1 CHRONICLES 13-14

Heart Issues
Today I am challenged most of all by the story of Uzzah and his touching of the ark. It seemed like such a good thing to do to try to save the ark from falling and was such a sudden knee-jerk type of reaction that makes one stop upon this story and begin to ask why. It stuns us at the wrath of God and the quick execution of it without delay for Uzzah’s attempt at repentance or to even think about his actions. This story helps us even more understand the holiness of God and its not that he doesn’t love Uzzah, its just a representation of His holiness being unable to allow a man – one who is utterly depraved from birth and marred by sin – to touch His presence. I love verse 8 as well – it is an awesome picture of people truly celebrating the presence of God. The celebrated with all their might – that reminds me of loving the Lord my god with all my strength. David’s relationship with God in chapter 14 is remarkable. I love to see him talking directly with God and hearing His voice. God led David in both battles and saw him through the victory. All glory goes to God, not David, but it would be easy to become prideful because the rest of the world grew in fear of David, not God.
Notes
-This law (Numbers 4:15-20) shows that only the Levites could see the holy things, but no one could touch them.
-David does not take the ark into his house, but He still speaks to God himself and hears the voice of God.
-The Philistines show up a lot in scripture as the opposition to God’s people. They lived in Philistia and worshipped false Gods – mainly Dagon.
-David begins here to build his palace and take true residence as king.