TD Jakes - The Raiders of the Lost Ark
How in the world did the children of God be silent from God for 20 years and nobody go looking for him? If you don't hear from your daughter, you ought to call the Missing Persons. How could God be gone for 20 years and nobody go looking for him? How could God be gone from your life? How could Saul be anointed by God and then not seek the heart of God? But he did, and God said, "I've rejected him. I've found a guy that prioritizes me".
That's what it's about. It's about priority. "I found a guy that values me. I found a guy who will put me first. I found a guy that won't be satisfied to have position without presence. I have found a guy who is after my heart. I have found a guy who writes poetry to me, who sings songs on the mountaintops to me, who dances around when nobody is looking, in my presence. I have found a guy who will date me. He flirts with me. He blows me kisses. I'm gonna make him king 'cause he is after my heart".
In my text today we are watching David go after God's heart. He has been king of Judah and now Israel. He has been anointed three times. He has been anointed by Samuel and told he was gonna be king. He's been anointed by Judah, because Judah and Israel have now split. They have separated one from another. The people got a falling out. Without God to hold 'em together they fell apart. Without God to hold the family together it falls apart. Without God to hold the church together it falls apart. Without God to hold the marriage together it falls apart. Children of Israel fallen apart from Judah. They've all gone in their own way.
Now David has been anointed king over Judah. Six years later, he's anointed king over Israel. This is a part of his first act of leadership as king of Israel. With 30,000 people behind him, he now says, "I'm going down there to give the glory. I'm going after God's heart. I'm gonna chase it down. I'm gonna get it. I'm gonna move every stronghold. I'm gonna tear down every idol. I'm gonna get rid of the Jebusites. I'm gonna bring back the glory of the Lord". And when he got the Ark of the Covenant, they brought it to him on a new cart, and he said, "Good. Okay, we're gonna ride it in".
Now, you gotta understand, you can go about the right thing the wrong way. You would think that if you do the right thing you wouldn't have any hiccups. I'm gonna help somebody today. You would think that if your heart was in the right place, you wouldn't have any problems. You would think that if you meant well everything would go right. That's what's wrong with your marriage. You thought if you meant well everything would go right. You're still gonna have problems. You thought if you was in love you wouldn't have any problems. You're still gonna have problems. You thought if you had a degree you can get on the job. Everything will go good. You're still gonna have problems. Problems strengthen you. Problems perfect you. Problems empower you. Problems build up a relationship.
My wife and I are not stronger today because everything went right for 35 years. We're stronger today because of the things that went wrong, and we chose to ride over top of 'em and hold it together anyway. Somebody ought to shout in this place right now. We're together 'cause she got used to living with this crazy guy up here. She figured out a way to live with this crazy guy. I figured out a way to live with her. I know she making faces behind my back. I know it. I know her. I know it. I know it right now. I'm gonna say she took the whole show. You're facing... all y'all are looking at her. Nobody looking at me. The blood of Jesus. Relationships have dysfunctions. They have problems. They go through tight places. Ministries go through tight places. Businesses go through tight places. You're not gonna build a business and not have a problem. You're gonna have a problem.
David is trying to bring back the ark, but he don't know how to bring it back. It's been gone for so long. He hasn't even experienced the heart of God in his life. God has been gone since he was a baby. He doesn't know all the protocol and the routine, so he saw them bringing him on a cart. He said, "Good. Let's get a cart". He hired a couple of them to drive the cart. They drive the cart. Ahio gets behind it. He starts cracking the whip. The oxen start going forward. The cart starts moving. It does real good. It's working real good. It's secular, but it's working real good. It's secular, but it's working. Y'all didn't hear that. It's secular, but it's working real good. You can go so far in your own way and it will work real good for a while, but sooner or later the ox is gonna trip.
They got to the threshing floor Ornan, and the ox tripped. Somebody in this room is in the tripping place. Yeah, your life is tripping right now. It was good a minute ago, but the ox tripped, and now everything is going crazy and all of a sudden there is disruption. David is trying to reconcile Judah to Israel. He's trying to reconcile God to his people. He's trying to reconcile the Ark of the Covenant back to Zion. He's trying to reconcile all of this stuff. Do you really think the devil is gonna let you reconcile without fighting you somewhere in your life? Slap your neighbor and say, "This is a fight". This is a fight. Tell your neighbor, "This is a fight".
Now, a fight will show what you're made of. A fight will show how bad you want it. If you get discouraged and walk away and say, "I can't do it," you were not the man I thought you were. A fight will really prove to the enemy, come hell or high water, "I want this back". Somebody say, "I want it back". Oh, my God. I feel something about to break loose. The devil got nervous when you said "I want it back". Hell got upset when you said, "I want it back". Witches start pacing the floor when I said "I want it back". Sickness started shaking when you said "I want it back". Say it again, "I want it back".
See, some folks are afraid to want. Lemme come down here. Some people are afraid to want, 'cause wanting hurts. Wanting hurts. Wanting is uncomfortable. Wanting is disruptive, so they anesthetize the pain of wanting with apathy. "I don't care. I don't need you anyway. It don't matter to me. I was raised by myself. I'm used to being by myself. My siblings didn't like me. I don't need you to. I don't care". You gotta put the neck in it. It ain't good till you put the neck in it. You gotta put the neck in there for emphasis. "I don't care". Trouble comes to prove, do you care. The ox trips to prove, do you care. The ox tripped, you know? The Ark of the Covenant started sliding off the cart. Uzzah reached out to touch the heart of God. He reached out to save what came to save him, and God got mad.
He said, "I don't need you to save me. You need me to save you," and the Lord killed him right on the spot. The Lord killed Uzzah for trying to save him, because Uzzah trying to save God broke the order. God said, "I don't need your hand to save me. You need my hand". And David threw his hands up. Uzzah put his hands on. God killed him for trying to save him. David threw his hands up and said, "This is too hard. I quit. Take the Ark of the Covenant, which incidentally I was called to bring back, and let me reassign my responsibility to Obed-Edom. There are some responsibilities you cannot reassign. You have the anointing to do this. You cannot reassign this to somebody else. God called you to do this. You have the power to do this. You can't let nobody hurt your feeling so bad that you give up your place. You can't let nobody say anything that makes you give up your place. You can't let nobody around you make you deny what's in you.
I'm gonna tell them. You can't let nobody around you make you deny what's in you. Throw your hands up and say, "I want it back". I don't care if it stumbles. I don't care if it stops. I don't care if I have a setback. I want it back, so David gave up on his assignment. Now, remember this is the day that God chose him and made him king, not because he was kingly. He chose him because he was after his heart. What we are looking at is the loss of purpose. If you lose your purpose, you have lost everything. If you keep your title but you lost your purpose, you have lost everything.
I don't care if they still call you Reverend Dot-dot, reverend, reverend, evangelist, CEO, COO, ABO, CO, DO, IBCDY. I don't care what they call you. It is not your title that gives you power. It's your purpose, when a man has purpose. Oh, my God. I feel the glory of the Lord. When a woman has purpose... I want every woman of purpose to make some noise in this house. Every man that's got purpose, make some noise. You cannot reassign purpose. There are certain I can teach. I can train. I can talk. I can help accentuate what God gave you. I cannot give you what God gave me.
I remember a guy told me, he said, "I made you who you are. If you hadn't preached for me, you wouldn't have been nobody. I made Jakes who he is. Now he won't even come preach for me. I made him who he is". So, they come back and told me what he said, and I said, "Good. If you made one, make another". If I can make one cake, I can make another one. If I can make one house, I can make another. If you made me, and now I'm acting up, make another me. The truth of the matter is, except the Lord build the house, they that labor, labor but in vain. Didn't nobody make you but the Lord. Somebody give him a praise right now.
Touch three people and say, "I got something. I got something". You can imitate it, but you can't duplicate it. I got something. I am uniquely made. I am wondrously made. I am fearfully made. I am in a category all by myself. For the next three minutes, somebody give him praise. Sit down for a minute and let me show you something. I'm almost where I wanna be. I feel the anointing of the Holy Ghost in this place. Shout, "Yes"! I want you to see that he who came to reconcile has now been separated. He who came to make the connection has now been dislodged. He has sent the Ark of the Covenant into the house of Obed-Edom and now he is separated from his purpose, and so what the Bible says that the Lord blessed the house of Obed-Edom.
God said, "Whether you want it or not, I am who I am. I'm not gonna stop being me because you stopped being you. If you won't let me bless you, I'll bless him". Look at your neighbor and say, "If you don't want it, I want it". For three months God blessed the house of Obed-Edom. Hallelujah to God. Every now and then, God will give you somebody else's blessing. Let me prove it to you. He said, "I'll give you houses that you didn't build. I'll give you vineyards that you didn't grow".
Somebody right now is standing in somebody else's blessing. Shout, "Yes," unto God. Touch your neighbor and say, "You got three months". You don't have time to be cute. You don't have time to worry about what you got on. You got three months to get this together. You got three months. Who am I talking to? At the end of three months, 'cause, see, when something is really yours, you get tired of somebody else walking around in something that was meant for you. Touch your neighbor and say, "I'm sick of this". I'm sick of not having my peace. I'm sick of not having my joy. I'm sick of not walking in my wisdom. I'm sick of not waking in my wealth. I'm sick of not walking in my peace. Enough is enough. Throw your hands up and say, "I want it back".
So, the Bible said that David walked over to Obed-Edom's house and started knocking at the door. Knocking at the door is a disruption. If you want the glory back you gotta disrupt some stuff. I wanna hear disruption in this house. Everybody in this church that's ever lost something that you knew belonged to you, I want you to disrupt this room right now. Disrupt the room. Let it go. Disrupt the room. Disrupt the room. Disrupt the room. Disrupt the room. Disrupt the room. Disrupt the room. Disrupt the room. Disrupt. Disrupt the room. Disrupt the room. Disrupt the room. Disrupt the room. Disrupt the atmosphere. Disrupt the place. Disrupt the place. Disrupt the place. Disrupt the place. Whatever it takes.
David got to dancing. David went to dancing with all of his might. Let the dancers dance. Let the doubters doubt. Tell your neighbor, "Whatever it takes. Whatever it takes, I want the glory back". Somebody give him a praise. Somebody give him a praise. Yeah. Yeah. Praise him. Praise him. Praise him. Go ahead. Praise him. Go ahead. Praise him. Go ahead. Praise him. Come out of your flesh. Come out of yourself. Come out. Come out wherever you are.