Our Privilege of The Presence of God

2 Samuel 6
David now being king in the City of David, wanted to bring the ark of God to the city, so that the ark of God would remain there. In the process of bringing the ark, Uzzah touched the ark and died on the spot. David was initially angry at what had happened, but soon he was afraid of how such a powerful and holy God could be brought (so tp speak) and kept in the City of David. Hence David asked people to keep the Ark of God in the house of Obed Edom. As the ark of God was kept in Obed Edom's house, their house was blessed and his entire household. David now felt ok about taking the Ark of God into the City of David, and so he did, with great fanfare, joy, dancing and singing...to the point that his wife Michal saw him and despised him for disgracing himself like this before the servant girls and "21 David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor."

Lessons I learnt

1. How can one stand in the Presence of such a Holy God?-Our God is a very Holy God and He had commanded in Exodus 30:29"You shall sanctify (separate) them, that they may be most holy; whoever and whatever touches them must be holy (set apart to God). " Not, just any body could go and say "Hi" to God in those times, there was no one automatically pure to go into God's presence...they had to and had to be prepared in an elaborate manner to be able to enter God's Presence, probably with days and days of preparation, that too only the chosen high priest from the tribe could enter..not everyone. This gives me all the more reason to honour and appreciate the importance and impact of my Lord Jesus' sacrifice on the cross."15For we do not have a High Priest Who is unable to understand and sympathize and have a shared feeling with our weaknesses and infirmities and liability to the assaults of temptation, but One Who has been tempted in every respect as we are, yet without sinning.
   16Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it]."Hebrews 4:15-17 . Thats what Jesus our High Priest had opened up for us. David himself, was afraid to take the ark of God into the city of David..but its not so for us. What a privilege we have in Jesus our Lord!!!
2. Where the Presence of the Lord is, there is blessing-2 Samuel 6:11 "And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household." It must have been such a great blessing for Obed-edom to have the ark of God in their house isn't it. Yet for us its even better, Jesus says "Matthew 18:20"For wherever two or three are gathered (drawn together as My followers) in (into) My name, there I AM in the midst of them." and we know from reading in David's life that the Presence of God brought blessings ..not only upon Obed-edom, but on his entire household (meaning-A domestic unit consisting of the members of a family who live together along with nonrelatives such as servants.)The entire group of people under that house were blessed. How much more our houses and churches should be blessed when even 2/3 gather in Jesus name. If not, then we better check our motives for gathering...is it for the great musicians?, or our wonderful pastors? or just for fellowship? or for the food and family fun time? or is it really and truly ONLY about Jesus..to worship and adore Him. I think most of us gather together for different motives, hence we don't see God's presence very often when we're gathered together. Our Lord Jesus has made spiritual life so simple for us, yet if we're not able to make use of it, then something is definitely wrong.
3. So who's ashamed of celebrating in God's Presence-I can see David wasn't...oh he knew who had made him king, he knew where he had come from, how his journey had been. How, every time when he had surrendered his problem to God, God had brought him victoriously through them all. Oh he even dared to say "Hey Michal, your dad did not make me king, neither did any of the people around me..God Himself made me king and I will dance before God...even more than what you have seen, if this is what you think is undignified, I will become even more undignified than this". Yet we would be so shy to sing about God, to dance before our Lord with joy. Isn't danceing a reciprocation of joy? We dance when we go for a party don't we, happy to get nice good, happy to probably meet the people who're hosting...then why are we not joyful before our God?

Conclusion:What I read today, from David's life, has shown me how great is my God, how awesome is His power and His Presence, in transforming lives. David says "11 You have made [c] known to me the path of life;you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." (Psalm 16:11). There is joy in God's Presence, there is power in God's Presence to change and transform lives and alter situations. I don't know what kind of situaiton Obed-edom was in when the ark of God was brought into his house, but the result of the ark of God being in his house is recorded and that it was a blessing, not only to him but to his entire household. Our Lord Jesus Presence is not only for our individual lives, but also for the blessing of the lives within our households, people connected to us in any manner. Isn't that amazing!!! I pray that God would urge our hearts today to make use of the benefits that Jesus made for us, by His sacrifice on the cross. That we may be blessed in our Lord's Presence and propagate that blessings into the lives of ALL OUR HOUSEHOLD.