Naylor Community
Christian Church
Naylor, Georgia
I.
Introduction
-- turn in your Bibles to 2 Samuel 6:1-9
2 Samuel 6:1 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,[d] 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?”
There’s
an old joke that pet owners fully understand -- A dog looks at you and thinks:
“You feed me, you pet me, you love me. You must be God.” But a
cat looks at you and thinks: “You feed me, you pet me, you love me. I must
be God.”
-- For the last several weeks, we’ve been
going through a sermon series on the “I Am” statements of Jesus to help us
answer the question that Jesus asked His disciples and us, “But who do you say
I am?” – and I think it’s fair to say that most of us have answered that question
the same in here
-- we know Jesus as our Lord and our
Savior – as the One who died on the cross for our sins and who rose the third
day from the dead – and we know and believe that if we put our faith and trust
in Him and if we repent of our sins and ask Him to forgive us our sins, that we
will live with Him forever
-- I don’t think any of us would
disagree with that statement – that is what we say and believe when we call
ourselves Christians – when we have a personal relationship with Jesus – this
is the foundation of our faith
-- but answering the question, “Who
do you say I am?”, in that way is only the beginning of our walk with Christ –
for we can answer that question correctly – we can believe this with all our
heart and soul and mind – but still not fully understand or know who God truly
is
-- this marks the difference between
an immature believer and a mature believer – between someone who knows who God
is in a very basic way – a way certainly sufficient for salvation – and someone
who knows God in a deeper way – who has a mature faith in the Lord and who has
come to know Him and trust Him in ways entirely different from younger
believers – who recognizes God as both Lord and Savior – God and King – and
relates to Him in that way
-- moving from a place of immaturity
in our faith to a place of maturity is part of the ministry of the Holy Spirit
in our lives, as He works in us and through us to grow us in the grace and
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
-- we see an example of this in
action in the life of David – the man after God’s own heart – in this passage
from 2 Samuel 6
II.
David’s Faith Matures (2 Samuel 6:1-19)
-- look back now at 2 Samuel 6:1-5
2 Samuel 6:1 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.
-- as this chapter and season of
David’s life opens, we find him as the newly appointed king of all Israel – Saul
has passed away – David has conquered the Jebusites and established his kingdom
in the city of Jerusalem – and he has ushered in a time of peace and prosperity
following the wars of Saul
-- as part of this new season of
peace and prosperity, David sought to bring the Ark of the Covenant – the
physical symbol of the presence of God – from its place in Baalah or Kiriath
Jearim, where it had resided since being returned from the Philistines
-- so, David went up with all the
able young men of Israel to retrieve the ark of God and bring it back to the
capital of his kingdom in Jerusalem – David did this for two reasons – the
first was certainly political, because moving the ark to his capital would
consolidate the worship of God in Jerusalem with the authority and power of
David’s army and throne – making Jerusalem the seat of political and spiritual
power for the nation – but also, David wanted to move the ark because of his
faith in God and his recognition that God had placed him on the throne, as He
had promised when Samuel anointed him so many years ago – he wanted God near
him because he knew the blessings and successes he had in life were all from
God
-- David was certainly a true believer in
God – his faith was true and certain – he knew God and he relied on God –
that’s why the Bible describes David as a man after God’s own heart – he
trusted God with all his heart from the time when he was very young – we see
this clearly in the account of David on the battlefield in the valley of Elah,
when he comes up against the giant Goliath and he goes against the giant with
just five stones and a sling, defeating him in the name and power of the Lord
-- up to this point in David’s life,
all he had experienced was success after success after success, which he
rightly attributed to God’s goodness and His blessings in his life – and we see
in the scriptures that God’s blessings did indeed cover and permeate David’s
life – through God, David had killed the lion and the bear who threatened his
flock – through God, David had protected the sheep in his care and fulfilled
the role for which he had been called -- and through God, David overcame
Goliath and won the victory for Israel that day
-- but while David certainly had a
faith greater than many around him, his faith was not completely mature at this
time – he only knew God as the giver of good things – and David’s life and all
the blessings and successes he enjoyed were an example of that
-- his approach to God at this point
in his life reminds me of the story of “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein
-- in case you are not familiar with
this story, “The Giving Tree” is the story of a boy’s relationship with an
apple tree – “In his childhood, the boy enjoys playing with the tree, climbing
her trunk, swinging from her branches, carving "Me + T (Tree)" into
the bark, and eating her apples -- However, as the boy grows older, he spends
less time with the tree and tends to visit her only when he wants material
items at various stages of his life”
-- and every time the boy came to the tree
with a want or desire, the tree did all it could to meet those desires – giving
parts of it for the boy that he could transform into material items – such as
money from the tree’s apples when he was younger – a house from her branches
when he was a young man – and a boat from her trunk when the boy was
middle-aged
-- it is only much later in life
that the boy realizes the consequences of his greedy desires and the way he
only looked to the tree as a source of goodness and blessings – he returns as a
tired elderly man to meet the tree once more – but the tree tells him she
cannot provide him shade, apples, or any materials as in the past – but the boy
– now an old man – has realized the true depth of the relationship the two had
shared, and he tells the tree all he wants is a quiet place to sit and rest –
and the story ends with the boy and the tree resting in each other’s presence1
-- the way the boy approached the
tree throughout the story is exactly the way David approached God in his early
life – it’s the way many of us approach God in our lives – we look to God only as
the giver of good things – as the One who exists only to bless us and to pour
out His goodness on us – and when we only relate to God in this way, we come to
see Him only as the Giver and not as He truly is – it makes us see Him as less
than He is – sometimes, it makes us take Him for granted
-- David did that in this passage –
having experienced God only as the giver of good things in his entire life –
David continues to expect God to act in this way in the future – he worships
God and relates to God in this way, taking God and God’s presence in his life for
granted – he forgets the holiness and the authority and power of God – and does
not regard the presence of God in a reverent manner
-- so, even though David is leading
Israel in worshiping and celebrating the moving of the ark to Jerusalem in such
an extravagant way, he forgot the commands of the Lord – rather than having
Levites carry the ark on poles, as God commanded Moses, David puts the ark on
an oxen cart – and tries to carry it back to Jerusalem this way
-- it’s certainly easier than carrying
the ark on poles – and remember how David viewed God – as Someone who existed
to serve and bless him – so whatever was easier for David – whatever David
wanted – however David wanted it – had to be the right way
-- verse 6-11
2 Samuel 6:6 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.
-- as David is taking the ark back
to Jerusalem on the cart, the oxen stumble and the ark evidently rocked within
the cart – Uzzah reached out to take hold of the ark and steady it – to keep it
from tumbling over or even off the cart – but when he touched the ark of God,
the Lord’s anger burned against him, and God struck him down on the spot
-- most of us have heard the story
of Uzzah before, but I don’t think we’ve really heard it – we know it –
we’re familiar with it – but I’m not sure we’ve realized the lesson that God
intends for us to learn from this episode
-- when Uzzah died trying to protect
the very symbol of God’s presence from harm, David was rocked – this was
completely out of anything that he ever imagined – remember, God was a God of
giving and blessing – of prosperity and wealth – not a God who would kill
someone who was just trying to help prevent the ark from falling
-- in verse 8, we read that David
was angry because of the Lord’s wrath against Uzzah – and in verse 9, we read
that David was afraid of the Lord – these were new emotions for David, because
he had seen God work in a way he never had before – and what he knew of God –
the immature faith he had in God that looked to God as only the giver and
blesser – didn’t line up with what he had just witnessed
-- it’s like the interchange between
the Pevensie children and the Beavers in the Chronicles of Narnia – as they are
explaining to Susan and Lucy who Aslan is, they tell them he is “the King of
the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea...the King of Beasts
-- Aslan is a lion--the Lion, the great Lion.” – Lucy and Susan
ask, “Then is he safe?” – and Mr. Beaver replied, “Safe? Of course He isn’t
safe. But He is good”
-- that is what David is just now
realizing – that the God he thought he knew is more than he realized – that God
is not just the giver of good things – not just someone who exists to bless us
and do good in our lives – but that God is the Lord God Almighty – the Maker of
Heaven and Earth – our Lord and our King
-- and while He is a God of love and
goodness – of mercy and grace – He is also God -- our Creator and King -- and
if we disregard His holiness – if we disregard His presence -- if we fail to
honor Him with all the honor and glory and praise He deserves and obey His
commands – if we take Him and His holy presence for granted -- then His wrath
may fall upon us – just as it did Uzzah
-- David was learning that God is
good, but God is not safe
-- when Uzzah died, the party
stopped – figuratively and literally – David had them take the ark to the house
of Obed-Edom the Gittite because he was afraid of God – he was afraid of God’s
power – and so, he wants to keep God distant from him – David says, “Don’t
bring the ark to Jerusalem – leave it here” because he was afraid to have God
close -- he was afraid to go into His presence
– David’s immature faith cannot grasp what
he has just witnessed as God showed more of Himself to David and those gathered
there than anything David had experienced before – this is a God that David
doesn’t know – this is not the God of the giving tree – this is God in His
holiness
-- our churches today are very much
like David in the start of this story – our faith and our knowledge of God is
immature and shallow – it may be a saving faith, but it is not a mature faith –
it is a faith that assumes that God is always on our side and that God exists
only to meet our wants and our desires – to lift us up – to make us great and
powerful in His name
-- a lot of our churches and a lot of Christians
today know God and relate to Him as the great giving tree in the sky – we have
a consumer mindset, and we emphasize in our worship and in our evangelism only
the blessings and goodness of God – we have forgotten His holiness and
righteousness
-- we assume that God just wants us to be
happy and prosperous – and that is the way we approach life – that is the way
we approach God
– taken to the extreme, this type of faith
leads to prosperity theology and feel-good preachers who promise that God wants
nothing more than to shower down health and wealth and prosperity in our lives
here on earth
– but even if we don’t go as far as that,
we are still in danger of adopting a faith that only looks to God for what we
can get from Him – a type of faith that assumes all the promises of God are for
our glory and not His – a type of faith that makes us resemble the cat in the
old joke I opened with – “You feed me, you pet me, you love me. I must
be God.”
-- of course, none of us would ever say
that we are God, but when our faith and religion are focused on God only as a
source of blessing and goodness in our lives, we are living a shallow faith
with an incomplete understanding of God
-- If the God we serve looks just like us
and thinks just like us and wants the same things we do, we aren’t serving
God. We have made ourselves into God –
we have formed God in our own image
– but that’s not who God is -- and when
God acts differently than we expect, like He did with David here – when the
blessings don’t come – when life interrupts our perfect Christian model and we
are faced with trials and tribulations and a reminder that there is a God and
we are not Him – then our faith is challenged and we can get confused and angry
and afraid and we don’t understand what to do with this God we don’t recognize
-- that’s what happened to David in these
verses
-- verse 12-19
2 Samuel 6:12 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.
-- David hears the news that God is
blessing the household of Obed-Edom and everyone around him because the ark had
been left with him – even though Obed-Edom was not a Jew, I guarantee you that
he treated the ark and the presence of God with great respect and honor because
of what happened to Uzzah – he certainly didn’t want it to happen to him – and
so, God was given the honor and respect He deserved – and God responded by
blessing Obed-Edom and his whole household
-- David is reminded of why he wanted the
ark in Jerusalem in the first place – he is reminded of the goodness of God and
is encouraged by the fact that God’s goodness and blessings are still there and
haven’t been replaced by wrath – so, David decides to try to bring the ark of
God into Jerusalem again
-- but this time, he approaches the ark
and the presence of God differently – rather than taking God and His holiness
for granted – rather than assuming God served him – David approached God
reverently and humbly and in accordance with God’s word
-- he has the Levites carry the ark on
poles, as God commanded, and offers sacrifices of bulls and fattened calves all
along the way, accompanied by praise and worship
-- and because he has approached God
correctly – because he has remembered who God is and how God should be
approached – God allows the ark to be carried to Jerusalem, where David places
it in a tabernacle that he made to house the presence of God
-- David’s faith and his understanding of
God grew through this experience – he knew God in a different way now – he
understood God more – and he realized that his previous flippant behavior and
attitude towards God was a sin deserving of God’s wrath and punishment
-- as Skye Jethani wrote, “The important
thing to recognize is how David’s vision of God transformed his worship of God.
At the beginning of the chapter, David was fixated on God’s goodness and
blessings. He saw YHWH as the one who elevated him to the throne, defeated his
enemies, and gave him a new capital. David was filled with gratitude, and his
worship was celebratory, but it was also dangerously self-centered and casually
irreverent.” – “[Now – after Uzzah] -- David came to understand that God was
both good and holy, and this fuller vision was reflected in his joyful but
deeply reverent worship. David’s worship [changed from an immature faith and worship]
– “I am who matters” -- to [a more mature and appropriate faith and worship] –
“you, God, are who matters”2
-- this event marked a changing moment in
David’s relationship with God – as we see in the rest of his story in the Old
Testament, David continued to grow in his faith and his knowledge of God –
learning more about who God is and how God wants us to approach Him in
humbleness and reverence
III. Closing
-- there’s a lesson for us here that we
need to understand and apply in our churches and in our individual lives – too
often, we take an approach to God in our lives that is careless and flippant –
that does not afford God the reverence and awe and respect that He deserves
-- it’s too easy to approach worship and
the things of God in the same way we approach the rest of our lives – with a
consumer mindset and with the idea that the customer is always right
-- how many times have you left a worship
service and said, “I didn’t get anything out of that?” – I know I’ve said that
myself – forgetting that our worship should be God-focused and not self-focused
– forgetting that it’s not about what we can get out of the service, but the
offerings and sacrifices and worship we should be bringing to God
-- we demand God’s blessings – we expect
God’s goodness – but we fail to live our lives in accordance with His holy
standards or approach Him with awe and reverence as we should
-- in many ways, we have taken God for
granted – and our lives have suffered as a result
-- for eight weeks now, we have been
discussing Jesus’ question to His disciples, “But who do you say I am?” – the
answer to that question has to be more than words – it has to be reflected in
our lives and our faith and how we approach God
-- I want to encourage you today to take
some time and think about your relationship with God – with how you approach
God – with how you know God and interact with Him
-- it’s all too easy to get careless in
our faith – to mumble the same prayer over our meals in such a way it’s just
repeated words to an empty room – to come to worship services looking for what
we can get out of it rather than coming to sacrifice ourselves to Him in praise
and worship – to go through our lives seeking only the blessings God can give instead
of seeking to abide in His presence – we need to learn to see God as He truly
is and to give Him the worship, respect, and awe He deserves
-- to quote Skye Jethani again, “It’s
worth asking, what does your worship, or the worship of your community, reveal
about your vision of God? Do you carry the narrow…assumption of consumer
Christianity that says God exists to fight your battles, advance your agenda,
and bless your dreams, resulting in worship that is celebratory but ultimately
self-centered, comfortable, and convenient? Or are you learning a more [mature
type of] humility that puts God at the center, respects his holiness, and
rejoices in him as both deeply desirable and also reveres him as mysteriously
dangerous?”2
-- let’s take some time this week to
answer those questions
-- with that, let us pray
1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Giving_Tree
2
Skye Jethani With God Daily devotionals: “Apr 3, 2025, The Tension Between
God’s Goodness & His Otherness” and “Apr 4, 2025, Feline Worship &
Canine Worship”
