{"id":291,"date":"2020-11-02T16:52:11","date_gmt":"2020-11-02T16:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/?p=291"},"modified":"2020-11-02T16:53:49","modified_gmt":"2020-11-02T16:53:49","slug":"davids-deep-affection-for-the-ark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/?p=291","title":{"rendered":"David’s Deep Affection for the Ark"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A major difference between King Saul and King David can be seen in how\nthey treated the Ark of the Covenant. Saul basically ignored it and God. In his\nforty-year reign, Saul only mentioned the Ark once (1 Sam. 14:18) when he wanted\nGod to help him defeat his nemesis, the Philistines. He met with Samuel a few\ntimes after being anointed king, but rebellion led to his demise. David, by\ncontrast, made the Ark a central part of his life and reign. In fact, when he\nbecame king, he said, \u201c<\/em>It is time to bring back the Ark of our God, for we\nneglected it during the reign of Saul\u201d<\/em> (1 Chr. 13:3, NLT). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some people treat God like the paramedics\u2014they only call when they have an\nemergency! Many people want to keep God at a safe distance (close enough to be\nsaved, but far enough away to run their own lives). They want a Savior to bail\nthem out of trouble but not a Lord to whom they must surrender control. A\nrelevant church sign reads, \u201cDon\u2019t social distance from God!\u201d In other words, don\u2019t\nbe like King Saul who only sought God when he needed help. One of the first\nthings David did as king was to relocate the Ark to Jerusalem, so it was close\nto his palace. David dreamed of building a Temple to permanently house it, \u201cI am living in a beautiful cedar\npalace, but the Ark of God is out there in a tent!\u201d<\/em> (2 Sam. 7:2, NLT). While the Prophet Nathan agreed\nit was a good idea, God vetoed it due to David\u2019s history of warfare and bloodshed.\nHis son, Solomon, whose name means \u201cpeace,\u201d would later build God\u2019s Temple.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

David was a true worshipper who wanted to be close to the Ark and God\u2019s\npresence. By moving the Ark to Jerusalem, David was saying, \u201cGod is important to\nme, spiritual things are my top priority, I want to be as close to God as\npossible, sacred things matter in my life.\u201d It was his way of honoring and putting\nGod first. While David\u2019s motives were right, the method was wrong. The first attempt\nto move the Ark was a fiasco ending in a funeral. They made the mistake of\nputting it on an ox cart (2 Sam. 6:3). Obviously, they didn\u2019t learn from the\nPhilistine\u2019s and the Bethshemite\u2019s blunders that provoked God\u2019s wrath and resulted\nin plagues and 50,070 deaths (1 Sam. 5-6). God let the ignorant heathen treat\nthe Ark as common cargo, but not His people who knew better. The priests were\nsupposed to carry it on their shoulders whenever it was transported. They used\na man-made cart instead of handling the Ark the right way. God\u2019s glory doesn\u2019t\ncome through man\u2019s methods! Sacred things should not be treated carelessly or\ncasually. The Ark (an icon of God\u2019s presence) was to be honored and reverenced.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David led\na festive parade with music, singing, shouting, and dancing but the celebration\nceased when the cart hit a pothole and the Ark shook. Uzzah tried to steady it\nbut, when he touched it, he was stricken dead. So, they parked the Ark at Obed-Edom\u2019s\nhouse for three months while they mourned and studied how to move it properly.\nMeanwhile, \u201c<\/em>The\nLord blessed Obed-Edom and his entire household\u201d<\/em> (2 Samuel 6:11, NLT). Later, he was\namong those appointed to minister before the Ark continually in the Tabernacle\nof David (1 Chr. 16:4-6). He wasn\u2019t satisfied with a short-term visitation, he desired\nlong-term habitation.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then David presided over a second procession to bring the Ark to Jerusalem (2 Sam. 6:12-23). This\ntime the priests hoisted it high on their shoulders as God required. David\ncould have sat in his palace and dictated and spectated. Instead, he participated.\nHe didn\u2019t act stoic or dignified. He got so excited he couldn\u2019t contain his joy\nand broke out in extreme worship and \u201cDanced <\/em>before the Lord with all his might;\nand David was wearing a linen ephod\u201d<\/em> (2 Sam. 6:14, NKJV). Notice David removed his fancy, kingly attire\nand put on an ephod (a priestly garment). He didn\u2019t sit on his throne and tell\npeople how to worship, he shed his regal robes and showed people how to worship\nby example. David put his position and pride aside to exalt Yahweh\u2014the true\nKING of Israel! His actions said, \u201cI\u2019m not the focal point here, it\u2019s not about\nme today. I will worship the great God of Israel without hesitation or reservation.\u201d\nDavid is a fitting type of Christ who laid aside His heavenly throne to become\nour great High Priest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving the Ark to Zion was a glorious event for Israel. Most people were thrilled,\nespecially after receiving gifts from the king\u2014bread, meat, and wine (their\nancient stimulus checks\u20142 Sam. 6:19). But naysayers will always rain on your\nparade. Sourpuss Michal, King Saul\u2019s daughter and David\u2019s first wife, watched through\nher window with disgust and despised him in her heart (2 Sam. 6:16). She wanted\nher husband to act like a KING not a PRIEST! Kings rule, priests serve. She was\nashamed of him because he didn\u2019t act very dignified. Our ego wants us to act\nlike kings\u2014show everyone who\u2019s boss, bark out orders, and make others serve\nyou. God wants us to be priests\u2014remove our phony facades and serve God and\nothers. Are we kings or priests? Do we demand that people serve us or do we\nserve them? Do we act like celebrities where it\u2019s all about us? Or do we, like\nDavid, recognize it\u2019s all about HIM? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notice Michal\u2019s words dripping with sarcasm, <\/em>\u201cHow glorious was the king of Israel\ntoday, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as\none of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!\u201d<\/em> (2 Sam. 6:20, NKJV)She made it sound\nlike he was prancing around naked, but he was clearly wearing \u201ca robe of fine\nlinen\u201d (1 Chr. 15:27). She wanted him to act like a proud king, but David dressed\nand acted like a humble priest. If you get too extreme praying or praising God,\npeople will criticize you. Remember, Mary poured her alabaster box of ointment\non Jesus and the disciples threw a fit. David responded, \u201cI will be\neven more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight\u201d<\/em> (2\nSamuel 6:22, NKJV). In modern slang, \u201cGirl, you ain\u2019t seen nothing yet!\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ark arrived in Jerusalem\u2014it\u2019s home for the next 456 years until Solomon\u2019s\nTemple was destroyed in 586 B.C. David made Zion his political capitol and the\nspiritual epicenter of Israel (God\u2019s headquarters on earth) by bringing the Ark\nand setting up a new Tabernacle. Unlike Moses\u2019 Tabernacle which revolved around\nsacrifices, rituals, and ceremonies, David\u2019s Tabernacle was based upon\ncontinuous worship. In fact, he appointed Levites to minster before the Ark\naround the clock (1 Chr. 16:1-6, 37). There apparently was no veil in David\u2019s\nTabernacle, no barrier to hide the Ark. It speaks of New Testament worship which\ngrants us unlimited access into God\u2019s presence by the blood of Christ. The\nmodern worship music movement is a trend David pioneered 3,000 years ago.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what is our affection focused on? Spiritual, heavenly things or carnal,\nearthly things? Paul wrote, \u201cSet your affection on things above, not on\nthings on the earth\u201d<\/em> (Col. 3:2,\nKJV). David\u2019s\naffection was aimed at the Ark of God and the God of the Ark. If David held\nsuch deep affection for a golden box, shouldn\u2019t we fall in love with what that\nbox represented\u2014the presence and glory of our great God?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A major difference between King Saul and King David can be seen in how they treated the Ark of the Covenant. Saul basically ignored it and God. In his forty-year reign, Saul only mentioned the Ark once (1 Sam. 14:18) when he wanted God to help him defeat his nemesis, the Philistines. He met with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":293,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=291"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":292,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291\/revisions\/292"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodspringsfgc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}