In 2 Samuel 6 the children of Israel were celebrating the arrival of the Ark of God in Jerusalem. This event was replete with festivity; there was singing, live music, dancing, complete with a full worship team. The Scripture even says, “David and all Israel were celebratingwith all their might before the Lord.” In other words, all the people were involved. And then, at the height of this all-out worship, God killed the worship leader! He did this because the leader stabilized the Ark of God when the ox that was pulling the cart stumbled.
To our Western minds, this story is difficult. Why would God perform such a seemingly senseless and cruel act when Uzzah (the worship leader) was only trying to do good? We know that God is neither capricious nor cruel, so there must be something moore (typo is intentional; I can’t help but drop a clue here) going on.
Earlier (Exodus 25:13-15), God had commanded that the priests carry the Ark on long wooden poles. He did not say anything about building a cart for transporting it. Furthermore, it was the Levites’ job to huff the Ark, not a couple of dumb cows. God clearly intended the Ark to be carried by hand. The trouble was that Uzzah and the others saw how easily the Ark could be moved once then-modern technology opened up new possibilities. After the Philistines stole the Ark and transported it on a cart pulled by cows (2 Sam. 6:7), the Israelites shamelessly copied their idea. And they didn’t ask God if it was a good idea. So, at the core of Uzzah’s untimely demise was disobedience mixed with good intentions.
As I reflect on this story I wonder, how much heartache would we avoid in our lives if we learned from Uzzah’s mistakes? What if instead of rushing head first into the latest and greatest thing… we just held tight and sought contentment with what we do, in fact, have. What if instead of conforming to the patterns of this world we took God seriously about how he has called us to live? What if we simply stopped and asked God if what we are about to do is what He wants for us? I’m certainly not saying that God is going to strike us dead for “pulling an Uzzah” in our own time and place, but are not the natural consequences of rushing through life without giving heed to the voice of the Spirit of God dreadful enough?
My challenge for all of us is this: Try to go an entire day inviting God into all of your decisions. That’s right—all of them! What you wear, what you spend your money on, what you do at work or in your free time . . . and see what happens. It sounds silly, but as you invite God into the small decisions of your daily life, inviting Him into the “big” stuff becomes a no brainer . . . plus you’ll not only avoid poor choices, but the ordinariness will be filled with unexpected opportunity for God to wow you.
Just a thought,
Jason