When David established his tabernacle in Jerusalem, he created something new and significant for us today. It was the establishment of a new style of worship that has opened the door for things that we must walk in even today as the Body of Christ.

Listen Now:

Download Transcript

Show Notes:

Before the tabernacle David established in the City of David, the only forms of worship were the sacrifices and the burn offerings that had been prescribed by the Torah. Up until this time, the Ark of the Covenant had represented the presence of God for Israel. Which is why they carried the Ark with them into war.

But the music, dance, worship, and songs of praise introduced by David were completely new—and that’s when God began to inhabit the praise of His people. Later Jehoshaphat recognized that we don’t need the Ark of the Covenant any more to carry God into battle. Now He dwells in the praises of his people.

We see this after the Last Supper when Jesus and his disciples sang a hymn. They entered into the spirit of David. He went through the same door opened by Jehoshaphat and carried the Father with Him into the difficult moments in the garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. We see it again with Paul and Silas in prison singing hymns of praise and suddenly a great earthquake opened doors and unfastened chains.

The boldness that it took for David to do what he did is unmistakable. He didn’t have guidelines. But God was with him because he was a man after God’s own heart. And in the same way, we need to become a body of people after God’s own heart who are driven to carry His presence. There has to be a new level of worship. Our hearts have to lay hold now on the reality that it is time for us to break through into new patterns of worship. Our worship cannot only be what we have known it to be in the church handed down through tradition.

Key Verses:

• 2 Chronicles 1:3-13. “However, David had brought up the ark of God.”
• 1 Chronicles 13-16. “Let us bring back the ark of our God to us.”
• Psalm 22:3. “You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.”
• Numbers 10:35-36. “Rise up, O Lord! And let Your enemies be scattered.”
• 1 Samuel 13:13-14. “The Lord has sought… a man after His own heart.”
• Acts 7:44-47. “David found favor in God’s sight.”
• Jeremiah 7:22-23. “But this is what I commanded them.”
• Psalm 69:30-31. “I will praise the name of God with song.”
• Psalm 51:14-17. “For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it.”
• 2 Chronicles 20:12-17. “Do not fear…for the battle is not yours but God’s.”
• 2 Chronicles 20:20-23. “Put your trust in the Lord your God.”
• 1 Chronicles 16:29. “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name.”
• 1 Chronicles 16:34. “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.”
• Psalm 29:2. “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name.”
• Matthew 26:30. “After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”
• Acts 16:22-26. “Paul and Silas were…singing hymns of praise to God.”

Quotes:

• “But this new form of music and worship and songs of praise that David introduced opened something completely new—we now see that the presence of God has transitioned in a sense, and begins to inhabit the praise of His people.”
• “I think it was really for the worship that David established—for what he did with the Ark of the Covenant—that he was recognized as a man after God’s own heart. It was the praise of David that God chose to inhabit.”
• “What a tremendous picture was drawn for us with the great success of Jehoshaphat and his army in battle—the victory was the Lord’s! But they had to carry God into the battle. They had to take Him with them.”
• “We need to become a body of people after God’s own heart. Like David, we have to be those driven to carry His presence. We have to be bold enough to create a new day and not get stuck in the worship that we have.”

Takeaways:

1. Like Jehoshaphat said, “The victory is the Lord’s”—we must have His presence if we’re going to have His victory.
2. The key to victory for Israel was to always carry the presence of God via the Ark with them. They took God with them wherever they went, and when they faced an enemy, they won because of His presence.
3. David had the revelation to connect God’s presence—the Ark of the Covenant—to worship with song, music, and instruments, and he made that transition.
4. The Body of Christ needs to find a level of worship today that will bring the Lord’s presence, the Lord’s power, and the Lord’s victory into our battles today!