WEEKLY
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An
international Sunday school lesson commentary
For
Sunday December 1, 2019
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DAVID’S WORSHIP
(Moving the Ark to Jerusalem)
(1 Chronicles 15)
The “Ark of the Covenant”
is the Old Testament iconic object that symbolized for the Hebrew nation, not
only the presence of GOD, but also the protection and the glory of GOD HIMSELF.
In their minds, it brought the peace of GOD, as well as the assurance of victory
in all of their battles with the pagan nations that surrounded them.
For most of Israel’s enemies, over time, it
came to represent “a symbol of fear”, and in some instances, their enemies were
even too terrified to fight back. In fact, the Ark later became somewhat of a
superstitious “object of good luck” for the Israelites, and a symbol of “bad
luck” for their pagan rivals.
As time went on, the Israelites gradually
changed their focus from GOD HIMSELF, to the Ark of the Covenant, that the GOD
had commanded Moses to construct. The Ark, in essence, became the Israelite’s
idol, and had severely affected, even the way, David too, worshipped GOD.
It was this type of attitude toward the Ark
of the Covenant that caused them to earlier, lose possession of it to the
Philistines (1 Samuel 4). GOD, in order to get the Israelite’s focus back on
HIM, allowed the Philistines to defeat HIS chosen nation, and take away “the
idol”, which the Ark had become for HIS people. They had grew to trust more in
the Ark than they did in GOD HIMSELF.
The Ark of the Covenant was a sacred
portable chest, which, along with its two accompanying items, “the Mercy Seat”
and “the Cherubim”, was the most important object that the Israelites had
during their “wilderness period”. It was also known by three other names, “the
Ark of the LORD” (Joshua 6:11), “the Ark of GOD” (1 Samuel 3:3), and “the Ark
of the Testimony” (Exodus 25:22). It was the only article of furniture that
could be found in the innermost room of Moses’ Tabernacle, and later, in “the
Naos”, or, innermost part of the temple that Solomon built at Jerusalem.
The Ark of the Covenant itself, eventually
contained three items that GOD instructed Moses and Aaron to insert into it;
the stone tablets on which “The Ten Commandments” were written, the gold
container which held two quarts of “the manna” that fell from Heaven (Exodus
16:33-34), and Aaron’s “blooming staff” (Numbers 17:10-11). These three items
are also confirmed in the New Testament book of Hebrews (Hebrews 9:4).
Apparently, over the years, the manna, and
Aaron’s staff, must have been lost, because we see that, at the time of the
dedication of Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 8:9), only the tablets containing the
Ten Commandments were still inside the Ark.
Over in 1 Chronicles 13, we see that David
had attempted to move the Ark of the Covenant, but, was unsuccessful in doing
so, because he did not consult with GOD, before attempting to move it, and,
because his motives were wrong. David had, instead, “consulted” with all of his
appointed leaders, and excluded GOD, and thereby had “insulted” GOD HIMSELF by
his actions. He seemed to be more interested in what people thought about him
moving “their idol to Jerusalem”, than he was about what GOD thought about him moving
“the sacred symbol of HIS presence” to Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 13:1-4).
Moreover, like many Christians leaders
today, David was also focusing more on “what he was doing for GOD”, than on “doing
things GOD’s way”. He was, in effect, praising his own efforts by wanting
everyone to see him “doing this great thing for them” “in the name of GOD”,
instead of pleasing GOD with his actions.
This improper move of the Ark caused the
death of Uzzah, who inadvertently touched the Ark trying to steady it from
falling over. It was GOD’s intention that the Ark never again be touched by
human hands after Moses had constructed it according to HIS personal, holy
directions (Exodus 25:10-22, Numbers 4:15).
Here in 1 Chronicles 15, three months after
David had shown anger and remorse for his sin against GOD by improperly moving
the Ark, and causing the death of one of his people, he was better prepared
spiritually to take on the task of moving the Ark to its new home in Jerusalem.
In the previous three months he had went through a period of sanctification,
getting back accustomed to consulting GOD before he did anything concerning
GOD’s work (1 Chronicles 14:2, 10, 14, and 16).
David had, by now, built several buildings
for himself in Jerusalem, and had also prepared a temporary place for the Ark
of the Covenant there, by setting up a special tent for it. This time he was
careful to follow proper protocol when moving the Ark, as he invited the
priests and Levites to carry it by using “special poles” that were placed
through rings on the sides of the Ark so that no man would ever have to touch
the Ark itself.
After the prescribed consecration period,
the Ark was moved to its new home, with all of the people, including David,
singing (“ the psalms of ascent” – Psalms 120-134), dancing, and worshipping
GOD, all the way up to “the city of David”, which is Jerusalem.
When our hearts (the core of our thoughts)
are pure, GOD’s presence is always cause for celebration, and not ever a cause
for fear. “In spirit”, and, “in truth” is the only real way to “worship GOD”.
If we are singing in the Church choir, only as practice to fulfill our dream of
a having a great music career that will rival Beyonce or J-Zee, then our motive
for being there is clearly wrong. Our minds need to be focused on “the GOD in
Heaven”, not “the gods on earth”.
Also, when we pray, publicly and privately,
our prayers need to be from a pure heart, not worrying about how we sound to
others, or how much longer we can pray than all the other deacons and church
officials. We, as lowly sinners, are incapable of impressing GOD anyway. We can
only strive to obey GOD and thank HIM for providing a way, through JESUS
CHRIST, for us to re-enter into a personal relationship of friendship with HIM.
Worship services are not to be used for
“man shopping” or “woman shopping”. If our focus is on drawing attention to
ourselves, how can we give personal attention to the worship of our GOD in
Heaven, WHO can ultimately save our souls. We never want to put ourselves in
the mode of just “playing church” and going through the motions or pretense of
worship. GOD should always be front and center in our hearts when we worship,
and our worship should never just be “an exhibition” aimed at “promoting
ourselves”, or winning praise from the congregation for “a job well done”. We
should only seek to “praise GOD” and to “please GOD” in HIS worship services.
These passages serve to remind us how
easily we can lose our focus and become distracted from the LORD by way of our
own selfish motives, and, by our desires to impress others. David experienced
tremendous spiritual growth through his mistakes in life, including the ones of
the events recorded in 1 Chronicles 13. And these biblical accounts come to us,
from across the spans of time, in hopes that, we too, can learn from the
lessons of a man who was truly a righteous seeker of GOD’s OWN heart. The way
we behave, is the only true symbol of GOD’s presence, or lack thereof, in our
lives.
A
Sunday school lesson by,
Larry
D. Alexander
larrydalexanderbiblestudies.blogspot.com
LARRY D. ALEXANDER-
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