Dave's Diary

Daily Readings: 2 Samuel 6 and Psalm 83

When God had given David and Israel victory over the Philistines, they attempted to bring the ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. To his credit, David took the task very seriously. He knew that the ark represented the truth that Yahweh, the LORD, the Great I Am, had made a covenant of faithfulness with Israel. Yahweh was their God and they were His people. The ark symbolised this. It also symbolised the presence of God among His people. To David, bringing the ark to Jerusalem was a way to honour the LORD, to lay hold of the particular presence and power of the LORD that was represented by the ark, and to establish a permanent sign to all Israel (and a warning to their enemies) that the LORD was with them.

Right from the start, David took this exercise very seriously from a military point-of-view, yet not seriously enough spiritually. He committed the task of safeguarding the ark to the finest soldiers in Israel. He went out himself to lead the procession of the ark from Abinidab’s house (where it had been for the last 20 years – see 1 Samuel 7) with praise-singing and -dancing. But one thing he neglected. He completely failed to consult the Levites about how God Himself had commanded the ark to be transported. God had been very, very specific about this, in order to preserve the sacredness of this most holy symbol of His presence. No-one, but no-one was to touch it. It was not to be transported in any way other than by the Leviticial priests of the household of Korah, using special poles inserted into custom built rings on the ark (See Exodus 25:12-15 and Numbers 4:15). And this command was given on pain of death.

What do we learn for our discipleship from the dramatic and frightening events of this chapter? Perhaps most important is the lesson that the ultimate aim of our worship and devotion to God must be to please God in the way God desires. The atmosphere can be as joyful, exciting, and engaging as anything. But if it is done in disobedience to His Word, none of it will please God. We tend to assess worship experiences by how they makes us feel. But worship is about pleasing God, not us. So let us seek to know God’s desires from His word, so we can worship Him with reverence and bring Him pleasure. In our consumer-oriented culture this is a completely counter-cultural truth – but worship is not about what pleases us, it is all about what pleases GOD!

Lord, forgive me when I have slipped into seeking my own enjoyment in worship rather than yours. Holy Spirit, purify my heart and my worship. In Jesus’ Name. Amen