1 Chronicles 15--The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

1 Chronicles 15
English Standard Version

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem
15 David built houses for himself in the city of David. And he prepared a place for the ark of God and pitched a tent for it. 2 Then David said that no one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, for the LORD had chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister to him forever. 3 And David assembled all Israel at Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the LORD to its place, which he had prepared for it. 4 And David gathered together the sons of Aaron and the Levites: 5 of the sons of Kohath, Uriel the chief, with 120 of his brothers; 6 of the sons of Merari, Asaiah the chief, with 220 of his brothers; 7 of the sons of Gershom, Joel the chief, with 130 of his brothers; 8 of the sons of Elizaphan, Shemaiah the chief, with 200 of his brothers; 9 of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief, with 80 of his brothers; 10 of the sons of Uzziel, Amminadab the chief, with 112 of his brothers. 11 Then David summoned the priests Zadok and Abiathar, and the Levites Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel, and Amminadab, 12 and said to them, “You are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites. Consecrate yourselves, you and your brothers, so that you may bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place that I have prepared for it. 13 Because you did not carry it the first time, the LORD our God broke out against us, because we did not seek him according to the rule.” 14 So the priests and the Levites consecrated themselves to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel. 15 And the Levites carried the ark of God on their shoulders with the poles, as Moses had commanded according to the word of the LORD.

16 David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. 17 So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; 18 and with them their brothers of the second order, Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel. 19 The singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound bronze cymbals; 20 Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to Alamoth; 21 but Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres according to the Sheminith. 22 Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, should direct the music, for he understood it. 23 Berechiah and Elkanah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. 24 Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, should blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were to be gatekeepers for the ark.

25 So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-edom with rejoicing. 26 And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. 27 David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the music of the singers. And David wore a linen ephod. 28 So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres.

29 And as the ark of the covenant of the LORD came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David dancing and celebrating, and she despised him in her heart.

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David accumulated much wealth for himself (not a good sign, but we'll see that he's going to donate his wealth to the building of the Temple).  Even though he was not allowed to build the Temple, he still wanted to make a place in Jerusalem for the Ark of the Covenant.  Having studied the Law more closely than the last time he tried to have the Ark moved, he gave the command that only the Levites were to carry the Ark, and they were to carry it on their shoulders using poles overlayed with gold through the gold rings on the Ark, as prescribed in the Law.

David gathered all the Levites together and told them the plan, but he also laid the blame squarely on their shoulders for what happened the first time because it was their responsibility to know the Law, teach the Law, and obey the Law, especially concerning the holy and devoted things for the Tabernacle (like the Ark of the Covenant).  Note that only the Ark was brought to Jerusalem, but the rest of the Tabernacle remained in Gibeon.  David also gave job assignments to many of the other Levites--some as singers, some as musicians, and some as doorkeepers (security).

David led the parade wearing a linen ephod that probably looked much like the robe worn by the High Priest (though I don't think it was David's intent to assume the role of High Priest here).  The linen would be white and clean and visible to all (his royal robes would probably be darker in color like the blue, purple and scarlet robes that the priests normally wore).  So, David stood out in the crowd.  He danced before the LORD.  However, we are told that Michal, the daughter of King Saul and wife of King David despised David when she saw how he worshiped the LORD without restraint in a way that she thought was "beneath him" and "undignified" for a king like David.  It shows us where her heart was--she was more concerned about image and perception than worshiping the LORD.  Why was she at home and not out as part of the parade?  My guess is that she really despised the LORD more than she despised David--maybe she's mad at the LORD for taking the kingdom away from her father and letting her father die.  Who knows, but the LORD is pleased with David's worship and sacrifices this time around, and His wrath does not break out against those who are transporting the Ark, as they are carrying it in the prescribed manner this time.