READING FOR MAY 7, 2025: 2 SAMUEL 6, 2 CORINTHIANS 8, PSALM 39:1-6 2 SAMUEL 6 David was now established in Jerusalem as the uncontested king of Israel. He had just convincingly defeated Israel’s perennial enemy, the Philistines. What might be a good logical next step? David rightly decided to bring the ark of God to Jerusalem because it represented bringing God’s presence to the new capital city of Israel. Although, the ark itself was a small box (3 feet 9 inches long), David assembled 30,000 choice men to accompany the trip. He included instrumentalists of all kinds to play during the procession, and he placed the ark on a new cart. Yet, when the ark was jostled by a bump in road, Uzzah reached out to steady it and was immediately struck dead.
What happened? David didn’t do God’s work God’s way: “You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark with them” (Ex. 25:14). Maybe we think we are punching our ticket to Heaven just by doing good works. But the Bible says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9). Maybe we think those who sincerely believe in another religion are all God’s children. But the Bible says, “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me’” (John 14:6). Even though this ark command was given by Moses 400 years before David, it was still God’s command for David’s time. Let’s know and obey God’s word.
Throughout David’s life, we find that he is a good learner, although the lessons often came at a high price. In this case, it was the death of Uzzah. Here is how David explained the problem: “Because you did not carry it at the first, the Lord our God made an outburst against us, since we did not seek Him according to the ordinance” (1 Chron. 15:13). However, he did not give up but brought the ark to Jerusalem the right way and with great singing and dancing before the Lord. David’s exuber- ance in fact was criticized by his wife Michal as not being distinguished enough for a king. In this one case, not always of course, a wife’s criticism was not accurate. It is always appropri- ate to worship the Lord without holding back in any way: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).
2 CORINTHIANS 8 This is an entire chapter about giving. The church shouldn’t fail to teach biblical principles about giving just because some well-known celebrity preachers appear to have abused this beautiful act of worship. Paul shares with the Corinthians the positive example of the churches in Macedonia. This might be considered by some as poor taste, but it helps Paul convey information about exemplary Christian practices of giving, an often-avoided topic. Instead of Paul begging the Macedonians for an offering, they, in their relative poverty, begged Paul to accept their proportionally generous gifts. Their approach is the template for all Christian giving. They first gave themselves totally to God first and then their resources
READING FOR MAY 7, 2025 CONTINUED: 2 CORINTHIANS 8, PSALM 39:1-6 were given as a tangible expression. Our giving is our response to the Christ who made Himself poor so that we might receive eternal riches.
Paul had long been collecting funds for the poor Christians in Jerusalem. He mentioned this to the Corinthians in his first letter (16:1-3). They had been the first to give to this fund about a year ago. Now after Paul’s experience in Macedonia, he decided to send his trusted associate Titus to Corinth to collect another donation to the fund. Paul stresses the generosity of others, but he does not descend into high-pressure tactics. Giving voluntarily from the heart is stressed, as well as not giving beyond the giver’s capability. Also, Paul points to the integrity of all involved in taking this gift to those in need in Jerusalem. Paul regards this aspect of his ministry with as much care as preaching the Gospel. Integrity in handling gifts is essential!
PSALM 39:1-6 David committed to not sinning by his speech. He particularly mentioned not speaking at all when wicked people were present. It is not clear what the circumstances were, but it is certainly true that we often sin by what we say (James 3:6) and we often create problems by speaking when certain people are present. Remember how Jesus’s words were twisted during his trial. David built up internal stress until he was finally able to speak to God.
His request to God in verses 4-6 was one we all would be wise to make. He asked the Lord to give him an awareness of the brevity of life. Let’s ponder this for a moment. Some people develop bucket lists of what they would like to experience before they die. Consider this: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:16-21).
