He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark.
2 Samuel 6:2 (NIV)

It’s one of the most overlooked and forgotten chapters in the Great Story. Ironically, it’s a chapter about forgetting.

In the book of Exodus, God instructs Moses in the design and construction of the Ark of the Covenant and a traveling tent temple called the Tabernacle to house it. They were signs of God’s very presence and power in their midst.

The Ark and the Tablernacle were central to the Hebrew’s life, community, and their journey. The Ark always went before them as they made their 40 year trek to the Promised Land. When they camped, the Tabernacle was set up at the center of the camp and the Ark was placed inside. God’s presence and power always went before them — and it was the center around which they built and lived their lives.

Then the Hebrews entered the Promised Land. They inhabited the land and settled down to begin their lives…

… and they put the Ark in storage.

For seventy years it had been sitting in a town called Kiriath-Jearim. No longer at the center of the Hebrews’ lives and worship, it became a largely forgotten relic. They simply lived without it.

But now David is finally King over all of Israel. He had conquered and established Jerusalem as the nation’s capital. And his first act as King is to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.

David understood something Saul never grasped: Israel’s greatest need wasn’t military strength. It was God’s presence. Moving the Ark to Jerusalem wasn’t political theater. It was theological understanding. David was declaring: “This kingdom belongs to God.” God and the Ark of His presence must return to the center of our nation and our lives.

And David didn’t just arrange for its return by sending some royal minions to fetch it. He led the processional itself. He stopped every six steps to personally make sacrifices to God. Upon arrival in Jerusalem, David shed his royal robes, rocked out in praise and celebration, and danced with such wild abandon that his own wife felt completely embarrassed and humiliated.

And it wasn’t just David. This was a communcal, covenant event for the entire nation. Everyone was there participating. At the end of the event, God’s presence now restored to the center of their midst, David hands out food to everyone. The King and his people end their worship by sitting at the table together in God’s presence and sharing a meal. There’s something downright Eucharistic in that.

In the previous chapter, David finally receives the throne he had waited twenty years to inherit. It would have been easy for the story to become about building a palace, consolidating power, expanding influence, and securing his legacy.

Instead, today’s chapter reveals what David thinks is most urgent.

Not a bigger army.
Not stronger walls.
Not political alliances.

We need to remember what we’ve long forgotten and placed in mothballs both physically and spiritually.

Bring the Ark. Bring God’s presence back to the center of our daily lives.

And that becomes a searching question for me in the quiet this morning.

When God finally gives me what I’ve been praying for—a career, a ministry, a business, a family, retirement, influence—what is the first thing that I want to establish?

Comfort?
Reputation?
Security?
Or, God’s presence at the center of it all?

David’s greatest achievement in today’s chapter wasn’t that he brought the Ark into Jerusalem. It was that he finally understood that the throne only has meaning if God is enthroned first.

And that’s the quiet invitation I hear Holy Spirit whisper as I meditate this morning. With every new season I enter on this life journey, I don’t want to merely invite God to bless it. I want to build the season around His presence.

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