The Great Re-Centering Text: 1 Chronicles 13:1-4
Introduction: A Neglected Throne
We live in an age of frantic spiritual activity. We have conferences, programs, strategies, and movements. We have more books, podcasts, and resources than any generation of Christians in history. But if we are honest, we must confess that much of this activity occurs in a spiritual vacuum. We are busy, but are we centered? We are active, but is God present? The great disease of the modern church is what we might call the Saul Syndrome: a practical atheism that keeps God at a safe distance. We talk about Him, we sing to Him, we organize events for Him, but we do not actually seek Him. We do not arrange our lives, our churches, or our nations around His manifest presence.
Under King Saul, the Ark of the Covenant, the very footstool of Yahweh's throne on earth, sat collecting dust in a private home in Kiriath-jearim for decades. Think of it. The symbol of God's presence, the heart of Israel's worship and government, was in exile within its own borders. Saul was busy fighting Philistines, managing his kingdom, and nursing his insecurities. He was a pragmatist. He had a kingdom to run. He didn't have time for the ark. And the result was a hollow, God-forsaken kingdom that ultimately collapsed in ruin.
When David ascends the throne, his very first national initiative is not military, economic, or political in a secular sense. It is liturgical. It is theological. His first thought is, "Where is the ark?" He understands a fundamental principle that our generation has forgotten: a nation's health, a church's vitality, and a family's blessing all depend on the manifest presence of God being deliberately and joyfully placed at the absolute center of everything. This passage is not about moving a sacred piece of furniture. It is about a great re-centering. It is about the beginning of a national revival, a revival that starts with the recognition that God has been neglected, and that this state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue for one more day.
But as we shall see, good intentions are not enough. A right motive must be matched by a right method. The desire to bring God back to the center is the essential first step, but how we do it matters immensely. For God is not a tame lion.
The Text
Then David took counsel with the commanders of the thousands and the hundreds, even with every leader.
And David said to all the assembly of Israel, "If it seems good to you, and if it is from Yahweh our God, let us send everywhere to our relatives who remain in all the lands of Israel, also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their cities with pasture lands, that they may gather with us;
and let us bring back the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul."
Then all the assembly said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.
(1 Chronicles 13:1-4 LSB)
Covenantal Leadership (v. 1)
We begin with the nature of David's leadership.
"Then David took counsel with the commanders of the thousands and the hundreds, even with every leader." (1 Chronicles 13:1)
David is the king, anointed by God. He has absolute authority. He could have issued a royal decree and simply commanded that the ark be moved. But he does not. His first action is to consult. This is not the action of a modern democrat, seeking consensus as the source of authority. This is the action of a covenantal head. He understands that God has structured society with layers of authority, and a wise leader honors that structure. He is not a tyrant who rules by fiat, but a king who leads by building a willing and joyful consensus around a righteous cause.
He gathers the commanders of the thousands and the hundreds, the military and civil leaders of the nation. He is bringing the entire leadership structure of Israel into the decision. This is crucial. For the nation to be re-centered on God, the leaders must be the first to embrace the vision. Revival does not trickle up; it flows down. David is modeling a principle of godly rule: authority is not for bulldozing, but for building. He is leading his people, not just lording it over them.
A God-Centered Proposal (v. 2)
Having gathered the leaders, David now addresses the entire assembly, laying out his vision with two crucial qualifications.
"And David said to all the assembly of Israel, 'If it seems good to you, and if it is from Yahweh our God, let us send everywhere to our relatives who remain in all the lands of Israel, also to the priests and Levites who are with them in their cities with pasture lands, that they may gather with us;'" (1 Chronicles 13:2 LSB)
First, David says, "If it seems good to you." Again, he is not asking for their permission. He is asking for their glad participation. He is winning their hearts, not just commanding their bodies. He wants the people to own this act of worship, to desire it for themselves. A leader frames a righteous vision in such a way that the people see it and say, "Yes, that is good. That is right. Let us do it."
But the second qualification is the anchor of the entire enterprise: "...and if it is from Yahweh our God." This is the question that must discipline all our ambitions, all our plans, all our programs. Is this from God? David subordinates his own desires, and the popular will of the people, to the revealed will of God. He is establishing the foundational principle of a godly society: we do not do what is right in our own eyes, or what is popular, or what is pragmatic. We do what is from Yahweh our God. This is the death of all humanism in politics and in worship.
Notice also the scope of his vision. He wants to include everyone. "Our relatives who remain in all the lands of Israel," and especially "the priests and Levites." This is not to be a pet project for the new capital city. It is a national restoration. He is reuniting the nation, torn apart by civil war and Saul's failures, around the one thing that can truly unite them: the worship of the one true God. And he rightly identifies that the priests and Levites, who had been marginalized under Saul, must be restored to their central, God-appointed role in this work. David is not just fixing a symptom; he is restoring the entire covenantal order.
The Indictment and the Goal (v. 3)
In verse three, David states the problem and the solution with blunt clarity.
"...and let us bring back the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul." (1 Chronicles 13:3 LSB)
Here is the heart of the matter. "Let us bring back the ark of our God to us." The goal is to restore the manifest presence of God to the center of their national life. The ark, with the mercy seat on top, was where heaven and earth met. It was the throne of the invisible King. To have the ark in their midst was to live consciously under the immediate rule and blessing of God. To neglect the ark was to govern as though God did not exist.
And then comes the devastating indictment: "for we did not seek it in the days of Saul." This is more than just a statement of fact; it is a diagnosis of an entire era. The verb "seek" here is darash, which means to inquire, to consult, to tread a place frequently. The age of Saul was an age of God-neglect. They did not consult Him. They did not orient their lives around His presence. They ran the country on their own terms, with their own wisdom, for their own ends. And it failed. David is calling for national repentance. He is saying that the defining feature of the previous generation was its prayerlessness, its lack of seeking God, and this must be reversed immediately.
This is a piercing word for us. We can measure the spiritual temperature of our churches, our families, and our own hearts by this standard. Do we seek Him? Is the presence of God our chief desire, or is it an afterthought? Is the ark in the center of our capital, or is it stored away in a back room in Kiriath-jearim?
Enthusiastic Agreement (v. 4)
The response of the people is immediate and unanimous.
"Then all the assembly said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people." (1 Chronicles 13:4 LSB)
The people's spiritual instincts, long dormant, are awakened by David's godly leadership. When they hear the proposal, they recognize its rightness. Their hearts resonate with the truth. This is a wonderful moment of national unity and spiritual zeal. The king, the leaders, and the people are all of one mind, eager to restore the worship of God to its proper place.
And yet, right here, there is a subtle but ominous warning. The reason given for their agreement is that "the thing was right in the eyes of all the people." This is the same language used at the darkest time in Israel's history, in the book of Judges, where "everyone did what was right in his own eyes." Now, in this case, what was right in their eyes happened to align with what was right in God's eyes. The goal was good. Their enthusiasm was good. But their standard of judgment was horizontal, not vertical. Their zeal was based on human consensus, not on divine command.
This sets the stage for the tragedy that is about to unfold. They had the right "what", bring back the ark. But they had not yet asked about the "how." Their zeal was not according to knowledge. They were so excited about the destination that they failed to consult God's map for how to get there. They were about to handle a holy God with unholy, pragmatic, man-made methods. They were about to put the throne of God on a new cart, just like the Philistines did, and the result would be death. This is a permanent warning for the church. Popular enthusiasm for a spiritual project is no guarantee of God's blessing. We must not only do the right thing, but we must do the right thing in the right way, according to the explicit instructions of God's Word.
Conclusion: Getting the Center Right
This passage presents us with a foundational challenge. It forces us to ask the question David asked: Where is the ark? Where is the manifest presence of God in our lives? Have we, like Saul, relegated Him to the periphery? Have we become so consumed with our own battles, our own projects, and our own kingdoms that we have forgotten to seek Him?
The first step of any true reformation is to recognize the neglect. We must look at the "days of Saul" in our own history, personal and corporate, and confess, "We did not seek Him." We were busy, we were distracted, we were pragmatic, but we did not inquire of the Lord.
The second step is to cultivate the desire of David. To say, with the leaders and the people, "Let us bring back the ark of our God to us." This must become the central, driving passion of our lives and our churches. Not church growth, not cultural influence, not political victory, but the presence of God Himself. All those other things are downstream from this one central reality.
But as we embark on this great re-centering, we must take the warning of this passage to heart. Our zeal must be governed by God's Word. We cannot approach a holy God on our own terms. We cannot put His glory on the new cart of our latest evangelical fad or our culturally-approved methodology. We must come to Him on His terms, as He has commanded in Scripture. Our worship must be biblical. Our methods must be biblical. Our lives must be submitted to His Word in every detail. For our God is a consuming fire, and He will be sanctified among those who draw near to Him.
Let us therefore have the heart of David, a heart that longs for the presence of God. And let us also have a heart that trembles at His Word, so that we might not only seek Him, but seek Him rightly.