BRINGING THE ARK TO JERUSALEM

Using the fleshly notion of a cart
They sought to carry up the Ark, but failed.
When they eschewed the ways of human art
And went by God's due order they prevailed.
And what a time of holy jubilance:
Hear voice and music praise with one accord!
See David, in true fervour, play and dance
In honour of the glory of the Lord!

Often desires are good, objectives right,
But means wrong, till the way that God desires
Is followed; and He has for His delight
His Christ and those that glorious One inspires.

What joy it is to God that He should find
Those who give Christ the honour God designed.

THE ARK AND HOUSEHOLDS

No longer exiled in a foreign land

The Ark next suffered decades of neglect;

Abinadab could give the Ark room and

Still fail to teach his family respect.

But Obed‑Edom gave it its true place

So that one came to David to attest

The evidence of God's unfailing grace ‑

That through the Ark his household had been blessed.

The Pharisee invited Jesus in

But failed to give Him honour from the start;

The woman came near, conscious of her sin,

But gave the Lord the throne‑room of her heart.

Lord Jesus, may my household always be

One where the foremost place belongs to Thee.

THE ARK IN CAPTIVITY

Rightly she named her infant "Ichabod"
At that abyss of Israel's decline:
Men fled; the priest was dead; the Ark of God
Was taken captive by the Philistine.
But what is this that comes across the field
(Decked with the Philistine's pathetic pelf)
In power and dignity which will not yield:
The Ark of God is caring for itself.
 
They led the Saviour to a place of scorn,
Thinking to choose if He should die or live;
"Jesus..went forth..wearing the crown of thorn...":
The Son of God retains the initiative.
 
And now, despite the worst the world can do
The Lord will bring His testimony through.

PHINEHAS AND THE ARK

To pious minds all seemed to fall apart

But Phinehas remained before the Ark,

Though others' lanterns faltered into dark

And coldness crept across the nation's heart.

Dan turned to images of human art;

Benjamin flicked and guttered to a spark;

To pious minds all seemed to fall apart

But Phinehas remained before the Ark.

Their enemies all sought to seize a part

Of Israel, each voracious as a shark;

Would all be lost? Tossed like a feeble barque,

Israel seemed ignorant of star or chart ‑

But Phinehas remained before the Ark.

THE ARK AT JERICHO

The sentries on the walls of Jericho

Would surely feel occasion to remark

On the procession they observed to go

Around them ‑  soldiers, Levites and the Ark.

Confiding in the structure of their wall,

They would not start to apprehend the power

Within that Ark to make their ramparts fall

And unbelievers of their city cower.

In outward weakness, but in secret might,

Those gathered to Christ's name now guarantee

The power of God will intervene to slight

Men's cities, and what they assume to be.

But, Lord, as Thou art cherished let me know

Within me this world's systems overthrow.

THE ARK LEADING IN THE WILDERNESS

When Moses asked that Hobab should be eyes

To Israel in the paths they were to trace

Across the waste, God caused the Ark to rise

And guide His people to their resting place.

For three days' journey it was in the lead

And over them there was the cloud by day

That God might answer to the people's need

Whilst teaching them to follow in His way.

 

Still in the testimony Christ exerts

His right to lead His people into rest;

If we seek other pathways He asserts,

And shows us, that His way is always best.

 

Lord, give me help that I may not enmesh

My feet by following in the ways of flesh.

THE ARK AS CENTRE

Although because of sin and man's reproach

It dwelt within a place where all was dark

Which once a year the High Priest might approach

God had a system centred on the Ark.

All furnishings took bearing from its site;

All Israel arrange itself around.

Boards measured from and like it would unite

To frame the Tent amid the barren ground.

And now God's system has Christ as its centre

While all who are for Him derive from Him;

Now through the grace of God we freely enter

A place which, by His light, cannot be dim.

So by God's grace unitedly we stand

Surrounding Him while still on desert sand.

WITHIN THE ARK

Within the Ark the tables of the law

Which God had written on by His own hand

Were cared for ‑  in the Ark Jehovah saw

His testimony carried to the land.

There was the manna in the golden pot

And Aaron's rod which budded ‑  evidence

Of what was suited to Jehovah's thought

And of the good it pleased Him to dispense.

And thus God's law was treasured in Christ's heart

As all His will was perfectly expressed;

While blessings God in Christ chose to impart

Delight Himself and those whom He has blessed.

Oh blessed Spirit, help my soul rejoice

In what in Christ makes Him the Father's choice!