The Return of the Ark

Well, now we turn to the preaching of God's Word.

As I said, we'll be looking at 2 Samuel chapter 6 today, and we'll be reading the chapter

2 Samuel 6 · chapter mention

in its entirety.

And we see when we read this chapter, it's a focus on the Ark of the Covenant.

And it may be a symbol or something that you have heard of before, you understand, and

maybe this is the first time you've heard the story, you have very little understanding

of this Old Testament passage.

But we hope, regardless of that, that this may be a time of encouragement for you as

we understand the true value of the Ark and how it applies to us today.

Because I think oftentimes there can be occasion where we don't really understand the significance

of something we may have, right?

Maybe you've seen the television show, the Antique Roadshow, before.

It's not the most entertaining or stimulating show, but it kind of tracks different antique

shows across the nation.

It's actually a UK version and a US version.

And it's these people that come and bring these items, and they don't really know how

valuable they are.

They want them to get them appraised.

And so we see this dialogue between an appraiser and this person who has this item, whether

it's furniture or jewelry or a piece of clothing or a painting of some sort.

And so I saw one a number of years ago.

There's a US version.

And there was this older American lady who comes with this small wooden semi-circular table.

And she said she got an antique shop for $25.

And as the man, the appraiser is looking at it, he points out a lot of the details and

intricacies of it and turns it over.

And there's this original label on the back from when it was made.

And he says to her surprise, I think this is probably worth about a quarter of a million

dollars, over 10,000 times more than what she paid for it.

And so, of course, she was shocked.

It goes on to show her a few weeks later, she actually went to auction to try to sell this

table because it was far more valuable to somebody else.

And she even knew what it was to herself.

And at auction, it actually sold her $490,000, nearly a half a million dollars for a little

table that she had no idea its worth or her value that has now had provided her with a

small fortune.

And so I think that's telling.

Again, when we think about the Ark of the Covenant today, we can read a story like this like

we will and think, what's the big deal?

Why in the world does God have, does he act this way?

What are we supposed to learn and glean from this story?

What's the significance of the story?

And I think we learn the significance when we understand the value of the Ark.

The value of the Ark not only to the people of Israel in the Old Testament, but the value

of the Ark and the symbolism that it shows us today about God's character, about his holiness,

about his desire for relationship with us, and how that's meant to influence our lives.

And so let's turn then to our passage, 2 Samuel 6, starting in verse 1.

David again brought together all the able young men in Israel, 30,000.

He and all the men went to Baal in Judah to bring up from there the Ark of God, which is called by the

name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the Ark.

They set the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill.

Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the Ark of God on it, and Ahio

was walking in front of it.

David and all of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets,

harps, lyres, trembles, sistrums, and cymbals.

When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the Ark of God,

because the oxen stumbled.

The Lord's anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act.

Therefore, God struck him down, and he died there beside the Ark of God.

Then David was angry because the Lord's wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day the place

is called Perez-Uzzah.

David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, How can the Ark of the Lord ever come to me?

He was not willing to take the Ark of the Lord to be with him in the city of David.

Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom, the Gittite.

The Ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom, the Gittite, for three months,

and the Lord blessed him and his entire household.

Now King David was told, The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has

because of the Ark of God.

So David went to bring up the Ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the city of David with rejoicing.

When those who were carrying the Ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf.

And wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might,

while he and all Israel were bringing up the Ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

As the Ark of the Lord was entering the city of David, Michael, daughter of Saul, watched from a window.

And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.

They brought the Ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it.

And David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord.

And after he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings,

he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty.

Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates, and a cake of raisins to each person and the whole crowd of Israelites,

both men and women, and all the people went to their homes.

When David returned home to bless his household, Michael, daughter of Saul, came out to meet him and said,

How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today,

going around half naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would.

David said to Michael,

It was before the Lord who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house

when he appointed me ruler over the Lord's people Israel.

I will celebrate before the Lord.

I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.

But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.

And Michael, daughter of Saul, had no children to the day of her death.

This is the word of God.

Pray with me again.

Lord, as we turn to your word,

we ask for wisdom and insight that only comes from your spirit.

We pray, Lord, that you allow me to be your empty vessel to communicate your word with effectiveness and truth.

May we each be convicted and encouraged through this preaching of your word,

and we go forth and give you glory.

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

And so as we kind of dive into this passage,

trying to think about the significance of the Ark of the Covenant here,

I think it's appropriate if we start and give a little background so we have the proper context,

especially if you're not familiar with a passage like this.

If we go back to the beginning of Exodus,

we know that the people of Israel have been placed in captivity.

For 400 years, they're slaves in Egypt,

until God raises up a leader for them, Moses,

to deliver them out of Egypt to the promised land that God had promised their forefather, Abraham, long before.

And as they're on this journey to the promised land,

the 40 years that they spend in the wilderness,

we know that God gives them laws for them to follow in how they live and how they ought to worship.

And included in these laws is instructions for the building of a tabernacle,

a place of worship for the Lord.

And so within this tabernacle, we read that they're supposed to make this Ark of the Covenant.

This is what we read in Hebrews just a minute ago.

And this Ark was a wooden box.

It was plated in gold, roughly a meter long,

probably about the same size as this lectern here,

a little bit less than a meter high and a meter wide,

and it was not to be touched by human hands.

It had rings on the side for being carried with poles,

poles that were made of acacia wood covered in gold that were to be carried only by the Levites.

Inside this box was placed the Ten Commandments.

On top was something called the Mercy Seat,

made of gold, these two cherubim with their arms outstretched.

And it was here that God said he would meet with his people.

It was here that God's presence would dwell.

And so this is where the high priest would come once a year,

sprinkling the blood sacrifice on the Ark

to symbolize the wiping away of the sins of the people.

And so while the Ark was meant to be kept here in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle,

the people of Israel were often on the move.

And so oftentimes this Ark would be in the middle of the people

as they moved through the wilderness.

But there was occasion when they were moving into the Promised Land

that the Ark was at the front of this procession.

We may remember that when they finally entered the Promised Land,

when they crossed the Jordan River,

it was the Ark and the priest carrying the Ark that went first.

And as they stepped into the Jordan,

it turned into dry land and they entered the land of Canaan.

Also, it was the Ark that led the people of Israel

around the city walls of Jericho.

And the walls came tumbling down.

Well, as we move forward in the story of the history of Israel,

we know that they settled in the Promised Land,

but the fighting didn't cease.

Oftentimes they were fighting their enemies,

and on one occasion they were fighting,

battling the Philistines, and they were losing.

And so the elders come together and say,

hey, wouldn't it be a good idea if we bring the Ark

from the Holy of Holies and bring it with us in battle

that we can overpower our enemies?

Now, this wasn't anything that God had instructed them to do.

This was of their own ideation.

They think they're treating the Ark more like a good luck charm

than anything else.

And as a result, Israel's defeated.

And the Ark is captured by the Philistines

who take it with them back to their land.

And so we can't go into all these details this morning,

but if we were to continue in 1 Samuel chapter 5,

1 Samuel 5 · chapter mention

we'd see what happened to the Philistines

when they take this Ark to their land.

They experience in the cursing and punishment of God.

The people of the Philistines start growing these tumors,

and they realize God is judging them for having this Ark.

We need to send it back.

And so they put it on this cart carried by these two cows

and point it in the direction of Israel.

And the people of Israel, they reclaim this Ark

just across the border of Israel,

but it's kept on the border of Israel

in this little town basically for storage

for the next 20 years.

And so for the entire reign of King Saul,

it's not used for worship.

It's not kept in the tabernacle.

It remains unmoved and unused

in the periphery of the land of Israel.

And so that brings us to our passage today

when King David wants to go and get this Ark

and bring it to the new capital,

to the city of David, to Jerusalem.

And so what I want us to consider in our passage today

is three things that this passage points out to us,

three Ps that we see in this passage.

First is the passion for the Ark.

Secondly, the problem with the Ark.

And thirdly, the promise of the Ark.

The passion for the Ark, the problem with the Ark,

and the promise of the Ark.

So let's consider first the passion of the Ark.

We see in 2 Samuel 5 that David is made king.

Saul has been killed.

David has already been anointed as the next king,

and he is made king.

And when the Philistines hear about this,

they want to stop this right from the get-go.

They've probably heard of David.

They've battled David before.

They know he's a mighty warrior,

so they want to make sure he's dethroned

so they can continue ruling over Israel.

But we know that God delivers the Philistines

into the hands of Israel,

and the Philistines are defeated.

And after this victory,

the first thing that David wants to do

is to bring this Ark to Jerusalem.

And it's noteworthy to recognize his desire here,

because it very well could have been

David knew he was going to be king for a while.

He recognized that Saul wasn't a good king,

and now he's finally made king.

He has secured his first victory.

He's the one who's the good leader.

He's the one that can protect Israel.

Rather than worrying about the Ark of the Covenant,

he could have been worrying about

having a parade for himself

to return to his own capital.

But instead, we see that he does something

very different here.

Instead, he desires the presence of God.

He assembles 30,000 men

from every corner of the kingdom,

commanders, soldiers, priests, farmers,

to form this procession

to retrieve the Ark of the Covenant

and bring it back to Jerusalem.

Because he recognizes here

that even though he is the king,

the people of Israel need to recognize

he is only an earthly king.

He is not the true king.

It is Israel who needs a true king.

For his kingship to succeed

is wholly dependent

on the presence of the almighty king.

And so this stands in a stark contrast

from King Saul,

who didn't care about the presence of God,

who only worried about his own glory.

But what we see here

is the Ark actually represents

the throne of God.

And for the past 20 years,

it's basically been in storage.

David wants to return this Ark

that it may be the center of worship,

that the people of God may understand

that God desires to dwell among them.

And so we see this actually

in, again, this Old Testament law.

Because in Numbers 2,

God gives instructions

for where this Ark is to be kept.

And even how the people

are to camp around the tabernacle.

The tabernacle was to be set up

in the middle of the nation of Israel

with three tribes on every side.

And in the middle of this tabernacle

was the Holy of Holies.

And in the middle of this Holy of Holies

was the Ark of the Covenant.

It meant to symbolize

the centrality of God

among his people.

This is what David

wanted to return to.

I'm going to ask why.

Why does David have this urge?

Well, this is really a desire

that goes back to the very

beginning of time,

to creation.

See, even at the fall,

when sin entered the world

through Adam and Eve,

we've had this ongoing struggle.

How do we return to the presence

of the Lord?

How do we enter

into right relationship with Him?

How do we live and approach

God and His holiness?

And it's really the whole

Ark of Redemption,

the whole Old Testament story

that unveils the answer

to this question.

It's not about man coming to God.

It's not about how we prove

ourselves to God

that He may be pleased with us.

It's about God coming to us.

It's about God providing

a way of salvation.

So David doesn't view

this Ark of the Covenant

as a good luck charm,

as the people of Israel

had done in the past.

He's not simply getting the Ark

in order to follow

this Old Testament law

as it was supposed to be kept.

He's understanding the blessing

that comes from God

being in His presence.

And so if we turn to

1 Chronicles 13 through 15,

this actually provides

a parallel passage

to what we read here

in 2 Samuel 6.

And it provides a bit more

detail for us.

And in those passages,

it actually tells us

the Psalms that David

and the people sang

when they brought the Ark

to Jerusalem.

And it's actually a combination

of the two Psalms

we sang this morning,

Psalm 96 and Psalm 105,

where we rejoice

at the presence of the Lord.

The presence of the Lord

brings us joy

because we have

a covenant-keeping God.

We have a God

who performs wondrous works,

whose love endures forever.

This is why David

and his people

had this passion

for the presence of God.

And so a question for us,

do we share this passion

for the presence of God?

Do we understand

our need for Him?

And a need not just means

that when we come to church

on a Sunday morning

we want to meet with Him,

not just a need for God

when things are going wrong

in our lives,

when our relationship

with our spouse

is on the rocks,

when we're having trouble

with our children

or having difficulty at work,

a true need

for the centrality

of God in our lives.

Because I think

this is what often happens

even in the lives

of Christians.

We have this desire

to cultivate

this comfortable life

for ourselves.

We want to have a good job.

We want to have

a good relationship

and a good family.

We want good standing

in our society.

We want some level

of comfort and dignity.

And yes, we want God too.

We want a relationship

with God too,

but we view that more

as the cherry on top

of the Sunday

of our lives

rather than allowing

that relationship

with God,

the presence of God

to be central

to our lives.

We have to change

our way of thinking

that we may reorient

our entire lives

around God

and His presence

rather than thinking

that we can just

allow Him

to remain on the periphery,

to engage Him

in the Gospel

when it's convenient,

when it's comfortable.

No, we need God

as a center of our lives

for our very

spiritual survival.

And so that brings us

to our second point,

then the problem

with the ark.

We see David has

this passion

for the presence of God,

but he pursues

this passion

in the wrong way

because we see

in verse 5,

the ark was brought

out of the house

of Abinadab.

It's placed on this cart

in front of this procession

heading to Jerusalem.

And the people are singing

and there's playing

a bag of instruments,

but yet this oxen stumbles,

the ark starts to slip,

and this man named Uzzah

reaches out

to stabilize the ark.

And what happens?

He's immediately struck dead.

Can you imagine

the change in mood

of 30,000 people

when this happens?

People singing

and dancing

and rejoicing

with instrument

and voice

to see instantly

someone drop dead.

what were they left

to think?

Why in the world

would something

like this happen?

And this is the part

of the story

where a lot of people

get annoyed

because we think,

what in the world

happened here?

What a nasty,

grumpy,

vindictive God

is this?

Why in the world

would he allow

this to happen?

Because we look at Uzzah

and we think he's just

trying to protect the ark.

He has the best

of intentions.

He has a good heart.

He was sincere

in his concern.

Yet God struck him dead.

Why in the world

would I want to worship

a God like this?

See, the problem

with his viewpoint

is the same problem

that Uzzah had

and the people

of Israel had.

It's that they assumed

their own innocence.

If we go back

to the book of Exodus

again,

when God gave

the law to Moses,

he gave very

specific instructions

for how to build

the ark,

for how to carry

the ark,

for how to store

the ark.

The ark had

these gold rings,

like I said,

with these poles

that were to be kept

in the ark

at all time

for carrying.

It was only

to be carried

by Levites.

It was never

to be touched

by any other human.

And we read

laws like this,

many, many,

many more laws

that we see

in the Old Testament,

Exodus,

Leviticus,

Numbers,

more so than just

regarding the ark.

And we think,

why in the world

did God give

all these laws

to the people of Israel?

They seem so tedious

and so burdensome.

If you were with us

a few months ago,

we actually walked

through very quickly

the Ten Commandments

in Exodus 20.

And in those few sermons,

we looked at the uses

of the law.

Why did God give us

the law?

Well, one of those uses

that we looked at

is the law serves

first and foremost

as a mirror for us.

Because when God

looks at the law,

he sees his perfection.

When we look at the law,

we see the depth

of our sin.

It shows us how far

we have fallen

from God's standard.

And so while other religions

say, follow the law

and you can be saved,

the God of the Bible

says you cannot

follow the law

and you cannot

save yourself.

And so this is the problem

that Uzzah had.

It was this lack

of humility

that was likely based

on this familiarity

that he had

with the ark.

It said that this ark

had been stored

for 20 years

on his family's property.

He likely would have

seen it often.

And so maybe he thought

that he had some sort

of special standing,

that he was good enough

to be around the ark,

that while the enemies

of God face the wrath

of God,

his nearness gave him

some sort of special privilege.

And I wonder,

is that not how we often

view our own relationship

with God?

God,

we come to church

on Sundays,

we have some level

of familiarity

with the Bible

and with singing psalms

and prayers

and we think

somehow that earns us

some sort of credit

to God.

But yet so often

our heart is cold

and we're totally

disengaged

with the gospel.

If you think around

the city around us,

oftentimes that also

comes with a sense

of satisfaction,

self,

while we're willing

to judge others.

If you think about

the fringe going on

right now,

the tens of thousands

of people who are

in this city right now,

we walk around

and we see these signs,

some that are inappropriate,

I don't even want

to look at the sign

much less actually

go to the show.

And it's easy for us

to look at these people

and say,

yes,

God is going to judge

these people.

Well,

I think that we're secure

in this little Christian bubble

relying on our own morality.

C.S. Lewis in his book

Mere Christianity,

he states that man's

greatest vice,

the utmost evil of man

is our pride.

He calls this the complete

anti-God state of mind

and from pride

pours forth every other sin,

he says.

And he talks about

in this book

how pride distorts

our relationship,

our relationship with man,

but also our relationship

with God.

And he writes this,

in God,

you come up against

something in which

in every respect

is immeasurably

superior to yourself.

Unless you know

God as that

and therefore

know yourself

as nothing

by comparison,

you do not know

God at all.

See,

the reason that we

get so offended

by a passage like this

and how God

takes action

and judges

a man like Uzzah

is because we fail

to see the message

that God is communicating,

that our sin

is serious.

See,

Uzzah's problem

was that although

he recognized

that the ground

might defile the ark,

he thought that

his hand would not.

When in actuality,

the filth of his sins

was far worse

than the dust

of the earth.

He had no concept

for the seriousness

of his own sin.

He didn't understand

that our sin

and God's holiness

cannot coexist

peacefully.

And so we see

the effects

of this attitude,

the effects

of this way

of thinking.

And so I think

it's worth actually

pointing out

some of the language

that's used

in this passage.

If we look again

in verse 8,

this is how it reads

in the NIV.

Then David was angry

because the Lord's wrath

had broken out

against Uzzah

and to this day

the place is called

Perez Uzzah.

Now in this one verse

there's a Hebrew word

that's used three times,

perats.

And it means

to break out

or to break through.

And so listen

to this verse

if it's read

literally here.

Then David

became angry

because Yahweh

had broken out

with an outbreak

against Uzzah.

And so the place

is called

Outbreak of Uzzah

to this day.

And it's interesting

because this is

the same word

that's used

to describe

how God defeated

the Philistines

in the prior chapter.

Listen to this.

2 Samuel 5,

2 Samuel 5:20

verse 20

literally reads this.

And David came

to the Lord

of Outbreaking

and David

struck them down there

and he said,

Yahweh has broken out

against my enemies

like an outbreaking

of water.

Therefore he called

the name of the place

Lord of Outbreaking.

And so notice

the way that God

breaks out

against David's enemies

in chapter 6

is the same way

he breaks out

against Uzzah.

Or chapter 5

is the same way

he breaks out

against Uzzah

in chapter 6.

You see,

God's lethal

holiness

and justice

is the same

for the pagan

as it is

for the churchgoer.

And this is hard

for us to understand

sometimes.

But God is not

impressed

with our church

attendance record.

He's not impressed

or pleased

with our casual worship.

He's not,

he does not want

to accept

our own spiritual standards

that when we fool

ourselves into thinking

that we are good enough

or that our sin

isn't that bad

or that God

owes us something.

God desires

for us to see

the seriousness

of our sin

in light

of his holiness.

And that ultimately

leads us

to our final point.

Because while this passage

exposes the problem

that Israel had

with the ark,

the story doesn't end here.

The people of Israel

aren't just left

in this hopeless reality

of their sin

because what we see here

is the promise

of the ark.

In verse 9

it says that

David was afraid

of the Lord

and instead of

continuing on this journey,

instead of bringing

the ark all the way

to Jerusalem,

he basically abandons

his plans

and he leaves

the ark

in the house

of Obed-Eden.

He didn't really,

he didn't say

that he asked for mission,

he just said he left it there.

Can you imagine

Obed-Eden

when he receives

this rather

unwanted gift?

Think about this,

he probably would have heard

that this caused plagues

to the Philistines,

this ark

and now it's brought

to Israel

and Uzzah's just died

because he touched the ark

and David wants

to leave the ark

with him.

It's like someone

handing like a hand grenade

without a pin.

Of course he doesn't

want this gift.

But yet in this game

of hot potato,

you take it,

I don't want it,

David wins

because he's king

and what we see here

is this illustration

of what happens

when we do recognize

our own sinfulness

in light of God's holiness.

We often want to run

and we want to hide.

This is what Adam and Eve

did in the garden,

did they not

when sin entered the world?

We sense this crushing weight

of guilt

and helplessness

because we don't possess

the righteousness

that's needed

to meet God's standards.

But that's not the response

that God wants from us.

He doesn't want sin

to drive us away from him,

he wants us to recognize

our sin

and run to him.

Recognize your sin,

I am the only one

who can save you.

And we see

this is the message

of this passage.

Obed-Eden isn't destroyed,

it's just the opposite.

With the ark

in his presence,

his family

experiences blessing.

David is told of this

and he returns again

with this renewed joy

to bring the ark

back to Jerusalem.

And so when he does

it this time,

it's very different

than how David

approaches the first time.

He doesn't just come

with enthusiasm

and passion,

he comes with

a proper understanding

of forgiveness.

He comes with

a recognition

of his own sinfulness

in light of God's holiness.

And so rather than

bring the ark

on a cart,

it's carried

as it should have been

by these poles,

by the Levites.

And before they even

begin their journey,

before they even

take that seventh step,

David offered sacrifice.

When they arrive

in Jerusalem,

more sacrifice.

And so again,

it shows us

that David is in keeping

with the law

of the Lord here.

When we think about

the tabernacle again

as was described

in Hebrews,

before the high priest

could enter in the

Holy of Holies

where the ark was kept,

a sacrifice was to be made

at the altar of burnt offering

at the entrance

to the tabernacle.

And so this symbolizes

the payment of blood

that must be made

in order for us

to enter into

the presence of God.

And so this is

what causes David

to dance and to leap

and to sing

with all his might

because he recognizes

and understands

that fellowship

with God is possible.

What had been promised

to Moses

when this law was given

holds true.

I will meet you

at the mercy seat.

And if this is true

for David,

then it's all the more

true for you and me

because what David

could only see dimly,

we now see clearly.

To see the value

of this ark

is to see the foreshadowing

that it provides us,

pointing us forward

to the future reality

that we will no longer

depend on the blood

of animals

for the forgiveness

of sin.

It points us forward

to our perfect sacrifice,

the Son of God,

Jesus,

who came to earth,

who lived a perfect life,

perfectly fulfilling the law,

dying the death

we deserve,

rising in victory

over the grave.

And so it brings us back

to what we read

in Hebrews chapter 9.

Hebrews 9 · chapter mention

Jesus did not enter

the tabernacle

by means of blood

of goats and calves,

but he entered

the most holy place

once and for all

by his own blood,

thus obtaining

eternal redemption.

See, the presence of God

does not reside

on that mercy seat

of the ark any longer.

Behind that veil,

that curtain

that separated

the holy of holies.

See, that veil

has been torn

and we no longer

need the ark

to experience

the presence of the Lord.

In fact,

this is what was prophesied

by Jeremiah.

In Jeremiah 3.16,

he says,

the ark of the covenant

of the Lord

will not come to mind

or be remembered

or be missed.

It shall not be made again.

At that time,

Jerusalem shall be called

the throne of the Lord.

What is he talking about?

He's prophesying

where we live now.

We recognize

that we don't need the ark.

Those who have received

God's grace

through faith in Christ,

we no longer need an ark

because we are the ark.

God,

we are the temple of God.

It is God

who dwells in us.

And so in the same way

that David could rejoice

and celebrate as he did,

we can as well.

We see at the end

of this passage,

we can't spend

too much time here,

but we see that David

is chastised by Michael

for his exuberance.

And how does he respond?

He responds by saying,

I will rejoice

because the Lord

has chosen me.

Can we respond

in the same way

by saying,

the Lord has chosen me?

If so,

we rejoice

in the presence

of the Lord.

If this is not you,

recognize that Christ's blood

has been shed for you.

His grace

is available to you.

He longs to be

in your presence.

And so may it be

our desire

to live

in the presence

of the Lord

that he may be

central to our life,

that our sins

have been forgiven

and we rejoice

in perfect relationship

with him.

Let's pray together.

Lord, we thank you

for the symbolism

we see in the Ark

of the Covenant.

Let's pray together.