2 Samuel 6 – Study

Passage: 2 Sam 6:1-11

1 David again brought together all the able young men of Israel – thirty thousand. 2 He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark. 3 They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart 4 with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. 5 David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, tambourines, rattles and cymbals.

6 When they came to the threshing-floor of Nakon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. 7 The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down, and he died there beside the ark of God.

8 Then David was angry because the Lord’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.

9 David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, ‘How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?’ 10 He was not willing to take the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 11 The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the Lord blessed him and his entire household.

A. Find Out:

1. What did David set out to do? v.1,2
2. How did they do it? v.3,4
3. What were they doing as well? v.5
4. What happened along the way? v.6,7
5. What was David’s response? v.8,9
6. So what did he do and what happened? v.10,11

B. Think:

1. How did this procession appear all right to start with?
2. What signs are there that they were casual with the ark?
3. How did the Lord show what He felt about the ark?

C. Comment:

     David may have been a man after God’s own heart, but he was still a man and still prone to getting it wrong, however great he may appear to us in his victories. Having established himself in Jerusalem he is aware that the ark of God is still in a tent in another part of the land and feels that it ought to come to where he is.

    Now the ark was the place in the tabernacle where the glory of the Lord had come to rest, it was the symbol of the presence of God, it was holy, and David was about to learn a lesson about dealing with what is holy. Ignoring past instructions as to how the ark is to be carried by priests, they get a cart, put the ark on it and make a joyful procession with it. If you saw this procession and the way David and the others were celebrating you might have thought, “How wonderful, isn’t it good seeing people worshipping the Lord.”

    However, this was a man-centred celebration, and they were more focused on what they were doing than about the awesome presence that was with them. Thus when one of them puts his hand out to steady the ark he is instantly struck down. “Who said you could touch My ark?” is almost what you can hear the Lord saying. David can’t cope with this. He’s first of all angry against God and then fearful of Him. He still has some learning to do.

D. Application:

1. Are we casual about God? Do we not realise He is holy?
2. We are to do things God’s way, not with our own bright ideas!

Passage: 2 Sam 6:12-23  

12 Now King David was told, ‘The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.’ So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. 13 When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, 15 while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

16 As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.

17 They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. 18 After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. 19 Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.

20 When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, ‘How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!’

21 David said to Michal, ‘It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel – I will celebrate before the Lord. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honour.’

23 And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.

A. Find Out:

1. What did David hear about the ark that brought him confidence? v.12
2. How did they go about bringing in the ark the second time? v.13-15
3. How did he complete the bringing in of the ark? v.17-19
4. How did Michal respond to David? v.16,20
5. What was David’s response to this? v.22
6. What was the effect on Michal? v.23

B. Think:

1. Read 1 Chron 15:11 -16:6 How did this attempt to bring in the ark differ from the previous one?
2. Why do you think Michal felt as she did about David?
3. What do you think David’s response indicates?

C. Comment:

      There are several important lessons here. Lesson number one: you treat the things of God with respect and do things the way God has said. That was the big difference between the two episodes. In the first one they were casual, while in this one they were careful to do everything as God had said. There was respect and honour for God is this one!

      Lesson number two: it is easy to fall to the temptation of being more concerned with what man thinks than what God thinks. That was Michal’s problem. She thought David ought to be dignified because he was the king. She was worried about what others might think about him. She derides him!

      Lesson number three: we are not to be put off by the criticism of others when it comes to our worship of Almighty God. Others may jeer or deride us, but we need to determine to carry on extravagantly worshipping God. How different David’s worship is to the neat, orderly and respectable, so-called worship that we so often see. Here is a man who is a man after God’s own heart and who has recently realised the holiness of God. For him, worship must be wholehearted. As you consider his preparations, there is nothing casual about this. This is planned and purposeful. May ours be the same.

D. Application:

1. Is our worship of God completely wholehearted?
2. Are we too concerned with what other people think?