(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
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2 Samuel 6:1–5, “Again, David gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. And David arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims. And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart. And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God: and Ahio went before the ark. And David and all the house of Israel played before the LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals.”
David was now well established as the king of Israel. He didn’t spent a lot of time waiting to see what would happen like Saul did after he became king. He had fought the Philistines after taking Jerusalem so that he could be in complete control of his own kingdom. However, there was one issue still to be sorted out. The Lord had told Israel, while they were in the wilderness, that they should keep the Tabernacle and the Ark in the middle of their camp. This was so that they would know that the Lord God was with them and was guiding them in everything that they did. David realised that he needed to bring the ark into his new city so that the people would know that the Lord God had chosen to live among his people. The Lord had always promised that He would live among His people and He would show them a place where He would live among them. Of course, the Lord inhabits His entire creation and not just one city, but the Ark showed them that they belonged to the Lord and that He was with them from day to day. The Ark had been lost to Israel when Eli’s sons had lost it in battle against the Philistines but the Philistines had sent it back and it was kept with a man called Abinadab for a long time. Saul brought the Ark with him for a while and had been successful in some battles. However, Saul didn’t take possession of Jerusalem, the city of David. David knew that the Lord had given him Jerusalem to be his home city so he wanted to bring the Ark to his city. We know that David didn’t just do anything he felt like doing but he asked the Lord for advice so we know that David had asked the Lord about bringing the Ark to his city. They went to Bale of Judah and brought the Ark. When the Philistines took the ark and suffered from a plague, the returned ark on a cart drawn by two milch cows. David and his men continued to carry the Ark on a bullock cart. However, the Lord had told them to carry the ark on the shoulders of priests. (Ex 25: 14, 15) When the Ark was carried on the cart it looked like it was going to fall and Uzzah, one of the men who was close by, put his hand on the Ark to stabilise it and the Lord killed him immediately. The entire ceremony was being conducted without the proper amount of respect. They then brought the Ark to Abinadab’s house. After that they brought the Ark with due respect and ceremony.
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