Bring Up the Ark of God

Welcome to the Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast. The communion meditation today is based on a passage of Scripture from the Old Testament, 2 Samuel 6: 9-15. All Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation (NLT) and are used with permission.

As you listen to the episode today, my hope is that you will be encouraged from the time spent meditating on what Jesus has done for you. You are a special person; the one Jesus died to save!

Transcript

Welcome to Eat This Bread Drink This Cup. The title of my communion meditation today is "Bring Up the Ark of God." I read from 2 Samuel 6: 9-15. All quotations are from the New Living Translation and are used with permission.

9 David was now afraid of the LORD, and he asked, “How can I ever bring the Ark of the LORD back into my care?” 10 So David decided not to move the Ark of the LORD into the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-edom of Gath. 11 The Ark of the LORD remained there in Obed-edom’s house for three months, and the LORD blessed Obed-edom and his entire household.

12 Then King David was told, “The LORD has blessed Obed-edom’s household and everything he has because of the Ark of God.” So David went there and brought the Ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the City of David with a great celebration. 13 After the men who were carrying the Ark of the LORD had gone six steps, David sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 And David danced before the LORD with all his might, wearing a priestly garment. 15 So David and all the people of Israel brought up the Ark of the LORD with shouts of joy and the blowing of rams’ horns.

I was shocked as I began to research the backstory to this event. When I think about the Tabernacle, I am immediately drawn to the Altar, where sacrifices were offered, and the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the Law inscribed by the finger of God on tablets of stone, and where God was present above the mercy seat between the wings of the cherubim. These seem like incredibly important centers of ritual, worship, and power to me. How could the people of God tolerate a separation of these centers? Yet, that is what happened. As a matter of fact, when King David went to Kiriath-jearim to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, it had been there for about 60-70 years. Surprisingly, the Ark of the Covenant never returned to the Tabernacle during Saul's forty-year reign. King David's first attempt to relocate the Ark ended in failure: Uzzah died, and David was now afraid of the Lord. Only after he learned that Obed-Edom and his household were blessed by God did he attempt to move it a second time. He was willing to risk it given the extraordinary benefit of being in fellowship with God. When Paul writes to the Christians in Corinth about observing the Lord's Supper, he says (1 Corinthians 10: 16), "When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ?" In this verse, the KJV translators used the word "communion" to describe the experience we should have as we share together, and that description has survived in the church to this day. This experience of communion is with Jesus and with each other. Both King David and the church wanted and needed this fellowship with God. Sadly, like King Saul, many Christians choose to opt out of observing the Lord's Supper and miss out on the blessing that comes from communing with God and each other. Today, as we partake of the bread and drink from the cup, we remember Jesus and His suffering and death for us. We commune with Jesus and our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Let us pray. 

Abba, Father. Today we bless and set aside this bread and the fruit of the vine in this cup to remember Your Son, Jesus. We know that the bread represents His body that was nailed to the cross, and the fruit of the vine represents His blood that He shed for us. As we pour out the wine from the cup, we are reminded of how Jesus poured out His own blood that our sins might be forgiven. Abba, Father, we want so desperately to be in fellowship with You, and we know this is possible through Jesus. As we partake of the bread and drink from the cup today, we feel this fellowship with You and each other. Thank-you, Abba, Father, for the blessing we receive today. We can certainly understand why the Israelites erupted in shouts of joy and the blowing of ram's horns! In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Today, Jesus invites you to partake of His supper. I read from Matthew 26: 26-28 (NLT).

26 As they were eating, Jesus took some bread and blessed it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take this and eat it, for this is my body.” Let us partake of the bread.

27 And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, “Each of you drink from it, 28 for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many." Let us partake of the cup.

And the assembly of believers said, "Amen!"

Until next time, from Numbers 6: 24-26, "May the LORD bless you and protect you. May the LORD smile on you and be gracious to you. May the LORD show you his favor and give you his peace."

Artist's Note: If you have questions about the Lord's Supper, I invite you to visit my website, https://eatthisbreaddrinkthiscup.com, for a brief overview. The Eat This Bread Drink This Cup podcast is listed in most podcast directories, and I invite you to add my podcast to your favorites and be notified of new posts. There is a written transcript that accompanies each podcast, and you are free to use the transcript in accordance with US copyright law. My prayer is that you will benefit personally from this time with Jesus and encourage others to observe the Lord's Supper. In these trying times, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus!