Conflict With God Part 1

It's never okay to be angry with God. Whether it is or not. Many of us around ourselves and with the way he runs his affair.

The race of life is tough when we're angry with God. It's even tougher today. The story of David and his anger with God from the Moody Church in Chicago this morning to with Dr. Erwin looks her teaching helps us make it across the finish line.

Master loser will God forgive us when we get angry with him all day.

Not only that, but I'm reminded that the young woman said to me, I very God, but I'd never tell.

Well of course I pointed out to her that if you're angry with God.

God already knows it. You might as well tell him. As a matter of fact, there is healing in telling him that you are angry with him. When you read the Psalms you discover that David often poured out his heart to God, where are you when I need you. Are you always going to be turning your back on me on and on. He goes, but at the end of the song God poured grace into David's heart.

I've often thought that there Christians who have to forgive God not because God actually needs our forgiveness. I understand that but we have to lay down any bitterness and anger and resentment that we have toward him, because if not, we won't pray we won't trust we will just be angry.

Blessed are those who can accept whatever God gives them without anger. Well today I want to emphasize that the ministry of running to win exists because of people just like you were so thankful for our partners all throughout the country were committed to this ministry who pray for us and many are what we call endurance partners. These are people who give regularly and, of course, they pray for us.

Of course, the amount that you give is entirely your decision. Here's what you do to find out more information. You go to RTW offer.com and when you're there, click on the endurance partner button that's RTW offer.com. Click on the endurance partner button or call us at 1-888-218-9337 of course I'll be giving you this contact info at the end of this message once again. But for now let us listen and hear David's heart's predicament and God's grace will my friends. I think it is true that there are times when we become angry with God.

I remember a man whose wife died in childbirth.

He said God isn't worth a plug coal to me. Where was he when I needed him woman who was abused by her parents said God wasn't there when I needed him.

Why should I think that he would hear now for me at this point in my life and someone else that is very accurately and perhaps integrate with a great deal of bitterness. If God exists, he must be the devil is he friends when we are angry at circumstances we are usually angry at God because we know that behind those circumstances, there is God always got the whole world in his hands, as we sometimes sing and even decisions that we make that we are responsible for. We can become angry and say well why did he let me make those decisions. He could've stopped may and of course he could've got lots of means at his disposal. David, the king also became angry with God. Now you know this is a series of messages on the life of David, and I feel so badly that we are skipping so much material in his life. Actually 20 messages would be about right were doing it in 10. This is message number six, but I do invite you to take your Bibles and turn to second Samuel chapter 6, second Samuel chapter 6 where David becomes angry with God and in order to understand why I need to paint the picture in the background. David of course it was raining in Heber on for 7 1/2 years.

This is now long after his battle with Saul who died on Mount Gilboa. David is ruling in Heber on and that he decides to capture the city of Jerusalem, which was a Jebusite stronghold, but David knew that Jerusalem is the place that God had chosen where he would put his name. It was there that the tabernacle was to be, and later the temple would be built there and so what David wants to do is to conquer the city from the Jebusites, and the story is actually in second Samuel chapter 5 says in verse six. Now the king and his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land and they said to David, you shall not come here, but the blind and the lame shall turn you away thinking David cannot enter here. The Jebusites were so confident that they ridiculed David and his men. And the reason is because their city was well fortified. It was on a hill and they had a water system that enabled them to bring water into the city without going outside the city wall and so David said to one of his men.

Whoever it is that can capture the Jebusites. He will be my main Villa Terry Mann.

He will be first in the military. The Bible tells us that Joe was the one who conquered the Jebusites, apparently going up through the water shaft, possibly with a whole host of soldiers behind them, overcoming all of the resistance that the Jebusites might've had and capturing the city and taking it and it says in verse seven. Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold of Zion which is the city of David, that word Zion is a poetic word or name for the city of Jerusalem. So David makes Jerusalem is capital but it is time now to bring the ark to Jerusalem. The archer member was a box perhaps a 4 feet long and about 2 1/2 feet high into half feet wide and that it was brought into the land under the time of Joshua and it was there in Shiloh.

The problem was that the Israelites is sinned against God. 30 years earlier. Before this event and they decided to take the ark into battle was contrary to what God wanted because that ark and its furniture and all the furnishings of the tabernacle should've always stayed together but they were going to use it as a good luck charm and so they took it into battle and was captured by the Philistines and the Philistines had and that the Philistine gods did not like the ark story is actually in first annual chapters 3 and four and perhaps you read it, we will take time to do that. But whenever they took the ark of God, and they set it aside. One of the Philistine gods.

He would go kerplunk in the morning, he'd be on his face so the Philistine said we have to get the ark back to Israel. They put on a cart and they sent it back to the Israelites and now it wandered around in various homes for a while and finally, David decided to bring it to Jerusalem and that now introduces chapter 6, verse one.

Now David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel. 30,000 were talking about him going about 9 miles north of the city of Jerusalem and David Rosen went with all the people who were with him to bail Judah. That's another way to say here, Jack serum to bring up from there.

The ark of God, which is called by the name the very name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned above the chariot them and they place the ark of God on the new cards that they might bring it from the house of a dinner dad which was on a hill and whose and a oldest son of a been a dad were leading the new cards so they brought it with the ark of God from the house of the been a dad which was on the hill and AO was walking ahead of the art. Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all kinds of instruments made of firewood and liars and harps and Tamarine's and castanet symbol. Do you see the parade. 30,000 people and David believe that this was the will of God number one God had said, I have chosen the city of Jerusalem is the place where I will put my name so the ark was to be in Jerusalem. Secondly he believed it was God's will because this was a worship experience. They were honoring God. The intention was to bring honor to his name, so they put it on a cart. Some oxen were pulling it. Everybody was rejoicing and dancing along as they were moving the ark of God to Jerusalem, but we come to that little word but in verse six and how that changes the nature of the parade, but when they came to the threshing floor of Neka on loser reached out toward the ark of God and laid hold of it for the oxen nearly upset.

It empty anger of the Lord burned against side and got stuck in down there for his irreverence and he died beside the ark of God while and of parade.

David says if that's the way God's going to act I can get angry till verse eight, and David became angry because of the Lord's outburst against Rosa and that place is called a Reyes who is the word Perez means an out break the outbreak of loser.

To this day. So David was afraid of the Lord that day and he said how can the ark of the Lord come to me and David was unwilling to move the ark of the Lord into the city of David, but David took it aside to the hosts of the old bed Edom to get Eitan David said it can stay there if that's the way God is not going to touch.

Well it was a good idea if he said I not touch it. That's exactly what it was at that but David said I'm not gonna bring it to the city.

Wow, what an experience that was. As of the celebration ends on the 30,000 people along with David go back to Jerusalem. No doubt they walk back in silence and in anger because of what happened. So much for the ark of God. Everything angry with God ever said as one woman did that because God wasn't doing what she thought he should be doing God OCR around town. If this is the way you run your universe. If that's the way you are that you allow that child to die and you allow this to happen. You're such a meanie. I don't want to have anything to do with you when the midst of this experience.

David had to learn two truths that will help us when were tempted to be angry with God. First of all David had to learn who God is who God is.

God is holy and because God is holy, he expects that people will obey him. Let me ask you a question. Was God Justin overreacting was God. Just having a bad day and it caught him at a bad time and he just had an outburst as the text seems to imply an he should keep his anger under control little girl in Sunday school, heard about this and said you know God is very mean when my mother's China was falling onto the floor and I caught it. She doubled my salary whose is trying to catch God's China is at work and got the strike sin and he is dead bone it's gone now. God was not overreacting.

You got sent back in the book of numbers.

He says in Numbers chapter 4 verse five when the camp sets out Aaron and his sons shall go in and they shall take down the bail of the screen and cover the ark of the testimony with he goes on to say in verse 15 and Aaron and his sons when they have finished covering all the holy objects in all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out after the sons of Cora shall come to carry them so that they may not touch the holy objects and die and loser was a co-website. One of the sons of Aaron, knew how this ark should be carried in all dad goddesses two things number one you should not look at the ark once it has been built, it would always be covered by the veil and they were able to set up the tabernacle in such a way that they would not really have to look at the ark, and when they were taking the tabernacle down that veil always covered the ark and in this way, strictly speaking, if done carefully. No human I had to see it. But God also said that when you carry it you don't touch it directly. You have polls and you have rings and then priests are to carry it. What in the world are the Israelites doing putting it on in oxcart where did they get that idea from the Philistines. That's the way in which they carry the ark and so they took the latest technology in the latest idea of the Philistines and they said well you know me to we can do it the same way that loser puts out his hand to steady the ark and God smites him dad, let me ask you very modern question contemporary question, didn't he mean well I mean you had good intentions, didn't he want you to know today that when ever we consciously disobey God. We can never do that with good intentions can never have wrapped inside of it.

A good intention loser should have known the priests knew, and they violated the word of God because they thought it was a technicality goddesses. It's a big technicality. You say well what's going on here in the text. Actually, it was not an act of heroism was an act of arrogance loser thought that his hand was a less polluted than the earth, it would've been better for the ark of God to fall onto the rock smashed then for a human hand to touch it, because a human hand is sinful.

It is polluted and God said don't touch it last you die and he touched it and he died yet we can struggle with the text we can say well while what kind of a God. Is this that's one approach, but I don't have a great problem with the text in terms of whose being struck down. I have a bigger problem than that with the text. The question is why am I still living in. The question is, how come you're still living that's the question you know that God is sovereign God said to Job one time.

Is it door. Rather, he said to Satan, let's try Job and that Job was tried and there attends fresh graves along the side of a hill.

Because Job's 10 children are smitten down in a windstorm brought by the devil under God's strict supervision and guidance and a Job's wife comes and says, shall we not curse God and die, and Job said, shall we not receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall we not also receive adversity. If God is God, can he make up the rules and can he expect us to obey those rules and cannot God do in our lives that which he wills with those who are his own. Can't God do that. David had to relearn who God is, he really did related let me ask you a personal question. You know sometimes when were talking. We say to one another. Now I want to ask you a question but don't take this personally on that ask you a question that I want you to take personally today take it personally if you touch the ark of God recently, but we can certainly do that when communion is observed here at the Moody church and there may be those who frivolously participate as if to say, well you know it's act.

The elements are not sanctified, they are not divine they are not trance formed into anything else. Well you better watch it because the Bible says that you'd better do it in a worthy manner.

But you know I think we can also touch the ark of God. In other ways we can touch the ark of God when we trivialize sin when we think to ourselves what you know, that's not too big an infraction, and in our day, when the grace of God eclipses the judgment and the and the righteousness of God. It is very easy for us to take God for granted and to take forgiveness for granted, and to use.

Forgiveness is a rubber band that encompasses all we want to do because actually God is so merciful and so kind and he is also just. And he's also holy. I think we can touch the ark of God.

When we trivialize sin.

Yes, we can also good when we catch this. When we accept credit for something that God does through cost and were our sense of self worth is so closely wrapped to our achievements and we think it is the strength of our own right hand that has begotten us. Our success I think God agreed with that statement. Maybe there ought to be assigned in church that says beware of God. Beware of God, and I want to warn all of us, I warned myself because we're living in a day of the trivialization of God. We are living in a dangerous illusion with unmanageable deity. A very manageable and as a result of that we want to take charge of God. We want to say that God fits what I think God really is. I have frequently contemplated the verse of Scripture are God is a consuming fire.

Often times we think too likely God, and we don't realize that there is a part of him. We do not fully understand. We see through a glass darkly, but we do see, but how important it is for us to never trivialize the Almighty let me ask you this question. Are you blessed as a result of the ministry of running to win. If you are it's because other people just like you have invested in this ministry, running to win exists to help you all the way to the finish line, giving glory to Jesus, leading people to Christ building people up in the faith I have in my hands a letter from someone who says I've lived with anxiety for many years when I started to listen to running to win a few years ago, I found it really helped me and then the letter goes on from there about staying close to Christ throwing anxieties upon his shoulders, taking them from your shoulders and giving them to Christ. I want to thank the many of you who support this ministry. Would you like to do so consistently. Would you consider becoming an endurance partner, someone who stands with us regularly with their prayers and their gifts. Of course, the amount that you give is entirely your decision. Here's what you do to get more info.

You go to RTW offer.com. As you already guess RTW offers all one word RTW offer.com when you're there, click on the endurance partner button or you can call us at 1-888-218-9337. What excites me is this radio goes where we can go. It goes into homes and offices and businesses and countries around the world and only eternity is going to reveal all of the benefits that come from investment in Christian ministries, consider becoming an endurance partner today.

I know you to ask Pastor lutes or a question about the Bible or the Christian life. Understanding a single Bible verse can be difficult if you don't factor in the context in which it occurs. This may be the case for Stephen who asks. I read in Micah 454 all the people will walk each in the name of his God. We will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever. Pastor lutes, or if anything the Old Testament is more adamant than the new about how God will not tolerate any idols or false gods and how he will not share his glory with another. How should this passage be interpreted well.

I simply want to say that it is not that difficult to interpret. If you look at that little word but for all people will walk each in the name of his God, but we will walk in the name of the Lord. So what the prophet is really saying is this, no matter what gods the Babylonians may walk with. No matter what gods the Assyrians may walk with. We will walk with the Lord our God.

So if you look at it from that standpoint.

God is certainly not approving these other gods. The prophet is simply saying no matter what others do. This is what we are going to do so looked at in that context, I think the verse makes perfect sense. Thank you Steven and thank you Dr. lutes are if you'd like to hear your question answered to our website@rtwoffer.com and click on ask Pastor lutes or or call us at 1-888-218-9337 that's 188 names, 218-9337 you can write to us running to win 1635 N. LaSalle Boulevard Chicago, IL 60614 Erwin lutes or with part one of conflict with God. The six message in a series on growing through conflict. A study in the life of King David.

Next time more about dealing with anger we have toward God. This is Dave McAllister running to win is sponsored by the Moody Church