Week 2
March 23, 2024

God’s House

So it was, after they had carried it away, that the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction; and He struck the men of the city, both small and great, and tumors broke out on them. Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. So it was, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people!”
1 Samuel 5:9-10

To The Enemy The Ark (God’s Presence) Was A Curse

Then the men of Kirjath Jearim came and took the ark of the Lord, and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the Lord.
1 Samuel 7:1

To Abinadab The Ark (God’s Presence) Was Useless FOR 20 YEARS

And David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you, and if it is of the Lord our God, let us send out to our brethren everywhere who are left in all the land of Israel, and with them to the priests and Levites who are in their cities and their common-lands, that they may gather together to us; 3 and let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we have not inquired at it since the days of Saul.”
1 Chronicles 13:2-3

So they set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart. And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill, accompanying the ark of God; and Ahio went before the ark. 5 Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.
2 Samuel 6:3-5

And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God. And David became angry because of the Lord’s outbreak against Uzzah; and he called the name of the place Perez Uzzah to this day.
2 Samuel 6:6-8

And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel.
Exodus 25:22

David was afraid of the Lord that day; and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?”  So David would not move the ark of the Lord with him into the City of David; but David took it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 11 The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the Lord blessed Obed-Edom and all his household.
2 Samuel 6:9-11

When You Care For What God Loves He Will Bless What You Love

1. Inviting God’s Presence In Your Life Is The Greatest Moment In Your Life

Presence
Hebrew = “Face”, “In Front of”, “To See Ones Face”
God’s Presence Is About Talking To Him “Face To Face”

In God’s Presence
Your Past Is Erased
Your Future Is Revealed
Your Enemies Are Exposed
Your Lack Has To Get Back
Your Pain Can’t Remain
Your Fear Must Disappear
Your Sins Are Washed Away

You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Psalms 16:11

Now it was told King David, saying, “The Lord has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.”
2 Samuel 6:12

2. God’s Presence Always Brings Blessings

The Blessing of God Is Always Multifaceted:

In His Presence You Will Find:
Abundance (John 10:10)
Comfort (Isaiah 51:12)
Deliverance (Psalm 34:19)
Encouragement (2 Thessalonians 2:16)
Favor (Proverbs 12:2)
Forgiveness (Psalms 103:3)
Healing (Exodus 15:26)
Joy (Psalms 16:11)
Love (1 John 4:8)
Patience (Psalms 37:7)
Peace (John 14:27)
Protection (Psalms 91)
Prosperity (Psalms 25:12-13)
Rest (Exodus 33:14)
Strength (Nehemiah 8:10)
Wisdom (Proverbs 2:6)

3. When God’s Presence Touches Your Life; His Presence Becomes The Purpose of Your Life

“Obed” Means “Servant”

And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel: Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, and Obed-Edom:
1 Chronicles 16:4-5

“So he left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister before the ark regularly, as every day’s work required; and Obed-Edom with his sixty-eight brethren, including Obed-Edom the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah, to be gatekeepers;”
1 Chronicles 16:37-38