KneEmail - a devotional by Mike Benson associated with Forthright Magazine
Opinion 2
DAVID WAS MOVING the ark of the covenant...
The Philistines had captured it but sent it back to Israel. They did this by placing the ark on a cart drawn by two milk cows (1 Sam. 6:2, 10-12; 7:1). When David became king, he wanted to bring the ark and followed the previous practice of transporting the ark by cart (cf. 1 Sam. 6:1-19). When Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, God struck him dead. This first angered David, but he looked to the Scriptures to find the answer.
He later called all of Israel to gather and bring the ark to Jerusalem. He told the leaders, "You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are to consecrate yourselves and bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the LORD our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of Him about how to do it in the prescribed way" (1 Chron. 15:12-13).
When David discovered the prescribed way to move the ark, he did not hesitate to obey exactly (cf. Deut. 10:8). For the ark to be carried by the Levites was walking by faith. To move it by cart was much easier, was more convenient, and had a historical precedent. Yet, to do so was walking by opinion.
THOUGHT: Walking according to our own opinions is clearly forbidden in the Holy Bible. Let us walk by faith! (Ancil Jenkins)
KneEmail: "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Rom. 10:17; cf. 2 Cor. 5:7; Heb. 11:6).