Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark. They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.
When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord's anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.
Then David was angry because the Lord's wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.
David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, "How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?" He was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household.
Now King David was told, "The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God." So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.
As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.
They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.
When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!"
David said to Michal, "It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord's people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor."
And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.
2 Samuel 6
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Once David had established his throne in Jerusalem, there was one other important item that needed established there as well. For the ark of God was not with David. In fact, this mention of the ark in 2nd Samuel, Chapter 6, is the first since early in the Book of 1st Samuel (Chapter 7 to be exact) as the ark was turned back over to Israel by the Philistines and kept in the home of Abinadab (1 Samuel 7:1). This underscores how much Saul had turned away from God during his rule…that he would give little respect or credence to the vessel that Israel was to revere and protect since it represented God’s presence with them. Instead, he left it sit idle and unused.
In our scripture today, we see where this changed with David…the man after God’s own heart. For he “brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all” and “set out from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God”
Once they retrieved the ark from “the house of Abinadab”, they set the ark of God on a new cart guided by “Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab”. And “David and the whole house of Israel” were with them, “celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.” Indeed, the ark of God was on its way to Jerusalem where it could once again be placed in a position of holy reverence and esteem.
But there was one slight problem with the procession. You see, God had given clear direction as to how the ark was to be moved…and that was to be done by the Levites who would carry the ark using poles on their shoulders. Instead of this, Uzzah and Ahio guided the ark on the cart and disaster would strike as “they came to the threshing floor of Nacon”. For as “the oxen stumbled”, we read where “Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God” and this resulted in the Lord’s wrath coming on Uzzah “because of his irreverent act”…an act that wouldn’t have even taken place if God’s commands would have been followed. But since Uzzah didn’t follow God’s expectations, he was struck down by God and “died…beside the ark of God”.
Well, this event struck David hard and he was “angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah”. David didn’t fully understand that Uzzah had broken God’s command by touching the ark and thus the punishment. Instead, he became afraid, wondering if he might be struck down next if he took custody of the ark.
And so David “was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David” and “took it aside to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite”…where it remained for three months during which time “the Lord blessed him and his entire household”. This news reached David who was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God."
This news caused David’s heart to soar with praise and he “went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing”. And “when those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf”. David was wearing a “linen ephod” as he “danced before the Lord with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets”. Such was the level of joy felt while they were in the presence of God.
But not everyone was rejoicing. For “as the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window” and “when she saw…David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart”. This was definitely a big change in Michal who once loved David deeply (1 Samuel 18) and even helped him escape as her father sought to kill him (1 Samuel 19). Perhaps, she fell out of love for him as she was married to Paltiel and now resented that she was forced to return to him. Whatever the reason, it’s obvious that things aren’t well in David’s marriage to her.
Going back to David’s procession, we read where the “ark of the Lord” was “set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it” and once there, “David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord” after which “he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty” and “gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women” before “all the people went to their homes”.
As David “returned home to bless his household”, he encountered an unhappy Michal who said to him, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!" Her words were laced with sarcasm and contempt and from this day on, she would have “no children to the day of her death”.
But David, unmoved by his wife’s words, replies, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord's people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor."
You have to love David’s words as he responds to his wife’s inappropriate remarks. For as she attempts to steal away David’s joy from bringing the ark to Jerusalem, David simply tells her that he was rejoicing to the One who chose him and appointed him ruler over His people…and so David did and will continue to celebrate before the Lord.
Has this ever happened to you?
Have you, like David, ever been in the midst of circumstances that brought you to the place of rejoicing before the Lord, only to have someone or something come and try and steal your joy away?
I know I have.
And so how do we respond when this happens?
Like David, we stay true to our Lord just as He is true to us…and refuse to allow anyone to take away our joy. For when we do this, then we can freely come to a place of celebrating, praising and rejoicing before Him. And there is no better place to be than that as we revel in every day that the Lord blesses us with. Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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