REJOICE IN HIS PRESENCE
Now the people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyedH8055 at the sight.
1 Samuel 6:13
This verse needs a little backstory to be understood. The Israelites had taken the ark of the covenant into battle with them thinking that surely God would enable them to defeat the Philistines. However, God allowed the Philistines to not only triumph but to capture the ark and kill the priest Eli’s two wayward sons. The ark symbolized God’s presence with Israel. Therefore, this was a great loss felt by the entire nation. While the Philistines had the ark in their possession, God caused them great distress. First of all, the idol of their god Dagon fell over in the presence of the ark. They up-righted it, and the next day it not only fell over but its head and arms broke off! Then the Philistines were plagued by great, grotesque tumors and an infestation of rats. Finally, the leaders of their five cities asked their wise men how to send the ark back. According to their advice, the leaders placed a chest next to the ark containing five gold tumors and five gold rats as a guilt offering to Israel’s God. They set the ark and the chest on a cart being pulled by two cows who had new calves and had never been yoked before. Then they penned the calves up so they couldn’t follow. This way if the cows went in a straight line, it must be God drawing them to Israel. You can imagine the shock and the joy the Israelite harvesters felt when they looked up to see the ark of the covenant that had been captured and gone for seven months suddenly arriving being pulled by two cows! When the cows stopped, the people cut up the cart for firewood and sacrificed the cows to the Lord. The people rejoiced exuberantly to have the ark of God’s presence back in Israel.
How much do we value the presence of the Lord? If you are His child, if you have surrendered your life to Jesus, His presence in the form of the Holy Spirit lives in you! No one can steal Him from you or you from Him (John 10:28-30). We no longer rely on a priest to atone for our sins before the holy of holies once a year. We no longer need to sacrifice animals to God. Jesus Christ became the perfect, sinless Lamb of God and died to atone for our sins. Because of our relationship with Jesus, the presence of God is with us at ALL TIMES! Have you rejoiced to be in His presence today?
Father, how humbling and awesome it is to realize You are with us at this very moment as we write this page! We rejoice that we have the privilege of knowing You as Savior, Lord, and Father. We rejoice that You hear our prayers and know our needs before we voice them. We rejoice to be continually in Your presence. Help us to remember that truth daily.