When tragedy strikes in the middle of David’s celebration – 2 Samuel 6, Part 2

In the USA, Presidential Inauguration Day is much more than the outdoor event at the Capitol, during which the president takes the Oath of Office and gives an Inaugural Address. On that day there are also multiple presidential balls, where the president dances with their spouse.  It’s all very formal and dignified.

Could you imagine if during one of those balls, the president would rip off their clothes, except for their underwear, and start wildly dancing? I’m not talking about dancing in a humorously controlled manner, but in a manner that is literally wild, gesticulating with all their might. That would be amazing. It would go viral for sure.

In our study through the life of David, God has brought David victory, and there is great rejoicing in Israel. David is king, yes, but he knows God is the true king of Israel. As we learned in the previous post, David wants to bring God’s throne, the Ark of the Covenant into the capital city. In 2 Samuel chapter six, verses six through ten, David leads the process of bringing the Ark into the city. He and all Israel are dancing with all their might, and then tragedy strikes.

One of the men tasked with watching the Ark as it is on an ox-drawn cart, Uzzah, notices one of the oxen stumble. Concerned that the Ark will topple and fall off the cart, he reaches out to steady the Ark. But the Ark is God’s holy throne, and instantly Uzzah dies.

Why would God kill someone just for touching the Ark?  It seems harsh.  Technically God didn’t do it.  Uzzah did it.  Uzzah knew that touching that Ark would lead to death.  Everyone knew that.  It was kind of like a spiritual electric fence.  You touch an electric fence, you know what’s going to happen.  Same with the Ark.  That’s why they had poles to carry the Ark, so they wouldn’t touch it.

But notice that they weren’t using the poles. Instead they put the Ark on a cart, which is not how God instructed them to carry the Ark. Perhaps, then, there is some disobedience involved in this procession. Furthermore, God who miraculously brought the Ark back from the Philistines didn’t need Uzzah to steady the Ark when the oxen stumbled.

While we don’t know what was in Uzzah’s heart, he was lacking in self-control.  It is sad, and it crushes David.  He was rejoicing, worshipping with all his might, and this happens?  It is awful.  Who wants there to be tragedy in the middle of your party?  It seems like most everything comes hard for David.

Whether you consider all the years David waited to be king or the hundreds of years for the Israelites to have full possession of the Promised Land of Canaan and freedom from their enemies, David is stuck again.  Imagine the frustration David felt.  Now he’s facing another delay. 

It would be very disheartening, and maybe you have felt that.  When you have great expectation for a special day, and you do the training for it, the planning, and then it is delayed and it is disheartening. That’s David in verses 9–10. 

“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 to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.”

But God is true.  God is faithful, as we read in verse 11, “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.”

David sees that God is blessing Obed-Edom and he takes that as a sign that it is now time to try again.  You can imagine David’s excitement.  Bristling with it.  And this time the celebration is on:

In 2 Samuel chapter six, verses twelve through fifteen, we learn that David restarts the celebration. I wish I could have seen that.  It was a grand party. This time, David and the people bring the Ark to Jerusalem, and there is great rejoicing. This story presents David as a different kind of king. He is not following kingly decorum. He’s wearing a thin priestly ephod, dancing with all his might.

But remember David was not your normal king.  He was a shepherd boy, a commoner, a rough and tough soldier.  He worked in the king’s palace, but he never grew up in one. There was another person there that day, however, who did grow up in the palace, and she was aghast at what she saw from the palace window, as she watched the Ark parade into the city.

We’ll meet her in tomorrow’s post.

Photo by dodohawe show on Unsplash