In planning to make Je-ru'sa-lem the religious center of the nation, Da'vid did not stubbornly insist on having his own way. He called together representatives of all the tribes of Is'ra-el, consulted with them, and acted only after their enthusiastic agreement. Before establishing a central place of worship he asked "if it seemed good to them," and did not carry out this plan until assured that "it was of the LORD."
The people did more than merely agree to Da'vid's suggestions; they joined wholeheartedly in the movement, determined to restore the religious life which had been neglected during the reign of Saul, and resolved to establish one great center of worship as formerly commanded by the LORD. Da'vid arranged the priests and Le'vites in regular order for the services of the LORD'S house, reorganized the worship of the nation, and gave an important place to music in Divine services.
It was then decided that the Ark of the Cov'e-nant, which had been Divinely appointed as the symbol of GOD'S presence among HIS people, should be set up in the house of the LORD in the royal city. The sacred chest had been completely ignored by Saul, and was probably almost forgotten by thousands of the Is'ra-el-ites. It had rested in the house of A-bin'a-dab in the town of Kir-jath-Je'a-rim, on the border between Ju'dah and Ben'ja-min eight miles west of Je-ru'sa-lem, for about seventy years.
As we learnt in previous chapters, the Ark had been captured by the Phi-lis'tines in the days of Sam'u-el, then returnt to the Is'ra-el-ites because of the terrible calamities which it brought to its heathen captors. Since the Tabernacle at Shi'loh had fallen into disuse, the Ark was placed for safe keeping in the home of A-bin'a-dab. There it had remaint during the twenty years which elapsed before Saul became king, for the forty years of his reign, and from the time of Saul's death until Da'vid made this change.
