It’s great to do things for the Lord, but we should also do them the way He wants them done.
Believe it or not, since beginning our journey in Genesis 1, we have now arrived at Episode 777! It seems appropriate, since this is the story of David wanting the Lord to have His rightful place in the midst of His people. There were three special things David wanted to do for the Lord once he was anointed king over all Israel. 1. To exalt the name of God by taking the City of the Name, Jerusalem. 2. To exalt the glory of God by bringing back the ark of the covenant to its proper place. 3. To exalt the character of God by showing grace to the remnant of Saul’s house. So this is Part 2. Unfortunately, as we often do, David had a lofty desire but a less-than-perfect way of going about it. You recall the Philistines, when chastened by the Lord, sent the ark home on a new cart pulled by two milk cows. They didn’t know any better, and the Lord didn’t hold them accountable for that. But the Levites in David’s day should have known better! “You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them” (Ex 25:13-14). In other words, don’t touch! See the troops marching, “all the choice men of Israel, thirty thousand” (2 Sam 6:1). Hear the bands playing, “on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals” (v 5). Such a happy occasion! But, ominously, we read, “they set the ark of God on a new cart” (v 3). No, David! Methods do matter to God. He wouldn’t have the picture of His lovely Son, our Mercy Seat (see 1 Jn 2:2), dragged around by dumb animals. It’s priestly work to lift Him up. “Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together” (Ps 34:3).