1 Chronicles 15:1

¹ After David had constructed buildings for himself in the City of David, he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it.

The Ark of the Covenant was the very centerpiece of earthly worship of the Lord.  It contained the most important message that man had ever received from God up to this point in history…the 10 Commandments.  And the importance of the ark was not lost on David.  It had spent 3 months in the home of Obed-edom for safe keeping, but David knew its rightful home was at the center of Jewish worship and life in Jerusalem.  Notice, that the ark of God was not intended to be brought to Jerusalem with ill-conceived haste, or with a careless, indifferent attitude, but rather, with careful preparation.  David “prepared a place for” it, in a tent, in the style that Moses was commanded in the wilderness.  He also planned a great celebration to receive the ark into Jerusalem.  He appointed a full band with trumpets, harps, cymbals and psalms.  In addition, he appointed approved Levites to carry the ark, and he held feasts.  David took great care and preparation to worship God in a way that was pleasing to Him and showed his humble and exuberant attitude of worship.  But there is something else of great importance to consider; David also prepared buildings for himself and his family near the ark.  It was David’s intent that his family be cared for and live near enough to the ark that they would always be reminded of God’s presence, favor and love for Israel.  Near enough so that they would always have a ready reminder and an established place to worship the Lord.  There can be no doubt that David took proper worship of the Lord very seriously.  He “prepared”.  Not only a place of worship, but an attitude of worship.  Today, dear Christian, we do not have to visit the ark of God to experience the very real presence of the Lord, we do not have to position ourselves within close proximity to a building to be near to God.  As God’s people, we are now living temples of God!  The Law is now written on our hearts, not on stone, the Spirit of God now dwells in all who are in Christ, not in an earthly building.  Therefore, wherever we are, God is there among us.  However, that brings us to a very sobering question; how do we preparing these temples for worship?  First, worship begins in the home.  A home that is in ununified, unpeaceful, discontent, in dysfunction and disconnected from each other is not a home that is prepared for worship.  A home that is preparing for worship is a home that is filled with love, encouragement, joy, peace, gratitude, prayer, kindness, grace and compassion.  Unity is a very important part of true worship.  If you have ever been at odds with your spouse or the brethren, you know that your ability to worship suffers greatly.  Being disconnected from God’s people makes us disconnected with God.  And the correlation is obvious, how can we worship God when we are angry, bitter or harsh with another in whom the Lord is dwelling?  Next, worship continues wherever we go.  Isn’t it true that we often view Sunday mornings as the pinnacle of weekly worship, and yet, many of you, perhaps, do not even prepare well for that time of worship!  Rushing around, showing up late or just in the nick of time, not even considering corporate worship until the moment is upon you.  If this is true, then I wonder how seriously we take the other 166 hours of the week if we cannot even be bothered to prepare for the two hours we spend together!?  Preparing for worship is not an event, because true worship is not an event, it is a lifestyle.  Beloved of Christ, living lives with the idea of keeping our hearts tender towards the Lord and ready for worship will cost us much.  David’s preparation cost him immensely.  He built buildings, spent lavishly on feasts, bands, parades and attendants for all of Israel.  It will cost us much too; our pride and selfishness.  How can we prepare our homes for worship then?  Husbands, love, cherish, encourage and uplift your wives with your words; this is true worship of God.  Wives, honor, respect and submit to your husband in reverence; this is true worship of God.  Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right; this is true worship of God.  Brethren, love, forgive, defer to and encourage each other; this is true worship of God.  God honoring worship is not a moment, it is a lifestyle of surrender and sacrifice to the leading of the Spirit of God within us.  “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

Yours in Christ,

Pastor John