Although David made a mistake the first time when bringing the ark into the city of David, yet, he never gave up the plan of bringing in the ark altogether! It was still very much on his mind.

Instead, on realising his mistake, he left no stone unturned, to take careful precautions the next time, 1 Chronicles 15.

He ensured that only the Levites were to carry the ark, as per the law of Moses, vs 2,15. He prepared a place for it, vs 3. He told the priestly tribe to consecrate themselves, vs 12. He appointed musicians to play instruments and sing, vs 16-21,24,28. He sacrificed bulls and rams, vs 26.

This presents us with a good picture of what we need to be doing, if we are to prepare a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit in our hearts whose temple our body is! And as we do so, our lives will be an overflow of sacrificial offerings unto the Lord in view of the mercies He has bestowed upon us by forgiving our sins and willingly dwelling in our midst, Romans 12:1,2. As a result, we will bless others, 1 Chronicles 16:2, and not curse them when they persecute us, we will love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

When they are hungry and thirsty, we will give them food and drink, vs 3. And, we will offer unto the Lord our prayers, supplications and praise and thanksgiving at regular intervals, as the need may be, vs 4-6. We will tell of God’s mighty deeds, vs 8,9, and will seek Him continually and rejoice in Him always, vs 10,11. We will continually remember His covenant and promises, vs 15-20, and also be assured that He will not allow anyone to harm us without His permission, vs 21,22.

We will be a blessing to our family members too, vs 43. After doing all these things, David was not still content for the ark to dwell in a tent while he resided in a palace, 1 Chronicles 17:1!

On making his desire know to God, to build a permanent home for the ark of God, God rewards David by making a covenant with him and promising to build a permanent dynastic house for David, vs 10-14!

Indeed, God is no man’s debtor, but he eagerly seeks for worshippers who will worship Him in spirit and truth, and on finding them, He withholds no good thing from them, both now and forevermore! After this, David enjoyed victory over the Philistines, 1 Chronicles 18:1, the Moabites, vs 2, King Hadadezer of Zobah, vs 3, as well as the Arameans who came to help them, vs 5-7.

This won him favour with king Tou of Hamath, who was himself at war with Hadadezer, and king Tou sent David gifts of gold, silver and bronze, vs 9,10. David made sure to dedicate all these things to the Lord, vs 11. He placed garrisons in Edom, and all the Edomites became David’s subjects too, vs 13.

As David sought to worship God wholeheartedly, David reigned over all Israel and he guaranteed justice for all his people, vs 14.

It is only as we obey God wholeheartedly that we can be true worshippers, and so enjoy victory over sin, Satan and our flesh and enter into our inheritance in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God’s people will then be blessed through us and His kingdom built in our midst against which the gates of hell shall not prevail! Amen.

Rowena Thomas
Mumbai, India.