THE ARK OF GOD

There are plenty of great messages within the pages of the Bible. Stories of great faith, great faithfulness, stories of amazing things that happened when God stepped in to a situation.

The song I present here sprang out out of a message I heard, explaining one of the perhaps harder-to-explain stories. The song is one of my favourites, a reminder to me of what is good in the heart of a worshipper.

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THE ARK OF GOD

How shall I bring home the Ark of God,
Become a habitation for the King?
Purify my heart for the presence of the Lord,
Surrendering my claims upon the throne.

Jesus, be the object of my passion,
Jesus, let my heart be true;
Jesus, I want to be your humble servant;
My purpose is living for You, Living for you.

c.2004 M.Scott-Branagan

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Simple yet profound. Now for the story.

To explain before we go any further, the Ark does not refer to Noah's Ark.  It was a very special box made under God's instructions to Moses during the 40 years in the wilderness.  It was symbolic of God's presence, and indeed He had committed Himself to providing a special presence through this box.  It was a focal point in worship, and was even carried into war: God brought blessings when the people put their trust in Him through it.

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Due to the sin of the Judge/prophet/High Priest Eli's sons, God allowed the Ark of the Covenant to be captured by the Philistines.  After caused trouble in various Philistine cities the Ark was sent back to Israel, but it remained on a farm under the watchful eye of the landowner for about twenty years (the years of Samuel's rule as Judge, then all the years of Saul's reign as king).

When David became king, after he had worked to bring unity to the nation, and tied up various issues,  he established a new capital city, Jerusalem, which he captured from the Jebusites (note that David = Beloved; his tribe is Judah = Praise; his nation Israel = prince, ruling with God ... the name Jebusite = Rejection and Trampling Down:).

He took the mountain fortress of oppression and rejection, and proclaimed in its place that THERE God would rule and be praised in freedom!  Today Jesus Christ comes to conquer the oppression and rejection in our lives, and to establish in us His throne of freedom and mercy!!!

David made Jerusalem the seat of power (the Throne was taken there) and the central place of worship.  Being a true worshipper, his desire was to see God truly worshipped.  He knew that the Ark of the Covenant was crucial in their worship.  It was "between the wings of the cherubim" on the Ark, that God had said He would "meet with" the High Priests through the years, when they went to make atonement for the sins of the nation.  But the Ark was gone, languishing in the house of Abinadab.

So David determined to bring the Ark back to its place in the tabernacle, which he had set up in Jerusalem.  Amid great rejoicing and ceremony, David and a great crowd went to collect it. 

In their enthusiasm perhaps they forgot the instructions God gave Moses for transporting the Ark.  They made a new ox-drawn cart for it.  They were all praising, singing, dancing and rejoicing.  Until the oxen stumbled and the Ark wobbled.  A priest put out his hand to steady it, and died on the spot.  David was upset, and asked, "How then can the Ark come to me?"

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He wanted to re-establish the purity of worship in the nation. 
To do that, he would need to change some things -  not to do it his own way, but God's way.

The nation needed to purify their own hearts and make sure of their exact obedience to doing it God's way, not their own. No matter how well-intentioned. Remember Cain and Abel. Cain brought what he thought would be a good idea. Abel offered what God had already shown was acceptable.

So too, when we want to rebuild our lives, we need to purify our hearts and motives, take our best intentions and surrender them to God's authority and rule.

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Has your life been trampled on by others? Have you learned to believe the lies that rejection whispers in your ear? You are loved by God. You are important to Him. He calls you "fearfully and wonderfully made", and "Accepted in the beloved".

Perhaps it is time to conquer the voices of the Jebusites in your past, and release praise, God's praise, to take over, that he may bring transformation and new life once again!!!