SDfAoWOP: Uzzah

Day Twenty-two

2 Samuel 6:7

And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.

Uzzah is carrying on in apparent obedience, for all anyone around him can see. His new king wants the ark brought up, that holy and terrifying box, upon which The Lord of heaven and earth will place his feet as a sign of his favor and mercy. David loves The Lord and wants to be near him.

Uzzah and his companion look at the box, a box they have been trained, from a child, to carry in a certain way, to never touch with their own hands, their sinful and grimy and deceitful hands. They cast about for a cart. Does fear overtake them? Or laziness? That they cannot slide the poles into the rings and bend the knee and lift the ark, suspending it between heaven and earth, to carry it to its dwelling? They get the cart, they maneuver the ark, somehow without touching it, onto the cart, the cattle strain and move forward. Surely the king will be pleased. Surely The Lord will understand. The cattle stumble, the ark tips, and Uzzah stretches out his hand, his faithless and rebellious and wicked hand.

Come into the presence of The Lord. Draw near and see the glory and goodness of the Most High. But don’t touch. You can’t touch, until, sometime much later, the Glory of The Lord looks at a man, a foolish and faithless man, and says, put your hand here. Touch. You cannot come in your own way. You cannot do anything for God. The ground is cleaner than your hand. Stretch out your hand to him who makes you clean and live.