2 Samuel 6
McGeeCHAPTER 6THEME: David’s wrong and right attempts to bring the ark to JerusalemIn this chapter David does a right thing in a wrong way. He tried to bring up the ark to Zion on a cart, although God had given explicit directions for moving it. The Kohathites of the tribe of Levi were to carry the ark on their shoulders (Num_7:9). Uzzah was smitten dead because he should have known better than to touch it. “Hands off” was made abundantly clear in God’s instructions concerning the ark. David then brought the ark up in a right way. Michal rebukes David for his enthusiasm and devotion to God in bringing up the ark. This chapter can be labeled, “Doing a Right Thing in a Wrong Way.” I suppose this would be another way of putting the negative in that ancient epigram, “The end justifies the means.” There have been many organizations and individuals who have used that as their philosophy of life. I do not mean to suggest that this was David’s philosophy of lifeit was notbut as far as this particular incident in chapter 6 is concerned, it was certainly true. I believe this is a page from one of the greatest days in the life of David. Suppose you wanted to choose the greatest day in the life of David. What day would you choose? Would it be the day that Samuel poured the anointing oil on him as a young shepherd boy? How about the day that he slew the giant Goliath? Certainly his first romance with Michal, Saul’s daughter, who was given to him in marriage, deserves consideration. Perhaps you might choose the day David escaped from Saul.
Then again you might choose the day Saul died, because that meant that David would ascend the throne. You might think it was the day that he was made king of all Israel and the crown was placed upon his head. You might even want to suggest it was the day his son Absalom rebelled against him and was slain. Or perhaps you might choose the day his son Solomon was anointed king. All of these were great days in the life of a great man. However, I believe there are two events that stand out above all others in the life of David: the day that David brought the ark of God to Jerusalem (recorded in ch. 6) and the day David purposed in his heart to build God a house (recorded in ch. 7). These are probably the two greatest days in David’s life. Now the ark of the covenant denoted the presence of God among His people. If you are not acquainted with the floor plan of the tabernacle, I would like to recommend my book about the tabernacle entitled God’s Portrait of Christ. I emphasize the articles of furniture and their location in the tabernacle and then in the temple. In the outer court was the burnt altar and the brazen laver. Sin was dealt with there. Then there was the Holy Place which contained three articles of furniture, all of which spoke of worship and the person of Christ: the golden lampstand, the golden altar, and the table of showbread.
Then inside the Holy of Holies was the ark and over it the mercy seat. This was where God met with His people. The ark is possibly the best picture of Christ we have in the Old Testament. It is the only picture, actually, that God ever painted. Personally I do not care for the paintings of Christ, especially the way the artists of the Middle Ages pictured Him. No one knows how the Lord Jesus looked. There are those who say He was a white man, some say He was a black man, and others say He was a swarthy man with a dark complexion. Probably His skin was bronze, but we don’t know because we have not been told. There is a picture of Him, however, in the tabernacle and especially in the ark, which was just a box made of acacia wood, of precise dimensions, and overlaid with gold inside and outside. Bezaleel was given a special ministry by the Spirit of God that he might make the ark.
The ark, denoting the presence of God, became a hindrance to Israel because they looked upon it in a superstitious way. They thought there was some merit in that box, and there was not. It was just a symbol, a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was made of gold, which speaks of His deity, and of wood, which speaks of His humanity. It was not two boxes; it was one box. It was a wooden box; it was a gold box.
It was both. As such, it was a marvelous example of the hypostatical union of Jesus Christ. He is the God-man, or as one of the oldest creeds says: He is very man of very man, and He is very God of very God. You will recall that during the time of Samuel the Philistines captured the ark and became very superstitious about it. They sent it back to Israel on a wagon and left it in the field of Abinadab. It stayed in that area for seventy years. When David captured Jerusalem, he wanted to move the ark up there because he felt that was the proper place for it, and apparently it was the place which God had chosen. One of the things the king was told was, “Three times a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose …” (Deu_16:16). When David took Jerusalem, he made it the capitaland in Kirjath-jearim, eight miles west of Jerusalem, was the ark. David had a passion and love for God that is seldom found today. I do not go along with these folk who are everlastingly criticizing David. I only wish in my own heart that I had that love and passion for God that he had. Listen to what he says in Psa_9:1: “I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart….” David expressed his devotion from the depths of his heart in a most wonderful way. In Psa_108:1 he declared, “O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.” Then in Psa_103:1 he says, “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.” What a passion and love for God this man had! That is why he wanted to bring the ark of God to Jerusalem. We will see in this chapter that he will attempt to do it, but he goes about it in the wrong way. The ark is mentioned fifteen times in the first seventeen verses. After you read this section (and I hope that you will read it carefully), you realize that the subject is the ark of the Lord. It seemed to be a rather important subject to David and to the Lord. At least eleven of the psalms were composed around the great event of bringing the ark to Jerusalem. You can be sure of one thing: David did not have some peculiar superstition about the ark. He knew where the Lord was, and he knew He was not in that box. In Psa_123:1 David says, “Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.” David knew where God was, but he knew that the approach to God was made through the ark which spoke of a mediator between God and man. This has been a rather lengthy introduction, because I believe this is an important chapter. Now notice what David wants to do.
2 Samuel 6:1
This is where David made his mistake. God had given specific instructions about moving the tabernacle and its furniture, but David did not follow those instructions. Someone might say, “Well, the Philistines didn’t either, and they got away with it.” They got away with it because they were ignorant. Light creates responsibility. If men have the light of the gospel, they are held responsible for rejecting it. I am not going to argue with you about the heathen in Africa, but I would like to argue with you about the heathen in my town and your town because they can hear the gospel, and their responsibility is great.
If you turn your back on Jesus Christ, my friend, you can argue about the heathen all you want to, but you are lost and doomed and judged and are bound for eternal hell. That is the teaching of the Word of God. You may not like it; and, if you don’t, you ought to move out of this universe into another one. This is God’s universe and these are His rules. So David goes to bring up the ark to Jerusalem, but he does it in the wrong way. The ark was constructed with rings on the four corners. Staves were put through those rings, and the ark was carried on the shoulders of the Levites. On the wilderness march the Kohathites put that ark on their shoulders and carried it. David simply did not follow God’s instructions. Friend, in just such a way God wants the gospel to go out today. I sometimes wonder why He doesn’t get a better instrument than I am and why He doesn’t write the gospel in the skies. But Jesus Christ has to be carried through this world on the shoulders of those who are His own. That is God’s way of doing it today. That was God’s way of doing it in David’s day. David was wrong, so wrong. He is going to get into trouble, just as God’s people today get in trouble when they do wrong.
2 Samuel 6:5
David was a musician. He believed in having lots of music, and he is going to bring the ark to Jerusalem with a great deal of it.
2 Samuel 6:6
This is a pretty serious situation. The ark was on the cart, and the oxen were shaking the cart. When Uzzah tried to steady the ark with his hand, the Lord smote him and he died. Some might say that it was a small breach of conduct for such extreme punishment. Uzzah’s death so affected David that he stopped the procession and left the ark in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. David was shaken and angry with the Lord. The Lord was angry too. God was angry because David was moving the ark in the wrong way.
2 Samuel 6:8
You and I would do well, friend, to be afraid of the Lord. Psa_111:10 tells us that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom….” Many people need to recognize that fact today. God is going to judge. I do not know about you, but I am a little weary of hearing all this love, love, lovey-dovey stuff. Sure, God is love. Certainly God loves you, but you can go on in sin, you can turn your back on Him, and you are lost. There is no way out of it. There is no other alternative. Joh_14:6 says, “…I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Jesus Christ spoke those words, and they are truth. We should fear Him and do as He tells us to do. David was afraid of the Lord that day, and he finally asked, “How shall the ark of the LORD come to me?”
2 Samuel 6:10
He was determined to bring the ark to the city of David. Has he learned his lesson? How is he going to bring it up now? On the shoulders of the priests.
2 Samuel 6:13
I know there are going to be many arched eyebrows at the fact that David danced, but God is the One who put it in His Word. David danced by himself. It had nothing in the world to do with sex. Any kind of a dance today (and I do not care how you try to cover it up with culture and refinement) is a sex dance. David’s dance was one of worship. Now if you could have a worshipful dance, I would be all for it, but I don’t think you can, my friend. I do not find people in love with God like this man David was. David is rejoicing before God. Personally, I would like to see more people rejoicing and praising God today. I am concerned when I see believers with long faces. God doesn’t like it, my friend. We are to come into His presence with joy. David did, you may be sure of that.
2 Samuel 6:15
Michal did not like to see anyone who was in love with God like that, and she despised David for it. Remember, Michal is David’s wife. Her attitude is a very serious thing as far as her relationship with David is concerned.
2 Samuel 6:17
Those burnt offerings speak of the person of Christ. The peace offerings speak of the peace that He made by the blood of His cross and of the relationshipthe wonderful relationshipwhich was between God and David. My friend, let’s push aside the extraneous arguments we hear about David’s dancing before the Lord and about Uzzah being smitten dead. The record is here in the Word of God; let’s accept it as it is written. The important thing is to see the lesson that is here for us. What about your relationship to God? Let me give a personal testimony at this point. Driving down to the office this morning, feeling rather weary since I have just returned from a trip, I thanked God that He had brought me to another day.
I thanked Him that I’ve confessed all my sins and am in a right relationship with Him. And I told Him that I love Him. How He deserves our love and adoration! The important thing to see in this chapter is David’s relationship with God. Here is a man who is in love with his God. He is rightly related to Him and thrilled to be able to serve Him.
Oh, that you and I might have the same joy of the Lord in our lives!
2 Samuel 6:20
David “uncovered himself” in the sense that he took off his royal garments which set him apart as the king. He mingled and mixed with the people, and thanked God, and rejoiced in the fact that the ark was being brought to the city of David. Michal did not like that. She liked dignity and reverence in worship. I am always afraid of these super-duper pious folk who talk everlastingly about dedication and piety. Watch those folks, my friend. They are dangerous. I fear them like David did. What a man of God he was!
2 Samuel 6:21
David is saying, “Because God chose me, I will rejoice.” My, I wish folk had a better time when they went to church. They would enjoy the services more.
2 Samuel 6:22
When he says he will make himself “more vile,” he means that he will come down to the level of the most humble worshiper. He doesn’t mind being informal in his worship of God. Because of her attitude, David “put her aside.” That is, he became permanently estranged from her, and she was childless. Obviously, Michal did not share David’s love and enthusiasm for God.