
around the other way, doesn’t Is

706
00:48:50,560 –> 00:48:53,560
it not I that commanded?
The sin is mine.

707
00:48:53,920 –> 00:48:56,680
And the man who first looked
after sheep in the wilderness

708
00:48:57,000 –> 00:48:59,840
and treated Israel in those
early days as though they were

709
00:48:59,840 –> 00:49:02,880
sheep and would put his life on
the line for them, is the same

710
00:49:02,880 –> 00:49:06,640
man here who in the latter part
of his life says, they are the

711
00:49:06,640 –> 00:49:08,520
sheep.
I’m the shepherd that was

712
00:49:08,520 –> 00:49:11,520
responsible for them.
What have these sheep done?

713
00:49:11,640 –> 00:49:14,880
And yet that palace was full of
intrigue, and the streets of the

714
00:49:14,880 –> 00:49:18,560
city were full of gossip about
succession and about the sins of

715
00:49:18,560 –> 00:49:21,040
David.
And David wipes over all of that

716
00:49:21,040 –> 00:49:23,360
and says, is it not I that have
sinned?

717
00:49:23,360 –> 00:49:27,720
What an amazing man that can
think first of his own failures.

718
00:49:28,240 –> 00:49:30,360
What a tremendous lesson that is
for all of us.