Learn to rest in the salvation of the LORD.

The Tabernacle could only be entered by the priests from the line of Aaron. Israel’s kings and citizens could not enter, ever. The closest they could be was its courtyard.

Yet, 2 Samuel 6 records King David putting the Ark, above where God lived, inside a tent he made in Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 7 then shows David sitting before the Lord in the context of this tent. And, nowhere can I find that God ever punished or corrected David for doing so.

Here is my guess as to why. Isaiah 30:15 states, “This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘Repent and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none it.’”

Israel had a problem of leaving God’s presence to hang out with other gods/idols, images made with human hands, who couldn’t save, let alone help them.

The ancient Hebrew word here for “repent” pictures a tent, a place where one is to return. It’s carries the common interpretation of the word repent, but also states where to return – the place where God dwells.

David chose to do this quite literally! It never says he went behind the curtain, which only the High Priest could do. It does say, however, he sat before the LORD. He quite literally took a seat to enjoy the presence of his LORD where salvation was found.

The word rest in ancient Hebrew is pictured as a seed in soil behind a protective wall. It’s like a shepherd, who after watering and grazing, brings his sheep into a pen. The result of combining both pictures is one of sitting in the LORD’s presence behind a protected wall, which results in salvation.

God alone can save. He plants, waters and protects the seed. (Yes, He may use humans, but it’s still His seed!) Our job is to keep hanging out with Him. Wherever He is, we should be and stay. Any thought, thing or action that leads us out His presence, then, is an idol.

So, when you begin to notice yourself straying from the LORD, apply the old adage, “Take a load off an’ sit a spell.” He’s got you! Rest in His salvation, His presence.