61 And David got together all the fighting-men of Israel to the number of thirty thousand; 2 And David, and all the people who were with him, went to Baal of Judah to get the ark of God, over which the holy name is named, the name of the Lord of armies, whose place is between the winged ones. 3 And they put the ark of God on a new cart and took it out of the house of Abinadab which was on the hill: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were the drivers of the cart. 4 And Uzzah went by the side of the ark, while Ahio went before it. 5 And David and all the men of Israel made melody before the Lord with all their power, with songs and with corded instruments and instruments of brass.
6 And when they came to Nacon's grain-floor, Uzzah put his hand on the ark of God to keep it safe in its place, for the oxen were out of control. 7 And the wrath of the Lord, burning against Uzzah, sent destruction on him because he had put his hand on the ark, and death came to him there by the ark of God. 8 And David was angry because of the Lord's outburst of wrath against Uzzah: and he gave that place the name Perez-uzzah, which is its name to this day. 9 And such was David's fear of the Lord that day, that he said, How may I let the ark of God come to me? 10 So David did not let the ark of the Lord come back to him to the town of David: but had it turned away and put into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 11 And the ark of the Lord was in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months: and the Lord sent a blessing on Obed-edom and all his family.
12 And they said to King David, The blessing of the Lord is on the family of Obed-edom and on all he has, because of the ark of God. And David went and took the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the town of David with joy. 13 And when those who were lifting the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he made an offering of an ox and a fat young beast. 14 And David, clothed in a linen ephod, was dancing before the Lord with all his strength. 15 So David and all the men of Israel took up the ark of the Lord with cries of joy and sounding of horns. 16 And when the ark of the Lord came into the town of David, Michal, Saul's daughter, looking out of the window, saw King David dancing and jumping before the Lord; and to her mind he seemed foolish. 17 And they took in the ark of the Lord, and put it in its place inside the tent which David had put up for it: and David made burned offerings and peace-offerings to the Lord. 18 And after David had made the burned offerings and the peace-offerings, he gave the people a blessing in the name of the Lord of armies. 19 And he gave to every man and woman among all the people, among all the masses of Israel, a cake of bread and a measure of wine and a cake of dry grapes. Then all the people went away, every man to his house.
20 Then David came back to give a blessing to his family. And Michal, Saul's daughter, came out to him and said, How full of glory was the king of Israel today, who let himself be seen uncovered by his servant-girls like a foolish person uncovering himself without shame! 21 And David said to Michal, I was dancing before the Lord, who put me over your father and all his sons, to make me a ruler over the people of the Lord, over his people Israel: and I will go on playing before the Lord; 22 And I will do even worse than this, and make myself even lower in your eyes: but the servant-girls of whom you were talking will give me honour. 23 And Michal, Saul's daughter, had no child till the day of her death.
71 Now when the king was living in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from war on every side; 2 The king said to Nathan the prophet, See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God is housed inside the curtains of a tent. 3 And Nathan said to the king, Go and do whatever is in your heart; for the Lord is with you.
4 Now that night the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying, 5 Go and say to my servant David, The Lord says, Are you to be the builder of a house, a living-place for me? 6 For from the day when I took the children of Israel up out of Egypt till this day, I have had no house, but have gone from place to place in a tent. 7 In all the places where I went with all the children of Israel, did I ever say to any of the judges of Israel, to whom I gave the care of my people Israel, Why have you not made me a house of cedar? 8 Then say these words to my servant David, The Lord of armies says, I took you from the fields, from keeping the sheep, so that you might be a ruler over my people, over my people Israel: 9 And I have been with you wherever you went, cutting off before you all those who were against you; and I will make your name great, like the name of the greatest ones of the earth. 10 And I will make a resting-place for my people Israel, planting them there, so that they may be living in the place which is theirs, and never again be moved; and never again will they be troubled by evil men as they were at the first, 11 From the time when I put judges over my people Israel; and I will give you peace from all who are against you. And the Lord says to you that he will make you the head of a line of kings. 12 And when the time comes for you to go to rest with your fathers, I will put in your place your seed after you, the offspring of your body, and I will make his kingdom strong. 13 He will be the builder of a house for my name, and I will make the seat of his authority certain for ever. 14 I will be to him a father and he will be to me a son: if he does wrong, I will give him punishment with the rod of men and with the blows of the children of men; 15 But my mercy will not be taken away from him, as I took it from him who was before you. 16 And your family and your kingdom will keep their place before me for ever: the seat of your authority will never be overturned. 17 So Nathan gave David an account of all these words and this vision.
18 Then David the king went in and took his seat before the Lord, and said, Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you have been my guide till now? 19 And this was only a small thing to you, O Lord God; but your words have even been about the far-off future of your servant's family, O Lord God! 20 What more may David say to you? for you have knowledge of your servant, O Lord God. 21 Because of your word and from your heart, you have done all this great work, and let your servant see it. 22 Truly you are great, O Lord God: there is no one like you and no other God but you, as is clear from everything which has come to our ears. 23 And what other nation in the earth, like your people Israel, did a god go out to take for himself, to be his people, and to make a name for himself, and to do great and strange things for them, driving out a nation and its gods from before his people? 24 But you took and made strong for yourself your people Israel, to be your people for ever; and you, Lord, became their God. 25 And now, O Lord God, may the word which you have said about your servant and about his family, be made certain for ever, and may you do as you have said! 26 And let your name be made great for ever, and let men say, The Lord of armies is God over Israel: and let the family of David your servant be made strong before you! 27 For you, O Lord of armies, the God of Israel, have clearly said to your servant, I will make you the head of a family of kings: and so it has come into your servant's heart to make this prayer to you. 28 And now, O Lord God, you are God and your words are true and you have said you will give your servant this good thing; 29 So may it be your pleasure to give your blessing to the family of your servant, so that it may go on for ever before you: (for you, O Lord God, have said it,) and may your blessing be on your servant's family line for ever!
81 And it came about after this that David made an attack on the Philistines and overcame them; and David took the authority of the mother-town from the hands of the Philistines. 2 And he overcame the Moabites, and he had them measured with a line when they were stretched out on the earth; marking out two lines for death and one full line for life. So the Moabites became servants to David and gave him offerings. 3 And David overcame Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to make his power seen by the River. 4 And David took from him one thousand, seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand footmen: and David had the leg-muscles of the horses cut, only keeping enough of them for a hundred war-carriages. 5 And when the Aramaeans of Damascus came to the help of Hadadezer, king of Zobah, David put to the sword twenty-two thousand of the Aramaeans. 6 And David put armed forces in Aram of Damascus: and the Aramaeans became servants to David and gave him offerings. And the Lord made David overcome wherever he went. 7 And David took their gold body-covers from the servants of Hadadezer and took them to Jerusalem. 8 And from Tebah and Berothai, towns of Hadadezer, King David took a great store of brass.
9 And when Tou, king of Hamath, had news that David had overcome all the army of Hadadezer, 10 He sent his son Hadoram to David, with words of peace and blessing, because he had overcome Hadadezer in the fight, for Hadadezer had wars with Tou; and Hadoram took with him vessels of silver and gold and brass: 11 These King David made holy to the Lord, together with the silver and gold which he had taken from the nations he had overcome— 12 The nations of Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon and the Philistines and the Amalekites and the goods he had taken from Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah. 13 And David got great honour for himself, when he came back, by the destruction of Edom in the valley of Salt, to the number of eighteen thousand men. 14 And he put armed forces in Edom; all through Edom he had armed forces stationed, and all the Edomites became servants to David. And the Lord made David overcome wherever he went.
15 And David was king over all Israel, judging and giving right decisions for all his people. 16 And Joab, the son of Zeruiah, was chief of the army; and Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, was keeper of the records; 17 And Zadok and Abiathar, the son of Ahimelech, the son of Ahitub, were priests; and Seraiah was the scribe; 18 And Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David's sons were priests.
151 Now all the tax-farmers and sinners came near to give ear to him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes were angry, saying, This man gives approval to sinners, and takes food with them. 3 And he made a story for them, saying, 4 What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if one of them gets loose and goes away, will not let the ninety-nine be in the waste land by themselves, and go after the wandering one, till he sees where it is? 5 And when he has got it again, he takes it in his arms with joy. 6 And when he gets back to his house, he sends for his neighbours and friends, saying to them, Be glad with me, for I have got back my sheep which had gone away. 7 I say to you that even so there will be more joy in heaven when one sinner is turned away from his wrongdoing, than for ninety-nine good men, who have no need of a change of heart.
8 Or what woman, having ten bits of silver, if one bit has gone from her hands, will not get a light, and go through her house, searching with care till she sees it? 9 And when she has it again, she gets her friends and neighbours together, saying, Be glad with me, for I have got back the bit of silver which had gone from me. 10 Even so, I say to you, There is joy among the angels of God, when one sinner is turned away from his wrongdoing.
(Read Luke 15:1-10)
The parable of the lost sheep is very applicable to the great work of man's redemption. The lost sheep represents the sinner as departed from God, and exposed to certain ruin if not brought back to him, yet not desirous to return. Christ is earnest in bringing sinners home. In the parable of the lost piece of silver, that which is lost, is one piece, of small value compared with the rest. Yet the woman seeks diligently till she finds it. This represents the various means and methods God makes use of to bring lost souls home to himself, and the Saviour's joy on their return to him. How careful then should we be that our repentance is unto salvation!
