Day 125

Successful on the Second Try

Read: 1 Chronicles 13-16

David now turns to concerns about the ark of the covenant. He provides a tent in which to house the ark. Then he has the ark moved to Jerusalem. But it doesn’t make it. The ark is being moved contrary to the clear instructions in the Word of God. Uzzah reaches out to keep it from tipping when the oxen stumbled and he is struck down dead.

Having secured his borders by decisively defeating the Philistines, David again turns to the matter of moving the ark to the tent he had erected in Jerusalem. In the meantime, he or someone else must have been studying the Scriptures, for now he uses the means clearly specified in the Word and succeeds in bringing the ark into the place he had prepared for it. We need to know what the Bible says. We need to do what the Bible says.

As a pastor, I often had men say to me, “I know that God wants me to get divorced so I can marry this other woman who will make me happy.” They did not want to hear it but I had to say, “I know God does not want you to get divorced because the Bible says you should remain faithful to your wife.” If we want to be truly successful in life, we must not follow our whims but God’s Word. Having moved the ark into place, David had a choir sing a psalm of praise to God.

PRAYER
Father, help us do what you tell us in your Word that we might avoid the price of disobedience. In Jesus’ name. Amen.