Bible Study

Just for your thoughts.

– Book of 1 Chronicles (or the Notes).
Bible Lesson 5

Scripture to meditate upon: 1 Chronicles 13:3
“Let us bring back the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul.”
These are the words David spoke to the assembly of Israel after his kingship was firmly established.

The Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines during the time when Eli was the high priest. On hearing the news, Eli fell and died. The ark remained in the land of the Philistines for seven months (1 Sam. 6:1).
Later it was placed in the house of Abinadab at Kiriath-jearim, where it remained for 20 years (1 Sam. 7:2). After that, throughout the 40 years of Saul’s reign, it stayed there.

Saul was Israel’s first king. God chose him and made him king in accordance with the desire of the people. He ruled for 40 years.
But in those 40 years, most of his time was spent pursuing David, trying to kill him, disobeying the Word of the Lord, and refusing to heed the words of Samuel the prophet who had anointed him.
At the end, he took his own life.

During his reign, Saul never did anything significant concerning the tabernacle of worship.
He never made any effort to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to the tabernacle.
He neither cared about it nor even thought about it. He did not take any step concerning God’s house.
The one who was made king by God himself showed no concern for the ministry of God’s temple.
He lived without a grateful heart toward God. He did not even realize that God’s presence had departed from him, and thus he ended his reign.
David, however, was not like that. He had been a shepherd boy, yet God used him to slay the giant Goliath. God preserved him from Saul’s attempts to kill him, raised him up, made him king over Israel, and gradually strengthened his kingdom. Once his kingship was firmly established, the very first thing David wanted to do was to restore the Ark of the Covenant back into the tabernacle.
Though his first attempt failed—the oxen stumbled while pulling the cart, and when Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, God struck him down—the ark remained in the house of Obed-Edom for three months. Later, David tried again, and this time he successfully brought the Ark of the Covenant into the tabernacle.
What we learn from this is that no matter how many failures David experienced, his zeal for God, his devotion to God’s house, his love for God’s commandments, his desire to seek the Lord, and his delight in God’s Word never diminished. That is why David is described as a man after God’s own heart. He remained thankful to the God who exalted him.
For more than 60 years, the Ark of the Covenant had not been in the tabernacle. This must have deeply stirred David. That is why he so earnestly desired to build a temple for God.
Even today, we too must not merely be satisfied with the blessings God has given us and finish our lives with that. We must not grow indifferent toward His church, His ministries, the Word He has entrusted to us, and the burdens of service He has laid on us. The devotion, love, and zeal we had at the beginning should not fade as time passes, as comfort increases, or as struggles come our way. The first love we had for God must never be compromised under any circumstances.
That is why Jesus Christ is called the Son of David in the Bible. May God grant us also the same unwavering zeal that David had.