“Anger Turned to Joy” – FBC Morning Light (4/16/2024)

Well a good Tuesday morning. So today we're reading in 2 Samuel chapter 6, the account of David attempting to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, and the parallel account of that in 1 Chronicles chapter 13, and then jumping to chapters 15 and the beginning of chapter 16 in 1 Chronicles, and then we go back to 1 Chronicles chapter 6.

So if you're wondering, okay I can't keep all that straight. Well depending on how you're listening to this, in the notes below the video there should be a line telling you what scripture passages we're in.

David’s First Attempt to Move the Ark the Wrong Way

But I want to focus in the 1 Chronicles account. So in chapter 13 you have all of this preparation being made to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. David's all excited about doing this, and we read at the beginning of the chapter that he calls for people to come from all over Israel, and he wants all the priests and the Levites to come to Jerusalem so that they can bring the Ark of the Covenant back.

And it says in verse 4 that all the assembly said that they would do so, the thing seemed to be right in the eyes of all the people. So it says in verse 5, David gathered all Israel together from Shihor in Egypt to as far as the entrance of Hamath to bring the Ark of God from Kiriath-Jerim.

And so here's this great vast throng of people that have come to celebrate the bringing of the Ark of the Covenant from Kiriath Jerim to the city of Jerusalem where David's prepared a place for it. And then disaster strikes.

They made the horrible mistake of not finding out how God wants the Ark to be transported, which is not on a cart, but on poles, carrying the Ark. It's poles being borne by people, by priests. So they didn't do that.

Instead, they put the Ark on the back of this cart, and the ox cart is just pulling the Ark along, and then it hits a pothole. Maybe it's like one of those Chicago expressways roads or something. It's a pothole, and the Ark starts to tip, and Uzzah reaches up to steady the Ark, and as soon as he touches the Ark of the Covenant, boom, the Lord strikes him dead.

And it says in verse 10, 1 Chronicles 13, that the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and he struck him because he put his hand to the Ark, and he died there before God. All right, so here's the thing.

David has this great idea, but he's going about it in the wrong way. The problem here, the reason that Uzzah died, is because of Uzzah's failure as a priest to not follow the protocol, and to direct the Ark to be transported in a way contrary to what God has prescribed.

So the fault does not lie with God here. God has made his will very clear, he's given directions very clear. The fault lies where? It lies with Uzzah and with David. How does David respond? Verse 11, David became angry because of the Lord's outbreak against Uzzah.

Well that response of David is really quite typical, isn't it? Get angry with God for the disaster, rather than looking at myself and what role, you know, my guilt and my responsibility plays in this tragedy.

He doesn't do that, at least not initially. He just gets angry with God. Well then, we come to chapter 15, and it seems like between chapter 13 and chapter 15, you know, they consulted the Scriptures, they got to finding out how God wanted this done, and in chapter 15, it seems that David has seen the error of his way, repented, and now he's going to bring the right way, and that is the way of wisdom.

Wisdom turns away from my anger toward the Lord, and searches out his word, searches the Scriptures to find out what is my error? Where have I gone astray here? And then deal with that, deal with that, confess it, turn from it, and then seek to obey the Lord, do things the way the Lord has prescribed.

The Lord will bless that, and that's exactly what happened. In verses 11 to 16 of chapter 15, they carried the ark as it was prescribed, they brought the ark into the city of Jerusalem, and everybody was thrilled.

There was great celebration, there was great joy and rejoicing, the ark made it to the place where David had prepared it, and so forth. So, what can we learn from this? What is the challenge for us here?

Repentance, Wisdom, and Obedience to God’s Word

Well, one of the challenges is when tragedy strikes, don't get angry at God, don't get angry at God. That tragedy may just be a result of living in this fallen world, but sometimes our tragedies come as a consequence of our disobedience and departure from the Lord.

So I do need to take some time and consider it. Typically, typically, when that happens and it's a result or consequence of my disobedience, I know it right away. I know exactly what the problem is, all right?

Deal with it, confess it, turn from it, and get back with the Lord, and ask him what he would have you to do, and then do it the way he would have you to do it. I think that's the challenge for us today.

All right, Father, I pray that you would help us to respond properly when tragedy strikes. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. All right, listen, have a great rest of your Tuesday. May the Lord bless you in it.

Good day.