Bringing Home the Ark

Day three hundred seven

"Nothing so conclusively proves a man's ability to lead others as what he does day to day to lead himself."  ~ Thomas J Watson

1 Chronicles 13-15  

David has just been made king over the entire nation of Israel.  Now, his first move is not a political one, but a spiritual one.  He wants his city not only to be the political capital of the nation, but the spiritual one as well.  David has a heart for God. He wants to be close to God. He wants the nation to be close to God. And he comes up with this idea of bringing the Ark home with him to his new capital in Jerusalem.

This turns out to be a bigger challenge than first expected.  David will make some good decisions and some bad decisions regarding the Ark.  What this means for us is an opportunity to learn some important leadership skills.

Stay Teachable
"And David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and with every leader." (1 Chron 13:1)

David took time to listen to counsel.  Just because you’re in charge doesn’t mean that you can’t listen to advice.  When you find yourself in a position where you are the one who is going to make the decision (like being a king), you still need to listen to advice.  We would be foolish if we didn’t pay attention to good advice. (Prov 12:15; Eccl 5:1) 

David went to leaders to ask advice.  He went to other people who were experienced in making decisions.  I think there are a lot of people in our lives that we can draw upon for wisdom. We know that God often works through other people to guide us, staying teachable and seeking advice are important if we are to be effective.

Do The Right Things The Right Way
"And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab..." (1 Chron 13:7)

It's not just important to do the right thing, but sometimes it's also important how we do it.  For example think about washing the laundry.  It's important to do the laundry, but sometimes it's also important how you do the laundry.  The wrong water temperature, mixed colors, and adding bleach can all bring negative results.  The laundry might be clean, but also destroyed!

It seems kind of harmless, putting the Ark on a cart. Yet it will cause great trouble.  Where did they get the idea of putting the Ark on a cart?  The last time someone moved the Ark, about a 100 years ago, the Philistines had put it on an oxcart (1 Sam. 6).  The problem is, God designed the Ark to be carried by men, not pulled by oxen.  Something that should have been taken into consideration.  As we will see, had the Ark been moved the right way it could have saved some people a lot of trouble.

Respect God's Holiness
"And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled.  And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God." (1 Chron 13:9-10)

Holiness is that quality about God describing His absolute purity, glory, power, and absence of sin.  It may have been that they did not really understand the holiness of the Ark.  Remember it had not been a part of their worship for years. Had they really understood the sacredness, they probably would have come up with a better plan.

I think there are many people that really don't understand the holiness of God today.  The sacredness of religion is often replaced with convenience. It was so in Old Testament times and it is still true today.  Without an understanding of the sacredness of things, how can we know their importance? 

An example of this is marriage.  When the sacredness of marriage is given the proper respect, those involved dedicate themselves to each other and promise to keep God involved in their marriage.  When the sacredness is taken away, the result is affairs, divorce, and a lot of emotional pain.

Respecting God's holiness is important and it takes getting closer to God to really understand the importance of respecting Him. A good leader makes an effort to know God that way. 

Don't Be Angry With What You Don't Understand
"And David was displeased, because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzza" (1 Chron 13:11)

It’s funny how we can get angry with God when things go wrong, when the actual fault doesn’t lie with God, but in us because we are being disobedient.  David was angry at God for Uzzah dying, yet David actually owned part of the blame because he has been moving the Ark improperly.  We need to be careful not to overreact.

A leader needs to learn to understand. It will take David three months, but he will find out that they made a mistake in trying to move the Ark by oxcart.

Don’t Let Difficult Times Discourage You
"So David brought not the ark home to himself..." (1 Chron 13:13) 

We can get discouraged, but we need to keep pressing on.  David’s desire had been to bring the Ark home so he could be closer to God, and now he is temporarily abandoning that hope.  He is letting discouragement drive him away from God.

Let God Bless You
"And the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house three months. And the Lord blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that he had." ( 1 Chron 13:14)

Sometimes we can get a little frightened with the power of God. Sometimes we go through difficult times and can think, “If this is what I get for following the Lord, I’m not sure I’m going to do this!”  It is the right thing to follow the Lord.  There are great blessings in following the Lord.

A good leader seeks out these blessings not only for himself, but for those that he leads.


David eventually gets it right and the Ark is returned to its place and it's part in worship. His experience with the Ark is one way the Lord taught David how to lead.  He is doing the same in our lives.  We all have our Ark experiences.  Whether we are leading ourselves, our family, our students or others, we all have leadership opportunities that require us to have experiences to prepare us. 

What Ark experiences are you facing in your life today?  Are they causing discouragement?  Do you see God in these experiences? Are you getting closer to God or are you pulling away?

The big question I had to ask myself was: How willing am I to bring home the ark?  Like David I have a lot of learning ahead of me!