2 Samuel 15:24–29

There was Zadok also, and all the Levites with him, bearing the ark of the covenant of God. And they set down the ark of God, and Abiathar went up until all the people had finished crossing over from the city. Then the king said to Zadok, “Carry the ark of God back into the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and show me both it and His dwelling place. But if He says thus: ‘I have no delight in you,’ here I am, let Him do to me as seems good to Him.” The king also said to Zadok the priest, “Are you not a seer? Return to the city in peace, and your two sons with you, Ahimaaz your son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar. See, I will wait in the plains of the wilderness until word comes from you to inform me.” Therefore Zadok and Abiathar carried the ark of God back to Jerusalem. And they remained there.

This might be David’s finest hour. Even though he’s in the pit of despair, he doesn’t want to use the ark to his own advantage. It’s God’s ark, not his, and he wants it treated properly.

David knows that if God wants to punish him, taking the ark from its proper home isn’t going to help. That seems obvious to us now, reading about it thousands of years later, but to someone who has seen the power of the ark in practice, the situation is tempting. Who wouldn’t want to have it handy, just in case?

And, on top of all that, one could be worried about how Absalom and his henchmen will treat the ark. Isn’t it safer with David?

No. The ark can take care of itself just fine. It should be treated with respect, and part of that respect is not treating it like a helpless baby.

David is showing that his faith in the reality of God’s presence with the ark is more than just words.

“Actions speak louder than words.”

We know that if someone says he believes one way, but acts as if he believes another way, the other way is what he actually believes.

But this applies reflexively. Our own actions speak to us.

You don’t choose what you believe. You can choose to study, and that can affect what you believe, but your beliefs just are.

David’s actions with Bathsheba showed his faith in God to be less sincere than he thought. He claimed faith, but he acted like an atheist. He had no sense of the presence of God. He didn’t “believe in his heart.”

But David’s actions with the ark in today’s passage display real faith. He isn’t putting any trust in anything or anyone else but God.

You don’t know what’s in your heart until you’ve analyzed your own actions.

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These weekday DEEPs are written by Mike Slay. Saturdays' by Matt Richardson. Subscribe here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/community

The weekly study guides, which include questions for discussion or meditation, are here: https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.