Okay, everybody, we're gonna keep going here. I wanna say hi to those of you at Fenton Grants Trail, mid Rivers joining us online. Those of you who are in overflow here at Chesterfield, but I want you to keep talking to each other, keep the music going if you guys will. Uh, so here's, here's what I want. Would you turn and talk to some people around you and tell them like the most thoughtful thought through, thought out, planned, all the details came together, gift or blessing, or something that someone did for you. And as it just kept unfolding, you're like, wow, how much thought did you put into this? Go ahead. Somebody near you has a great story. Talk to each other real quickly. Okay. Alright. Um, I'll bet you you've got some good ones. Lemme give you one from Fenton. Somebody said, when music first became available to download online, I made a special anniversary CD for my wife. Now we need to stop there. Some of you don't even know what a CD is, but I'm gonna reach back even further. What he's really talking about is he made a mix tape for his wife. All right, but wait, wait, wait. It's filled with our favorite songs. Each one was tied to a memory we shared, and I wrote a short note for every song. And then those memories became the sleeve for the cd. That's a romantic. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm sure you had stories of, of just something, but like, I was thinking of a couple, like for me, where people did something like a, a surprise birthday party, not a fan of surprise birthday parties. Okay? But these people had thought this through, and we had a local chef that is a part of the church here, and AJ and Kirsten prepared this meal and everything about it along the way. It was just like we worshiped and we laughed and we cried, and they were way too kind to me. But I remember thinking throughout, how long have you guys been thinking about this? It's a thing, right? Mm-hmm. You see, um, like I, I don't know if you noticed this or not, can I just hand this to you? Um, uh, but, uh, Robin and I were gone for a couple of weeks, and if you didn't that's okay if you didn't notice. But, uh, but we were blessed to be, we were invited to be a part of some conversations around the world in places like the uk where we're learning more and more about the quiet revival that is happening there among younger people. And it's beginning like we're, we're learning and applying and sharing with each other. And some of this is gonna like roll into stuff that we'll be doing here in our church in the coming weeks and months and years. And it's just really exciting. And then we end up in a, like in Cairo, because people had invited us there to talk about the miraculous that is happening. There are people coming to Jesus in the Arab world at levels that we've never seen before. And so now we're sharing what it is that we're learning and, and, and some of the stuff we're learning about genius of one. And can you help us with this? And can we help you with that? And along the way, no matter where we went, it was as if God was just saying, do you see how much I'm thinking about you? How much I'm thinking about the crossing? There's a verse in, in, uh, Psalms, uh, Psalm 40 verse five, many, oh Lord, are the wonders you have done. Many are the things you have planned for us. Now, some translations say, many are the thoughts that you have towards us. You see, I've just been struck lately with how often God's thoughts turn to me, to us, to you. So then we go to Zimbabwe and we meet the rest of the team and some of our folks here from the crossing. And it's a, a, a a 10 year anniversary of the genius of one conference. And 680 by one count, 680 pastors and leaders from around the country are in a room that was not designed for 680 people. And, uh, it was glorious. And God is doing a thing. And, uh, the, the, the Lord blessed them and they blessed us. But along the way, it all points to this idea that God has been up to something God has been thinking and planning. And it all points to Jesus if we're really gonna lay it out there. You see, whether we're at the far reaches of the Earth or whether it's local partnerships here, whether it's some of the stuff that we've already shared today, whether it's things that are happening in our student ministries, whether it's stories that are already coming to me out of explorations, like right now, no matter what it is, it's all pointing to Jesus. And God keeps saying over and over. Do you see how I've been thinking about this? Do you think you see how I've been thinking about you? Galatians four, four says, in the fullness of time Jesus was born. Do you know what that means? It means God has been thinking about you and about his plan, and then Jesus appears, but wait. He doesn't stop. But God keeps planning and thinking We're in the middle of this massive series. We're we're looking at mountains across scripture, and it started in Eden, and we admitted that God has created this space, this sanctuary for us, and we are to enjoy and we're to, to, to get stuff done for his glory and our own good. But in the early chapters of Genesis, it all fell apart. Like everything fell apart. But even then, God said, I'll make a way back for you. Like you can't, you can't live in this space with me anymore. You gotta leave Eden. But I'll make a way back. I've been thinking about you. I've been planting, and then we get to Abraham and Isaac and that really difficult story. You remember that on Mount Mariah, there was the story. And, and, and Isaac at one point says, dad, where's the, where's the lamb that we're gonna sacrifice? And those haunting beautiful words. And Abraham says, the Lord will provide the lamb. He didn't even know what he's saying yet. It's all pointing to Jesus. I took you to Mount Sinai and we looked at the call of Moses, and then the next week, Wil Coleman talked about, uh, uh, the 10 Commandments at Sinai. And then Ben kept us at Sinai and we learned about the golden calf. And, and I think we all learned something there. And then last week, Kimberly took us to, to Mount Nebo. And Mount Nebo is where that, that word legacy. Now we're at the end of the Moses cycle. And, and that word legacy is still hanging in the air for many of us. But along the way, it's as if God is saying, I'm still thinking about you. I'm still planning for you. How much does God love you? Anyway, it all comes back to Jesus. You see, I think what I would say to you at this point is, is there anyone here who is longing for healing, for reconciliation, for hope, for, uh, just a reminder of how much you're matter to God? Is there anyone here who is like at the pinnacle of your career, at the pinnacle of your schoolwork? Man, things are going well, but there's a sneaking suspicion in the back of your mind. There's a thought there of God, I don't wanna lose perspective. Is there anyone here who wants one more time to be reminded of how often God's thoughts turn to you? Is there anyone here who wants to see the unvarnished, unfiltered, undeniable glory of Jesus to land in your life and on this church and in our world? Is there anyone else here who believes that Jesus is the hope of the world and is ready to follow him into that world? Because I'm gonna tell you a story now, and it's, it's a strange one. Okay? I'll warn you a couple of times, and you still won't believe me. There'll be a moment where the details come flying in, and you're gonna be slowed down, son. But I will promise you, at the end of the end of the end, it all points to Jesus and it will remind us of how much God has been thinking about us. So let me pray for us, and we're gonna keep moving. Heavenly Father, we're so grateful to be here. I'm so grateful to be here. I'm so grateful for what you're doing in our midst. We give you the credit, we give you the glory. But now, please Jesus, we exalt you. We put you at the center of everything. Father, may we sense your delight as we preach the gospel of your Son Spirit, join us as we proclaim the name of Jesus. May we leave here today, not just informed, but God may we be transformed. We ask this now in the name of our savior, our king, our redeemer, your Son, our Lord Jesus. Amen. Okay, so before we get to this kind of strange, complicated story, um, I'm gonna ask one of our pastors, Chris, uh, nation, if he'll come up here now. And what he's gonna do basically is the impossible. I'm gonna ask him to, to do this in a pretty short order. But just take us from where Kimberly left this last week on Mount Nebo, and then bring us up to a, uh, well to the character that we're gonna be talking about in this strange story. Alright, that sounds great. So when Moses comes down the mountain, he brings two things with him. He brings the 10 Commandments, these sacred tablets, and then he also brings detailed instructions for building something really beautiful and mysterious. It's called the Tabernacle. It's this sacred meeting place, a tent where God is gonna meet with his people. Why? Because God always longs to be close to his people. So instead of Moses climbing up this sacred mountain to meet with God, God is bringing the mountain down to be with the people. Yeah, it's what one scholar calls a portable Sinai, which I love. But it's not just portable. It's not just God moving with his people. It is also sacred and it's beautiful. We were talking about how he, he instructs him to make it look like Eden. So there are all sorts of symbols and beautiful things going on. But as you get closer and closer into this sacred tent, you are more and more aware of your sin. You're more and more aware of the sacrifices that must be made to make atonement, to draw closer and closer to God. Have you ever been there before? So I wanna draw closer and closer, but as I enter into this tent, you find yourself in this first place called the Holy Place. There's all sorts of things going on there. But as you get even closer in to the innermost chamber, you are confronted by a veil. And behind this veil is something called the Holy of Holies. It's the holiest place in all of this meeting place for God and his people. And inside of the Holy of Holies, you find the arc of the covenant. The arc of the covenant is this chest that's made of wood and then overlaid with gold. And inside this arc, you were to place the 10 Commandments. And then on top of this is where many other ancient shrines, this is where you would put, well, you'd put an idol, you'd put a statue, you'd put something else. But no, God can't be confined to anything. This is where God says, I will meet with you, I will speak to you. I will guide you Now moving forward. But if you know the history of Israel, this doesn't work out. Time and time again, God says, I wanna be close to you. I wanna lead you. You're gonna enter into some really treacherous waters. There's a whole bunch of deadly dangerous enemies on every side. And I need to move this story forward so that you might be a blessing to the whole world. This has always been the plan. And yet time and time again, they reject God's advice. Yeah. They reject his guidance, his leadership, his love, his holiness, and they do their own thing. Isn't that the story of our lives? God, I know you told me one thing, but I got this, I got this. So then the, the history continues. We enter into some really difficult time, uh, a period called the judges. And some of you might know about this period of the judges where there's really a lack of leadership in all of Israel. And so they start going their own way. They're rejecting God again and again, it's summed up best by the very last sentence in the whole book. Judges 2125 says, in those times, there was no king over Israel. So everyone did whatever they wanted to do. Everyone did as they saw fit. As one translation says. And this is tragic because not only are they, they're rejecting God, but they're also chasing after other gods. They're supplanting it, and they're following, they're following what they think is the leadership of other gods. And it's a tragic, tragic thing. So much so that they decide, you know what we're supposed to, I know God said that we're supposed to bless the world to influence culture, to transform this world to come to him, but instead they're influenced by other nations. So much so that they say, we wanna be, we wanna be just like them. So much so that they say, we want kings just like them. So if you know this story, it doesn't really go so well. God obliges and he says, I know they're rejecting me, but you can have a king. It doesn't go well. And then there's a second king over Israel. You probably have heard of him. Uh, there's an Amazon Prime special out about him right now. The house of David. You're with me. That's right. Great statue as well. Um, but David is a fascinating figure. We can tell pretty early on in the story. Not a perfect guy, definitely a flawed guy, but the early chapters of his story are beautiful because of his devotion to God. He's called a man after God's own heart. He's this humble shepherd that rises out of obscurity to become an incredible mighty warrior. Yeah. He slays a giant named Goliath. Yeah. And then one of the first things he does when he becomes king over Israel, we were talking about this, is he conquers Jerusalem. Joshua couldn't even do that. Nope. And then right after that, he knows I gotta go retrieve the ark. Notice that it had been taken, it had been stolen in battle and everything else. So David knows, this is what I gotta do. I gotta go retrieve the ark. He brings it back to not without a lot of drama, not without really not paying attention to God's word. Right. So some tragedy and drama there, but then he eventually brings it back to Jerusalem, back to the tabernacle. So, so, um, the geography of all of this Yeah. That we've been in. Come, come have a seat. Yeah, you did good. Um, um, yeah. Yeah. So the geography of this is he, he conquers and settles this ancient city calls it Jerusalem. Mm-hmm. But like in the scripture, there's a term that comes up and we'll deal with this in the New Testament, uh, part of the series. But, uh, but ion so it's, it's, it's the mount, it's the fortress of Zion. And that's really the old city of David that that's, that's his Right. And, and there's just so much that he did. Well, when you were talking about being a shepherd, some of my favorite stories were those moments where he stood up for his flock. Yeah. Right. He puts himself in danger and protects his flock, and oh, there's just so many, so many good things. And yet we're about to find out in this strange story that I'm gonna tell them. Right. That it didn't always go well. But through all of that, this guy writes essentially more worship songs that are found in our Bible than anyone else. Yeah. Um, and I know that, that there's one a, a passage that you, that you, you wanna read over us? Yeah. Yeah. Um, and I would just say, Chris, the reason I appreciate that passage is because when you tell the story of David, uh, it ultimately isn't about his faithfulness. Right? No. It's about, It's about God's faithfulness and mercy every single time coming close, No matter what's going on in David's life. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. That's right. His presence. So these, these verses, Psalm 1 39 mm-hmm. Would you read them? And, and may they just kind of settle in on you right now as we keep, keep moving forward. Mm-hmm. Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there. If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there, your hand will guide me. Your right hand will hold me fast, Are precious. I fall, I come The me ever closer To heart, Lord, Father, you are good, you are faithful, and you meet with us in this place now. And Lord, I pray that you would speak through my friend now as he guides us through this. And Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. So, I love, I love God's faithfulness, not just for David, but for us. Yeah. But the, the, um, second Samuel is, is like one of the biographies of David. Yeah. And if you read the last chapters of Second Samuel, it's hard. Like this guy that we love and these stories that I've known for years, you get to the tough parts when you get to the, the second half of second Samuel. But even then, even then, God is faithful. So what we're gonna do now is we're gonna look at the last chapter of Second Samuel. And I'm just gonna tell you now, you're not gonna like the ending. In fact, let's just do this. Would you just, uh, talk to each other? And, and here's the thing. Like what's your least favorite kind of movie ending? We'll give you a few to, to just get you started. Like, uh, is it a cliffhanger? You just know it's gonna be a setup to a sequel? Is it, there were too many loose ends. Nobody answered any questions. No closure. The heartbreaker, the hero dies. Or is it this one? It's so confusing. You had to go online and look up an explanation. Or how about this one? The guy and the girl kiss at the end, his snow starts to fall, which means you accidentally started watching a Christmas movie on the Hallmark Channel. Just talk to each other about your least favorite ending of a movie. Go ahead, talk to each other. Thank you. Okay. All right. Okay. Fairly have strong opinions about movie endings. Um, let me just say this up front. David doesn't die at the end of second Samuel 24. Okay? That happens in the next book. Uh, there's no kissing, there's no snow that falls at the end of chapter 24 that's not there. I will tell you, there's a little bit, we'll feel a little bit of a setup for something that's coming, and some of it is kind of sort of confusing, but I'm telling you, it's worth it because at the end of the end of the end, like in the last three minutes of our time together, we are going to see how it is all about Jesus. We're going to see how God has been thinking and planning for this moment for you forever. But first we need to jump into the story. So second Samuel chapter 24, we'll start with verse 10. So this is where we'll pick things up. David was conscience stricken after he had counted the fighting man. And he said to the Lord, I've sinned greatly and what I've done now, Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing. Now, I'm just gonna tell you, we're parachuting into the middle of a story. And one of the things that you're gonna be asking in the next couple of minutes is, and I don't get it. What's the big deal? What's the big deal? Well, let me explain to you what happened first, and then we'll, we'll try to answer that. Uh, he and his people are about to face a terrible consequence because David has taken a census of the people and you're like, okay, well, lemme tell you what he's really doing. Go back up to verse two, and you'll see the explanation up there, what he says in verse two. And he's telling his commander to do this. Enroll the fighting men, so that I may know how many there are. So what he's doing is he's telling his top military guy, you need to now go throughout the land. And if you look at what's going on, he'll, he, they actually map it out, and it starts over here, east of the dead sea, east of, of the Jordan. And, and so they, like, he starts just traveling the whole land up here through Dan, up to Seiden and Tire. And then it comes all the way back down here into the Negev. And before you know it, this takes 10 months. What he's doing is it'll take the, the tribal leaders, it'll take the, uh, it'll, it'll take people in each of these areas. Like organizing. What he's doing is getting an assessment of the military, and he's enrolling and enlisting men into the army. Now, this was so obviously a sin that his top military guy, Joab, not known for his godliness, by the way. Joab says, uh, king, I don't think we should be doing this still. You're asking why, why? What's the big deal? He's just checking in on the, on, on like how big their army is. Well, we're not given like a, a really explicit answer, but I'm gonna piece together some things that we see here, and I, hopefully it'll make sense. The first thing is, David, obviously at the very least, wants to know how big his army is. So the first thing that's going on here is pride is going to start stinking up the story. And it goes back to something in the early history of Israel that they had to learn. It's a, it's a word that, uh, we've sang a lot today. Trust God keeps saying, I want you to trust in me. It's a theme that runs throughout, whether it's the exodus, whether it's, uh, the Battle of Jericho, whether it's with a guy named Gideon. God keeps saying, no matter how big it is, no matter how intimidating it is, no matter how overwhelmed or outnumbered you are, there will be victory if you trust in me. But what's going on here is David starts to think he's got it going on and he's gonna trust in him. It's gonna be about his glory, his power, and him being in control of the situation. So arrogance is a part of why he wants to know just how big his army is. But I think there's something else going on. And you go back to, to verse one, and you'll see it says there that again, the anger of the Lord, the anger of Yahweh burned against Israel again. Did you notice that there's a pattern here? Now, what has God so steaming hot and angry at Israel? We don't know. It's not mentioned in the, in, in, in the text, but we have a pretty good idea because just about every time that kind of language is used, so God's anger burned against Israel just about every time it has to do with one thing. It's a little bit of what we were hearing earlier. They're chasing after other gods. They're unfaithful, they're worshiping other gods. And, and, and the one true God says, listen, if you wanna survive this land, you cannot, you can't bow to these idols because if you do, you're gonna face the consequences. And oftentimes what God would do is use the surrounding nations to correct Israel for their idolatry. Now, we don't know, but many people think that that's probably the backstory of what's going on. So the people are sinning. God is getting ready to, uh, to, to correct them. And by the way, what a sad thing, because they were to be the, the people who told the whole world about the one true God. And now they're gonna be affected by all of these other so-called gods. And when you look at history and you begin to see how these other gods were worshiped, the paganism, the, it's just disgusting, the vile, disgusting ways in which these so-called gods were satisfied, it would rot a people from the inside out. And God is saying, I'm not gonna let that happen. So he, he allows David's sin and the sin of the people now to kind of be used against them. And he is going to correct them. But it comes back to that word trust. So if you'll remember when we were talking in Eden, uh, weeks ago, uh, I suggested to you that there's, there's that one tree, and God says, you can't, the the tree, the knowledge of good and evil, not that one. And he doesn't really give an explanation why. He just says not that one. He also doesn't give people like this big, thick tax code of a book saying, so here are the dos, here are the don'ts. Here's the big religion. You gotta follow this. This is how we're gonna be together. No, God just says, just one. Just trust me. I'll be, I'll be the one who I'll, I'll teach you what's right and wrong. Just let me. And our first parents said, Hmm. I know that's what God said, but, and remember we said, anytime a sentence starts that way, it leads to trouble. I know that's what God said, but I think I want it. I, I mean, I think I wanna know what, what's, I want truth to be. I wanna define truth. I want it to be, we'll, say it this way. I want my truth. Right? And before you know it, the words of God just don't mean as much. And here's what we're gonna do. Let, let's try this. It, it worked in a previous service. Let's see if it works here. Um, would you turn back to the people around you? And from the looks of some of you, you may need to lean into a group next to you. Uh, but someone near you, please explain the meaning of dictionary dot com's word of the year. Do you know what the word of the year was? So here it is. See if someone around you can explain the meaning of dictionary dot com's, word of the year. Seriously, help each other real quickly. Help each other. Alright? Okay. So, so, uh, I've consulted an expert and you have so graciously, you're, you're just gonna help us with this. Okay? So six, seven, like, what does, what does it mean? It has no definition. So then it means nothing. Well, it's in a song, and then we all do this. Okay? So it's in a song, it's, it's, it's in that scrilla song, and then it's all over TikTok. And then we do this. Yeah. Would, would you say that it at like, it can almost kind of mean whatever you want it to mean, or it just, it just means, yeah, you just say it. You just say it and it's just like, yeah. Whenever, yeah, whatever. It's just whatever. Right? Yeah. Okay. Y'all clear on that? Now listen to me. Listen to me. Listen to me. Some of you are of an age where you're going, why's you stupid kids? I can't believe kids do that. Let me help you with something. You did stupid things too. All right? So, but it feels to me like it's almost like a little bit of a, kind of a, kind of a low risk rebellion. Sort of a yeah, it's an inside joke. And if you're not of art generation, you just don't get it. But it's, eh, whatever. Is that, is that fair? Mm-hmm. Yeah. Okay. Alright. So, so thank you so much. She had no idea I was gonna do that to her. So you with me, you with me. That generation isn't the only one that falls into the trap of thinking that like words can be meaningless. 'cause if we're not careful, we treat the word of God. Like, I don't know's. True. Maybe I, I I guess it matters. It it can mean whatever you want it to be. I mean, I know, I know, I know, I know that the word of God clearly talks about sexual ethics and boundaries, but you know, it's not really my thing. I know the word of God speaks about the value of human life from the womb to the tomb and everything in between, but it's not really my truth. Mm-hmm. I know the word of God speaks boldly about how we are to treat each other and how we are to use words when we're around each other. When we say things face to face, when we say things online, when we say things, when other people aren't in the room, whether we agree with them or not. I know the word of God says that, but I don't know. It's not that big a deal to me. You see, if we're not careful, we will begin to treat the word of God. Like it's just, nah. It just doesn't have the meaning that, that, that, that I, I think it has for you. 'cause my truth is my truth. You wanna know how to live in the power and the way and the flow of the spirit of God. Let me show you how you do that. You treat the word that he inspired real seriously. We don't understand it all, but we keep chewing on it and digesting it and asking God to show us and to reveal to us. And we, we, we, we apply it to our lives. And this is what it's like. And the minute we start to do this, we are heading down a wrong road. It's an old lie. It's an old trap. And it leads to an old quote that comes up every now and then around here from Anne Lamott. The difference between you and God is God doesn't think he's you. Now, hang on, hang on. I fall into that trap too. Before you know it, you get going in your own agenda and your own stuff, and you're like, oh, wait, I'm not in charge. Let's just be clear. There is a transcendent God, we sang it earlier. Your way is better. Let's, let's, let's, let's, let's live that way. David was ignoring God's word. He was ignoring God's warning. Even if it doesn't mean that much to us. God had said, no, you gotta trust me on this. And for 10 months it was premeditated for 10 months. David said, yeah, I know, but yeah, I know, but, and I don't know how it happened. I don't know how long it took. I don't know when it happened, but some place, somewhere, somehow his heart begins to soften. And, and what we read now, we're back to where we were. David is conscience stricken. Now, that's kind of a clunky phrase. He in the, in the, uh, Hebrew, I, I, I, I love the way the King James says this. His heart smote him. You know what that means? His heart was killing him. He was gutted, he was wrecked. God, what was I thinking? And now, through the prophet, God says something to him, that's a little weird. I'm just gonna tell you, he gives him an option. You want door number one, door number two, door number three. It can be three years of famine. It can be three months of being hounded by your enemies or three days of plague. Now there's whole commentaries that have been wr written on. Like, what does that mean? And how does all of that work? I will just say this, most people say what, whatever happened over time, you net it out. Probably about the same cost. It was a high cost. What we know here is that David says, uh, I'll pick the three days of plague because like, you know, the other one, I'm gonna have to probably rely on my neighboring nations to help feed us. Or my enemies, who knows what they'll do. I'll put myself in the hands of a merciful God. It's like right here that he starts to surrender. But then the tough part of the story, 70,000 people died. Now, when I say people, the the NIV says people, but most translations will use the term men. And I agree with them. When you look at it in the Hebrew, 70,000 men, actually 70,000 fighting men. Remember this was all about numbering the troops. And David's now feeling kind of uppity about his army. He's now 70,000 troops short. God is dealing with this. And we're in the mystery. I don't, we know that they're guilty. We know that all of Israel is guilty. It's not just David. We know, uh, by hi, by by his history's, uh, telling of, of the story of these pagan, uh, worship rights. That there was a, there was a kind of prostitution that was associated with these pagan temples. It was just ugly. Some of the horrible things that were done to women, the demeaning things that were done to women, the violent things that were done to children. It was just horrible. And it was very seductive and tempting to men what we know. Even like, there's nothing here that says that these fellow fellows participated in those atrocities. But we know, we know. The Bible tells us that they were all guilty. And so in this moment, God is dealing with David's pride and the idolatry in, in Israel, and it's happening. And he's saying it, it's not gonna move forward. And I know as soon as I say that, some of you're like, man, that's, that's why I I avoid the, the, the Old Testament. 'cause it freaks me out this picture of an ev like an angel from God who's delivering judgment. Whew. Like that's, that's terrifying to me. I mean, it seems primitive. Well, hang on a couple of things. First of all, the, the wrath of God is terrifying. But it's not just an Old Testament thing. Was anybody here when we, when we studied the book of Revelation? Because the wrath of God is a real thing. God will not be mocked and God will have the final word. And and I I I'm just saying that I don't think we can fully appreciate the beauty and the wonder of the cross unless we understand how serious sin is. So that's the tension that's going on here. But now David, David is, is, is, is about to see something. This, this angel that has sent by God. Now we'll get back to him in a second, but he's about to now move in on, is on Jerusalem. And, and he's about to, to deal with the troops that are in and around Jerusalem. And it says that God relented. Now the word relent there also at the root can mean, uh, an audible gasp. Like a groan. You see, even when God does what his justice demands that he does, it doesn't mean that he can't be grieved. And in this moment, God is like, enough enough. David now has the ability to visibly see this, uh, angel. And, and it's just, it's, I know we just came through Halloween and I know for some of you, you can't help yourself. You get a little, like you, you start dabbling a little bit like in some things that are adjacent to Halloween. And you get all kind of preoccupied with the supernatural. I want you to understand something that's not pretend. We're not playing. Pretend there is a spiritual realm and there is a war being waged between darkness and light, between evil and good. And what David gets is a vision. He gets to see some of what is happening. And he sees this angel, this warrior of light that was sent by God. In fact, in a parallel passage, he sees like this, this angel sword and he's ready to lower the boom here. But now here's what's interesting. Where does he see him? He sees him on the threshing floor of weird detail. What's up with that? Let me show you where this threshing floor is. First of all, you know what a threshing floor is? It's like in the old days it's where you would take the grains and you would break them up and you, you needed some someplace usually high atop a hill so that the wind would blow and it would blow the chaff away and you were left with the edible grain. That's kind of how it worked. Let me show you where this, uh, where, where this was. So, um, if, if we're looking at the ancient city of, of Jerusalem, uh, this is, is is the, the city like right there. That's David's palace. Right here is this hill that's even elevated above mountain scion. And that's where the threshing floor was. So David's down here in the city, he looks up and he sees this angel. It's all like, this is supernatural stuff that's going on. And it's here that he cries out to God again and says, in essence, God, it's me. It's on me. I'm the one who did this. I'm the shepherd. Don't punish the sheep. Strike the shepherd. Not the sheep. They didn't do anything. Now of course, there's nothing in here that says that the sheep are innocent 'cause they're not. But that's not what David's thinking. David is just thinking, man, I got 'em into this mess. Like, strike the shepherd, not the sheep. Main thing I want you to see is you can't take the shepherd out of the old king God. You see, shepherds always take care of their sheep. They always get into harm's way and, and, and protect their sheep. These, these rebellious, stubborn sheep that find themselves getting in trouble, a shepherd will put himself in between trouble. And those sheep, you'll remember that just, just let me pay the price. God says to him through the prophet, you're on the right track, but you can't pay the price 'cause you're not a blameless substitute son. All of the stories that we know about David, he's a man after God's own heart. But he also, uh, has this affair with Bathsheba. He abuses his power as the king. And then he has her husband like an, an, an arranged murder of her husband. There's so many things about David. He's got blood on his hands. You can't be a blameless substitute. You got your own sin you gotta deal with. You need to go up the hill and make a sacrifice to me. Now the sacrifice is this symbolic way of saying, God, I need your mercy. I'm admitting that there's sin. And, and, and will you forgive me? So he tells him, you gotta go up that hill. Remember the hill? So now he's going up the hill with his entourage and he's gonna use this threshing floor because that's where God told him to go. Arana is on the top of the hill, chaotic time. Oh, these have been a tough three days. He sees the king coming up with his people and he's going, oh man. Now what? Calls down, what do you need, king? What do you need? I'm coming up because I want to purchase your threshing floor. 'cause I need to build an altar there. And that's what's gonna stop this plague A roof now looks at him and goes, ah, you can have it. Seriously. You don't have to pay me anything. You, you can have it. Here's some oxen you can use. I've got wood. May Yahweh accept your, your sacrifice. It's all yours. Like, I, I hope it works out. And David then says something amazing. David says, no, no, no, I'm gonna pay you for this. In fact, in the Hebrew, he uses the word pay or buy twice. It's a way to emphasize it. I'm gonna buy by this thing. I'm gonna pay pay for this. It's his way of saying, no, no, I'm paying for the whole thing. You're not giving this to me. And then that glorious line, I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God, a bird, whoop, let's go back. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God, an offering that costs me nothing. That's really what he's saying there. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God, a burnt offering that costs me nothing. This is gonna cost me. So there's an arrangement that's made. There's something that's paid and now, now we're ready for it. This is the last verse of second Samuel 24. This is the last verse of his biography. David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed parent offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer in behalf of the land and the plague on Israel was stopped. That's the end of the movie. I told you you weren't gonna like it. You're like, yeah. And then what? Like, what? What? Well, hang on. I want you to know that it all is pointing towards, well, I I want you to see how God's been thinking of you all along. You see, before we leave here now, I want you to know that God saw you coming. That God has been preparing a way for you, that God has marked out a plan for you. And from the beginning of time, God knew that this was the way. I want you to see that it's all pointing to this. It was was a strange story. A strange story, right? And what did we learn? David is a man after God's own heart, but he's not perfect. What did we hear at the end? It's like, well, the shepherd isn't really qualified to lay down his life for these, for these sheep. But I wonder, is there a shepherd? Is there a king that is perfect that will one day be able to do this for all of us? And that'll be the end of it. You see where this is pointing, right? It's all pointing to Jesus. Now we're in John chapter 10, and Jesus says, I wonder if he's remembering this story. I'm the good shepherd. Yes. And then he says, I'll lay down my life for the sheep. Yes, God, I'll do it. You know what he's saying there? I am qualified. Yes, I can make this sacrifice. It'll be me. Now, watch this. Where does this whole thing take place? Where is this threshing floor? Well, remember, it's up above, above Jerusalem. I want you to know that it is also called Mount Mariah. This is the exact spot where Abraham and Isaac were. This is the exact spot where Isaac said, father, where's the lamb that's gonna be sacrificed? And Abraham says, the Lord will provide it is the exact spot all those years, a thousand years before David, where God is saying, do you see how this is gonna work? 'cause one day there is a son that will die, and one day there is a sacrifice that will be provided. That's a thousand years ago. And now here's David and here's the story. But wait, there's even more. Do you know what happened on Mount Moriah? Do you know what happened on that elevated hill? That is the exact spot. Second Chronicles three tells us where his son, David's son Solomon, builds the temple. The temple is built right there. If you go to Jerusalem today, you'll see the old city, the city of David. And then you'll look up and you'll see the Temple Mount and all of the controversy there. But that's where the temple was built. It's the epicenter of sacrifice For a thousand years after that, sacrifices were made. But the writer of Hebrews tells us, those don't atone for sin. They all point to the day where there would be one sacrifice, and that will be it. Within a few hundred yards of where this temple was built, my king died on a sinner's cross. Yes, with just like within a few hundred yards of this hilltop, Jesus died on the cross. But at that temple, which was built with a holy of holies, with a veil that separated a way for God to say, you can't handle my holiness on the day he died. We are told as Jesus cries out, it's done, it's finished, it's paid in full. The, the, the veil, the curtain in the holy of Holies was torn from the top to the bottom. It's as if God is saying, do you see how I've been thinking about this? You see how I marked a way home for you? The sacrifice has now been paid. This is how you're forgiven. This is how you're restored. I want you to come to me. You can come to me directly. Now, God is saying, this is how you'll be healed. This is how you'll know life with me. It all comes down to this moment where Jesus pays the price. But I'm telling you, it started in Genesis when God said, I'll, there'll be one who crushes the head of evil. And then you get to a thousand years before David and Abraham says, the Lord will provide. And then you get to David and that whole story and the temple is built and it's all pointing to towards Jesus. If this is true, I mean, if God all the way through the story has been saying, you see this, you see this, you see this, I'm, I'm, I'm telling you, I'm marking away. It's Jesus. It's Jesus. I know how much you need him. I know how much it's gonna cost me, but I'm sending him, this is the way He's the way. Do you see how much God has been thinking of you? Do you see how thoughtful this gift really is throughout the ages? If that's true, how much does God love you anyway? How much is he ready for you right now? Would you stand with me? I think the way we're gonna end this is, uh, Thomas, if you would just keep, just keep filling the room and it'll fill all of our rooms. But in just a moment, I'm gonna ask and, and sights you, you do as God leads, as the spirit directs you. But uh, I'd like to pray for people down here and pray over them. And there'll be a moment. We'll just turn the mic off and, and we'll pray. And, and I might need the help from some of our pastors here, but then as everybody else is leaving, because we're just gonna leave in a second. But if you wanna linger and you wanna say, no, wait, I'd like you to pray for me. I'd like you to pray for us. Come on, let's do that. You see, I, I can't help but think that there's some people here who do long for healing. Maybe it's a physical healing. Maybe it's a, a relational healing. Maybe it's reconciling. Maybe it's reuniting. Some of you're needing wisdom on something. It's like I'm right at a really key moment in my life. Some of you're, like I said, are at the pinnacle of things and you don't, you don't want lose perspective. Some of you are at a place where you're going, I wonder if God really sees me. Some of you may be just in a moment of gratitude where you're like, I, I just, I just wanna, I just wanna thank him. Some of you have such a specific prayer request. You won't even say it out loud, but the Lord knows. I'm wondering what it would be like for us to, to, to come to this Jesus, this God who has thought of us all the way through. Is there anyone here who longs for an unfiltered, unvarnished, undeniable presence of the glorious king of kings and Lord of lords? Is there anybody who wants to see the, the, the glory of Jesus land? Look on your life. And I'm gonna say, come on down front in just a second, service will be over. We'll all stand here. We'll pray. But now, as you leave here, father, may, may, may we not just be informed. I don't want to, God, please. We don't want to just have learned a couple of details about a Bible story. Whatever the truth is that's supposed to stick to our hearts, that's supposed to begin to transform us. Lord, may we remember that now in this moment, we ask this in the name of Jesus. Amen.