2 Samuel 7:1-2
Verse 2 …he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I am, living in a house of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent.”
With the Ark of the Covenant finally in the capital city, David noticed something which really started to bother him, he had four walls and the item representing the dwelling place of the Lord was in a tent. While the king was feeling secure in his palace and was enjoying rest from war, he thought about the Lord’s seat being left out in a relatively unsecure place.
David had a few months of learning more about the Lord and deepening his relationship with the HIm. After seeing Uzzah die David would have found himself in a place of reflection. He had witnessed just how far the nation had come from following God in every way. There hadn’t been anyone to warn them to move the Ark in the proper way meaning there may not have been many who even knew there was a specific way. It was Uzzah’s death which had the king doing the needed research to move the Ark as God had directed the second time around.
Once the king knew the proper way to move the Ark he had found he wasn’t the only one excited about bringing it home. He had set up the proper provisions, organized the necessary handlers, prepared for the sacrifices and set up the tent for it to be housed in once in Jerusalem. There would have been an excitement in the prep work because he was seeking God and His ways.
It was because of this time spent seeking God and His will that David had an ever deepening understanding of what it meant to worship the Lord. By reading the law in search of the protocols for the Ark of the Lord, the king had found other ways God commanded His people to worship Him and this likely had David finding ways he had failed the King of Heaven. These deeper understandings about the Lord is what gave David the desire to worship by dancing like a crazy man.
It was this deepened relationship with God which had him seeing his own housing in the way he was in today’s passage. He was suddenly seeing he was living a life elevated above the status given to the Lord of the nation. His earthly kingship was now looking like it was overshadowing the true King of the nation and it bothered him. He didn’t want to be thought of as more important than the Lord.
Making It Personal
Have you had times in life where you were closer to the Lord? What brought you to the deepening relationship? Have you tried to maintain the closeness?
Making It Personal Kids
When do you feel closest to Jesus? Do you like feeling close to Him? How do you try to stay close to Him?
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for wanting to have a close relationship with us. Give us the desire to seek out an ever deepening relationship with You and help us know how to make that happen. In Jesus’ name, amen.