Context No. 3018 of 4322 · 2 Samuel

2 Samuel 6:6-12: in context

6When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached for God’s ark and took hold of it, for the cattle stumbled. 7The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by God’s ark. 8David was displeased because the LORD had broken out against Uzzah; and he called that place Perez Uzzah to this day. 9David was afraid of the LORD that day; and he said, “How could the LORD’s ark come to me?” 10So David would not move the LORD’s ark to be with him in David’s city; but David carried it aside into Obed-Edom the Gittite’s house. 11The LORD’s ark remained in Obed-Edom the Gittite’s house three months; and the LORD blessed Obed-Edom and all his house. 12King David was told, “The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-Edom, and all that belongs to him, because of God’s ark.” So David went and brought up God’s ark from the house of Obed-Edom into David’s city with joy.

As the ark is carried toward Jerusalem on a cart, the oxen stumble, and Uzzah reaches out to steady it. The anger of the LORD is kindled, and God strikes him down beside the ark. David is both angry and afraid, and leaves the ark at the house of Obed-edom, where God blesses that household for three months, until David, encouraged, brings it up with joy.

This is a hard passage, and Uzzah's death seems harsh; he meant only to help. But the deeper problem was that the ark was being moved wrongly, on a cart like the Philistines had used, rather than carried by the Levites as God had commanded, and the whole handling had grown casual, treating the holy as ordinary. Uzzah's reflex to steady it with his hand, as if God's holiness needed human help and could be gripped like any object, exposed how familiarity had bred carelessness with a holy God. And yet the same ark that brought judgment brought blessing to Obed-edom's house. God's presence is not to be trifled with, but it is a blessing to those who receive it rightly.

Have I grown so casual with holy things that I handle God's presence carelessly, forgetting the reverence he is due?

Sources

2 Samuel 6:7: "The LORD's anger burned against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error."
Numbers 4:15: "They shall not touch the sanctuary, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath."
2 Samuel 6:11: "The LORD blessed Obed-Edom and all his house."