Split Screen Worship: The Grammar of God's Presence
Introduction: Liturgy is Unavoidable
We live in an age that despises formality and structure, especially in worship. The modern evangelical impulse is to chase after a feeling, an experience, a sense of "authenticity" that is defined by its opposition to anything that smacks of repetition or prescribed order. The assumption is that true worship must be spontaneous, unstructured, and bubbling up from the untamed wilderness of the individual heart. Anything else is considered dead religion, dusty traditionalism, or quenching the Spirit.
But this is a profound theological blunder, rooted in a romantic view of human nature that the Bible does not share. The fact of the matter is that you cannot escape liturgy. Liturgy simply means "the work of the people." Every church has a liturgy. The only question is whether it will be a good one or a bad one. A self-consciously biblical liturgy is one that conforms our worship to the patterns God Himself has established. A bad liturgy is one that is shaped by the spirit of the age, by consumer preferences, or by the emotional whims of the moment. A bad liturgy is often the most rigid of all, precisely because it is unwritten and unexamined. Try to change the number of songs before the sermon in a "spontaneous" church and you will discover the strength of their informal liturgy very quickly.
David, a man after God's own heart, understood this. After the triumphant procession bringing the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem, a moment of unparalleled, exuberant, and spontaneous joy, what is the very next thing he does? He establishes order. He sets up a formal, structured, daily ministry before the Lord. He doesn't say, "Well, that was a wonderful experience; let's hope we can feel that way again sometime." No, he institutes a durable, repeatable, covenantal pattern of worship. This passage in 1 Chronicles gives us a fascinating snapshot of Israel's worship at a unique moment in its history. It was a time of two tabernacles. The old tabernacle of Moses was at Gibeon, and the new tent for the Ark was in Jerusalem. This wasn't a mistake or a contradiction. It was a deliberate, divinely orchestrated arrangement that teaches us something permanent about the nature of true worship. It teaches us that God's presence demands both joyful, immediate praise and faithful, obedient reverence for His established law.
The Text
So he left behind Asaph and his relatives there before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to minister before the ark continually, as every day’s work required; and Obed-edom with his 68 relatives; Obed-edom, also the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah as gatekeepers. Now he left behind Zadok the priest and his relatives the priests before the tabernacle of Yahweh in the high place, which was at Gibeon, to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, even according to all that is written in the law of Yahweh, which He commanded Israel. And with them were Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were chosen, who were designated by name, to give thanks to Yahweh, because His lovingkindness endures forever. And with them were Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those who should sound aloud, and with instruments for the songs of God, and the sons of Jeduthun for the gate. Then all the people went each to his house, and David returned to bless his household.
(1 Chronicles 16:37-43 LSB)
Two Sanctuaries, One Worship (vv. 37-40)
We begin with the division of labor that David establishes. It is a tale of two cities, or rather, two high places.
"So he left behind Asaph and his relatives there before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh to minister before the ark continually, as every day’s work required; and Obed-edom with his 68 relatives; Obed-edom, also the son of Jeduthun, and Hosah as gatekeepers. Now he left behind Zadok the priest and his relatives the priests before the tabernacle of Yahweh in the high place, which was at Gibeon, to offer burnt offerings to Yahweh on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, even according to all that is written in the law of Yahweh, which He commanded Israel." (1 Chronicles 16:37-40)
Here we have a split-screen view of Israel's worship. In Jerusalem, on Mount Zion, David has pitched a new tent for the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was the very throne room of God, the symbol of His immediate presence with His people. Before the Ark, David stations Asaph and his relatives. What is their job? To "minister before the ark continually, as every day's work required." This ministry was one of exuberant praise, thanksgiving, and music. This is the new song, the joyful noise, the celebration of God's presence secured in the new capital city. This is the worship of the face of God.
But simultaneously, five miles away in Gibeon, the old Mosaic tabernacle still stands. All the furniture is there, the bronze altar, the laver, everything, except for the Ark itself. And David stations Zadok the priest and his relatives there. What is their job? To "offer burnt offerings to Yahweh on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening." Their work was not spontaneous; it was meticulously prescribed "according to all that is written in the law of Yahweh." This is the worship of the back of God, so to speak. It is the careful, obedient, day-in-day-out work of dealing with sin according to the covenant stipulations given at Sinai.
What are we to make of this? This is not a contradiction, but a complementarity. David understood that you cannot have the joyful presence of God in Zion without the faithful atonement for sin at Gibeon. You cannot have the freewheeling praise without the formal sacrifices. The worship in Jerusalem was powered by the work at Gibeon. The continual burnt offerings, morning and evening, were the foundation upon which the continual ministry of praise could be built. This is a profound picture of the gospel. Our worship, our joyful access to the Father, our singing and praise, is not something we gin up on our own. It is made possible only by the continual, once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He is our Gibeon. His work on the cross is the perpetual morning and evening sacrifice that cleanses us and makes our praise in the heavenly Jerusalem possible. To neglect the objective work of Christ on the cross (Gibeon) in favor of a purely subjective experience of His presence (Zion) is to saw off the branch you are sitting on.
The Instruments of Thanksgiving (vv. 41-42)
The text then elaborates on the personnel and their equipment, emphasizing the central theme of their ministry.
"And with them were Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were chosen, who were designated by name, to give thanks to Yahweh, because His lovingkindness endures forever. And with them were Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those who should sound aloud, and with instruments for the songs of God, and the sons of Jeduthun for the gate." (1 Chronicles 16:41-42)
Notice the central refrain: "to give thanks to Yahweh, because His lovingkindness endures forever." This is the bedrock of biblical worship. The Hebrew word is hesed, which means covenant loyalty, steadfast love, mercy. This is not a sentimental feeling on God's part. It is His ironclad, unbreakable commitment to His people because of His covenant promises. Our worship is a response to this objective reality. We don't praise God to make Him loving; we praise Him because He is loving, and has proven it by His covenant faithfulness.
And this thanksgiving is not a quiet, internal affair. It is loud. We have trumpets and cymbals "for those who should sound aloud." God is not hard of hearing, but the world is. Our praise is meant to be a public declaration, a joyful noise that testifies to the nations that our God reigns. The instruments are not incidental; they are weapons in a spiritual war. The trumpets are for proclamation and warfare. The cymbals are for shattering the silence of a world that wants to pretend God does not exist. This is robust, masculine, joyful, and loud worship. It is a far cry from the sentimental, introspective, and often effeminate mood that characterizes much of modern worship.
We also see the importance of delegated authority and specific calling. These men, Heman and Jeduthun, were "chosen" and "designated by name." Worship is not a free-for-all. God establishes order, He appoints leaders, and He gives different gifts and callings for the building up of His church. Some are appointed to lead in music, others, like the sons of Jeduthun, are appointed "for the gate." The gatekeepers were not less important. They guarded the holy space, ensuring that the worship of God was protected and rightly ordered. Every role, from the chief musician to the doorkeeper, is essential for the proper functioning of the covenant community.
From Corporate Celebration to Household Blessing (v. 43)
The chapter concludes with the dispersal of the people and David's return to his own home.
"Then all the people went each to his house, and David returned to bless his household." (1 Chronicles 16:43)
This is a crucial verse. The great national worship service is over, and everyone goes home. But the worship does not stop. It simply changes location. The corporate gathering is the furnace where our hearts are set ablaze, but the fire is meant to be carried home. David, the king, who has just led the entire nation in worship and blessed them in the name of Yahweh, understands that his primary covenantal responsibility does not end there. He has another flock to shepherd, another congregation to lead. He "returned to bless his household."
This is the biblical pattern. Public worship is the centerpiece, the anchor of the week, but it is meant to fuel and inform household worship. The father is the priest of his own home. He is responsible for bringing the word, the songs, and the blessing of God to his own wife and children. A man who sings loudly in church but is silent about God at home is a hypocrite. A man who can talk about sports or politics for hours with his family but cannot bring himself to pray with them has abdicated his most fundamental duty. The health of the church is directly tied to the health of the Christian household. When fathers take up their duty to bless their households, to lead them in prayer, to catechize their children, and to fill their homes with the psalms and hymns and spiritual songs they sang on Sunday, that is when we will see true reformation and revival.
David's action here is a rebuke to our modern compartmentalization of life. We have our "spiritual life" on Sunday morning, and then we have our "real life" the rest of the week. For David, it was all one life under God. The blessing pronounced over the nation must be applied and worked out in the home. The head of the state is also the head of a home, and his duty before God extends to both spheres. This is the foundation of a Christian civilization, where the worship of God flows from the public square into every home, shaping every aspect of life.
Conclusion: The Two Tabernacles in Christ
This strange, temporary arrangement of two tabernacles was a shadow, a type, pointing forward to the ultimate reality in Jesus Christ. In Christ, the two tabernacles become one. Jesus is both the sacrifice and the priest at Gibeon, and He is the Ark, the very presence of God, in the Jerusalem of our hearts.
As the writer to the Hebrews tells us, Christ is our great High Priest who has offered Himself as the once-for-all sacrifice for sins (Hebrews 9:26). He is the fulfillment of all the morning and evening offerings at Gibeon. His work is finished. Because of His sacrifice, we no longer need an altar for burnt offerings. The way into the holiest of all has been thrown open.
And because of that finished work, we now have access to the very presence of God. Christ in us is the Ark of the Covenant in the tent of our bodies (Colossians 1:27). Therefore, our lives are to be a continual ministry of praise before Him. We are to be the Asaphs, the Hemans, the Jeduthuns, offering up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name (Hebrews 13:15). Our worship is grounded in the objective, finished work of Christ (Gibeon) and expressed in the joyful, continual praise of His presence (Zion).
And this worship, like David's, must flow from the corporate gathering into our homes. We gather on the Lord's Day to celebrate the resurrection, to be fed by the Word and Sacrament, and to be blessed in His name. And then we are sent out, commissioned to return to our households, our workplaces, our neighborhoods, and to be a blessing. We are to be priests in our homes, bringing the authority and grace of King Jesus to bear on every relationship and every responsibility. This is how the kingdom grows. Not through massive programs or political maneuvering, but through the faithful, day-by-day work of God's people, ministering continually in the church, and blessing their households, all because His lovingkindness endures forever.