1 Chronicles 15:1-10: in context

David prepares a place for the ark of God in Jerusalem, and this time he is careful to do it rightly. No one ought to carry the ark of God, he says, but the Levites, for the LORD has chosen them to carry it and to minister to him. He gathers the Levites and assigns the task as God had commanded. This care follows an earlier attempt that had ended in disaster, when the ark was moved on a cart rather than carried as God had prescribed, and a man died; now David does it God's way.

The care David takes here is the fruit of a hard lesson. In his first attempt to bring up the ark, David and the people had done it with good intentions but in their own way, moving the sacred ark on a cart, as the Philistines had done, rather than having the Levites carry it as God had commanded; and the attempt ended in tragedy. Now David has learned: no one ought to carry the ark but the Levites, for so the LORD commanded. He does not repeat the improvisation; he does it God's way, according to God's instructions. As he would later put it, the LORD broke out against us because we did not seek him according to the ordinance. There is a lesson here about approaching and serving God on his terms rather than our own. David's first attempt was well-meant; his intentions were good, his zeal genuine. But good intentions are not enough; God had prescribed how the ark was to be handled, and the well-meant improvisation, ignoring God's way, brought disaster. We can be like this, zealous to serve or worship God, but inclined to do it in our own way, according to our own ideas, rather than attending to how God has said it should be done. And good intentions do not sanctify an approach to God that ignores his instructions. David learned this the hard way, and the second time he was careful to do it God's way. This calls us to a certain humility and attentiveness in how we approach and serve God: not to assume that our good intentions are sufficient, or that our own way is as good as his, but to attend to how God has said he is to be approached and served, and to do it his way. Those who worship him, Jesus said, must worship in spirit and truth. David's first attempt was sincere but wrong; his second was sincere and right, because he had learned to do it God's way. And the wisdom he learned, that even our zeal to serve God must submit to God's own way of being approached and served, is wisdom for us as well.

Am I inclined to serve or worship God in my own way, according to my own ideas, assuming that my good intentions are sufficient, or can I learn from David, who after a well-meant improvisation ended in disaster was careful the second time to do it God's way, the humility to attend to how God has said he is to be approached and served, and to do it his way rather than my own?