So much of the music of our faith comes from King David. I think
primarily of the Psalms, which were written as worship songs, prayers, even sometimes
including instructions for the musicians. We have David to thank for many of
the Psalms.
David was a fascinating man. I imagine that the people around him, men
and women alike, were captivated by him. Some may have mightily resented him,
such as King Saul, but they probably found him irresistible, in spite of
themselves.
According to the scriptures, David was a warrior with a sensitive soul. The
story of Goliath tells us that, even as a child, he would stand up to any
enemy, no matter the size. So great was his confidence in his God – and in
himself as God’s instrument. But he also enjoyed dancing and singing and playing
the lyre.
He used his musical gifts diplomatically. When he was young, King Saul
employed David in his court. But he seemed conflicted in his feelings about
David being in his court. Perhaps he found David threatening – he certainly had
reason to find David threatening. But David knew his music would soothe Saul’s
troubled spirit, so he played for him. And it almost always did soothe him.
Music can have such a powerful affect on our bodies, our minds, our spirits.
Most of what we know of David is from the books of Samuel and Kings, and
these stories portray David in all his humanity. We see his extraordinary gifts
along with his deep flaws; everything about David, it seems, was king-sized.
His ambitions were enormous.
Becoming king over Israel was the achievement of one great ambition, but
it was not the end of David’s ambition. He wanted more – so much more. He
wanted his kingdom to grow, and so he needed a well-placed fortress of a
capital city. Jerusalem was perfect. High on a hill with terrific views all around,
it would be hard to sneak up on this city. As Frederick Buechner says, a blind
man and a cripple could hold it against the US Marines. No one could capture
this city, the Jebusites said. But David did. He took possession and he renamed
it The City of David. In the city of David, Israel would grow powerful.
But David was not only ambitious, he was also wise, and he knew it would
take more than geography and his personal charisma to accomplish what he
wanted. It would take the help of God. He needed to know that God was with him;
the people of Israel needed to know that God was with them. and so as soon as
he had the city secured, he went after the ark of the covenant.
The ark was a wooden box as old as Moses. Literally. When Moses led
Israel out of the bondage of Egypt, they set up camp in the wilderness. They
built a tent of worship that was the center of their life for those forty
years. The tent was a holy place, and in the center of the tent was the holy of
holies: the inner sanctuary.
And in the sanctuary sat this wooden box, the ark, overlaid with gold. On
top of the ark there were two cherubim, facing each other with their wings
outstretched toward each other – they protected the ark and its contents. The
box had rings on each corner and through the rings would fit long poles – this
way the ark could be carried from place to place without human hands touching
it. Inside the box, the Lord tells Moses, you shall put the covenant that I
will give you.
The covenant is, of course, God’s promises to Israel; the covenant is
the foundation of the relationship between Israel and the Lord. It is
everything God will do and be for
them and everything God expects from
them. It is said that the box held the stone tablets that Moses brought down
from the mountaintop, with the Ten Commandments engraved on them. It is also
said that the ark may have contained some worship implements, but no one really
knows what was in the ark. We don’t know what was in it, but we do know how
important it was. In Exodus, the Lord says to Moses, build this according to my
instructions – and there I shall meet you.
By the time David conquered the city of Jerusalem, the ark had fallen on
hard times. It was captured by the Philistines at one point, according to
Samuel, but it seemed to be bad luck for them and they returned it to Israel,
along with apology gifts. Once back in Israel’s possession, it sat in storage
for 20 years. But David felt the ark should be in Jerusalem, so that Israel
would know that God was with them.
So David put together a crew of men who would go out to retrieve the ark
and carry it to its new home – Jerusalem, the City of David. They knew the
rules for transporting it. They took the long poles and inserted them in the
rings, then four men lifted the poles over their shoulders. They took the ark
and placed it on a cart pulled by oxen, and they began the long journey back to
Jerusalem.
But something happened. One of the oxen stumbled. Uzzah, who was driving
the oxen, reached out a hand to steady the ark, only meaning to protect it from
harm. But Uzzah had done what was prohibited – he touched the ark – and he was
struck dead on the spot.
Not surprisingly, this struck a chord of alarm in David. So, he changed
his plans. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be too close to the ark. Thus, the ark
of the covenant was taken to the house of some guy named Obed-edom. I can’t
tell you much about Obed-edom except that he fared well – no lives were lost
while the ark was in his house.
David must have had the nagging feeling that this reflected poorly on
him, though, to be afraid of the ark, so within a few months they went out and
retrieved it, once again with the plan of bringing it to Jerusalem.
This time they took even more care than the first time. And when they
came into the city of Jerusalem, there was great rejoicing. There was shouting
and cheering and the sound of trumpets. David kicked up his legs and danced
before the Lord with all his might, the scriptures say. And he sang this song:
O give thanks to
the Lord, call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing
to him, sing praises to him, tell of all his wonderful works. Glory in his
holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. Seek
the Lord and his strength, seek his presence continually. Remember
the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered, O
offspring of his servant Israel, children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
David was a great man. But in his best moments, he merely pointed the
people toward their even greater God. And David, perhaps, did it best of all
because he did it with song, one of the sweetest of God’s gifts to the world.
So much of the music of our lives comes to us from David. Songs of
praise and thanksgiving, but also songs of lament and even anger. There is no
human feeling that cannot be expressed in song. And, somehow, after we sing
about it, we feel better.
All thanks and praise be to God, the giver of song.
