Sing Talk—Mike Sikora
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So it's not every time you get to be up here. And I was a little apprehensive when I received a call that said, hey, would you have something for us on your heart to speak about? And that sounds a little weird.
And you know, I had to pray about it because.
I had a conversation recently with someone and.
They said you talk a lot, you should listen more. And so I asked my brother Matt, I'm sure most of you know, And before I finished asking him, he said, yeah, you talk a lot.
Asked some other people I know fairly well and they, they were a little less unsure, but they said, yeah, you talk a lot. And so that makes it important for me to make sure that it's not me speaking up here, but it's the Lord Jesus, his words, because there are many states of souls in this room tonight.
And you know, if you look around here in this room, you didn't happenstancely sit next to the person. More than likely if you look to your right or your left, you know there's someone next to you that really wants to see you go on for the Lord. They want to see you have a filled life, an appreciation and a joy in the Lord. And that is tremendous. And what that person did for me was kind of focused me and showed me that it's important to be reminded that sometimes we fail.
You know, it's not all the time that we do that. We're a reflection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And when we are, it's wonderful When someone comes up to you and says, I see the Lord Jesus in you. That is the best compliment that someone can give to you. But there are times when someone comes up to you and says, you know what? It's a little something you got to work on. And I didn't want to focus on what was told to me, but what that person did. You know, you have a huge responsibility as Christians and as friends of one another.
You have the responsibility to help and encourage and build up and that is an important responsibility that you need to take seriously. Because I can be up here and I'm different age than you and I may not understand exactly what you're going through, but the person next to you probably does. They understand you much better than I do and they can be an encouragement to you that I may not be able to be. And so that's important for each one here. So I really respected that person for telling me so that there are things that I can work on in my life.
Let's just look to the Lord for His help.
Our loving God and Father.
How it's so good now. It's given this weekend for us to be here, to enjoy Thy loving kindness and Thy goodness, to be under the sound of Thy word, to understand what Thou hast prepared for us in a coming day. For us to realize that Thou has chosen us individually for Thy Son to be His bride. How wonderful it is for us to enter into these things, to recognize that Thou art over all of these things, and that Thou art desirous that we would have a full appreciation.
Of who He is and what He has done for us, each individually and collectively. So we just look to Thee for this time. Ask that there will be a blessing that there would be that which is from Thee for each one in this room. That they would go away, build up and encourage with a desire renewed strength to go on for the we ask these things. Lord Jesus and thy worthy and precious name, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
There's a passage that I very much enjoy and we're going to go over it a little bit tonight.
But I thought it was interesting. Earlier today a brother mentioned David's mighty men. Does anyone here remember where that passage is found? David's mighty meant mighty men.
Second Samuel 23, you win. If I had a prize, I would give it to you.
Second Samuel 23, but I'm going to go for the chapter after that. So if you have a Bible and would like to turn Second Samuel 2324, excuse me.
This passage is important for a number of reasons to me, but one main reason I recently finished a book on David. Something that I've always appreciated about David is the title that was given to him or what was said of him, the man after God's own heart. And you know, we have so much regarding David's life. And when you look at his life, you say, how in the world is this a man after God, God's own heart? Because you look at all of the failures.
And you wonder how in the world that it's possible to have so many failures. And we're not even talking simple failures. He murdered someone. How in the world could he receive that title, The man after God's own heart? And, you know, I was having a conversation with someone within the last year, and we were talking about the book that I was reading. And he told me. He said, you know, David was very quick when he realized what he had done to get before the Lord and to confess it. You know, that is such a truth in our lives.
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As soon as we realize what we've done, where we've taken a step off the pathway to recognize that we need to get back on the path, that we need to confess it. Everyone knows the verse in First John. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just. And that really stuck with me because David was a man after God's own heart. Because when he was made aware of the sin that he had done, his desire was to be found back in the presence of the Lord to confess it and to enjoy that closeness, that proximity, that love and joy.
That he had.
Chapter 24, I'm not going to read it because there's a lot of words, a lot of names that I would probably mispronounce, but we're going to go through it just in a few sections here.
It starts out in the first verse that the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and as a result of that he moved David against them to say go number Israel and Judah.
Sometimes things in the Bible are not super clear because maybe we don't use them in the same context. Simply said, we're going to do a census, we're going to go out and we're going to count. And in this case, I believe it was just for the, the men. They wanted to know how many soldiers they had available. You know, how strong are we? What can we do with our army? You know, where are we at? And so the, the David.
He goes to number the people. He says, you know, this is a good idea. Let's let's number the people. And that's really pride right there. There was a measure of pride in that. So he starts to get the people counted. But before that, and this is what we were talking about a little bit earlier, Joab, the captain of his host, he comes to him.
But you know what? Verse 10. David's heart smote him after that. He had numbered the people.
Loved ones.
Very often we sin.
And we don't realize it right away.
In this case, it took almost 10 months before David realized what he had done.
But as we had mentioned.
David desired that closeness with the Lord.
And very quickly he says I have sinned greatly and that I have done in verse 10, middle of the verse.
And now I beseech thee, O Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant, for I have done very foolishly.
My desire for everyone in this room is there's one take away.
If you sin.
Whether you realize it immediately or it takes a day, a week, a month, or a year, that the first thing you will do is go to the Lord and confess it.
That that communion would not be broken in this case for a long time.
Thankfully, he didn't realize his sin until that time later on.
And yet there were those around him. You know, I so appreciated Joab because Joab was his friend. Just like I mentioned, someone sitting next to you here, they have a care for you. And he told him, he said, do you really need to do this? David didn't see it. His friend saw it, but he did it anyway. And yet David, as time progressed.
No doubt that was the Lord bringing it to his conscience, to bear on his conscience that what he had done was wrong.
But I've so appreciated that.
He's very clear I have sinned greatly in what I have done. And what was his desire? His desire? The middle of verse 10. Oh Lord, take away the iniquity of thy servant, for I have done very foolishly.
He realized that there was going to be a penalty. What was his desire? His desire that he could move forward? He didn't want to wallow in it and say, oh, well, you know someone. Joab should have told me. He should have just forced me not to number the people. No, he recognized that the sin was his and his alone.
This third thing, verse 12.
Go and sand to David. This is God, David sear, which would have just been the one that was between him and you know him and God that would have helped him and and gave him instruction and and care.
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Verse 12 Go and say unto David, Thus saith the Lord, Ioffer thee three things, choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
Verse 13 So God came to David, and told him, said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee and thy land, or wilt thou flee 3 months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee, or that there be three days pestilence in thy land?
Now advise and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
In our lives after we sin.
Very often.
There is a penalty that has to be paid.
Sometimes it's.
Can I say an acceptable penalty?
Maybe no one knows and it's just between US and the Lord.
Sometimes it's a bigger penalty. Maybe our family knows about it.
Sometimes it's a huge penalty and everybody knows about it. The lad has perished that the son has died.
But he says.
Who is to know if the Lord would be gracious?
In this case, it affected 70,000 men.
70,000 men who probably had families. Multiply that by four. It affected the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.
Simply because.
A bit of pride.
Always remember when you have a choice, because sin is a choice.
That no man or woman here, no boy or girl.
Is separate from anyone else.
Everything that we think and do has an impact on the ones that we love, the assemblies that we go to, the families that we're in.
The more that you think that you can do and get away with it, the larger the toll is going to be.
To build an altar.
And to sacrifice to his God.
He wanted to show the Lord that he recognized the sin that he had committed, and because of his sin, it had caused a terrible circumstance in the land. So many people lost their lives.
The king says.
I understand.
And I want to give it to you. I'll give you the land. I have ox in here. They're yours.
And I believe truly right here.
This is a strict word of repentance from David.
Verse 24, he says.
Nay.
You know we sin.
Probably more frequently than we realize.
But when the Lord comes to bear upon us and shows us that we have sinned, and we know that we need to confess it.
Afterwards, the Lord's desire is for us.
To be back in his presence and to enjoy that relationship.
And here it was almost as if the king came to him and said, you know what, let me just give it to you.
And what would that have meant to David? Didn't cost him anything. All these men had lost their lives because of what he had done. And here the king is just going to give him the land and give him the oxen. He doesn't have to do anything.
You know, I really think at that moment it went through his mind.
Now that's not going to work.
Nay.
There had to be a price.
He had to pay a penalty himself. He didn't die.
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Was his men died, but he recognized that there was a price that he had to pay.
For what he had done.
He said, But I will surely buy it of thee at a price neither will Ioffer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God.
Of that which cost me nothing.
You know, if we sin, perhaps we share it with someone.
We recognize our failure and they brush it off and say it's not a big deal, don't worry about it.
It's not being faithful.
And I don't want to say that that was the King's intention, but I feel as if David took it.
Has another test of the Lord.
And he recognized.
That for that restoration to be complete, it required a penalty.
And it says the end of verse 24. So David brought the threshing floor, bought the threshing threshing floor and the oxen for 50 shekels of silver.
And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt sacrifices and peace offerings.
So the Lord was entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed in Israel.
Practically in our lives.
Whether at the Lords table or not.
And I'm not going to be that person that says if you're not, you should be.
But if you're not, you should be.
It's one of the requests that he asks you intimately and personally.
You should respond to it if you have any appreciation for him.
Don't worry about everything else.
If I've done things wrong, have the desire do it.
After David paid that penalty.
That communion was restored.
The effect of the sin that he had caused.
Was state.
When we sin.
There is a distance that comes in between us.
Perhaps the ones we love.
Our family, our friends, those in the assembly.
It's a distance that you may be right next to the person and they don't even recognize the distance that's between the two of you.
Recently.
I got some very.
Disappointing news.
And it was disappointing because of what had been done.
But it was disappointing because I realized.
That had I been closer to that person.
Maybe I could have been more of a help.
You know, I called my mom.
Because that's where we get all our.
Where we get the best?
Recommendations.
The ones who have the most care for us. Sorry dads, it's the moms.
And she gave me a verse and.
How many you? I'm going to close with that.
It's in.
A Psalm that.
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I so much appreciate.
Psalm 27.
And she said you know all you can do.
Is pray about it.
All you can do is pray about it.
She said. I remember when your grandfather.
Talked on a verse and I'm going to share it with you.
Verse 13.
I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord.
In the land of the living.
In our lives.
We're going to go through a lot. It doesn't matter if you're one of the younger ones, maybe on the front row, or if you're one of the older ones sitting around the perimeter who has a lot more experience with these things.
Like David.
Either you're going to be the one that sends.
Or someone around you is going to sin.
And it's like Minesweeper, if anyone remembers that. You click a button and you see a bunch of boxes open up.
One little spot.
But it has devastating effects all around it.
We should pray for grace that we aren't the one in that place.
And yet we have a responsibility.
As ones who love the Lord Jesus Christ and love the person sitting next to us on either side or both.
To have a relationship that is strong enough and deep enough.
To be able to help one another before we get to that place.
Of sin.
I won't go as far to say as I was discouraged.
But this verse was important to me because.
It reminded me.
That in our own strength we would faint under the weight of all of these things.
But our focus should not be on the sin.
Or the Sinner, or the effects of it.
But on the goodness and the graciousness and the joy that we can have in the Lord.
Our responsibility as brothers and sisters in Christ is not to say I can't believe what that person did, it's to recognize that what was done there is in my heart and it's in your heart. And if the Lord was not gracious, we would all be doing the exact same thing.
Yeah.
It also mentions in there believed.
Hebrews, as we know, says faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
We can take these things as a theory.
And say they're great for someone else.
They're great for the person next to me.
Or we can believe what God's Word says, like was mentioned this weekend, Paul in Acts 28.
I believe God.
Do we believe God that what He says is the best way? Is the only way for us to stay together to have enjoyment with Him?
There is so much.
In these last days.
Good food.
All of this was put on.
With the simple desire that each one here would go on for the Lord.
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And I would like to share in that desire.
Let's commend ourselves.
A loving God and Father, we own how weak we are.
So thankful that thou has given.
So much about my beloved servant David.
For us to read, to see ourselves in it.
Lord Jesus, when we think how thou hast.
Said of him, a man after God's own heart.
We covet that we would have a closeness with the.
That when there are failures that come in in our lives that we would desire, as he would say.
His desire for thee to be close to him, for there not to be any distance.
Or Jesus for each one in this room.
My desire, as long as thou just leave us here.
Is that they would go on for thy honor and glory.
That they would keep short accounts with the that there might be power in their lives.
Enjoy that there might be a benefit to those that are around them.
That Lord Jesus, and that coming day when thou wilt display us as thy bride, and all look on in wonder.
Has those jewels.
That we will give thee the glory that is due to the.
We thank Thee so much, Lord Jesus, for what Thou hast brought us into, the knowledge that Thou hast given of Thy love and care and Thy dealings with us. We commit the balance of this day to Thee, the balance of this week to Thee. We ask Thee for those things that will transpire afterwards, for any activities for safety.
For the food, Lord Jesus, we are so thankful that thou art so merciful to us.
And we desire most of all.
That by faith we would see thy goodness and loving kindness, and that it would give us the energy through that new life to go on and be profitable servants for Thee while Thou dost leave us here. These things we ask, and that worthy that precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Amen.