An Ark, A King, A Pastor And A Loving God
By Pastor Paul Klusewicz
March 30, 2008

Every word in Scripture has meaning; from Genesis to Revelation is about our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. The Old Testament is often considered Christ concealed; the New Testament is considered Christ revealed. The entire Bible shows us that God is Love; God is Mercy; and God is Compassionate. Praise the Lord.

1 Chronicles 13:1-14 (NIV)
BRINGING BACK THE ARK

“David conferred with each of his officers, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds. He then said to the whole assembly of Israel, If it seems good to you and if it is the will of the Lord our God, let us send word far and wide to the rest of our brothers throughout the territories of Israel, and also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their towns and pasturelands, to come and join us. Let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we did not inquire of it during the reign of Saul. The whole assembly agreed to do this, because it seemed right to all the people. So David assembled all the Israelites, from the Shihor River in Egypt to Lebo Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath Jearim. David and all the Israelites with him went to Baalah of Judah (Kiriath Jearim) to bring up from there the ark of God the Lord, who is enthroned between the cherubim—the ark that is called by the Name. They moved the ark of God from Abinadab's house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it. David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets. When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah, and He struck him down because he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God. Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah. David was afraid of God that day and asked, how can I ever bring the ark of God to me? He did not take the ark to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house for three months, and the Lord blessed his household and everything he had.”

King David-a man after God’s own heart; a man who made a lot of mistakes in his life-some premeditated and some very deliberate. David reminds us of our own shortcomings and flaws. He also reminds us there are consequences of our mistakes, but through it all we can be a people seeking God first. David was the King, the commander, the leader, the man in charge of Israel-a Pastor in charge of His people. Before he went to his officers he should have gone to the Lord. Before any Pastor ministers, he should seek the Lord first; he should always recognize the need for the Lord’s presence and the need for the power of the Holy Spirit. John 15:4-5 (KJV) “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

The Pastor is not here to be a people pleaser; true success as a Pastor is based on complete surrender and obedience to God. The Pastor is not here to tickle your ears; he is not here to tell you just what you want to hear. The Pastor is here to tell you what God wants you to hear and know! A Pastor knows the will of God for his church. For example, with Prayer & Praise Fellowship it is God’s will to grow this church; it is God’s will for people to come to this church and receive salvation. It is God’s will that our church open up a Preschool which ministers to children and their parents, and through this school, God will lead many people to Christ. How important is it for a Pastor to know God’s priority for the church. If we look back to King David, we see that bringing back the ark was the will of God and God’s priority. David wanted to do the right thing in a good and Godly way. He needed to be led by the Holy Spirit. The same applies to the church. The church is not a democracy-what people want is not always the right thing. The church needs to be led by the Holy Spirit, through the Pastor. The Pastor also has a front line of men in the Church Elders who will receive discernment from the Lord and impart wisdom to the congregation, always acting on behalf of the Pastor.

All of us need to be reminded that there is an order of submission in a Church. We may find this difficult at times because in America we are free spirited, pull yourself up by your own bootstraps kind of people. However, just like the moving of the ark of God, the Lord frequently provides prescribed procedures which need to be applied and used. Hebrews 13:17 (NIV) “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

Every word, every aspect, every movement is important to God. Pastors have a great responsibility to tell people the truth. If a Pastor preaches “easy believism” people may die spiritually. At times, it is necessary for a Pastor to call his congregants to deep repentance-to turn away from their sins and turn towards God. There is no “easy believism”; there is a deep call to “trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight” Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV). Jesus is not a fetish! Please don’t put Jesus on your dashboard as a good luck charm. Instead “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39 (NIV). Also from Romans 10:9 (NIV) “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Jesus is not just an insurance policy; He is a 24 hour, 7 day a week savior.

Returning to the ark, we see that God’s procedure was for it to be carried on poles and then the poles were carried on the shoulders of the men carrying it; the ark was not to be touched by one’s hands. The Holy Spirit should always be the driver; we are not in charge, God is the leader. How often do we pray and instead of waiting for God to answer the prayer, we answer the prayer, we take charge and we make a mess. We see that the Israelites were moving the ark; in fact they were celebrating. However, Uzzah who knew what the Lord required, reached out and steadied the ark with his hand-this was the wrong thing to do. So God struck Uzzah down and he died. Imagine how many times we have done the wrong thing and be thankful we have a God of forgiveness. In Uzzah’s case He may be with the Lord and we’ll see him when we get there, Also, on a note of praise God could have struck everyone down, yet He was merciful and David and his other men were spared.

God spares us and He saves our souls and He saves us from ourselves and from many of the choices we make. Pride, arrogance, disobedience, gossip, critical spirits, bad behavior-God will not accept these at His altar. We need to focus and recognize that sin is sin!

We see that King David got angry at God for what He did to Uzzah. We must let go of anger we have towards God or others. We may need to go to a family member or friend or coworker and ask for forgiveness, as well as offer our forgiveness to others. Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV) “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.” We must stop being full of ourselves and fulfill the call, the destiny that God has planned for us. We must strive to be the best pastor, elders, deacons, deaconesses, ministry leaders, teachers, workers and congregants we can be for the Lord. Colossians 1:10-12 (NIV) “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.” And as always, we must lead others to Christ. We must let go of our fears; we see that even David was afraid of the Lord. Proverbs 1:7 (NIV) “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.” So let us be open to the Lord’s wisdom, the Lord’s understanding, even the Lord’s discipline. David was open to the Lord’s discipline and we know that discipline produces obedience. The best way we can learn is to pray and to be into the Word of God. Through God’s word and through prayer we will learn faith and trust in the Lord, and obedience to God and God alone. Through our complete reliance on God we will come to see that God is a God of blessing. He blessed us in the past, He’s currently blessing us and He will continue to do so in the future. We see how David brought the ark to the house of Obed-Edom, the Gittite and we see that the “Lord blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he had.” We do indeed have a God of blessing, and receiving God’s blessing is not always simplistic. For David there was a plan to be followed. For us there is a plan to be followed. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

We can’t have “sloppy agape” people. And God expects great and mighty things from us! Luke 12:48 (KJV) “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” So let us be careful to do what’s right for the Lord; Let us keep ourselves in line with God’s word. Let us “pray without ceasing” 1 Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV). Let us remember we have an accountability to God. Let us know that God is working in us and through us. Philippians 1:5-6 “Because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Let us turn ourselves fully and completely over to the Lord offering Him our time, talents, energy and money. And always remember that God loves you. Amen!