God's sovereign actions are always on purpose

 

 

When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.  --Acts 11:23

Robert Byrne said, "The purpose of life is a life of purpose."  Helen Keller said, "True happiness... is not attained through self-gratification, but through fidelity to a worthy purpose."  Benjamine Disreaeli said, "The secret of success is constancy to purpose." And Rick Warren, in his book The Purpose Driven Life, wrote, “Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning, life has no significance or hope.” 

Actor Will Smith said, "Begin each day as if it were on purpose."  According to the Cambridge Dictionary, the phrase "on purpose" means to do something intentionally, not by accident.  Some examples given include:

• Sometimes I suspect she arrives late on purpose just to annoy me.
• I'm convinced he knocked my drink over on purpose.
• Some of these species were introduced to the area on purpose to keep the rodent population down.
• Their coach instructed them to lose the game on purpose.

As I was reading in the book of 1 Chronicles this week, I saw how God had made David king of Israel on purpose.  After the death of Saul, God put it in the heart of the people to make him king.  1 Chronicles 12:38 says, "All these men of war arrayed in battle order came to Hebron with a whole heart to make David king over all Israel. Likewise, all the rest of Israel were of a single mind to make David king."

This is the life

This unity of mind within an entire country is a rare thing. I believe this national unity was by divine decree of a sovereign God, as it was His will that David be crowned king of Israel.  I think David, having struggled against Saul all those years, breathed a sigh of relief.  I think he may have thought, "This is going to be a piece of cake!"  I believe David saw the unity of the people, and then sought the will of the people in the next step, instead of his seeking the will of God.

David consulted with the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with every leader.  And David said to all the assembly of Israel, "If it seems good to you and from the Lord our God, let us send abroad to our brothers who remain in all the lands of Israel, as well as to the priests and Levites in the cities that have pasturelands, that they may be gathered to us.  Then let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul."  All the assembly agreed to do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.  --1 Chronicles 13:1-4

David's heart was in the right place, but as we will see later in the story, the planning and execution left something to be desired.  God did not ordain that Israel be a democracy, with the will of the people being superior to the will of God.  Instead, I believe God wanted David to be a leader.

This is the lesson

Comedian George Carlin said, "I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, 'Where's the self-help section?' She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose."  Friedrich Nietzsche said, "To forget one's purpose is the commonest form of stupidity."  My biggest fear growing up was to have the following conversation with my father:

 

Dad: Did you do that? 

Me: Yes. 

Dad: On purpose?  

David gathered all of Israel together to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.  He failed to instruct the people that only the Levites could transport the Ark.  By God's decree, the tribe of Levi were charged with the care and transport of the Ark of God, and no one else could touch it.

And they carried the Ark of God on a new cart, from the house of Abinadab, and Uzzah and Ahio were driving the cart.  And David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, with song and lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets.  And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the Ark, for the oxen stumbled.  And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and He struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark, and he died there before God.  And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah.  And that place is called Perez-uzza to this day.  And David was afraid of God that day and he said, "How can I bring the Ark of God home to me?"  So David did not take the ark home into the city of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.  --1 Chronicles 13:7-13

Here we see the series of emotions going through David's mind.  Anger that God would take the life of Uzzah, who was just trying to keep the Ark from tumbling to the ground when the oxen stumbled.  Frustration that things were not going according to plan.  Embarrassment that this happened on his watch.  And fear.  Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."

David pressed pause in his pursuit of bringing the Ark to Jerusalem.  He had the Ark taken to the nearby house of this random man, this man from Gath (that's what Gittite means).  "And the Ark of God remained with the household of Obed-edom in his house three months.  And the Lord blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that he had." (verse 14)

This is the legacy 

John F. Kennedy said, "Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction."  Rick Warren writes, "You weren't put on earth to be remembered. You were put here to prepare for eternity.”

Realizing that God had given them directions that were to be followed, David learned his lesson.  He also stepped up and began to lead.  "Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry the Ark of the Lord and to minister to Him forever." (1 Chronicles 15:2).  

Then David summoned the priests of Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab, and said to them, "You are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites.  Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the Ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it.  Because you did not carry it the first time, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not seek Him according to the rule."   So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the Ark of the Lord, the God of Israel.  And the Levites carried the Ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord. --1 Chronicles 15:11-15

 David didn't stop there.  Having an appreciation of music, David appointed musicians to accompany the Ark on its journey.  "David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy." (verse 16).  American singer/songwriter Michael Franti writes, "Music is sunshine. Like sunshine, music is a powerful force that can instantly and almost chemically change your entire mood. Music gives us new energy and a stronger sense of purpose."

David had a new sense of purpose, and that was to give glory to God.  David wrote a song that was no doubt performed on the trip to Jerusalem.  You can read it in 1 Chronicles 16:8-36.  The highlight of this song is in verse 34: "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His steadfast love endures forever."

One of the musicians named and appointed by David was a fellow named Heman.  "With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and expressly named to give thanks to the Lord, for His steadfast love endures forever."  I want us to take note of the phrase, "For His steadfast love endures forever."  This was the purpose that drove David to promote Heman to singer.  Of note, Heman is mentioned a few more times in Scripture, and at one point he was called "the king's seer."  There is a quality of good music that leads one to worship as would a prophet of God.  A prophet not only foretells what God is going to do; a prophet will forthtell the Gospel, the good news of God to all people.  Heman is also listed as an author of Psalm 88 (which is a mournful Psalm, but that's another story).

God's purpose was fulfilled in David, who found a new sense of purpose after an initial failure.  Other Bible heroes exhibited that same sense of godly purpose.  1 Kings 5:5 says,  "And, behold, I (Solomon) purpose to build a house for the name of Jehovah my God, as Jehovah spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build the house for my name." (ASV)  Daniel 1:8 says, "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's dainties, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself."

Ruth 1:16-18 says,  "But Ruth said, 'Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you.  For wherever you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge.  Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried.  May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.'  And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more. " (Wycliffe translation of verse 18 says, "Therefore Naomi saw, that Ruth had deemed with steadfast soul to go with her, and so she would not be against her, nor further counsel her to return to her own people.")

May we have that same dedication, that same drive, that same godly purpose in our daily lives.