After seven years in Hebron David is finally king of a united Israel. Jerusalem has just been captured (2 Sam 5). Hillside terraces still reveal Jebusite walls to modern archaeologists, and the narrow ridge city needs a heart—God’s throne on earth. Chapter 6 tells how that throne, the Ark of the Covenant, comes home.
David gathers “all the able young men of Israel, thirty thousand” (New International Version). The word translated “able” is bachur, literally “chosen,” hinting that worship is the work of the whole chosen people, not clergy alone.
They set the Ark on “a new cart.” That sounds respectful to Western ears, but Torah said priests must carry it on poles (Ex 25:12-15; Num 4:15). The last people who used a cart were the Philistines (1 Sam 6). Israel is copying the world’s convenience rather than God’s instruction. Good motives do not cancel careful obedience.
Cross-references: 1 Chr 13; Deut 12:32; Rom 12:2
When the oxen stumble, Uzzah (“strength”) reaches out. The Hebrew verb shalah (“take hold”) is sudden, reflexive. God “breaks out” (parats) against him. David names the spot Perez-Uzzah—“the breach against Uzzah.”
Early Christian thinkers read the episode as a living sermon on God’s otherness. Augustine wrote, “The ark was touched, not in faith but in presumption.” John Calvin pointed to Numbers 4:15—only consecrated Levites may handle the holy things—and warned that “zeal without knowledge” endangers worship.
Why the severity?
1. The Ark signified God’s immediate presence (Ex 25:22).
2. The community was about to install that presence at the center of
national life.
A loose attitude now would teach Israel that God is manageable.
3. Holiness is gift and danger—a twin theme that runs to the Cross,
where grace and judgment meet.
Archaeological note: Kiriath-Jearim, the Ark’s home for 70 years, is being excavated today. Soil layers confirm continuous cultic activity, reminding us that the Ark’s holiness shaped local memory long after it left.
Cross-references: Lev 10:1-3; Isa 6:1-7; Heb 12:28-29
David pauses the project. The Ark rests with Obed-Edom the Gittite, probably a Levite from Gath-Rimmon (Josh 21:24). His household prospers. Holiness that wounds disobedience blesses obedience. The same sunlight that cracks clay also hardens it.
Lesson learned, David re-launches the journey—this time “carrying” (nasaʾ) the Ark. Chronicles adds that priests and Levites sanctified themselves (1 Chr 15:12-15).
David dances “with all his might.” The verb karaʿ suggests whirling or leaping. He wears a linen ephod, the simple garment of priests, not royal robes. Worship levels hierarchies: king and peasant alike stand barefoot before Majesty.
Psalm 24 is widely thought to have been sung on this occasion—“Lift up your heads, you gates… that the King of glory may come in.” You might sing Isaac Watts’s paraphrase “Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Gates of Brass” to join the joy.
Michal, daughter of Saul, sees and “despises” (bazah) David in her heart. From her palace window—elevated, detached—she mocks the king’s abandon. David replies, “I will become even more undignified than this.” He chooses intimacy with God over image management.
The closing note that Michal “had no children” is more than biology. In Hebrew thought fruitfulness is covenant blessing (Deut 7:14). Contempt toward God’s presence leaves a womb—and a soul—barren.
Early interpreters:
• Chrysostom commended David’s humility as a model for Christian
bishops.
• Luther warned against “Michal religion”—formal, respectable, untouched
by joy.
Cross-references: Gal 1:10; Mk 14:3-9
• Psalm 24; Psalm 132
• Hebrews 4:14-16—our Ark is now a Person who opens the Most Holy
Place
• Revelation 11:19—John sees the heavenly Ark when God’s kingdom fills
the earth
“Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Gates of Brass” (Isaac Watts, 1719). Its call-and-response echoes the priests on the ascent to Zion.
Holy Father,
You are enthroned between the cherubim, yet You choose to dwell with
people of dust.
Save us from careless familiarity and from cold formality.
Teach our hearts the reverent joy that moves kings to dance and sinners
to kneel.
Make our homes, like Obed-Edom’s, places where Your presence brings
blessing,
and keep us from Michal’s contempt that leaves the soul barren.
Through Jesus, our true Ark and eternal King. Amen.