Day #280 - David’s Tabernacle

The Presence - A Devotional for living in Thanksgiving, Worship and Wonder

“After David had constructed buildings for himself in the City of David, he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before him forever.””

‭‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭15‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Photo by Raygar He on Unsplash

If you are a parent, have you ever had a child do something unexpected that really blessed your heart?

When my kids have gone out of the way to do something to bless my heart or my wife’s there is nothing quite like it. When a child prepares a special meal, writes a card or cleans up without being the level of delight in my heart as a parent is hard to match. You do so much for your children as a parent that when they of their own volition think of doing something for you that you haven’t asked them to do, its a great honor.

The story of David’s Tabernacle or David’s Tent is interesting. When David attempted to move the Ark to the City of David and Uzzah was struck dead, He realized that he needed to do thing’s God’s way. David would reinstitute the Levites to carry the Ark as God has prescribed. He wouldn’t do it wrong. But interestingly enough, instead of keeping the Ark in the Tabernacle of Moses that was at Shiloh, David kept the Ark out in the open under His own tabernacle. We see nothing in the Scriptures that says God told David to make this major switch of ministering to the Ark in his tent instead of the Tabernacle of Moses. So where David wouldn’t violate how to carry the Ark any longer, He did invent a new way to minister before the Ark which was motivated by His love for “the Presence” of the Lord.

David’s Tabernacle as seen in the rest of 1 Chronicles was a place that Levites, musicians and singers ministered to the Lord around the clock by bringing sacrifices to the Lord and praising Him with songs. Many of the Psalms would have been sung by the worshippers at the tabernacle. David literally hosted the “the Presence” of the Lord by ministering to Him at the Ark of the Covenant. This pleased the Lord and His favor rested upon David and Israel through this 24-7 worship and praise.

The Lord is worthy to be worshiped by His people. There is never a moment in life when He is not worthy of worship. Be extravagant in Your praise. Your home and your church can become a place where you host God’s presence through worship as you minister to the Lord. Your worship and praise touches the heart of the Lord. Come before Him in song and in dance. Write Him your own song. Write Him a letter of love. Do something like David to move the heart of God and bring Him praise. Set aside time to bring the Lord uncommon praise.

Lord, You are worthy of my worship. You are worthy of worship and praise around the clock. Every minute of everyday you are worthy to be praised. Teach me how to minister to You and host Your presence. Teach Your church how to minister unto You and host Your presence. Give us songs and sounds that will touch Your heart and bring You glory. In Jesus name, amen.