So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before God. 2 And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord . . . And he appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord God of Israel . . . On that day David first delivered this psalm into the hand of Asaph and his brethren, to thank the Lord . . . Sing to the Lord, all the earth; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. 1 Chronicles 16:1, 4, 7, 23 NKJV

What is salvation? What does it mean to be saved? What is the essence of true salvation? To celebrate the return of the Ark to God to Jerusalem, David first composed a Song of Thanksgiving and gave it to his chief musician to be used in worship to celebrate and show forth God’s salvation. The Ark had provided Israel great salvation and deliverance in battle against their enemies, David enjoined Israel to celebrate their great salvation. For New Covenant believers, salvation is a proclamation and celebration of new life and liberty in Christ Jesus.

Salvation is not joining the church, church attendance, giving tithes and offerings, nor water baptism. To conflate these things with salvation, borders on idolatry (Ex. 20:3). Then what does it mean to be saved? It is simply: “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation” (Rom. 10:9-10).  The definition of noun “salvation” and the verbs “save” and “saved” all include deliverance, to revive, to live, and safety (Strong). All these are reasons to celebrate.

Take Noah and his family. During the great flood, they experienced deliverance, revival, new life, and safety. Noah found grace in the eyes of the lord (Gen. 6:8), and by faith, God warned him of things not yet seen, and being moved with godly fear, he prepared an Ark for the salvation of himself and his family (Heb. 11:7). Just like God did for Noah, He delivers you from something to something. And, between the “from and to”, He carries you through as He carried Noah through the flood.

The Ark of God is symbolic of God’s presence and power (Ps.  16:11). God’s presence saves you from the power of sin, the presence of sin, and the penalty of sin (Rom. 6:23). The Ark in your life now becomes a place of the King; a place of revelation; a place worship; and, a place of mercy (Heb. 4:16). Salvation is a celebration that the “Ark of God” has come to you!