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The Beginning of the End
God instructed David: “You shall not go up; ... come upon them
in front of the mulberry trees. And ... when you hear the sound of
marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance
quickly. For then the Lord will go out before you to strike the camp
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of the Philistines.” If David, like Saul, had chosen his own way, he
would not have been successful. But he did as the Lord commanded,
and he “drove back the army of the Philistines from Gibeon as far as
Gezer. Then the fame of David went out into all lands, and the Lord
brought the fear of him upon all nations.” (
1 Chronicles 14:16, 17
).
Ark Returned to Jerusalem
Now that David was established on the throne, he turned to ac-
complish a cherished goal—to bring the ark of God up to Jerusalem.
It was fitting that the capital of the nation should be honored with
the ark, the token of the divine Presence.
David planned to make the occasion a scene of great rejoicing
and impressive display, and the people responded gladly. The high
priest and the princes and leading men of the tribes assembled at
Kirjath Jearim. David’s spirits were brimming with holy zeal. The
ark was brought out from the house of Abinadab and placed on a new
cart drawn by oxen, while two of the sons of Abinadab accompanied
it.
The people of Israel followed with shouts and songs of rejoicing,
a multitude of voices joining in melody with the sound of musical
instruments. “David and the house of Israel played music before
the Lord ... on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines,
on sitrums, and on cymbals.” With solemn joy the vast procession
wound its way along the hills and valleys toward the Holy City.
But “when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out
his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled.
Then the anger of the Lord was aroused against Uzzah, and God
struck him there for his rashness [
KJV marginal reading
]; and he
died there by the ark of God.” Terror fell on the rejoicing crowd.
David was greatly alarmed, and in his heart he questioned the justice
of God. Why had that fearful judgment been sent to turn joy into
grief and mourning? Feeling that it would be unsafe to have the ark