2 Samuel 6

TALKS FOR GROWING CHRISTIANS

David Brings the Ark of the Covenant Up to Jerusalem

BACKGROUND NOTES



DOCTRINAL POINT(S)

  1. There is judgment for activities outside the bounds that God has ordained.

  2. There is liberty for activities inside the bounds that God has ordained.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

  1. Don’t do the Lord’s work in the world’s ways.

QUESTIONS

  1. What is the Millo?

  2. Where had the Ark of the Covenant been before David attempted to bring it up to Jerusalem?

  3. What critical mistake did David make in his transportation of the Ark?

  4. Why was Uzzah punished when he had the good intention to keep the Ark from falling?

  5. Why did Michal become upset?

ANSWERS

  1. The Millo was a huge reinforcing wall constructed so that more level ground could be attained on top of the hill where David had his palace built.

  2. It had been in Kirjath Jearim for about 100 years, since it came back from the land of the Philistines in the days of Samuel.

  3. He planned to transport the Ark by a Philistine method, on a cart, rather than by God’s method. God had ordained that only the Kohathites from the priestly tribe of Levi were to carry the Ark of the Covenant (Numbers 4:15).

  4. Uzzah was in the covenant community of Israel. He knew the Law and was under the Law. Only the Kohathites were to carry the Ark, and even they were not to touch it.

  5. Michal, David’s wife, looked down on him for exhibiting behavior which, from her perspective, was unbefitting for a king.

DISCUSS/CONSIDER

  1. There is judgment for activities outside the bounds that God has ordained. Think of some examples of boundary lines and the consequences for breaking them.

  2. There is liberty for activities inside the bounds that God has ordained. It’s okay to be emotional in the expression of your faith, just as David was. Discuss some practical examples of this.

CHALLENGE

  1. David’s motives in transporting the Ark were good, but his method was wrong. Are you trying to do the Lord’s work in the world’s ways?

KEY VERSES

  • “So they set the ark of God on a new cart…Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God.” Samuel 6:3,6,7

  • “So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.” 2 Samuel 6:15

2 Samuel, Old Testament, TalksDeb Harms2 Samuel 6