David said to all the assembly of Israel, If it seem good to you, and if it be of Yahweh our God, let us send abroad everywhere to our brothers who are left in all the land of Israel, with whom the priests and Levites are in their cities that have suburbs, that they may gather themselves to us;
Even though there was much joy and worship as the people transported the ark, they did not obey God’s orders for its proper treatment (1 Chronicles 13:7; 1 Chronicles 13:9; cf. Numbers 4:15). Worship can never replace obedience to God’s revealed will (cf. 1 Samuel 15:22-23). Where God’s presence abode there was power, as always (1 Chronicles 13:14).