Key Verse:
2 Samuel 6:5 NKJV
5 Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.
There are many different styles of worship within the Church. Some of those involve music, including any number of instruments, and... dancing. The thought: celebratory abandon has a place in true worship.
Where to begin?
Psalm 9:11 NKJV
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people...
The Lord is the object of our worship. Thus, when we assemble in worship, it should never be about what we’re wearing or why we’re wearing it. After all, it’s not about us. It’s about Him; the Lord God Almighty
Prelude
1 Samuel 7:2 NKJV
2 So it was that the ark remained in Kirjath Jearim a long time; it was there twenty years. And all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.
Israel had been defeated by the Philistines. The Ark of The Covenant had been captured. Eli was dead. Eli’s sons were dead and Eli’s grandson had been named Ichabod, meaning, “The Glory of the Lord has departed Israel.” In this moment, not only had the chief article of worship in Israel been taken but, the priesthood of Israel had effectively fallen from grace, from its place of prominence in the worship life of Israel. The Levitical priesthood, divided during the time of the judges effectively abdicated their right to the prophetic mantle that guided Israel. Only Samuel remained as the Prophet of God; the one whom God used to speak to His people… until God would anoint a king after His own heart to lead them…
1 Chronicles 11:1-3 NKJV
1 Then all Israel came together to David at Hebron, saying, “Indeed we are your bone and your flesh. 2 Also, in time past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the Lord your God said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over My people Israel.’ ” 3 Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord. And they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord [a]by Samuel.
So, the Philistines could not keep the Ark. God would not allow it. God smote the Philistines mightily when the Ark was in their cities. Many died and many were smitten with tumors and sickness. After seven months, the Philistines returned the Ark to Israel, to the village of Kirjath Jearim, to the house of Abinadab, the Levite, where it remained for twenty years. In that time, the prophet Samuel died, then Israel’s first king Saul died. But God had a plan to return the Ark to the center of Israel as an object of worship and He had elevated to the office of King, the young man David upon whom the prophetic mantle of Samuel would rest. It was David who would return the Ark of The Covenant to a Tabernacle for worship. It was God who ordained young David for that task.
The Lesson
2 Samuel 6:1-3 NKJV
1 Again David gathered all the choice men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2 And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from [a]Baale Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called [b]by the Name, the Lord of Hosts, who dwells between the cherubim.
After being anointed by the people of Israel to the throne as King, David quickly established Jerusalem, in his homeland of Judah, as the capital city of the fledgling nation. After a successful military campaign against the Philistines, David built a home in Jerusalem for his family. Then he prepared a place for the Ark and pitched a tent there. Like his son Solomon some years later, David understood that he could not rule over Israel without the Lord’s help. After a place was prepared (Wow! That has a Messianic tone to it, doesn’t it?) for the Tabernacle, David gathered thirty thousand men to go with him to Kireath-Jearim to recover the Ark.
2 Samuel 6:4-5 NKJV
4 And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill, accompanying the ark of God; and Ahio went before the ark. 5 Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.
So then, it was with great anticipation that David went to bring the Ark of The Covenant from Kirjath Jearim to Israel. What transpires in the verses above is very important to the re-establishment of centralized worship in the House of Israel. David made sure that the procession back to Israel was filled with celebration. People lined both sides of the road along the eight-mile trek to Jerusalem. There was music, with a full complement of musical instruments being played in accompaniment to singing by a large chorus of singers. In the same way that David had prepared a place for the Ark of The Covenant, he had meticulously prepared a grand, celebratory return for the Ark to a place of centralized reverence. However, David overlooked some key elements. They were critical oversights. Attention to detail is critical to pure worship. Let’s take a look…
Interlude
2 Samuel 6:6-7 NKJV
6 And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and [d]took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. 7 Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his [e]error, and he died there by the ark of God.
David made two critical mistakes and it cost the life of one of his faithful followers, Uzzah. I won’t park here, but in light of David’s mission, it’s important to understand that our personal zeal for God cannot replace His requirement for reverence to His Holiness and His Holy Word. David’s first mistake was that he allowed the Ark of the Covenant to be carried on a wagon drawn by oxen, as though it were just another article of the Tabernacle and not the most Holy of articles for the Tabernacle, the very same Ark that would eventually rest in the Most Holy Place if the Tabernacle; the Holy of Holies. David’s second mistake and the one that cost the life of Uzzah was thus: when the oxen stumbled, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady it, and God killed him. David’s error was simple but profound: God never intended for the Ark to be touched by human hands. The Law of Moses specified that it was only to be transported by four Levitical priests. The Ark was to be transported by two poles run through the rings on the Ark and hefted onto the shoulders of the four priests, who were to carry it from place to place.
1 Chronicles 15:11-13 NKJV
11 And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites: for Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab. 12 He said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites; [b]sanctify yourselves, you and your brethren, that you may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel to the place I have prepared for it. 13 For because you did not do it the first time, the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him [c]about the proper order.”
Our narrative continues by informing us that David was careful to observe the requirements of God on his next attempt to bring the Ark of The Covenant to Jerusalem. Let us take to heart the lesson the verses above afford us. We must never take God for granted. God is Holy. We must always approach Him in reverent fear. Always. The lesson text picks up from here.
Act II
2 Samuel 6:14a NKJV
14a Then David danced[g] before the Lord with all his might;...
This may be the most important portion of the lesson (for me). First, allow me to catch up on the narrative. The first precession to Jerusalem had gone about four miles (the halfway point) when the incident with the Ark (above) occurred. David left the Ark at the house of Obed-Edom, the Gittite. There it remained for a full three months. In that time, David carefully prepared a second procession for the return of the Ark to Jerusalem, taking care to follow the Law of Moses more carefully and reverently in his planning.
In verse fourteen (above) we continue the celebratory narrative intended for this lesson. The bible says, ‘David danced before the Lord with all of his might!’ The Hebrew word for might means just that. The Hebrew word is ‘oz’, and it means, strength, power, might, force, boldness, loudness, or … might. In other words, David got his praise on! David let his hair down! David set the roof on fire! On purpose! David boldly and willfully set the tone for this grand celebration as the king of his people and as the worship leader for this wonderful event. He led Israel in worship. Months of planning, a miserable failure, lessons learned, David brought everything he had to the table (so to speak) and left it there. And he did so intentionally. It was part of God’s plan to return true worship, unified worship, congregational worship to the nation of Israel. David was just a vessel. A vessel out of which God would pour His Spirit, His Holy Spirit out upon His people on this great day. Think ‘Day of Pentecost’. Think ‘Passover’. Think ‘Rosh Hashana and the blowing of the shofar (the ram’s horn). The music, the singing, the dancing. All of it served to raise the level of praise to the highest level humanly possible before the Most Holy God. What a day!
2 Samuel 6:14b NKJV
14b ...and David was wearing a linen ephod.
The ephod. The ephod. What? Why was David wearing a linen ephod?
ephod
priestly garment, shoulder-cape or mantle, outer garment
worn by the high priest - costly, woven of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and linen threads provided with shoulder-pieces and a breast piece of like material, ornamented with gems and gold
An ephod was only to be worn by the Levitical priests during their service in the Tabernacle. The ephod of the High priest was an ornate garment made of linen. The base color was royal blue, dyed with ink from the Hexaplex Trunculas sea snail. Those snails were harvested on the coast of Tyre, on the Mediterranean. The dye was a deep royal blue that could not be washed out. It was extremely expensive because of the number of sea snails that had to be harvested in order to make sufficient amounts for the dyeing of the priestly garments. From a lesson a year back, we studied Tyrian Purple, a purple dye of similar quality used for the making of royal robes.
Why David? Why was David wearing the ephod? The lesson hinges on this point. The color blue represents the place of God, literally Heaven. Ezekiel informs us that the throne of God is Blue. For the priests, blue represents royalty. With this blue, linen ephod, God conferred royalty upon His holy priests.
In David’s case, the ephod had a prophetic property. It served the same purpose as Joseph’s coat of many colors or the mantle that the prophets Elijah and Elishah shared. For David, the ephod served as a contact point for communicating with God. David’s association with the ephod is significant because it associates the office of the prophet with the office of the king. This is a temporary association that will result in the return of the prophetic mantle back to the House of Levi. That mantle rested with David, a man after God’s own heart, then followed to his son Solomon, who was regarded as the wisest King of Israel. After Solomon, God restored the prophetic mantle to the house of Levi, to the Levitical Priesthood. With few exceptions, the prophets of the Old Testament were all of the Tribe of Levi. Thus the significance of the ephod. Along with all of the other accouterments David had put into place for bringing the Ark into Jerusalem.
2 Samuel 6:15 NKJV
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.
So David, with his foot firmly on the proverbial ‘gas pedal’ led the nation of Israel in worship. He led the musicians. He led the choir. He led the Levites. He led the nation. David led the nation of Israel to...God!
2 Samuel 6:16 NKJV
16 Now 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 whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.
Very briefly, Michal, the wife of David and the daughter of Saul watched all of the proceedings from a window in the palace. Without detracting from the lesson, I would just like to point out that Michal missed the moment. She missed the celebration, she missed her opportunity to celebrate the Presence of God. Take the lesson: don’t miss your moment in God’s Presence because of something someone else was doing… in church. I’m just saying…
2 Samuel 6:17 NKJV
17 So they brought the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
And so, having reached their destination, the priests place the Ark of The Covenant in the midst of the Temple David had prepared for it. The celebration is not over. Rather, they’ve reached a point of completion; a period of Rest. Holy Rest. A Sabbath moment. A Selah moment. Notice David’s hand in every part of the service, from its beginning to its end. The significance of his actions cannot be overstated. He restored corporate worship to the people of God.
2 Samuel 6:18 NKJV
18 And when David had finished offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts.
David closes the service with offerings to God and blessings for the people. In doing so, he typifies the actions of the High Priest, and in doing so, he foreshadows the coming of our Great High Priest; Jesus Christ. Our Lord, who hung between Heaven and earth on our behalf. A close examination of David’s life reveals so many flaws, but God chose him to restore the prophetic mantle to the Levitical Priesthood, to return the Ark of the Covenant to its rightful place as the center of worship in the Tabernacle. To study his leadership is to study a profile in courage. To study his leadership is to study a ‘type’ of the benefit and sensitivity of a heart that’s been changed by the Spirit of God!
2 Samuel 6:19 NKJV
19 Then he distributed among all the people, among the whole multitude of Israel, both the women and the men, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins. So all the people departed, everyone to his house.
When praises go up, blessings come down.
Selah,
wb
