"Steadying the Ark"

Scripture Passage

2 Samuel 5:1-3; 1 Chronicles 11:1-3; 1 Chronicles 12:23-40; 2 Samuel 5:17-25; 1 Chronicles 14:8-17; 2 Samuel 5:6-10; 1 Chronicles 11:4-9; 1 Chronicles 3:4; 2 Samuel 5:13; 2 Samuel 5:4-5; 2 Samuel 5:11-12; 1 Chronicles 14:1-2; 1 Chronicles 13:1-5; 2 Samuel 6:1-11; 1 Chronicles 13:6-14

Scripture Focus

Uzzah reached out his hand and steadied the Ark of God. Then the LORD’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him dead because of this. (2 Samuel 6:6-7 NLT)

Observation

Finally—a reading that *ignites* devotional thoughts (instead of numbing the mind)! What do I like from today's reading?

There’s the subtle introduction of “Zadok, a brave young warrior” from the tribe of Levi (1 Chron 12:28). Ezekiel later prophesies that it will be the sons of Zadok who are “the only Levites who may draw near to the LORD to minister before him” in the restored temple (Ezekiel 40:46—chase that one, you Bible scholars!)

There is the mention of the men of Issachar, who “understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take” (1 Chron 12:22)—one of my favorite verses. Oh, how the people of God need leaders “men of Issachar” today!

There is the sensitivity of David in seeking the direction of God and the activity of the Holy Spirit in defeating the Philistines (2 Sam 5:17-25). Any Pentecostal worth his or her salt has to love verse 24—“When you hear a sound like marching feet in the tops of the poplar trees, be on the alert! That will be the signal that the LORD is moving ahead of you…”

But thanks to Mark Buchanan, I’m picking up today on 2 Samuel 6:1-11—David’s first attempt to bring the ark to Jerusalem, his new capital city. It was Mark, in his book Your God Is Too Safe, who first challenged me to consider how much like Uzzah I can be. So the rest of this post quotes Mark, with only minor editing in the interest of space. He writes:

Here is where Uzzah gets me. I’m a pastor. I am “responsible” for the church’s worship. I am paid to make sure it all glows and flows and steps on no one’s toes. And, frankly, it’s hard to preside and participate at the same time. Somebody’s got to make sure the songs move in the right thematic flow, in the perfect emotional key of elation or exhortation or solemnity…

What if the ox stumbles and the ark falls off? Who will reach out their hand and steady it? Who will protect God? Somebody’s got to pay attention here. Not everyone can dance.

Uzzah teaches us, at great personal cost, a valuable lesson about God. God is not safe. He is not a household deity, kept in our safekeeping. And God’s safety is not our business. God takes care of himself.

The safest thing to do with a God like this is not to play it safe with Him. It is to never get so caught up in keeping the traditions or hastening the innovations that we forget to throw ourselves headlong into His brusque and tender embrace. It is to never get so busy protecting God that we fail to take refuge in Him. It is to never become so preoccupied in our Keep God Safe march that we forget to dance before our God with all our might.*

*Mark Buchanan, Your God Is Too Safe: Rediscovering the Wonder of a God You Can’t Control (Grand Rapids, MI: Multnomah Publishers, Inc., 2001), 29-30.