And he made him houses in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and spread a tent for it.
David's first attempt to bring the ark home had failed. This verse shows what real preparation looks like: alongside his own houses, he made ready a place and a tent for the ark of God.
The waiting was not wasted. While the ark rested elsewhere, David learned why his first plan had failed, and his desire for it came back with a clearer head.
Now the heart of David turns back, for meanwhile God has been blessing the house of Obed-edom. "David built houses for himself in the city of David. And he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it." His heart could not rest without that. "Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God." Now he has learned. He had been waiting on God. God had answered him about the outward affairs of the kingdom. Now he seeks the mind of God about His worship, and about why his earlier plan had failed.
David did more than pitch a tent. He went back to what God had already written. What sounded like fresh insight was an old command.
And now comes the proof of his having studied his Bible. "Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the LORD had chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister to Him forever." He said this as though he had made a great discovery, and so it was. But God had written it plainly four hundred years before: "At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to minister to Him and to bless in His name, to this day." The Spirit of God doubtless turned David's attention to this and related scriptures, and he at once prepared to obey the Word of God.
"A place for the ark" could sound like David choosing a convenient spot in his new capital. Commentators reject that reading.
Now, it was not just David's choice. We might think so from the 5th verse. We might say, "Well, can we not find a place for the Lord? Are we not free to choose any place that seems nice and convenient to us?" No, no! ... "For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place: 'This is My resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.'" David found the place God had appointed, the place the Lord had chosen, and to that place he brought the ark of the covenant for the Lord.
A tent looked like nothing beside the king's new houses. But David did not judge it by its materials.
The altar of burnt offering stood at the high place at Gibeon, while the ark was at Jerusalem in a tent that David had pitched for it after bringing it up from Kiriath-jearim. If material things, ceremony or ritual had guided him, he would never have seen the house of God in the lowly tent that covered the ark of the covenant. Faith guided him, and faith saw the presence of God. Love guided him, and love delighted in the One whose presence he saw.
The tent still left Israel's worship split in two. The ark sat on Zion, while the altar stood apart at Gibeon.
You could come to the ark at Zion, but without the sacrifice, which was the only way into the sanctuary. You could come to the altar at Gibeon, but that gave access only to the holy place, which stood empty. ... The altar — expiation — was the means needed to reach God's throne. Without it the Lord could not dwell in grace among His people. This truth had to be established all over again.
Even a real high point can fall short of what God intends.
It had been a great day in Israel when the ark came to its tent on Zion. At that moment it was perhaps all that David wanted, though it did not fully match God's thoughts.
- Restless. David's heart could not settle while the ark had no place. That unrest sent him back to God.
- Read. Before he pitched anything, he studied what God had already written. The command about the Levites was four hundred years old.
- Received. David did not pick a convenient site. He found the place God had already desired for His dwelling.
- Recognised. Faith saw the house of God under plain canvas. Taste and ceremony would have seen nothing worth honouring.
- Reserved. Even so, ark and altar stayed apart. The joy of that day still fell short of God's full thought.
Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites, for them has Jehovah chosen to carry the ark of God, and to serve him for ever.
David's first attempt to move the ark ended in Uzza's death, and the ark stayed at the house of Obed-edom. Now the king speaks again, and his one sentence settles who may carry the ark and why.
David speaks only after waiting on God and finding out why his first plan failed.
Now David's heart turns back, because meanwhile God has been blessing the house of Obed-edom. "And David built houses for himself in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it." His heart could not rest without that. "Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God." Now he has learned. He had been waiting on God. He had received his answer from God about the outward affairs of the kingdom. Now he gathers the mind of God about His worship, and about why his former plan had failed.
David is not choosing the carriers here. God had chosen them long before — to carry, and to serve Him — and that choice still stands.
God did not leave it to David, or to anyone else, to say how the ark of His testimony should be carried. He had chosen the Levites for this service, and everyone must respect and own His choice. Is it not the same today? God has a chosen company, His own saints. He has separated them from other people to serve Him, and He has entrusted His testimony to them. Every saint of God has the privilege, and the duty, to carry the testimony of God about His Christ from day to day.
David's first plan had put the ark behind oxen. God had never moved it that way before.
He did not help the oxen. He did not help Uzza. Long before, the oxen had not carried the ark through the waters of the Jordan. They had not carried it round the walls of Jericho either. No; it was on the shoulders of the Levites that God had put it, and His order is the only happy one. God's order may not always look right to human judgement. Yet it always has the stamp of divine approval, and that is fully enough for every faithful heart.
The "due order" was not a matter of instinct. It was written down, and David could have read it.
If you want to know where to find the due order, read Exodus 25:13-15. The ark was only to be carried in that manner. God had written it plainly enough. But David had read his Bible carelessly until then. You may say to me, I do not see things as you do. Quite possibly. But go and read your Bible, and you will see what the Lord says the order of His assembly should be. That is the vital point. It is of the greatest importance to have the mind of God, and not to take our own way in anything to do with carrying the ark — which for us is the testimony of Christ.
A king, not a priest, gives this ruling about the ark.
Here we find the greatest care taken not just to gather Israel, but to have the priests and the Levites as well. But it is David who does it. The difference is remarkable — that now it is no longer a Moses or an Aaron. It is no longer the high priest. He is not the highest. There is one higher than the high priest. The king is above all — the shadow of Messiah.
The correction was severe, but it did not end in gloom.
Human desire and human arrangement have no place in the movements of the ark. The "due order" must decide its place and setting among the people of God. The lesson was severe and the stroke of God was serious. But once they learned it, it produced an atmosphere of joy, substance and praise. 1 Chronicles 15 and 16 picture this fully and richly. Such lessons will lead us to avoid all human intrusions into the service of God. They will secure much for His glory and for the joy of the saints.
- Failure teaches. David's disaster sent him back to God's mind about worship. This verse is the answer he brought back.
- God chooses. The Levites were not David's pick. God had set them apart to carry the ark and to minister to Him forever.
- Shoulders, not carts. Human arrangement left the ark to oxen. God put it on the shoulders of the Levites, and only His order carries His approval.
- Order is written. The "due order" was not a feeling to guess at. It was written in Exodus, and David had read it carelessly.
- Obedience gladdens. The lesson was severe, but what followed was joy, praise, and much secured for God's glory.
And David assembled all Israel to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of Jehovah to its place that he had prepared for it.
David is bringing the ark of God to Jerusalem for the second time, and he calls the whole nation to help. His first try had ended in disaster, so the question hanging over this verse is what has changed.
Between the two tries, David had waited on God.
Now David's heart turns back, for meanwhile God has been blessing the house of Obed-edom. "David built houses for himself in the city of David. And he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it" (1 Chronicles 15:1). His heart could not rest without that. "No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the LORD had chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister to Him forever." Now he has learned. He had been waiting on God. He had received his answer from God in the outward affairs of the kingdom. Now he gathers the mind of God about what concerns His worship, and why his former plan had failed.
The warning of the first journey also shaped who he called.
The first time he undertook to bring back the ark, his neglect brought disaster on Uzza. Warned by it, David now gathers not only all Israel together, but also the Levites and the children of Aaron.
The kingdom is secure by now, and David uses that strength to gather the whole nation.
Once the kingdom was established, David's desire was to reunite the entire people. He wanted them gathered not around himself but around the ark, the throne of God where the mercy seat was found. Here we 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 for this.
The ark is not going back to the tabernacle, the tent of worship standing at Gibeon. David's new place for it passes a verdict on everything left behind there.
The ark was not taken to the tabernacle at Gibeon, and this too had deep meaning. It was a complete judgment on the whole system connected with that tabernacle. The tabernacle was still standing, as well as the altar, and the priests offered sacrifices there; but the ark of the covenant of Jehovah had been taken away from it. The king disposed of the ark by his authority, placing it elsewhere... God now steps in through David and acts in power. That power sets the visible sign of His covenant with His people in a new place: Mount Zion, where the king reigns.
David wants the ark as much as before. This time he goes about it God's way.
In his prosperity David does not forget the ark of God. The same earnest desire, but now obedience to God's ordinance. With what carefulness he now brings it to the place prepared for it... All is done according to the law. But the king directs; he takes the first place, not the priest... At the former time there was gladness of heart. It perhaps spilled out in unintelligent and uproarious shouting, not the orderly and reverent joy of those who worship God... Then it was fleshly joy intruding into holy things. God defended His own order and majesty, and had to judge them all in the person of Uzzah.
David did not treat the failure as one man's mistake. Later in this chapter he confesses it for them all.
Here David acknowledges that God's hand was not only on Uzza but on them all. There was collective responsibility and guilt in this matter, and David no longer thinks of "Perez-uzza," but of the "breach upon us."
The same principle reaches into how God's people gather now. (Older translations read "after the due order" in verse 13; the ESV has "according to the rule.")
There is a great underlying principle there for our souls today. God has a "due order" for everything down here for His Church. If we step outside this divine order, there is pretty sure to be a Perez-uzza. The New Testament sets out very fully what David called "due order" for God's Assembly. Our Lord showed what its rallying centre would be. He said, "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them" (Matthew 18:20).
- Gathered again. David's second summons comes out of a lesson. He had waited on God and learned why his first plan failed.
- Gathered to the ark. The king at the peak of his strength calls the nation together around God's throne, not around his own.
- Gathered on Zion. The sign of God's covenant now rests on Mount Zion, not at the old tabernacle in Gibeon.
- Gathered in order. The same desire as before, but now God's chosen Levites carry the ark, and reverent joy replaces noisy zeal.
- Gathered still. The breach was "upon us" — a shared responsibility. God still has a "due order" for how His people gather.
And David gathered the sons of Aaron and the Levites
David had already tried once to bring the ark of God up to Jerusalem, and that first try ended in a death and a halt. Now he begins again, and his first move is to call together the men God had chosen to carry it.
This gathering of Aaron's sons and the Levites is not David's first move. It is his corrected one.
Now David has learned. He had been waiting upon God. He had got his answer from God in the outward affairs of the kingdom. Now he learns the mind of God about His worship, and why his former plan had failed. "Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the Lord had chosen them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister to Him forever."
So where did David learn this? Not from the meeting he called the first time.
Having gathered the people, the children of Aaron and the Levites, David tells the priests and Levites to sanctify themselves and bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. He had not learned this from his consultation with "the commanders of thousands and of hundreds and with every leader" (1 Chr. 13:1). He had learned it from the word of God.
The two groups named in the verse did not choose themselves, and David did not choose them either. God did.
Sadly, there are those in Christendom who have claimed this testimony for themselves. They are a priestly caste chosen by men, and many of them will perish in "Korah's rebellion" (Jude 11). God has not left it to men to choose His priests and Levites. He has chosen them, and to every one of them "grace was given... according to the measure of Christ's gift" (Eph. 4:7). Only this grace, given by God, can enable God's chosen to carry His testimony of Christ.
The new cart of the first try asked nothing of anyone. Carrying holy things is another matter.
While the ark stood on the new cart, the priests and the Levites had no need to sanctify themselves. But when they carried it themselves they had to. They could not touch the objects of the sanctuary without self-judgment.
And the demand reached the top of the list, not only the men who did the lifting.
Here we find the greatest care not merely to have Israel, but to have the priests and the Levites. But it is David that does it... And David calls for Zadok and Abiathar the priests. He tells them that they were the chief of the fathers of the Levites, and that they must sanctify themselves — not only the Levites who did the work, but these that were at their head.
Notice who is giving these orders. The man who gathers Aaron's family is the king, not a priest.
The first time he tried to bring back the ark, David's neglect brought disaster on Uzza. Warned by it, he now gathers not only all Israel, but also the Levites and the children of Aaron. This sets out the whole order of Levitical service that David had appointed, and the relation between the priesthood and royalty. The priesthood comes under royalty, since the king is the Lord's anointed — though the service of the sanctuary belonged to the priesthood.
David's phrase for what had been missing the first time has a direct bearing on how Christians gather now.
There is a great deep underlying principle there for our souls today. God has a "due order" as to everything down here for His Church, and if we step out of this divine order, there is pretty sure to be a Perez-uzza. The New Testament gives "due order" instructions for God's Assembly very fully. Our Lord showed what its rallying centre would be: "Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them" (Matt. 18:20).
Doing it God's way did not dampen the joy. It set the joy free.
"So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel." The Lord was glorified in all this, and He could therefore give real joy and gladness, strength and energy. There was no more stumbling of oxen — no more human effort to keep the ark from falling. The truth of God was dominant, and the power of God could act.
- Learned, not guessed. David's second gathering came from the word of God, not from the meeting of captains behind his first plan.
- Chosen, not appointed. Aaron's sons and the Levites held their place by God's choice; no group of men may set up a priestly class of its own making.
- Cleansed, not casual. Carrying holy things meant self-judgment, and the demand fell on the leaders as much as on the carriers.
- Ordered, not improvised. The king assembles the priests, so the priesthood stands under the Lord's anointed. God still has a "due order" for His people.
- Joyful, because right. God's way ended the stumbling and brought real joy, gladness and strength.
of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, and his brethren a hundred and twenty;
David's first try at moving the ark ended in disaster. 1 Chronicles 15 starts over with a careful roll call of Levi — family, leader, number — and Kohath's name comes first.
Levi had three families, and they did not carry the same load. Two could use wagons. Kohath could not:
Gershon and Merari might need wagons and oxen to carry the boards and so on, but not Kohath. His charge was too precious to hand to anyone or anything but himself. So it was his high and honoured place to carry it all on his shoulders. What a privilege, for example, to be allowed to carry the ark, the table, or the golden lampstand!
The second journey went back to God's own method. One writer applies that to the present day:
It was the privilege of the Levites, the sons of Kohath, to carry the ark on their shoulders, and this rightly followed the destruction of the Philistines' new cart. The testimony of God is to be carried on the shoulders of His saints, borne in the lives of those who live near Him. Sadly, many today have their own way of carrying God's testimony. Instead of following the divine instructions of the Holy Scriptures with care, they have their own ideas. They think that the end justifies the means. This is nothing but ignorance of God and His word, and copying the men of this world instead of doing what God has commanded.
The verse names the leader, not just the number. David made his first demand of the leaders — and he made it as king:
There is a higher than the high priest. The king is above all — the shadow of Messiah. David calls for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and tells them that they are the heads of the Levite families. They must sanctify themselves — not only the Levites who did the work, but these who were at their head.
The disaster of the first journey is the reason this list exists:
The first time David tried to bring back the ark, his neglect brought disaster on Uzza. Warned by that, he now gathers not only all Israel, but also the Levites and the sons of Aaron. This gives the occasion for setting out the whole order of Levitical service, as David had appointed it. It also shows the relation between the priesthood and the kingship.
Kohath's honour came with a danger the other Levite families did not face:
There was danger for them that did not exist in the same way for others, because they were in the place of greatest nearness to God. God will not allow in His presence what is not worthy of Himself... But He will be sanctified in those who draw near to Him. For them especially there is the danger of being cut off if they do not submit to the order of the sanctuary. The nearer we are to God, the more careful we must be to do everything according to God's order.
The 120 men under Uriel carried what oxen had carried before. Power does not come from enthusiasm; it comes from holding to the truth:
There can be no real power where truth is sacrificed. There may be the appearance of it, the claim to it, but no reality. How can there be? God is the source of power, but He cannot associate Himself with what is at odds with His truth. So although "David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might," there was no divine power. God's order was shut out by the human arrangement, and it all ended in confusion and sorrow. How different it is in 1 Chronicles 15. There is real joy — real power.
- Chosen — God gave Kohath's family the ark to carry, a charge too precious for wagons or oxen.
- Named — Uriel stands at the head, and David told the heads to sanctify themselves first, not just the men who did the lifting.
- Numbered — 120 brothers stand behind one leader; the work took a counted company, each man in his place.
- Careful — the family nearest to God carried the sharpest warning. The closer we come, the more carefully we must follow His order.
- Joyful — the first try had all the energy and no power, and ended in sorrow. The second, done God's way, ended in real joy.
of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, and his brethren two hundred and twenty;
David's second try at bringing the ark to Jerusalem opens with a list of names: six Levite families, each with its chief and its count, and Asaiah with 220 men from the sons of Merari. The list looks like bookkeeping, but it answers the question David's failed first journey raised — who may carry the ark of God, and how?
The first journey failed. What changed the second time was where David got his instructions.
Now David's heart turns back, because meanwhile God has been blessing the house of Obed-edom... His heart could not rest without that. Then David said that no one but the Levites should carry the ark of God. Now he has learned. He had been waiting on God. God had already answered him about the outward affairs of the kingdom. Now he learns God's mind about His worship, and about why his earlier plan had failed.
The choice of who carries was never open for discussion:
God had not left it to David, or to anyone else, to say how the ark of His testimony should be carried. He had chosen the Levites for this service, and everyone must respect and own that choice. Is it not the same today? God has a chosen company, His own saints. He has set them apart from among men to serve Him, and He has committed His testimony to them. Every saint of God has the privilege, and the duty, to carry the testimony of God about His Christ with him day by day.
The orders given to these Levite families come with an admission of guilt.
The beginning of 1 Chronicles 15 is remarkable. David tells the chief fathers of the Levites to sanctify themselves and bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place he has prepared for it. They had not done this the first time, he says, and so the Lord made a breach on them, because they had not sought Him in the way He had appointed (vv. 12-13). These passages are missing in the second book of Samuel. Chronicles records David's fault as an exception, and it does so to present us with this admirable confession which grace at last produces in him.
Asaiah's 220 men came from a family with a fixed job, and that job carried on into the days of the kingdom.
Third son of Levi, and his descendants... The Merarites became a large branch of the Levites. They had charge of the heavier parts of the tabernacle. To carry these they had four wagons and eight oxen. In the land they had twelve cities from among the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun, including the city of Ramoth-gilead. They shared in the duties that fell to the Levites during the kingdom. A third part of the singers and a third part of the doorkeepers were Merarites.
Merari means "bitterness," and writers have read that name as a description of the work itself — the unglamorous labour of holding up what God has framed.
Merari's service has to do with the house of God, the church of the living God. It has to do with holding up Christ as the way of access to God. It has to do with supporting, strengthening, and steadying what is His witness in the world... His name, Merari, "bitterness," speaks of how painful such service is. Self-love will break down under it, or run off into some odd path that costs flesh and blood less... Who cares for these boards and bars, and pillars and pins and cords? Who thinks of God's plan and pattern, and all the fine details of divine appointment?
Six chiefs, six counts, no overlap. The arrangement is God's, and it maps onto how service is distributed now.
Each had his specific work given. There could be no misunderstanding about it... All they needed to do was to do the work into which the Lord had called them. All the instructions were given; obedience to these instructions, and faithfulness in carrying it out were the essential things. The same is true in connection with the church. Every member in the body of Christ has a service to render. Each member is put into place by the Lord Himself and He gives to each the service, as He gave to these sons of Levi and their families their specific work in and around the tabernacle.
The second journey ended very differently.
The priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. Then the Levites carried the ark on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses commanded, according to the word of the Lord. The Lord was glorified in all this, and He could therefore give real joy and gladness, strength and energy. There was no more stumbling of oxen, and no more human effort to keep the ark from falling. The truth of God was in control, and the power of God could act.
- Chosen — God picked the Levites to carry the ark. David's part was to learn God's mind, not to improve on it.
- Confessed — Chronicles keeps David's own words about the first failure. Grace produced that confession in him.
- Counted — Asaiah and his 220 belong to a family with a fixed charge: the heavy framework, and later a share of the singers and doorkeepers.
- Costly — Merari means "bitterness." Supporting and steadying God's witness is where self-love gives up.
- Carried — once the Levites bore the ark on their shoulders, the propping and stumbling stopped. Real joy and power followed.
of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, and his brethren a hundred and thirty;
This verse sits inside a careful roll-call. David was about to move the ark of God, so he called up the Levites family by family, and here Gershom's branch takes its turn under its chief, Joel.
The first move of the ark ended in disaster. David went back to Scripture, and what he says next is both a correction and a confession:
The beginning of 1 Chronicles 15 is remarkable. David said: "No one is to carry the ark of God but the Levites, for Jehovah has chosen them to carry the ark of God and to serve Him for ever" (v. 2). Then he speaks to the Levites: "You are the chief fathers of the Levites. Sanctify yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the ark of Jehovah the God of Israel to the place that I have prepared for it. Because you did not do it the first time, Jehovah our God broke out against us, for we did not seek Him in the way He had appointed" (vv. 12-13). These passages are missing from the second book of Samuel. Chronicles records David's fault as an exception, and it does so to give us this admirable confession which grace at last produces in him.
The man named here appears under a second spelling elsewhere in the Bible:
Eldest son of Levi (1 Chr. 6:16-71; 1 Chr. 15:7), but elsewhere named Gershon.
Being the eldest son's line gave this family no claim to the highest task:
Levitical duties were appointed then as it pleased God. So each Levitical family could set to work, and no one was to interfere with them. They were responsible to God, and from Him they had received their authority for service. And here the principle of election was displayed. For while Gershon was the eldest son of Levi, and so his descendants might have expected that they would be selected to carry the sacred vessels on their shoulders, that work was entrusted to the descendants of Kohath, who was Levi's second son. How often do we see in Scripture that blessing and privilege do not run in the order of nature... The Gershonites were given the charge of carrying the curtains, the screen for the door of the tabernacle, the hangings of the court, the curtain which formed its door, and all their cords.
One man carries the title; the rest carry a number. God had divided Levi's house from the start and gave each branch its own work:
There were three principal houses — Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. They and their sons each have a line of service put into their hands in Numbers 4, where they are counted again from thirty years old and upward. This also matters greatly. Nothing is more important than that each servant of God should know the work He has given him to do. When he knows it, he should stick to it. It also matters a great deal never to interfere with another's service. The Lord is sovereign in this. He divides according to His own will.
A page of names is not filler. God keeps such records Himself:
May we not say that this seventh chapter of Numbers is one of those sample pages from the book of eternity? We believe it is. On such a page the finger of God has engraved the names of His servants and the record of their work... Each one has his own special place on the roll, and each one his place in the Master's heart; and all will come out by and by.
Joel is called the chief of his branch. The call to sanctify themselves reached the leaders too, not only the men who did the lifting:
David calls for Zadok and Abiathar the priests. He tells them that they were the chief of the fathers of the Levites, and that they must sanctify themselves — not only the Levites who did the work, but these who were at their head.
Doing it God's way had a result:
"So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obed-edom with joy." That is the sure result of obedience... Notice how God takes note of the Levites when things are according to His mind. They are helped, and then in the sacrifices you see worship flowing up to God. If you and I set ourselves to obey the Word of the Lord, whatever it costs, we too shall find that God will help us. There will be joy in our souls, and worship, and fruitful service toward God.
- Failure first. The roll-call exists because an earlier move of the ark went wrong. Chronicles keeps David's confession that they had not sought God in the way He appointed.
- Chosen, not senior. Gershom was Levi's eldest, yet the sacred vessels went to Kohath's line. God gives each family its place; no one inherits it.
- Named and counted. Joel and his 130 brothers appear on a page where God engraves the names of His servants and the record of their work.
- Chiefs included. The men at the head of each family had to sanctify themselves too, not just those who carried the load.
- Helped and glad. When the work was done God's way, God helped the Levites who carried the ark, and joy and worship followed.
of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, and his brethren two hundred;
The first try at moving the ark ended in disaster, so David now calls out the Levites house by house. Why does Scripture stop to count two hundred men under a chief named Shemaiah?
Elizaphan belonged to Kohath's branch of Levi. One writer sets out where they camped and what they carried:
The Kohathites descending from the four sons of Kohath numbered 8,600. They camped along the south side of the tabernacle. Their leader was Elizaphan the son of Uzziel. They were responsible for the care of the Ark, the table, the lampstand and the two altars. Their care also covered the utensils and the veil, with all that related to these things. Whenever Israel traveled the Kohathites carried these things, though they did not see them. First the priests had to cover them with their appropriate coverings and insert the carrying poles.
That charge explains why no cart could help this family:
Gershon and Merari might need wagons and oxen to carry the boards, but not Kohath. His charge was too precious to entrust to anyone or anything but himself. So it was his high and honoured place to carry everything on his shoulders. What a privilege, for example, to be allowed to carry the ark, the table, or the golden lampstand! Would it not have shown a complete lack of ability to value his high calling if he had looked for the help of oxen in his holy service?
The names in this list carry meaning. One writer reads Elizaphan together with his father Uzziel:
Typically the Kohathite ministry is objective; his occupation is with what is outside himself in Christ. His prince is beautifully Elitzaphan, "whom God has hidden." Here it is indeed in the presence of God, and in occupation with Christ, that self is lost. He is the son of Uzziel, the "power of God."
Shemaiah's place in this list rested on God's choice, not on David's:
God had not left it to David, or to anyone else, to say how the ark of His testimony was to be carried. He had chosen the Levites for this service, and His choice must be respected and owned. Is it not the same today? God has a chosen company, His own saints, those who have been separated from among men to serve Him, and to them His testimony has been committed. Every saint of God has the privilege, and the duty, to carry about with him from day to day the testimony of God concerning His Christ.
The same writer adds where the ability for this service comes from:
God has not left it to men to choose His priests and Levites; He has chosen them, and to every one of them "is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ" (Eph. 4:7). This divinely given grace alone can enable God's chosen to carry about His testimony of Christ.
Six chiefs, each with his count of brothers: this is David's obedience in visible form. And it is the king who arranges it:
Here we find the greatest care not merely to have Israel, but to have the priests and the Levites. But it is David that does it. The difference is remarkable — it is no longer a Moses or an Aaron. It is no longer the high priest. The king is above all — the shadow of Messiah. So we have them, then, ranged in due order.
This roll of names exists because the first move went wrong. Chronicles usually passes over David's faults; here it keeps his own admission, quoted below from an older translation:
"Because you did not do it the first time, the LORD our God made a breach upon us, because we did not seek Him after the due order." These words of David are missing in the second book of Samuel. Chronicles has, as an exception, recorded David's fault, and it does so to show us this admirable confession which grace at last produces in him.
When the ark went up God's way, this was the result:
The Lord was glorified in all this, and He could therefore give real joy and gladness, strength and energy. There was no more stumbling of oxen — no more human effort to keep the ark from falling. The truth of God was dominant, and the power of God could act.
- Chosen — Shemaiah's house did not apply for the work. God chose the Levites, and His choice stands.
- Charged — Kohath's line carried the ark and the holy vessels on their shoulders, never on wheels.
- Named — Elizaphan means "whom God has hidden," and Uzziel "the power of God." Self is lost in occupation with Christ.
- Ordered — six chiefs with their brothers counted: this is "due order" in practice, arranged by the king who pictures Messiah.
- Blessed — the list is fruit of confession after the breach. Every believer now carries God's testimony, and obedience like this is where real joy, strength and God's power follow.
of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, and his brethren eighty;
This verse is one line in a roll-call. David names the Levite families, one by one, before he moves the ark a second time. Why does a king who has already tried once to bring the ark up now stop to count heads?
The first try ended in disaster. The names in this chapter appear only after David sought God's mind about why. One commentator traces the change of heart:
"Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites." Now he has learned. He had been waiting on God. God had already answered him about the outward affairs of the kingdom. Now he learns God's mind about His worship, and about why his earlier plan had failed.
The results of the two attempts could not be more different:
He remembers his fall, and the lesson is learned. Now he sets himself to act according to God's intention. So the work of man no longer spoils the work of God. God is glorified, the people are joyful, and the ark of the Lord has taken its place among them again. How different are the results we find in chapter 13, where David acts by himself without consulting the Lord, and he and all his people are plunged into affliction!
Hebron here is not the town but a man — one of the four sons of Kohath, who was himself a son of Levi:
Son of Kohath, a son of Levi. His descendants are called HEBRONITES. Ex. 6:18; Num. 3:19, 27; 1 Chr. 6:2, 18; 1 Chr. 15:9; 1 Chr. 23:12, 19.
That places Eliel's eighty men in the branch of Levi that God had charged with the ark from the start:
Of Kohath came the family of the Hebronites, one of the families of the Kohathites. Their number is given. Everything was laid down with the greatest possible care. God would avoid confusion in the service of the tabernacle, and He would leave no room for human will. He would make it the humblest thing on earth — a matter of simple obedience. Their charge, we gather, was to be a most honourable service: "the ark, and the table, and the lampstand, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary."
David summons these families, but he did not invent the arrangement. God had chosen these men long before:
God had not left it to David, or to any other, to say how the ark of His testimony was to be carried, for He had chosen the Levites for this service, and His choice must be respected and owned. Is it not the same today? God has a chosen company, His own saints, those who have been separated from among men to serve Him, and to them His testimony has been committed. Every saint of God has the privilege, and the duty, to carry the testimony of God about His Christ with him from day to day.
Eliel is listed as "the chief." Being at the head of a family brought a demand that fell on him before it fell on his eighty brothers:
David calls for Zadok and Abiathar the priests. He tells them that they were the chief of the fathers of the Levites, and that they must sanctify themselves — not only the Levites who did the work, but these men who were at their head.
Counting men mattered because the ark now had to be carried by people rather than pulled by animals:
He did not help the oxen; He did not help Uzza; the oxen had not borne the ark, of old, through the waters of Jordan; neither had they borne it round the walls of Jericho. No; it was on the shoulders of the Levites that God had put it, and His order is the only happy one. It may not always look right to human judgement. Yet it will always carry the stamp of God's approval, and that is more than enough for every faithful heart.
The mood of the whole procession changes as a result:
The first attempt to bring up the ark was marked by judgment, indignation and fear, but on the second occasion there is great joy. The singers were there, and "with instruments of music, harps and lyres and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy."
- Failure first. The roll-call of families exists only because the first attempt collapsed. David then sought God's mind and learned why his own plan had failed.
- Chosen, not volunteered. The Levites were carrying the ark because God had chosen them for it, and His choice was not David's to revise.
- Kohath's line. Eliel's family, the Hebronites, came from Kohath. God had already charged that branch with the ark and the holy vessels.
- Chiefs go first. David told the leaders of each family to sanctify themselves too, not only the Levites who did the carrying.
- Shoulders, then singing. God helped no oxen. He had put the ark on men's shoulders, and obedience turned fear into joy.
of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, and his brethren a hundred and twelve.
David is gathering the families of Levi to carry the ark to Jerusalem, and the last name on his list is Amminadab, head of the Uzzielites. Why does Scripture keep a family head and a headcount? And what was this family called to do?
Amminadab is a Levite, and his one recorded act is the one named here. The reference works in the collection identify him simply by his line and his service:
Son of Uzziel, a Levite, who helped to bring up the ark from the house of Obed-edom.
Uzziel was a son of Kohath, so Amminadab's family belonged to the branch of Levi charged with the most sacred objects. One writer draws out what the name itself carries, commenting on Uzziel's appearance in the wilderness arrangements:
Kohath comes next with his four sons... His charge was the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, and the things belonging to all this... His prince is Elitzaphan, "whom God has hidden." Here it is indeed in the presence of God, and in occupation with Christ, that self is lost. He is the son of Uzziel, the "power of God."
The first move of the ark had gone badly wrong. So David starts again, and he calls the head of each family, not just the Levites. One writer notes who had to be set apart first:
David calls for Zadok and Abiathar the priests. He tells them that they were the chief of the fathers of the Levites, and that they must sanctify themselves — not only the Levites who did the work, but these who were at their head.
That is why this verse reads as a list of chiefs.
How the Levites carried the ark mattered as much as the carrying itself. The first move had used oxen, and one writer draws the contrast:
He did not help the oxen. He did not help Uzza. The oxen had not carried the ark, long before, through the waters of Jordan. They had not carried it round the walls of Jericho either. No; God had put it on the shoulders of the Levites, and His order is the only happy one. It may not always commend itself to human judgement. Yet it will always have the stamp of Divine approval, and that is fully enough for every faithful heart.
Amminadab brings 112 relatives, and every family head in the list has a number like this. One writer reads such lists as God's own record, and says so of a similar roll in the book of Numbers:
And may we not say that the seventh chapter of Numbers is one of those sample pages from the book of eternity? On it the finger of God has engraved the names of His servants, and the record of their work. We believe it is so... Each one has his own special place on the roll, and each one his place in the Master's heart; and all will come out by and by... Every act is faithfully set down, and the substance and style are put before us with care. We have the name of the man, what he did, and how he did it.
Another writer applies this to the smallest jobs done today:
These modest duties are very valuable in the eyes of the Lord. See how God gladly registers all the names of their fathers. It is the same today. Serving tables, passing the bread and the cup, taking care of the "upper room" — the Lord forgets none of it.
The careful roll call of families was not cold procedure. It opened into the joy of the chapters that follow:
Fleshly desires and human arrangement can have no place in the movements of the Ark. Its place and setting among the people of God must follow the "due order." The lesson was a severe one. The stroke of God was serious. But once the lesson was learned, it produced the atmosphere of joy, substance and praise... So let us not be afraid of the exercises these chapters raise: God's choosing; God's preparation; God's due order; God's commandment according to His own word; the need for sanctification and for seeking the Lord.
- Chosen. Amminadab is remembered for one thing: his family carried the ark. His line goes back to Uzziel, a name that means "power of God."
- Called. Scripture lists him as a chief. The call to be set apart reached the heads of the families first, not only the men who did the lifting.
- Carried. God never helped the oxen or the cart. He put the ark on the shoulders of Levites, and His order is the only happy one.
- Counted. God counts the 112 because He registers even modest service. Each servant has a place on the roll and a place in the Master's heart.
- Crowned. Obedience in the small details of carrying is what turned a severe lesson into an atmosphere of joy and praise.
And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab;
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
and he said to them, Ye are the chief fathers of the Levites; hallow yourselves, ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of Jehovah the God of Israel to [the place that] I have prepared for it.
The ark was the gold-covered chest that stood for God's throne among Israel, and David's first try at bringing it to Jerusalem ended in a man's death. So why must the priests and leading Levites now make themselves holy before they carry it?
David told the priests and Levites to consecrate themselves — to make themselves holy. One writer names where that instruction came from, and where it did not.
He had not learned this from his consultation with "the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and with every leader"; he had learned it from the word of God.
David does not address the carriers only. He speaks to the men at the top of the line. One commentator weighs who gives this order and who must obey it.
But it is David who does it. What a difference — it is no longer a Moses or an Aaron. It is no longer the high priest. He is not the highest. There is someone higher than the high priest. The king is above all — the shadow of Messiah. So they are set in their proper order. And David calls for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and tells them that they were the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites, that they must sanctify themselves — not just the Levites who did the work, but these who were at their head.
The first time, David used a cart. This time, men carry the ark on their shoulders. That difference explains why the call to be holy appears only now.
When they set the ark on the new cart, the priests and the Levites had no need to sanctify themselves. When they carried it themselves, they had to. They could not touch the holy things of the sanctuary without self-judgment.
The same writer notes that David's confession appears only in Chronicles, and gives the reason.
"Because you did not carry it the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us, because we did not seek Him according to the rule." These passages are missing in the second book of Samuel. Chronicles has, as an exception, recorded David's fault, and it does so to present us with this admirable confession which grace at last produces in him.
David calls it the place he prepared. That could sound like his own preference. Another writer meets the objection.
Now, it was not just David's choice. We might think it was. We might say, "Well, can we not find a place for the Lord? Are we not free to choose any place that seems nice and convenient to us?" No, no! David found the place that was God's place. After he brought the ark back, David says, "Arise, O LORD, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might." "For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place. This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it." David found the place God had appointed, the place that the Lord had chosen. To that place for the Lord he brought the ark of the covenant.
The men obeyed, and the result was nothing like the first journey.
The Lord was glorified in all this, and He could therefore give real joy and gladness, strength and energy. There was no more stumbling of oxen — no more human effort to keep the ark from falling; the truth of God was dominant, and the power of God could act.
The rule David missed was in writing all along. One writer points to the page, and then to the reader.
If you want to know where to find the due order, read Exodus 25:13-15. They were to carry the ark only in that way. God had written it plainly enough. But David had read his Bible carelessly until then. You may say to me, I do not see things as you do. Quite possible; but if you will go and read your Bible you will see what the Lord says the order of His assembly should be. That is the vital point. It is of the greatest importance to have the mind of God, and not to take our own way in anything that concerns carrying the ark — for us, the testimony of Christ.
- Word, not counsel. David's first try followed his advisers. This command came from the word of God.
- Leaders included. The king gives the order, and the call to be holy reaches the heads of the families, not just the men carrying the weight.
- Contact costs. A cart asks nothing of anyone. Carrying holy things on your own shoulders asks for self-judgment first.
- Confession first. Chronicles records David's fault so that we can read the confession grace drew out of him.
- God's place, God's way. The place David prepared was the place the Lord had chosen. Once God's truth ruled, joy and power followed.
For because ye did [it] not at the first, Jehovah our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.
David had already tried once to bring the ark of God to Jerusalem. That first try ended with Uzza struck dead at the threshing floor. Now the king gathers the Levites and names the real cause. It was not the oxen, and not Uzza's hand. It was a people who sought God their own way instead of His.
Only Chronicles records these words:
These passages are missing from the second book of Samuel. Chronicles records David's fault as an exception, and it does so to show us this admirable confession, which grace at last produced in him.
Where the ESV says the LORD "broke out against us," older translations read "made a breach upon us." David no longer speaks of that stroke as something that fell on one man alone:
Here David acknowledges that God's hand was not only upon Uzza but upon them all. There was shared responsibility and guilt in this matter. David no longer thinks of "Perez-uzza," but of the "breach upon us."
The first journey was full of joy and praise. Something small was missing:
Only one thing was missing. It looked unimportant, but it was very serious, and it would teach the king a bitter lesson. The great outpouring of joy and praise accompanying the ark's return could not take the place of obedience to the Word of God. The first was excellent; the second was both necessary and obligatory.
Where the ESV says "the rule," older translations read "the due order" — the phrase the writers below use. That rule was no secret. It was written down, and it named who should carry the ark.
He was taught to throw away human traditions and simply follow the written Word of God. That Word said nothing about a cart and oxen to carry the ark. "No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God." This was very clear. The whole mistake grew out of forgetting the Word, and out of copying people outside God's covenant, who had no ability to understand God's mind on any question.
Israel had copied a method that seemed to work for people who did not know God's mind. That gives a test for every decision:
It is possible to do a right thing in a wrong way… Let us beware of human reason. Let us not copy others because they seem to succeed… People often ask, "What is the harm" in doing this or that? Or, do the Scriptures condemn it? But the question should be: What do the Scriptures teach? What do they command? What is the Lord's will?
It can seem unfair that the people trying to honour God were the ones put to shame. One writer traces that to what they had been given:
We are often surprised that the Lord exposes people who walk according to the Word of God when anything goes wrong… This is the reason. It is the very fact of having His Word — the very fact of seeking to walk by the Spirit of God, by His Word. Elsewhere it would stay hidden, but God does not let it pass. He uncovers it. So we have all the profit, but we have the shame — all the profit of God's Word, but the shame of our own lack of proper feeling.
Perez-uzza was the name attached to Uzza's stroke. One writer carries the same rule into the life of the church today:
There is a great, deep principle here for our souls today. God has a "due order" for everything here for His Church. If we step out of this divine order, a Perez-uzza is almost certain to follow… All such would do well to ask themselves, Is this really the "due order" of God's Word?
The story does not end at the threshing floor where Uzza fell:
The lesson was severe and the stroke of God was serious. But once they learned it, the lesson produced an atmosphere of joy, substance and praise… We learn such lessons the way grain is sifted on a threshing floor. They will make us avoid every human intrusion into the service of God, and they will secure much for His glory and the joy of the saints.
- Cause. The breach came from how they sought God, not from whether they wanted Him. Joy and praise could not replace obedience to His Word.
- Confession. David says "we," not "Uzza"; grace brought him to own the failure as belonging to all of them.
- Correction. The due order was already written down. Only the Levites were to carry the ark; the cart came from people who did not know God's mind.
- Cost. God uncovers failure in those who have His Word rather than letting it pass; the shame is the price of the profit.
- Consequence. Once they followed the order, the journey that had ended in death ended in joy and praise.
So the priests and the Levites hallowed themselves to bring up the ark of Jehovah the God of Israel.
David's second try at bringing the ark of God to Jerusalem does not start with carts or crowds. It starts with the men who will carry it making themselves fit — which raises two questions: why did they skip this step the first time, and what does it ask of God's servants now?
The first journey used a cart, so no one had to come near the ark. Carrying it by hand changed that.
While the ark sat on the new cart, the priests and the Levites had no need to sanctify themselves. When they carried it themselves, they had to. They could not come into contact with the holy things of the sanctuary without self-judgment.
Israel's priests, Levites and people heard this call again and again. God gave a reason for it.
The priests, Levites, and people were often called upon to sanctify themselves, to be ceremonially fit to approach God and His sanctuary. Leviticus 20:7; Numbers 11:18; etc. God said that He will be sanctified by those who come near Him (Leviticus 10:3). We must come to God with reverence, keeping away from whatever does not suit Him.
Consecration was not only for the men doing the lifting. David starts at the top, and he names the reason (in an older wording of the text).
David calls for Zadok and Abiathar the priests. He tells them they are the heads of the Levite families, and that they must sanctify themselves — not only the Levites who did the work, but these men who were over them. "Because you did not do it the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us, for we did not seek Him according to the due order."
Kelly then asks why the failure came to light at all.
We are often surprised that the Lord deals with people who walk according to the Word of God in a way that exposes them when anything goes wrong. Why will God not let things stay hidden? Why does He bring out what is painful and humiliating? This is the reason. It is the very fact of having His Word — the very fact of seeking to walk by the Spirit of God, by His Word. Elsewhere the thing would stay covered, but God does not let it pass. He uncovers it. So we have all the profit, but we also have the shame.
The first way needed oxen and human hands to steady the ark. What came of the second?
The Lord was glorified in all this, and He could therefore give real joy and gladness, strength and energy. There was no more stumbling of oxen — no more human effort to keep the ark from falling. The truth of God ruled, and the power of God could act.
The Kohathites were the Levite family who carried the ark on their shoulders. Leslie Grant draws the picture out for Christians today.
Today every believer, like the Levite Kohathites, is responsible to carry Christ on his shoulders as the One who upholds the throne of God's glory. They did not touch the ark; they carried it with poles. We must not leave this witness to any organization that man invents — a new cart with its impersonal "oxen" to power it. Too often God's people hand their responsibility over to their "denomination". They bear no personal witness to Christ in His place of gracious, sovereign authority.
The stroke of God was painful. Hughes weighs it against what it produced.
The lesson was severe and the stroke of God was serious. But once they learned it, it produced the atmosphere of joy, substance and praise that fills 1 Chronicles 15 and 16. … So let us not be afraid of the exercises these chapters raise: God's choosing; God's preparation; God's due order; God's commandment according to His own word; the need for sanctification and for seeking the Lord. Lessons like these … will lead us to avoid every human intrusion into the service of God, and will secure much for His glory and the joy of the saints.
- Contact. A cart kept everyone at a distance. Once the men carried the ark themselves, they had to be fit to come near God — with reverence, and apart from what does not suit Him.
- Leaders. The call reached the heads of the families, not only the men doing the lifting.
- Exposure. God uncovers failure in those who seek to walk by His Word: all the profit of His Word, and the shame of our own state.
- Power. With God's order kept, the propping-up stopped, and joy, gladness and strength followed.
- Shoulders. The witness to Christ still rests on people, not on a cart, an organization or a "denomination".
And the children of the Levites bore the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves upon them, as Moses had commanded according to the word of Jehovah.
David had tried once before to bring the ark to Jerusalem, and it ended in disaster. This time the Levites carry it on their own shoulders, just as Moses had commanded. And behind Moses stood the word of the LORD.
Nothing here was new. God had written this rule long before, and one writer points readers to the place. "The due order" is how older translations word what the ESV calls "the rule."
If you want to know where to find the due order, read Exodus 25:13-15. The Ark could be carried only in that way. God had written it plainly enough. But David had read his Bible carelessly before this... It is of the greatest importance to have the mind of God, and not to take our own way in anything to do with carrying the Ark — for us, the testimony of Christ.
The first try had gone wrong for one reason: David forgot a written command and copied the nations around him.
He was taught to throw aside human traditions and simply follow the written Word of God. That Word says nothing about a cart and oxen to carry the ark. "No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God." This was perfectly clear. The whole mistake came from forgetting the Word and from copying the nations outside Israel. They had no ability to understand the mind of God on any question — least of all the solemn and important question of how to carry the ark.
God's chosen carriers were people. The ark rested on the shoulders of one family of Levites, the sons of Kohath. One writer sees in that a picture of how God's testimony still travels.
It was the privilege of the Levites — the sons of Kohath — to carry the ark on their shoulders. It was right that this came after the destruction of the Philistines' new cart. The testimony of God is to be carried on the shoulders of His saints, borne in the lives of those who are near to Him. Sadly, many today have their own way of carrying God's testimony. They do not follow God's instructions in Scripture with care. They follow their own ideas, and think that the end justifies the means.
Poles slid through rings on the sides of the ark, and the Levites carried it by them. Those poles say something about how the Lord travels with His people.
The staves went into the rings on the two sides (or feet) of the ark, so that it could be carried through the desert. Some have stressed the word "feet." The thought is that the ark, carried on the shoulders of the priests, would rise above their heads, where all the people could see it. It is clear that the staves in the rings remind us that our Lord always journeys with His people. If they are pilgrims, He will be a pilgrim too, and fulfil His own word, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Heb. 13:5).
The change in method followed an admission of guilt. One writer notes that Chronicles preserves what the parallel account leaves out.
The beginning of 1 Chronicles 15 is quite remarkable... "Because you did not carry it the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us, because we did not seek Him according to the rule" (vv. 12-13). The second book of Samuel leaves these words out. Chronicles does record David's fault, which is rare for this book. It does so to give us this fine confession, which grace at last produced in him.
It can seem harsh that God let David's error become public. Commenting on this very verse, one writer explains why.
We are often surprised that the Lord exposes those who are walking according to the Word of God when anything goes wrong. Why does He not let such things stay hidden? Why does He bring out what is painful and humiliating? This is the reason. It is the very fact of having His Word — the very fact of seeking to walk by the Spirit of God, by His Word. Anywhere else such a failure would stay hidden, but God uncovers it. So we have all the profit, but we also have the shame.
God's way removed the danger and the strain. It also brought what the first try never did.
The Lord was glorified in all this, and He could therefore give real joy and gladness, strength and energy. There was no more stumbling of oxen — no more human effort to keep the ark from falling; the truth of God was dominant, and the power of God could act.
- Confession first. David owned the failure: they had not sought God according to the rule. Grace produced that confession, and the right way followed it.
- Command second. The right way was never a mystery. God wrote it in Exodus, and David's earlier failure came from careless reading.
- Shoulders third. God's testimony travelled on living shoulders, not on a cart copied from the world. It still rests on the lives of those near to Him.
- Staves throughout. The poles stayed in the rings, ready for the road. The Lord travels with His people — a pilgrim among pilgrims.
- Joy last. Once David dropped his own method, no ox stumbled and no hand had to steady the ark. God was glorified, and gladness and strength followed.