20240513

incorrect correction

2 Samuel 6:1-23 (JDV)

2 Samuel 6:1 David again gathered all the fit young men in Israel: thirty thousand.
2 Samuel 6:2 He and all his troops set out to bring the ark of God from Baalah in Judah. The ark bears the Name, the name of Yahveh of Armies who is enthroned between the cherubim.
2 Samuel 6:3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and transported it from Abinadab’s house, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the cart
2 Samuel 6:4 and brought it with the ark of God from Abinadab’s house on the hill. Ahio walked in front of the ark.
2 Samuel 6:5 David and the whole house of Israel were dancing before Yahveh with all kinds of fir wood instruments, lyres, harps, tambourines, sistrums, and cymbals.
2 Samuel 6:6 When they came to Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah reached out to the ark of God and took hold of it because the oxen had stumbled.
2 Samuel 6:7 Then Yahveh’s anger burned against Uzzah, and God struck him dead on the spot for his irreverence, and he died there next to the ark of God.
2 Samuel 6:8 David was angry because of Yahveh’s outburst against Uzzah, so he named that place Outburst Against Uzzah, as it is today.
2 Samuel 6:9 David feared Yahveh that day and said, “How can the ark of Yahveh ever come to me?”
2 Samuel 6:10 So he was not willing to bring the ark of Yahveh to the city of David; instead, he diverted it to the house of Obed-edom of Gath.
2 Samuel 6:11 The ark of Yahveh remained in his house three months, and Yahveh blessed Obed-edom and his whole family.
2 Samuel 6:12 It was reported to King David: “Yahveh has blessed Obed-edom’s family and all that belongs to him because of the ark of God.” So, David went and had the ark of God brought up from Obed-edom’s house to the city of David with rejoicing.
2 Samuel 6:13 When those carrying the ark of Yahveh advanced six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf.
2 Samuel 6:14 David was dancing with all his might before Yahveh wearing a linen ephod.
2 Samuel 6:15 He and the whole house of Israel were bringing up the ark of Yahveh with shouts and the sound of the ram’s horn.
2 Samuel 6:16 As the ark of Yahveh was entering the city of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, and she despised him in her heart.
2 Samuel 6:17 They brought the ark of Yahveh and set it in its place inside the tent David had pitched for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings in Yahveh’s presence.
2 Samuel 6:18 When David had finished offering the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of Yahveh of Armies.
2 Samuel 6:19 Then he distributed a loaf of bread, a date cake, and a raisin cake to each one in the entire Israelite community, both men and women. Then all the people went home.
2 Samuel 6:20 When David returned home to bless his household, Saul’s daughter Michal came out to meet him. “How the king of Israel honored himself today!” she said. “He exposed himself today in the sight of the slave girls of his subjects like a vulgar person would expose himself.”
2 Samuel 6:21 David replied to Michal, “It was before Yahveh who chose me over your father and his whole family to appoint me ruler over Yahveh’s people Israel. I will dance before the Lord,
2 Samuel 6:22 and I will dishonor myself and humble myself even more. However, by the slave girls you spoke about, I will be honored.”
2 Samuel 6:23 And Saul’s daughter Michal had no child to the day of her death.

incorrect correction

This chapter records two mistakes with dire consequences. First, Uzzah sees the oxen stumble, and reaches out his hands to stabilize the ark of the covenant. He is struck dead because he presumed to correct something that God had not called him to correct. Michal sees her husband dancing about in a linen ephod and is incensed that he chose not to wear his royal robes. She is embarrassed at David’s choice of worship. Her sarcastic remarks to David had consequences as well. When we presume to criticize that which is holy, we run the risk of similar fates.

LORD, may our love for you keep us from seeking to correct others in their worship. That is between them and you.