2 SAMUEL 6:5-14 – And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. 6 And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. 7 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God. 8 And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day. 9 And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” 10 So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 11 And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household. 12 And it was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing. 13 And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal. 14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod.
THEME OF THE DAY. OUR EVER-CHANGING FRAMES. We humans are a fragile bunch. Our emotions are often like riding a roller coaster at an amusement park. What a ride! Up one day, down the next. Exhilarating emotional highs followed by extreme lows in dark valleys. Christians are not immune to this. We not only have the wide range of ever-changing emotions, we also have intense spiritual battles with the world, flesh, and devil who exploit our emotions. These three evil foes will play upon our fallen emotions with the intent to cause spiritual depression, even despair. And like in so many situations, David becomes a good case study in the human experience. Today’s scripture shows the man after God’s own heart displaying the ever-changing frames found in each of us. I have bolded David’s topsy-turvy experience. Notice he goes from worshipping the Lord to being angry at the Lord to being afraid of the Lord back to worshipping the Lord. He celebrates. He gets angry. He becomes afraid. He dances. Don’t we just want to grab David, hug him, and thank him for being so real? His transparency is an encouragement. Perhaps it’s time for more of this among God’s people; a realism that allows us genuine relationships of sharing. Perhaps we represent Christ more accurately to the world when we go beyond the shallowness in our own relationships with one another. David was real before the Lord and before the people. So, if he is a good model for us, how do we get there ourselves? Let me offer two applications.
First, realize no one has life, or particularly the Christian life, all figured out. Don’t look across the pew at that family that appears to have it all together. They don’t. Don’t look at the “perfect” marriage and be envious. It isn’t. Don’t look at our church leaders and make them to be Apostle Pauls, they aren’t. Realize every one of us struggle emotionally and spiritually. What we are going through in our lives is not unique to us.
Next, don’t make God in our image. We change. He does not. We react impulsively based on emotions. He does not. We rely upon our feelings to determine our condition before Him. He does not. Rely on these words of Samuel Rutherford, “Believe God’s love and power more than you believe your own feelings and experiences. Your rock is Christ, and it is not the rock that ebbs and flows but the sea.”
Yes, we are a fickle and fragile people. Praise God that He knows that and still loves us!
PRAYER: “Father, I praise You for Your unchanging character in the midst of my ever-changing emotions.”
QUOTE: “Our trust is in the unchanging character of God’s Person and Promises”