Evening folks, if you’ve got your Bible handy, it’d be great to turn to 1 Chronicles chapter 15 and you’ll find that in the church Bibles on page 418. I’m going to split our Bible reading tonight. We’re going to read from verse 25 of chapter 15 down to verse 4 of chapter 16 and then we’ll read the Psalm that takes up most of chapter 16 a little bit later.
Let’s hear God’s word, chapter 15, verse 25. So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of units of a thousand went up to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the house of Obed-Edom with rejoicing, because God had helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Seven bulls and seven rams were sacrificed.
Now David was clothed in a robe of fine linen, as were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and as were the musicians, and Kenaniah who was in charge of the singing of the choirs. David also wore a linen ephod. So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouts, with the sounding of rams horns and trumpets and of cymbals and the playing of lyres and harps.
As the ark of the covenant of the Lord was entering the city of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, watched down from a window. When she saw King David dancing and celebrating, she despised him in her heart. They brought the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before God.
After David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. Then he gave them a loaf of bread, a cake of dates, and a cake of raisins to each Israelite man and woman. He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to extol, thank, and praise the Lord, the God of Israel.” This is the word of God.
Well, last week we were looking in chapter 11 of 1 Chronicles, and we thought a bit about King David and his mighty warriors. We thought of David as God’s appointed and devoted king, reigning with his people, extending God’s kingdom. And we thought about its application to the first readers sometime before the beginning of the New Testament period, guessing say about third century BC, but thereabouts, the application to them, but also to ourselves all these centuries, a millennia later.
And we thought by way of application about the big king-shaped hole that it pointed to. Israel at this point in its history, when 1 Chronicles would have been written and read, was without a God appointed and devoted king. And we thought today that so many in our society today also lack such a figure, such a leader in their lives.
Because although we think of kingship as maybe a bit anachronistic in some ways, okay, we do have a king in the UK, but not a king with a lot of power. The idea of kingship is that leader, that one that we would follow, that we would get behind, that we would give ourselves to. And we thought about in the third century BC and in the 21st century AD, so many people lack that person.
No one worthy, it seems, to get behind, to follow and to give yourself to. No one to shepherd and to care. No one trustworthy with authority in a world that is out of control, where people can’t even govern their own hearts.
No great cause, no future hope, no kingdom worth building. No one who can unite and heal a fractured and divided world. And as we move into further into David’s reign, so remember this is recording the events of David’s reign and of Israel, which would have been, you know, a few hundred years before the time when Chronicles was written.
So this is a kind of retrospective, a looking back even at the time when first Chronicles was written. But as the chronicler takes the people of the third century BC through David’s reign, we come to another potential hole in the nation, to another potential missing piece of that jigsaw. And perhaps we could say in so many people’s lives today.
Whereas last week we thought of the hole being king-shaped, in chapters 13, 15 and 16, the chronicler turns his attention to another feature of Israel’s former glory days, which is also now absent, the Ark of the Covenant. Because there is also, if you’ll excuse us, the ark-shaped hole in the nation. So just to be clear, I’m sure we’re all kind of familiar with this, but just in case, the Ark of the Covenant was a sacred object.
I think there’ll be a picture of what it probably looked like from the description we have in the Bible and also a bit of its contents, which we will come back to. But this was a sacred object, part of the temple or tabernacle furniture. And the tabernacle was just the kind of pre-temple in that when they were in the wilderness, the temple building was a tent because it had to be mobile, had to be able to be taken down, moved and put up again as they journeyed to the promised land.
And then later, of course, in the promised land, a physical or a brick temple was built to house the ark and these other parts of the temple furniture. But the ark was essentially a wooden box overlaid with gold. It had two golden cherubims on its lid and in the ark were placed a number of items.
There were the two tablets that had written on them the Ten Commandments. There was a pot containing some of the manna that had miraculously fallen from heaven to sustain the Israelites in their wilderness journey. And Aaron’s rod was also placed there.
And again, we’ll come back to those. And crucially, the ark sat in the most holy and the innermost part of the tabernacle or the temple. And in doing so, it became the place, in a sense, it became the GPS coordinates where the God of the universe would dwell among his people in an extraordinary way.
The God of heaven making a home among sinful men and women. Quite an amazing thought. And in that sense, the ark became synonymous with God’s presence among his people.
The ark sat in the centre of the tabernacle and the tabernacle or the temple sat at the centre of the people. So in the Exodus journey, as they moved through the wilderness, all the 12 tribes camped round, covering the four points of the compass, round the outside of the tabernacle. The tabernacle was in the middle and they camped in groups of kind of three on each side, according to the points of the compass.
It was the ark that went ahead of them as they crossed the Jordan into the promised land. The Levites had to carry it into the water. The waters dried up and everybody passed by the ark into the promised land.
These were all signs of God being in the midst of his people. Hence, of course, the reason why David at this point wants to get it to Jerusalem, which is the capital, the capital city of God’s people. And such was the connection of the ark and God that speaking of the ark in many ways became a shorthand for speaking about God.
So if you’ve got your Bible there, look back to chapter 13 and verse 3. This is where David initially makes a decision that they should bring the ark up into Jerusalem, into the new capital city of the nation. And he says, let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we did not enquire of it during the reign of Saul. Now, I don’t think David, when he talks about enquiring of the ark, was imagining talking to, you know, a kind of talking box.
I think he meant of the ark, enquiring of the Lord. It’s like saying, have you asked, in our culture today, somebody might say, a journalist, have you asked 10 Downing Street? Of course, he’s not meaning have you asked a building, he’s meaning have you asked the prime minister. Nevertheless, if you want to find the prime minister, then you go to 10 Downing Street.
But more than that, the ark, the presence of God, symbolising the presence of God among his people in the nation, was also a blood splattered presence. Because that was the object which on the annual day of atonement, the most sacred, I think we can say, day in Israel’s calendar, the one day when even the high priest was allowed to approach the ark and look upon it, on that day he would sprinkle on the ark’s cover blood from sacrificed animals. So as Leviticus puts it, it will be on the screen, in this way he, that’s the high priest, will make atonement for the most holy place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been.
Peace secured in the dwelling place of God through the shedding of blood. But like the king by the third century BC, there was no ark in Israel. Just as the Babylonian invasion and exile had removed the monarchy, so it had plundered the temple.
Its sacred objects had been looted. Nobody knows what happened to the ark, whether people tried to hide it in advance of the Babylonians coming or whether it was stolen. But either way, by the time the exiles returned and built the temple, by the time we get to First Chronicles, it had gone.
It was lost. There was literally an empty space now at the heart of the nation. But what a contrast to go back to First Chronicles chapter 15, to that day when Jerusalem and the nation had rejoiced in the presence of the ark.
Verse 25, where we began our reading this evening. The city heaving with crowds, the procession, the horns, the cymbals, and the shouts. Verse 28, the ark carried by those Levites, weaving its way through the city towards the tabernacle to find its place there.
Chapter 16 and verse 1. Now, of course, if you had read back a little bit in First Chronicles or you know the story, you’ll know that that journey to the tabernacle to Jerusalem hadn’t all been plain sailing. Back in chapter 13, there had been something of a hiccup at the first attempt to move it to the tabernacle. On that occasion, in chapter 13, the ark had been moved on a cart.
And as it trundled along, with some cattle pulling the cart, the cattle stumbled. One of the bystanders, Uzzah, put out his hand to steady the ark, only to be struck down and killed. And of course, the reason for that was, if we didn’t know it by now, the ark was not any old object.
It symbolised the very presence of God, a presence of God that could not be touched by sinful human hands. It was a sacred thing. At the top of the tree of holiness in Israel, it was at the pinnacle in terms of those temple items.
And it wasn’t that this was a terrible kind of act of capriciousness by God. He had given clear instructions about how it could be moved and who could touch it precisely because it was so holy, because of what it did represent. Instructions that on that occasion clearly had been ignored.
Which is a sobering reminder that God’s clear instructions aren’t optional. And to reject God’s ways will sooner or later have consequences. And regarding that episode, that episode with Uzzah being struck down, I think it tells us two things about David.
Firstly, even in 1 Chronicles, remember last week I said in 1 Chronicles we get the very best of David portrayed to us. Even in 1 Chronicles, David is not infallible. He’s a great king, but he’s not a perfect king.
But secondly, and more positively, he is a humble and teachable king. Again, the type of characteristics that made him such a good king. You see that in chapter 15, if you just go back to verse 13, David has learned the lesson.
He says, It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the Lord our God broke out in anger against us. We did not enquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way. So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves in order to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel.
And the Levites carried the ark of God with the poles on their shoulders as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the Lord. David had learned the lesson. No more carts this time.
We’ll do it in God’s way. And again, just a very practical application. How do we respond to failures and indeed discipline in our own lives? Because the question for us this side of heaven is not, will you fail? And it’s not, might you be stung as a result of that failure? But when you do, when those things happen to you, how are you going to respond? David initially in chapter 13, I think it is so authentic, so human back in chapter 13 verses 11 and 12, he initially was angry, furious that his party had been spoiled in this way, that God had pulled the rug out from him.
It would have seemed and kind of humiliated him. And then verse 12, how human is this? He was afraid, but crucially he didn’t go off on a lifetime huff or even worse have a rant against the cart maker. But he clearly reflected.
He was open to better guidance. He recognised the error he changed. He had a teachable and humble heart.
And that folks is the prerequisite of wisdom. It was a difference between David and Saul. Pride and stubbornness is the mark, the Bible says of the fool.
We see so much of that in our society today. We see it in politics writ large as we look around the world, don’t we? Can’t admit a mistake, can’t say sorry, won’t change. But it’s not just in politics, it’s so often in relationships, even sadly in church life.
But Peter, that close companion of Jesus himself comes to us and simply says, God opposes the proud, but he shows favour to the humble. And who knows, maybe even tonight someone here or somebody who will be listening to this is digging in, is doubling down on their error, their failure, their sin. They’re aware they’ve got it wrong, but they keep pushing back against God and his words.
And perhaps they’re feeling the weight of that because that’s never a comfortable place. It’s never a happy place. And they’re feeling angry and afraid.
But listen to the word of God. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
But back to our passage. There are lots of details in these verses that we could expand upon. There’s Michal in verse 29, turning up her nose at David’s exuberance as the ark comes in and David is rejoicing and dancing.
It’s an interesting contrast, isn’t it? It’s quite a chilling contrast, her attitude set against all the celebration and the reality of all the good things that are happening. It says the old Puritans used to say the same sun that melts the ice hardens the clay. Even in a day of joy, even in the presence of the king and the ark, some hearts stay cold.
I wonder if we ever feel like that. I wonder if we ever come to church and it just doesn’t feel real. It doesn’t feel happy.
And we’re tempted to get a bit cynical and to turn up our noses at others. And if you do ever feel like that and it troubles you that you do, then the answer to that is simply to pray. To confess those feelings to God.
It’s not like he doesn’t know. So don’t pretend. Ask God to forgive you for those times when your heart is cold and stony.
Tell him that, you know, you shouldn’t feel like that and you’re sorry that you do. And ask God in his mercy to soften and warm your heart. And here’s the thing, he might just answer that prayer.
And then there is David’s chapter 16 verses 2 to 3, blessing and giving gifts to the people. It’s a wonderful picture that even as we worship, we receive. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is not one of those Old Testament monstrosities like Baal or Molech, whose worship took everything from the worshippers, even their children, and gave them nothing.
But as we give ourselves to our God, as we worship our God, he enriches us, he blesses us, he sustains us. Because as we spend time, as we’ve sung those hymns tonight, as we’ve heard those prayers, as we look at God’s words, we are moulded and shaped in Christ-likeness. We are spending time considering those things, as the Apostle Paul puts it, that are lovely and pure and praiseworthy and honourable and good for our souls.
Things that are helped, of course, by the organisation of the Levites to minister in the tabernacle, verses 4 to 6, and then at the very end of chapter 16. Qualified people, skilled people, you see that in verse 22 of chapter 15. Kenaniah, the head Levite, was in charge of the singing.
That was his responsibility because he was skilful at it. Isn’t it good that we have skilful, able, servant-hearted musicians and singers to help us in our worship? Again, it’s just a reminder that biblical worship is not a chaotic, confused, free-for-all. But as Paul again instructs in 1 Corinthians 14, it is something which is decent and ordered, comprehensible and beneficial.
Lots of things we could pick up on in these verses. But back to the ark itself. Because, of course, one of the dangers in Israel’s history when it came to the ark, indeed to any number of sacred objects, was that the ark’s centrality, and indeed its mystique, caused people at times to become quite superstitious about it, treating it as a kind of lucky charm.
Previous generations had made that mistake back at the start of 1 Samuel. At one point, the Israelites got it out and carried it into battle, superstitiously believing that it would guarantee them success, only for them to be thoroughly routed and humiliated. Because God wasn’t confined to the ark.
He wasn’t like a genie in a bottle. Rather, the important thing about the ark was the spiritual truth that it represented. Firstly, God’s desire and commitment to make a home and to dwell among his people.
But following on from that, and this is where we come back to some of the ark’s contents, that the God who dwelt among them was also the God who instructed them. The Ten Commandments there, the ways of life, the protection from sin and evil and destructive patterns of behaviour. The God who dwelt with them, instructed them, but he also was the God who sustained them.
The manna, the provision for their lives, every good gift, everything we have received comes from the hand of God. And he was also the God who shepherded them, Aaron’s rod. So when David commissions Asaph in chapter 16 verse 7 to write a commemorative psalm to mark this great occasion, guess what? Asaph doesn’t write a psalm about the ark, but he writes a psalm praising God.
God’s instructions, God’s provisions, God’s leadership, because to use the title of our sermon tonight, that is the heart of worship. So with those reflections, God’s dwelling, God’s instruction, God’s sustaining, God’s shepherding, let’s read the psalm together. Chapter 16 and verse 8. Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name.
Make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him, tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name.
Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Look to the Lord and his strength, seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles and the judgments he pronounced.
You his servants, the descendants of Israel, his chosen ones, the children of Jacob, he is the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the earth. He remembers his covenant forever, the promise he made for a thousand generations, the covenant he made with Abraham, the oath he swore to Isaac.
He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant. To you I will give the land of Canaan as the portion you will inherit. When they were but few in number, few indeed and strangers in it, they wandered from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another.
He allowed no one to oppress them. For their sake he rebuked kings. Do not touch my anointed ones.
Do my prophets no harm. Sing to the Lord all the earth. Proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvellous deeds among all peoples. For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise. He is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendour and majesty are before him. Strength and joy are in his dwelling place.
Ascribe to the Lord all you families of nations. Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name.
Bring an offering and come before him. Worship the Lord in the splendour of his holiness. Tremble before him all the earth.
The world is established, it cannot be moved. Let the heavens rejoice. Let the earth be glad.
Let them say among the nations, the Lord reigns. Let the sea resound and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant and everything in them.
Let the trees of the forest sing. Let them sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good.
His love endures forever. Cry out, save us God our saviour. Gather us and deliver us from the nations that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise.
Praise be to the Lord the God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting. Then all the people said amen and praise the Lord. See the call of the psalm is not to seek after a box but the Lord himself.
Verse 11, look to the Lord and his strength. Seek his face always. The joy is not about a piece of furniture but the wonders that God has done.
Verse 12, it was God who shepherded them when they, verse 19, were few indeed. It was God who watched over them as they wandered. Verse 20, God who protected them, verses 21 to 22.
But don’t think that God is just some kind of localised deity. No, the God of Israel is to be declared among the nations, verse 24. He is the maker of the heavens to be feared above all, verse 25 and 26.
So ascribe glory and strength to him, verse 28. Worship him, verse 29. Tremble before him.
Let all creation, let every last twig and blade of grass sing for joy for Israel’s God, verse 33, will judge the earth. These are the realities that the ark was a visible reminder of. God with his people, among his people, instructing, providing, and leading.
And for people in the third century BC and for us today, we need that spiritual presence because without it, like them, we’re incomplete. We’re left with an ark-shaped hole in our lives. Now, I’m conscious on week two that the thing-shaped hole metaphor could get a bit confusing and you’ll end up not careful with an image of yourself with multiple cookie-cutter shapes missing from your chest.
So it’s important not to see the missing king and the missing ark as completely different things, but really they’re just different metaphors describing different aspects of the one big thing, which is the rule and presence of God in our lives. Because of course all these Old Testament pictures, the king, the priest, the offerings, the ark, and the list goes on, converge and will find their supreme fulfilment in the New Testament, in Jesus himself. As Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, for no matter how many promises God has made, they are yes in Christ.
They’re all fulfilled in him. It’s that perennial question, is Jesus the lamb or is he the high priest? Is he the door? What is he? Yes, he’s all of those things. As Jesus himself explained in beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself.
All of which means, of course, that Jesus is the reality that the ark was only ever a shadow of. He is the presence of God among us. Emmanuel, God with us.
He is the presence that instructs us. My words are spirit and life. Those who build on my life are those wise people building on a rock.
He is the presence that sustains. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness but they’re dead.
But here is the bread that comes down from heaven which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever.
He is the presence who shepherds and who laid down his life for the sheep. Jesus, our blood spattered presence. But the blood, of course, is his own.
Our peace secured by his sacrifice. Everything the ark represented is ours in Christ by faith. Many years ago when our children were very little, one of them was off school and Jessica had to go out.
So I said I would work from home at that time. And Jessica went out shutting the door behind her. And there was this terrible wail from the living room.
Mum! Mum! Because they thought she had just gone out and abandoned them, forgotten about them for the day. And I shouted through from the other room, it’s okay I’m here. They didn’t realise I was in the house.
And there was instant relief. The panic was over. Now Christians, we have the same comfort and reassurance wherever we are.
Lo, I’m always with you to the very end of the age. Wherever we have to go this week, whatever we face, whatever guidance or sustenance or shepherding we need, whatever protection, the presence of God are all there, are all ours, are all present in Jesus, a better ark by far. And may God bless these thoughts from his word.
The post The Heart of Worship – 1 Chronicles 15v25–16v43 appeared first on Greenview Church.
