Exodus 25. The art of the covenant was built according to specifications
which God gave to Israel through Moses. It was a symbol of God's
presence. The art of the covenant was always
behind the veil in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle. It
wasn't very large, two-and-a-half feet long, foot-and-a-half wide,
foot-and-a-half deep, but it was a very important piece of
furniture. In Exodus chapter 25, verse 10,
the Scripture says this is the instructions to build the ark.
Exodus 25, 10, And they shall make an ark of shittom wood,
two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, a cubit and
a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height
thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with
pure gold within, and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt
make upon it a crown of gold round about. Now look at verse
21. And thou shalt put the mercy
seat above upon the ark, and in the ark, in this box, thou
shalt put the law, the Ten Commandments, the testimony that I shall give
thee." The Ten Commandments went in that ark. And there I shall
meet with thee, the presence of the Lord. The ark was a symbol
of God's presence with the people. And I will commune with thee
from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims, which
are upon the ark of the testimony of all things which I will give
thee in commandment unto the children of Israel." This ark
was a very precious and important piece of furniture in the tabernacle. It signified God's presence. God said, I'll meet with you.
there above the mercy seat. And then the ark not only symbolized
God's presence, but the ark was a symbol of forgiveness. Now
the mercy seat that was put on top of that ark was pure gold,
and it covered the ark between the two cherubims. And once a
year, the ark was the only piece of furniture in the Holy of Holies
outside in the holy place there was the candlesticks, and there
was the labor, and there was the different things. But in
the Holy of Holies, only the ark. And once a year, the high
priest would go under the veil into the Holy of Holies, just
once a year. And there upon that mercy seat
in the Holy of Holies, he would put the blood. That was the atonement
That was the atonement, the sacrifice that once a year was made as
an offering for Israel's sins. And God met with them there,
and God spoke forgiveness. This ark, this mercy seat, of
course, is a type of Christ. The high priest is a type of
Christ. The blood that was put on the mercy seat is a type of
Christ. And this was a symbol of the
forgiveness of sin. It was a solemn and a precious
piece of furniture. It was very important. And then
thirdly, the Ark brought the blessings of God. When the Ark
was with Israel, when the Ark was in the tabernacle, when it
was in the temple, when it was in its rightful place, it brought
God's blessings, wherever it was. Turn to our text in 1 Chronicles,
chapter 13, and let me show you this. when David was unable to
bring the Ark back to Jerusalem, when he failed in this venture.
He left the Ark in the home for three months in the home of Obed-Edom. And it says in verse 14 of 1
Chronicles 13, And the Ark of God remained with the family
of Obed-Edom in his house three months, this sacred, holy piece
of furniture. And the Lord blessed the house
of Obed-Edom and all that he had because of the presence of
that ark. It was God's presence, it was
God's forgiveness, and it signified the blessings of God. Now the
ark had been in the house of Abinadab for twenty years. all during the reign of Saul.
Look down here at 1 Chronicles 13, verse 3. David said, Let
us bring again the art of God to us, for we inquired not at
it in the days of Saul. And I found out that that art
had been out of Jerusalem and out of the presence of Israel
for over twenty years, all during the reign of Saul. Saul ignored
the Saul ignored this precious piece of furniture, Saul ignored
God's presence, ignored God's blessings, ignored God's forgiveness,
and just all of this was unsolved during Saul's reign. For twenty
years, this art had been down here in this land of Judah, in
the house of Binadab, for twenty years. Now that brings me to
my text and to our mission. We have, first of all, David's
desire. Now, David loved the Lord. We don't have any doubt about
that. What I'm preaching on tonight is seeking the Lord in the right
way. And what I'm saying, that I've heard people make this statement,
well, it doesn't matter how you worship God, just so you're sincere.
It doesn't matter how you seek the Lord, just so you're seeking
with sincerity. It doesn't matter how you come
before God, just so you come before Him. Well, now, I'm going
to, by God's help, As this Holy Spirit teaches us, I'm going
to show you tonight from God's Word that even David, and God
said David's a man after my own heart. We have that written right
in the Scripture. Even David, when he comes before
the Lord, has to come in the right way, or God won't accept
him. Even David, when he seeks the
Lord, has to seek him in the right way, or God won't accept
him. Even David, the sweet psalmist of Israel, even David, God's
own chosen anointed king, if he comes before God into the
presence of God, seeking communion with God Almighty, he's got to
do it in the right way, in the appointed way, in the accepted
way, in the ordained way, or God will turn him away, which
God did in this chapter. He literally, with a stroke of
wrath and a stroke of death, Marked failure on this whole
mission. Now let's look at the mission. This was David's. David
loved the Lord. He loved God. We don't have any
doubt about that. This sweet psalmist who wrote,
The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. David loved
God. And David was sincere in this
desire to restore the symbol of God's presence back to where
it belonged. David had taken over Israel as
king. He had risen to the throne. One
of the first things he sat down on his throne to think about
was the art of God. He is not in Jerusalem. The art
of God is not in the city of David where it belongs. The art
of God, which symbolizes God's presence, which symbolizes forgiveness
of sin, which brings with it God's blessing, is not where
it ought to be. And I'm going to put it that.
That's what he said. Verse 3 and 4. Now listen. He
said to the people. He sent out to the thousands
and hundreds. In verse 3 he said, Let us bring
again the art of our God to us, for we inquired not at it in
the days of Saul, and all the congregation said that that's
exactly what we'll do. It's exactly, for this thing
was right in the eyes of all the people." Now, it's a concerted
effort. David the king and all the people
agreed that this was the thing to do. This is our will, this
is our desire, this is what we want. We want the ark of God
back where it belongs in the temple of God. We want the presence
of God and the fellowship of God. You see, it's a sincere
and it looks like a very worthy venture, doesn't it? All right?
So David gathered all of Israel. Boy, he got a crowd. Verse 5,
look at it. And David gathered all Israel
together from Shahur of Egypt unto the entering of Hamath.
He got the whole crowd. He had thousands and thousands
and thousands of people. And they went down here and they
got this ark. And David, he had the fellows
fix a brand new cart, an ox cart. I imagine that thing was something
to behold. He told the carpenters and the
iron workers and the mechanics and all of them to fix up a real
nice cart. We're going on a religious crusade. We're going down into this place
and get the art of God and we're going to bring it back up. And
they washed the oxen and they curried them and combed them
and brushed them and got them all fixed up and went down there,
and they put the ark of God, that sacred, holy vessel on that
brand-new ox cart. Look at verse 7. And they carried
the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab,
and they bestowed the honor. I don't know whether they had
a raffle or what they had, but somehow this fellow Uzzah and
Ahio won the privilege, the glorious, wonderful privilege of sitting
up there on the seat and driving that car. And here's David. Now this looks like a worthy
desire. David and all the thousands. David was the common people's
king. David was the lover of Jehovah. We have no doubt about that.
David had a sincere desire to have God's presence in Jerusalem.
He wanted the ark back where it belonged. And he got these
two fine oxen and this fine ox cart, and they went down into
this place, Binadab's home, and they got the ark and put it on,
and they started back to Jerusalem. And they played, look at verse
8, and David and all of Israel played before God with all their
might. With all their might. They had
singing, They had harps, they had psalters, they had timbrels,
they had cymbals, they had trumpets, they had an orchestra that would
take a back seat to nobody. It was a tremendous celebration. It was a religious festival.
It was a great feast of victory. We're going to run Israel right,
David said. We're going to have God in the
right place. We're going to do this thing
upright. And boy, I tell you, he did have
some organization there. And they were in this huge procession
on their way back to Jerusalem, and something happened. Verse
9. And when they came to the threshing floor of Shaddan, The
oxen, one of them stepped in a hole or something, and that
new ox cart began to wiggle. And this boy, Uzzah, this man
that was driving, he in a high hole, Uzzah reached back to steady
that art. As I said, it wasn't big, it
was two and a half cubits, cubit eighteen inches, about four feet
long, something like that. And Uzzah reached back, when
the art began to shake, to stop it from shaking, keep it from
falling. And God struck him dead on the spot. God struck him dead. Scripture
says he was smitten of God and died. And the trumpet stopped
blowing. And the harp stopped playing. And the people stopped singing.
And that crowd came back there and there lay this gallant young
man on the ground, dead. And David and the people stood
there and looked at it. And it says that David, David
was afraid, verse 12, David was afraid of God that day. Several things here. Verse 11,
David was displeased with God. Verse 12, David was afraid of
God. And David asked in frustration,
Well, how am I going to bring the ark home? It's clear God's
displeased with this. It's clear God's not in this.
It's clear God's not at all in favor of this. It's clear God
has spoken to us in wrath and judgment, and here's a man dead.
And so David, verse 13, brought not the ark home, but it was
unloaded off that ark's cart and carried into the house of
Obed-Edom, and there it stayed three months. Well, what happened? What happened? Why did David fail? Why was God
displeased? That's my second point. Why? Why was God displeased? Here
was the multitude, here it said they had the whole crowd. If
we could just get the whole United States to turn back to God, If we could just get the whole
state of Kentucky, or the city of Ashland, or Boyd County, all
together in a concerted effort, a religious effort. Let's all
have a watch night service, or let's all have a resurrection
Easter morning service. Let's show our strength in numbers. David had that. He had all of
Israel, everybody. And when David said, do something,
they did it. I'll bet you there wasn't a soul left back there
to watch the store. There was everyone with David.
Every one of them. But the crowds do not insure
us of God's presence. Here's one crowd God broke up. Here's one crowd on a religious
crusade that God dispersed in a hurry with a flash of His wrath
and His judgment. We're not going to approach God
because we're many. And then David had the ceremonies
and the singing. I pick up my paper every once
in a while and I see where they're having a singing at a church.
I want the whole crowd, everybody to come because we're going to
have this quartet and that quartet and this family and that trio
and this duet and this and all. We're going to have singing.
We're going to have all of the instruments. David had that too.
He had the ceremony and the singing. He had the harps and the trumpets,
he had the cymbals, and he had the choirs, and he had all of
them, and they were doing it with all their might. And yet
it ended up in mourning. God stopped that singing convention
in a hurry. It turned into crying. And I'm
convinced that gorgeous ceremonies and great singing is not going
to bring God's favor. That's perfectly obvious here,
isn't it? great ceremonies, and I'm sure they had their costumes
and uniforms and everything else. When David put on this show,
he put on quite a show, and it ended up in a huge funeral procession. I'll tell you something else
David had was human sincerity. He had human energy. It says,
and David and all Israel played before God. This wasn't a naked
heathen ceremony. That wasn't what they were doing
wrong. They weren't having a bingo party
here. They were playing before God
with all their might. This was a religious ceremony. This was no dull, sleepy Sunday
morning worship. This was a bright, cheerful service. And yet it fell through, ended
in tragedy. Here is where David failed. And
some of you who know something about the art, some of you who
know something about the way to approach God, you know already
where David failed. First place. In verse, in chapter
15, when they finally succeeded in bringing that art up there,
David admitted this right here. In 1 Chronicles 15, 13, David
tells us, first of all, what he did wrong. For because you did it not at
the first, the Lord God made a breach upon us, for we sought
him not after the due order. We didn't go about it the right
way, David says. And do you know what the first
problem was? David didn't seek the will of God in this matter.
In chapter 13, when I read it a while ago, did you note this? David went to the captains of
the thousands, David went to the hundreds, David went to the
people, and he said, does it seem right to you to go down
and get that ark? And the people said in verse
4, and all the congregation said, Yes, sir, that's exactly what
we do, for the thing was right in the eyes of the people. It
never did say it was right in the eyes of the Lord. Not one
time. God never did tell David, Go
get that ark. Not in this effort here. David
didn't seek the mind of God, he didn't seek the will of God,
he didn't seek the leadership of God, he went instead to the
people. Now brethren, even a David must
keep his place, and the command of God must not
be replaced with will-worship. Every time we pray, we've got
to pray this way, if it be thy will. Our Lord said, if you ask
anything according to my will, I'll do that. The Scripture says
it's not of him that will it, it's not of him that run it,
it's of God that showeth mercy. Even sinners are converted not
according to the will of the flesh, not according to the will
of man, but they're born of the will of God. Isn't that what
Scripture says? And that's the first mistake that David made.
When this old leper, covered with leprosy, decaying flesh,
when he came to Christ for cleansing, the first thing he said was this
in Matthew 8, 1 through 3. He said, Lord, if you will, you
can make me whole. Now brethren, I don't care if
we're going to worship I don't care if we're going to have a
revival or a Bible conference or if we're going to approach
God ourselves. We're going to have to seek his
will. And we're going to have to pray
according to his will. Even our Master in the Garden of Gethsemane
said, Lord, Father, not my will, but thy will be done. Even Christ
as our representative, as our substitute, as our high priest,
even Christ clothed in human flesh, had to seek the will of
the Father. And that's the first mistake
David made, didn't seek God's will. Now here's the second mistake
he made. Did you notice this when we were
reading through here? David ignored the priest. Brethren,
God's art was never supposed to be carried on an ox cart.
I don't care how fine it was. I don't care how special that
cart was. I don't care who built it. Who's
supposed to carry the art of God? The priest. That's what scripture says. Turn
to Deuteronomy chapter 10. Deuteronomy 10, look at this. In Deuteronomy 10, verse 8, those
were the instructions that God gave Moses, and those were the
instructions that Moses gave the children of Israel. In Deuteronomy
10, verse 8, at that time, the Lord, Deuteronomy 10, 8, separated
the tribe of Levi to bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
to stand before the Lord, to minister unto to bless in his
name unto this day." The king, even King David, didn't have
the authority to carry that ark. Even the prophet didn't have
the authority to carry that ark. Only the priest. There were staves
that went through it on either side, and those priests carried
that ark upon their shoulders. You're going to see in just a
moment that when David went back to get the ark, the first thing
he did will seek the will of God, and the second thing he
did was get the priest to carry that ark. They didn't take their
little cart back down there. They didn't take their oxen down
there. They took the priest down there. They took the priest. No man
can approach God without the priest. Turn to Hebrews chapter
10. I'm talking about you and me
too. I'm talking about you right now. You don't dare have anything
to do with the Heavenly Father apart from the High Priest, Jesus
Christ. Now look at Hebrews chapter 10,
verse 19. Listen to this. Having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest," now we can go into
the holy of holies, by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living
way which he hath consecrated for us through the veil. We can
go to the mercy seat. We can go to the mercy seat on
the Ark of the Covenant because, verse 21, we have a high priest
over the house of God. Therefore let us draw near with
a true heart and full assurance. I'd been right along there with
them, but looks like David had known better than that. Looks like he'd have known better
than that. You know, one time King Saul, he was going into
battle, and he wanted to offer a sacrifice before going into
battle. And he started looking for the
priest, the high priest, and he couldn't find him. And he
didn't show up at a certain time, so Saul was impatient. So he
just went over and offered a sacrifice himself. And you talk about bringing
down God's wrath on that outfit. He did. And when finally Samuel,
the man of God bleak was Samuel, came to him and Saul said, I
don't know why God's angry. I was just looking for his blessings. I was just offering a sacrifice
to look for his blessings before we went into battle. Samuel said,
It's better to obey than to sacrifice. There can be no acceptable sacrifice
to God the Father apart from the priest, because that priest
is a type of Christ. And the only one who can effectually
offer an acceptable sacrifice is our Lord Jesus Christ. The
only one who can effectually offer an atonement to God for
the sinner is our Lord Jesus Christ. And here David's going
down to get the ark, and the first thing he did, he didn't
even seek God's will. He was so enthusiastic and so
energetic and so driven by impulse that he didn't seek God's will,
and the second thing he didn't do, he didn't seek God's priest. He ignored him, and that's just
like a man ignoring Jesus Christ, because he is the high priest.
And you're going to be shocked at this, but you know the next
thing David didn't do? He didn't offer a sacrifice.
Did you notice that? Scripture says without the shedding
of blood there's no remission. The Scripture says all things
under the law are made holy by the blood. And through that whole
expedition, There wasn't one drop of blood shed, except the
one who died, Ulysses. God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. David, where's the sacrifice?
God said, it's the blood that maketh atonement for the soul.
David, where's the blood? God said, without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission of sin. David, where's the cross? Where's the blood? Where's the
sacrifice? Where's the atonement? It's no
wonder that thing failed. It's no wonder God got angry. This was all flesh. That was
all it was. This was all an effort of human
will and human flesh and human worship. Christ was ignored. You say, they didn't even know Christ
then. My friends, don't show your ignorance. All of these
Old Testament types were pictures of Christ. That's the reason
God got angry with Cain. Cain came before God with a sacrifice
of his own design and his own making. Abel brought the blood.
And God accepted Abel's sacrifice and rejected Cain's. And here
David's going down to get the ark. David's going down to get
that sacred vessel which is symbolic of God's blessings and God's
presence and God's forgiveness. And he takes not a priest with
him. And he takes not a sacrifice with him. And he sheds no blood. And on the way back, God stopped
that outfit and God slew one of their kidney in. And God showed
his utter displeasure, and David stood there confused and frustrated. But isn't this a chapter taken
right out of 1975 in our religious attempts today to find God's
presence, huh? We got the multitudes. That first
question anybody ask you now, how many did you have in Sunday
school? What difference does it make?
God wasn't there. David had the whole nation here,
but he didn't have God. We've got the ceremonies. We've
got all of the ceremonies. We've got everything down to
where people know when to stand and when to sit and when to kneel.
They know when to say their amens, and they know when to chant and
when to cry, and the preacher goes through all of that ceremony.
We've got the human energy. We've got boards and budgets.
We've got all finances, high finance. We've got the best singing
that money can buy. We've got the celebration. We've
got all these things, but where is the cross? Huh? Where is the
cross? Where is the blood? Where is
that solemn seeking of God's will? Where is that crying out
of the innermost being to the great high priest, the Lord Jesus
Christ, to plead for us, to pray for us poor sinners, to stand
before God for us? Where is that trusting the blood,
resting in the blood, waiting upon the sacrifice, huh? Where
is the cross? Where is the cross? I wonder
if God were smiting men today because of their fleshly efforts
to serve Him, how many of us would still be alive? Huh? How
many of us would still be alive? If God was smiting preachers
who left out the cross, who left out the high priest, I wonder
how many would be dead. Oh, it's a beautiful sermon.
Was Christ in it? Well, He wasn't preaching the
gospel. Well, He ought not have been preaching then. Where is the cross? You can't
approach God without the priest. All right? Now, chapter 15. David had a successful journey
the next time. Everything turned out fine. I'm glad to report that because
David learned something. First thing he did, he remembered
the failure of the flesh. That's the first thing you and
I are going to have to get through our thick heads. We're going
to have to remember that God looks not on the outward countenance.
God looks on the heart. God's not interested in how many
you got. God's not interested in how much money you got. God's
not interested in how big a building you got. God sees not as man
seeeth. God does not judge the success
of something by the multitudes. God looks on the heart. God looks on the high. And David
said in 1 Chronicles 15, 13, we didn't seek him in the right
way. That's raising the veil. So you know what he did? In verse
2, then David said, chapter 15, verse 2, listen, No one ought
to care the art of God but the Levites. Well, you learned that,
David. I learned it down at the threshing
floor of Chittenden. That's where I learned it. I
learned you don't approach God without a priest. For them hath
the Lord chosen the care of the heart, and to minister to him. And God's not going to let David
come without a priest, and he's not going to let Henry come without
a priest, and he's not going to let Lester come without a
priest. And you ignore Jesus Christ. Christ said, No man cometh
unto the Father but by me. Isn't that what he said? Turn
to Hebrews 4. Let's look at this. Close the
bell over in the writings of the Apostle Paul. Hebrews 4,
verse 14. Hebrews 4, verse 14. Listen.
Seeing then, seeing then, that we have, Hebrews 4, verse 14,
we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus
the Son of God. Let us hold fast our hope, our
For we have not a high priest that can't be touched with a
feeling of our infirmities. He was in all points tempted
as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly
unto the throne of grace. Come on sinner, you're welcome
if you come through Christ. You see that? But you better
stay away if you don't come through Christ. Let us come boldly unto
the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and that we
may find grace to help in time of need." Come on, sinner! There
is a high place, but don't ignore Him. Don't ignore Him. David did. David failed. Look back at our text again in
verse 26. And it came to pass, 1 Chronicles
15, 26. When God helped the Levites that
bear the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, they offered seven
bullocks and seven rams. Oh, we've got a sacrifice now.
We've got the blood. We've got the blood. God's not
going to bless without the blood. Turn to Hebrews 9. Here's a message
to us. Go back to Hebrews again. Chapter
9, verse 11. Listen to this. Hebrews 9, 11,
But Christ being come, a high priest of good things to come,
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,
that is to say, not this building, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." David, you're
going to bring her home this time. Because you're seeking
the Lord in the right way. First thing you did was seek
God's will. God said, go get the ark. Second
thing you did is you consulted God's priest. You picked the
priest to carry the ark. That's what God said you had
to do. You can't have anything to do with God apart from that
great priest, the Lord Jesus. And then David, you shed the
blood. You didn't ignore the cross. The way of the cross leads
home. There's no other way but this.
You'll never get sight of the gates of light if the way of
the cross you missed. And then you know what David
did? Look here. And David was clothed, verse 27, with a robe
of white linen. Oh boy, he did it right that
time. And the Levites and the singers
and all of put on that precious robe of white spotless linen
that typifies the spotless robe of righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. If you're going to come into
God's presence, my sinner friend, I'm telling you, I'm telling
you, it does matter. It does matter how you come.
And these three chapters in God's Word are not there just to show
a foolish mistake that a king made, they're there to instruct
us. And God picked his beloved, God
picked his best man, God picked a man after his own heart, and
let him fail to teach you and me the lesson. And David, with
all the sincerity that he could muster, with all the crowds he
could find, with all the human energy and all of the entertainment
and everything, he went down there to do what he felt like
ought to be done, and God killed his buddy. And then he came the
right way. He sought God's will. And he
went through the priests, and he offered to sacrifice. And
he knew he was coming into the holy presence of God, so he put
on that white fine linen and sanctified himself before he
came into God's presence. Our Father in heaven, thank you
for your word. It's there, it's all there, so
clear, so beautiful. for eyes anointed by the Spirit,
for hearts opened by the Spirit, to see the way of the Lord made
plain. And we know that we can call
Thee our Father because of Christ, and even our righteousness is
a filthy rag. We dare not approach Thy presence
except as we're clothed in His holy righteousness, sanctified
by His obedience, washed in His blood. And we know in Jesus'
name, for Christ's sake, you hear our prayers, because he
makes them holy. He presents us holy and blameless
and unreprovable in thy sight. In ourselves, we are rotten,
filthy, hell-deserving creatures, stained with the sin of Adam
in our own transgressions under the powers and multitudes and
mountains of transgressions and iniquities. But in Christ we
are made holy, accepted in the Beloved. And we approach thee,
our Father, and we covenant together with our people here in this
place. We approach thee in Christ. covered by the blood and robed
in his righteousness. And we seek thy will, Lord, if
you will, you can make us clean. In Christ's name we pray, amen.