And we are planning to record the video today, and then we'll post that. So I hope that that will still be available. Probably not in exactly the same format, but for those who want to watch later, that link should be posted at our church Facebook page. And so again, we're just kind of figuring some things out here. And again, a new platform today, but I hope this will be helpful for us. So let's go ahead and get started with some announcements. I'm going to, so I'm going to go ahead and mute people. You can unmute if you need to, but otherwise we'll just plan to stay muted over the time. Now I need to figure out how to do that. Here we go. Okay, so everybody should be muted now. You're able to unmute yourself, But it should be muted now. So if there are any announcements, I'll call for those in just a minute. Feel free to unmute yourself. But six things I wanted to mention just by way of announcement today. First of all, reminder, as other weeks before at 6.30, we will be joining together to view the poll trip. Changing Hearts, Changing Lives video tonight. And contact Jonathan Parnell if you're interested in getting on the email list for that. The video's about 20, 25 minutes long and then a time of discussion after that. Also, my weekly announcement, we are continuing to gather 2 p.m. on weekdays on this same Zoom account for a time of prayer that's been particularly rich and blessed here in the last few weeks and would very much welcome you to that. We've found there's a lot to pray for both across the congregation but also as we pray for our city and our state and various missions things as well. And then a reminder, tomorrow evening, Monday at 6 p.m., there is a denomination-wide prayer meeting that will be going on as well. That information is there. The session did meet this past week, and I think communicated to folks online, but did want to just say in our hearing that we tried to think through, and I think we did a good job of coming to a decision as a session. It was a unanimous decision that we will continue to meet via social media through the month of May. Again, we may have some people, a few people gathering together here at the church. Today is kind of a first trial run at that. But whatever we do, we're going to continue to figure out the meeting time. Probably that will be in early June, we hope. We don't know that. But in the meantime, we'll continue to live cast services each week. Also, do be in prayer. Charles and Ruggiero were just commenting that they're rather sore. You may have heard that Charles and Ruggiero sold their house recently and are going to be moving right over here, not far from the church on Huntoon Road, just behind the Sam's Club Walmart. area there behind the the overlook apartments. So they're gonna be moving and I know there's some help. It sounds like quite a bit of help is already offered. Just coordinate with the Deacons if you're interested or available to help them move this Saturday at 9 a.m. Also then, just a reminder, we don't have it, haven't had it as a regular part of our service, but do want to remind folks that they can be giving to the work of the church and the work of the kingdom. That information is there. And then finally, an addition here, the graduate committee is wanting to remind us to encourage folks and send cards to the following graduates. We're coming up on graduation fairly quickly now. Jacob Parnell, Emily Kreis, Jessica Keller, Allison Reed, and Brandon Parnell. This has certainly been an unusual school year. Um, but, uh, we want to, uh, encourage, uh, these graduates to finish strong, to be faithful to the end. And, uh, uh, and certainly it's been an unusual year and probably a difficult year in some ways for graduates. Uh, but do want to encourage the congregation to be remembering them and, uh, supporting them, uh, as they come to graduation. All right. I think those are, uh, the announcements I have. I'm looking here, um, Just to see, are there any other announcements? Feel free to unmute yourself if you have other announcements you'd like to make today. All right, well, let's go ahead then and turn our hearts to the worship of God. If you would take your psalters, I'm gonna change the Psalm here this morning, but would ask you to turn with me to Psalm 32, selection A. Oh, wait a minute. I'm sorry. I'll change it again. Psalm 32, selection C. We're gonna be talking about David's guilt today, but the Bible always talks about guilt in the context of forgiveness. And I want you to note that this Psalm begins with the good news. What blessedness belongs to him who has been forgiven. Friends, this is us through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. For whom transgressions have been cleared and covered is his sin, our sins, are covered by the blood of Christ. Blessed is the one for whom the Lord counts no iniquity. Remember, Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness, and Abraham became God's friend, and in whose spirit is no taint of insincerity. It is this word insincerity here, or the opposite would be sincerity, is linking to our faith, to our trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ. But then the psalmist goes back, and then the psalmist talks about the difficulties and the trials that came. And you'll see those as we then sing this psalm. as we sort of reverse engineer, if you will, or go back to what had happened to the psalmist. And this is King David who's writing this psalm. And I wonder if you may have been thinking about the event you'll be studying today surrounding the census there in Israel. So let's go ahead and we'll sing Psalm 32C. Again, we're not gonna sing on this end, but we will go ahead and play the recorded version of this. I hope there's not a commercial. If there is, just bear with me. I'll mute it for a second, but we'll go ahead and sing Psalm 32 selection C. Psalm 32C, let's sing together. What blessedness belongs to him who has forgiven vain, for whom transgressions have been cleared and covered? for whom the Lord counseled iniquity, and in whose spirit is a tinge of insincerity, I languish silently. My sin I then confess to you, not hiding guilty, Then you released me from my sin and took its guilt away. All right. And then I'm going to pause it. All right, let's go to the Lord this morning together in prayer. Father in heaven, we do draw near to you today. We thank you that you promise that you will come near to your people. We thank you, Lord, that in worship we're able to span the chasm between heaven and earth, that, Lord, we're able to come into your glorious throne room and we're able to worship and praise your holy name. We thank you, Lord, that you touch our hearts, that you change us and that you make us more and more like Christ. We ask, Lord, that you would bless us as we, Lord, once again, in a similar situation, though a different context here today on a different platform. Lord, we're learning, we're growing together, but we thank you that, Lord, we can seek your face. We thank you, Lord, that you have come into this world, that you have entered into space and into time, that, Lord, you, the Creator, have come near to us as the Messiah, and, Lord, that you lead us to the Father. O Christ, we pray that you would lead us to the Father today, that you would help us to remember that we are adopted as your sons and your daughters, that we are part of the family of God. And Lord, we ask that as we study your word and think together today, that you would guide us and direct us. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. All right, well, let's go ahead and then take our Bibles today, and we're going to be reading an interesting passage from 2 Corinthians. So we're gonna later be in 1 Chronicles, but now we're reading 2 Corinthians 6. 2 Corinthians 6. We're going to begin reading in verse 14, but it's actually going to be down in 2 Chronicles 7 and verses 8, 9, and 10, which is the real focus of what we're looking at today. And so I want to encourage you to, I wanted to read this section because we can see kind of the flow of thought that Paul is making here. But over in verse 8, he references twice the book of 1 Corinthians. We see here that he says, so this is 2 Corinthians 7 verse 8, Even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it. for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while." So Paul's talking here about the human phenomenon of grief. And what I want you to see then is in verse 10, he ties a psychological experience to a theological teaching. And the distinction he makes is interesting. In verse 10, he says, For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. I want you to think today about the phenomenon, what happens when you get, when you're in grief and in sorrow. Paul's saying here, there is a kind of grief that apart from God, apart from Christ, apart from the working of his spirit in your heart is destructive. But he's saying there is also a godly grief that we experience that leads us then to repentance. And so that's really where we're going today. And we're going to be thinking about David's response in the midst of his sorrow and a godly repentance. So we'll begin reading 2 Corinthians 6, beginning in verse 14. So hear the word of the living, reigning Christ. In 2 Corinthians 6, 14. It says, Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the Temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God says, I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore, go out from their midst and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing. Then I will welcome you and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty. Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. make room in your hearts for us. We have wronged no one. We have corrupted no one. We have taken advantage of no one. I do not say this to condemn you, for I said before that you are in our hearts to die together and to live together. I am acting with great boldness toward you. I have great pride in you. I'm filled with comfort. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy. For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn, fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and not only by his coming, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, of your mourning, of your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it. though I did regret it, for I see that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces repentance. that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. This is the word of the Lord. All right, and with this, we'll then turn our hearts to a time of prayer. There on the next page in the notes, I have several prayer requests that I wanted to mention and bring before us today. So let's now come before the Lord our God in prayer. Oh, Lord, our God, we draw near to you today. We thank you that you are our God, that you are in covenant with your people. We thank you, Lord, that you saw us when we were ignorant and guilty and in rebellion against you. Lord, these three aspects of the fallenness of this creation are perplexing. We were ignorant. We did not know what we ought to have known. We were guilty of breaking your law in our thoughts and in our words and in our actions. And Lord, we were in rebellion against you. Our wills were not set in harmony with our creator, but were at odds with you. And we thank you, Lord, that you graciously chose us as your people, that, Lord, you reached down into this world and you have rescued people who were lost, who were far from you. And we thank you, Lord, that you have brought us near through the blood of your Son, Jesus Christ, upon the cross. O Christ, how we thank you for your ministry among us, that you came in an amazing and supernatural way into this world that you taught us as a prophet, that you died on the cross in our place, and you pray for us as a priest. And Lord, you subdued us to yourself and you rule and defend us as a king. We thank you, Lord, that you have promised that you will overcome all our enemies, all your enemies, and Lord, that you will win a great victory in this world. We thank you, Lord, that the sweep of history is evidence of that, that, Lord, though there were only a few Christians at the beginning, that, Lord, the glory of the Lord is going throughout the earth, and there are many people today who are gathering today on the Lord's day in order to praise and worship and glorify your name. Oh, Lord, we pray that you would show yourself strong in our lives We pray that you would do the work of redemption that you've promised to do. That, Lord, you would help us to see the wisdom that is ours through Jesus Christ. That, Lord, you would help us to be experiencing in the midst of grief, Lord, that it would be a grief that's connected to God. That, Lord, godly grief would, in our lives, produce repentance. That indeed, though we have been redeemed, we still must be redeemed. That is, we must be sanctified. We pray that you would help us more and more to die unto sin and to live unto righteousness. We thank you, Lord, that you are at work in us every day. Lord, you've been at work in us through the disruptions and the frustrations of this COVID-19 pandemic. And Lord, today we're going to see another pestilence that came upon Israel many years ago. And we pray you would help us to understand your purposes. You tell us, Lord, that there are secret things that we simply will never know, but the things that have been revealed belong to us and to our children forever. And we pray, Lord, that you would teach us how to walk in your ways. Lord, today we would ask your blessing upon those on our prayer list today. Lord, we want to give you thanks for the blessings that have been evident in our congregation. Lord, thank you for the relative peace and the relative calm that you have blessed our congregation with during this COVID pandemic. Lord, we do want to remember today those in our congregation with health needs. And Lord, today we want to lift before you Debbie O'Neill. We want to lift before you Dezel Yates. We want to lift before you Ed Hindman. We want to lift before you Lucille Smith. Lord, as these in particular face various health needs right now, we ask that you would be very near to them, that you would strengthen and uphold them. Lord, we also want to remember those who we've heard about just recently who have contracted the COVID-19 virus. Lord, in particular, we pray for Jennifer Copeland's grandparents, Reed and Carol Heineman, out there in Mineola, Kansas. Lord, we pray that you would strengthen them and, Lord, enable them to come through this virus that they've contracted there in their town. Lord, we also pray for Megan Wittauer's sister there in Kansas City, Jennifer McBriarty. Lord, as she's now been under this for I think about a week, maybe a little more, I pray for strength, Lord, as these battle the infection in various ways. Lord, we also want to remember today our prayer family this week and want to thank you for Anna Parnell. Lord, as she's continuing to pursue her calling. Lord, I know that this has been a difficult year for students in college, and Lord, many colleges ended the year early, but I pray your blessing upon Anna, Lord, as she more and more has her own identity. Lord, as she's making important decisions about her future. I pray, Lord, that you would bless her, that you would help her to stand for Christ, to not be afraid or ashamed to call you the triune God, her God. Lord, we do ask your blessing on Anna in all that she says and does. Lord, also want to ask your blessing and pray for open doors for Natalie Peterman. Lord, as she also is home from college, and is thinking about summer jobs there in the Manhattan area. Lord, I pray that you would bless her and open doors for her. Lord, in a particular way, I want to lift before you the needs of the Reformed Presbyterian Global Mission Board. Lord, as they are now sending out an urgent call for the church to pray for additional team members to co-labor with Andrew and Laura Badiato Lord, it was a delight to hear that a call has formally gone out to Andrew and Laura, and that they've accepted that call to serve in the Pakistan mission. And Lord, as the Vadiatos prepare to move into the field here sometime, Lord willing, within the next year, we pray, Lord, that you would open the doors for that. And we pray, Lord, that you would, you as the Lord of the harvest, would raise up laborers to go into the harvest field. Lord, you're opening these opportunities. And Lord, in this mission in particular, it's important to know the language of Urdu. And Lord, as Andrew and Laura seek to dedicate themselves to that language learning over the next year or two, or for a year or two, Lord, I pray that you would raise up those who you might call into that same endeavor with them. Lord, this is a dynamic time for RP Global Missions. And we pray, Lord, that you would bless those who are taking up the call to go in an official and formal way to preach Christ in distant lands. And finally, Father, today we would pray and lift up John Tweed, a former interim pastor in our church. Lord, one who's beloved by many who are with us here today. And we ask, Lord, that as he's now on home hospice there in Winchester, Lord, John has had a fruitful ministry in his retirement years all across the RPCNA. We thank you for him. Lord, thank you for the personal impact he's made in my own life. And today we would lift him up and we would pray for John and for Alta and his family. As Lord, they together await John's going to be with Christ. Lord, it didn't sound like it would be all that long. I know he's been on oxygen for a long time, but Lord, we would pray your blessing upon John in these final days of his life. And Lord, as he prepares to come and see his creator, we ask your blessing upon them and Lord upon the Winchester Church as well, as he's had such an important role to play there over many years. Lord, we offer these prayers to you today because you are God in heaven above, and because you are a mighty, awesome, and sovereign God. Answer according to your will, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. All right, well, this time I'd ask you then to take your Bibles, and if you would, turn with me to 1 Chronicles. 1 Chronicles, and we're going to be looking today at Chapter 21. Before I read today, one thing that I wanted to mention, just to put this in a little bit of context for us, if you will note, back in Chapter 20, In between verses 1 and 2, there is a whole story that gets completely skipped over in 1 Chronicles. And this parallel passages in 1 Samuel, actually I think it's 2 Samuel, chapter 11 though, when the whole incident of David and Bathsheba, And so in Samuel, the burden was to demonstrate the sinfulness of David, probably also to explain where Psalm 51 came from, And in Chronicles, for thematic purposes, the author of Chronicles completely skips over that entire incident. However, I also want you to see today that he does include a record of David's sinfulness. David is a great man, but he is not perfect. He needs Jesus not just as much as we do. And so he's included chapter 21, because it records David's sin, but it's a sin that's related to his larger thematic purpose, and that is for us to understand the origin of the Jewish temple. And so now jump to chapter 22 and verse 1, and this is kind of spoiling the ending of the story, but I want you to see where we're going. 1 Chronicles 22 verse 1 So if you remember that at this time in Israel's history the Ark had been brought into Jerusalem But the altar of burnt offering was still five miles away in Gibeon. And so there was this disconnect. And what we're going to see today is David identifying, okay, this is the place where now the temple is to be built. And so that's where it's going to go. But getting there is a challenge. I've said today in the introduction to my notes that our story today is a dark and a mysterious one. And I want to try to explain some of the things going on here. But I also want us to understand that this is a chapter of spiritual warfare, of sin, of destruction, pestilence. that came upon the land of Israel. Let's read 1 Chronicles 21. Listen as I read the Word of God. In 1 Chronicles 21 in verse 1. Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, Go, number Israel from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report that I may know their number. But Joab said, May the Lord add to his people a hundred times as many as they are. Are they not, my lord the king, all of them my lord's servants? Why then should my Lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel? But the king's word prevailed against Joab. So Joab departed and went throughout all Israel and came back to Jerusalem. And Joab gave the sum of the numbering of the people to David. In all Israel, there were one million 100,000 men who drew the sword, and in Judah 470,000 who drew the sword. But he did not include Levi and Benjamin in the numbering, for the king's command was abhorrent to Joab." Notice that word. So Joab used the word guilt, and here it says it was abhorrent to Joab. But God was displeased with this thing, and He struck Israel. And David said to God, I have sinned greatly, in that I have done this thing. But now, please, take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted foolishly. And the Lord spoke to Gad, David's seer, saying, Go and say to David, Thus says the Lord. three things I offer you. Choose one of them that I may do it to you." So Gad came to David and said to him, Thus says the Lord, choose what you will, either three years of famine or three months of devastation by your foes, while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or else three days of the sword of the Lord, pestilence on the land, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel. Now decide what answer I shall return to him who sent me." Then David said to Gad, I'm in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for his mercy is very great. But do not let me fall into the hand of man. So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel and 70,000 men of Israel fell. God sent the angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. But as he was about to destroy it, the Lord saw and he relented from the calamity. And he said to the angel who was working destruction, it is enough. Now stay your hand. And the angel of the Lord was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan, the Jebusite. And David lifted his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, and in his hand a drawn sword stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, clothed in sackcloth, fell upon their faces. And David said to God, was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand, O Lord my God, be against me and against my father's house, but do not let the plague be on your people. Now the angel of the Lord had commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up and raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. So David went up at Gad's word, which he had spoken in the name of the Lord. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel. and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. As David came to Ornan, Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and paid homage to David with his face to the ground. David said to Ornan, give me the site of the threshing floor that I may build on it an altar to the Lord. Give it to me at its full price. that the plague may be averted from the people. Then Ornan said to David, Take it, and let my lord the king do what seems good to him. See, I give the oxen for burnt offerings, and the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for a grain offering. I give it all. But King David said to Ornan, No, but I will buy them for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing. So David paid Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site. Then David built there an altar to the Lord, then presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the Lord. And the Lord answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering. Then the Lord commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him at the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord. Then David said, Here shall be the house of the Lord God, and here the altar of burnt offering for Israel." This is the living word of the living God. Well, it's not very often in the Bible that you begin the story with Satan as the main character. But today I would like you to note that there is a very striking feature of this passage that has its ripple on through the Bible when Satan stands up. My burden today is that we would see kind of a cross-reference here, if you want to think of it this way, is from Genesis 50. where Joseph is speaking to his brothers, and he's saying, you meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. That is, you did something sinful, you're responsible and accountable for that, but God had a sovereign purpose in this. And we see this very clearly in our story today. Created means under sovereign control. Our story today is a dark and a mysterious one. And I don't want to pretend that I understand every facet of this story today. There are clearly supernatural elements of this story. Very clearly, Satan is active in a way that I don't fully understand. Clearly, there were tens of thousands of people who died in a supernatural pestilence. And clearly, the overarching purpose of God was to bring Israel into a new covenant for their time. Before Israel had been transient, now Israel was established in the land and they needed a place to worship God. The tabernacle, and I've said this in previous weeks, I envision this cloth tabernacle that now had been transported into Israel. It's been there now for hundreds of years. And I envision that tabernacle, the curtains are faded and ripped, the ash pans and the and the forks and the things that they were using in the tabernacle, I envision those being all tarnished over. The tabernacle is fading away and God is here in this chapter doing something new in establishing not a mobile tent, but in establishing a permanent temple for his worship. After David's sin, God required a specific action of David to avert his wrath, and the site of David's sacrifice will become the most holy sanctuary, or the Holy of Holies, of the First Temple. Today we delved into the spiritual and I want to emphasize the demonic world with the introduction of the adversary. God does not tempt anyone, James 1.13 says, but establishes His good purpose in the midst of this terrible event. So four points today to kind of summarize this story. The first is that everything that happens is incited by Satan. Incited. We don't use this word too much, but notice it's a very strong word here in verse one. Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. That is, that the author of Chronicles is very clearly ascribing the temptation that led to David's sin of numbering Israel to Satan. The strong word here, incited, means to provoke the mind, to stir, to spur on, to action. And here we have this unique word, satanos. And that's the Greek, and here in Hebrew, it's the word satan. Now you should know that this word very clearly has a meaning in the, or earlier in the Old Testament, of the adversary or the accuser. And it almost always says ha-satan, that is the Satan. But it's in the sense of the adversary or the accuser. And so other people are called accusers. Even in the Psalms, this word is used to speak of David's accusers. And so we need to see this first very clear meaning of adversary or accuser. there's something unique here today. And that is that this is the first time in the scriptures where Satan is used without the definite article. So it's not the adversary. It's more like adversary or accuser with a capital A. That is a personal name. And This is the first time, I think there's two in the Old Testament, and then clearly in the New Testament, we see this now become a proper name. And so I believe this is a correct translation. The Reformation Study Bible states here of verse one, here Satan is used for the first time in Scripture without a definite article, probably as a proper name. But there's even another interesting piece here. If you go back to 2 Samuel 24 1, you will see that it is God who moves David. So is it God or is it Satan? Well, once again, the Reformation Study Bible says here some very helpful things. God himself tempts no one. James 1.13 teaches us that. But he employs created means under his sovereign control. It was John Calvin who said that even the devil is God's devil. That is, that God is using the rebellion and the temptations of Satan in an overarching way to accomplish his good purposes. Chronicles identifies Satan as the instrument by which David is led astray. These two passages together remind us that God is sovereign over all events, including temptation and sin and even evil. God is never the author of sin. He never tempts anyone. But He sovereignly superintends all things for His own glory. So then in verse 2 we see now the command from David to Joab, Go number Israel from Beersheba to Dan. Now it's a little humorous here, this is the only place I know of in the Bible where it says Beersheba to Dan, that is from the south to the north. There are dozens of times where it says, from Dan to Beersheba. And I think that the author of Chronicles is kind of telling us, and then everything went topsy turvy. It's like the sun rising in the West and setting in the East. Everything's backwards, even the way David says this. But go number Israel from Beersheba to Dan. Now, we need to think this through. Andrew Stewart in his book, A Family Tree, First Chronicles, simply explained, Andrew Stewart writes, in the modern world, we're used to a wide range of surveys and censuses being held as researchers try to discover the needs and demands of the population at large. In ancient Israel, however, censuses were not just headcounts to guide public policy. They had profound spiritual significance. God was the one who commanded the numbering of his people. And in fact, there was also to be a tax that was associated with that census. And that's something that is not recorded here, that David did not, apparently did not require a census tax. as God had previously. And that may be why David insists on paying Ornan at the end of this. He says, I will buy the field and all of these things for the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, not offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing. And so this is a much discussed and even debated topic. And again, I would just commend to you Andrew Stewart, who goes into a great deal of detail on why was this particular act of conducting this census, why was that sinful? But he summarizes his argument in this way. He says, three things were wrong here. It was the combination of a lack of divine warrant, of failure to follow God's law and a wrong motive that made David's actions so sinful. They were clearly sinful even to Joab. And look with me at verse 3 to see how the chronicler wants us to see this. Joab said, May the Lord add to his people a hundred times as many as they are. Are they not, my Lord the King, all of them my Lord's servants? Why then should my Lord require this? Why should it be a cause of guilt for Israel? So notice not only is it wrong, it's wrong, it's sinful, but that it's sinful not merely for David as an individual, but for David the King of Israel. It's as though all Israel is incurring guilt because of this apparently serious sin that's spoken of. So I hope this kind of sets us up here. We're seeing this today. On one hand, there's the physical census that's taking place. We have down in the end of verse 5, the result of that census, 1,100,000 men who drew the sword in Israel, 470,000, almost half a million men in Judah who drew the sword. This is a phenomenal number. And again, probably is kind of a badge of honor for David. That's why he insists on doing this. All right, so this is some of the background of the sin that was incited by Satan. But now we see in the next section that David, he has sinned greatly, but he is also impacted by godly sorrow. Look with me at verses seven and following. It says, but God was displeased with this thing and he struck Israel. Now, again, there's no doubt a great number of details that are being summarized here. But whatever happened, David went from this, even if his top general says, you are going to bring guilt on Israel, David's like, nope, do it anyway. But now look at the change of heart that David has had in verse eight. And David said to God, I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly." Look at those words there. I've sinned greatly. Take away the iniquity. I have acted very foolishly. These are the words of Scripture. These are the words of God teaching us how to think about our sin. And the Lord God spoke to Gad, David's seer, saying, Go and say to David, three things I offer you. Choose one of them that I may do it to you. God is now bringing a discipline against David, and it is a severe discipline. He gave him the choice, three years of famine. three months of devastation by your foes while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, notice sword of your enemies, or else three days of the sword of the Lord. Pestilence on the land with the angel of the Lord, probably a reference to the pre-incarnate Son of God. Okay, remember, this is a whole nother discussion, but the angel of the Lord is used at times in the Old Testament to refer to this one who represents the Lord and indeed is called the Lord. And so I think we're on good ground in saying that this is Jesus. This is Jesus, not in his humanity yet, but that this is the angel of the Lord coming to destroy throughout the territory of Israel. And friends, David was horrified. Verse 13, he says, I am in great distress. Let me fall into the hand of the Lord, for His mercy is very great. But do not let me fall into the hand of men. And this is where I want to just remind us that we need to be impacted properly by sorrow or by grief is the word in 2 Corinthians 7, 9 and 10. There is a kind of grief that does no good. It's a kind of grief that is a grief of unbelief. It's a grief of selfishness. It's a sorrow that I did not get my way. A sorrow that bad things have come upon me. But friends, there is also a godly sorrow that leads us to God, that leads us to his eternal standards of right and wrong. 2 Corinthians 7.10 says godly grief produces repentance. that leads to salvation without regret. And have you had the experience where you've looked back in your life and you've seen, oh, hey, that was a really hard time, but that hard time was when God was working, when God was teaching me things, when God was maturing me, helping me to work through my emotions and realizing I'm sorrowful because I'm in sin. I need to seek the Lord. This passage also warns there is a worldly grief that produces death. We see evidenced in our passage today that, like the Bathsheba incident that led to Nathan's confrontation and David's penning of Psalm 51, so we see here David come under deep conviction for his sin. I can't prove this, but I wonder if David may have written one of the other Psalms of the penitential Psalms. There are seven of them in the Psalter. And I wonder if this may have been the circumstance under which he wrote one of those other penitential Psalms as well. So we see that David was incited by Satan, he was impacted, in this case, by godly sorrow, and now we see the plight of David's nation, the ones that he led in verses 14 and following. So the Lord sent a pestilence on David and 70,000 men of Israel fell. I've actually drawn the title here for point three from verse 12. Look with me at verse 12 where it says, or else three days of the sword of the Lord. He could get three months of the sword of his enemies. or three days of the sword of the Lord. I did a word study this week. This phrase, the sword of the Lord, and that's what I've chosen as point number three, implicated under the sword, that the entire nation, more than one and a half million fighting men and their wives and and their children and their extended family who weren't of fighting age, a vast number of people. David is leading them. David is their Messiah. He is their King. And we see in verse 14 the results. 70,000 people fell in the pestilence that came upon Israel. And I want you to note in verse 12, it says very clearly, with the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the territory of Israel, I would remind you, friends, that the son of man riding on the white horse in Revelation 19 has his robe splattered with blood, the blood of his enemies. Now 70,000 people, this is where I want to kind of shift toward application of this passage today. 70,000 people fell apparently over a three-day period in what was described as a pestilence that the Lord sent on Israel. And you should know that we have also been under God's judgment. We ourselves have recently come through a pestilence called COVID-19. Our nation also has, as of this morning, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, seen 78,794 people who have perished. Now, I don't want to equate these two. I don't pretend to know the mind of God. But can you imagine 70,000 people, that's out of 330 million in America. Can you imagine 70,000 people between here in Kansas City, between the north border of Kansas and the south border of Kansas, all of whom died? This was a catastrophic effect upon the nation of Israel. God brought them through something far worse. than we have gone through over the last couple of months. But friends, I'm burdened that we see that God is not little Jesus meek and mild in the manger. This is God now disciplining His King. God is King over all the kings. He's Lord over all the lords, and He is disciplining His King. And David is horrified at the impact of this. Look down at verse 17. And he cries out to God, was it not I who gave command to number the people? It is I who have sinned and done great evil. But these sheep, what have they done? Here's David, the shepherd king, and here's his sheep. And now because of decisions he's made, the sheep have been have been harmed deeply and badly. He says, please let your hand, O Lord my God, be against me and against my father's house, but do not let this plague be on your people. And now I'd like to conclude this part by simply reading the last few verses, beginning in verse 18. Now the angel of the Lord had commanded Gad to say to David that David should go up, he's going up onto a high place, and he should raise an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. Now you need to remember that the Jebusite is a reference to the old name of Jerusalem, Yerusalem, the city of peace, but it used to be Yebus. in Hebrew. And a Yebusite is someone who comes from the town of Jebus. That is the name of the city before David conquered it. So probably what we have here is a Gentile who owns land just north of the city at the highest point. And that's what would later become the Temple Mount. I had the opportunity, I think Dr. Johns is on with us today. She and I had the opportunity to walk together on the Temple Mount area. And I reflect on that often as I think about the development of this area today. It's in the middle of a very flat space. And it was under King Herod that the Temple Mount area was enlarged and it was filled in so that everything was flat. But in this day, it was probably more like what we would think of as a fairly steep hill. And it was on the pinnacle of that hill again, within view of the angel of the Lord who was destroying the people, that now we have a sacrifice. David went up at Gad's word, which he had spoken in the name of the Lord. Now Ornan was threshing wheat. He turned and saw the angel and his four sons who were with him hid themselves. David came to Ornan. Ornan looked and saw David and went out from the threshing floor and paid homage to David with his face to the ground." Apparently, again, if this is in fact an ethnic Gentile, here is a Gentile who not only is seeing as an eyewitness the judgment of God upon the land, here's the angel of the Lord apparently visible in the clouds. and he comes to the Messianic king and he falls down, it says, with his face to the ground. And this leads us then to the fourth and final point today, and that is identification amid sacrifice. Now we come to the last big idea at the end of this passage, as we see the sacrifice now that is offered. And David said to Ornan, give me the site of the threshing floor. And again, this is why I think that this was probably a fairly steep hill at this point, although it is no longer. Because the threshing floor was the place where you were trying to get your wheat and your chaff separated. And so what you do is you would go up on top of a hill where you had the most breeze, the most wind that you could get. And then you would bring all the wheat probably up the hills, dump it, and then you would have your animals walk around on it and grinding it up. And then they would take like pitchforks or shovels and they would throw that ground up stuff into the air. And what would happen? Well, the chaff would be blown away and then the grain would fall back down on the ground. And so you keep doing that and you're separating the wheat from the chaff. And so here's Ornan's threshing floor. And David says, I want to buy it. And then Ornan says, David, you can have it. I want to give it to you. At this point, the angel, 70,000 people, I just want this to stop. Take it. And then verse 24, which I said before, I think is a key to understanding this passage. But King David said to Ornan, No, but I will buy them for the full price. I'm going to give you fair market value. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing. So David said to Ornan, 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site. He paid Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site. And a shekel is about 2 fifths of an ounce. So this is not a vast sum, but it is gold. And so it is valuable. And it is something that David is making. He wants there to be a transfer of ownership. I'm paying you. you, now you give me the land. David built there an altar, and notice how important this is going to be, an altar to the Lord and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the Lord. And now can you see this there on the north side of Jerusalem with the city stretched out behind him and here's the angel approaching Jerusalem to destroy it. And here's David now, the mediator, David, the messianic king on top of this hill. And now he's bought the site and now he set up the altar. And so again, I don't think it's probably he himself, but those who are with him are presenting burnt offerings and peace offerings and calling upon the Lord. And suddenly out of the clouds falls fire from heaven." Now this has happened before. I've given you there in your notes under point four at least three other places where this happens in the Bible. But they're in the midst of the offering. They're getting ready to light the sacrifice on fire and all of a sudden it's not fire from the priests, it's fire that comes down from heaven. The Lord answered him. Notice how the chronicler is interpreting what happened. The Lord answered him. with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering. And the Lord commanded the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. Now we see God's overcoming purposes. David has sinned, David has been confronted by the prophet Gad in his sin, he's repented, but there's still this horrible consequence. The consequence is coming to Jerusalem, the city of God, the people of God, the people who David represents as the messianic king. And now because of David's offering, the plague is stopped. The wrath of God is turned aside, friends, and instead, God consumes the sacrifice. God accepts this, and in fact, God, even as it's being laid there upon the altar, God answers David's sacrifice by consuming it. I will take this sacrifice instead of taking the lives of your people, David. At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him at the threshing floor of Orn and the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. And now remember, I said, altar, the word altar is really important. The word sacrifice is really important here. But now we see why. The tabernacle of the Lord, we studied this just a few weeks ago. I'm thinking of Ben Cry's excellent picture I've shared with a number of you, where there was a fork in the road and one fork went to Jerusalem and the other went to Gibeon. And there was the ark in the tent in Jerusalem, and there was the rest of the tabernacle, including the most important piece, the altar of burnt offering in Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord." Notice that whatever happened here, and friends, I don't pretend to understand all the details of this. I think that this is apocalyptic language, similar to what's used in Revelation. But we need to see that God brought his judgment the same way God brought his judgment upon Israel in the Babylonian captivity, the destruction of Jerusalem there. God brought destruction upon Jerusalem in 70 AD. This is kind of a mini episode. And these are all pointing forward and reminding us that God comes and he brings his judgment upon all the earth. But then, chapter 22, verse 1, So we've seen today that Satan incited David We've seen that David was impacted by a godly sorrow. We've seen that there were tens of thousands of people who were implicated under the sword of the Lord because of David's sin. And finally, now we see this sacrifice, and in the midst of the sacrifice, God identifying this location. I think, friends, that this is a passage that has a lot of bearing on our lives. First, we need to see the Messiah here. But second of all, we need to see the reality of sin. Sin is bad because sin destroys. Sin offends the holiness of God. And remember, friends, that our God is a consuming fire. We need to remember that these are the things that were prophesied about the Son of Man coming to bring judgment upon Jerusalem yet again in Matthew 24. I believe prophesying the impending destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans. God uses all kinds of means, friends, but he is sovereign in his purposes. He has his overarching plans under his sovereign control, and he uses created means, including pestilence. I don't know what kind of pestilence this was, But friends, God is working out His plans using this little mutation, probably from a bat, we call SARS-2. And the disease that it causes, we call it COVID-19. We need to see that God is bringing his purposes to pass. Satan stands up and he has a role. David stands up in his sin and he has a role. But all of these things are being worked together for good for those who love God. And David did repent. And Ornan and his family was saved. I wonder what happened. We don't know anything more about Ornan the Jebusite and his family that I'm aware of. But I want us to see that God is sovereignly working out his plan. He's brought the Ark of the Covenant back from Philistia. He brought it there to Kiriath-Jerom. And they were moving it from there when God slew Uzzah, when the ark was about to fall off his cart, and so they turned into the house of Obed-Edom. Now they've brought the ark from Obed-Edom to Jerusalem, and Obed-Edom apparently gets a job there in the care of the tabernacle, in the care of the ark. And now we see God bringing the pieces together so that this is the place now where not only will the Ark be housed, but where the altar of burnt offering will also be employed. They're going to be moving the high priest and all of his ministry from the tabernacle there in Gibeon to this new place. to what had been the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. And this is the place where now the temple of God will be built. I want to remind you that earlier in Chronicles, as we studied here, we had talked about the fact that we have a purpose of number one, seeing God's people being reestablished in the land. That was the first nine chapters. And now we've been seeing this relentless focus upon the temple, because the temple is the dwelling place of God, God dwelling in the midst of his people. And it's these things that God is focusing us on. And I want you to notice in chapter 22, this just continues on as David now begins to gather together the resident aliens to set stone cutters to prepare stones for the building of the house of God. great quantities of iron for nails and for the doors and the gates, all of these things. And so these are all fitting together. These stories, even as God is molding and shaping David, he's preparing him to be his servant in the building of the temple. But remember, it's not David, the warrior who will build the temple. It is Shlomo. It is Solomon. It is the one whose name means peace. And friends, here's where we see that there's a greater son of David. There's this one who is coming who will bring peace forever between God and man. He will bring the unity of the heavens and the earth in his own person as he's there upon the cross and as he dies. for the sins of all who will but trust in him." What a glorious message it is. Let us conclude in prayer. Oh Lord, our God, how we thank you for all that you've done for us. We thank you for your great salvation to your people. And we pray, oh Lord, that you would help us to see and to remember the beauties of your redemption that Lord, you have been relentlessly pursuing your people. You've been drawing near to us. You've been teaching us of our sin. You've been teaching us of your justice, of your wrath, but also of your mercy. Thank you that you are a God of steadfast love and faithfulness. Thank you that your mercies are new every morning. Thank you, Lord, that we live under the rain covered by the blood of the true Messiah, even our Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray, Lord, you would help us to walk faithfully as His followers throughout all of the days of our lives. We thank you that we can worship you today. And we pray, Lord, that you would be with us. Lord, give us eyes to see the good works that you would have us to do. Give us eyes to see opportunities for evangelism. We pray, Lord, that you would remind us that we come not to a physical building, but we do come together as the people of God, and that Christ is the true temple. He is the one who truly leads us into the presence of you, Father. And we want to be your children who live in relationship with you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, well, if you would, in closing, turn with me once again to the Psalms. And I'm gonna try to, several were saying that they didn't hear very well, so I'm gonna try to use my iPad here on the fly. But we're gonna sing Psalm 119, selection A. Psalm 119, selection A. And I'm, We may have to sit through an ad here. I hope not. If not, if so, I'll try to do it a different way. Just a second here. Anyway, Psalm 119a, you'll be familiar. This is the beginning of the longest chapter in the Bible. And it's one that very much points out to us the path that God would have us to walk. So let's sing Psalm 119, selection A. We're going to see here, it may pop up an ad. We'll see. I hope not. So that's what we're not going to do. You're just going to have to suffer through it here today. Sorry. My apologies there. Okay, so now I'm going to try on the other one here. We're having technical difficulties, but we're almost there. Okay. 119, selection A. Maria, then the Colby Community College Nursing Program is ready for you. The demand for nurses is expected to increase over the next decade, and Colby Community College can help you become a licensed nurse in just one to two years. Classes are starting soon. Go to the academics tab at colbycc.edu. Colby Community College, challenge, create, connect. ♪ In all they do ♪ ♪ Bless those who seek him earnestly ♪ ♪ And keep his testimonies true ♪ ♪ They've wept in slow unrighteousness ♪ ♪ But in his ways they comfort rest ♪ Your precepts you have given us with diligence to be obeyed. May all my ways be firm. ♪ Hear the statutes you have made ♪ ♪ For I will not be put to shame ♪ ♪ When your commandments are on my name ♪ ♪ Then I will give my thanks to you alone ♪ with all sincerity of heart. When I with gratitude have earned the righteous judgments you import, I'll keep your statutes faithfully. Now receive the blessing of the Lord upon you. Oh Lord, thank you that we live in the light of your judgments. That, Lord, we've had recorded for us the greatness, the awesomeness, the majesty of God. Thank you, Lord, that you were shepherding the shepherd king, even in the midst of his sin. That, Lord, you brought about peace and reconciliation between you and David. And Lord, thank you that our Messiah is sinless. Thank you that he is the good shepherd. The good shepherd cares for his sheep. We pray that Lord, you would help us to hear the voice of our shepherd. He said, my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal life. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy. To the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. All right, well, that brings us to the conclusion of our service today, and I want to thank you all for joining with us. I'm going to go ahead and just turn on everybody's mics, and if there's anything you'd like to say to one another, feel free, and then we'll conclude. All right, now you guys can come over here. You can see those who are with me today, they were pretty quiet overall. We have Johnston. Come here. Here's the team. Backup. Yep, that's right. That's right. And they also, therefore, had to not sing today. But I was glad to have them here. And the church is really quiet, I'll tell you today. But I'm glad I wasn't here all by myself. So anyway, the Lord's blessings to you all. Are there any other announcements or things, prayer requests we want to share before we sign off here today? The graduate committee, we plan to visit with our graduates and send out an email about their activities and maybe their email, their snail mail addresses, if you would like to send cards. OK. Thank you, Debbie. Appreciate that. Yeah, so stay tuned. That'll be coming up in a couple of weeks. And so that'll be a matter. So just send that to me, Debbie, once you get things gathered there. That'd be great. All right. Yes, thank you, David Weber. He says, except for the ads, it was excellent. I don't remember what college we were advertising, but I'll work better on that another week. Anyway, okay, you guys go. So we're glad you guys could join us today, and may the Lord bless you. Reminder, this evening at 6.30, we'll be gathering together with Jonathan Parnell. All right, thank you all. Have a blessed afternoon.