And David assembled all Israel from the Shihor of Egypt unto the entrance of Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjath-jearim.
With his kingdom secure, David's first thought was not his own throne but God's. So he called the whole nation, from the far south to the far north, to bring the ark home — but was a good intention, shared by all, the same thing as obedience?
(The ESV reads "the Nile of Egypt" and "Lebo-hamath." Older translations say "Shihor of Egypt" and "the entering of Hamath," and the writers quoted below use that older wording.)
Writers point out what David wanted the nation gathered around.
Once the kingdom stood firm, David wanted to reunite the whole people — not around himself, but around the ark, the throne of God where the mercy seat stood. See how carefully the king gathers Israel together, with the priests and Levites, to bring the ark back from Kirjath-jearim. He wants every worshipper of the Lord there for it. And he adds, "We did not seek it in the days of Saul." Under the previous king the ark had been completely forgotten!
The people and their king had different thrones in mind.
What was most in their hearts was the throne — that David should reign. But David's heart thought of the Lord's throne.
The two names mark the outer edges of the land. One commentator works out where the southern one was:
Shihor is, I suppose, not the Nile, though it is sometimes called that. I take it to be the brook of El-heresh, which divides the land of Israel from the edge of the desert on the Egyptian side.
A second writer marks the same two boundaries, and then names the flaw in the day.
David's thought was right, but there was a carelessness in the act. He and all the people gathered from Shihor of Egypt to the entering in of Hamath, that is, from the southern boundary to the northern. They unite to fetch the ark from Kirjath-Jearim. It was an occasion of great joy, but human zeal meddled with the ark.
King, leaders and people all said yes. Their agreement was good, but one thing was still missing.
It was a blessed thing to see Israel so united in something good. The king, the leaders and the people all agreed in their resolve to bring the ark up to Jerusalem. Only one thing was lacking, and it was the thing that mattered most: the mind of the Lord. Is it not often the same with God's people today? They agree about some matter that concerns the Lord's interests, but they think it is enough that they are united, and they leave the Lord out of their thoughts.
One writer weighs the day's praise against the Word of God.
The great outpouring of joy and praise as the ark returned could not take the place of obedience to the Word of God. The praise was excellent; the obedience was both necessary and required.
The cart they used was borrowed, and another writer brings that borrowing into the present day.
The idea came from the Philistines, God's enemies, and in David's eyes that was a small matter. What is the new cart? Anything that is not according to the pattern of Scripture. I could show you hundreds of new carts in the Christian world today, all claiming to carry the Ark. And note, I do not say they are not carrying it. King David's new cart did carry it, though he soon learned his mistake.
So why does Chronicles record the mistake at all?
God takes care to show us that man is weak in carrying out His designs. Otherwise we would find a flawless David in Chronicles, when what God would rather show us is His own flawless purpose, worked out with Christ in view, and David is a picture of Christ. And if God had not mentioned any of David's failings here, it would dishonour Christ, for He alone must stand out as the Perfect Man, the King according to God's purpose.
- Centre — David gathered the nation around the ark, God's throne, not around himself. The people wanted his throne; he wanted the Lord's.
- Reach — The call ran from the southern border of the land to the northern. David wanted every worshipper there, priests and Levites included.
- Agreement — King, leaders and people were fully united, and that was good. The one thing missing was the mind of the Lord.
- Order — Joy and praise were excellent, but they could not replace obedience. The cart came from Israel's enemies, not from the pattern God had given.
- Christ — God records the failure on purpose, so that only One stands out as the Perfect Man and the King according to His purpose.
And David went up, and all Israel, to Baalah, to Kirjath-jearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, of Jehovah, who sitteth between the cherubim, whose name is placed [there].
David's kingdom was finally secure, and his first act was to fetch the ark from a village where it had sat almost forgotten. Two questions run under this journey to Baalah: why had Israel left the ark there so long, and would David move it God's way?
The ark was not in Jerusalem. It sat in a country village, and the nation had stopped caring. Older translations call that spot "the fields of the wood."
They heard of the ark in the place of its neglect, after it had been in the hands of the enemy. They find it "in the fields of the wood," as something forgotten and worthless in the eyes of the nation (see 1 Chron. 13:3-5). "The fields of the wood," or "the fields of Jair," is probably a poetic reference to Kirjath-jearim. That name means "the city of woods," and that is where David found the ark.
David had wanted this since he was a boy.
Ephratah apparently stands for Bethlehem, and "the fields of the wood" for Kirjath-Jearim. When he was only a boy at Ephratah, before he ever became famous, he heard of the ark and what had happened to it. The ark was God's throne. So he realised that if God was to have His right place in Israel, the ark must be recovered and formally re-established. As soon as he was firmly seated in the kingdom, he went to Kirjath-Jearim to bring it up to Zion, as 2 Samuel 6 records. … David knew that in finding a place for the ark he was in effect finding a place for the Lord.
The ark was a throne. God had taken His seat among His own people.
The mercy seat, with the ark on which it rests, is the throne of Him who has taken His place in the midst of His people. He is the God who dwells between the cherubim, and appears in the cloud upon the mercy seat.
What that throne contained points forward to Christ, and to a task that belongs to believers now:
That ark spoke of Christ. It was the Person of Christ. The mercy seat, and the blood on the mercy seat, spoke of Him and His work. Inside the ark there was the golden pot of manna, Israel's food in the wilderness. There was Aaron's rod that budded, Christ's priestly grace in resurrection. And there were the tables of stone, for the law was hidden in Him… Israel had to carry that ark and its contents through the desert. We too, as Christians, have to carry the ark.
Notice who stands at the centre of this gathering. It is not the king.
Once the kingdom had been established, David desired to reunite the entire people. He gathered them not around himself but around the ark, the throne of God where the mercy seat stood. See with what care the king gathers Israel together, with the priests and Levites, to bring back the ark from Kirjath-jearim. He wants all the worshippers of the Lord with him for this. And he adds: "We did not seek it in the days of Saul." How completely the ark had been forgotten under the previous reign!
after-note: DELETE
David went up to bring the ark. The next verse tells how: on a new cart.
The king — the leader — had all that love of fellowship and desire to have things right. Would you not have thought he would ask God whether He had given any instructions about transporting His own ark? … But it was not so. David thought, like many a person today, that the new cart was a very good way of carrying that ark. That the Philistines — God's enemies — supplied the idea was a small matter in his eyes. What is the new cart? Anything that is not according to the pattern of Scripture.
The joy and praise were real. Neither could replace the one thing that was missing.
Only one thing was lacking. In appearance it was insignificant, in reality very serious. And what a bitter experience it would take to teach the king! A great outpouring of joy and praise came with the ark's return. It could not take the place of obedience to the Word of God. The first was excellent; the second was necessary and not optional… Never does faith act according to the light of conscience, and David should have known this: faith always obeys the Word of God and is never separated from it.
- Forgotten. The ark lay in a wooded village, treated as worthless by the nation, until a king wanted it back.
- Found. David heard of it as a boy and sought it as a king; giving the ark a place was giving the Lord His place.
- Named. The ark carried God's own name — throne and mercy seat, and a picture of Christ, His work and His priesthood.
- Gathered. David called all Israel, yet set the ark and not himself at the centre of the assembly.
- Flawed. David never asked the Lord how to move the ark. He borrowed a Philistine cart, and learned that praise never replaces obedience.