The Crown – Season 2 – Episode 2 – The City of David
The Crown Season 2 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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The Old Testament is full of so many wonderful stories and the Jewish people loved to tell these stories to their children. I suppose that one of the stories that David’s parents, Jesse and Mrs. Jesse, told little David was the story of the Ark of the Covenant. This was a prized possession of the Jewish people. It was a rectangular box overlaid with gold with the wings of angels spread over the top.
Its origin goes back to the time of the Exodus and the wilderness wandering when God instructed Moses to build a portable worship center called the Tabernacle. The tabernacle was situated in the center of the Israelite camp reminding people that God was at the center of their lives. This tent was composed of three sections – an outer court, and two inner courts. The first inner court was called the holy place and the innermost court was called the most Holy Place, or the Holy of Holies and that was where God was. And in this most holy of places was the Ark of the Covenant. It was iconic. In time some very important articles were placed in this box – the Ten Commandments which guided the people spiritually; a jar of manna which provided for the physically; and Aaron’s Rod that represented the priestly role of Aaron and his descendants.
When the people moved, the Ark would lead the way. When they crossed the Jordan River into the promised land, they were lead by the Ark – carried by the priests in a precise way. They would carry it with poles that went through loops in the Ark.
As they possessed the land the Ark ended up in a city called Shiloh. But then something tragic happened. It was when David was just about 10 years old and the nation was being ruled by Saul. The Philistines captured the Ark. This was absolutely devastating. The Philistines were delighted thinking that this proved their superiority over the Jews and even more importantly proved that their god Dagon was superior to the Hebrew’s Yahweh.
So the Philistines brought the Ark to the temple of Dagon in one of their prominent cities, Ashdod. The next morning they came in and saw that Dagon had fallen on his face before the Ark. That was strange but they thought nothing of it and propped Dagon back up. The next morning the same thing but even worse. Dagon’s head and hands were broken off. Meanwhile everyone in Ashdod is coming down with these strange tumors all over their bodies. They are through with the Ark and ship it off to another Philistine city, Gath. Same thing happens there. The people of Gath start breaking out in tumors. Something is not right.
The Philistines call a meeting of all their smart religious people and decide it’s time to give the Ark back to the Israelites and to make things right they send a sacrifice along with it. They put it on a cart, that’s how they moved things, and sent it to a city called Beth-Shemesh. The people there are out working and see it coming and burst out in celebration. They receive the Ark and make their own sacrifices but soon tragedy strikes again. Some people, there are always people like this, want to take a look inside and 70 people die. The people of Beth-Shemesh have the same reaction as the Philistines and want to ship it off. So they do, and the Ark lands in Kiriath Jearim in the house of Abinadab. He puts his son Eleazar in charge of keeping watch over it. And it just sits there. For 20 years the Ark of the Covenant, which was meant to be center of Israelite worship, has been sitting on someone’s garage collecting dust.
That all happened in the days of Saul but now Saul is dead and David is king but only over the southern tribe of Judah. Ish-Bosheth, Saul’s son is ruling the northern part of the kingdom but finally after 7 ½ years the northern tribes get on board and come to Hebron and recognize David as king. They figure he’s a good Jew, he has shown his leadership in leading the armies of Saul, and – one more important thing – the Lord has called David. So they anoint David and ask him to shepherd the nation.
So, the nation is united under one king but they are not really united. David has his hands full bringing everyone together and that seems to be his first order of business. It’s been a long time since they felt like one nation and Saul may have brought a degree of unity to the nation but something was missing! Politically they were under one king but spiritually unity is lacking and David knows that the nation will not prosper until God is back at the center. This may be David’s greatest legacy – bringing God back to the center of the nation where he was always meant to be. The nation was not united spiritually. And that seems to be David’s first order of business.
2 Samuel 5-6
First on the agenda was to find a capital city – a place that could be the spiritual hub of the nation.
First on the agenda was to find a capital city – a place that could be the spiritual hub of the nation.
He needed it to be a strategic choice. Hebron wouldn’t work because it was too far south. He wanted a city that would be centrally located – not too far north and not too far south. It would be great if this city was defensible, maybe built on a hill. That always was an advantage when a city was attacked. It would also be beneficial if there was a water supply – some springs. Water was critical and water close by was especially critical if an enemy tried to attack. It would also be wise if this city had no allegiance to the north or to the south. Maybe a city that wasn’t occupied by either side.
There was a city that met all these criteria – Jerusalem or as it was called in the old days Jebus. It was centrally located, built on a defensible hill, had a good water supply, and had never been occupied by the Israelites so it had no connection to either the north or the south. At the time of David’s ascent to the throne it was occupied by a mysterious group called the Jebusites. For some reason when Joshua conquered the land they never took Jerusalem. And ever since everyone seemed to leave them alone. But David does what no one else was able to do or was courageous enough to do – he conquers the city. He takes up his residence there and it becomes known as The City of David.
Check off finding a capital city.
Next order of business is to do something with those pesky Philistines.
Next order of business is to do something with those pesky Philistines.
Since David has been anointed king they sense a threat and make a move to attack David. David twice inquires of the Lord and God tells him to go on the offensive and after a couple of battles he drives the Philistines back to their coastal land by the Mediterranean Sea.
Check off dealing with the Philistines.
Next order of business, get the Ark of the Covenant.
Next order of business, get the Ark of the Covenant.
So, David sends some men down to Abinadab’s storage facility and makes arrangements for the Ark to brought to the new capital. He has it loaded on a cart – the way the Philistines carry things but not the way God had instructed the Ark to be carried. It was supposed to be carried on those poles by the Levites. And can tell something bad is about to happen, can’t you?
Two sons of Abinadad, Ahio and Uzzah (where Eleazar is, no one knows), are leading the procession and there’s a great celebration until they hit a bump in the road. The oxen stumble. The Ark starts to slip off the cart and Uzzah reaches out to stabilize it and he is struck dead. The celebration turns to disaster.
There’s a lot to digest in this story but however you feel about it you certainly must admit that God is serious and if we are going to make him the center of our lives it has to be on his terms. You must acknowledge the holiness of God. You must have the utmost respect for Him. But this is a hard lesson to swallow and David is furious. So he abandons the project and the Ark is left behind at the house of Obed-Edom and it stays there for 3 months. During those 3 months everything goes right for Obed-Edom and his family. The Ark brings blessings to his household. God gets angry but he still is a blessing God. His anger does not last forever.
David hears of Obed-Edom’s good fortunes and decides to give it another go but this time he is going to do it as the Law prescribed. He goes back to the manual. It’s always good to go back to the manual; always good to go back to the Bible. David has a tent ready for the Ark and as it makes its way to Jerusalem there is music and sacrifices and celebrations and David is leading the way. David is dancing before the Lord. He is pumped. This is an enormous celebration. You know what, it’s okay to get excited when we worship the Lord.
David gets back home and his wife Michal is waiting for him and she has that look on her face. “What were you thinking? Don’t you know that you are the king? Kings don’t go dancing through the street like that. What are people going to think?”
What’s up with her? She’s had a hard life. She is the daughter of Saul and maybe she has some of that same resentment that her dad had towards David.
David’s response is classic. “I had to celebrate and what I did wasn't for you or anyone else. It was for the Lord and I’m going to keep on celebrating before him.”
Check off bring the Ark of the Covenant back to a place of prominence
Well, David has done it. He has his city. He’s put the Philistines in their place. And the Ark of the Covenant is back at the center of Jewish life. David propels the people to new heights as they unite around their God who has called them to be His chosen people.
Well, David has done it. He has his city. He’s put the Philistines in their place. And the Ark of the Covenant is back at the center of Jewish life. David propels the people to new heights as they unite around their God who has called them to be His chosen people.
In years to come Jews will come to Jerusalem to celebrate the national feasts that remind them of who they are and what God has done for them. To remind him that he always needs to be at the center of their lives. And on those trips to Jerusalem they had a playlist of Psalms they would sing as they made their way up to the City of David. And one of those Psalms, written by David himself, is Psalm 122:
Psalm 122:1–9 (NIV) — 1 I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” 2 Our feet are standing in your gates, Jerusalem. 3 Jerusalem is built like a city that is closely compacted together. 4That is where the tribes go up— the tribes of the Lord— to praise the name of the Lord according to the statute given to Israel. 5 There stand the thrones for judgment, the thrones of the house of David. 6Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “May those who love you be secure. 7 May there be peace within your walls and security within your citadels.” 8For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, “Peace be within you.” 9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your prosperity.
Prosperity. That’s what David wants for the people. David has shown us the way.
We prosper as a people of God when we seek unity
We prosper as a people of God when we seek unity
– unity based on the Lordship of God. Jesus prayer for his disciples to have unity. Paul urges us to keep the unity of the Spirit.
We prosper when we maintain proper respect for God.
We prosper when we maintain proper respect for God.
When we recognize his holiness and always remember that when we come to him it has to be on his terms.
And we prosper when our hearts overflow with worship celebrating his goodness reminding ourselves that He is the reason for our existence.
And we prosper when our hearts overflow with worship celebrating his goodness reminding ourselves that He is the reason for our existence.
We owe everything to Him!
May God prosper us. May God protect us. May God surround us with his presence.
