God’s Word for You

1 Chronicles 16:37-43 Come and worship

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Tuesday, January 23, 2024

37 David left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to minister regularly before the ark and according to the requirements of each day. 38 And he left Obed Edom and his sixty-eight brothers as well, with Obed Edom son of Jeduthun, and Hosah as gatekeepers.

David was faced with a theological problem. Having brought the ark into the city, to a tent other than the one commanded by the Lord through Moses, what was he to do with it? Was it like a prize from a war that could be wrapped up and stored away somewhere, a thing behind or beneath another thing (1 Samuel 21:9)? We can only guess at David’s motive for bringing the ark into the city rather than sending it straight to the Most Holy Place, which was at the center of the tabernacle in Gibeon:

1, Perhaps David did not trust his headstrong warriors to leave the ark alone in the tabernacle; concerned that they might grab it to take with them into battle, which is how it got captured in the first place (1 Samuel 4:4-11).

2, Perhaps David felt strongly that, as king, he alone could make the military decision to use the ark in battle (something he surely would never have done without a direct command from God). By bringing it into the city, it would be treasonous for anyone to take it without his permission.

3, Perhaps David felt that the stone walls of Jerusalem would prevent the ark from being taken again by Israel’s enemies, in case any of the present enemies (Ammon, Moab, Aram, and so on) threatened Israel.

4, We will find in the very next chapter that David already had in mind to build a new house of worship, a temple rather than a tabernacle. By bringing the ark into the city at this time, perhaps David felt that his case would be strengthened, or that it would be easier to just have the ark nearby when it came time to move it into its new home.

Perhaps most or all of these were true. But it still left David with the issue of what to do with the ark until the temple was built. Obviously he didn’t want it to be kept in the old tent in Gibeon, but it would nevertheless require tending. It was an object of reverence. The ark was not to be worshiped, since even an object like the ark, made at God’s own command according to God’s specifications, was still only an object. God forbids us from worshiping anything that is not God himself. The ark served as a visible reminder of his presence, and he had said to Moses: “Above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony (that is, the Ten Commandments), I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites” (Exodus 25:22).

The ark had to be looked after and tended, and it needed to be involved in the festivals as a center of worship. But it needed guarding, too, because not even the high priest could just go in to see it whenever he wanted. God had warned: “Tell Aaron not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud over the atonement cover” (Leviticus 16:2). It was for this reason that David selected men to watch over the ark as if this were the tabernacle itself, although no sacrifices were to be made anywhere except at the altar, which for now was in Gibeon.

This did not require a priest, since no sacrifices were to be made at this place, although prayers could of course be offered anywhere, as well as songs and hymns that were sung. So Asaph the musician—who is never described as a priest in Scripture, although he was a Levite (2 Chronicles 5:12)—was placed in charge of the worship and music that took place before the ark. He and his brother Levites (that is, other Levite musicians—not necessarily sons of the same mother) were to serve there constantly. In addition, Obed Edom was blessed and assigned by David to continue to be the personal guardian of the tent flap: he was the guardian of the door of the ark, along with sixty-eight other men assigned with him, his brother guardians. If some of these men were allowed to work the levitical fields in the area (as was usually the case), then in any given month, half or a third of them might be on duty at the tent, and the rest could be off duty. There would perhaps have been ten or a dozen men at or near the tent at all times, not counting Asaph and his fellow musicians.

39 He left Zadok the priest and his brother priests before the tabernacle of the LORD in the high place at Gibeon, 40 to offer burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of burnt offering regularly, morning and evening, according to everything written in the law of the LORD, and which he had given to Israel.  41 With them were Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest of those chosen and designated by name to give thanks to the LORD, “for his mercy endures for ever.”  42 Heman and Jeduthun were with them to make godly music with trumpets and cymbals and other instruments for sacred music. The sons of Jeduthun were appointed to the gate. 43 Then all the people went home, each to his own house, and David went home to bless his household.

David took the burden away from Zadok, the high priest who was already serving at the tabernacle in Gibeon, from choosing to divide his time between the altar and the ark. He left (commanded) Zadok to remain in Gibeon. Zadok and his fellow priests continued to make offerings there at the altar before the holy place where the showbread was still kept, and the lamp of the Lord was not allowed to go out “from evening till morning” (Leviticus 27:21). The morning and evening sacrifices were constantly offered according to God’s command along with their flour, oil, wine and salt (Exodus 29:38-41; Leviticus 2:13). The other musicians, Heman and Jeduthun, were also assigned to minister at the tabernacle.

David quotes the Psalm from this chapter, verse 34, as an example of the tabernacle music: “Give thanks to the Lord, for his mercy endures forever.” Jeduthun’s sons were appointed there to be gatekeepers.

When the ark was in place and the priests and Levites were assigned, the ceremony came to an end, and the people returned home. When would the building of the temple begin? David had a plan, but he did not yet have permission from the Lord. He would not go ahead without consulting his high priest, but he wanted to build a new house of worship for the Lord.

To worship God, the true God, is a privilege we scarcely pause to think about. Consider how rare it is in the world to truly know him, to know what he has done, and to be led to want to serve him and worship him! We worship Christ because we know what he has done for us! We worship Christ who teaches us to turn away from Satan and all his temptations. We worship Christ without pietistic demands, and we shouldn’t look down on those who don’t have a Sunday Best to put on. To “hear and obey” (Luke 11:28) is the greatest service to God. Nothing else counts. Some young men have begun wearing caps in church, and I’m glad our ushers don’t scold them. Let them listen to Christ with their caps on, if they will listen. We don’t want anyone to wear something offensive or too alluring (Deuteronomy 5:21; Romans 13:9), but we want people to come and hear. Come and worship! Come and learn about your Savior, the Son of God, the sacrifice who spent his own blood for our sins.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

Browse Devotion Archive