May 15, 2015
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Trust and Obey

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Opening Prayer

Holy God, teach me to walk with You, to wait upon You, and to worship You. I bless Your name.

Read 2 Samuel 6:1-23

[1] David again brought together all the able young men of Israel-thirty thousand. [2] He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark. [3] They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart [4] with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. [5] David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals. [6] When they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. [7] 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. [8] Then David was angry because the LORD’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah. [9] David was afraid of the LORD that day and said, “How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?” [10] 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. [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. [12] 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. [13] When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. [14] Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the LORD with all his might, [15] while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets. [16] As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart. [17] They brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the LORD. [18] After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD Almighty. [19] Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes. [20] When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!” [21] David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel-I will celebrate before the LORD. [22] I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” [23] And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord?” (1 Sam. 15:22). The words of the old hymn seems appropriate here: “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey” (John Henry Sammis, 1846-1919).

David fought, but the battle belonged to the Lord. David subdued the Philistines from “Geba to Gezer” (5:25), which is like saying “from east to west.” But the Lord’s angelic armies defeated Israel’s spiritual enemies in the treetops. Also, the ark of God that the Philistines had taken in battle from Saul as a war trophy had debilitated many Philistines with disease. This was another one of the Lord’s victories over Israel’s enemies. As Moses once said, “the Lord is a warrior” (Exod. 15:3).

The ark, God’s traveling temple administration, was dangerous. With the unification of Israel and Judah, David must now retrieve the Lord’s ark, where he “was enthroned above the cherubim” (2), and bring it to Jerusalem. After all, from the days of Moses, who commissioned and supervised the ark’s construction, it had functioned as the Lord’s portable temple so that he traveled in their midst. But no one was prepared for God to strike Uzzah dead when he tried to steady the tottering ark. God reminded his people who he was. When the Lord struck Uzzah, he showed David and the people that they must fear him, even in expedient situations like the ark tipping. Not surprisingly, David was angry with the Lord. But after a period of reflection, David’s anger passed. The king then resumed moving the ark to Jerusalem. He even set it up in his back yard. No wonder the people were excited, David danced before the ark in jubilation. But the memory of Uzzah remained in the memories of all.

We may find ourselves wondering if the Lord’s response to Uzzah was unlovingly harsh. If we do, we need to join David, who, after a period of soul searching, determined to trust God. He acknowledged God’s often-mysterious ways are beyond our complete understanding. Real trust moves beyond skepticism. Trust obeys.

Apply

What impressions of God do you have after reading this passage? How can you keep from taking God’s holiness for granted?

Closing prayer

Father, I want to serve You with all of my life. Please give me the grace to obey You, even when I do not fully understand what is happening.

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