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THE KING’S BUSINESS
has gotten more well-meaning men and women into great trouble and their friends into great trouble than any other mistake. The ark itself was the symbol of Jehovah’s presence, His holy and glorious presence, and men must be taught to treat that ark (which symbolizes the Holy and glorious presence of God) with the reverence due to His own great and holy Name, for it was “the ark of God which is called by the Name, even the name of Jehovah of hosts” (v. 2). The ark was also a remarkable type of Christ. Christ is Immanuel, “God with us,” and the ark was the symbol of God’s presence with His people, Immanuel. Beside this, in the ark the law of God was perfectly kept, and in Christ the law of God is perfectly kept. . Further still, over the perfectly kept law in the ark was the blood-sprinkled mercy seat where God met His people (Ex. 25:18-22), and in Christ we have our-blood-sprinkled mercy seat, where God meets and communes with us. David, in his first attempt to bring up the ark had no intention whatever of not conferring due honor on the ark of God. Indeed, he made great and costly prepara tions (v. 1), but the trouble was (as David himself was afterwards brought to realize) that he had “not sought Jehovah according to the ordinance" (1 Chron. 15:13 R. V.). And so the ark had not 'been borne by the children of the Levites upon their shoul-. -ders “as Moses commanded according to the Word o f Jehovah” (1 Chron. 15:15), and so terrible trouble and judgment resulted. It is often said that “it does not make any difference what a man believes or does, if he is only sincere," but David was per fectly sincere, but none the less he was thoroughly wrong in not following the ex plicit directions of the Word and it made A GREAT DEAL OF DIFFERENCE in Spite of his sincerity, both to him and to Uzzah who died. It may seem severe and unjust that such judgment should come 'upon igno rance, but David was to blame for his ig norance. He had the means of enlighten ment which he neglected, namely, the writ ten Word. If men today are ignorant of
what is in the Word of God and suffer for it, it is their own fault ; they cannot blame God for it, though they would often like to. Let them study the Word and find out God’s way. There is a solemn lesson for us all in David’s mistake, namely, the lesson that men always get into trouble when they try to improve on God’s way. David had really learned his “improved plan” of carrying the ark from the heathen (cf. 1 Sam. 6:7, 8), that is where all improvement upon God’s way ultimately come from. There is a great deal in modern modes of worship that is supposed | to be an improvement on the primitive simplicity of the New Testament churches, and it is to heathenism that we must look for the origin of much of this so-called improvement. Though the ark, the symbol of God’s presence, had brought judgment and death to Uzzah, it brought blessing to the house .of Obed-edom. Noth ing else brings such 'blessing to a house as the presence of God in it when God is treated as He should be. That ark in Obed- edom’s home was the symbol of Christ in our homes. It brought blessing, not only to Obed-edom but “to all that pertained unto him.” And Christ brings blessing for the whole household that He enters (Acts 16: 31). Obed-edom was only a heathen by descent, a Gittite (v. 11 cf. ch. 15:19); but he welcomed the presence of God into his house and Jehovah blessed the house of Obed-edom (v. 12). The blessing that had come to the house of Obed-edom, because of Jehovah’s presence there, was soon noised abroad and David’s fear because of the judgment, that came upon Uzzah gave way to desire and he brolight up the ark of God this time “with joy,” because he brought it up in the appointed way. David’s joy was very great, expressing itself in dancing before Jehovah with all his might (v. 14). No fault is to be found with dancing like this, "before the Lord”; the dancing to which we are most accustomed in our day is before the Devil. Ps. 24:1. "The earth is Jehovah’s and the fullness thereof." Psalm 24 is printed as part of the lesson because some have sup-
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