Morning Manna | 1 Chronicles 15:26 | God helped the Levites

1 Chronicles 15:26

26 And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD, that they offered seven bullocks and seven rams.

This verse caught my heart this morning as I read. This comes from the story of the Ark of God being brought from the house of Obed-Edom into Jerusalem. David had the right motive but the wrong actions the first time he endeavored to bring the Ark into Jerusalem. He set it on a new cart, to expedite the process but he soon found that God is just as concerned with how we serve him as he is with why we serve him. Three months later David saw how the house of the gentile, Obed-Edom, is blessed by the presence of the Ark and gains the wherewithal to start this endeavor of bringing the Manifest power and presence of God back into Jerusalem. This time with much more reverence and a much stricter execution of the affair.

I thought of the tremendous pressure that these Levites were under. Both physically and mentally. It is no wonder David had built a cart to carry the ark it was a long uphill journey, and some estimate that the ark would have weighed over 500 pounds. Without considering the mental pressure of being the men to carry the ark, the physical task alone would be daunting. Keep in mind that every 6 paces they would stop and offer sacrifices, which would be a lengthy process. Then consider the weight they were under mentally, the last attempt to carry the ark ended in the death of the man attempting to do so, then all of Israel and their King and the success of their nation rested upon their shoulders both literally and figuratively. Without a doubt the task they had been called to was impossible. Imagine the questions that filled their minds before they struck out that morning. Will we be able to bear such a load? Will we be able to march uphill without stumbling? Will we ever make it? 

That brings us to our verse today, "God helped the levites that bare the Ark." He never blessed the cart that carried the ark, but he helped the men that carried the Ark.Why you ask? Because God had ordained men to carry the Ark not Carts. God calls us to do the impossible, sometimes we are tempted to question his methods. Lord, the journey is long and the method you've ordained is so daunting, surely there must be a quicker way, an easier way. Oh, how men have created their carts to help God accomplish his will! Many right-hearted brothers have set up these systems whereby we can save more, go further, and expedite the work of God's kingdom but have trampled over God's instruction about how we are to go about doing his work and He will never bless that endeavor. Now, let a man submit to God's will, God's way, and there you will find the sustaining power of God to do the undoable. Had God not helped these Levites they would have failed in the first few miles of the journey, but step by step they found new strength, to their amazement they were able, by the help of God, to walk by faith. Pressed under a crushing weight one step of faith after another led them into the city of Jerusalem. So it is with us, bearing burdens, physical, mental, and spiritual we wonder how we will ever make it but week by week, day by day, step by step he is helping us until our feet land in Zion. "Hither by thy help I've come, And I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home!"

What was their response? They offered sacrifices, that is, they worshipped the God that had brought them thus far. They couldn't offer what David had offered. When you calculate the steps from Jerusalem to Obed-Edom house and the fact that every 6 paces David made sacrifice David would have offered over 10,000 sacrifices. The Levites didn't have 10,000 to sacrifice but they gave what they could to the Lord and the Lord records it just the same as the king's. Perhaps this morning we should look back over the distance we have traveled for the Lord this morning and ask ourselves, how did we ever make it this far? When we see the steep path behind us, and the narrow passes we've passed through we'll have to conclude it has been God who has strengthened us to bear the burdens, climb the jagged cliffs, and march on up to Mount Zion. I hope this creates in us a heart of worship, Lord hither by thy help I've come and I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home. Before we take another step why don't we offer up a sacrifice of praise, for how far he has brought us?