Overview of: 2 SamuelToday's Reading:
2 Sam. 5:1 – 6:23
"Battles and the Ark "
Focus Verses: 2 Samuel 6:9-11
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 aside 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.
Insight:
Back in 1 Samuel 4 we read about the Ark of the Covenant being captured by the Philistines. They did not understand what the Ark was, and it became a source of affliction or them. Their response to this affliction was to return the Ark to Israel in the most reverent way they could think of. They placed it on a new cart, specially built for the occasion, pulled by new oxen that had never been used for pulling anything else. They handled the Ark and transported it in ways that did not conform with the instructions God had given Moses, but God did not hold them accountable for what they could not know. Instead, God seems to have blessed their efforts to be reverent.
It's a completely different story when King David decides to move the Ark of the Covenant in ways that were contrary to the Law of Moses. God holds the Israelites accountable to what they should know. David, according to the instructions God had given for the Kings of Israel (they were to have a copy of the Law in their own handwriting), had no excuse for not knowing the precise way the Ark was to be carried. Uzzah died as a result of King David's carelessness toward the Law.
While the Ark was at Obed-Edom's house (and was a source of blessing to them), David seems to have reviewed the Mosaic Law. The next time he comes to move the Ark to Jerusalem, he has the priests carry it accordingly.
Response and Action:
I need to take God's commands seriously. As a person who has access to the Scriptures, I expect to be held to a higher standard than those who do not have the Word. I want to commit myself to being a faithful servant who does my best to live according to the teachings of Christ and the instruction of God's Word. I want to be a good steward of the truth and guidance God has given to me in the Bible. I need to be careful that others do not suffer from my failure to walk in the ways God has instructed me to walk.
O God, how can I keep my way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you, Lord, with all my heart. Don't let me stray from your commands. Help me to hide your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Forgive me for careless times where I disregard your word and others suffer for it. Guide me in your truth, and teach me, for my hope is in you! Amen.
New Testament for Today: 2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
In Context: 2 Timothy 3:10-17
Proverb for Today: Prov. 27:5
"Better is open rebuke than hidden love."
Recommended Reading:
The Making of a Leader
by J. Robert Clinton
