In Psalm 132:6–9, we have what motivated David to bring the ark of the covenant into Jerusalem found in 2 Samuel 6:1-12. It seems as though David was sitting in the house that Hiram was building him, and he said, “Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house, or go up to the comfort of my bed; I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, Until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob. Behold, we heard of it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of the woods. Let us go into His tabernacle; let us worship at His footstool. Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength.” What could be wrong with this?
Well, notice that David does not inquire of the Lord and asks the question, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” until the 9th verse of the chapter.
When we consider a dead church service, we often do so imagining one that is devoid of enthusiasm andemotion, though that may be the case. Some of the times as we see here that dead worship was not because it lacked those two things, nor was it dead because it sought the wrong thing, but the presence of God. No, it was dead because even though it had the right motive and excitement, it lacked what God wanted. Dead worship is to be found whenever we make the pursuit of it more important than the personal presence of the Lord.
Hey saint, no amount of ecumenical unity, professionalism, or enthusiasm will ever compensate for disobedience. Oh, don’t get me wrong, crowds may approve and applaud, but the end will be death without the true worship of God. It was for this reason that Aaron was told “not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die.”.
I’m not speaking with any one church in mind but rather just an observation of the Lord’s church here in America in general, as so much of our service for the Lord is being done with a “New Cart.” A new cart? Yeah, you know a couple of “big wheels,” which provide motion for a bunch of “boards,” if you catch my meaning (big wheel and boards). And what do big wheels and boardsproduce? Why, “Big Productions.”