I Chronicles 15:13
Because you Levites did not carry the Ark the first time, the anger of the Lord our God burst out against us. We failed to ask God how to move it properly.
We hear David recounting how they were moving the Ark from Abinidab's house, but they had put it on a cart, instead of having the Levites carry it with the staves on their shoulders. God knew that any other method of moving it would be unstable and dangerous, so when the oxen pulling the cart stumbled, Uzza put his hand on the Ark itself so it wouldn't fall, and he died instantly. This Ark was not an ordinary object, and required extraordinary care.
David said that they failed to ask God how to properly move it, and this Uzza, a good man who, in his concern for the safety of the Ark, disregarded his own safety, and paid with his life. Was he electrocuted? Was it radioactive? We don't know, since they knew nothing of these concepts back then to write about them. All they knew was that they hadn't asked God for His instructions, and someone suffered the consequences.
David thought it was perfectly reasonable to use a brand-new cart, but sometimes what we think is reasonable will put us in danger. Maybe not danger of our lives, but danger of our reputations, or, even more important, God's reputation. God wants us to depend on Him, not our own understandings, since His knowledge and understanding is so far beyond ours. He always knows what is best, and we can often misunderstand miserably.
O my Father, please remind me to always ask You for Your ways, to do Your will, not my own, even when I think my way is perfectly reasonable. May I always consult Your Word for my every decision, and always be aware of how Your reputation will fare by my actions. May I seek Your face every moment of every day for my every step in life.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
