2 Samuel 6:9 (NIV) David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, “How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?”

One thing that we know about David is that he feared the Lord. By that I mean that he reverenced and highly respected God's sovereignty and power. He was famous for the way that he shamelessly worshipped the Lord in public without regard to who was watching him. But there was one time that the fear that he felt was not good. It was based on a wrong perception of God.

David wanted to bring the Ark of the Lord to Jerusalem. It had been at the house of a man named Abinadab for twenty years. When David came to get it with 30,000 of his elite troops, Abinadab's two sons, Uzzah and Ahio, went along to guide the cart that they put the Ark on. The oxen that were pulling the cart stumbled, and Uzzah put his hand on the Ark of the Lord to steady it. No one was to ever touch the Ark of the Lord as it represented the very presence of God. But in the excitement of it all and because Uzzah probably had lost his reverence for it as it had been in his house for twenty years, he just reacted and when he touched it, he was struck dead. This not only made David afraid of God, but he got angry with him (2 Samuel 6:8). He was angry and afraid at God, but all the while it all happened because he was not careful about approaching the Ark of God with holy awe. David, for a moment, lost his reverence for God. He didn't bother to inquire as to how the Ark was supposed to be handled. He didn't speak to the priests or the Levites, who would know what God's instructions were for handling it and because of His carelessness, it cost a man his life. David, in his anger and fear, left the Ark of God in Obed-Edom's house and went home sulking after Uzzah died. Three months later, when he heard that the Lord was blessing Obed-Edom's socks off, he went back to get the Ark of God once again. But this time, he did it as God had prescribed and it was brought to Jerusalem successfully with much joy, worship and celebration.

What is the lesson here for us? Let's not blame God for our own carelessness and lack of reverence. Let's never forget that even though God loves us and invites us into a relationship that is so intimate that He makes His dwelling in our hearts, our God is a consuming fire and the earth and all of heaven trembles at His voice (Hebrews 12:26). That will keep us in the right attitude of heart as we approach the Lord and will keep us from sin and trouble. Don't be afraid of God but do fear Him with the right kind of fear, worshipping Him with reverence and awe! As we do, we too will be able to experience the joy, the worship and the celebration of being in God's presence forevermore.

Pastor Joey Vazquez