David now has an important item of business. Remember the Ark? We left it with the folks in Beth Shemesh, where the Philistines sent it. It was subsequently moved:

God struck some of the men of Beth Shemesh who, out of curiosity, irreverently peeked into the Ark of GOD. Seventy died. The whole town was in mourning, reeling under the hard blow from GOD, and questioning, “Who can stand before GOD, this holy God? And who can we get to take this Ark off our hands?” They sent emissaries to Kiriath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have returned the Ark of GOD. Come down and get it.” (1 Samuel 6.19 – 21, MSG)

Now David wants it back, all the way back to Jerusalem, the new capital.

David mustered the pick of the troops of Israel—thirty divisions of them. Together with his soldiers, David headed for Baalah to recover the Ark of God…. (2 Samuel 6.1, 2, MSG)

They’re all pretty excited, but there’s an oops:

They placed the Ark of God on a brand-new oxcart and removed it from Abinadab’s house on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab’s sons, were driving the new cart loaded with the Ark of God, Ahio in the lead and Uzzah alongside the Ark. David and the whole company of Israel were in the parade, singing at the top of their lungs and playing mandolins, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals. When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, so Uzzah reached out and grabbed the Ark of God. GOD blazed in anger against Uzzah and struck him hard because he had profaned the Ark. Uzzah died on the spot, right alongside the Ark. 2 Samuel 6.3 – 7, MSG)

What’s the problem? Uzzah was just trying to help. The problem was, they weren’t supposed to touch the Ark. And they weren’t supposed to carry it in an oxcart, not even a brand-new, most likely “consecrated,” oxcart. The Ark’s very design dictated how it was to be moved. Bob, what do you mean?

The Design of Everyday Things is a fascinating book whose main idea is that you don’t need complicated written instructions if the product’s design communicates how to use it. Here’s a classic error shared by nearly all kitchen stoves. The burners are arranged in a rectangle, but the controls are in a straight line! You need labels to know which knob controls which burner (except for the one in the middle).

The Ark did not have that problem. It was to be carried by Levites using the poles which stayed with it:

First let them make an Ark using acacia wood…Cover it with a veneer of pure gold inside and out and make a molding of gold all around it. Cast four gold rings and attach them to its four feet, two rings on one side and two rings on the other. Make poles from acacia wood and cover them with a veneer of gold and insert them into the rings on the sides of the Ark for carrying the Ark. The poles are to stay in the rings; they must not be removed. (Exodus 25.10 – 15, MSG, emphasis mine)

David was angry, fearful, and puzzled:

And David was angry because the LORD had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day. And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and he said, “How can the Ark of the LORD come to me?” (2 Samuel 6.8, 9, ESV)

But after three months, he figured it out:

David went and brought up the Ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing. And when those who bore the Ark of the LORD had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal. And David danced before the LORD with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the Ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the horn. (2 Samuel 6.12 – 15, ESV, emphasis mine)

“When those who bore the Ark…” No new oxcart, just four Levites with poles on their shoulders. When all else fails, follow the directions!

God made us and gave us a maintenance manual. When you run the creature according to the manual, you get a minimum of friction and a maximum of joy and peace. – Skip Gray

But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you today, by loving the LORD your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. (Deuteronomy 30.14 – 16, ESV)

Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.” (Deuteronomy 32.46, 47, ESV)