The Ark and the Promise (1 of 2)

In context

David brought the ark of God up from Kiriath Jearim, where it had been taken after the Philistines sent it back (1 Samuel 7:1–2), on a new cart. When the oxen stumbled, Uzzah took hold of it, and God struck him, and he died (2 Samuel 6:1–7). Moses’ law gave the Levites of Kohath the work of carrying the holy things on their shoulders, without touching them (Numbers 4:15; 7:9); tomorrow’s reading comes back to this. Afraid, David left the ark three months at the house of Obed-Edom, and the Lord blessed his household (6:9–11).

Then David brought it into Jerusalem with joy, dancing “before Yahweh with all his might,” while Michal, Saul’s daughter, despised him in her heart (6:12–16). Chronicles places Hiram’s gift of cedar and two victories over the Philistines between the ark’s two journeys (1 Chronicles 14); 2 Samuel tells them before the first (2 Samuel 5:11–25).

When David wanted to build the Lord a house, Nathan brought a promise instead: the Lord would make David a “house,” a family line, and “Your throne will be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:1–16). Psalm 89 sings of the same promise (Psalm 89:3–4), and Hebrews 1:5 quotes its words in 7:14, “I will be his father, and he will be my son.”