”So they set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart. And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill, accompanying the ark of God; and Ahio went before the ark. Then David and “ II Samuel 6:3-5 NKJV
a. So they set the ark of God on a new cart: Transporting the ark on a cart was against God’s specific command. The ark was designed to be carried (Exodus 25:12-15) and was only to be carried by Levites of the family of Kohath (Numbers 4:15).
i. God wanted the ark to be carried because He wanted nothing mechanical about the ark representing His presence. “The ark was nothing less than the burden of the Lord, and the burden of the Lord was to be carried on the hearts of the Levites.” (Redpath)
ii. We can imagine what these men thought. “Look – we have a new cart for the ark of God. God will be very pleased by our fancy new cart.” They thought that new technology or luxury could cover over their ignorant disobedience.
iii. “We want God’s presence very much, don’t we? But we like to hitch His presence to some of our new carts. We like to add Him to our list of organizations, to load Him on top of the mechanics of a busy life, and then drive. How much of our service is really in the energy of the flesh, I wonder! So often we put forth our hands, but not our hearts.” (Redpath)
iv. “It is not new things we need, but new fire.” (John Wesley)
v. The Philistines transported the ark on a cart in 1 Samuel 6:10-11. They got away with it because they were Philistines, but God expected more from His people. The Israelites were to take their example from God’s word, not from the innovations of the Philistines.
b. Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart: The meaning of the names of these sons of Abinadab paints a meaningful picture. Uzzah means “strength” and Ahio means “friendly.”
i. Much service for the LORD is like this – a new cart, a big production, with strength leading and a friendly image presented out front – yet all done without inquiring of God or looking to His will. Surely David prayed for God’s blessing on this big production, but he didn’t inquire of God regarding the production itself. This was a good thing done the wrong way.
c. Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the LORD: Judging from the importance of the occasion and all the instruments mentioned, this was quite a production. The atmosphere was joyful, exciting, and engaging. The problem was that none of it pleased God because it was all in disobedience to His word.
i. We are often tempted to judge a worship experience by how it makes us feel. But when we realize that worship is about pleasing God, we are driven to His word, so we can know how He wants to be worshipped.
ii. It is hard to receive it in our consumer-oriented culture, but worship isn’t all about what pleases us. It’s all about what pleases God. (Guzik)
New Cart!
Our human nature draws us to the new cart when the only thing the Lord wants is our repentant heart!
“worship isn’t all about what pleases us. It’s all about what pleases God.” (Guzik)
Is our worship at church pleasing to God?
Blessings
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