Exalting the Sacred

What have we done today to the sacred things of God? We have orchestrated worship by the power of the sound system, we have made prayer a perfunctory exercise, and we have completely ignored the lack of God’s presence in our midst. The ark of God’s presence lays silent outside the church walls and His own people do not even recognize it or care. If God’s tangible presence ever manifested itself in the average church service the people would run out into the streets for fear, not even knowing who it was. We could all learn from King David’s example.

The ark lay at the house of Obededom. The Scriptures tell us that it was a blessing to the entire family and that news had reached the ears of King David. Now David was the most powerful king upon the earth and his political power had no equals. He could have dispatched a legion of Levites to go and bring the ark back to Jerusalem, after all, David himself had conquered and established the city of Jerusalem for God’s glory. All he had to do was say the word and all would be obliged to carry out his command.

But David was not only a king, he was a man after God’s own heart. When he heard the ark was blessing another man’s house and that it still was not in Jerusalem his spirit was moved within him. Can you imagine such a scene? David calls his servants and the high priest and tells them to prepare an entourage to go to the house of Obededom to carry the ark to Jerusalem, and David himself would lead this sacred delegation. This was the king, the chief political figure in all the land, but King David would strip himself of his earthly power to humbly go and do the priestly work of the Lord.

So off goes this mighty caravan of Israelites led by King David to bring the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem. King David comes forth as a priest, heading up the most sacred of journeys and laying down his kingly robes for the presence of God. This time there would be no ox cart of human design, no, the Levites would bare the ark in accordance with God’s Holy Commandment. King David call for the leaders of the Levites and commands them to sanctify themselves before the Lord, he desired everyone’s heart right before God. The Levites were ready and the staves were in place to carry the ark of God.

David calls for the Levites that lead worship with instruments and singing and Chenaniah, the leader of the worship of Jehovah. So here we are at the house of Obededom, ready with the ark, and a loud and holy worship full of singing and playing of instruments rises up before the Lord, praising and singing as a sweet smelling savor before the God of the ark. King David has stepped out of his kingly garments and wore a linen ephod which was generally used as a priestly garment. The spirit of praise was mightily in their midst and the Levites carry the ark six steps and David offers seven bullocks and seven rams unto the Lord before they go any further.

The reverence and fear that David had for His Lord was palpable, and the entire entourage enters into the great sacrifice unto Jehovah. Can you smell the burning animal flesh and the smoke that rose toward heaven? This was no plain moving expedition, this was a journey of worship. And as the offerings were burned totally, the singers lifted their voices unto the Lord and the musicians began to praise God with a loud sound of undeniable praise and worship. Can you imagine the people who lived in that area, including Obededom and his family, watching this spectacle and seeing and experiencing the testimony of the Lord? Singing and shouting and playing and praising the Lord of the ark.

And then the King of all the Land gets so caught up with the presence of God that he begins to dance. Not just an insignificant sway that blends in with the crowd, oh no, David, dressed in a priestly garment goes in front of the ark and begins to swirl and jump and clap and dance with all his might before the Lord God his Deliverer. Still inside the yard of Obededom David is dancing before the Lord, the king who sits on his throne in Jerusalem in solemnity is now unashamedly dancing before his Lord in front of his subjects and any spectators. The political figurehead has come down from his earthly throne to dance and worship before He who sits upon the throne of heaven. What an example of humility and reverence.

As they approached Jerusalem we find David still dancing, still worshiping even now in front of all Jerusalem. They bring the ark to the tabernacle that David had prepared for its habitation. Oh the shouting and praising and the spiritual electricity that must have gone through the entire city. Again they offered up sacrifices unto the Lord after the ark had been set upon its resting place. Then David, again acting as a priest, blesses the people in the name of the Lord. And with the enormity of what had taken place still fresh, David does something that has prophetic implications.

David passes out a meal to every person to partake of. It consisted of bread, flesh, and wine and it was given to everyone. What could this meal mean? Those of us who have partaken symbolically and spiritually of this meal recognize it immediately as a foreshadow of the Lord’s Supper and the revelation of Jesus Christ and the coming New Covenant. What a glorious rehearsal concerning what we call communion, and notice it was within the context of worship. The entire city of Jerusalem bowed in worship and communion as they rejoiced in the return of the ark of the covenant. This meal again summoned images of the supper on the night of Passover where God’s deliverance was present mightily.

The festivities are over, the worship service has now ceased and the heart of King David was full of God’s greatness. He returns home only to find his wife, the daughter of King Saul, had been watching him dance before God. She scorns him and rebukes him for lowering himself as king and dancing like a commoner before the entire city. How could he humble himself before his subjects and risk losing their respect? How foolish, how base, and how unlike the king that he is, she insinuates.

Has David now come to his senses by her words? Has he sullied his reputation by his actions? Will he now take inventory about what he has done and regret getting carried away with the atmosphere of the day and becoming a spectacle before the people? On the contrary, he reproves his wife and not only justifies his unabashed worship before God, he informs her that in the future he will act with even more abandon in his demonstrative praise and worship toward Jehovah. This open show of worship before God did not come as an orchestrated act of pageantry, no, this emanated directly from the heart of the King. David loved his Lord and he was not ashamed to show it before the entire world, friends and enemies alike.

How often do God’s people today get caught up with the things of this world at the expense of the things that are sacred to Christ? Morality and politics, position and success, and so many other things that hinder our worship before our Lord and Savior have laden us with weights that tie us to the secular and keep the sacred at bay. David did not choose to keep his position as King, he was much more interested in exalting that which was sacred to him and his Lord. Do we march into the church building encumbered by so many things that our spirits are entangled with worldly issues? Finances, children, employment, and a laundry list of earthly cares tie us to this world and restrict our worship that should be His and His alone. We care about what others may think if we raise our hands to our Master and in that we are in bondage. We would not want anyone to see us weep with worship before God, someone may disapprove. Oh how pitiful we sometimes are when in the light of Who Jesus is and what He has accomplished for us and yet we are still timid and retrospect in our praise and worship for Him.

How can this be, how have we become so scripted and confined in our brokenness before our Wonderful Lord and Savior? The sinful woman marches through a room full of judgmental men that included Pharisees, a spectacle to be sure, and she bows down with an ointment with which she anoints the Lord Jesus. Her devotion to Him was more powerful than the scorn she knew would come from others in his presence. But Jesus was moved by her act of worship and shamed His own disciples. Are we concerned what others may think about us or is our devotion to Him who has delivered us of such magnitude that ridicule and scorn must give way as nothing as we worship?

Do you think that those already in heaven measure their worship and remain within culturally accepted parameters? Do the angels withhold themselves so as not to be seen as fanatical, or do they cover their eyes and feet and say, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty”? And yet professing believers who claim to have been washed forever in the Lamb’s blood enter the place of corporate worship and lightly participate in the orchestration with no depth of worship that captures their spirit outside the worship leader’s guidance. Where is the Lord God of Elijah and where is the spirit of King David?

I speak not of contrived emotionalism but I do speak of reverent and broken worship that is congruent with the Person to whom we offer ourselves. Just as David prepared himself, so must we as believers prepare our hearts to come before our Lord. When a blood washed sinner comes in authentic worship before his Lord, that is well pleasing to our Savior and Lord. Remove the Babylonian garments of this world and put on the garments of praise. Our Lord summons us into His throne room to bow down and worship the King, and in that we will be blessed and changed, and most importantly Christ will be lifted high and exalted in that sacred act.