2 Sam. 6: “David Brings The Ark To Jerusalem: The Lesson Of Doing God’s Will God’s Way”

By

Jim Bomkamp

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1. INTRO:

1.1. In our last study, we looked at chapters 4 and 5 of 2 Samuel. In that study, we saw in chapter 4 how that Ishbosheth, the only remaining son of King Saul and the one who had been made king over all of the tribes of Israel after the death of King Saul, was murdered. Then, in chapter 5 we saw that with Ishbosheth having been murdered that all of the tribes of Israel came together and made David to be king over all Israel. A glorious day began then for Israel as God’s man was finally placed upon the throne to rule over His people!

1.1.1. We saw then also that upon being made king over all of the tribes of Israel, David immediately took his army and captured the city of Jerusalem.

1.1.2. Next, when the Philistines heard that David had been made king over all Israel they immediately mounted an offensive against Israel and David and his army had two great victories in battle over the Philistines.

1.2. In our study today, we are going to look at chapter 6 of 2 Samuel and the story of how David came to bring the Ark of God into Jerusalem. We are just going to cover just this chapter in this study for there is a crucial lesson to be learned in this story, namely that of the importance of doing God’s will God’s way.

1.2.1. O what a glorious story it was that we looked at in our last study as we saw how King David, God’s man, the man who was after His own heart, was placed upon the throne to reign over all Israel. We saw the humble submission that all of the hundreds of thousands of fighting men of Israel displayed as they came to David with a perfect heart and admitted that he was the man whom the Lord had called to reign over them, and, then they vowed to serve and submit to David as their king. David truly was the greatest king to ever rule upon the earth.

1.2.2. We saw also how that there were so many parallels of Jesus in David as a type of Christ coming to the throne to reign over God’s people.

1.2.3. We will see in our study that just after taking up reigning over all 12 tribes of Israel as king, and having captured the city of Jerusalem for his capitol, King David now desires more than anything in life to finally have the Lord’s presence be among His people. The Lord’s presence had been lacking throughout the reign of King Saul since King Saul had been seeking to build his own kingdom instead of the Lord’s. However, the Lord told Moses that His dwelling among them would be between the cherubim on the Mercy Seat of the Ark of God, and, the Ark of God was located in Keriath-Jearim, just on Israel’s side of their border with the Philistines. So, David determines to bring up the Ark to Jerusalem, his capitol city.

1.2.4. David’s idea of bringing up the Ark of God into Jerusalem so that the presence of the Lord could be among His people could not be more appropriate for God’s people, for the thing that we always need in our lives more than anything is the Lord’s presence. What a difference there is in our every endeavor when the Lord is with us!

1.2.5. David undertakes to have a great celebration and bring the Ark of God into Jerusalem, however he determines to carry the Ark in the manner that the Philistines had carried it when they had stolen it from the tabernacle in Israel, that is, upon a cart. In carrying the Ark in this way, David and his men commit transgressions of God’s law concerning how the Ark was to be transported by the Israelites.

1.2.5.1. How often in history the church has followed the world’s patterns instead of the Lord’s, and as a result the Lord’s work has suffered miserably. It would do well for the church to consider why it was in the building of the tabernacle in Israel and in the worship of the Lord that the Israelites were commanded to do everything “according to the pattern” they had received (Exod. 25:40; Heb. 8:5), God’s pattern.

1.2.6. As a result of David’s sin in not obeying the Lord’s word concerning how the Ark was to be transported, David reaped a horrible consequence: A man named Uzzah is slain by the Lord.

1.2.7. After Uzzah is slain by the Lord David becomes angry and gives up on the Ark project, taking it to a man’s house to store. However, after three months and upon hearing that the man whose house the Ark had been placed in was being greatly blessed, David determines once again to bring the Ark up to Jerusalem. However, this time he transports it according to God’s word, and all goes well.

1.2.8. The transporting of the Ark of God into Jerusalem then turns into a huge and joyous celebration for all the children of Israel and her king.

2. VS 6:1-2 - “¹ Now David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. ² And David arose and went with all the people who were with him to Baale-judah, to bring up from there the ark of God which is called by the Name, the very name of the Lord of hosts who is enthroned above the cherubim.” - David gathers a huge group (30,000) of choice (or chosen) men of Israel to and to go and bring up the Ark from Baale-judah to Jerusalem

2.1. David was a man of great zeal and love for the Lord. Some people criticize virtually every move that David made, however they ought to see instead how that David was a man who had a love for God that surpassed that of the vast majority of God’s people.

2.2. Though David had great zeal for the Lord, on this day he was guilty of having misplaced zeal for the Lord because he didn’t do God’s will God’s way.

2.3. The city called ‘Baale-judah’ here is the same city as “Kiriath-Jearim.”

2.4. The author mentions here the “symbol” that the Ark was to the children of Israel. It symbolized the very presence of the Lord Almighty Himself, since it is ‘called by the Name of the Lord of hosts.’

2.5. It might be good just to reiterate the importance of the Ark of the Lord in the life of Israel. The Ark was really the center piece of the entire nation of Israel as well as their worship of the Lord, for it was to reside in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle and was the very place where Jehovah said that He would dwell. The mercy seat on the top of the Ark was the place where the blood of atonement for the nation was poured out once a year by the high priest to make atonement for the sins of the nation of the past year. The Ark also contained the tablets upon which the Lord had written the Ten Commandments, and thus the Ark is often referred to as “The Ark of the Covenant” (the Old Covenant was based upon obedience to the Ten Commandments). The Ark also contained a jar with some of the manna that had fallen during the wilderness wanderings of Israel.

2.6. David desired more than anything to have the very presence of the Lord to be in the midst of Israel, and this ought to be the desire of every one of God’s children. What we need most of all is the Lord to be with us for when He is with us we are blessed in all that we do in life.

2.7. This chapter shows us that desiring to have the presence of the Lord with you and actually having His presence with you are two different things. You might have the sincere desire even to have the presence of the Lord in your midst, however if you don’t follow the Lord’s injunctions from scripture regarding your life, no matter what religious things you may participate in you will fall short of having the presence of the Lord in your camp.

2.7.1. Many people want the Lord in their life but they try to come to Him upon their own terms. Then, soon the Lord ends up not meeting their expectations or they experience some trials in their life and they end up becoming bitter or disillusioned with God. Many times these people will say things like they tried out the “God-thing” but it just didn’t work for them. However, they never gave the Lord a fair shot because they never came to the Lord on His terms, and a person will never find the Lord in his life until he comes to the Lord on His terms.

2.8. In the church today, there is a tremendous amount of work for the Lord that is done in the flesh (the old sinful nature), for so many Christians today are living their life in the flesh rather that allowing the Lord to be Lord in their life and trusting Him by faith to live in and through them.

3. VS 6:3-4 - “³ They placed the ark of God on a new cart that they might bring it from the house of Abinadab which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were leading the new cart. ⁴ So they brought it with the ark of God from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Ahio was walking ahead of the ark.” - The men of Israel place the Ark upon a cart and attempt to move it from the house of Abinadab, who had been taking care of it for Israel, to Jerusalem.

3.1. The Philistines had placed the Ark on a cart drawn by donkeys when they had brought it back to Israel, and now David decides to transport the Ark to Jerusalem and he determines to use the same method that the Philistines had used by carrying the Ark upon a cart. David imitated the world in his religion.

3.2. David consulted with the people about the Ark instead of the Lord. In 1 Chron. 13:1-7, we read about how that David consulted with his leaders about what he should do concerning bringing up the Ark to Jerusalem and as a result of that consultation he decided to bring up the Ark upon a cart, “¹ Then David consulted with the captains of the thousands and the hundreds, even with every leader. ² David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if it is from the Lord our God, let us send everywhere to our kinsmen who remain in all the land of Israel, also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their cities with pasture lands, that they may meet with us; ³ and let us bring back the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul.” ⁴ Then all the assembly said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. ⁵ So David assembled all Israel together, from the Shihor of Egypt even to the entrance of Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. ⁶ David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim, which belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, the Lord who is enthroned above the cherubim, where His name is called. ⁷ They carried the ark of God on a new cart from the house of Abinadab, and Uzza and Ahio drove the cart.”

3.2.1. These verses from 1 Chronicles remind me of the way many church board meetings are handled. Each man shares what seems good in his own eyes (just as this plan seemed good to the men David consulted with), and the board votes on the ideas. However, what the Lord wants ought to be the focus of every church board meeting, shouldn’t it? Shouldn’t every decision be fervently prayed over before a plan is enacted?

3.3. Had David consulted with the Lord about bringing up the Ark to Jerusalem, the Lord would have reminded him of what the Lord had commanded the people was the proper way in which the Ark was to be transported. The Lord had commanded Israel very specifically about how the Ark was to be transported.

3.4. In all, there were four infractions of God’s commandments that were committed by David and the children of Israel in bringing up the Ark to Jerusalem:

3.4.1. They were transporting the Ark on a cart, however in Exod. 25:14-15, we read that the Ark was only to be carried by men holding poles that extended through rings on the sides of the Ark, “¹⁴ “You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark with them. ¹⁵ “The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it.”

3.4.2. They were transporting the Ark upon a cart led by two brothers named Uzzah and Ahio, however the Ark was only to be transported by being “carried” by men, namely by the the Levites ( households of the Kohathite familes ), as seen in Num. 3:30-31 and 7:9,“ ³⁰ and the leader of the fathers’ households of the Kohathite families was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. ³¹ Now their duties involved the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the utensils of the sanctuary with which they minister, and the screen, and all the service concerning them…⁹ But he did not give any to the sons of Kohath because theirs was the service of the holy objects, which they carried on the shoulder.”

3.4.3. They transported the Ark out in the open where people could look into it, however the Ark was to be covered before it was transported because no one was to look into it, as seen in Num. 4:15, “¹⁵When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them, so that they will not touch the holy objects and die. These are the things in the tent of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.”

3.4.3.1. Don’t forget the story we already read about in 1 Sam. 6:19-7:1 that occurred when the Ark had first returned from the Philistines into Israel when many of the men of Beth-shemesh looked into the Ark and as a result many were slain by the Lord, “¹⁹ He struck down some of the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the Lord. He struck down of all the people, 50,070 men, and the people mourned because the Lord had struck the people with a great slaughter. ²⁰ The men of Beth-shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? And to whom shall He go up from us?” ²¹ So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord; come down and take it up to you.” ¹ And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took the ark of the Lord and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord.”

3.4.4. Uzzah touched the Ark to keep it from falling to the ground and was slain by the Lord, however it was expressly forbidden for anyone to touch the Ark, as seen in Num. 4:15, “¹⁵When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the holy objects and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is to set out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them, so that they will not touch the holy objects and die. These are the things in the tent of meeting which the sons of Kohath are to carry.”

4. VS 6:5-7 - “⁵ Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all kinds of instruments made of fir wood, and with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets and cymbals. ⁶ But when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset it. ⁷ And the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God.” - As David and all of the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all kinds of instruments, Uzzah reached out and touched the Ark to steady it and keep it from falling to the ground and was slain by the Lord for his irreverence

4.1. The irony in this story is incredible. Here we see a huge assembly of God’s people gathered together with the best of intentions who are involved in a grandiose act of serving and worshipping the Lord which utilizes a magnificent conglomeration of finely made musical instruments, and they end up invoking the fierce wrath of God against them.

4.2. Arthur Pink writes, “There seem to be a great many in Christendom today who are desirous of doing good, but they are exceedingly lax and careless in the mode and manner in which their desires are carried out. They act as though the means used and the methods employed mattered little or nothing, so long as their aim and end is right. They are creatures of impulse, following the dictates of mere whim and sentiment, or imitating the example of others. They seem to have no concern for God’s standard, study not His word diligently to discover what laws and rules the Lord has given for the regulation of our conduct in His “service.” Consequently, they are governed by the flesh, rather than the Spirit, so that it frequently happens that they do good things in a wrong way; yea, in a manner directly opposed to God’s way as revealed in His word.”

4.2.1. The “end does not justify the means” when you are doing ministry and serving the Lord. How we go about what we do means everything.

4.3. Some would say that this was a trifle here and that there should have been no problem carrying the Ark upon a cart instead of by hand, for after all it would make for expediency. Besides, the motive for what the children of Israel were doing in the first place was love for God. However, remember that the Lord tells us in John 14:15, “If you love Me keep My commandments.”

4.4. Arthur Pink again says, “…sooner or later all effort on the part of the “church,” or of the individual Christian, which is not strictly according to the word of the Lord will prove a failure: it will be but “wood, hay, stubble” (1 Cor. 3:12) in the day of divine testing and reward. God has magnified His Word above all His name (Psa. 138:2), and He demands that His servants shall do all things according to the plan and manner which He has prescribed.”

4.5. In our day however, there are so many churches who have so little concern that many of the things that are involved in their worship and service of the Lord contradict the clear teaching of the scriptures. Some are innocent in doing this and yet many are aware that what they are doing goes against scripture, and yet they believe that God is pleased with them and will not judge them for this. But I say that though they may not realize it at this point in time, one day as they stand before the Lord’s Bema Seat of judgment to receive their rewards for works done in this life that those works done for the Lord will not last but be burned up by the fires of God’s righteous judgment as they are revealed for what they are, works of the fles.

4.6. We should not assume that because Uzzah was slain by the Lord on this day for touching the Ark that he did not make it into heaven. He was no more guilty than anyone else on that day, even the man after God’s own heart, King David.

4.7. Note here that not following what the scripture says in our life is to show great “irreverence” towards the Lord.

4.8. I’m not sure who first came up with this saying, but it is a good one that is filled with truth, “He who does God’s will God’s way shall never lack God’s blessing.” Likewise, we as God’s people will never have His blessing as long as we are doing things that are contrary to what His word clearly tells us to do.

5. VS 6:8-10 - “⁸ David became angry because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah, and that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day. ⁹ So David was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” ¹⁰ And David was unwilling to move the ark of the Lord into the city of David with him; but David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite.” - David became angry, called off the celebration and took the Ark and moved it to the house of Obed-edom

5.1. We see that David was angry however we aren’t told why he was angry on this day :

5.1.1. It could be that David was angry with himself because he should have known better than to carry the Ark about in this way, and his careless actions had brought about the death of a man.

5.1.2. He could have been angry with the Lord for slaying Uzzah instead of honoring the Israelite’s hearts’ desire to serve and worship the Lord, regardless of the fact that they weren’t following God’s commands concerning the carrying of the Ark.

5.1.3. It could be that David was angry just because the Lord did not allow him to have his way in this situation, after all he was worshipping the Lord with great fervor.

5.2. Not only was David angry because of what happened with Uzzah, he also became ‘afraid of the Lord.’ He gained a new respect for the Lord. Now fear of the Lord can sometimes cause people to do wrong things. For instance, they sometimes can give up even trying to walk with and please the Lord because they are afraid of what He might do with them.

5.3. Have you ever wondered, “How am I ever going to be able to please the Lord and be the person He wants me to be?” “How am I ever going to have pure enough motives?” “I find that it seems like no matter which direction I turn I end up doing something that does not please the Lord, how will I ever get it right?” Well, I think that this was the place where David was at, and perhaps some of the thoughts that David had, when he said, ‘How can the ark of the Lord come to me?’

5.3.1. Fortunately, David allowed the Lord to take these thoughts away from him and got over that fear of the Lord that moved him to inaction.

6. VS 6:11-12a - “¹¹ Thus the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household. ¹² Now it was told King David, saying, “The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, on account of the ark of God.”” - The Ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom for three months and its presence brought a blessing to the house of Obed-edom

6.1. Some good results came about for David during this three months when the Ark of God remained in the house of Obed-edom :

6.1.1. David studied the scriptures and realized where he had gone wrong in seeking to bring up the Ark to Jerusalem on a cart.

6.1.2. David also learned a very important lesson about the holiness of the Lord and the importance of giving the Lord proper reverence, reverence that seeks to obey every word of God.

6.2. It is interesting to note here how that the Lord blessed the house of Obed-edom because the Ark was there at his house. We need to realize that the Lord does in fact bless His people. The blessing of the Lord is truly a reality in His peoples’ lives. We see this fact portrayed in the stories of God’s people all throughout the scriptures :

6.2.1. Abraham was blessed greatly by the Lord as was his son Isaac.

6.2.2. Jacob was blessed by the Lord and his livestock multiplied greatly, and even his uncle Laban was greatly blessed because of Jacob being with him.

6.2.3. Joseph, though he got into trouble a couple of times and had his trials (as do all of God’s people), always experienced the Lord’s blessing such that he was always being promoted wherever he went.

6.2.4. Etc., etc.

6.3. God’s blessing on our lives is not always material. Rather, sometimes He just blesses in an unmistakable way the things our hands touch.

6.4. We Christians need to pray that the Lord will so bless our lives that others will see His hand on our lives and then inquire why it is that we seem to always be being blessed. We can then make the best use of that opportunity and share with them about the One who blesses His people.

7. VS 6:12b-15 - “David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the city of David with gladness. ¹³ And so it was, that when the bearers of the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. ¹⁴ And David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod. ¹⁵ So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouting and the sound of the trumpet.” - David went and had the Ark taken from the house of Obed-edom into Jerusalem (the city of David) and this time they followed what the scriptures taught concerning the transporting of the Ark

7.1. This was a great time of celebrating for ‘all the house of Israel’ on this day as they again began to bring up the Ark of the Lord into the city of Jerusalem. There is great satisfaction in a person’s life whenever he/she finally begins to serve and worship the Lord honoring the Lord’s will in every area of his life.

7.2. There had been no sacrificing to the Lord when they previously had attempted to bring the Ark into Jerusalem, however this time they made the first sacrifice after they had gone only six paces.

7.2.1. David had realized that God is holy and He needs to be served and worshipped in His holiness. We as people are sinners and it is only through the atonement of Christ’s blood over our sins that we can ever be pleasing to the Lord.

7.2.1.1. A person once remarked concerning this story with Uzzah that when Uzzah attempted to keep the Ark from falling to the ground that he was concerned that the Ark not get dirty by falling to the earth, however Uzzah was in error because he thought that his own hand was cleaner than the dirt under his feet, yet that is not the case for sinful people such as you and me!

7.3. David humbled himself before the Lord as he worshipped, for we read that he took off his kingly robes in order to worship the Lord in his linen ephod, the clothing which the common people were wearing upon this day.

7.4. David’s worship showed great zeal for the Lord for he danced before the Lord in worship with all of his heart. Many fault David too greatly for his weaknesses, however they ought to also consider his great zeal and love for the Lord. I doubt there are too many people upon the face of the earth who have the great zeal and love for the Lord as King David had.

7.4.1. We all ought to be challenged by the worship of David and ask ourselves, “What kind of a worshipper am I?” God calls all of us all not only to know Him personally and talk with Him personally but also to worship Him, and yet I think that for some people worship of the Lord is a hard (or abstract) thing to grasp.

7.5. J. Vernon McGee has written that he believes that the greatest thing that David did during his life was what he did in worshipping the Lord on this great day when the Ark of the Lord was taken into Jerusalem to have its proper place as the center of God’s people.

7.6. From the 1 Chron. 15 account of this story, we understand that on this day when the children of Israel brought the Ark into Jerusalem that David had come to understand from the scriptures that for the transporting of the Ark that the Levites had to carry the Ark and that they had to use the poles for carrying it, “¹ Now David built houses for himself in the city of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. ² Then David said, “No one is to carry the ark of God but the Levites; for the Lord chose them to carry the ark of God and to minister to Him forever.” ³ And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to its place which he had prepared for it. ⁴ David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites: ⁵ of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and 120 of his relatives; ⁶ of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and 220 of his relatives; ⁷ of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and 130 of his relatives; ⁸ of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and 200 of his relatives; ⁹ of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, and 80 of his relatives; ¹⁰ of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and 112 of his relatives. ¹¹ Then David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab, ¹² and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ households of the Levites; consecrate yourselves both you and your relatives, that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place that I have prepared for it. ¹³ “Because you did not carry it at the first, the Lord our God made an outburst on us, for we did not seek Him according to the ordinance.” ¹⁴ So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁵ The sons of the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles thereon, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the Lord. ¹⁶ Then David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their relatives the singers, with instruments of music, harps, lyres, loud-sounding cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. ¹⁷ So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel, and from his relatives, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and from the sons of Merari their relatives, Ethan the son of Kushaiah, ¹⁸ and with them their relatives of the second rank, Zechariah, Ben, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom and Jeiel, the gatekeepers. ¹⁹ So the singers, Heman, Asaph and Ethan were appointed to sound aloud cymbals of bronze; ²⁰ and Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah, with harps tuned to alamoth; ²¹ and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel and Azaziah, to lead with lyres tuned to the sheminith. ²² Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was in charge of the singing; he gave instruction in singing because he was skillful. ²³ Berechiah and Elkanah were gatekeepers for the ark. ²⁴ Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah and Eliezer, the priests, blew the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah also were gatekeepers for the ark. ²⁵ So it was David, with the elders of Israel and the captains over thousands, who went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-edom with joy. ²⁶ Because God was helping the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. ²⁷ Now David was clothed with a robe of fine linen with all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the singing with the singers. David also wore an ephod of linen. ²⁸ Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with sound of the horn, with trumpets, with loud-sounding cymbals, with harps and lyres.”

7.6.1. Notice here that David made sure not only that the priests carried the Ark, but that they also were ceremonially “consecrated” before they did this. They had to bathe and put on new hands thus removing any ceremonial defilement that they might have had.

7.7. Alan Redpath has written the following about the Levites now carrying the Ark at this time upon the poles, “The ark was nothing less than the burden of the Lord, and the burden of the Lord was to be carried on the hearts of the Levites. We want God’s presence very much, don’t we? But we like to hitch His presence to some of our new carts. We like to add Him to our list of organizations, to load Him on top of the mechanics of a busy life, and then drive. How much of our service is really in the energy of the flesh, I wonder! So often we put forth our hands, but not our hearts. We put forth our hands to the work of the Lord, but somehow our hearts have never really gotten under the burden of the Lord and begun, like the Levites, to carry it. Always it is a tragic thing to die under the judgment of God, but I suggest to you that the biggest tragedy of all was to die right alongside the ark of God’s mercy.”

7.8. It is believed that David wrote several Psalms with consideration of the bringing of the Ark into Jerusalem on this day, and perhaps Psalm 132 is the most obvious in this regard as we see from Psalm 132:3-5, “³ “Surely I will not enter my house, Nor lie on my bed; ⁴ I will not give sleep to my eyes Or slumber to my eyelids, ⁵ Until I find a place for the Lord, A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.””

8. VS 6:16-23 - “¹⁶ Then it happened as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. ¹⁷ So they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. ¹⁸ When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the peace offering, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. ¹⁹ Further, he distributed to all the people, to all the multitude of Israel, both to men and women, a cake of bread and one of dates and one of raisins to each one. Then all the people departed each to his house. ²⁰ But when David returned to bless his household, Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel distinguished himself today! He uncovered himself today in the eyes of his servants’ maids as one of the foolish ones shamelessly uncovers himself!” ²¹ So David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel; therefore I will celebrate before the Lord. ²² “I will be more lightly esteemed than this and will be humble in my own eyes, but with the maids of whom you have spoken, with them I will be distinguished.” ²³ Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.” - As David came into Jerusalem wearing his linen ephod and leading the procession of people in worship as the Levites brought in the Ark, David’s first wife Michal, who was also the daughter of King Saul, despised David in her heart

8.1. Many years earlier when David had come into the city where King Saul had ruled as the mighty warrior who had “killed his ten thousands,” Michal had fallen in love with David. King Saul then gave her as a wife to David. Michal also admired, respected, and loved David as the mighty royal king over the nation. She loved David as a warrior and a king. However, when David humbles himself before the Lord and becomes a worshipper, something that Michal was not (just like her father before her), she despises David in her heart. This proved to be the final undoing of their marriage.

8.1.1. Tragically, just as happened with David and Michal in our story, many marriages have failed when one spouse or the other began to truly worship and serve the Lord with a whole heart. Rather than follow the lead of the spouse who is committing his/her life to the Lord the other spouse despises his/her spouse because of his/her commitment to and love for the Lord.

8.2. When Michal says here that David ‘uncovered himself’ it does not mean that he went naked or was somehow exposed. Rather, it just means that he set aside his royal robe and wore the common ephod that a worshipper might wear on this day.

8.3. It says here that David blessed each and every one of the hundreds of thousands who gathered on this day by giving to them ‘a cake of bread and one of dates and one of raisins.’ Whenever a person comes to know the Lord and worship Him with all of his heart, he also will become a generous giver.

8.3.1. It could be that even the generosity of David on this day helped Michal to despise David in her heart.

8.4. David tells Michal that he will even humble himself more greatly before the Lord.

8.5. We see here that the Lord rewarded Michal for despising her husband David on this day for humbling himself and worshipping the Lord, by causing her to go barren (without having any children) for the rest of her life.

8.5.1. It could also be that Michal and David never had sexual relations again after this point in time.

9. CONCLUSIONS:

9.1. How the great zeal and love for the Lord that David had caused him to be a mighty worshipper of the Lord. It is very warming as well as challenging to be around someone whose heart is completely into their worship of the Lord.

9.1.1. Lets ask the Lord to give to each of us a great zeal and love for the Lord.

9.1.2. Lets ask the Lord to help us with that great zeal and love for the Lord that He will give us to also be a mighty worshipper of the Lord, as was King David.

9.2. Lets be committed as God’s people to doing God’s will His way, and not interjecting anything into our worship or devotion to the Lord that does not come from the scriptures.

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