2 Samuel 6 vs 1-23

2 Samuel Chapter 6 Verses 1 – 3

 The Ark of God had been captured by the Philistines but during the

time of Samuel it was brought by Israel back into the land where it

remained at the house of Abinadab for 20 years (1 Samuel 7). It was to

the nation Israel the immediate presence and glory of God with the

people.

 Gathering a team of 30,000 men meant that this was a big deal to

David. The Ark of God was built by Moses as a result of the specific

direction from God some 400 years before David. In the Ark, there

were three things sealed inside. The original and actual Ten

Commandment tablets of Moses, a jar of manna, and the rod of Aaron.

Not just historical or religious or national artifacts, but rich in

symbolism. The law of righteousness pointing to the Father. The rod

of Aaron that budded pointed to the coming King, the Messiah, and

the jar of miracle manna pointed to God’s provision in the Person of

the Holy Spirit.

 It says here that David took 30,000 chosen men. Out of the men of

Israel, he selected 30,000 and the word in the Hebrew is “excellent”

men. We aren’t given his requirements but I would hope that every

man in my life would care if they weren’t chosen… I’m not trying to

be condescending or a jerk or anything but if I’m being honest, I

would wish that more men in my experience would care about being

excellent…

2 Samuel Chapter 6 Verses 4 – 7

 What we just read can be troubling and even after explaining it a bit,

it’s still not great. I want to pause for a moment on this phrase, “The

anger of the Lord was aroused…”

 Let’s talk through the subject of God’s emotions. Certainly, a tough

topic but I take risks, ha! First of all, there is no getting around that the

Bible speaks of God having them/emotions. We read of God’s anger,

His compassion, His grief, His love, His hate, His jealousy, His joy…,

just to name a few. AND, we read that in no way is He like man and in

no way does He change…, not even momentarily such as a mood

swing if you will. So how do we converge these into a correct

understanding?

 God’s emotions do not alter the immutability or permanence of

His will or His promises. So, does He feel? Yes. Does He emote?

Yes. But His feelings and actions toward His creation including

judgement, forgiveness, justice and grace are all perfectly consistent at

all times with who He is and with His Word. James 1:17 says, “Every

good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from

the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of

turning.”

 God’s responses, even statements of emotion, all come from His

unchanging and immutable character and will, as detailed and

expressed and revealed in His word. The application of how we

understand emotion to God is very problematic. Our emotions can

change or cloud our judgment. But God’s emotions do not. For

example, we can become angry because we are just feeling hostile and

someone does something that on any regular day wouldn’t bother us…

God’s anger is perfectly righteous and entirely predictable, never

malicious, and in His emotions, there is never any sin.

 So, when we read of God’s emotions, such as here in this scripture,

“Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah,” what we are

reading is recorded for us in terms that we by default understand

through our own relatability. The problem with that is that God’s

emotions flow from His perfection… So perhaps “aroused” could be

better said, “revealed,” or “activated.” Why?

 Numbers 23:19 says, “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son

of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or

has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” The Ark of God was

not to be transported on a cart, pulled by Oxen. There is a big problem

with this scene. It goes against the Word of God, and any time that

happens, if there is not consequence, then God is not just…

 Exodus 25:12-15, “You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put

them in its four corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings

on the other side. And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and

overlay them with gold. You shall put the poles into the rings on the

sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them. The poles shall

be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it.”

 Further, the Ark was only to be carried by Levites. Numbers 4:15,

“And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary

and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, when the camp is set to go,

then the sons of Kohath shall come to carry them; but they shall not

touch any holy thing, lest they die.” So, what happens to Uzzah was

knowable, predictable, the expressed Word of God for hundreds of

years. And when the established Word is transgressed, the

consequence is invoked. Described here as, “The arousing of the

anger of Lord…”

 Make sense? Doesn’t mean we have to like it… I get it… Uzzah was

trying to do something good. Trying to do what he thought, (and

perhaps anyone would think), is the right thing to do. The Ark is about

to fall off the cart… Hard to take in that God kills someone for doing

what is practically right, I get that… And, even though it was the

right thing in the eyes of Uzzah, it was the wrong thing. And that’s just

the harsh reality of it all…

 Hopefully that makes sense because what I’m trying to explain to you

is an understanding outside our human experience concerning the

emotions of a perfect God, which is no doubt uncomfortable… Not

even David liked it… Check out the next verse…

2 Samuel Chapter 6 Verses 8 – 11

 David didn’t like what happened for sure. The consequence is not a

good thing. It’s a con-sequence, something that brings you down…,

(why don’t we use the word pro-sequence? Ha!). But we do have a

clue here that he understands.

 It says here that David was afraid of the Lord that day…, that doesn’t

mean that David was scared like in a scary movie type of way but

rather that day he had a reverential respect for God… A newfound

urge within him to make sure he honored the Lord… Often one of the

effects of consequence if you know the Word of God…

 And this is wisdom. Something happened that was incredibly

unfavorable. David doesn’t just continue on doing what he was doing.

He changes something. That is wisdom! What is the opposite of

wisdom? Blame the unfavorable happenstance on everything but

yourself… And nothing changes. I see it all the time in countless

lives… And if David had done that then he himself may have been

next to lose his life!

 And so, what does he do? He stops his caravan, stops his music, stops

the transport of the Ark, and takes the Ark into the house of Obed-

Edom who was indeed a Levite of the family of Koath! (1 Chronicles

15 and 1 Chronicles 26) So what happens when you get it right? Here

come the blessings…

2 Samuel Chapter 6 Verses 12 – 13

 Sometimes when God offends me, I distance myself from Him. Just a

reality of life. Not everything God does or God allows in my life is to

my liking. But when you distance yourself from God’s righteousness,

you also distance yourself from blessing. David realizes that and

returns. And when he does, he gets it right. No longer oxen and carts,

now the ark is being carried and by the right tribe, the Levites, because

after six paces they sacrifice which was only the duty of the Levites!

 The presence of God and the glory of God can bring a consequence or

it can bring a blessing. That’s clear in these scenes! It’s not the Word

of God that changes or even can change! It’s us! And its really up to us

to do so! If we do, learn the Word, live the Word, trust the Lord, then

the Lord will show Himself a certain way to us. If we are ignorant of

the Word or just outright rebellious against the Word of God, it’s not

going to change…, and the Lord will then be obligated by His own

goodness, steadfastness, consistency…, quality of character…, to

show Himself a certain way to us in that circumstance as well.

 So, they get all religious but notice it says the scene now is filled with

gladness! It’s a word in the Hebrew used 94 times in the Old

Testament and it means joy, pleasure, happiness, rejoicing! Religion,

doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord and in alignment with His

Word, in respect and honor of who He is…, sometimes I get it is

solemn and somber, but not all the time…, there is JOY in the house

of the Lord! Look at David’s religion in this next verse!

2 Samuel Chapter 6 Verses 14 – 15

 He danced with all his might! He was loving this day! We do error in

making emotions the center of our Christian experience…, we like

something, it makes us feel good and aligns with what we want…,

WE’RE IN! If anything brings us displeasure, WE’RE OUT! Terribly

immature!

 But we also do greatly error in leaving emotion and excitement and

pleasure out of the equation as well! We ought to not exalt feelings

and we out to now repress feelings… We just ought to be! And deal

appropriately with how we feel. In moments of being pleased with the

Lord, rejoice! Open up, loosen up, rejoice! And in moments of

discomfort, pray and seek the Lord…!

 It says here that David was wearing a linen ephod which means he

wasn’t immodest and we do probably have that wrong in how this

scene is recounted so often, but the linen ephod is the dress of the

priests… So, he’s most likely not alone in his dancing… There may be

some great order here and even a procession of sorts… Today

Orthodox Jewish men dance in unison together… No reason not to

think that David is just making himself the same as the common

Jewish male in this scene and not drawing attention to himself…

 That’s the thing about this scene anyway. David isn’t the main subject.

The main subject is the Ark of God. The presence and glory of God.

Just like in worship today. Is it ok to dance and leap for the Lord

during worship at church? Absolutely! Is it ok to do it on stage or in

the front of the church? Absolutely not! That’s a show! Puts the

attention on the dancer… If you want to dance, why can’t you do it

without the attention of your fellow man? It is for the Lord, right!?

So go in the back, go in the mom’s room, go where you won’t be seen

by those that could give you glory and THEN dance, and rejoice in

your freedom and the glory goes to the Lord!

 Rejoiceless worship doesn’t make sense to me. I get it. I’m a sinner,

I’m a mess, I’m this and that…, and that brings my arms down…, but

worship isn’t about ME! It’s about God. His goodness. Who He is,

what He’s done… That elevates! I love was David Guzik said on this

subject, “We don’t think that dancing is strange when the baseball

player rounds the bases after the game winning home run. We don’t

think it is strange when the winning touchdown is scored or when our

own child scores a goal. We think nothing at hands raised at a concert

or a touchdown. We should not think them strange in worship to

God!” I think it’s strange when a Christian presents as joyless,

unengaged, and uninterested in a time of corporate worship… There I

said it! HA!

2 Samuel Chapter 6 Verses 16 – 23

 Michal despised David well before this day… She chose to see

David’s joy in a negative light… When if she loved him, she would

have rejoiced to see him rejoicing, especially because of the presence

and glory of God.

 Proverbs 4:23 says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it

spring the issues of life.” Your thought life, policing your thoughts and

making sure you discipline yourself into maturity is of utmost

importance when it comes to how you will actually feel and what you

will believe about a person.

 Truly everyone of us has good characteristics and poor characteristics.

You can become a fan and a help and a support to almost anyone on

this planet depending on how you decide to think about them… Call

me wrong, you’re wrong. You think and think and overthink and think

about that person and then when you’re with them you’re awkward or

on a mission… When if you would spend your time disciplining

yourself, thinking on the things of the Lord and admiring what it is in

that person that is worth admiring, (spend your thought life and prayer

life dealing with yourself) when you are with them you will be natural,

genuine, authentic, graceful, loving and helpful… Just like the Lord!

 This effectively ends their marriage… Her heart revealed that it is

turned away from him and has been for some time and his heart

revealed that if its between her and the Lord, she’s not the prize… We

read in Proverbs 31:26-27, “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on

her tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over the ways of her

household, and does not eat the bread of idleness….” And because of

that, Proverbs 31:28,30, “Her children rise up and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her… Charm is deceitful and beauty

is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, shall be praised.” Not

here… David has learned the importance of reverencing, trusting,

fearing the Lord and he can’t go back… He doesn’t want another

Uzzah… Although as it turns out, his marriage with Michal effectively

ends today…

 We know that Michal had children. Michael is never heard from or

seen in the scriptures again after this… She becomes incredibly

irrelevant. But we read of her sons in chapter 21…, so this is a

statement of the end of her relations with her husband… The end of

their marriage…