Out of Step with God

There is a striking passage of scripture seen in 1 Chronicles in chapter 13. You can turn in your Bibles there now, friends. This passage speaks of a blessing from God given and a blessing withheld.

Chapter 13 of 1 Chronicles deals with the transportation of the Ark of God by David to Jerusalem, but the Ark arrival is delayed three months because of God's hot displeasure and David's disobedience. All seems to be going well as David begins the journey of moving the Ark to Jerusalem as seen in verses 7 and 8. And they carried the Ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abednadab. And Uzzah and Ahaiyo drove the cart.

And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets. This joyous occasion begins with a musical procession where David himself has struck up the band, playing his harp and leaping for joy as he leads the procession of people as they transport the Ark to the city of David. But two unforeseen events occur which sidetrack the Ark's arrival in Jerusalem.

In verses 9 and 10, we see the first event occur. And when they came unto the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put forth his hand to hold the Ark, for the oxen stumbled. Let me pause here, friends, to say this accident could have been avoided by better planning.

David had failed to transport the Ark according to God's design. The family of Korah was in charge of carrying the Ark, using the rings and poles provided, and the Ark was not to be carried on wagons, but on human shoulders. No priest was in charge of this transportation, and it was done incorrectly.

And when the oxen stumbled, so did Uzzah, who should have known better than to touch the Ark. God strikes him dead on the spot. But David's reaction is what takes place next.

David allows his temper to get the best of him, and he acts in the flesh, and he gets out of step with God and loses his direction as we see in verses 11 through 13. And David was displeased, because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzzah, wherefore that place is called Perez-Uzzah to this day. And David was afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I bring the Ark of God home to me? So David brought not the Ark home to himself to the city of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obed-Edom to get tight.

We see David loses temper at God, and he loses his direction, for he is now out of step with God. And that's the title of my message today, friends. Out of step with God.

David was out of step with God, but he knew enough to place the Ark in the care of a Levite for the time being. Obed-Edom was a Levite of the family of Korah, and he was qualified to become the caretaker of the Ark of the Covenant. I believe the modern church is out of step with God.

I believe we have gone our own way in serving God with our new courts and methodologies. I believe our self-reliance has put a breach between us and God. And because we are out of step with God, we are out from under his blessings.

When we walked God to the back door of the church and told him goodbye and let the world into the church, that's when God withdrew his presence from among us and left us to our own devices. That's why there's no power in the church today. When was the last time, friend, you saw the power of God in a meeting? This is why the church has lost her voice of authority and her influence upon society.

She is impotent. She's an impotent institution that operates solely on money and manpower. But where is the spiritual transformation? In the lives of her members, we must repent of our foolishness and our sinfulness and get back in step with God if we desire his favor and blessings.

The day the churches mistook church growth as God's smile upon them was the day the church got out of step with God. I believe we can miss God's blessing both corporately and personally. The church has brushed aside almighty God and is paying the price.

But there's an example here in our text where a man gets a blessing from God by being in step with God. In verse 14 we read, And the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-Edom in his house three months, and the Lord blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that he had. This Levite got the blessing while David missed it.

I believe we can miss God's best for us as well by being out of step with him. Our sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and his discipline in our life should be foremost in our service to God. God may want to give us a great blessing, but we must examine ourselves to see if we are in harmony with God or standing in his way.

Let us pray.