I’m not sure we have fully considered the dramatic level of spiritual activity and glory that was taking place in David’s Tabernacle. With the ark of the covenant dwelling in the midst in either an open format or only separated by a sheet, the manifestation of glory in that place was extreme. The glory of God was residing in plain view on the mercy seat on the top of the ark of the covenant. David would come “before the Lord’ and stare into that glory-fire-light. It was in this place that God gave him revelation of the incarnation, the crucifixion, the resurrection, the end of the age, the second coming, and the age to come. The spirit of revelation and the spirit of prophecy that were flowing in the midst was unmatched. Consider the prophetic songs, sounds, visions, and encounters that were likely taking place continually. It was a theatre of divine entertainment almost like the world has never seen.
I can’t help but believe that when Paul describes the church as, “a holy temple of the Lord…being built together as a dwelling place for God in the Spirit” (Eph 2:21-22) that he had in mind the glory that dwelt in Solomon’s temple which first resided in David’s Tabernacle.
In David’s Tabernacle there were three chief musicians: Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun, and each were known as prophets. David himself was a prophet-king. The singers were the proclaimers and messengers. This is a model that I’m confident the Lord wants to restore to the church. Our worship leaders are not to be performers, but prophets declaring the word of the Lord through song. It’s not that we shouldn’t have teaching, but the worship ministry must not be reduced to a little salt that we sprinkle on the service to enhance the main meal. We must get a Biblical vision of what it means to be a psalmist, a singer, or a musician, who is anointed to prophesy on instruments and sing the word of the Lord. The reduction of worship ministry to a performance that mirrors most secular entertainment is an aberration from David’s original intent in combining musical instrumentation to the worship offering of the Tabernacle.
David’s Tabernacle was a completely new order of worship in the earth. Peter Leithart, in his brilliant book, From Silence to Song: the Davidic Liturgical Revolution, explains that until David’s time the only record of musical instrumentation included in the worship of Yahweh was the blowing of the shofar at the beginning and ending of each day during the morning and evening offerings (Num 10:9-10). David was the first one to incorporate musical instruments as normative in the worship experience of God’s people. This is a huge statement but just consider it: from that time until now, every worship gathering that incorporates singers and musicians lifting musical melody in adoration of Yahweh has its roots in David’s Tabernacle.
In my opinion, the greatest thing David gave the earth wasn’t his one hundred Psalms or his depth of messianic revelation (Though the value of those things cannot be understated). The greatest thing David gave the earth was the Tabernacle that hosted the glory of God in ceaseless, music-led worship.
This gift of the continuous worship and prayer in David’s Tabernacle was an earthly emblem of the heavenly court of God that forever continues in unending adoration. The very presence of David’s Tabernacle on the earth not only changed the global worship movement for the people of God in all ages, but it also set forever a physical and prophetic emblem for the centerpiece of heaven’s governmental structure on earth.
David’s kingdom was centered around David’s Tabernacle, in the same way God’s throne is centered in night and day worship and prayer. For me this begs the question… what about the Church? The Church is God’s governmental center on the earth now. Why does it look so different than it did in the time of David’s Tabernacle? Could it be that we have departed from God’s original intention for the worship gathering of His people? I believe that David not only gave us a picture of heaven’s governmental structure for that age, but I also believe it is for this age as well. In David’s Tabernacle we find a model for the church that was also practiced by the believers in the New Testament.
In our next blogs we will look at the New Testament church at Antioch and the conflict in the Jerusalem council to see how the Bible points to David’s Tabernacle as a model for the church in this age.
