I Chronicles 13:12 And David was afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I bring the ark of God home to me
Have you ever done something you thought to be the right thing only to find out that it was the wrong thing? You thought you had good intentions, a consensus, and good enthusiasm, but at the end of the day, you did the wrong thing. Has that ever happened to you? That can be very frustrating. King David certainly understood this dilemma. He had a lot of good things going for him, but doing right sometimes requires more. What does it require?
In I Chronicles 13 there is the story of David wanting to bring to himself the Ark of the Covenant. This was a good intention, but as you might recall, as they carried the Ark of God out of the house of Abinadab in a new cart, the cart jolted and a man named Uzzah put his hand on the Ark to steady it. God struck him dead because this was clearly against what God had ordained as the way to treat the Ark.
Unfortunately, for some time the Ark had been kept by pagans who were superstitious, and even when Israel regained control of the Ark, they seemed to be superstitious just like the pagans had been. They had forgotten what God had said about the way the Ark was to be handled. That was important because the Ark represented the glory of God and God Himself, so it was not to be tritely handled. Good intentions are important, but doing the right thing the right way is also important.
Sometimes doing right requires more. What does it require? It requires more than intention. In the first verses of I Chronicles 13 David says, “And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we enquired not at it in the days of Saul.” This was a good thing. They wanted to enquire of God. David over and again enquired of God when he had a question, a battle, or an issue. He asked God what to do. This is consistent with the ethic David had in his life. He had good intentions, but that was not quite enough.
David had consensus. In verse 4 it says, “For the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.” He had asked a variety of people if they should bring the Ark back to them again. He had consensus. Sometimes the majority can be a help to you and sometimes the majority may mean well but be wrong. Sometimes doing right requires more than consensus.
Sometimes doing right requires more than enthusiasm. One pastor I had used to say that enthusiasm was zeal without knowledge. Verse 8 says, “And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets.” When they brought the Ark to them, they were full of joy and enthusiasm. We lack that sometimes. How I thank God for people who may not be perfect, but have enthusiasm, a heart for God, a love for God. That is wonderful! We need that, but sometimes doing right requires more. What does it require? What is needed?
After God had been angered and smote this man who put forth his hand to touch the Ark, verse 12 says, “And David was afraid of God that day, saying, How shall I bring the ark of God home to me?” He finally came to a place where he had intention, consensus, and enthusiasm, but he did not know how because he hadn’t asked. Ironically, he was bringing the Ark home so he could enquire of God, but he had not enquired. The people who knew how the Ark was to be handled were readily available, but somehow there was never a connection. Either David did not ask, they did not tell, or both. So, David wondered, “How shall I bring the ark of God home to me?”
Today, when you are seeking the right path, ask God to help you to have the right heart, to get good counsel, and have joy and enthusiasm, but also ask God to show you how to do what needs to be done. I’m not just talking about a feeling. I am talking about what is in the Word of God. How to handle the ark was something that was in black and white; it was on paper what David was to do.
God can show you what He has an opinion about. The place to begin is seeing what God has actually said. Many times, we just need to stop and ask, “God, how is this to be done?” In our worship services we should ask, “How does God want to be worshipped?” The question is not about how we want to worship, but about how God wants to be worshipped. The question is not, “How do we want to address God?” but “How does God want us to address Him?” Intention, consensus, and enthusiasm are all important, but sometimes we just need to stop and ask God how because sometimes doing right requires more.