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From Eternity Past
Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
Even lift them up, ye everlasting doors;
And the King of glory shall come in.
Again was heard, “Who is the King of glory?”
And the voice of the great multitude, like “the sound of many
waters,” was heard in rapturous reply:
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory.
Psalm 24:7-10
Then the gates were opened wide, and with reverent awe the ark
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was deposited in the tent prepared for its reception. The service ended,
the king himself pronounced a benediction upon his people.
This celebration was the most sacred event that had yet marked
the reign of David. As the last beams of the setting sun bathed the
tabernacle in hallowed light, the king’s heart was uplifted in gratitude
to God that the blessed symbol of His presence was now so near the
throne of Israel.
But there was one who witnessed the scene of rejoicing with a
spirit widely different. “As the ark of the Lord came into the city of
David, Michal Saul’s daughter, looked through a window, and saw
King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised
him in her heart.” She went out to meet him and poured forth a torrent
of bitter words, keen and cutting:
“How glorious was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself
in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows
shamelessly uncovereth himself!”
David felt that it was the service of God which Michal had despised
and he answered: “It was before the Lord, which chose me before thy
father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of
the Lord, over Israel: therefore will I play before the Lord. And I will
yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of
the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in
honor.” To David’s rebuke was added that of the Lord. Because of her
pride and arrogance, Michal “had no child unto the day of her death.”