Broken Before the Lord

Introduction

A. The trivial often keeps us from seeing the significant. All we have to do is go on a picnic and the crawling ants can ruin a perfectly good outing. The hard part is deciding what is trivial and what is significant. At the time, the trivial can seem so important. I read a story about a family trip and to keep the youngest traveler occupied, the mother encouraged the child to find license plates from different states. The child became so engrossed with finding the different states that at a restaurant outside of Yellowstone National Park, the child didn’t want to eat but wanted to walk among the cars trying to find a license plate from Delaware because it was the last state needed. The mother recounting the story told that a picture of a license plate from Delaware occupies the scrapbook from their trip to Yellowstone and it is the story that is told most often about that particular vacation.

B. The trivial often keeps us from seeing the significant.

1. The argument over petty things keeps us from seeing the beauty of the relationship.

2. The rain at what we think is the wrong time can keep us from seeing God nourish the earth.

3. The crying baby in the middle of the night keeps us from seeing that our time is so limited in raising this child.

4. The daily events can keep us from seeing that this world is not our home and that we are heading to a better place.

C. The trivial can keep us from seeing the significant. Our study time this morning will demonstrate this truth. We must realize that our failure to see the significant clearly doesn’t keep God from being God. Let’s be encouraged.

The Text

A. After capturing the ark of the covenant, the Philistines must have believed that they were extremely powerful. The idea, of course, is that their god, Dagon, had to be more powerful than the god of Israel. So putting the ark of the covenant next to Dagon’s statue recognized two things. Dagon was believed to be greater and the ark was seen as a holy object. After all, even lesser gods need to be treated with some dignity.

B. Finding Dagon face down before the ark must have produced curiosity. How did that happen? Can you see the irony of this situation. Not only is Dagon face down on the ground but men must pick it up in order to set it in place. The next morning not only is the statue again toppled but now the symbols of power, the hands, and the symbol of thought, the head, are broken off. The great Dagon has been dismantled. Did they see the significant?

C. God afflicts the people of Ashdod with an illness. They move the ark. That city is afflicted with illness. They move the ark. That city is afflicted with illness and they want to return it to Israel. Did they understand the significant? They treated the ark as Israel had. It was superstitious. It was bringing bad luck. Send it away to the next major city. Eventually they send it back to Israel with attempts to placate the god of Israel. They want nothing to do with the ark, but they do not acknowledge the true God. The trivial keeps them from seeing the significant.

Application

A. One of the great challenges we have is to keep things in perspective. We have to work hard not to focus on the trivial instead of looking at the significant.

1. Your car breaks down. It is inconvenient but it wasn’t a catastrophe.

2. We work hard to get ahead and realize that we have left our family behind.

3. We go to college to get an education but spend more time socializing rather than accomplishing what we set out to do.

4. Or we get so caught up in just living that we forget to think about being with God forever.

5. Keeping things in perspective is never easy. What seems significant today appears trivial with the passing of time. How do we keep focused on the significant rather than trivial.

B. Let me suggest a couple of things.

1. First, start every day face down before the Father. There is no doubt who put Dagon on his face each morning. There is no doubt where the illness came from. Before the day begins make a conscious attempt to remember who brought this day to you and for whom you are living this day. Throughout the day, we have to remind ourselves that God is working. We have to offer brief times of prayer that just reminds us that God is present. This means each day is lived with intentionality.

   a. The opportunity to see the hand of God at work was ignored by the Philistines. We, too, can get so caught up in the routine of living that we miss the opportunities to see the significant.

   b. But when we are looking at each day with our hearts in tune with God then we see the trivial for what it truly is.

2. Second, do something for someone else every day. To keep things in perspective we take the time to see others and what they need. When we serve another we are investing in the life of another. We are strengthening a bond; serving one less fortunate; or committing ourselves to realizing that being unselfish is a reflection of who God is.

   a. Find out what is going on with co-workers and pray for them. Check back with them regularly for updates.

   b. Remember a birthday with a small gift.

   c. Give of yourself. This keeps things in perspective.

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