2 Samuel 6:17

THE ARK ENTERS JERUSALEM; ALL ISRAEL REJOICES

"And they brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord. And when David had finished offering the burnt-offerings and the peace-offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, and distributed among all the people, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people departed, each to his house."

"He blessed the people in the name of the Lord" (2 Samuel 6:18). Here is further evidence of David's acting in the capacity of a priest of God. When the ark was housed among the Philistines, it brought death and destruction, but in the midst of Israel, God's representative in the person of King David assured them of the blessings of the Lord.

The critical comment of Caird that, "The fact that David wears an ephod, offers sacrifices and blesses the people shows that priestly functions had not yet been restricted to a class of ordained men."[25] David, however, came to the throne of Israel somewhere in the vicinity of 1010 B.C., and God had restricted the priestly function in the Mosaic Law about four centuries earlier. Caird's comment seems to ignore this, although it is a fact Moses' Law had not been strictly obeyed for centuries.