Lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets
Sat, 19 November, 2005: Today’s Bible readings.
5 So David assembled all Israel from the Nile of Egypt to Lebo-hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kiriath-jearim. 6 And David and all Israel went up to Baalah, that is, to Kiriath-jearim that belongs to Judah, to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the name of the LORD who sits enthroned above the cherubim. 7 And they carried the ark of God on a new cart, from the house of Abinadab, and Uzzah and Ahio were driving the cart. 8 And David and all Israel were rejoicing before God with all their might, with song and lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets.
9 And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled. 10 And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark, and he died there before God. 11 And David was angry because the LORD had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzza to this day. 12 And David was afraid of God that day, and he said, “How can I bring the ark of God home to me?” 13 So David did not take the ark home into the city of David, but took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 14 And the ark of God remained with the household of Obed-edom in his house three months. And the LORD blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that he had.
This is a famous passage. David in his ignorance of God’s commands transports the ark of the covenant in an inappropriate way, and Uzzah ultimately dies for the violations. David’s intentions are good, and so are Uzzah’s. But they have violated God’s law in their casual treatment of the ark, and God does not excuse the violation just because of their ignorance. There is a lesson for us in this. God takes worship seriously enough to kill a person for violating His standards. Do we take worship seriously? Are we concerned to worship God only in the way He desires? Learn from Uzzah that good intentions in worship do not matter when we violate God’s standards.
After this incident, David apparently takes time and searches the scriptures to see how to appropriately transport the ark, and we see he follows the Biblical instructions in chapter 15 when he finally brings the ark the rest of the way to Jerusalem.
I have heard many sermons that pointed out how they transported the ark on a cart instead of carrying it, as they were supposed to. But it isn’t until recently that I had pointed out to me the violation of the people playing instruments as part of the worship.
What do we learn from this?
The musical contrast between before Uzzah’s death and after is quite striking. Before Uzzah’s death (and apparently before David studied how the ark should be transported), the text tells us in verse 8: And David and all Israel were rejoicing before God with all their might, with song and lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets. In chapter 15, after study and thought, notice the difference:
16 David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their brothers as the singers who should play loudly on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise sounds of joy. 17 So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brothers Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari, their brothers, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; 18 and with them their brothers of the second order, Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, and Mikneiah, and the gatekeepers Obed-edom and Jeiel. 19 The singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were to sound bronze cymbals; 20 Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to Alamoth; 21 but Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres according to the Sheminith. 22 Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, should direct the music, for he understood it. 23 Berechiah and Elkanah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. 24 Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, should blow the trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-edom and Jehiah were to be gatekeepers for the ark.
25 So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of thousands went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-edom with rejoicing. 26 And because God helped the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. 27 David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, as also were all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the music of the singers. And David wore a linen ephod. 28 So all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres.
After careful study, David realizes the correct way to bring the ark to Jerusalem is for priests to carry the ark. He also changed from having the general public playing instruments to have only Levites play instruments, and to sacrifice animals in the process. David apparently learned that in the first attempt to bring the ark to Jerusalem, the musical instruments were not being used appropriately. In worship, instruments were only to be played by the Levites, and then only during the animal sacrifice.
This point is made even more clearly when Hezekiah restores pure worship in the temple at Jerusalem.
25 And he stationed the Levites in the house of the LORD with cymbals, harps, and lyres, according to the commandment of David and of Gad the king’s seer and of Nathan the prophet, for the commandment was from the LORD through his prophets. 26 The Levites stood with the instruments of David, and the priests with the trumpets. 27 Then Hezekiah commanded that the burnt offering be offered on the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song to the LORD began also, and the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David king of Israel. 28 The whole assembly worshiped, and the singers sang and the trumpeters sounded. All this continued until the burnt offering was finished. 29 When the offering was finished, the king and all who were present with him bowed themselves and worshiped. 30 And Hezekiah the king and the officials commanded the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed down and worshiped.
Notice that the text explicitly states that the priests played the musical instruments only during the sacrifices. When the sacrifices began, the priests began playing the instruments. And when the sacrifices stopped, the priests stopped playing the instruments.
Instruments as part of Old Testament worship are clearly associated with animal sacrifice. Since we have no New Testament command to use musical instruments in worship, and since the animal sacrifices have been fulfilled and therefore abolished after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I believe the use of instruments in our New Testament worship has also been fulfilled and abolished. The playing of instruments pointed forward to the coming of the true sacrifice, Jesus Christ. Now we should worship God in song with just our voices, not accompanied by the musical instruments. We don’t sacrifice animals as part of our worship, and neither should we use musical instruments. Both have been fulfilled in Christ.
Where is Christ in this passage?
Although our main passage didn’t mention correct Old Testament worship with animal sacrifice accompanied by priests playing musical instruments, we do see that correct worship in the Old Testament pointed to Jesus Christ. He is the perfect sacrifice for the sins of His people. He would come and take the punishment of the sins of all His people upon Himself on the cross.
