When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, 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 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 to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. (New International Version)

“What you think is the right road may lead to death.”

Proverbs 14:12, GNT

The narrator who originally told and wrote this story wanted to communicate something of God to us, as well as our relationship to the Lord. It’s important to understand why God rained on David’s hoedown. At that time in the history of Israel, the Ark of the Covenant was the foremost symbol that God was present with the people. 

Contained within the ark were the tablets of the Ten Commandments (the symbol of God’s Word); the staff of Aaron, the first priest (the symbol of God’s choice); and a pot of manna (the symbol of God’s provision). The ark was a holy object, pointing to a holy God.

The ark of the Lord was built at the time of Moses when all of the ritual laws of God were established. Those laws included details concerning the offerings people were to bring and how to approach God in worship. The latter part of the book of Exodus describes all the prescriptions of how to construct the sacred articles for worship. 

The ark was at the center of it all, representing the presence of God among his people. That was nearly five-hundred years before David. The ark had become a familiar object in the life of Israel, always there, continually being the symbol of God to the people.

We have all likely had the experience of something becoming so familiar to us that we begin to lose sight of how important and valuable it really is. And it is not until we lose it, or something traumatic happens, that we come back to our senses and again take stock of its true significance. 

The Israelites had become lethargic and apathetic toward the worship of God, and it led to some disheartening and tragic circumstances. God’s people need to continually be on guard against the opiate of familiarity dulling our senses to the importance of true worship.

Moving the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant to Jerusalem was one of the first acts David did as the king of Israel and Judah. God was with David and brought him success against his enemies. David enjoyed a close walk with the Lord. Yet, he could still make mistakes. Even though David’s heart was in the right place, he made a huge error which was an affront to God. 

The way in which we treat God, the things of God, and God’s word and worship, are of vital importance and value.

King David had the best of intentions, bringing up the ark to Jerusalem and giving it a prominent place in the center of Jewish life. This was a good thing, a good plan. The problem, however, came in the way the ark was carried from one place to another. The book of Exodus lays out in careful detail how the ark is to be transported. (Exodus 25:10-22; 37:1-9)

Two Levites, Uzzah and Ahio, were charged with taking care of the ark. Only the Levites could handle the ark and all the holy objects of worship that went along with it. Since it was their job, they should have known better than to carry the ark of the Lord on a cart. 

“If you love me, show it by doing what I’ve told you.”

Jesus (John 14:15, MSG)

God had clearly told Moses the ark was to always have two long poles of acacia wood overlaid with gold inserted into four gold rings of the ark. In fact, the ark itself was made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold.  The ark was to always be carried on the shoulders of the Levites with the two poles.

We are not told why Uzzah and Ahio are pulling the ark on a cart with oxen instead of carrying it in the prescribed way. Perhaps it was because the ark was very heavy. It was no cake walk carrying the ark around.  Maybe they decided it would be more expedient and easier to have some much stronger oxen pull the ark on a nice new cart; it would save a lot of energy bringing it over a long distance. 

Actually, when you think about it, this makes a lot of sense. It is quite pragmatic. However, God was not okay with this arrangement. When the oxen stumbled and the ark was in danger of falling off the cart, Uzzah reflexively reached out to steady it.  That was the last act Uzzah ever did on this earth. God put him down for his “irreverent act.”

We must neither decide nor evaluate the worship of God by common sense pragmatism, what we think will work best, or how we feel it ought to be done. Everything in the church is to pay attention to the holiness of God through our obedience. Whenever we avoid the prescriptions of God, however best those intentions might be, is not a good thing and people will get hurt. 

One can never justify an action which goes against God’s Word, just because people are praising God and their hearts are in the right place. It doesn’t necessarily mean what is being done is okay.

David’s first response was anger, then fear. Although he gave his best effort, it resulted in God’s disfavor. Upon reflection, David realized that he perhaps took for granted the ark could be moved any way they wanted to move it. 

Whenever we value efficiency and expediency over obedience and submission to God’s holiness, there will be trouble with God. The great sin of Uzzah, resulting in his death, was that he was managing God. 

We do not take care of God; God takes care of us. God will not bow to us and allow creatures to manage the Creator. The Lord wants pure unadulterated obedient worship from people in the way it is to be done.

Doing the wrong thing for the right reason is still the wrong thing to do. David had to learn that the hard way. Let’s learn from his mistake.

Blessed Lord, who graciously provides us instruction for our good, give us faith to receive your word, understanding to know what it means, and the will to put it into practice, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.