The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Samuel — Section 160

and the " pearl of great price " (Matt. xiii. 44-46). 2. A significant memorial of God's mercies in times past. What manifold and mighty events would be brou<1ht to remembrance by the sight of the sacred, venerable, and mysterious coffer, when it"came forth, as from its grave, into the light of day I 3. A sure pledge of the continued favour of God in time to come. "The ark was, as it were, the palladium of Israel, the moving sacrament of that rude people; not itself Divine any more than our sacramental bread is Christ's body, or our symbolic water God's grace, but the visible symbol of a presence supposed to be local, or of a power manifested in answer to prayer" (Rowland Willia.ms). Yet it was "not e. mere dee.d, idle shadow to look upon, but what certainly declared God's nearness to his Church" (Calvin). II. A JOYFUL PROCESSION. "And they set [carried] the ark of God upon a new cart [waggon]; and Uzza.h and Ahio, the sons [grandsons] of Abinada.b, dra.ve the cart; and Ahio went before [Uzzah going e.longeide] the ark. And David anJ all Israel played [sported] before Jehovah with e.11 their might, with songs, and with harps,'' etc. (1 Sam. x. 10; xix. 20). Already commenced the higher order of Divine service, to be after- wards more fully organized e.nd established. For this occasion (as some have supposed) David wrote Ps. lxviii. 'The ark setting forward in victorious might.' " Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered, And let them that hate him flee before his face." Such language we.s historically appropriate (N urnb. x. 35). The sacred procession served: 1. To express their gratitude, gladness, and triumph. 2. To deepen their devotion, union, and joy. 3. To produce a beneficie.l and lasting impression on the nation. 4. To exalt the Ne.me of Jehovah among surrounding peoples. "No less than eleven psalms, either in their traditional titles, or in the irresistible evidence of their contents, bear traces of this great festival. The twenty-ninth psalm (by its title in the LXX.), is said to be on the' going forth of the tabernacle.' The thirtieth (by its title), the fifteenth, and the hundred and first (by their contents), express the feelings of David on his occupation of his new home. The sixty-eighth, at least in part, and the twenty-fourth, seem to have been actually 'composed for the entrance of the ark into the ancient gates of the heathen fortress (Ps. xcvi., cv., cvi., vi., xlvi., cxx..xii.) n (Smith's 'Dictionary'). "The hymns of David excel no less in sublimity and tenderness of expression than in loftiness and purity of religious sentiment. In comparison with them, the sacred poetry of all other nations sinks into mediocrity. They have embodied so exquisitely the universal language of religious emotion, that (a few fierce and vindictive passages excepted, natural in the warrior-poet of a sterner age) they have entered, with unques- tioned propriety, into the ritual of the holier and more perfect religion of Christ . . . How me.ny human hearts have they softened, purified, and exalted! Of how many wretched beings have they been the secret of consolation! On how many communities have they drawn down the blessings of Divine providence, by bringing the affections into unison with their deep devotional fervour I" (Milman). III. AN INEXCUSABLE TBANSGBESSION. "The act of David and of Israel was evidently Intended as a return to the Lord and submission to his revealed ordinances ; but, if so, obedience must be complete in every particular" (Edersheim). It was ordained that the ark should be borne with staves on the shoulders of men, the elect men of the nation (Numb. vii. 9), e.nd, in placing it on a new cart drawn by oxen, after the manner of the heathen (1 Sam. vi. 10, 12), they acted contrary to the Divine ordinance, as David subsequently recognized (1 Chron. xv. 13). Were they fully aware of the nature and importance of the.t ordinance? Perhaps not; especially after it had been so long in abeyance. Were they altogether ignorant of its existence? This could hardly have been the case with the priests and Levites. Such ignorance, moreover, would have been highly culpable. They were doubtless acquainted with it; but they were forgetful, careless, negligent, and adopted the methoo which seemed ruost expedient and to have been previously sanctioned. 1. "All religious reformations which are wrought by men, are blemished by human infirmities" (Wordsworth). 2. Long neglect of Divine ordinances commonly renders the renewed performance of them exceedingly defective. 3. Fresh and fervid zeal is often inconsiderate, self-confident, and rash. 4. Example is apt to mislead; e.nd should be imitated only in so far as it accords with the Word of God. 5. The end sought may be in accordance with the  164 THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL. [err. v1. 1-23.