Introduction
In seeking light on our pathway here we frequently
get help from the mistakes of those who have gone before as recorded
for us in the Bible. This is particularly so with the Old Testament,
which is a rich store of illustrations of the relationship between
Jehovah and the people of God. Now at first glance, there might not
seem to be much of a connection between King David’s “new cart” (1
Chron. 13: 7) and our modern Christian experience but dig deeper and
it is readily apparent that it is “written for our instruction”
(Rom. 15: 4) today. Christianity is fundamentally a relationship
with God, and our participation in that relationship is wholly
governed by His will. As we shall see, David thought he
could bring his own mind and will into his relationship with
Jehovah—with disastrous results—and the danger is no less for you
and me. May we be spared from David’s mistake!
The Loss of the Ark
The new cart was used by David to carry the ark up
to Jerusalem. No doubt it seemed a good idea (it was a new
cart, after all) but the fact is, it was because David had not been
reading his Bible carefully that the new cart came upon the scene.
Of course, David’s Bible was much shorter than ours today, but there
was enough in it for him to know that his use of the new cart was
wrong. The point was, he had the Scriptures, but he either did not
read them, or, if he did, he did not heed what he read. Indeed, it
was worse than that, for, as we shall see, he ignored the Scriptures
and looked to the Philistines for a pattern on how to serve the
Lord.
Before we consider
David’s failure, however, you might wonder why the ark was not in
the midst of God’s people—in Jerusalem—already. The answer is that
the ark had been lost to the Philistines in battle, and although it
had been returned, it had only got back as far as Kirjath-jearim.
It is worth retracing the
history. If you turn back to the occasion when the ark was lost—many
years before David came on the scene—you will find that the children
of Israel had been defeated by the Philistines (see 1 Sam. 4: 1, 2)
and they therefore purposed to take the ark with them to the next
battle, thinking victory was assured. The intended result did not
materialise, however, for “there was a very great slaughter … And
the ark of God was taken” (vs. 10, 11). So why did this disaster
happen? The chapter opens with the statement “And what Samuel had
said happened to all Israel” (v1). Can we not say that this refers
back to 1 Sam. 3: 11 and what God had told Samuel: “Behold, I do a
thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it
shall tingle”? If that is the case, then chapter 4 is the
explanation of how what Samuel had said came about. The state of the
nation was bad, and yet Israel thought (without consulting God at
all) that by bringing the ark of God into the camp then victory was
guaranteed. God will have reality. If Israel thought
that the ark—which was the external pledge of God's presence—would
support them in their sinful state, then they were mightily
mistaken. God will not be party to what is not true and real, and so
He says, in effect, ‘I will let my ark go’. How solemn! And yet how
many today seek to attach the Lord’s name to their arrangements,
with little or no thought to the state of their relationship with
that same Lord!
The Ark’s Return
In the next chapter we see that God took good care
of the ark among the Philistines, and eventually, after coming under
God’s judgment, they wanted to be rid of it: “Send away the ark of
the God of Israel, and let it go again to its own place, that it
kill us not, and our people” (1 Sam. 5: 11). And so the Philistines
“called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do
with the ark of Jehovah? tell us wherewith we shall send it to its
place” (1 Sam. 6: 2). The solution arrived at, was to “make a new
cart, and take two milch kine, on which there has come no yoke, and
tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them; and
take the ark of Jehovah, and lay it upon the cart” (vs. 7, 8). Now
it was all very well for the Philistines to use a new cart to
transport the ark, for you cannot expect the natural man to be
intelligent about divine things. With God’s children, however,
things ought to be different. Sadly, this proved not to be the case,
and when the ark returned to Israel, Jehovah “smote among the men of
Beth-Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark” (v19)! Yes, the
ark was among God’s people again, but there must be behaviour suited
to its presence. The end result, however, was that “the men of
Kirjath-jearim came, and fetched up the ark of Jehovah, and brought
it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and hallowed Eleazar his
son to keep the ark of Jehovah” (1 Sam. 7: 1). The ark is now under
the care of the priests—those who understand the mind of God—and
there it remains until David is established on the throne of Israel.
David’s Desire
Now let us see what David does: “And David
consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, with every
prince. And David said to all the congregation of Israel, If it seem
good to you, and it be of Jehovah our God, let us send abroad to our
brethren everywhere, that are left in all the lands of Israel, and
with them to the priests and Levites in their cities and suburbs,
that they may gather themselves to us; and let us bring again the
ark of our God to us; for we inquired not of it in the days of Saul”
(1 Chron. 13: 1-3). What a great desire for fellowship around the
ark—which, of course, is as it should be. However, there must still
be divine order, and an acting on divine direction, for a horizontal
fraternity is spiritually worthless without a vertical subjection to
heaven. “And all the congregation said that they should do so; for
the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. And David
assembled all Israel from Shihor of Egypt unto the entrance of
Hamath, to bring the ark of God from Kirjath-jearim” (vs. 4, 5).
What a marvellous scene! And yet though David admits Israel’s
failure to inquire of the ark in the past, does he inquire of God
now? Sadly, no. Thus “David went up, and all Israel, to Baalah, to
Kirjath-jearim, which belonged to Judah, to bring up from thence the
ark of God, of Jehovah, who sitteth between the cherubim, whose name
is placed [there]. And they carried the ark of God on a new
cart out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drove
the cart” (vs. 6, 7, my emphasis). Now it is a fair assumption that
David thought that with the ark in Jerusalem the people would do
what they had not done in the days of Saul and inquire of it—but it
never seems to have occurred to the king whether God had given any
instructions as to its transport beforehand. Thus, like many today,
he judged that the new cart was a very good mode of carrying it, and
that the method by which it reached the house of Abinadab would do
to take it up to Jerusalem. Will this do for the “One who
sitteth between the cherubim” (v6, my emphasis). No, for the
cherubim, as guardians of what is due to God—remind us that Jehovah
will have everything done according to His own order.
So what are we to
understand by the new cart? It is very simple. It is
anything that is not according to the pattern of Scripture.
It is what is after some human design, and which therefore should
have no authority over the conscience of a devout and obedient child
of God. Now the ark was the centre of the tabernacle and speaks of
Christ. Israel had to carry that ark and its contents through the
wilderness, just as we, today, carry Christ in testimony through
this world. So what do we see in the Christian profession? We see
hundreds of ‘new carts’, all supposedly carrying the ark. What
different shapes and sizes, characters and colours these new carts
present—and yet all with one fatal defect! They are not
according to divine commandment. Instead, they are inspired
by some worldly thought, just as David seems to have got his idea of
a new cart from the Philistines—for the Philistines speak of an
intrusion of the world into God’s inheritance. Anything of that
origin ought to have no place in divine things, for the Philistines
were descended from Mizraim (the Hebrew name for the Egyptians—see
Gen. 10: 13, 14)—the Egypt Israel had left behind when they crossed
the Red Sea (and the world the Christian left on conversion).
The Breach of Uzza
Now according to divine decree, it was the
particular work of the Levites to carry the ark (see Deut. 10: 8)
and they were to carry it by staves (see Exod. 25: 14). David found
all this this out afterwards, but he had not discovered it yet. Thus
even an earnest man who has the interests of God very much at heart
can still go astray, if he is not absolutely in subjection to the
Word of the Lord. The scene presented is deceptive: “And David and
all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing,
and with harps, and with lutes, and with tambours, and with cymbals,
and with trumpets” (1 Chron. 13: 7, 8). The religious excitement was
strong, but the oxen pulling the new cart soon stumbled—as they must
do if God is out of the picture. “And when they came to the
threshing-floor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark;
for the oxen had stumbled. And the anger of Jehovah was kindled
against Uzza, and he smote him, because he had put forth his hand to
the ark; and there he died before God” (vs. 9, 10).
Uzza's death woke
David up to the error of his ways. He was the leader, the king, and
very much the instigator of the course of action that had led to
this disaster. At first, he judged God: “And David was indignant;
for Jehovah had made a breach upon Uzza; and he called that place
Perez-Uzza to this day” (v11—a breach being a tear, of which
death is the ultimate tear in the fabric of life). He had discovered
that while the new cart may have satisfied his religious instincts,
it had done nothing for his relationship with God. Thus “David was
afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I bring the ark of God to
me?” (v12). What David needed was to judge himself, and God provided
the opportunity by allowing the ark of God to be carried aside into
the house of Obed-Edom for three months (see vs. 13, 14).
David’s Recovery
In those three months it appears that David got
the answer to his question “How shall I bring the ark of God to me?”
(v12) for he “prepared a place for the ark of God, and spread a tent
for it” (1 Chron. 15: 1). Now comes the proof of his having studied
his Bible: “Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but
the Levites, for them has Jehovah chosen to carry the ark of God,
and to serve him for ever” (v2). He said this as though he had made
a great discovery, and so indeed it was. But centuries before, it
had been plainly written, “At that time Jehovah separated the tribe
of Levi, to bear the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, to stand before
Jehovah to do service unto him, and to bless in his name, unto this
day” (Deut. 10: 8; see also Num. 7: 1-9—particularly v9). While the
ark was in the house of Obed-Edom, the Spirit of God doubtless
turned David’s attention to this and other Scriptures. How foolish
he must have felt to have imitated the Philistines!
Is not David’s
experience the picture of many a Christian who has been seeking to
serve God according to his own mind? Such have allowed their
‘Christianity’ to be moulded by the ‘new carts’ around them, without
ever going to Scripture to find out God’s will on the matter. David
got light from God as to the carrying of the ark and acted on it.
Seeking fellowship—sending “abroad to our brethren everywhere … that
they may gather themselves to us” (1 Chron. 13: 2)—was one thing,
but assembling “all Israel to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of
Jehovah” (1 Chron. 15: 3) in the divinely prescribed manner
was quite another. David was the king—the leader—but he was not
really a help to the people until he had sought out and obeyed God’s
instruction. Similarly, while there is a great push for fellowship
today, unless it is accompanied by a corresponding desire for the
order of God’s Word, then it will not end well.
Mark David’s next
step: “And David gathered the sons of Aaron and the Levites … and he
said to them, Ye are the chief fathers of the Levites; hallow
yourselves, ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of
Jehovah the God of Israel to [the place that] I have prepared for
it. For because ye [did it] not at the first, Jehovah our God made a
breach upon us” (vs. 4, 12, 13). What was the reason for that
breach? David confesses it: “for that we sought him not after
the due order” (v13, my emphasis). There is a great deep
underlying principle there for our souls today. God has a “due
order” as to everything down here for His people, and if we step out
of this divine order, there is pretty sure to be a Perez-Uzza. The
New Testament contains “due order” instructions for the Christian,
and yet many presume to claim the right to practice according to
their own views. All such would do well to ask themselves, Is this
really the “due order” of God’s Word? Depend upon it, King
David’s new cart—suggested by the Philistines—has its complete
counterpart today in Christendom. I am speaking plainly and simply,
beloved friends, because I desire your profit, and the order of
God’s Assembly is plainly given in His Word as to worship and
service. And if you and I profess to be of God’s house, then the
divine order of that house ought to be seen in our practical ways
(see 1 Tim. 3: 15). It is a sorrowful thing to go on consenting to
that which is not according to God’s mind, and to eventually
discover, like David, that “we sought him not after the due order”
(1 Chron. 15: 13).
Let us now see the
happy effect of the “due order” being adhered to in David’s case:
“So the priests and the Levites hallowed themselves to bring up the
ark of Jehovah the God of Israel. And the children of the Levites
bore the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves upon them, as
Moses had commanded according to the word of Jehovah”
(vs. 14, 15, my emphasis). God had written it plainly enough in
Exod. 25: 13-15, but David had been reading his Bible carelessly
when he first attempted to bring up the ark. So are we careless
readers, and are we sufficiently acquainted with the Scriptures to
know what the Word of the Lord is for our day? Now you may say to
me, I do not see things as you do. Quite possibly you do not, but my
views are as irrelevant as yours. The all-important thing is to read
the Bible—to get God’s instruction—and then to bow to it.
When David’s new cart was in
use, we find that stumbling, death, displeasure, and disappointment
were manifested, and joy, gladness, and worship conspicuous by their
absence. All this is reversed when the “due order” is observed. “And
David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands,
went to bring up the ark of the covenant of Jehovah out of the house
of Obed-Edom with joy” (1 Chron. 15: 25, my emphasis)
Oh sure, there was singing and playing and music in David’s previous
abortive attempt (see 1 Chron. 13: 8), but what is that to the joy
that comes from God? Observe too, that when things are done
according to the divine mind that we read that “God helped the
Levites that bore the ark of the covenant of Jehovah”—no stumbling
now—with the result “that they sacrificed seven bullocks and seven
rams” (1 Chron. 15: 26). Where was any such worship offered in
relation to David’s new cart? Hence, if we set ourselves to really
obey the Word of the Lord, we too shall find that God will help us,
and there will be joy in our souls, genuine worship, and fruitful
service Godward.
A Despised Pathway
However, the pathway of obedience is also a
despised pathway: “And it came to pass as the ark of the covenant of
Jehovah came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul
looked through a window, and saw king David dancing and playing; and
she despised him in her heart” (v29). How sad! David’s wife has no
part in the God-honouring celebrations, and her heart despises the
one following God’s due order. Now God has given to you and me an
opportunity, in the absence of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be faithful
to His truth. Obedience may bring about despisal and
criticism—persecution even—but it must also lead to separation from
is known to be wrong. Why? Because I will not be able to help a man
that is in the confusion of Christendom if I am walking with him in
it. I cannot truly help my brethren in Christ unless I myself am
standing on solid ground. If I saw a man fall in a mire, it would be
futile to go into the mire to get him out—I must stand on the bank
and lift him out. For us, that firm ground is the Bible. Thus I can
only be a help to God’s children, not by going where they are—thus
making light of their inattention to Scripture, or their departure
from the Word—but by firmly and tenaciously holding on to the truth
that God in His grace has given me. If you take up your ground
firmly, quietly, and humbly on the Word of God, you will find that
you are in a position to help other people. That is why Paul said to
Timothy, “And the things thou hast heard of me in the presence of
many witnesses, these entrust to faithful men” (2 Tim. 2: 2). Why
faithful men? Because they were the ones that would not tone the
truth down or let it go.
Conclusion
Sometimes God’s people are pulled up sharply as
David was by the death of Uzzah. That is the time for honest
reflection in the light of God’s Word—Why are we in the state we are
in? It may be that we have neglected God and His Word and have been
consumed by a desire for fellowship around some ‘new cart’ of our
own devising. May God give us the grace to be true to what the Lord
would teach us through these precious OT Scriptures, and instead be
found in fellowship around God’s ‘due order’!
