I guess the Israelites were not carrying the ark the way they had been instructed and so they suffered consequences (Uzzah). I imagine them being so enthusiastic about doing the right thing (bringing God back to the center of their nation), that they forgot to do it in an obedient way. They got it right on the 2nd go around though.
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So I have a lot to say on these passages, sorry. There is a lot of interesting stuff in here to me.
ReplyDeleteDavid is so faithful in these verses to seek God's instruction before going into battle with the different peoples who are coming against him. He wants to be sure that he has God's blessing and is following His will. How often do I forget to ask God if I should take on a battle in my everyday life. Is it worth it? Will it do more harm than good? If I think the cause is just or right doesn't mean that it is my battle to fight and I can just charge ahead, I need to seek more of God's direction and wisdom if it is something He desires me to do.
But then we see that David and the Levites did not seek God's instruction on how to carry the ark so it resulted in someone's death. On the surface you think that Uzzah is doing a good thing, protecting the ark from falling, but do we really think that God wasn't capable of intervening and making sure that it didn't fall? Where is the faith and trust in God? Does He need us to intervene, especially when we are being disobediant? The law of Moses said the ark was to be carred on two poles, they weren't doing that, the ark would have been safe had they followed the law. We have seen it time and time again already that failure to follow the law leads to death.
Next we see that after Uzzah's death it is like David is afraid of the ark and sends it to be in someone else's house. I wonder how those people felt about it being there initially. God blesses the family because the ark is there but I wonder if they were fearful at first since someone had just died because they were disobediant. Of course, once David saw the blessings coming on that house, he got over his anger and fear and realized he needed to bring the ark to its rightful place.
I can picture the celebrations in my mind with David and all the people dancing wildly and freely, the music playing and all the excitement in the streets that was done in worship to God. I compare it to how stiff we get when we worship God, not that we should be wild and out of control, but where is the emotion of it, the freedom? Even if it is just us and God, no one can see, do we worship with a passion and understanding of how great God is and all He has done for us. For me, when I truly think about it, it brings me to having my face to the ground and weeping before Him, but not the celebrating and excitement that we see in David and the people. Shouldn't we have that excitement and joy? I know I don't have enough of it my life through worship, I think I need to work on that.
And one final thought/question....I wonder why David's psalm in Chronicles didn't go in the book of Psalms. Just a random question but I guess it is part of the story instead of its own separate message.
Sorry it was so long!
Jenn
Your wordiness gave me a lot to think about. I always feel bad for Uzzah when I read this story. Today I decided to think about it from God's perspective and when I do that I think of my mother/son relationship. When I give my son rules and instructions, I want him to follow them and not change things up as it suits him. Most of the time his disobedience does not really matter at the time, but a habit of disobedience will matter. Maybe for God, not bringing down consequences on Uzzah would have let others think that it was fine to not follow His laws. Israel had enough trouble following God that those in charge of the most holy things needed to set a good example. God lets us get away with a lot of disobedience, punishment like this definitely gets ones attention...but that still still doesn't mean I want to experience it.
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