“David said to the whole assembly of Israel, ‘If it seems good to you, and if it is the will of the LORD our God, let us send abroad to our kindred who remain in all the land of Israel, including the priests and Levites in the cities that have pasture lands, that they may come together to us. The let us bring again the ark of our God to us; for we did not turn to it in the days of Saul.’ The whole assembly agreed to do so, for the thing pleased all the people. … They carried the ark of God on a new cart, from the house of Abinadab, and Uzzah and Ahio were driving the cart. David and all Israel were dancing before God with all their might, with song and lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets. When they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put his hand to hold the ark, for the oxen shook it. The anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; he struck him down because he put his hand to the ark; and he died there before God. David was angry because the LORD had burst out against Uzzah; so that place is called Perezuzzah to this day. David was afraid of God that day; he said, ‘How can I bring the ark of God in to my care?’ So David did not take the ark into his care into the city of David; he took it instead to the house of Obededom the Gittite. The ark of God remained with the household of Obededom in his house three months, and the LORD blessed the household of Obededom and all that he had.”1 Chronicles 13:2-4, 7-14
David consulted the assembly for their approval and buy in but was careful to move the ark only if it was God’s will to do so. They began to move the ark with great thanksgiving, however they did so improperly – loaded in a cart, not carried on poles of the shoulders of men. Then Uzzah, in an innocent act, reached out to keep the ark from sliding out of the cart. God struck him down – “the anger of the LORD as kindled against Uzzah”. I think Uzzah took one for the team that day. While God surely was pleased by the outpouring of thanksgiving and praise, God made a point that one doesn’t carelessly nor improperly transport the ark which contained the tablets, the covenant between God and man. Symbolically – we are not to live carelessly or improperly within the boundaries of the covenant. David didn’t need to be afraid of God, he needed priests to remind him of the entirety of God’s instructions, so that he would follow them completely. Blessings abound in God’s presence, it is my desire to be in God’s presence – in the righteousness of God, to be in God’s presence I must be holy and pure, righteous – that can only be when I am completely within the boundaries of God’s truth, God’s desires, God’s law.