A Worship Story Less Known

I bumped into an old friend the other day, and the first thing he asked was if I had picked up my guitar recently. What he was actually asking was if I’d written any songs. Back in the day we used to jam and write songs for fun, perform them at gigs and the like. This was long before either of us had a pair of kids. How I long to get back to those “good old days.”

Many of us are familiar with the great characters in the bible, less so the good-but-hardly-mentioned ones. Think of worship and David – the shepherd boy cum king immediately springs to mind – but do you recall Obed-Edom?

2 Samuel 6 tells the story of a failed attempt by King David in bringing the ark of the Lord back into Jerusalem. Due to the inappropriate manner by which it was done, tragedy struck, leaving David to abandon the idea and the Ark of the Lord ended up being temporarily placed in the care of Obed-Edom instead.

Imagine having God literally stay at your house, let alone have a choice encounter or an up-close-and-personal meeting with Him?* Would you ever be the same again? Obed-Edom was caretaker of the Ark for a short period of three months before it was eventually transported back to Jerusalem. What fascinates me is what he did after, as recorded in 1 Chronicles 15.

It would seem that he moved his whole household from the outskirts of the city to become a gatekeeper at the temple where the Ark was housed. Thereafter he “moved closer” in, becoming a doorkeeper. Then he moved yet closer still by taking up a position “to direct with harps on the Sheminith.”

Allow me to frame this in a contemporary context: In today’s terms it quite literally means he moved his house closer to church to first become say a parking attendant within the church compounds. He then served as an usher during Sunday service. Not long after that, he served as a musician in the worship team. From there, he eventually becomes a worship leader! How’s that for single-minded determination – all for the sake of tasting again that experience he once had with God.

I admit I miss “the good old days” of having the time to simply pick up my guitar and get lost in His presence. Perhaps it’s long overdue for some of us to make time to do just that – getting back to that place where we first found Him, to do all it takes to get there because it’s worth everything.

After all, Psalms 91:1-2 (NKJV) says, “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”

In biblical times, the Ark of the Lord was the literal representation of the presence of God. What a privilege and joy now to freely come into His presence by simply calling on His Name – Jesus!