David’s Tabernacle Restored, Part 7
Reprint: January 12, 2024
My remarks at the end
of last week’s Coffee Break were, no doubt, very controversial to some
folks. I’m not trying to be
controversial. After being with David,
after experiencing what he experienced, after watching and experiencing all of
the adventures that have come over the past 70+ years in the presence of the
Lord, I can’t help it. These are honest
observations shared in the hope that I can awaken folks to the true nature of
praise and worship, prayer and intercession.
Consider
in the light of my comments what Isaiah writes about Lucifer.
Isaiah 14:11: Thy
pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols:
Compare
that to Ezekiel’s word when he talks about how he was first created as worship
leader in Heaven.
Ezekiel 28:13b: The
workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day
that thou wast created.
What
a contrast! The statement that Isaiah
makes concerning “the noise of thy viols” is significant in view of the noise we
hear today. The Hebrew word, nebel, actually
translates differently to psaltery or lute — in other words stringed
instruments. Isaiah was saying that
Lucifer had transformed what should have been beautiful stringed sounds into
utter noise. His prophecy makes clear
the fact that this noise will go to the grave.
Ezekiel’s
prophecy indicates that when Lucifer was first created, he was created with
perfect percussion (the tabret—Hebrew, toph) and what we know
today as woodwind instruments and brass, like the trumpet and trombone
(pipes—Hebrew, halil).
Lucifer
was created for the express purpose of surrounding the throne of God with
worship. He corrupted it and he
corrupted the sound so that it became noise to God.
Sadly,
much of what the church world knows today as worship has degenerated into
noise. It doesn’t bring life and there
is no real peace in it. It doesn’t
minister to the Lord, and it doesn’t accomplish what God intended for worship
to accomplish.
Let’s
consider for a minute why it is that God first surrounded Himself with worship,
and then why he replaced Lucifer with us.
Worship
provides a creative atmosphere. Think
about it for a second! Worship
surrounded the Throne when God first spoke the worlds into existence. Worship surrounded the Throne when he created
Adam and Eve. Worship surrounded the
Throne when He created the Garden of Eden.
Worship surrounded the Throne when He created all animal and plant life.
If
you think I’m kidding you or that I’ve really stretched things beyond what the
Word says, go back to Ezekiel’s prophecy.
Ezekiel 28:12b-15: Thus saith the
Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom,
and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in
Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the
sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the
sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold:
The workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in
thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the
anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so:
thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the
midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast
perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created,
till iniquity was found in thee.
I
don’t want to take time to get into all the Hebrew words and phraseology that
occurs in this passage, but suffice it to say that Lucifer lacked nothing! The word used for “anointed” in this instance
is different from what we normally see.
In this instance, the Hebrew word is mimshach, meaning: spread
out, as with huge, outstretched wings that surround.
We
see that description amplified with the use of the word, sakak, for
covereth. This word literally means: to
entwine as a screen, to fence in, to cover over.
Ezekiel
launches into his description of some of the instrumentation that Lucifer used
as part of the sound of worship with which he encompassed the Throne. We’ve already described these instruments as
well as those that Isaiah uses.
It
is important for us to see that worship has been a part of God’s existence from
before the worlds began. Consider the
fact that until Adam and Eve were first created, there was no such thing as a
“family of God.” God existed only as
Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Lucifer
became a created being to fulfill the heart’s desire of God for the sound of
worship.
Why?
Because
the heart of the Lord is for intimacy — the kind of intimacy that occurs only
in worship. Understand that Lucifer saw
the creative power that was generated with God in the midst of the
worship. When he corrupted that sound in
the midst of his desire and efforts to usurp the Throne of God and take that
power for himself, he learned to his own dismay that his power was nothing before
God, and he was thrown out of Heaven.
So
God decided to have for Himself a family of beings who would be like Him. These would be a people who would know Him,
know His heart, and come to love Him like He loved them. These would be a people who would replace the
kind of worship that Lucifer had provided.
But there would be a major difference this time. This worship would come out of hearts of love
and a desire for an intimate relationship with God. This worship would come out of an intense
desire for the presence of God in ways that nothing else would provide.
Are
you seeing the picture?
It
isn’t just God that becomes the beneficiary of our worship. This is two-way! We also become beneficiaries by virtue of the
presence of the Lord flowing in us, through us and around us. At the same time, the Glory of the Lord is
magnified and the Kingdom of God grows and spreads abroad across the face of
the earth. We literally participate in
the growth of the Family of God. We
bring His presence wherever we go.
But
there’s more — a whole lot more!
Think
about the creative power that is generated in this worship! Think about what David saw take place as the
families of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun ministered to the Lord in worship.
We’ve
talked about this — and continue to talk about it. Israel was essentially barely existing prior
to David’s establishing of this Tabernacle.
They were continually attacked by their enemies. Land was taken away from them. People continually lost their lives. The land failed to produce like it
should. Israel was not the prosperous
and wealthy people they had once been.
When
the praise and worship began to go forth on a continual basis, that all
changed! You see, David saw the heart of
God. He knew the importance of surrounding
God with that kind of praise and worship.
He had learned in the midst of his years of tending the sheep and
worshiping God with his harp that he could also prophesy in the midst of that
worship. That prophesy was
God-ordained. It was God-driven and
God-anointed. It accomplished what it
was sent forth to accomplish.
Thus,
when the families of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun began their ministry of praise
and worship, they were already attuned.
Their hearts had been prepared beforehand. David chose them specifically because he saw
in them that anointing necessary to truly minister to the heart of God.
And
change began to take place in Israel.
Not only did the nation begin to experience the presence of the Lord as
they never had before, the previous enemies suddenly discovered that Israel had
a military strength and power that far surpassed anything they had seen
before. Whenever those enemies went
forth against Israel, they were handily defeated.
Israel’s
erstwhile enemies began to sue for peace treaties. They began to pay taxes to Israel. Suddenly, Israel was the recipient of income
from people that had stolen from them in time past.
The
land began to produce agriculturally.
Instead of barely existing, the people now experienced an
abundance. They prospered — in spades
even! Israel had not seen such wealth
since their departure from Egypt.
Think
about it. When Israel departed from
Egypt, they literally departed with the wealth of Egypt. The funny thing is that the wealth that was
liberally given to them was an abundance that had been taken from Jacob and his
12 sons — wealth they had to relinquish in order to survive the years of
famine. All of a sudden their
descendants had that wealth returned to them.
I’m
getting a bit off track here but I want you to see what happens when praise and
worship — real praise and worship goes forth.
That creates an atmosphere of the presence of the Lord in which the
Enemy loses the ground he has taken from God’s people.
Let’s
backtrack again for a second. Do you
understand why Satan so vehemently hates God’s people and why he is so driven
to corrupt the sound of worship. He
remembers what happened when he was the worship leader in Heaven. He remembers the power and authority that
manifested. That power and authority are
now in the hands of God’s people — as long as the worship is real.
John
describes something that Jesus said to the woman at the well:
John 4:22-24: Ye worship ye know
not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh,
and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in
truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a
Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth.
Say
that again!
True worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in
truth.
One
more time!
God is a spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in
spirit and in truth.
This
is NOT the singing of songs and listening to a preacher preach his
message. That’s not worship! Worship is something takes place IN THE
SPIRIT! You can’t fake worship in the
spirit! You can’t pretend or just put on
a show of worship. It is something which
comes from one’s heart — from the very inner core of their being.
Worship
in truth comes from one’s desire and purpose to minister to the Lord — to bring
His presence in a manifested way — to fulfill His purposes and desires. When we worship the Lord like that, all
Heaven comes in to join us. I don’t need
to repeat the experiences we had in the 1990’s when we were surrounded by
angels — both visibly toi the naked eye, as well as
invisibly — along with their instruments joining us. I still go back periodically and listen to
the recordings where we can hear the angelic chorus and orchestra join in. The sound is magnificent! It is almost unbelievable to the natural
mind.
The
point is, that when we are engaged in real worship, lives are changed. People are set free. Those who are destitute begin to
prosper. Those who are sick and/or dying
are raised up. All of a sudden things
change in the lives of people around us — not to mention our own!
I
remember how Della and I transitioned from our six-figure incomes to a
guaranteed $200 per month when we began our extended time of spontaneous
worship gatherings. We lived better on
the $200 a month than we had on our six-figure incomes. It doesn’t even begin to make sense
logically. There is no amount of normal
reasoning that can figure it out.
That’s
beside the point. It was a lesson for us
in the provision of God. When He becomes
the priority in our lives, when His presence becomes the principal focus of our
existence, when His heart’s desire becomes our heart’s desire, there is no need
that goes unmet! Della and I have walked
that for most of the past 30 years.
Jesus
put it like this when He was ministering to the crowds in what we now refer to
as “the Sermon on the Mount.”
Matthew 6:25-34:
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye
shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.
Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap,
nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much
better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought
for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not,
neither do they spin:
And yet I say unto you,
That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so
clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much
more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall
we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these
things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have
need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all
these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought
for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
You
get it, don’t you? The essence of what Jesus
is saying is, Focus on the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. You don’t need to fret with the needs of the
day. You don’t need to worry about how
you are going to pay your bills, how you are going to buy your groceries or pay
your rent or house payment, or how you are going to deal with any medical
condition.
Focus
on the presence of the Lord! Put His
desires first. Give yourself over
totally to meeting His heart’s desires.
Worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
No need will go unmet!
In case you are
missing out on real fellowship in an environment of Ekklesia, our Sunday
worship gatherings are available by conference call – usually at about 10:45AM
Pacific. That conference number is (712) 770-4160, and the access code is 308640#. We are now making these
gatherings available by Skype. If you
wish to participate by video on Skype, my Skype ID is regner.capener. If you miss the live voice call, you can dial
(712) 770-4169, enter the same access code and listen in
later. The video call, of course, is not
recorded – not yet, anyway.
Blessings
on you!
Regner
A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
Temple, Texas 76504
Email Contact: CapenerMinistries@protonmail.com
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