And they brought in the ark of Jehovah, and set it in its place, in the midst of the tent that David had spread for it. And David offered up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before Jehovah.
The ark has reached Jerusalem at last. David does not put it in the old tabernacle at Gibeon, but under a tent he has prepared for it on Zion. The two offerings he then brings show why God's presence could rest there at all. They also show what worship suits a people who have God among them.
David gives the ark a tent, not a building. One commentator draws out why that matters:
The ark was set in a tent that David had pitched for it in Jerusalem. This was God's center, and yet there was to be no temple for the ark until the days of Solomon. Scripture says nothing about this tent, or whether it was the same as "the tabernacle in the wilderness." But when the ark was placed there, David again offered burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord. This is the important reminder that Israel could enjoy God's presence only on the basis of the value of the sacrifice of Christ.
Israel now had two centres. The altar and the old tabernacle stood at Gibeon; the ark stood in David's tent. Each place taught something different:
The Tabernacle showed how to approach God, which is, and must always be, by sacrifice; this was displayed, we might say, at Gibeon. But in front of the Ark people saw, and expressed every day, the service that suits those who are where the presence of God is known. That service was and must be praise.
Neither centre was complete on its own. One writer describes the position Israel was in:
You could come to the ark at Zion, but without the sacrifice that 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 was completely empty... The ark was in Zion, claiming its place on the mountain of grace. But could it be enthroned there unless the question of sin was definitely settled?
David brings two kinds of sacrifice. The difference between them is a difference in who receives the offering:
The difference was this. In the burnt offering Jehovah had the whole of it. In the peace offering, the priestly family, the priest who offered it, and the man who brought it shared with Jehovah what was offered in sacrifice to Him. In other words, the burnt offering was a sacrifice of worship to Jehovah, and the peace offering a sacrifice of communion... Our worship and our fellowship with God both rest on the sacrifice of His own Son upon the cross.
The peace offering ended in a meal. Those who ate it were not spectators:
They feasted on the sacrifice of which God had received His portion. It was communion with Him in the sacrifice. Who of men now know what it is to have fellowship with Him as respects the atoning death of His Son?
One writer sees Christ pictured here, king and priest in one:
The king was clothed with a linen ephod (v. 14), the distinctive garment of the priests. Here we see him once more become a type of Christ in His future glory. There is something of Melchizedek in David as he is shown to us here. Here we have kingship united to priesthood. Blessing goes up from the people to God through David's mouth. Blessing comes down from God on all the people through His mediator.
Bringing the ark to Zion tied the throne to the covenant, at a time when Israel had failed on every count:
It joined royal power in Zion — that is, the royal power of Christ, as deliverer in grace — to the sign of Jehovah's covenant with Israel. That sign was set up there in grace, after Israel had already failed completely under the law, and even after they had rejected God as their King.
Read that way, the tent on Zion becomes a small preview of a larger day:
This is a picture of what the Lord Jesus will do when He becomes the King in Israel. He will establish the true worship of God. Then Israel will become the centre from which the blessing of God will flow out to the whole earth.
- Sacrifice first. Israel could enjoy God's presence among them only on the ground of sacrifice. David set up the tent, then brought the offerings.
- Worship given. The burnt offering went wholly up to God; it is the offering of worship, where God receives His full portion.
- Fellowship shared. Those who brought the peace offering ate it. God's portion and theirs came from one sacrifice — that is communion.
- Blessing returned. David wore a priest's linen garment, though he was king and not priest. He carried blessing up to God and brought it back down to the people — kingship and priesthood in one man.
- Glory ahead. David's tent on Zion is a small model of Christ reigning. He will set up true worship first; then blessing will flow out from that centre to the earth.
And when David had ended offering up the burnt-offerings and the peace-offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Jehovah of hosts.
David has brought the ark into the tent he pitched for it, and he has finished the offerings. Now the king turns to the crowd and blesses them — in a name that belongs to God alone.
Timing matters here. The blessing only starts once the offerings are finished. The two offerings named also mean different things.
They brought the ark into the place prepared for it. Then come burnt offerings and peace offerings — what is for the heart and pleasure of God, and also what His people can feed on in His presence in communion with Him. Once the sacrifices are offered, the king "blessed the people in the name of the LORD." He handed out to them what would nourish them and make their hearts glad.
That order is not an accident. The same pattern shows up with Aaron the priest:
The moment Aaron had finished offering the sacrifices, he could bless the people. Until that moment he had never acted that way toward them. But once all was rightly offered, he did not wait a moment. This teaches us as well as them, because it shows us on what ground people can be blessed — the acceptance of the sacrifice. Apart from Christ's death, pictured in the offerings, this could not have taken place. As soon as God has accepted the sacrifice, He can righteously bless.
David does not bless in his own name. He blesses in the name of the LORD of hosts — a title that first appears in Israel's story at a low point, not a high one.
We do not meet this name until 1 Samuel 1:3. It came in with prophetic testimony. Faith laid hold of the LORD's glory when Israel had corrupted themselves and were weak and low. Scripture reveals a mighty heavenly host, and rulers and powers in the unseen world. God is the God of them all, as well as God of all the elements of nature… The LORD of hosts dwelt between the cherubim.
That last line matters. David had just placed the ark, with its cherubim, inside the tent. He blesses in the name of the God who dwells there.
David offers and David blesses. Both belong to the priesthood, yet he is king. Commentators see a deliberate picture here.
The king was clothed with a linen ephod, the distinctive garment of the priests. Here we see him once more become a type of Christ in His future glory… Here we have kingship united to priesthood. Blessing goes up from the people to God by David's mouth. And blessing comes down from God on all the people through His mediator.
What gives the moment its weight is when it happens. Blessing comes while opposition still stands, not after every enemy is gone.
In all this part of the history David is more personally a type of Christ. He restores the people's connection with God. He blesses and feeds them as Melchizedek did. And he does this while difficulty still exists — before the reign of peace, when power will have removed every obstacle to enjoying it fully. Blessing flows from his person in the presence of all that still opposes it, despite every difficulty… He is not a priest on his throne. The king makes himself a priest, and he does this while he is still serving.
This blessing sits in a chain. David worships God first, then blesses the nation, then his own home.
He had worshipped God, the giver of all good. Now his thoughts turned to His people: "he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts." He also provided generously for their physical needs. Then, his public ministry over, he was not forgetful of his domestic relationships. "And David returned to bless his household."
Others read the whole event forward, as a small-scale model of a greater reign still to come.
This is a picture of what the Lord Jesus will do when He becomes the King in Israel. He will establish the true worship of God. Then Israel will become the centre from which God's blessing will flow out to the whole earth.
- Ground: Blessing comes only after the offerings are finished. It rests on an accepted sacrifice, not on the people who receive it.
- Name: David blesses in the name of the LORD of hosts — the God of every power in heaven and earth, who dwells between the cherubim.
- Mediator: Praise goes up through David's mouth, and blessing comes back down through him — a king wearing the priest's linen, blessing as Melchizedek did.
- Timing: The blessing flows out while opposition still stands, not after every enemy is gone.
- Reach: From God, to the nation, to his own household — and one day out to the whole earth, under Christ as King.