20. The Ark Beyond Kidrom; or, God's Presence Universal

Chapter 20 - The Ark Beyond Kidrom; or, God’s Presence Universal

THERE is some uncertainty as to the precise meaning of Uriah’s words, when he said to King David, " The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields: shall I then go into mine house?" The most natural, as well as the most common opinion is, that, on this occasion, the ark had been sent to accompany the army which was besieging Rabbah. If this be a correct sup­position, there will yet be found difficulties in accounting for such a measure. The expe­rience of the past had demonstrated the danger of placing confidence in the ark, as though it were of itself a safe-guard; and to have taken it from Mount Zion, in order that the army might have opportunity of offering sacrifices, would not seem to have been in strict ac­cordance with the divine rule, that such service should be celebrated only in one hallowed spot. At the same time, we may bear in mind, that in the present case the Israelites were carrying on a foreign invasion, and that it was likely to be a prolonged warfare.

It may per­haps have been thought, that the law con­cerning the place of sacrifice had reference only to their sojourn within the boundaries of Canaan, and that if any national enterprise led them beyond Jordan, they were justified in taking with them the sacred memorial of Almighty protection, the sanctuary of Jehovah’s presence. The fact, moreover, that the taber­nacle of Moses, with the brazen altar, still remained at Gibeon, where it was accessible to those who tarried at home, might confer a greater plausibility on the expedient. How­ever this may have been, and whether the ark was still on Mount Zion, or whether it was a visitant in the territory of Ammon, it is clear that the words of David’s noble minded general ought to have come home with force to his heart. Once the king had judged that a cedar ­palace was unfit for royalty while the greatest earthly treasure of the nation had but curtains for its canopy; and now he hears the warrior, whom he would fain allure to self-indulgence, refusing to enjoy the comforts of his humbler abode, because the army was exposed to hard­ship, and the ark had found no temple-home. Not yet, however, was the backsliding monarch’s conscience roused; not yet did he see and own the enormity of his guilt.

We pass on to another mention of the ark, more easy of interpretation. David had con­fessed his sin, and found forgiveness; but it was needful that discipline should yet be ad­ministered, in order that both himself and his people might learn how evil a thing it is to forsake the living God. One of the bitterest ingredients in his cup of sorrow was Absalom’s unnatural rebellion. Driven in his declining years from his palace, from his throne, and from his capital, the monarch took his mourn­ful way across the brook Kidron, with his face toward the Mount of Olives. He was not alone in his flight: his household, his servants, his faithful soldiers and devoted friends col­lected round him, ready to tender him their sympathy and their assistance. The priests were no less zealous than the people. "Lo, Zadok also, and all the Levites, were with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God; and they set down the ark." Zadok’s colleague­---(for at this time there were two high-priests, one descended from Eleazar, and the other from Ithamar)---acted in concert with’ him: "Abiathar went up, until all the people had done passing out of the city." Having seen the ark safely carried across the brook, and stationed in the plain beyond it, he returned and took some elevated position whence he might superintend the exit of David’s fol­lowers from the town. During his absence, the monarch interposed an authoritative pro­hibition, saying to Zadok, "Carry back the ark of God into the city." He regarded the step they had taken as neither needful nor wise. It was needful neither for the ark’s sake, nor his. If left behind, it would be per­fectly safe. Absalom might seize upon his father’s treasures, but would not dare to invade the sanctity of the tabernacle.

Hence David’s assurance, "If I shall find favor in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me again, and show me both it and His habitation." Should it be the divine will to bring him back to his palace and his crown, he knew he should find the sanctuary safe. There was a converse to the picture. "But if He thus say, I have no delight in thee, behold, here am I, let Him do to me as seemeth good unto Him." Should it be the divine will to cast him down from regal dignity, the presence of the ark could not countervail the decree. As his care was not indispensable to the preservation of the ark, so the ark of itself would be no guarantee of his security. His mind was fully made up. "The king said also unto Zadok the priest, Art not thou a seer? return unto the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar: see, I will tarry in the plain of the wilderness, until there come word from you to certify me:" The royal behest was obeyed. "Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jeru­salem; and they tarried there," while David, bare-headed and unshod, commenced the as­cent of Olivet; whose summit reached, he "worshipped God," as from that spot he cast a parting gaze upon the place of Jehovah’s sanctuary. The kind action and intended service of the priests, though not accepted, were appreciated and remembered. The adhesion of Abiathar, in later years, to the interests of the rebel Adoniiah, could not be passed over as a light and trivial crime; but the sentence of death, to which, as guilty of treason, he stood ex­posed, was commuted into deposition from the sacerdotal office: "unto Abiathar the priest, said (Solomon) the king, Get thee to Anathoth, unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of death; but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou barest the ark of the Lord God before David my father, and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my father was afflicted. So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto the Lord." So far as David was concerned, the incident at Kidron displayed an unusual strength of faith. In the words of the banished monarch, there was implied no undervaluing of the ark. We know that, during his exile, he had earnest longings after the privileges he had enjoyed in connection with it. "Oh God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee; my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee, in a dry and thirsty land where no water is, to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary." "My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me, for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday." "Oh, send out thy light and thy truth; let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill and to thy tabernacles: then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy; yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, Oh God my God." "As for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy, and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.

Nevertheless, much as he panted after Zion’s ordinances, and ardently as he anticipated his return to the enjoyment of them, he had a firm confidence that God could answer prayer wherever it was offered. His faith was not in the ark, but in the God of the ark. Hence he could say, "I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and He heard me out of His holy hill:" for though far removed from the mercy seat, yet the voice of his supplication had reached the ear of Him who there gave audience to his people’s requests, Nay, more; David felt the truth of what he had expressed in one of the psalms of his youth: "The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven." He knew that Jehovah’s presence was circum­scribed by the limits of no human habitation, that Jehovah was with him whithersoever he was driven. Though resident on earth, yet enthroned on high, the Omniscient One could draw near, in mercy and love, to succor and relieve his people, in any place, and under any circumstances.

Let us seek to cultivate a similar faith in the Omnipresence of our God. If we have learned to enjoy communion with Him in His house, let us nevertheless be prepared for such seasons of affliction as may bar us from the public means of grace. We may indulge the language of hope, and cheer ourselves with the thought, "If I shall find favor in the eyes of the Lord, if it please Him to restore me to health and strength, He will bring me there once more, He will show me His habitation yet again, and He will renew the communications of His grace." But at the same time, we must cherish the spirit of resignation, and be found ready to say, "If He shall have no delight in my return to His courts, if He shall see it necessary to pro­long my sorrow, if He shall keep me still the prisoner of His providence, behold, here am I, let Him do to me as seemeth good unto Him." Let us pant after the sanctuary, but let us not repine at our detention from it. Let us long to return, but let us be patient under God’s restraining hand. And, in order to this, let us sympathize in David’s assurance, and rest our minds on the great and glorious thought, that God’s presence is universal, that He is not confined to temples made with hands, that He despises not the private abode of His meanest worshipper.

Succeeding ages have demon­strated this truth, even more clearly than it could be known in the royal Psalmist’s day. We can read the inspired page, and learn how Jonah’s prayer was heard, when out of the fish’s belly his "soul looked toward the holy temple;" how Daniel, in the land of captivity, "opened his window toward Jerusalem," and "kneeled upon his knees and prayed;" and how, when thus he "set his face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications," there came forth an angelic messenger with an answer of peace. We turn to the Gospel narrative, and we find that Jesus wrought not all His miracles in the temple-court, or amid the throngs assembled at the Jewish feasts: in seclusion was the daughter of Jairus raised from the dead, and the sufferer at Decapolis was led "aside from the multitude," before his cure was effected. The risen Savior again and again appeared to the assembled company of His disciples, saying, "Peace be unto you;" but He also revealed Himself to the two at their evening meal, and to Mary Magdalene when alone in her grief. Our main desire should be to "see Jesus." If we willingly absent ourselves from public worship, or care­lessly attend it, we shall miss the experience of His love. If we enter His courts, when duty requires us at home, or if, when compelled to tarry in our dwellings, we do so with rebellious, complaining hearts, He will not draw near to us with the revelations of His mercy. Let us wait upon Him, whether it be in public or in private; thus in solitary as well as in social worship, we shall realize His gracious presence.