Joseph Prince - What Social Media Never Tells You About Comparison (01/21/2026)
Pastor Joseph Prince teaches that David desired to bring the Ark of the Covenant (a picture of Jesus) to Mount Zion, the place of grace and rest, but initially failed by following man’s ways, leading to Uzzah’s death. Through Obed-Edom’s household being greatly blessed by the Ark’s presence, David learned to approach God through the blood sacrifice and grace, not human effort. The key message is to center Jesus in our lives and families, valuing His blood for righteousness and blessings, so God’s goodness restores breaches and brings prosperity to households.
David’s Desire: Bringing the Ark to Mount Zion
Remember when David wants to bring the ark to Mount Zion, the place where God has his resting place. God said, «This is my resting place, and I have desired Mount Zion». In fact, another place it says that he chose Judah and Mount Zion. He says and Mount Zion that he loves. He loves Mount Zion. It never says that he loves Mount Sinai. He loves Mount Zion.
So David had a heart to bring the Ark of the Covenant from a place where it’s long neglected and dishonored to the place where it would be loved, the place of grace, the centrality of the heart of Israel, Mount Zion. And David had this desire since he was a young man. And he said this in Psalms 132: «Lo, we heard of it, » about the ark of the covenant, «in Ephratah». During that time, the king was King Saul, and King Saul had no desire for the ark. He had no desire for the presence of Jesus. And we have established that the person of Jesus is illustrated most clearly, of all the furnitures of the tabernacle, in the ark of the covenant.
In fact, I want to show you this. It also illustrates Jesus in a very clear way. If you would take the ark of the covenant and do this, this is what you see. If you open up all the sides of the ark of the covenant and see how it’s laid out, even long before Jesus died on the cross, this is what you see. You see the cross of Jesus Christ. And of course, the ark of the covenant, the material, speaks of the person of Jesus. The wood speaks of his humanity. The gold speaks of his deity. He is the true God-man, hallelujah. Fully God, fully man. Our God-man, the one that we love, amen?
Who is right now at the Father’s right hand. Don’t forget, you have a perfect man representing you at the Father’s right hand. The Bible says everything that he deserves, that he is able to execute, amen, he’s there making intercession for us, the Bible says you and I will enjoy. Praise the Lord. What do you reckon? Do you think Jesus is doing a great job there at the Father’s right hand? Yes, amen! Praise the Lord. And as he is, so are we in this world. It is not how good we are before God. It is how good our representative man is at the Father’s right hand, praise the Lord. As he is, so are we in this world. Praise the Lord.
The First Attempt: Following Man’s Way
And we see that David’s desire is to bring the ark to Mount Zion. So this is a message for all of us that the Lord wants us this year to bring Jesus back to the centrality of our lives, the centrality of our families, in our marriage, to the center of our parenting, into the center of our career, in the center of our ministry, in the center of our church, amen? Pastors and leaders, let’s bring Jesus back to the center of our church, amen. In all our church life, in all our preaching and teaching, let’s be Christ-centered. That’s the Father’s desire.
The Father says, «Whatever you do with my Son, I will do to you. If you reject my Son, I’ll reject you. If you accept my Son, I’ll accept you. If you honor my Son, I will honor you. He that has the Son has life». Praise the Lord, hallelujah. Do you remember when David was gonna bring the ark back? The moment he became king, one of his first priorities is to bring the ark back. Straight away, he consult all his men, his captains and all that, and they all went to get the ark.
Now David had a right motive, but he was not in obedience. He did things the way of the world. Like, God wants us to do things, but do things his way. And David did it the Philistines’s way. And the Philistines, you know, when they wanted to get rid of the ark, they put it on a ox cart driven by two milk cows all the way to Beth Shemesh. So here, the name «Uzzah». He reached out his hand, Uzzah reached out his hand and touched the ark because the oxen stumbled.
Of course it will stumble, because David did it wrong way. He followed the world. But hey, listen. The Philistines didn’t know any better. So they said that, you know, we’ll hook this ox cart to two milk cows who have their young in the barn, okay? And the natural tendency of these two cows, because they are milk cows, right? They have young and they will always want to feed their young. So the Philistines said, «If these milk cows go all the way to the land of Israel, » which is Beth Shemesh, he said that «then we know that the afflictions that happened to us came from God. That we cannot mess around with this ark. It belongs to Israel. But if the milk cows turn around to their young, » which is a natural tendency, all right, of these animals, «then we know that whatever happened to us is by chance, has nothing to do with God, the God of Israel».
Of course, the milk cows went a beeline straight to Beth Shemesh, the land of Israel. And the Philistines knew it was of God. So God allowed them to do that and none of them died. The oxen didn’t stumble in that case because they didn’t know any better. But God’s people, God expects us to learn. God expects us to honor his Son, amen. And Uzzah, his name means power. Man’s strength, man’s power, man’s strength, Uzzah. So he put out his strength, Uzzah. It’s not Uzziah. Uzziah means the strength of Yah, God’s strength. This is Uzzah. It means his strength. He put out his strength and he died. And David called that place Perez-Uzzah. The breach of Uzzah.
The point where it was broken, amen? The point where something came in that was destructive, that brought death. That is a picture of Perez, a breach. And God promised that when he restores the tabernacle of David, he will repair the breaches. The word there is Perez. He will repair all the areas of Perez, all the broken areas, all the breaches.
The Blessing on Obed-Edom’s Household
So friend, David, instead of responding with an attitude of humility and seeking the Lord, he said, «No, I’m not going to let the ark come to me».
Well, guess what happened? He removed the ark to the house of a man called Obed-Edom. And the Bible says the Lord blessed Obed-Edom so much, blessed him and all he had and all his household, that people got to see it. I mean, it was so evident for all to see. So I want to tell you this. That the first area, right after the first breach, having to do with the tabernacle of David, the first breach was a death that came in. And in this very first restoration was actually the blessings of God on the house of Obed-Edom and on all his household. So we see that the first thing God wants to do in repairing the breach is blessing. All the while, while David was afraid of God, Obed-Edom was being blessed.
Isn’t that amazing? Obed-Edom was being blessed. All the while David was afraid of God, Obed-Edom was being blessed. Now that tells us something. That tells us that God wants to be good. God wants us to receive his blessings, believe in his mercy, believe in his goodness, believe in his love for us. Yes, he is a holy God. But listen, the holiness of God has got to do with us not pretending to be the one who can supply ourselves, the one who is able. And our strength is the very hindrance to his goodness, because if you believe you are strong, it’s hard to believe in his goodness, in his mercy, because you’re always taking the place of God to save yourself, to deliver yourself, to protect yourself, to supply for yourself. Well, God wants to do all this for you. Are you listening, people, amen?
So we see that the blessing of God was on the house of Obed-Edom. The very first area this year that he wants to repair the breaches is in the area of your family life. In fact, Josephus tells us, Josephus is the Jewish historian that lived during the time of Jesus. And he was a personal eyewitness to the destruction of the temple by the Romans. He explained the blessing of Obed-Edom like this. He said that when Obed-Edom brought the ark to his house, he was a poor man to begin with. But the Lord began to prosper him, enlarge him, and enlarge his territories, and bless him with every blessing.
And many Jewish scholars tell us that the blessings on Obed-Edom were in the area of wealth as well as children. But he was blessed in everything. The Bible said blessed in all that he had and on all his household. If you look at 2 Samuel 6, it says that «the ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the LORD blessed Obed-Edom and all his household». Notice all his family got blessed. There are two accounts of the bringing back of the ark.
In 2 Samuel 6 here, as well as 1 Chronicles 13, «The ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house three months. And the LORD blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that he had». So in Samuel’s account, the Lord blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all his household. But in Chronicles, it says, «God blessed all that he had». So it’s a total blessing. It’s a total blessing. In fact, Josephus says that Obed-Edom was so blessed to the envy of all his neighbors.
So it’s something visual, something that people around can see, amen? So much so that someone brought the news to David and told King David this. «Now it was told King David, saying, 'The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.'» Notice the source of this blessing, «Because of the ark of God». «So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the city of David with gladness, » hallelujah. The moment he heard about the goodness of God and the blessing of God on Obed-Edom and all that he had, on all his household, David says, «Hey, I don’t want the blessing of God to be just confined to one family. I want it to come to Zion where it will spread out across all Israel. I realize my mistake right now. I’m on the wrong side of God. I need to be like Obed-Edom».
The Power of the Blood and Sacrifice
He knew about the value of the blood. And friend, without the blood of Jesus, we cannot be made righteous. Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins. Without the shedding of blood, the Bible says we are made righteous, justified by his blood. We are sanctified by his blood. By the blood of Christ, we are made near to God, hallelujah. God makes us perfect in every good word and work through the blood of the everlasting covenant, amen. Jesus shed his blood once and for all. By one sacrifice, we are sanctified forever. Praise the Lord, amen?
We are sanctified by the body of Jesus Christ once and for all, amen. Christ crucified. What does that mean? That means he shed his blood. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins, no remission of sins. Jesus took the cup of the Communion and he said this to his disciples. On that night that he was betrayed, he said, «This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, in remembrance of me».
The more you esteem the blood of Jesus, the more faith you have in the Lord. The more you esteem the blood of Jesus, you will want to take Communion often. Jesus says, «Do this as often, » and we do it as seldom. Friend, the more you see that, the more you value the blood, the more you’ll partake of the Lord’s Supper, amen, proclaiming his death until he comes for us. Praise the Lord. So, Obed-Edom always offered blood on the sacrifice. He says, «I’m a sinner. I deserve death as much as Uzzah, but because of the blood of an innocent lamb. Because of the blood».
You know what happened to Obed-Edom? He stands in the place of a righteous man. God sees him in the righteousness of his Son. Some people say, «Well, the secret of Obed-Edom’s blessing is that he understood praise and worship». Remember, my friend, there was praise and worship before the oxen stumbled and Uzzah died. There was praise and worship then. It didn’t stop the oxen from stumbling. So friend, it is not the praise and worship, because David had praise and worship before Uzzah died, and then when he came to take the ark, there was praise and worship. But there’s something else that David did for the first time when he came to recover the ark from Obed-Edom’s house. What was it? This is what the Bible says.
«So David went and brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness. And so it was, when those bearing the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, that he sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep, » wow. This is the first time we see David sacrificing oxen and sheep. In Chronicles’s account, it says seven bulls and seven rams. So every sixth pace, think of it this way. Every sixth pace, when they traveled, every sixth pace, he sacrificed burnt offering and peace offerings. Every sixth pace, he offered burnt offering. And you know that journey all the way from Kiryat Ye’arim all the way to Jerusalem, Mount Zion in Jerusalem, all the way there, you know, you will see, like, pillars of cloud, pillars, columns of smoke, all right, from the burnt offering. David offered all the way.
Now, would you say that’s radical? This is the first time David did this. He didn’t offer burnt offerings before Uzzah’s death. There was praise and worship before Uzzah’s death as well as after when David came to recover. But the only difference is that he started offering burnt offerings. And that means blood is shed. Where did he learn that from? I believe he learned it from Obed-Edom. Now he learned it, of course, when he was young. He knew about the importance of blood sacrifice, amen? God says, «For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I’ve given it to you for an atonement for your souls».
David knew this. David knew this. But sometimes, like many of us in our own lives, God used the goodness that he bestows on someone else, the blessings of God on someone else, to recover all of us, amen? To cause all those of us who are backslidden, amen, to come back to him, amen. We see the goodness and the blessings of God in someone’s life, amen? And then we feel like, «Hey, I used to know that. Where is that wonderful peace? Where is that sense of favor on me? Where is the goodness of God in my life»?
And we see someone’s life and we become even jealous and we want to be there. You know, friend, may your life be so blessed that you provoke all the backsliders and those fallen from grace all around you to want to come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, amen? Or to come back to Jesus Christ, amen. Praise the Lord.
Obed-Edom: Grace-Conscious, Not Law-Conscious
So friend, there’s something here that we need to learn and cherish before we can see the family blessings in our lives. And that is the appreciation of the blood of Jesus Christ which Obed-Edom had. Two things: he wasn’t law conscious, why? He’s a Gittite. He’s a Philistine.
In fact, during the time of David, David actually had 600 Philistines in his army, 600 of them. And if God is restoring the tabernacle of David, he’s going to restore Gentiles because at that time in Israel, under the law, the salvation message is only for the Jews, only for the nation of Israel. But then, David is… how do I explain… say this? I always like to say it like this. David is an Old Covenant man with a New Covenant mentality. And God allowed him to have that New Covenant mentality. And he lived his life like that. And those 600 Philistines around him, they became mighty warriors. One of them is called Ittai. And Ittai was in charge of one third of David’s army.
He divided his army into three parts. And Joab was in charge of one third, and Joab’s brother, Abishai, was in charge of another. And then the third one was actually a Philistine, a Gittite, by the name of Ittae, who was faithful to David, the Bible tells us, amen. So, Obed-Edom the Gittite. He wasn’t law-conscious. He was Jesus-conscious. Because he wasn’t law-conscious, he was not sin-conscious. He was Jesus-conscious, hallelujah, amen. So they followed the ark. How do I know that? Because the Bible says God made him a doorkeeper in the tabernacle of David, hallelujah, amen. And this is what it says.
Let’s read on about his children. «Moreover the sons of Obed-Edom were Shemaiah the firstborn, Jehozabad the second, Joah the third, Sacar the fourth, Nethanel the fifth, Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Peulthai the eighth; for God blessed him». So remember, God blessed him with many children. Not just the quantity, even the quality of the children, amen. Look at the children that he had. «Also to Shemaiah his son were sons born who governed their fathers' houses, because they were men of great ability».
These are his grandsons. They were men of great ability, amen. «The sons of Shemaiah were Othni, Rephael, Obed, and Elzabad, whose…» They’re all bad dudes, man, I’m telling you. «Whose brothers Elihu and Semachiah were able men». All these are the sons of Obed-Edom. So they are all able men, amen. And the word «able, » you know, is really the word «chayil, » which is actually the word for who can find a chayil woman? Who can find a virtuous woman, amen? It has that idea of not just virtue, virtue, or moral character, it’s also a picture of wealth. Read it up.
For example, it says, «You shall remember the LORD your God, who gives you power, » Deuteronomy 8:18. «You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth». Well, the word there is koach, power to get, what? Wealth, chayil, amen. Chayil. So chayil is translated for wealth in many places in the Bible. So it’s both moral strength as well as wealth, amen. These able men, «All these were of the sons of Obed-Edom, they and their sons and their brethren, able men with strength for the work: sixty-two of Obed-Edom».
So God blessed him. God blessed his sons. God blessed his grandsons, hallelujah. May that be true for you and your families, amen. May the blessing of Obed-Edom rest in your house, hallelujah. This year, it will manifest, amen? And let it rest in such a way, let it manifest also in such a way that people will talk about it, amen. Just like Obed-Edom. Obed-Edom’s blessings, people will talk about it and they will talk about it so that it’s God’s way of sharing the good news, amen, so that others will be drawn to the God that you serve, amen? The God who has blessed your house like the house of Obed-Edom, amen, amen, amen. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus.
Closing Prayer and Benediction
Lift your hands to the Lord, wherever you are. Let me pray this over you for this coming week. The Lord bless you and your families. Let the blessings that were on Obed-Edom and his household be upon you and your houses, upon your families, upon your little ones. And in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, may that blessing be so manifested that people will talk about it, that you’re someone to be envied, that they will desire the God that you serve, that wonderful Savior Jesus Christ, that they will hunger after him. Even this coming week, may the blessings of God begin to manifest in an accelerated way, in the name of Jesus. In this coming week, the Lord grant to you and yours his wonderful shalom, wholeness and peace and tranquility to lead and govern your lives, amen. All is well this week for you and yours in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.