2 Samuel 6:12-23
12 And it was told king David, saying, The Lord hath blessed the house of Obededom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with gladness. 13 And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings. 14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.
15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. 16 And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal Saul’s daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. 17 And they brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. 18 And as soon as David had made an end of offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. 19 And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. So all the people departed every one to his house. 20 Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself! 21 And David said unto Michal, It was before the Lord, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel: therefore will I play before the Lord. 22 And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour. 23 Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.
Have you ever set out to do something good only to find that what you set out to do backfired in some way? It either did not work out like you intended or was much more difficult than you thought? Last week, we left off in the account of David and Israel moving the ark of the covenant from Kiriathjearim to Jerusalem. David’s desire was to reestablish the proper worship of the Lord in the city that the Lord had chosen for His people. While David’s ambitions and desires were good, the means that were used for transporting the ark were not. Rather than searching out the Lord’s will in His Word, David and Israel utilized the methods of the Philistines and transported the ark on a new cart pulled by oxen. When the oxen stumbled, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark and was struck dead for his action. Angered and frightened by what had transpired, David put aside moving the ark for a time and the ark was accepted into the house of Obededom. While there, the Lord blessed Obededom with His presence. After teaching David about the obedience and reverence required to worship the Lord and live with His holy presence through the death of Uzzah, the Lord taught him a second lesson and that was that His holy presence was among His people to be a blessing to them and not a curse. After understanding the seriousness of God’s holy presence and the blessing that His presence brings, David once again led the people of God to move the ark to Jerusalem. This time, they would do so obediently to the Lord. From this time where the ark was brought into Jerusalem, we can learn three things that God’s presence in the lives of His people brings.
First, God’s presence brings joy. The ark stayed in the house of Obededom for three months, after which, David led the people of God to resume the task they had begun before disaster struck. Two things converged that moved David forward in obedience to the Lord. First, the blessing that fell upon the house of Obededom showed David that the Lord had good intentions for the ark being among His people. Second, David had apparently taken that period of three months to consult the Scriptures to discover the Lord’s way of moving the ark. 1 Chronicles 15:1-15 details out David’s instructions to the Levites about how the ark was to be properly moved and he admitted in verse 13 that “God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.” Don’t miss that. One of the great pathways to joy in the presence of God is when we realize that the issue is never that God’s standards and ways are wrong or even too difficult, but us. Someone once well said, “I have read the Bible and found many errors all of which were in me.” We miss out on the joy of the Lord’s presence when we constantly see something or someone else as the problem. David came to realize that the Lord blesses obedient faith and that he had led Israel in ignorance in moving the ark. In obedience, the Kohathites, the Levites that God had chosen for the moving of the ark, were consecrated and called upon to move the ark by the poles just as the Lord had said. Verse 13 tells us that they offered sacrifices after the first six steps of carrying the ark. The idea there is that they rested (a type of Sabbath) on the seventh step and this signified that the work that they engaged in could only be done in the rest and atonement that the Lord had provided for them. God’s presence provides rest to His people and that rest comes to His people by way of His atonement. Verses 14-16 mark the joy that followed as David exchanged his kingly attire for the humble garments of a priest. It was David identifying with two things. First, it was David acknowledging and recognizing that before the people, yes, he was a king, but before the Lord’s presence, he was but a humble servant. Second, it foreshadowed the descendant of David that would come after the order of Melchizedek who was a king-priest (Psalm 110:1-4), the Lord Jesus. The joy that transpired was expressed by David all the way into Jerusalem. God’s presence brings joy. That joy is experienced when we live in His presence in humility and obedience to Him (John 13:14-17; 15:9-11).
Next, God’s presence brings fellowship. Verses 17-19 tell us that when the ark was brought into Jerusalem that it was brought into the tabernacle that David had prepared for it. Once there, burnt offerings and peace offerings were offered before the Lord. These offerings were about atonement for the people’s sin, acceptance of the people to the Lord, and the fellowship of the people with the Lord. It was, in some way, a reestablishment of what had transpired when worship in the tabernacle was first inaugurated and the priesthood first established in Leviticus 8-9. David followed that pattern further when he blessed the people after the ark was restored and the offerings were finished. This is a further indication that David saw himself in some sort of priestly role before the Lord (Psalm 110:4) because he does what Aaron and Moses did when they came out to the people in Leviticus 9:23-24 after the Lord accepted those original sacrifices. That blessing is found in Numbers 6:23-27 and it describes what happens as a result of God dwelling in the midst of His people. The same blessings come upon God’s people today in Christ. In fact, the blessing of the high priest is ultimately realized in Christ upon the people of God today. In Christ, believers are blessed with “all spiritual blessings” (Ephesians 1:3). We have the Spirit of God dwelling in us (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). Because Christ became “a curse for us,” we now experience the blessing of salvation (Galatians 3:13-16). As a result of the ark’s restoration, David then shared a meal with all of Israel. He distributed food to all of the people that was intended to be a fellowship meal that called the whole congregation to celebrate God’s presence and blessing. The “bread and wine” that he brought would be reminiscent once again of what Melchizedek and Abraham shared (Psalm 110:4; Genesis 14:18-20) and showed the people’s joy and fellowship around the Lord’s presence. Today, you and I share in the fellowship around the Lord’s presence in the body of Christ through the indwelling Holy Spirit and each time we gather with our local church, particularly for the Lord’s Supper. It means more than hanging out. It has to do with mutual commitment, partnership, and experience around the presence of God.
Lastly, God’s presence brings humility. All seemed well with the whole city upon David’s return and everyone seemed to be taking part in the joyous return of the ark…except for one person who is noted for us. Michal, David’s first wife and the daughter of Saul, looked upon the whole affair with disdain. Why? The joy of humility is here contrasted with the misery of pride. Michal was upset with David because he had put aside his kingly attire and mingled with the common-folk and priests. Michal had demonstrated a hypocritical character from the beginning. She was a liar, participated in idolatry, and had married another man when David fled from Saul. Now, that character manifested itself once again when she attacked her husband for his display of joy and humility among the people of God. She demonstrated the same attitude as that of the Pharisees in Jesus’s time or the elder brother in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:25-32). She represents all religious hypocrites that are among the people of God. Such a one cannot be truly happy in what God and His people delight in. Such a one ends up consistently miserable and alone, perhaps the most miserable of people on earth. They cannot be happy among God’s people because they do not possess the joy of the life of God in them. Everything is about externals and appearances (Michal was worried about David’s attire). They cannot be happy in the world because they know that is wrong as well and so they find themselves trapped in between families. David’s response to Michal was to affirm that God had been so gracious and good to Him and had called Him to be king. He then told her that those who were truly right with the Lord would be right there with him in the joyous celebration. As a result, Michal and David never had any children together because they were unequally yoked. What keeps people today from the joy of the Lord? It is the same stubborn hypocrisy found in Michal.
Do we really live in the joy, fellowship, and humility that the presence of the Lord brings into the lives of His people? Could we be like Michal, consistently playing the critic to cover the lack in our own soul? God’s presence was brought among His people so that His people might experience the fullest joy imaginable and fellowship with their Creator. This naturally produces humility in the heart of anyone who truly knows the Lord. The only way this joy, fellowship, and humility can be known in a person’s life is by coming to the greater David, the Lord Jesus Christ who is our King and High Priest who establishes the true worship of the Father, not in a tabernacle, but in us. What is keeping you from this joy today?