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THE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
v. 10. David carried aside the ark. If God was offended, David knew He must have some good ground for being so. It became him and the people to accept God’s judgment, humble them selves before Him and seek forgiveness for the neglectful manner in which they had addressed themselves to this very solemn service. Instead of this David throws up the matter in a fit of sullen temper. He leaves the ark in the house of Obed-edom, returning crestfallen and displeased, altogether in a spirit most opposite to that in which he had set outi-—Exp. Bible. It may happen to you that some Christian undertaking on which you have entered with great ardor and without any surmise that you are not doing right, is not blessed but meets with some rough shock, placing you in a very painful position. Rebellious feel ings. hover about your heart that if God is to treat you in this way, it were better to abandon His service altogether. But be sure the rebuff God has permit ted you to encounter is meant as a trial of your faith and humility, and if you wait on God for further light, if, above all, you beware of retiring in sullen silence from God’s active service, good may come out of the apparent evil and you may find cause to bless God for the shock that made you so uncomfortable at the time.— Blaikie. v. 11. The ark of the Lord. The ark was a remarkable type of Christ who is Emanuel, “ God with us” and the ark was the symbol of God’s presence with His people. Nothing else brings such blessing to a house as the presence of God in it.—-Torrey. The Lord blessed Obed-edom. The God of heaven pays liberally for His lodging.— Bishop Hall. 1 Chron. 26:5 sheds a new light on the subject, for there we learn that the whole family became attached to the service of the Lord’s house and even the grandchildren became mighty. One likes to imagine the reverence and joy with which those boys and girls lay down to sleep at night, feeling that the sym bol of God’s presence was in the house. If only men would open their homes to God’s ark!-—Meyer. Piety is the best friend of prosperity. Whereas before Obed-edom was poor, on a sudden his estate increased to the envy of his neigh bors.— Jcsephus. v. 12. So David brought the ark. The lapse of three months had led David to the discovery of his former error. Having learned that the ark was kept
Heavenly Christ is not within, the fault is ours, “ Ye will not come to Me that ye might have life.” The Ark Blessed Only Where It Stayed. The house of Ohed-Edom was blessed for they welcomed the Ark of God. “Where is Jesus?” was once asked of a child. “He lives in our alley now,” was the reply. The hoy had learned that Christ is where He has friends who serve Him.” ; Golden Text Illustration. The ark first. The sentence in the letter to his teacher of a little Indian hoy, “ I pray every day and hoe onions.” This reminds us of the Strauraer shoe maker who said: “ I serve God and make boots in my spare time.” Truly in keep ing with the “ Seek first” and “ Do all to the glory of God.” A Norwegian vessel was caught in the storm and the coast guard vessel came out and did their best, but it did not save the men, and all that night they struggled in the surging ocean, clinging to the rigging with but a step between them and death. They watched the morning dawn, and after some hours of effort by the coast guard the poor Nor wegians, wet, worn, dripping, were brought off the vessel and when they got ashore they did what hut few would do in like circumstances. They knelt down, every one of them, and before they thanked the coast-guard men, with clasped hands and uplifted eyes, they thanked God for their deliverance. “ En ter into His courts with Thanksgiving.” Psalm- ? 4 is printed as a part of the lesson because some have supposed with out any apparent warrant that this psalm was written in connection with the bringing up COMMENTS FROM of the ark. David MANY SOURCES did compose a Keith L. Brooks psalm a t that time but this is not the psalm, (cf. 1 Chron. 16:7-36). In Psalm 24 we have Christ in His re turn as our coming King.— Torrey.
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