Introduction
It is easy to envy other people's talents, gifts, looks, or wealth. This dawn service at Osaka Onnuri Christian Church opens with a warning: in the kingdom of God, those very assets often turn into stumbling blocks. The person who lacks talent clings to God with fervor. The person who is highly capable thinks they can move forward without prayer or the help of the Holy Spirit, relying on experience and know-how alone.
The text is 1 Chronicles 13:9-14. David wants to bring the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem, a good and excellent decision. But on the way, at the threshing floor of Chidon, the oxen stumble, Uzzah reaches out his hand to steady the ark, and the LORD strikes him down. The ark is then left at the house of Obed-Edom, which is blessed for three months.
The title of the message sums up the contrast: carelessness draws judgment, while the fear of God draws blessing. The preacher draws three lessons for everything you undertake, including what you do for God.
Outline of the Message
1. A Good Decision That Turns into Tragedy
- Saul lost the kingship because of his disobedience. David, for his part, wants to build a kingdom that seeks God and obeys him before the ark of the covenant.
- Once his reign is secure, he sees bringing back the ark as the first thing to do. With the ark, his kingdom would be recognized before everyone as a kingdom where God is present.
- He mobilizes many Israelites, prepares everything carefully, and the ark moves forward amid joy, singing, and instruments.
- Then tragedy strikes: Uzzah dies before God. Joy turns to terror and sorrow. What went wrong? Uzzah only wanted to keep the ark from falling. Didn't God go too far?
2. Act According to God's Will, Not Your Own Ideas
- First lesson: everything must be done according to the Lord's will, not according to your thoughts and methods.
- David, and even the priests, overlooked what mattered most: the way God had prescribed. Numbers 4:15 says it: the sons of Kohath carry the holy things, and if they touch them, they die. God gave these instructions to protect his people.
- The preacher reminds us of God's holiness: no one but the high priest entered the Most Holy Place, and Aaron's two sons died for treating the holy fire carelessly.
- The ark was meant to be carried on the shoulders. He imagines, with humor, what people may have thought: "That's too modest. We might as well take a limousine. If we carry it in style, God will be pleased and so will the people." They followed the ways of the nations and their own zeal, not the Word.
- In this way God gave David a hard lesson at the start of his reign: in the kingdom of Israel, God is king.
3. Perez Uzzah: When God Strikes Our Strength
- Second lesson: check the voice of the Lord and follow it, instead of trusting your passion and your abilities.
- In verse 11, David is angry, and the place is named Perez Uzzah. According to the preacher, the name Uzzah suggests strength and power in Hebrew. Uzzah steadied the falling ark with his own strength. Perez Uzzah, "the LORD broke out against Uzzah," therefore means that he struck down his strength.
- God's work is done neither by human ability nor by human strength. It is accomplished through obedience to the Word and through the fear of God.
- Many believers fall into the trap of their own ideas and passion.
4. The Example of Loren Cunningham's Family
- Loren Cunningham, founder of Youth With A Mission and author of Is That Really You, God?, received a vision of young people from all over the world carrying the Gospel across the earth.
- In his testimony, he tells the story of his grandfather, who was called one day to proclaim the Gospel. He immediately entrusted his children to relatives, and the family was scattered. Loren Cunningham's father followed his example and devoted himself to the Lord, but his aunts, deeply disappointed by the way their father went about it, left the faith. They came back much later, after long years of hardship and wounds.
- The preacher reads this passage from the book: hearing God's voice is not that hard, but if you do not keep listening continually, you can miss the best of God. After knowing what to do, you need to know when and how. The grandfather had obeyed the call without seeking how God wanted him to carry it out. Had he kept seeking God's direction, the suffering that followed would probably have been much less.
- Whatever you do, make sure your ideas and your zeal do not get ahead of God's will. Ask yourself in prayer: is this really what God wants? In what way does he want me to do it?
- The preacher also points out the opposite excess: the person who, every time someone asks for help, answers "I'll pray about it" to get out of it. That is a problem too.
5. From Anger to the Fear of God
- In verse 12, David's anger turns to fear. "How shall I bring the ark of God home to me?"
- He gives up on moving the ark to the City of David and has it taken to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.
- The preacher explains that Obed-Edom was a Levite, a descendant of Kohath through the sons of Korah. He was therefore qualified to keep the ark of the covenant.
6. The Blessing on Obed-Edom's House
- Third lesson: the Lord's blessing rests on the community of those who act in his way.
- Verse 14: the ark stays three months with Obed-Edom, and the LORD blesses his house and everything he has.
- Obed-Edom did nothing special to earn this. He obeyed when the king entrusted the ark to him, and he kept it in holiness, as God had said. He knew God's law, and his humble obedience became joyful service.
- He is described as a man of spiritual discernment, who made God's glory the goal of his life. According to the preacher, 1 Chronicles 26 shows that he followed the ark, leaving his region to settle in Jerusalem: his life had God as its aim.
7. The Ark Enters Jerusalem with Joy
- The news of Obed-Edom's blessing probably reaches David. He understands that the ark is not an object of fear, but a source of blessing when it is honored according to the Word.
- Encouraged, he decides to bring the ark back, prepares according to the law, and brings it into Jerusalem, dancing for joy.
- Strength and zeal that disregard God's will bring fear and death. Obedience to God's way brings joy and blessing to everyone.
- The preacher blesses the congregation: may you, instead of putting forward your ideas and abilities, obey the voice of the Lord in holiness and humility, and so become a blessing to the Lord, to your community, and to yourself.
Key Takeaways
- In the kingdom of God, your strengths can become traps if they excuse you from praying and depending on the Holy Spirit.
- A good goal is not enough: God also looks at the way it is done, and he has revealed it in his Word.
- Perez Uzzah is a reminder that God strikes down human strength that claims to hold up his work in his place.
- Listening to God does not stop at the call: you also need to seek when and how, without using prayer as an excuse to dodge a task.
- Obed-Edom simply obeyed, and his whole household was blessed. Humble obedience becomes a blessing for the whole community.
Personal Application
- What talent, experience, or skill is pushing you to act without praying today?
- In a project you are leading for God, have you sought his way of doing it, or only confirmed your own goal?
- Is there a "new cart" in your life, a method that suits you better than the one God has indicated?
- Do you ever answer "I'll pray about it" to avoid a task someone asks of you?
- Like Obed-Edom, how can you welcome with reverence and joy what God entrusts to you this week, so that your family and your church are blessed through it?
Verses Cited
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did God strike Uzzah down when he only wanted to steady the ark?
The message shows that the problem started earlier: David and the priests had overlooked the method God had set. According to Numbers 4:15, the sons of Kohath were to carry the holy things without touching them, on pain of death. People had preferred a cart, in the manner of the nations. Uzzah tried to hold up with his own strength what God had asked to be handled with reverence.
What does the name Perez Uzzah mean?
The preacher explains that the name Uzzah suggests strength and power in Hebrew. Perez Uzzah means that the LORD struck down Uzzah, in other words, that he struck down his strength. God's work is not accomplished by human ability or strength, but by obedience to his Word and the fear of God.
Why was Obed-Edom's house blessed?
Obed-Edom did nothing extraordinary. He obeyed when the king entrusted the ark to him, and he kept it in holiness, as God had said. For three months, the LORD blessed his house and everything that belonged to him. His blessing showed David that the ark was not an object of terror, but a source of blessing when it is honored according to the Word.
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