Davidic

The Tabernacle of David

by

During the Davidic era the tabernacle of Moses and its worship were moved to Gibeon. In addition, David set up a worship center in Zion—a tent of meeting, also known as David’s tabernacle—and instituted a non-sacrificial worship of praise and thanksgiving.

Historical Background of the Davidic Tabernacle

During the period when Eli was priest in Israel, the word of the Lord came through Samuel that judgment would soon fall on the priest and his household (1 Sam. 3:11–14). Unrestrained by their father, Eli’s two sons had been perverting the sacrifices and committing adultery with the women who came to the tabernacle, which displeased the Lord (1 Sam. 2:22).

As a part of the prophesied judgment, Israel was engaged in a war they were losing to their perennial enemies the Philistines. After a particularly debilitating defeat, the elders brought out the ark of God from the tabernacle and carried it into battle with them. Traditionally, a nation’s king led the armies into battle. Israel had no king but Yahweh; so when the ark, which was the symbol of God’s presence with his people, was carried before the armies, it was as if the Lord himself went before them. However, the ark was of no help, since the presence of the Lord had been withdrawn, and not only was the battle lost, but Eli’s two sons were killed and the ark of God was captured by the enemy (1 Sam. 4:2–10).

Months later, after the Philistines experienced plague and death wherever the ark went, they returned it to Israel on a cart pulled by two oxen. When the Israelites who found it were struck dead for looking inside it, the ark was not returned to its place in the tabernacle but was given over to the citizens of Kiriath Jearim, who housed it with a man named Abinadab and sanctified his son Eleazar to care for it. Samuel became judge of Israel and Saul followed as king, and still the ark of God was not returned to the tabernacle. Sometime during these years the tabernacle itself was moved from Shiloh to Gibeon (1 Sam. 6).

After David ascended the throne, he and the elders of Israel went to the house of Abinadab to retrieve the ark (2 Sam. 6:2–4). Surprisingly, however, they did not return it to the tabernacle in Gibeon but put it in a tent, sometimes called a tabernacle, that David constructed for it in the city of Zion, where he lived (2 Sam. 6:17). Priests and Levites were sanctified to carry on worship before it, but except for the initial dedication ceremonies, this worship did not involve burnt sacrifices.

Worship at David’s Tabernacle

From the biblical accounts it appears that David appointed teams of worshipers who served in rotating shifts, day and night. Their duties consisted of praising the Lord with singing, prophesying, and playing musical instruments before the ark (1 Chron. 16:4; 25:1–31). It is reasonable to assume that many of the psalms were both written and used in this context, particularly since they were authored by David, Asaph, and others from David’s worship teams, and because they frequently allude to worship in the tent in Zion.

“O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise,” writes David. “You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings” (Ps. 51:15–16). Asaph sings that the Lord “abandoned the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent he had set up among men.… But he chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which he loved. He built his sanctuary like the heights … ” (Ps. 78:60, 68–69). Korah testifies, “He has set his foundation on the holy mountain; the Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob” (Ps. 87:1–2). The psalm goes on to sing the praises of Zion and exult in the privilege of being born in that city. It ends, “The Lord will write in the register of the peoples: ‘This one was born in Zion.’ As they make music they will sing, ‘All my fountains are in you’ ” (Ps. 87:6–7). Asaph describes the glory of the Lord radiating from the tent where the ark is resting: “From Zion, in perfect beauty, God shines forth” (Ps. 50:2). Psalm 134:1 commands all the servants of the Lord who stand in his house at night to bless him; this is apparently a reference to the worship teams that served in David’s tabernacle night and day. Many of the psalms speak of praise and worship of the Lord and give instructions about performing these covenant obligations. The people of Yahweh are to clap (Ps. 47:1), lift their hands (Ps. 134:1–2), shout (Ps. 66:1), sing (Ps. 27:6), play instruments (Ps. 150:3–5), dance (Ps. 149:3), and bow and kneel before him (Ps. 95:6). Other psalms admonish the worshiper to sing a “new song” to the Lord (Pss. 96:1; 98:1; 149:1).

A number of psalms contain words spoken by the Lord himself. These probably came through various worshipers as they ministered under a prophetic anointing. Musical prophecy, both vocal and instrumental, was a feature of Davidic worship. “David … set apart some of the sons of Asaph … for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals … ” (1 Chron. 25:1; cf. Pss. 92:1–3; 98:5).

Decline and Revival of Davidic Worship

Davidic worship was not based on ritual or ceremony but was a spontaneous response to the moving of God’s Spirit. For this reason it could not be passed to succeeding generations of Israelites, as was the Mosaic sacrificial system. In periods of moral and spiritual decline in the history of Israel and Judah, Davidic praise and worship died out, and in some cases the entire sacrificial system was abandoned as well, as the nations followed their leaders into apostasy and idolatry.

However, each time a righteous king initiated a reform and return to the worship of Yahweh, it was accompanied by worship according to the pattern of the tabernacle of David. Under Asa the covenant was renewed, and Judah “took an oath to the Lord with loud acclamation, with shouting and with trumpets and horns” and sought the Lord “eagerly” (2 Chron. 15:14–15). When the child Joash was crowned king and the worship of the Lord was restored under Jehoiada the priest, “all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and singers with musical instruments were leading the praises” (2 Chron. 23:13). After cleansing the temple and removing idols from Judah, Hezekiah installed the Levites in the sanctuary with their musical instruments, “in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet” (2 Chron. 29:25). Hezekiah understood David’s instruction for worship to be a commandment of the Lord. The people worshiped as the singers sang, and the king ordered that the songs be those of David and Asaph (2 Chron. 29:25–30). Josiah followed the example set by Hezekiah, tearing down pagan altars and leading a great national cleansing and reform in Judah. A result of the reform was a revival of worship in which the descendants of Asaph were set in place as leaders “prescribed by David, Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun,” members of David’s original worship team (2 Chron. 35:15).

Zerubbabel returned to Judah from the captivity in Babylon to rebuild the temple of the Lord. In Ezra 3:10–13 it is written that a celebration of worship ensued after the foundation was laid in which the Levites and sons of Asaph praised the Lord with trumpets, cymbals, shouting, and singing, “as prescribed by David, king of Israel” (v. 10). Nehemiah led the returned captives in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and in a national purging and return to the covenant. At the dedication of the wall the Levites were instructed to sing and give thanks and to use David’s musical instruments according to the commandments of David and Solomon (Neh. 12:27–46). “In the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God” (v. 46).

Davidic Worship and the New Covenant

A significant feature of the worship in David’s tabernacle was that it was conducted directly in front of the ark, where the presence of the Lord resided. Under the Mosaic system, the ark was kept in the inner recesses of the tabernacle and was seen only by the high priest and then only once each year. David was careful to comply with the stipulation that only the Levites could carry the ark (1 Chron. 15:2), but he did not put it out of the sight of the people. The worship that took place directly before the ark prefigured New Testament worship, in which all Christians are members of the priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9) and have direct access to God’s presence (Heb. 4:16). This is particularly significant in view of James’s interpretation of the tabernacle of David as the church. Commenting on the salvation of Gentiles under Paul’s ministry, James explains to the apostles gathered in Jerusalem,

“Brothers, listen to me. Simon [Peter] has described to us how God at first showed his concern by taking from the Gentiles a people for himself. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: ‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, And I will restore it, That the remnant of men may seek the Lord, And all the Gentiles who bear my name,’ says the Lord, who does these things that have been known for ages. It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God” (Acts 15:13–19).

David prophesied this very thing in the Psalms when he wrote, “All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; and they will bring glory to your name” (Ps. 86:9). “All kings will bow down to him and all nations will serve him.… All nations will be blessed through him, and they will call him blessed” (Ps. 72:11, 17). The author of Hebrews concurs when he writes to the church, “You have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God … to thousands … in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven … to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant … (Heb. 12:22–24).

Davidic Worship and the Church

In Christian worship, the Psalms have been normative, along with the instructions given by the Lord through David for the kind of worship he desires. Paul instructs the church to sing (Eph. 5:18–19), to lift their hands (1 Tim. 2:8), and to rejoice (Phil. 3:1; 4:4). He tells the Roman Christians that their whole bodies are to be offered to the Lord as a service of worship (Rom. 12:1–2). God’s people are to sing “in the Spirit” (1 Cor. 14:15; Col. 3:16), a possible reference to the “new song” commanded by David. This practice is carried on in a number of modern churches as a musical interlude, sometimes called the selah, in which the congregation engages in free-flowing vocal and instrumental praise to the Lord. Selah is thought to be related to the verb salal, used in Psalm 68:4 for the “lifting up” of a song. It is usually interpreted to mean a musical interruption or pause in the worship pattern.

The tabernacle of David, like the temple, is a foreshadowing of the worship of the church of Jesus Christ. It provides a model of God’s people entering his gates with thanksgiving, coming into the court of the king through praise, offering anointed sacrifices with their entire beings, night and day. “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Heb. 13:15).

Israelite Worship during the Davidic Period

by

Under David’s leadership, worship was established in Jerusalem. David organized the functions of the priesthood, placing special emphasis on the use of music in worship.

Although syncretism posed a threat and led to a struggle throughout Israel’s history, periods existed in which Yahweh’s place of centrality in the life of his people and their worship was stronger and clearer. One of these periods was that of the Davidic monarchy. David had been blessed by Yahweh from a young age and had been ordained to be Israel’s king after an unstable period, when it was administered by the judges and then by Saul. David united the kingdom under a central government headquartered in Jerusalem (in place of Hebron). King David linked this political move to the center of cultic worship by bringing the ark of the covenant to Zion.

The worship of this period focused primarily on that of King David during a politically stable period in Israel’s life. David is credited primarily as the one who organized Israel as a worshiping community. While the biblical narratives do not spare David’s sinful side, they show a man who is willing to confess and be forgiven for his sin. In later literature this then became the biblical example of a true worshiper of Yahweh. Perfection of ethical and moral character was thus not indispensable for faith. Rather, Yahweh desired an honest worshiper who could confess and praise him in sincerity and truth (Mic. 6:6–8). David becomes the example par excellence of a true worshiper, the traditional author of “the psalms of David” that express cultic acts of worship (for example, Pss. 24; 150).

David’s political strategies established a monarchy with its cultic center in Jerusalem. David brought revival to a people and a faith that had experienced a low period lacking unity and strength. The ark of the covenant had disappeared in the disaster at Aphek (Ps. 78:60), where the Israelites were defeated by the Philistines. David recovered the ark and had it brought to Zion, where it was placed in a tent. The ark reminded the people that Yahweh is not represented in wood or stone but that he is a living presence with his people. The whole practice of worship in Israel looked back for its basis to the covenantal relationship established in the Exodus and celebrated in the tabernacle, which had been the ark’s previous dwelling place. The ark was also a reminder that worship alone is not enough. A broad requirement of service to Yahweh involves ethical implications of justice and mercy. In the reestablishment of the ark in a cultic center of worship, David laid a foundation for the royal ideology and the theme of a unique covenant established with David’s lineage.

From the chronicler’s viewpoint, David made a central contribution to Israel’s worship. Jerusalem became the Holy City, the religious capital of the tribes of Israel. The temple began to take form and structure under David. This temple was completed and embellished around 950 b.c. by the king’s successor and son, Solomon. David assigned to the Levites the official duties of leading the community in praise and prayer. The priesthood began to be a stratified hierarchy of functions. The priesthood would eventually be represented by the Zadokites (functioning in the sacrificial capacity), the high priests, the priests, and the Levites. While the major components of worship remained constant, according to the tradition, David instituted some changes, especially the addition of instrumental worship (1 Chron. 23–27).

David is said to have been skilled on the lyre. He is considered the composer of many songs and laments that were incorporated into the temple worship. From allusive indications, music guilds may have been established during this period (1 Chron. 25:6–8) and given a special role in the service. The collection of these Davidic compositions and other songs is known as the Psalter, with David as the traditional author.