2 Samuel 6:1-11

Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. ² And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the Lord of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims. ³ And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart. ⁴ And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God: and Ahio went before the ark. ⁵ And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals. ⁶ And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. ⁷ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God. ⁸ And David was displeased, because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place Perezuzzah to this day. ⁹ And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and said, How shall the ark of the Lord come to me? ¹⁰ So David would not remove the ark of the Lord unto him into the city of David: but David carried it aside into the house of Obededom the Gittite. ¹¹ And the ark of the Lord continued in the house of Obededom the Gittite three months: and the Lord blessed Obededom, and all his household.

In God’s kingdom, what is the goal of bringing everything under His rule? It is so that His people might fulfill His purpose, live in His holy presence, and worship Him. In the Old Testament, we have a pattern of that mission. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were created and given the purpose of being God’s image bearers on the earth (Genesis 1:26-31). They walked with God in perfect obedience and fellowship (Genesis 3:8) until they sinned and were removed from God’s presence in Eden. Everything in the Old Testament is patterned after how God would one day restore what was lost in the fall. King David’s reign comes in that line of patterns. All of 1 Samuel and 2 Samuel 1-5 is about God removing ungodly leadership in Israel and establishing His own. He did that first by removing Eli as priest and raising up Samuel. Then He did it by giving Israel their sinful desire for a king like the nations around them in Saul, removing Saul as king, and then establishing His own anointed King in David. After being established as king over all Israel after around 20 years had passed from his initial anointing by Samuel, David finally stepped into the role God had called him to. His first actions as king in 2 Samuel 5 were to establish a capital city in Jerusalem by removing the Jebusites followed by two resounding victories to remove Israel’s longtime enemy, the Philistines. 2 Samuel 6 is about the next step after establishing David’s rule. The very next thing that God’s king would do is go about reestablishing proper and true worship of Yahweh in the city that He had chosen for His name to dwell. David’s actions in doing this serve as an imperfect pattern for the perfect work of Christ in which He sits as King and establishes true worship in the hearts of God’s people who trust in Him. 2 Samuel 6 has much to teach us about worship and it is broken into two sections (v. 1-11 and v. 12-23). These two sections teach us about worshipping God in holiness and living in light of His presence with us. 2 Samuel 6:1-11 has much to teach us about true worship and is one of the most powerful passages found anywhere in Scripture on the subject. What does it really look like to worship Holy God? 2 Samuel 6:1-11 teaches us three things that God’s holiness calls for if we are to properly worship Him. We will look at the first of those this week and the other two next week.

The first thing that God’s holiness does is it commands obedience. If Jesus is King, sovereign overall, and perfectly holy in all of His ways, then the first and most logical implication of those truths is our obedience. The words for “worship” used in Scripture in both the Old and New Testaments alike are words that literally mean “to bow down.” To worship then, first and foremost, by definition means to submit and obey. It is not about a physical posture but a heart posture that leads to proper action. The centerpiece of focus in 2 Samuel 6 is the ark of the covenant. It had largely been forgotten since it was captured by the Philistines in the battle of Aphek in 1 Samuel 4. Later, the Philistines returned the ark to Israel on a cart pulled by oxen in 1 Samuel 6 because the ark had plagued those that possessed it. Israel had tried to use it to manipulate God to act for them in the battle of Aphek and they were soundly defeated by the Philistines in 1 Samuel 4. The ark was taken and the Philistines were plagued with tumors from its presence. When they had placed it in the temple of their god, Dagon, they came in the next day to find the statue fallen over, facedown before it. 1 Samuel 7 tells us that when the Philistines returned the ark, it was kept in the house of Abinadab in Kiriathjearim (Baale-judah in this passage) and that was the last time it was mentioned until 2 Samuel 6. Forty-plus years had passed since and the ark had not been restored to the tabernacle. It was never even mentioned during the entire reign of Saul (1 Chronicles 13:3).

The ark was a 45” x 27” x 27” box and the details for its construction were given in Exodus 25:10-22. The ark was covered by a lid of gold that was known as the mercy seat and this lid had a cherub on each end that covered it inward with their wings. The ark was carried by two poles of wood that ran through two rings on each side of it and it contained the two stone tablets with the ten commandments on them, a jar of manna from Israel’s time in the wilderness, and Aaron’s rod that budded. These items inside the ark were symbols of God’s Word, God’s provision, and God’s authority. They were reminders of His grace to teach His people His will, provide for His people their daily needs, and allow His people to approach Him through atonement. The ark thus served as a powerful symbol of God’s presence and His people’s communion with Him. It was central to Israelite worship because blood had to be applied to it by the high priest on Yom Kippur each year to make atonement for the sins of the people. It was placed in the holy of holies, the inner sanctuary of the tabernacle, and it was the place where God met with His people and communed with them (Exodus 25:21-22). The ark was not an image of God, but a picture of His throne and mercy seat. It was a symbol of His presence, not an image of Him, which would have violated the second commandment. It served as a reminder of three things. It pictured God’s sovereignty because it showed that He has the highest throne, the one between the cherubim above the mercy seat. Second, it pictured God’s salvation because it was the place where blood was applied to atone for sin and allow His people to approach Him. Thirdly, it pictured His will and Word. It housed the ten commandments that reflected His moral will for His people.

In obedience to the Lord and seeking to restore proper and true worship of Yahweh, David led the people of God to move the ark the 8–9-mile distance to Jerusalem. One positive of this passage is that 30,000 people showed up for the task and they accompanied the moving of the ark with expressions of celebration and joy. That demonstrated the heart of the people to worship the Lord. However, verses 3-4 reveal some things that were tragically wrong with the whole endeavor. First, this is an instance where we do not read that David inquired of the Lord. He didn’t go to the Lord in prayer and he did not consult the Lord’s law. If he had, he would have found God’s instructions for how the ark was to be moved. Instead, David adopted the method that the Philistines had used when they returned the ark by utilizing a new cart with two men, Uzzah and Ahion, driving it. This may have been pragmatic, but it disobeyed God’s clearly revealed will. Numbers 4:5-15 reveals that the ark was to be covered by the vail of the holy of holies in the tabernacle and goatskin when it was moved. To even look upon the ark meant death. 1 Samuel 6 records 50,070 men of Beth-shemesh looking into the ark and dying. Further, once the ark was covered, it was to be carried by four men by the wood poles that were part of its construction and it was to only be carried by the Kohathites (Numbers 7:9-15). Those carrying the ark were warned that they could not touch any of the holy things while transporting it (Numbers 4:15). No matter what our goal or desire is, true worship must always be carried out in obedience to God’s Word. Worship that is ignorant of God’s Word always results in disobedience and disaster, no matter what motives are behind it. When we claim to worship God apart from knowledge of the Word of God, at best we get folly, but we more likely get disaster. Since God is holy, we must approach Him reverently and obediently. That includes the reverence needed to search out His revealed will concerning what we do before we engage in doing it. “Feeling called” to something can be incredibly misleading if we do not ground our feeling in Scripture. God has given us His Word as a guide. It is the highest form of irreverence to ignore it or not consult it when we seek to serve or worship Him. Israel’s actions here should seem all too familiar to us. He simply did what had worked decades before. There was no prayer or  Scripture. There was merely pragmatism (doing what works) in moving the ark and using the world’s (Philistine’s) methods of transporting it. Those things are a recipe for disaster for us. God’s holiness first commands obedience. True worship begins with obeying God’s Word. That is true worship’s foundation.

David and the people seem to have had the right motive in transporting the ark. They desired God’s presence. They desired to approach Him and worship Him rightly and that required bringing the ark back to the tabernacle. However, in pursuing their right motives, David and Israel disobeyed the Lord’s clear instructions. The consequences of this were disastrous. Not only did the world’s methods not work, but an Israelite would lose their life from it. Warren Wiersbe once said, “God’s work must be done in God’s way if it is to have God’s blessing.” It is not only what we do or why we do what we do that matters, but how we do it. We must do it His way and He has made His way clear to us in His Word. The question for us is will we follow it? God doesn’t need our service (1 Samuel 15:22-23), but He desires our obedience. What in our lives do we need to weigh in light of His Word? What in our lives have we done in our own wisdom or the world’s wisdom that we need to yield to God’s wisdom given in His Word? The true freedom and joy of worship is found in obeying the Lord.