2 Samuel 6:9-10
Verse 10 He was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.
David was in a state of shock as he saw Uzzah fall to ground behind the cart carrying the Ark of the Lord. He was obviously dead, David had seen enough people die to know the sight. It had happened so quickly and all the man had done was reach his hand out to make sure the sacred object didn’t fall. The king could no longer deny just how sacred God is. This wasn’t just an object that represented God, it was the one that He had declared as His seat among His people.
David had come to understand the seriousness of what he was trying to do by moving this piece of Tabernacle furniture. The power of the Lord was more than he could comprehend at the moment. Nothing had hit the young man causing him to die. There was no evidence that would show his cause of death, God had struck him without outward damage. This young man was dead because of God’s wrath. That would be a truth which made for a startling realization for the king.
With his new found fear of the Lord, David decides he can’t take the Ark to the capital city. If God is willing to kill people who try to rescue the Ark what would He be willing to do if He didn’t want the Ark moved to Jerusalem? So David makes the prompt decision to change course and take it to another place which was closer at hand.
There was a man who lived in a Levitical city, to David it seemed like the best place for it to go. So with a change of direction the celebratory parade became a solemn march to protect the Ark and those around it to get it safely to the new location. 30,000 young man following the oxen and Ark as they bumble along. Each bump in the road would remind those young men of the other young man they had watched drop dead. Each lurch of the cart would remind them of God’s wrath and power. It could have just as easily been one of them who were following close enough to reach out to steady the sacred piece.
David had made a choice to move the Ark of the Covenant without checking about the protocol for transporting it. David had a new piece of information in his understanding of who God is and how serious He is about what He says. Pleading ignorance wasn’t going to work, the information was available, and the king just hadn’t made the effort to search it out.
Making It Personal
When have you been willing to believe something was OK because you didn’t want to see what God thought about it? Why would it be important to know what He wants you to do? Do you want to know His ways?
Making It Personal Kids
Is it hard to follow directions you don’t have? What can happen if you don’t follow the directions and so you do it wrong? Do you think it is important to know what Jesus wants you to do?
Closing Prayer
Father, we confess that sometimes we are so interested in doing what we want that we neglect asking You for direction. Please help us to see our need for Your instructions so we can always please You in our actions. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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