2 Sam 6:5, Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all kinds of instruments made of fir wood, and with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets and cymbals.
This morning we have a wondrous aspect of our placement into the family of God through Christ Jesus set before us. We see it in the manner in which King David was so enthralled with the Lord for the simple reality of His presence with them. God’s immediate presence was symbolized by the Ark of the Covenant, as it was the earthly representation of the living place of God. 
Remember, it was never thought that God was limited to the placement of the Ark. The Israelites knew, as do we, that God is never contained in any object. He is Omnipresenct. The whole of His creation is filled with His presence. He is not limited to space or time or location. He is found everywhere and witnessed by those so blessed with the eyes to see Him in action and in all His glory.
However, in terms of God’s covenant with His people, the Ark represented that relationship of being with the people of God. They were so chosen by God for the purpose of presenting to the nations Who God is and all that He is going to accomplish through those who will be His witness in His creation. That is the reality that was being celebrated as the Ark was being brought into Jerusalem to its place of honor. At this point in history, it was going into the tent that David had pitched for it until the building of its permanent placement into the temple would be accomplished. 
We have a sense of the excitement of the king and all the people as to the bringing in of the Ark of the Covenant in this morning’s passage. It is filled with the fact that …David and all the house of Israel were celebrating… We can see in our minds the joyful shouting and singing and dancing and sacrificing as so so many people were gathered together in the awesome gala of this spectacular event. The streets were filled with rejoicing, and with myriads of people in awe struck wonder, as the Ark was carried by the priests to the place of its rest. We have that sense of worshipful praises of excitement and elation and jubilation rising from the souls and beings of those who longed for the presence of God to once again be at the central placement within the nation of His creation. 
1 Chron 13:8 expands on this sense of celebration to an even greater measure. 1 Chron 13:8, And David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, even with songs and with lyres, harps, tambourines, cymbals, and with trumpets.
Note the additional aspect invested in this passage. …David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might… It wasn’t just that all the people were involved in this jubilation with all the instruments at their disposal and with all the repertoire of praise songs flowing forth from their mouths. It was the fact that they were doing so with all their might! There was nothing half-hearted about this rejoicing in the evident presence of Jehovah! They were putting everything they had into this honoring jubilation that God was among them; that He was actually in the midst of this congregation of celebrants. 
 I have to ask myself, with all humility and shame, when was the last time I was so enthralled with the knowledge of the presence of the Lord that I celebrated before Him with every fiber of my being, with every ounce of my energy, with every ability of my heart and my soul and my essence? That is what we have before us in these two passages recounting the same instance in the history of the people of God. 
In the first passage, they were using every instrument in their possession to play the songs of worship and rejoicing unto the Lord. In the second passage, it was with all their energy and beings that they were proclaiming the praise of God with their mouths, with their hands, with their hearts and with all their might. Nothing was being withheld from God in the dance of their entire bodies before Him in honor and in joyous elation and absolute delight that He would deign to enter into the city of their habitation and dwell among them!
This hearkens us back to the shores of the Red Sea, at the first time that Israel danced and sang together in celebration of the great work of Yahweh. After God returned the waters to their place, overflowing the chariots and soldiers of Egypt, the people responded with intense and earnest and jubilant rejoicing in this God of their forefathers. He had rescued them from the hand of Pharaoh. The entire mass of former slaves danced and sang the Song of Moses before the Lord on that seashore. They were declaring that He was their God and they were His people!
Please turn back to Ex 15:1-18, as we read together the excitement and the jubilation in this call to praise and worship The God of Israel. They rejoiced wholeheartedly in Jehovah, the Savior of His people.
Ex 15:1-18, Then Moses and the sons of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and said, "I will sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; The horse and its rider He has hurled into the sea. "The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will extol Him. "The Lord is a warrior; The Lord is His name. "Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; And the choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea. "The deeps cover them; They went down into the depths like a stone. "Thy right hand, O Lord, is majestic in power, Thy right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy. "And in the greatness of Thine excellence Thou dost overthrow those who rise up against Thee; Thou dost send forth Thy burning anger, and it consumes them as chaff. "And at the blast of Thy nostrils the waters were piled up, The flowing waters stood up like a heap; The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. "The enemy said, 'I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; My desire shall be gratified against them; I will draw out my sword, my hand shall destroy them.' "Thou didst blow with Thy wind, the sea covered them; They sank like lead in the mighty waters. "Who is like Thee among the gods, O Lord? Who is like Thee, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders? "Thou didst stretch out Thy right hand, The earth swallowed them. "In Thy lovingkindness Thou hast led the people whom Thou hast redeemed; In Thy strength Thou hast guided them to Thy holy habitation. "The peoples have heard, they tremble; Anguish has gripped the inhabitants of Philistia. "Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed; The leaders of Moab, trembling grips them; All the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away. "Terror and dread fall upon them; By the greatness of Thine arm they are motionless as stone; Until Thy people pass over, O Lord, Until the people pass over whom Thou hast purchased. "Thou wilt bring them and plant them in the mountain of Thine inheritance, The place, O Lord, which Thou hast made for Thy dwelling, The sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands have established. "The Lord shall reign forever and ever." 
Then in verses 20+21 there is the response to this call to worship and dance in joy before The Lord. Ex 15:20+21, And Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took the timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dancing. And Miriam answered them, "Sing to the Lord, for He is highly exalted; The horse and his rider He has hurled into the sea." 
Can we see with our mind’s eye the rejoicing and the exultation that the people set before The Lord God, Jehovah? They had just walked through the Red Sea on dry ground, not knowing what was before them, but definitely fearing the forces of Pharaoh behind them. Then, after reaching the other side, having walked for miles with those walls of water towering far above their heads, they heard the sound of the pursuing chariots. The noise of the horse’s hooves and the shouts of their pursuers were getting louder and louder. It was a time of intense doubt and fear and disappointment, being brought to the brink of escape only to have that sense of dread at everything being destroyed.
Then God stepped in, once again, and closed that passage upon that Egyptian army by bringing the waters of the Red Sea back together. Think of just what it would have sounded like as suddenly, all those noises of the soldiers of Pharaoh’s pursuit were instantly silenced. In just the space of a moment, all that could be heard were the sounds of the Sea in its normal pattern of ebb and flow. 
The immediate quiet that surrounded the people was so intense that they could not stand it. They had to break forth into song and dance unto this God, this Savior, this faithful Jehovah Who deserved all their praise and adoration and worship! 
They couldn’t do anything but fill that day with song and dance and adulation unto Yahweh, Their God, the Only Living Lord God Almighty! Their entire energy and beings were concentrated in that moment into the full measure of utmost celebration unto the God of their heritage, their God now, and their God forever! As proclaimed by Moses in verse 18 of Ex 15, "The Lord shall reign forever and ever." 
Next let us continue looking at another example of praising the Lord with the whole essence of one’s being. This would be at the point when Solomon had finally constructed the temple of God. As the people were gathered together to honor The Lord, King Solomon brought unto Jehovah the very heart of the people in the dedication of that which truly belonged to God, Alone. Please open to the fifth Chapter of 2 Chronicles. This was at the point that the Ark of the Covenant was again moved, this time from the tent to its place of permanence in the temple constructed unto Yahweh.
2 Chron 5, Thus all the work that Solomon performed for the house of the Lord was finished. And Solomon brought in the things that David his father had dedicated, even the silver and the gold and all the utensils, and put them in the treasuries of the house of God. Then Solomon assembled to Jerusalem the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers' households of the sons of Israel, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel assembled themselves to the king at the feast, that is in the seventh month. Then all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark. And they brought up the ark and the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils which were in the tent; the Levitical priests brought them up. And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him before the ark were sacrificing so many sheep and oxen, that they could not be counted or numbered. Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubim. For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, so that the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its poles. And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen in front of the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; and they are there to this day. There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of Egypt. And when the priests came forth from the holy place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without regard to divisions), and all the Levitical singers, Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun, and their sons and kinsmen, clothed in fine linen, with cymbals, harps, and lyres, standing east of the altar, and with them one hundred and twenty priests blowing trumpets in unison when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice accompanied by trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and when they praised the Lord saying, "He indeed is good for His lovingkindness is everlasting," then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God. 
Consider the gathering that is described in this detailed passage of the delight expressed to bring praise to the Lord for His presence within the nation of His chosen people. Solomon assembled as many of the leaders of the nation as would fit within the confines of the gates of the city. There were so many sacrifices made unto the Lord that they could not be numbered. Then the account of the priests as they brought the Ark into the holy of holies and began the worship of God for His great mercy and love …when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard with one voice to praise and to glorify the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice accompanied by trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and when they praised the Lord saying, "He indeed is good for His lovingkindness is everlasting," then the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.
What an assemblage of hearts who were seeking to bring glory to God, Alone! This was His temple, constructed according to His plan, and filled with the vessels of His design! The placement of the Ark represented His everlasting place of honor and glory as the indwelling of God was presented to the nation in accordance with that which would bring honor and blessing and adoration and worship unto Yahweh. 
This was the place the people could come to present themselves and their offerings unto God with adoration and reverence and rejoicing. And it was the representation of the physical dwelling place of the Most High - the place that they could bring their petitions to be heard by Jehovah. It represented the relationship of the covenantal promises of God to His people, and of His people unto God. 
As a result, the people were expressing utmost awe and rejoicing as God’s glory so filled the temple that the priests could not remain and minister any longer. His people were amazed at the splendor and the majesty and the glory of God as Jehovah indicated His good pleasure in the worship that was set before Him by all those assembled. They were there to present unto God their praise and sacrifices in the overwhelming joy and abundance of their hearts. …they praised the Lord saying, "He indeed is good for His lovingkindness is everlasting,”….
We need to take to heart the manner in which the Children of God, from the inception of the nation at the banks of the Red Sea onward threw themselves into their worship and rejoicing and praise and adoration of God. They were not ashamed to dance before The Lord, actually putting their every energy into that which would bring honor and glory to Jehovah, their God. 
What about us? We tend to be so reserved and quiet in our western style of corporate time before The Lord. Our worship service, in comparison to these accounts before us is so very lacking in the measure of how much we invest our entire being and energy into our utmost heart of praise. 
Should we get up and dance before the Lord, as David danced? Maybe, maybe not. It is not wrong to be exuberant in our celebration of the Most High and Holy Lord God Almighty. At the same time, within the structure of our concern for others, we dare not offend the sensitivities of those who would be put off from the assembly of the saints by such open displays as dancing in the aisles and swinging from the chandeliers. 
Sadly, in the history of the church in America, this type of forcing an emotional sense of worship has been so abused that members of various communities come to the churches of those who practice such outlandish means of worship in order to ridicule and to be entertained by the antics taking place. It is a disgraceful, human effort to force an emotional response that truly has no place within the assembly of God’s people. It was and is just a working up of a semblance of worship based strictly on human effort and emotion. It is not a worship springing forth from hearts of love and adoration to be in the presence of the Lord God Almighty.
At the same time, there should be the evidence of the full measure of our entire essence being set before God in the worship that is absolutely fully energized by the goodness and the loving kindness and the majesty and the splendor and the glory of Our Lord God Almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth! This is what we will continue with, Lord willing, as we consider much more of the commands of The Lord, in His Word, to bring before Him the full measure of the praise from within our entire beings. So be it.
Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all kinds of instruments made of fir wood, and with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets and cymbals. Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Ps 24:9+10, Lift up your heads, O gates, And lift them up, O ancient doors, That the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah. Amen.