No Stumbling

 DEVOTION

2^ND SAMUEL

NO STUMBLING

2 Sam 6:1-11

6:1 David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. 2 He and all his men set out from Baalah of 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 that are 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 the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals. 6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, 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 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.

NIV

We wonder why David did not call upon the tribe of Levi to carry the Ark of God in the traditional manner it had always been carried. It seems to us that David was being disrespectful of God by putting the ark on a cart pulled by oxen. At least it was a new cart, but still a cart pulled by oxen would have been subject to the topography of the land, as when they reach the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled which must have caused to cart to wobble and that is why Uzzah reached out to steady the Ark of God, but that was a big mistake, for God struck him dead. Who and how did someone put the ark of God on the cart without touching it? Why did they live, and Uzzah did not? Who was going to be able to take the Ark of God off the cart without touching it? Maybe it was more about a man trying to save God rather than a man respecting the power of God. Uzzah did not respect the power of the Almighty God to watch over the very Ark of God that he instructed Moses to build, and now held within it, the tablets of stone with the Ten Commandments, the jar of manna, and Arron’s staff. This Ark represented the very presence of God, and a man reached out his hand to steady God. That is our lesson. There is nothing we can do to steady God, or to hold him up. Yes, we should give witness to the power of the Almighty God to save people through the work of Jesus on the cross. Yes, we are to give witness to the power of the Almighty God and what he has done in our lives. But we cannot lift our hand out to help or steady God because we might think he will stumble, as Uzzah thought. God is the all-powerful, ever-powerful supreme and divine power and authority over all of heaven and earth. He will never stumble; in fact, he keeps out feet from stumbling. The Psalmist wrote, “If the LORD delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not  fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.” Jesus made it clear that if we walk in the light, we will not stumble, but anyone who walks in the dark will stumble.  Let us not mistake thinking we have any power or put out our hand to secure the Lord God Almighty. It is his hand that has reached out to secure us from stumbling. Yet, we are not pulled by oxen, but we are yoked with Jesus, just as a pair of oxen were yoked as they pulled that cart with the ark of God. Jesus takes us by the hand and leads us on level paths, so we will not stumble. We give God all the honor and respect he is due. We are weak, but He is strong. He will keep us from stumbling.