David and the Ark, Part 1

In order to truly engage in a relationship. It's important to understand a person's background where he or she was right.

Moral training from parents and the events that influence the life and in many respects. That's the way were approaching our study of David today on Insight for living. Chuck Swindoll helps us understand the cultural context of this unfolding story so we can appreciate the impact of David's leadership, not only on his family, but on the nation of Israel as well. Chuck titled today's message David and the beauty remember that I said a number of times in our series on David that he was a man after God's heart so often. David would pray for God's guidance as he did. After Saul's death, requesting what specific steps you should take next. He remembered how Samuel had anointed him with oil.

When he was a much younger lad and told him that he was God's chosen man to become the next king over Israel. David never forgot that he always wanted to do it right. However, in our message today receiver David tries to do God's will. David's way and relocating the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, and the result is a cost a man his life to listen and learn a lot from this story, so when a preparation for, let's turn in our Bibles to second Samuel chapter 6, beginning with verse one. David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel 30,000 David arose and went with all the people who were with him to bail 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 chair.

They placed the ark of God on a new cart that they might bring it from the house of a been a dab which was on the hill and use and I heal the sons of the Bennett Avenue were leading the new cart so they brought it with the ark of God from the house of been a dab which was on the hill and I heal was walking ahead of the ark. Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all kinds of instruments made of further wood and with liars hearts tambourines, castanets and symbol, but when they came to the threshing floor of Nikon reached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it for the oxen nearly upset.

It the anger of the Lord burned against use, God struck him down there for his irreverence and he died there by the ark of God. David became angry because of the Lord's outburst against use of and that place is called Perez was to this day. So David was afraid of the Lord that day and he said how can the ark of the Lord come to me 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 good height. Thus, the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed Edom to get height three months and the Lord blessed Obed Edom and all his household. Now it was told King David, saying, the Lord has blessed the house of Obed Edom, all that belongs to him on account of the ark of God. David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed Edom into the city of David with gladness and it was so that when the bearers of the ark of the Lord had gone six pieces. He sacrificed an ox and a fatling. David was dancing before the Lord with all his might and David was wearing a linen if odd.

So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouting and the sound of the trumpet number 17 so they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent, which David had pitched forward and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. When David finished offering, the burnt offering and the peace offering he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. Further, he distributed all the people, to all the multitude of Israel, both to men and women take the bread, and one of the dates and one of reason to each one. Then all the people departed each to his house Insight for living to dig deeper into the Bible with Chuck Swindoll.

Be sure to download his searching the Scriptures. Studies by going to insight worlds.org/studies and now the message titled David and the ark. I think at times that we preachers tend to take something that is designed to be very simple and we talk about it so long it becomes complicated and confusing.

Therefore, people don't really have it in package that they can remember and take with them. I want to be guilty of that. I just want to talk about the thing that impressed God the most about David and what I mentioned the name David.

I think probably you and I don't think of that thing.

Some of us think of the time that he was anointed with oil by Samuel that was a moving experience in which David is as a lad stood before the Lord and as it were said I'm grateful for this calling and I accept what you have planned for me to become the new king.

Some of us think of David as a warrior and when you mentioned to the world. David they will immediately tell you David and Goliath others would picture David as a man who fell in the sin and they would mention David and Bathsheba. Unfortunately, we tend to remember the wrong things about people a lot longer than we do the great things I father would think of David as a grieving man who walked across the courtyard after hearing of the murder of his son Absalom and I would picture the man broken and and dissolved in tears over that, but none of those things are the things that God remembers about his faithful king and his choice is man if you want to see what God remembers about David. You'll have to turn not to the Old Testament but to the new chapter 13 of the book of acts, verse 22, which is in the context of verses that makes sense. The speaker is Paul. According to verse 16 and he is addressing a group of people that don't know much about Jewish history and he's developing a message that is going to end with the person of Christ. But in the process of developing the history of the Jews. Paul comes to Saul in verse 21 and he speaks of Saul is the one who rule over Israel and then in verse 22. He speaks of Saul's demise where God he removes Saul and God raised up David to be their king, concerning whom he testified and said I have found David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.

What an epitaph not I found David a great warrior or I found David, a faithful shepherd are found David to be a diplomatic king are found David to be a good, caring father. None of those things that I found David to care about the things I care about. He's a man whose heart beats in sync with mine when I look to the right. David looks to the right when I look to the left. David looks to the left and when I say I care about that. David says I care about that to that's being after God's heart. Some of you are like that some of you are not. Some of you look upon life rather brusque but in a rather brusque tone and think, well, you win some you lose some. You could pull it off. The best you can.

Nobody's perfect and others of you say if God says it, I want to do it. You're the ones who are after God's heart see in the family of God. There are those two kinds, and those like the first group spent a lot of time in the carnal corral a lot of time moaning and complaining and even recovering from journeys that are far from his plan and will but others of you don't get very far before you take short accounts you keep short accounts to come back in line is you after his heart and to you. There is nothing that's insignificant now you're like David, I want to add. You are rare. There are not a great number of people whose heart is hot after God. David was like that and he cared when you lay this on you as an illustration so you remember what that means when you drive down the road and you see the sign speed limit 35 miles an hour that's a preset and it's 35 miles an hour with it's 3 o'clock in the morning or 3 o'clock in the afternoon. Whether it's lunch break or 5 o'clock traffic. It's 35 miles an hour that's a preset and there's no give or take. If the sign reads drive carefully.

That's a principal. And it means one thing in heavy traffic on the freeway and it means something entirely different on a deserted road at the country you drive carefully in a certain way in traffic you drive carefully in another way entirely on a deserted road that's a principal.

That's to be applied with wisdom.

If I could turn that to the spiritual life. A person who is after God in his heart cares as much about the principles as it does about the precepts and when he comes across or when she comes across a precept that is clearly delineated. He says, as I look at my life. It's not like that preset to bring my life in line with the present. That's what we find David doing in our study in are studied in second single chapter 6 and I wish to raise up a band of David's in this study I wish to encourage those of you who have become rather concerned about the fine print of your life because I want to commend you for that. You are the ones who make godly husband's and godly roommates, godly wives, godly workmen and godly pastors, godly musicians, godly professionals you are you care enough about your life that regardless of your occupation when you hear something declared from Scripture your thinking how can I get that into my life as I wanted.

There was appeared in my in my life in which I took some and left some. I bit off the part that was tasty but I left the part that was painful until Amanda Caradoc cared enough to tell me the truth and say to me you are a classic illustration of a heady Christian and I thought that was an insult and I was so proud. I didn't want to listen to what he had to say and then he said, before you walk away.

I just want to tell you, you have the makings of putting it together, but you're a long ways from it and he said I want to stick around you for a number of months and help you in the process so that you can see how it can be done, so the weather in public or private. You're putting together he cared enough to do that.

Those were some tough years of my life. Now, I'm still the process putting it together but thank God for a friend who was close enough to say you need to put those precepts to work in your life when excusing your disobedience. Now David was like that. Look at chapter chapter 6 of second Samuel and I won't I won't linger long and painfully over this needlessly. I just want to, set the stage and let you see it. I want you to understand several things to begin with and second Samuel six. First of all, the place where we are is Jerusalem second the King is David and he's a new king Saul is is gone. He died of suicide, and in the latter part of his 40 year reign.

He compromised that he fiddled around with all other things besides his job and he neglected the things of God.

He was a mediocre king to put it best not understand.

In the days of David, the central place of worship was not the believer, but the tabernacle and under Saul's reign, the tabernacle sort of drifted the enemy took the ark of the covenant.

There was no worship of Jehovah in Jerusalem doesn't mean anything.

The Gentile people today, but in those days.

That meant there was not the presence of God, because the Lord dwells in his glory upon the ark of the covenant a piece of furniture in the tabernacle, and it was so important to the Lord that he gave to Moses. The specific details of building this thing and making it portable so they could move this house of God through the wilderness and on into the land of Canaan is the place of worship, and everywhere the ark of the covenant was placed God's glory rested on it, meaning the light. The Shekinah glory of God rested on the covenant of the ark of the covenant was a simple piece of furniture.

Now when David took over the throne he realized there is no central place of worship.

The people of Israel are are spread out their walk is mediocre. Their heart is in hot after God in order for me to pull some of this together. I need the ark of the covenant back in his right place. In fact, I need to find out where it is and bring it into this particular spot and set it up as God designed his heart was after God's even to the point of getting little pieces of furniture and putting it in a certain place within the parameters of God's will and God's precepts, so chapter 6 is how he got the ark of the covenant back in Jerusalem misread some of these things and see the time David gathered all the chosen men of Israel 30,000 David arose and went with all the people who were with him to bail 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 explained that in a few moments, they place the ark of God on a new card that they might bring it from the house of a better dad verse four so they brought it with the ark of God from the house from from the house a bit of that which was on the hill and I heal was walking ahead of the ark. Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord hears David over here rejoicing and celebrating having the greatest delightful time knowing that the ark of the covenant was coming back home where it belonged in Zion's even tells us about his his band, the instruments made of wood with liars and parts of tambourines and castanets and and symbols.

As I heard the recorder's play tonight. It occurred to me that maybe some of the sounds it came from those little pipes were something like the sounds of team from these little these little instruments mentioned in verse five. There was a sound of music and there was a the delight of obedience beating in the heart of David. The ark is coming back. This is time to pause and explain the ark because some people might think it's like Noah's Ark, it's nothing like that at all. I want to show it to you because most of us are pretty pretty fuzzy when it comes to this Jewish ritual called the worship in the tabernacle. The name itself means box spark chest. The pattern of the ark was revealed to Moses and it was to be comprised of a body made of wood, rectangular in shape goldplated inside and out.

It was to have a gold border around it little golden decorative rim around the top of the chest. Another significant part of the ark wasn't its cover which was called the mercy seat on top of this open chest was a covering made of gold and this was called the mercy seat.

It matched the dimensions of the chest at either end of the cover was a hammered gold cherub.

The word means angel with wings outstretched over the plate and noticed one of the things beneath the plate within the container were three objects a golden jar that held the manna, Aaron's rod in the tables of the covenant, God promised he would meet with the people above the mercy seat that isn't that strange is all of our worship is is so open and so realistic, but we see everything post Calvary prior to Calvary. So many things were in were in symbols and types in pictures and sort of like looking at your face through a smoky mirror or are a foggy mirror, you see the damage but you don't see the details and that's the way they worship a box and upon the box shown the very glory of God over this golden mercy seat. In other words, this piece of furniture was holy. It was set apart to God so careful with God, that in the details of the drawing that he wrote in the in Exodus 25 he gave the dimensions he gave how it was to be covered even talked about how it was to be carried see the word moving on this one more thought at the base of each of the four corners was a fixed ring of gold through these rings were slipped goldplated polls by which the entire chest was to be carried numbers three numbers for number seven. Clearly state that handling the table, the tabernacle furniture was to be done by Levites and it was to be done on their shoulders.

I purposely went over the details of the ark not only to acquaint you with it, but to highlight each and every little specific thing because I want you to know each one was important to God. Each one. Even how the thing was transported from one place to another.

Because that's where David got into trouble for bringing it on the way and something happened.

Suddenly there's a death verse seven. The anger of the Lord burned against using God's truck and therefore is irreverence and he died with the ark of God. What verse six when they came to the threshing floor make on user reached out toward the ark of God: but for the oxen nearly upsetting when it wouldn't have ever dropped if they had done it right what's right. Levites, in fact, the sons of Koheleth were the ones to carry the art and the polls were to be put up on the shoulders of these specially chosen and they were to balance this thing is they carried from one place to another. David more to learn about the relocation of the ark, and we urge you to keep on listening as we discover how David handled this sensitive project you're listening to Insight for living Chuck Swindoll titled today's message David and the ark.

To learn more about this topic. Visit us online@insideworld.org. But first, keep listening because will hear a closing comment from Chuck in just a moment. I like to take a moment right now to remind you that Chuck wrote a full-length biography on David, it's remarkable to think the David in spite of all of his foibles was considered a man after God's own heart.

He cared about the issues God cared about in his biography on David Chuck helps us understand how to become more like David, how do we cultivate affection for the things of God chucks biography on David is a great choice to add to your reading list. It's called David a man of passion and destiny to purchase a copy, give us a call if you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8888 or you can go online to Insight.org/offer. Here's Chuck.

Thanks, Bill lets you think your Bible teacher lives in a protective bubble, devoid of any disappointments in unwanted surprises. Let me assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. My world is no different than your world swindles are not immune from the travails and the trials of this life. Even so, my heart is revived because God is proven himself faithful over and over again. This will be love about David Wright in our current study were allowed a front row seat in the theater of David's extraordinary life.

His humble career started on the dusty hillside worry he was caring for his father's smelling sheep. Remember that later he would bear arms during one season.

David slumped into depression and ultimately he occupied the highest office in the land. What contrasts he endured before you're too impressed. Remember this David's trajectory to the top was punctuated with embarrassing misstep's.

He was far from perfect and yet God wanted to David and said this of him there that would right there.

He's a man after my own heart will hear it inside for living ministries. This is our hope filled message to a generation that struggling for survival. This is our greatest filled message to a world that smog down and killed in shame. This is our radical message to a culture that's dissatisfied with the status quo and now as we draw oil another's season to a close. June 30 is the deadline.

Would you be among those who make it possible for us to share insight for living far and wide. God is been so good to this nonprofit ministry and yet our financial goal for June remains enormous. He's allowing each of us to be a part of his master planner provision that includes you as God prompts you to give. Please respond right away. You will never regret. Following his lead, and please keep listening. As we examine David's life in our lifelong pursuit of becoming a man or woman after God's own heart.

Thanks, Chuck. As you prepare to join with us in providing these daily programs. We invite you to give generously if you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8888. That's 800-772-8880 or you can get online@insight.org/donate. We are so grateful to those who give back. Listen to this comment from a grateful friend who said I've been a listener since my teenage years and my 1 Desire Way back then before I was employed was to one day serve him by getting to you I moving closer to 60 years old now and it's been such a blessing to partner with insight from to know the number of hearts that are being touched globally each day blows me away. Well, thank you so much and you can join us to by getting us a call if you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8880 or you can give online@insight.org/donate. I bill my inviting you to join us. When Chuck Swindoll continues his message about David and the ark Friday on insight for living.

The preceding message David and the ark was copyrighted in 1978, 1988, 1997, 2009 and 2022 and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2022 by Charles R. Swindoll. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited