1 Chronicles 15:1

1 Chronicles 15:1 says, And David made him houses in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent.  David began to build houses for himself in the city of Jerusalem.  He also prepared a tent for the Ark of the Covenant.  I believe that we should be more concerned with the things of God than we are with our own comfort.  Verse two adds, Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever.  David then said none but the Levites should carry the Ark, since God had chosen them to do so.  We today should do what God calls us to do individually, but we should also all carry the gospel into the world as followers of Christ.  We are all a part of the priesthood of believers.  Verse three continues, And David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord unto his place, which he had prepared for it.  David gathered all of Israel when the Ark was brought to the place he had built for it.  We should always have a place for God's commandments in our heart and we should always make sure that we have prepared a place for them in our everyday life.  Verse four states, And David assembled the children of Aaron, and the Levites:  David then began to assemble the priests, both those who were descendants of Aaron and those who were Levites.  We need to all work together today to share God's gospel with the world.  Verse five adds, Of the sons of Kohath; Uriel the chief, and his brethren an hundred and twenty:  We then have a listing of the various ones assembled and the number in each house or family group in this verse and the next five.  Verse six continues, Of the sons of Merari; Asaiah the chief, and his brethren two hundred and twenty:  Verse seven says, Of the sons of Gershom; Joel the chief and his brethren an hundred and thirty:  Verse eight adds, Of the sons of Elizaphan; Shemaiah the chief, and his brethren two hundred:  Verse nine continues, Of the sons of Hebron; Eliel the chief, and his brethren fourscore:  Verse ten concludes, Of the sons of Uzziel; Amminadab the chief, and his brethren an hundred and twelve.  There were differing numbers in the families, but they were all to work together as priests, just as we must today as individual Christians and also as local groups of believers when we assemble to worship God and carry out His mission.  Verse eleven states, And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab,  David called certain of the priests and Levites to him.  Verse twelve adds, And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it.  He told them as the chief of the Levites that they were to sanctify themselves, as well as their brethern, so the could go and bring the ark to the place David had prepared for it.  We really can't sanctify others, though we might have a service calling for the sanctification of all those there, but individually we must always sanctify ourselves by putting our faith in Jesus Christ and committing to following the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  I believe we should especially do this when we gather to worship and serve God.  Verse thirteen continues, For because ye did it not at the first, the Lord our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order.  David said that they had not done this when they first started to bring the Ark to its place, and God had punished them for it.  We should never attempt to do things for God without first purifying ourselves by confessing our sins and dedicating ourselves to following God's will.  If we don't do this, we will likely find ourselves defeated.  Verse fourteen says, So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel.  The priests and Levites did as David told them to do and sanctified, or set themselves apart for doing what God wanted them to do.  We must do the same as Christians today, no matter what we are doing.  Verse fifteen adds, And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the Lord.  They carried the Ark on their shoulders, as God through Moses had commanded them to do.  We cannot change God's law because we think we have a better way of doing things, but as followers of Christ, we must always be dedicated to following His commandments.