Our Joyfyul Best

The last time we looked at David’s life he had just became king and tried to bring the Ark of the Covenant back. This failed and one man died. You can read about it here.

David at this point in his life trusts God completely and makes a habit of asking the Lord what he should do. Remember the Philistines? They are the ones who had Goliath as their main weapon. They have been creating havoc and raided towns during Saul’s reign.

The Philistines are at it again, only this time, David is king and he inquires of the Lord. “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?”

The Lord said, “Go up, for I will deliver them into your hand.” (1Chronicles 14:10)

David was pleased the Lord let David defeat them. The Philistines brought their idols with them and David had them burned.

More Philistines raided the valley. David inquired of the Lord again and this time the Lord gave David a strategy. The plan was to circle around behind them. There a clump of Mulberry trees shielded them from the Philistines.

The Lord said to David, “When you hear marching in the top of the trees, move out into battle.” (1 Chronicles 13:14)

Wow, do you know what that means? God’s army marched down from heaven to go before David and help him win that battle! Angels fought for David!

Cool, I wish I could have seen that! How about you? David wrote a Psalm of deliverance, Psalm 18.

David’s fame spread throughout the land and the Lord made the other nations fear him.

Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” (2Samuel 6:12)

This time, David retrieved the ark the correct way. He had learned his lesson about obeying the rules God laid out to move the ark. David did more than was required of him to move the ark. Not only did he have the Levites carry the ark but after the first 6 steps they stopped and sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep to the Lord. They played trumpets to the Lord. David was so happy to be getting the ark. He danced and played music before the Lord all the way to the city.

Everything was going great. The ark was coming home to the place David had set up for it. He was obeying the Lord in how to move the ark. It was a happy occasion and David danced with all his might before the Lord. But sadly, there was one problem.

Michal, David’s wife who was Saul’s daughter, looked out the window and saw David leaping and whirling before the Lord and she despised him. She didn’t understand David nor his motives.

David had the Levites carry the ark to the Tabernacle that David had prepared and there they offered more sacrifices to the Lord. David blessed the people and gave every one of them presents of bread, a cake of dates, and a cake of raisins. The whole house of Israel was happy to have brought up the ark. David wrote a Psalm of praise, Psalm 105.

It took a lot of planning to get the ark back. David needed to find the priestly line of Levites and get them ready to take care of the ark. He needed to have craftsmen make the tabernacle to house the ark and hold sacrifices there.

When we do a job we need to investigate how it should be done and do it to the best of our ability. We should also do it with gladness. All jobs big and small should be done this way. David learned to do it correctly. If the task at hand is not one we particularly want to do we still should do a decent job. Also, we need to have a good attitude.

Next time you have a job whether it’s doing chores, homework, taking care of pets, making cookies, or whatever it may be, do a terrific job and have fun.

 

Memorize: Psalm 98:4-6 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; break forth in song, rejoice, and sing praises. 5) Sing to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of a psalm, 6) with trumpets and the sound of the horn; shout joyfully before the Lord, the King.

 

Verses in NKJV unless otherwise stated