CHAPTER 6

(1042 B.C.)

DAVID BRINGS THE ARK TO JERUSALEM

¹Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. (I Chronicles 13:1 says, David consulted with every leader. Before fighting the Philistines, David enquired of the LORD. Before performing the Work of God, David will not enquire of the Lord, but rather men. Why? His not doing so would cause tremendous problems.)

²And David arose, and went with all the people who were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the Ark of God, whose name is called by the Name of the LORD of hosts Who dwells between the Cherubims. (For approximately 70 years, the Ark of God had been without a home. Actually, it had been at the house of Abinadab. There is some indication, according to the Psalms that it was little attended to, possibly even sitting out in a field [Ps. 132:6]. Regrettably, the modern Church treats the Presence of God, of which the Ark was a Type, in pretty much the same fashion. To be frank, in most Churches, His Presence simply isnt wanted or desired.)

³And they set the Ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah (the Law of Moses said that the Priests must carry the Ark upon their shoulders; the Priests were Types of Christ; but Israel borrowed the way of the Philistines, and set the Ark, contrary to the Word of God, on a new cart; unfortunately, new carts abound presently!): and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart (how many spiritual leaders, so-called, presently are driving the new carts, thinking all the time they are doing great things for God?).

⁴And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, accompanying the Ark of God: and Ahio went before the Ark (that which seemed to begin so greatly would end so poorly).

⁵And David and all the House of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals. (New carts are always accompanied by great religious activity; however, all of this is a work of the flesh.

Had David enquired of the LORD and consulted the Bible [Num. 4:15], success and not disaster would have resulted. But he consulted man [I Chron., Chpt. 13], imitated the Philistine, and organized a great public function in which David and his plans largely obscured God and His Glory; consequently, the day ended in anger and fear. All of this was the planning of the flesh.)

UZZAH DIES

⁶And when they came to Nachons threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the Ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. (What man has set up, he feels himself bound to sustain. But the God of Israel needed not, as the gods of the nations, a human hand to uphold Him. It must be learned that God will judge the flesh even more in an Israelite than in a Philistine. The Living God is a Consuming Fire to the actions of the carnal nature, whether inside or outside the Family of God.)

⁷And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the Ark of God (of all people, Uzzah, who was supposed to have attended the Ark of God for all of his adult life, should have known better than to touch the Sacred Vessel).

⁸And David was displeased, because the LORD had made a breach upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perez-uzzah to this day (displeased or not, God would not change His Word, even for one who was after His Own Heart).

⁹And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the Ark of the LORD come to me? (Had David consulted the Bible, he would have known how the Ark of the Lord should come to him!)

¹⁰So David would not remove the Ark of the LORD unto him into the city of David: but David carried it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. (What had been a curse to Uzzah now would be a Blessing to Obed-edom. We say, We need revival! However, if true revival actually comes, it will bring both death and life. So, most Christians are very much willing to just leave the Ark in the field of the wood.)

¹¹And the Ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed Obed-edom, and all his household. (Evidently, Obed-edom consulted the Word of God, and attended to the Ark in the correct manner. Such brought tremendous Blessing.)

THE ARK IS BROUGHT TO JERUSALEM

¹²And it was told king David, saying, The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertains unto him, because of the Ark of God. So David went and brought up the Ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the city of David with gladness. (Now David knew that God was not angry with him without cause. So, according to the Word of the Lord, he corrects the situation, and brings up the Ark of God with gladness.)

¹³And it was so, that when they who bore the Ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings (about every 18 feet; to the carnal mind, this would seem extravagant; however, when we speak of Calvary, of which the Sacrifices were representative, there can be no extravagance).

¹⁴And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. (Now it is not mere religious ceremony, but rather in the Spirit, because it says before the LORD. Religious ceremony producing religious activity has no spiritual merit whatsoever; however, activity produced by the Spirit is the Blessing of the Church. The linen ephod was probably a garment like that worn by little children. It is doubtful that David would have donned a Priestly garment, which he had no right to wear.)

¹⁵So David and all the House of Israel brought up the Ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. (We are looking here at Holy Spirit Revival. This is the strength of Israel, not its mighty army, not its wealth, but the Ark of the LORD, which represented the Presence of God.)

¹⁶And as the Ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Sauls daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart. (This Verse tells us that the flesh can never approve of the things of the Spirit. Speaking of Davids wife, Michal, she is referred to here by the Holy Spirit as Sauls daughter. David did not do himself well by demanding that she come again to be his wife [3:14-16].)

¹⁷And 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.

¹⁸And 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.

¹⁹And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to everyone 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. (This speaks of Jesus as the Bread of Life, giving His Perfect Body on Calvarys Cross for our Salvation, and through which comes the Joy of the Lord.)

DAVID REPROVES MICHAL

²⁰Then 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 uncovers himself! (All that happened in the realm of the Holy Spirit was repulsive to the daughter of Saul. Likewise, the Moving of the Holy Spirit is always repulsive to those in the Church, in which there seems to be an abundance of the flesh.)

²¹And David said unto Michal, It was before the LORD, who chose me before your 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.

²²And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in my own sight: and of the maidservants which you have spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour. (And to be sure, he was! David was honored more than any other human being by him being the namesake of the Messiah, the Son of David.)

²³Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death (for the flesh let it be ever so dignified cannot bring forth fruit unto God; such was the pride of the flesh).