Entrance of and another speaks of the manner of Uzzah's death as by the withering of his arm and shoulder. What ever may have been the mode of his death, or whatever the unexplained sin or error which was believed to have caused it, the visitation produced so deep a sensation, that, with a mixture of awe and mistrust, David hesitated to go on. The place was called "the Break"ing forth," or the "Storm of Uzzah," and the Ark was carried aside into the house of a native of Gath, Obededom, who had settled within the Israelite territory. After an interval of three months, David again made the attempt. This time the incongruous, unthe Ark. authorized conveyance of the cart was avoided, and the Ark was carried, as on former days, on the shoulders of the Levites.2 Every arrangement was made for the music, under the Levite musicians Heman, Asaph, and Ethan or Jeduthun, and Chenaniah "the "master of the song." Obed-edom still ministered to the Ark which he had guarded. According to the Chronicles, the Priests and Levites, under the two heads of the Aaronic family, figured in vast state. As soon as the first successful start had been made, a double sacrifice was made. The well-known shout, which accompanied the raising of the Ark at the successive movements in the wilderness, was doubtless heard once more, "Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered." death of Uzzah. Comp. Ps. lxviii. 7-33. The others are the 15th, 24th, 30th, 68th, 132d, 141st. Fragments of poetry worked up into psalms (xevi. 2-13, cv., cvi. 1, 47, 48) occur in 1 Chr. xvi. 8-36, as having been deivered by David "into the hands of Asaph and his brother" after the close of the festival. The two mysterious terms in the titles of Ps. vi. and xlvi. (Sheminith and Alamoth) also appear in the lists of those mentioned on this occasion in 1 Chr. xv. 20, 21. 1 Jerome, Qu. Heb. on 1 Chr. xiii. 7. 2 2 Sam. vi. 13; 1 Chr. xv. 15. 3 2 Sam. vi. 15; 1 Chr. xiii. 2, xv 16-22, 27. 4 1 Chr. xv. 11. 5 2 Sam. vi. 13; 1 Chr. xv. 26 "Arise, O Lord, into Thy rest; Thou, and the ark of "Thy strength." The priests in their splendid dresses, the two rival tribes of the South, Judah and Benjamin, the two warlike tribes of the North, Zebulun and Naphthali, are conspicuous in the procession. David himself was dressed in the white linen mantle of the Priestly order; and, as in the Prophetic schools where he had been brought up, and as still in the colleges of eastern Dervishes,— a wild dance formed part of the solemnity. Into this, the King threw himself with unusual enthusiasm: his heavy royal robe was thrown aside; the light linen ephod appeared to the by-standers hardly more than the slight dress of the Eastern dancers. He himself had a harp in his hand, with which he accompanied the dance. It may be that, according to the Psalms ascribed to this epoch, this enthusiasm expressed not merely the public rejoicing, but his personal feeling of joy at the contrast between the depth of danger "the grave" as it seemed, out of which he had been snatched, and the exulting triumph of the present the exchange of sad mourning for the festive dress of black sackcloth for the white cloak of gladness.* The women came out to welcome him and his sacred charge, as was the custom on the return from victory. The trumpets pealed loud and long, as if they were entering a captured city; the shout as of a victorious host rang through the valleys of Hinnom and of the Kedron, and as they wound up the steep ascent which led to the fortress. Now at last the long wanderings of the Ark were over. "The Lord hath chosen Zion; "He hath desired it for His habitation." "This is My 1 Ps. lxviii. 1, cxxxii. 8. Ps. cxxxii. 9, lxviii. 27. 4 Ps. xxx. 9, 11. 5 Ps. Lxviii. 11 (Heb.), 25; 2 Sam vi. 20. "rest for ever here will I dwell, and delight therein." It was safely lodged within the new Tabernacle which David had erected for it on Mount Zion, to supply the place of the ancient tent which still lingered at Gibeon.1 It was the greatest day of David's life. Its significance in his career is marked by his own preeminent position: Conqueror, Poet, Musician, Priest, in one. The sacrifices were offered by him; the benediction both on his people and on his household were 2 pronounced by him. He was the presiding spirit of the whole scene. One only incident tarnished its brightness. Michal, his wife, in the proud, we may almost say, conservative spirit of the older dynasty, — not without a thought of her father's fallen house, poured forth her contemptuous reproach on the king who had descended to the dances and songs of the Levitical procession. He in reply vowed an eternal separation, marking the intense solemnity which he attached to the festival. 4 But the Psalms which directly and indirectly spring out of this event reveal a deeper meaning than the mere outward ritual. It was felt to be a turning-point in the history of the nation. It recalled even the great epoch of the passage through the wilderness. It awoke again the inspiriting strains of the heroic career of the Judges. Even the long lines of the Bashan hills where the first hosts of Israel had encamped beyond the Jordan, were not so imposing as the rocky heights of Zion. Even the sanctity of Sinai, with its myriads of ministering spirits, is transferred to this new and vaster 1 2 Sam. vi. 17; 1 Chr. xv. 1; 2 Chr. i. 3, 4. 2 2 Sam. vi. 13, 17, 18, 20; 1 Chr. xvi. 48. 3 2 Sam. vi. 21. 4 For these see note 7, page 91 was now Banctuary. The long captivity of the Ark in Philistia - that sad exile which, till the still longer and sadder one which is to close this period of the history, was known by the name of "the captivity" brought to an end, "captivity was captive led." And accordingly, as the Ark stood beneath the walls of the ancient Jewish fortress, so venerable with unconquered age, the summons goes up from the procession to the dark walls in front, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, "and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King "of Glory shall come in." The ancient, everlasting gates of Jebus are called to lift up their heads, their2 portcullis grates, stiff with the rust of ages. They are to grow and rise with the freshness of youth, that their height may be worthy to receive the new King of Glory. That glory which fled when the Ark was taken, and when the dying mother exclaimed over her newborn son, "Ichabod!" was now returning. From the lofty towers the warders cry,-"Who is this King of "Glory?" The old heathen gates will not at once recognize this new-comer. The answer comes back, as if to prove by the victories of David the right of the name to Him who now comes to His own again, The name of "JEHOVAH, the Lord, the Mighty One, JE- Hosts." HOVAH, mighty in battle!" and again by this proud title admission is claimed: "Lift up your heads, O ye "gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the "King of Glory shall come in." Once more the guardians of the gates reply, "Who is this King of Glory?" 66 1 Ps. lxviii. 18. In the title of the LXX., Ps. xcvi. is said to be David's, "when the house was built after the captivity." It is possible that by "the captivity" may be meant the captivity the "Lord of And the answer comes back,-"JEHOVAH SABAOTH, the "Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory." This is the solemn inauguration of that great Name, by which the Divine Nature was especially known under the monarchy. As, before, under the Patriarchs, it had been known as ELOHIM, "the strong ones," -as through Moses, it had been JEHOVAH, The Eternal, so now, in this new epoch of civilization, of armies, of all the complicated machinery of second causes, of Church and State, there was to be a new name expressive of the wider range of vision opening on the mind of the people. Not merely the Eternal solitary existence — but the Maker and Sustainer of the host of Heaven and earth in the natural world, which, as we see in the Psalms, were now attracting the attention and wonder of men. Not merely the Eternal Lord of the solitary human soul, but the Leader and Sustainer of the hosts of battle, of the hierarchy of war and peace that gathered round the court of the kings of Israel. The Greek rendering of the word by the magnificent Pantocrator, “all-conqueror," passed through the Apocalypse' into Eastern Christendom, and is still the fixed designation by which in Byzantine churches the Redeemer is represented in His aspect of the Mighty Ruler of Mankind. This great change is briefly declared in corresponding phrase in the historical narrative, which tells how "David brought up the ark of God, whose name is called "by the name of the LORD OF HOSTS that dwelleth be"tween the cherubim; and he blessed the people in the "name of the LORD OF HOSTS." This was indeed, as the 1 See Lecture XXV. Comp. Isa. xxxi. 4, xl. 26. 2 Rev. i. 8. 3 2 Sam. vi. 2, 18, vii. 25, 26. It only occurs once before, 1 Sam. xvii 45 |