David Takes the Ark of God to Jerusalem
v1 David again gathered all the men that he chose from Israel. There were 30,000 men. v2 Then David and all his men went to the town called Baalah in Judah. They went to bring back the ark of God. The ark has the name of the most powerful Lord. The Lord is present between the cherubim (angels) on the top of the ark. v3 They brought the ark of God out from Abinadab’s house, which was on a hill. They put the ark on a new cart. Abinadab had two sons. Their names were Uzzah and Ohio. They were leading the new cart. v4 So they brought the cart with the ark of the Lord on it from Abinadab’s house. Ahio walked in front of the cart. v5 David and all the people of Israel were very excited in front of the Lord. They sang and they played musical instruments. These instruments were called lyres, harps, tambourines, rattles, and cymbals.
v6 They came to the place where Nacon used to prepare his grain. The oxen were pulling the cart, but they nearly tripped over. When the oxen nearly fell, Uzzah held the ark. He did not want the ark to fall off the cart. v7 God was very angry with Uzzah because he had done the wrong thing. God killed Uzzah. Uzzah died next to the ark of God. v8 Then David was angry because the Lord had punished Uzzah. So, they called that place Perez Uzzah.
v9 David was now afraid of the Lord. David said, "I do not know how the ark of the Lord can come to me now." v10 David would not take the ark of the Lord into the city of David. Instead, David took it into the house of Obed Edom. (Obed Edom came from the city called Gath.) v11 The ark was there for three months. The Lord blessed Obed Edom and all his family.
Commentary
The account of this event in 1 Chronicles 13 says that David gathered men from his army. Then he gathered men from all the tribes of Israel. He also asked the priests and Levites to go with him. This was an important event for the Israelites. David was king of the whole nation. Jerusalem (the city of David) was the new capital city. David had a palace to live in. David now wanted the ark of the Lord to be in Israel’s capital city. This meant that the Lord would be present in the city. Also, it would show that the Lord was the real king of Israel. The Israelites would give sacrifices and worship the Lord there.
God is too great to live in any building that men may build (Acts 7:48-50), but he was present at the ark of the Lord. In the Old Testament, God spoke to the priest from a place above the ark (Exodus 25:22). In verse 2, the word "present" can mean "sit." This means that the ark was like a throne (a king’s seat) for the Lord. So, wherever the ark went, the Lord was present there in a special way. The ark was holy because it belonged to the Lord.
The Israelites moved the ark on a new cart. Oxen pulled the cart. This is what the Philistines did in 1 Samuel 6:7-15. But this is against the Lord’s commands in Exodus 25:10-16 and Numbers 4:5-6,15. God had told the Levites to put two long poles into rings in the ark. Then they carried the ark by these poles. They could not touch the ark because it was very holy. Abinadab’s family had looked after the ark for many years. In verse 3, grandsons led the ark on its journey to Jerusalem. The Israelites knew that this was a special event. Lyres and harps are instruments with strings. Tambourines and rattles make a noise when you shake them. Cymbals are flat pieces of metal that you hit together. This was a very noisy procession.
Farmers had to separate the grains of wheat from the stems and the leaves. They shook the wheat into the air in order to do this. Then the wind blew the light pieces away. Each farmer did it at a particular place where the ground was flat. So, everyone knew where Uzzah died. Perhaps the ground was not in fact level there. Uzzah wanted to protect the ark so he held it. But the ark was holy. Uzzah had not given the honor to God. So, God punished Uzzah. Abinadab’s family should have known to move the ark God’s way, not their own way. The happy day became a sad day for all the Israelites.
David thought that he was doing the right thing. He wanted to give honor to the Lord. He wanted all the Israelites to worship the Lord again. But the Lord had stopped the procession. David was angry. Then David realized how holy God was. So he became afraid of the Lord. He did not want the Lord to punish any more people. David did not know whether the ark would ever go to Jerusalem. David would not have given the ark to an ordinary Israelite. The Levites knew how to look after the ark in the proper way.
David Takes the Ark from Obed Edom
v12 Now the people told David, "The Lord has blessed Obed Edom, his family and everything that belongs to them. It is because the ark of God is there." So David fetched the ark of God from Obed Edom’s house. David took it to the city of David with great joy. v13 The men who carried the ark walked 6 steps. Then David sacrificed a bull (male cow) and a fat young cow. v14 David was wearing a linen ephod. He danced with all his energy in front of the Lord. v15 David and all the people of Israel brought the ark of the Lord to the city of David. They shouted with joy and they blew trumpets.
Commentary
For three months the Lord blessed everything that Obed Edom had. David realized that the ark itself was not the problem. The Lord had only been angry because Uzzah had done something wrong. He had touched the ark. But then, the Lord blessed everyone who gave him honor. The problem was that David’s men had carried the ark in the wrong way. They had not obeyed the Lord. This time they carried it as the Lord had said. And they sacrificed to the Lord. David was king of all the priests in Israel. It seems that David behaved like a priest that day. He took off his royal coat to show that he was humble. And he wore a linen ephod. (Only the priests wore an ephod.)
The priests often used a trumpet as they worshipped the Lord. Everyone was excited and happy. David was probably happier than everyone else.
The Ark Entered the City of David
v16 As the ark of the Lord entered the city of David, Saul’s daughter Michal watched from her window. She saw King David. He was jumping and dancing in front of the Lord. Then Michal felt very surprised. His actions disgusted her.
v17 David had put up a tent for the ark of the Lord. The Israelites put the ark in its place inside the tent. David sacrificed burnt offerings and friendship offerings to the Lord. v18 David finished sacrificing burnt offerings and friendship offerings. Then he blessed the people in the name of the most powerful Lord. v19 Then he gave a gift to every Israelite man and woman. He gave them a loaf of bread and a round pack of dates and a round pack of raisins. After this, all the people went to their homes.
v20 David returned to his home so that he could bless the people in his family. Saul’s daughter Michal came to meet him. She said, ‘Today you did not behave with honor as the king of Israel should. You took off your royal coat. Even the female slaves of your servants saw you do this. And you were not ashamed.’
v21 David said to Michal, "I did this in front of the Lord. The Lord chose me as the ruler over his people of Israel. He chose me rather than your father or anyone from Saul’s family. Therefore I will be full of joy in front of the Lord. v22 I will be even less ashamed. And I will be more humble. But those female slave girls that you mentioned will give me honor." v23 Saul’s daughter Michal never had any children.
Commentary
David had prepared a special tent for the ark. This may have been like the tent that Moses made (Exodus 25-27). David gave two types of offerings to the Lord. The people did not have to give these offerings. Instead, the people gave these offerings because they wanted to. However, they had to give the offering the proper way. Leviticus chapters 1-7 describe 5 different types of offerings that the Israelites gave to the Lord.
At the end of this event, David blessed the people. Then David gave everyone a present. Everyone had enough food to eat as they went home. Dates and raisins are dried fruits. David led the Israelites as their king. He also led them when they worshipped. David loved and served the Lord. David wanted all the Israelites to love and serve the Lord also.
Michal was David’s wife. But this chapter always refers to her as Saul’s daughter. Michal was like her father Saul. Saul did not care about the ark. He had not worshipped the Lord like David did. Saul became proud and he did not obey the Lord. Saul cared what people thought about him.
Michal had stayed in the palace. She watched the ark of the Lord come into the city. Michal knew that David was a brave soldier. He had become the king of the whole nation of Israel. But she thought that this day he behaved like a foolish man. Michal saw what David did. But she did not understand how much David loved the Lord. She did not care that David wanted to give honor to the Lord.
In verse 20, David went to bless his family. This included all his servants and slaves. Michal told David that his actions disgusted her. She did not respect David when she spoke to him. But David was confident. The Lord had chosen him, not Saul’s family. Michal probably thought that David insulted her by his actions. David wanted God to have more honor and glory. So, David was content to be more humble. Michal did not give David honor as the king. But David knew that even slaves would still give him honor as the king.
Michal did not have any children (verse 23). This suggests that she and David did not continue to live together as husband and wife. Therefore, Saul’s family could not continue through Michal. But David had other wives. And these wives gave honor to David because David became a father by them. We do not know what happened to Michal. Probably she just lived in her own house like a widow, until she died.
1 Samuel 18:20-27 says that Michal had loved David. David risked his life to marry her. However, it seems that their marriage ended in this chapter. The Bible does not tell us anything else about Michal after this event.
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