Even God's Own People Can Overlook Something Major in God's Word
David missed something very important.
David overlooked something so important in God’s Word that it cost a man his life.
David and the people of Israel went to bring the ark of God up to Jerusalem. They were rejoicing and celebrating because the ark of God was finally going to return after 20 years or so (2 Samuel 6:1-4).
But there was a significant problem.
The ark was being transported on a cart, and when the oxen stumbled, Uzzah put out his hand to steady the ark. God struck Uzzah dead on the spot (2 Samuel 6:6-7) - because no one could touch the ark of God.
David was a servant of God. He was actively praising God when Uzzah was struck dead by the Lord. But David had overlooked how the ark of God was supposed to be transported.
A few months later, David had done his research and discovered how the ark was supposed to be moved.
David built houses for himself in the City of David; and he prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched a tent for it. Then David said, “No one may carry the ark of God but the Levites, for the LORD has chosen them to carry the ark of God and to minister before Him forever.” (1 Chronicles 15:1-2)
David was one of God’s own people - but he had missed something important in God’s Word.
God teaches us a valuable lesson through David. We may be one of God’s people - a Christian - but we could still be missing something important in God’s Word.
When David realized something was wrong, he found the truth. We must never stop searching the Scriptures to learn and practice the truth (John 17:17) in our own lives.
Christians should have confidence in their salvation ( 1 John 5:13), but we should not allow confidence in our salvation to turn us into lazy students of God’s Word.
Being a disciple of Christ means we have committed ourselves to a lifetime of learning from the Master Teacher (Matthew 28:19-20). May we never think so highly of ourselves as to think ourselves incapable of overlooking something important in God’s Word.
Let us remain humble students of the truth (2 Timothy 2:15).