The King's Feast: Worship, Blessing, and Lavish Joy Text: 2 Samuel 6:17-19
Introduction: The Centrality of True Worship
We come now to the culmination of a monumental event in the life of Israel. After a disastrous false start, marked by good intentions and bad theology, the Ark of the Covenant is finally home. David, having learned the hard lesson that God must be worshiped on His terms and not ours, has brought the very presence of God into the heart of his new capital, Jerusalem. This is not merely a political maneuver, consolidating his kingdom. It is a theological earthquake. David is establishing a central, non-negotiable truth: a nation, a city, a people, a life must be centered on the manifest presence and worship of the living God. Everything else is just rearranging furniture on a sinking ship.
Our culture believes in decentralization. Every man is his own ark, his own priest, his own king. Every man does what is right in his own eyes, which is to say, every man builds his own shabby tent for his own tin-pot god. The result is not liberation, but disintegration. It is chaos. What David does here is the exact opposite. He is gathering the people, not around a political platform or an economic policy, but around the throne of Yahweh. He is declaring that Israel will be a God-centered nation, or it will be no nation at all.
The scene before us is one of high worship, priestly blessing, and extravagant generosity. It is a festival. It is a party. And it is a profound picture of the gospel. When God's presence is rightly established among His people, the result is not a grim, tight-lipped piety. The result is sacrifice, blessing, and a feast for all. This is what happens when heaven comes to earth. This is a foretaste of the New Jerusalem. And in David's actions, we see a glorious foreshadowing of the one true King who would bring God's presence to us permanently, offer the final sacrifice, speak the ultimate blessing, and invite us all to the greatest feast.
The Text
And they brought in the ark of Yahweh and placed it in its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh.
Then David completed offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings. And he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh of hosts.
And he apportioned to all the people, to all the multitude of Israel, both to men and women, a cake of bread and one of dates and one of raisins to each one. Then all the people went each to his house.
(2 Samuel 6:17-19 LSB)
God in His Place, Man in His (v. 17)
We begin with the successful installation of the Ark.
"And they brought in the ark of Yahweh and placed it in its place inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh." (2 Samuel 6:17)
The Ark is now in "its place." This is a phrase pregnant with meaning. After years of being neglected under Saul, carted around by the Philistines, and sitting in the house of Abinadab and then Obed-Edom, the symbol of God's holy presence and covenant faithfulness is finally where it belongs: at the center of Israel's national life. The tent David pitched is significant. It is not the Tabernacle of Moses, which was at Gibeon at this time. David has created a new, temporary center of worship, anticipating the temple that his son will build. This is a king who makes the worship of God his absolute top priority.
And what is the immediate response to God being in His rightful place? Man takes his rightful place, which is the place of a worshiper. David immediately "offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before Yahweh." Notice who is officiating. It is David, the king. Now, the Levitical priests were certainly involved in the mechanics of this, but the text puts David front and center as the one offering. He is functioning as a priest-king, in the order of Melchizedek. He is a type, a pointer, to the Lord Jesus Christ, our great high priest and king.
The offerings themselves are profoundly instructive. First, the burnt offerings. A burnt offering was wholly consumed on the altar. It was a picture of total consecration, complete surrender. It said, "All that we are, all that we have, we give to You, Lord. We hold nothing back." This must always be the foundation of our worship. Before we ask for anything, before we celebrate anything, we must first acknowledge God's total claim on our lives. This is our "spiritual service of worship," to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Romans 12:1).
Following this total surrender came the peace offerings. The peace offering was a fellowship meal. Part of the animal was burned on the altar for God, a portion was given to the priests, and the rest was eaten by the worshiper and his family in a joyous feast. It was a symbol of reconciliation and communion. It declared that because of the atonement represented in the sacrifice, God and His people were at peace and could now sit down and eat together. So the pattern is clear: first, total consecration (the burnt offering), and then, joyous communion (the peace offering). You cannot have the fellowship meal with God until you have first surrendered everything to Him.
The King's Blessing (v. 18)
Having led the people in worship, David now turns to bless them.
"Then David completed offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings. And he blessed the people in the name of Yahweh of hosts." (2 Samuel 6:18)
Again, this is a priestly act. The Aaronic priests were commanded to bless the people in God's name (Numbers 6:22-27). Here, David the king assumes that role. This is a king who understands that his authority flows down from God, and his primary duty is to be a conduit of God's blessing to his people. He is not a tyrant who extracts from the people for his own glory. He is a covenant head who intercedes for them and pronounces God's favor upon them. He blesses them "in the name of Yahweh of hosts," the Lord of the armies of heaven. He is reminding them, and himself, that the security and prosperity of the nation do not depend on their army or their economy, but on the name and power of the living God.
This is a direct foreshadowing of the greater David, Jesus Christ. After offering Himself as the ultimate burnt offering and securing our eternal peace, He ascended to the right hand of the Father, from where He continually blesses His people. He is the fountainhead of all blessing. Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father, through the Son. When the church gathers, it is to receive this blessing. The benediction at the end of a worship service is not a pious platitude; it is the minister, acting in the authority of King Jesus, applying the blessing of God to the people of God.
Extravagant Royal Generosity (v. 19)
The blessing is not just verbal; it is tangible. It is edible.
"And he apportioned to all the people, to all the multitude of Israel, both to men and women, a cake of bread and one of dates and one of raisins to each one. Then all the people went each to his house." (2 Samuel 6:19)
This is magnificent. David doesn't just provide a token snack. He gives a substantive, celebratory gift to every single person, "to all the multitude of Israel, both to men and women." No one is left out. This is a national feast, bankrolled by the king. He gives each person a cake of bread (a staple), a portion of dates (for sweetness and energy), and a cake of raisins (a delicacy). This is lavish generosity. This is the outflow of a heart overflowing with gratitude to God.
True worship always overflows into tangible generosity. A man who claims to love God but is tight-fisted with his brother is a liar. David's joy in God's presence immediately translates into a desire to share that joy with his people. The peace offerings were already a feast, but David adds to it from his own stores. He is teaching the people what their God is like. Our God is not a stingy God. He is a God of abundance, a God who prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemies, a God whose Son fed five thousand with a few loaves and fishes.
This royal feast points us to the marriage supper of the Lamb. The Lord Jesus, our King, has not just blessed us with words. He has given us a feast: His own body and blood, represented in the bread and the wine. He invites all His people, men and women, rich and poor, to come and dine with Him. He apportions to each of us grace upon grace. The provision is limitless. And after being fed by the King, we, like the Israelites, are sent out to our own homes, to our own spheres of influence, filled and strengthened to live for His glory.
The people went home satisfied. They came to worship, they were blessed by their king, and they were fed from his hand. This is the picture of a healthy, thriving covenant community. It is a community centered on God's presence, led by a servant-king, and characterized by abundant joy and shared life.
Conclusion: The True Ark and the Better Feast
This entire event is a glorious picture, but it is just a picture. It is a shadow of a greater reality. The Ark of the Covenant, the box containing the law, was a symbol of God's presence. But we have something far better. We have the reality to which the Ark pointed. The true Ark of the Covenant is the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him, the very presence of God tabernacled among us (John 1:14). He is the one who perfectly kept the law that was in the box.
David brought the Ark into a tent in Jerusalem, but God has brought the true Ark, Jesus, into the heavenly Jerusalem. And through faith in Him, He has brought His presence to dwell not in a tent made with hands, but in the temple of our hearts by the Holy Spirit. The central reality of our lives, as Christians, is that the presence of God is no longer in a box, but inside of us.
And because of this, we are called to live out the same pattern we see here in our text. We are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, a continual burnt offering of total consecration. In response, we enjoy the peace offering, a constant communion and fellowship with God through Christ. We live under the continual blessing of our Priest-King, who ever lives to make intercession for us. And we are called to be a people of lavish generosity, reflecting the character of our King by sharing the abundance He has given us with a world that is starving for the bread of life.
David's feast was for a day. The people ate, and then they went home. But the feast our King provides is eternal. He invites us to a table that will never be empty, to a joy that will never end. He is the bread, the sweetness, the rich feast for our souls. Let us come to Him, worship Him, receive His blessing, and feast on His goodness, now and forever.