The story of David’s zeal to bring the Ark of The Covenant back to Jerusalem in 2 Samuel 6 shows a passion we should emulate. Emulating the hunger and thirst for the presence of God. Emulating the desire to draw near to God so He might draw near to us. Emulating humbling ourselves before Him, the way David did. With all this passion and zeal, David would run into the problem of attempting to do unto God in ways that mirrored God’s enemies and not following the direction of the Lord. While God is not a legalist, He does demand obedience. He may even accept when we lean on our understanding, but you can believe it costs us something. It becomes our utmost responsibility to seek God’s instructions for life, not our own or the world, as the guide on our journey.
When reading the history of 2 Samuel, you will observe that David gathered men to bring up the ark of God. They arrived, collected the ark, and “carried the ark of God on a new cart.” Those who have read the Old Testament will begin to recognize a problem. Zeal was not paired with the instruction of God. It was matched with mimicking the ways of the Philistines. If we read on in 2 Samuel 6, we might find the consequences on the man named Uzzah harsh. His is a lesson on following our understanding and not obeying God completely. When we disobey, it does not always end with such severe consequences. We must remember that God is never to blame for the results of our disobedience. He may allow or even bring the consequences, but we must look back at our choices and find the blame there. This underscores our personal responsibility in seeking and following God's instructions.
What had David, his men, and Uzzah done that brought such calamity? We must return to the Book of Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua to understand. In Deuteronomy, Moses instructed the Priests to carry the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant. Numbers specifically called the Kohathites to carry these things but with a warning: 'They must not touch the sacred objects, or they will die.'" This was not a mere suggestion but an explicit command. Israel was given the privilege of God’s presence dwelling with them and leading them. The movement of the Ark was concretized in Scripture, in the Law. There was no equivocation on how the Ark of the Lord would be moved. This was prescriptive for Israel.
As we travel through Scripture, we arrive at 1 Samuel 4, and there is war between Israel and the Philistines. Israel loses the war, which tells us they are in sin (Deuteronomy 28). When they were on the verge of losing, “they sent men to Shiloh to bring the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD…“ That statement should reveal the heart of Israel’s distance from their God, yet He is still merciful. He does allow the Philistines to “capture the Ark of God.” It was not obedience to get "men to bring the Ark." Just any men? What about how God instructed them?
These consequences of disobedience are often overlooked; we also miss the mercy of God in them when we read the Bible. Then, when God finally puts “His foot down” (if you allow that language), we get angry at God, but we’ve missed so much of His grace through the process. Now, the Ark resides in the land of the Philistines (the world), but God shows His power and superiority over their gods. After suffering various types of consequences for seven months, from God’s presence not being honored in their land, the Philistines want the Ark of the Lord gone.
Carefully read the instructions from 1 Samuel 6, which the Philistines were given by their elders to send back the Ark. “Now build a new cart and find two cows that have just given birth to calves. Make sure the cows have never been yoked to a cart. Hitch the cows to the cart… Put the Ark of the Lord on the cart…” This was carefully and fearfully constructed and instructed by those who did not know God’s prescription of how The Ark of His Presence was to travel. God’s mercy moved on these people because of their ignorance and fear of Him. While it was in their land, they suffered. My husband would say, "He took them to the woodshed!" They wanted this thing gone. You would need to read the story to understand. God's Holiness did not allow them not to discover His Sovereignty. They learned that He would not be mocked even if they were ignorant of His commands. Theirs was the world’s way of honoring God, but they fell short of proper submission. They wanted to get rid of His Presence instead of humbling themselves to Him. With all their sincerity, this was not to be copied by His people; they had his instructions.
There is so much sincerity in these stories. While God might offer mercy on sincerity, He still demands obedience.
After some years, when Saul was king, the Ark was never brought back to Israel. We arrive in 2 Samuel 6 again, with David’s zeal and desire for the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to rest in Jerusalem. Now we know how God prescribed Israel to move the Ark of the Lord. Instead, it would appear that David had some knowledge of how the Philistines moved the Ark from their land. David instructs his men, “And they carried the ark of God on a new cart…” Perhaps because the move by the Philistines was successful in David’s knowledge. He did not realize he was following darkness instead of being the light.
In the Bible, there are a plethora of instructions for God’s people not to follow, be connected with, or yoked to the world. Meaning the system of man that puts their ways before the ways of God. Being yoked with the world means looking for autonomy and living the way we choose while not submitting to the instructions of God. We see the world doing things contrary to God, and they get away with it, so we believe there are no consequences. We miss how magnanimous God is toward us when there are no immediate consequences. This should lead to repentance, but instead, many harden and continue to stray and walk in their understanding, abandoning the ways of God.
God could not let David get away with not doing this sincerely desired thing his way. David would rule God’s people, and God had to make sure he and the people understood that He would not be mocked in this first effort to have His presence dwelling among His people. David’s motives were correct; his actions were foolish and ignorant. As the Ark moved on this new cart, “the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error.” Whatever the reason, God only struck Uzzah. The Bible doesn’t make it clear. However, we can go back to the prescription and draw some conclusions. We will not at this point; we can safely say that from the beginning, the moving of The Ark was done in profound disobedience to God and in the likeness of sinful man instead. David would need to learn that things had to be done according to God’s commands as a man after God's heart.
David was “Afraid of the Lord that day…” It would have been easy for David to get in his head, become angry, and then decide to forget God and move on in bitterness. He did leave the Ark at the home of “Obed-edom the Gittite” for some time. It was reported to him that this man’s household was receiving blessings on top of blessings in his honoring of The Lord’s presence.
In 1 John 2, we are commanded, “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father but are from this world.” When we love the world and attempt to duplicate its efforts and energies, like David tried to do in his handling of God’s Ark, there will be pain in our lives. It impacts us and those around us, and sometimes with grave outcomes. Trust that the impact on Uzzah had to do with him. God doesn’t punish anyone for another person’s sin. Perhaps Uzzah was responsible for knowing what God commanded and kept silent. Again, that is speculation. But God was angry with Uzzah for some reason, and David learned that he was also choosing to worship God sincerely, but sincerely wrong. Each of these men was responsible before God for their own sin; consequences for their sin impacted them each.
David hears the news of the Lord’s blessing on the family's household that allowed the Ark to reside there, and David corrects his actions. Later in the same passage, we read, “So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing. And when those who bore the ark of the LORD…” Those words are essential. David left the ways of the Philistines behind him (the ways of the world), and somewhere in this exchange, he found out what God prescribed and obeyed.
David’s anger with God’s actions became David’s responsibility. He had to understand that God is not to blame for the consequences of his or his men’s sinful choice to follow the ways of the Philistines (the world) and not the instruction of God. God is not unfair. If He punishes sin, we must understand it was a fair decision and action. David finally repented and submitted. That is the only way to make things right with God.
We can rejoice when we are in obedience to God. The reason the great commission says, “… teaching them (disciples) to observe all that Jesus taught…” is because many Christians are not always clear on all that God commands of His children. God doesn’t raise legalists, but He does desire obedience. It is not instinctive to know all God wants of His children in a world contrary to His Word. We can so quickly, like David, be swayed with zeal and handle life in ways that don’t honor Him. Again, God's ways are not natural or ordinary to human beings. God is merciful, and those mercies are new every morning. There will be pressure from Him for us to learn what He desires about any given way of life. His Word tells us to “observe all that Jesus taught…” That is where we begin our obedience education and travel through life God's way.
Here is the better news: David learned what God commanded, changed how he did things, and forsook the world's ways. God blessed not only him but all His people. Then, all those who chose to become part of Israel through obedience to His Covenant. And we get a great spiritual life lesson from it all. When we learn to do life in God's way, we will experience His joy. That is also how this story ends, with David dancing and rejoicing in the Lord. Amen!
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