Growing Stronger in God’s Will

At last it looks like the tide is turning for David. The crown is on his head, and Jerusalem is now his home. You can almost feel the relief. Maybe this is finally the quiet season to shepherd a united people. But elevation often attracts opposition. As soon as the Philistines hear about David’s anointing, they move. This is not a routine border raid. They are coming for the king himself: “When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David” (2 Samuel 5:17, ESV). 

The shepherd who brought down their champion now sits on Israel’s throne, and they are determined to crush what God has raised. But watch what David does. He does not panic. He does not rush to count soldiers or sharpen swords. His first move is not action, it is prayer. “And David inquired of the Lord, ‘Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?’ And the Lord said to David, ‘Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand’” (2 Samuel 5:19, ESV). Now that is the posture of a king under God! Ask before you act.

David obeys, and the breakthrough is unmistakable. “And David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, ‘The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood.’ Therefore the name of that place is called Baal-perazim” (2 Samuel 5:20, ESV). The name means “Lord of Breakthroughs.” What an appropriate name! Notice that David does not congratulate his own strategy. He gives glory to God. In victory he does what many forget to do. He worships.

Now let’s not miss the next detail, because it is important. “And the Philistines left their idols there, and David and his men carried them away” (2 Samuel 5:21, ESV). Chronicles fills in the rest: “And they left their gods there, and David gave command, and they were burned” (1 Chronicles 14:12, ESV). That was covenant obedience. The Lord had already said, “The carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them” (Deuteronomy 7:25, ESV). David understands that God’s word is not a suggestion. It is the rule for life, even for the battlefield. He does not save the idols as trophies. He does not melt down the silver and gold for his treasury. No, he destroys them so that they do not become a snare (Deuteronomy 7:5; 12:3). When God grants victory, His people are not only called to rejoice. They are called to obey. Victory without obedience hollows holiness.

One might think that peace would follow this victory, but we read: “And the Philistines came up yet again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim” (2 Samuel 5:22, ESV). It was the same enemy in the same valley. One could assume that God would deliver the people in the same way, but David is wiser than that. David does not assume that yesterday’s wisdom is enough for today’s battle. He inquires again, and God gives a different plan: “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees. And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the Lord has gone out before you” (2 Samuel 5:23-24, ESV). 

Notice that God’s instructions were different in this battle, even though the enemy was the same. We do not battle Philistines today, but we have an enemy in Satan and his kingdom of darkness. Our enemy is crafty, and just because we overcome him in one battle does not mean that we will overcome him the same way in the next battle. We need to seek God's wisdom and guidance daily, because the battle changes day by day. 

David does exactly as he is told, and he drives the Philistines back from Geba to Gezer (2 Samuel 5:25, ESV). Notice the pattern that carries him through pressure and back into peace. He asks. He waits. He obeys. The narrator’s line, “David did as the LORD commanded” (5:25), is deliberate biblical shorthand. That specific phrase places David in the company of Noah, Abraham, and Moses, those emblematic saints who “did as the LORD commanded,” to signal covenant-faithful leadership under God. In other words, the victory is not just military, it is moral, obedience is David’s true strength. And God breaks through. Let’s make this the pattern of our lives as well. Ask the Lord. Wait for His guidance. Do as the Lord commands. And watch as God works through us in mighty ways. 

Honoring God’s Presence with Humility

Peace finally settles over David’s kingdom. Battles have been won. A capital has been secured. The tribes are together at last. But David’s measure of success is not territory or titles. He wants God at the center. The ark of the covenant, which had sat on the margins for years, needs to come home to Jerusalem. Remember what the ark is, the earthly footstool of the heavenly King, “the LORD… enthroned on the cherubim.” The ark functioned as the Lord’s throne and site of revelation. Bringing the ark into the city is not moving a relic, it is welcoming the reign of God Himself into the heart of the people. 

So David gathers thirty thousand of Israel’s best to bring the ark back. The scene is electric. There is music, celebration, and sincere hearts. Yet right away we learn a hard lesson. In their excitement they ignore God’s instructions. Instead of carrying the ark on poles as the Lord commanded, they put it on a cart: “And they carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab” (2 Samuel 6:3, ESV). It looks efficient. It even looks impressive. But it is not obedience. It is striking, David repeatedly inquires of the LORD about battle plans (5:19, 23–24), but there is no inquiry about moving the ark. David does not search the scriptures for how the ark was to be transported. He does not pray about moving the ark. Zeal without seeking God’s guidance in scripture and prayer can easily become dangerous.

The way David chooses to move the ark is not in accordance with God’s instructions on how the ark was to be moved. David is transporting the ark the same way that the Philistines moved the ark in 1 Samuel 6. God had told Israel to carry it on the priests’ shoulders with poles through the rings on the ark (see Exodus 25:14–15; Numbers 4:15; 7:9). God’s people are not called to copy the cultures around them. We are also not called to think that we can edit or improve upon God’s commandments.  We are called to obedience.

Then the moment no one expected. The oxen stumble. The ark shifts. Uzzah reaches out to steady it. His touch is quick and well-meaning, but it violates the holiness of God. Numbers is clear, the Kohathites were to carry the ark by poles, they must not touch, nor even look on, the holy things “lest they die” (Num 4:15, 20). Uzzah’s sincerity could not cancel God’s holiness, an ancient lesson the church has long applied to warn against “inconsiderate zeal.”

We then read that “the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God” (2 Samuel 6:7, ESV). The celebration stops. David is shaken. A man has died because God’s clear command was set aside. Partial obedience is still disobedience. The place is named “Perez-uzzah,” or “breaking out against Uzzah,” so that Israel remembers forever that God’s holiness breaks out when holy things are handled on our terms. 

We then read that “David was afraid of the Lord that day, and he said, ‘How can the ark of the Lord come to me?’” (2 Samuel 6:9–11). David is afraid. He has offended the Holy God, and He worries that if He brings the Ark to Jerusalem now it will displease the Lord. The ark stays for three months at the house of Obed-edom.  

But watch what God’s presence does when it is honored rightly. “And the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household” (2 Samuel 6:11, ESV). Holiness is not a threat to the obedient. It is a gift that brings life. When the ark is dishonored it brings judgment. When it is honored it brings blessing. The same can be said of us. Do we honor God’s Word and keep it with reverence, or do we feel free to edit it, omit it, or ignore it when it is inconvenient? Full obedience brings blessing, but partial obedience brings judgment. Let’s always be careful when we handle what God has called holy. 

Now David hears about the blessing that the ark brings to Obed-edom and tries again, this time God’s way. The priests lift the ark on their shoulders. After six steps they stop and offer a sacrifice. “And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal” (2 Samuel 6:13, ESV). This is not a parade driven by hype. It is a procession shaped by reverence, sacrifice, and gratitude. Progress is measured not by speed but by obedience. We do not hurry the holy.

Notice what David does during this procession: “And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod” (2 Samuel 6:14, ESV). He lays aside royal robes and puts on simple priestly linen. His dance is not a performance. It is an act of humility. The linen ephod is not royal splendor, it is simple, priestly tinged linen, what Samuel once wore as a boy. David intentionally sheds kingly pomp to serve and rejoice “before the LORD.” His might becomes worship, his status becomes service. The highest civil ruler makes a public confession. He is under God’s law. He is small before a great God.

Worship overflows into generosity. As the ark enters the city, David blesses the people and feeds them: “And he distributed among all the people… a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins to each one” (2 Samuel 6:19, ESV). Praise becomes provision. Joy becomes shared joy.

Not everyone is pleased. Michal, David’s wife and Saul’s daughter, watches from a window. She sees how David humbles himself before the people and the ark of the Lord and she despises him for it (2 Samuel 6:16). Later she cuts him with sarcasm: “How the king of Israel honored himself today… as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself” (2 Samuel 6:20, ESV). She wants a king who maintains appearances.

David answers with clarity and courage. “It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father and above all his house… I will celebrate before the Lord. I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in your eyes” (2 Samuel 6:21–22, ESV). In other words, I was not worshiping for your approval. I was not worshipping for my honor.  I was worshiping God’s glory. If lowering my dignity raises His name, I am willing. Michal’s reaction pictures a religion that protects image and resists joy, but true worship does not care about appearances. It surrenders fully to the Lord

The scene closes with a sober line: “And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death” (2 Samuel 6:23, ESV). Her barrenness mirrors her heart. Pride closes the door to fruitfulness. Humility opens it.

Conclusion: Jesus, Our “Nevertheless”

David’s story here is more than ancient history. It is a lesson for all of us. He grew strong by placing himself under God’s hand. His wins came not from clever politics but from steady obedience. Even in worship he learned that emotion is not enough; the holy God is honored by reverence, by listening, and by doing what He says.

But if we leave this sermon merely admiring David, we miss the point. His life is meant to wake up our longing for a greater King. We need Someone who does not just carry a sign of God’s presence, but who is God’s presence among us. Christian teaching has long seen the ark as a type of Christ: once our faith was directed to the mercy seat where God “was enthroned on the cherubim,” now the fullness to which the ark pointed is found in Jesus Himself, “Christ is our ark.” So we come with awe, yet boldly, to Him. 

Where David offered sacrifices along the road, Jesus offered Himself once for all. Where David set aside royal robes for a day of celebration, Jesus set aside heavenly glory and took the path of suffering love. David gathered a nation to earthly Jerusalem; Jesus gathers a people for the Zion above. David ruled under the Law; Jesus is the Lawgiver, the Redeemer, and the everlasting King.

In Jesus, the holiness that struck Uzzah becomes the holiness that sanctifies us. In Jesus, the obedience God requires becomes the obedience God supplies. He fulfills the Law, He embodies mercy, and through Him grace reigns. So do not come to Him casually. Come with awe and with joy. Come with repentance and with hope. Come as people who know the cost of holy things and the mercy that brings us near. 

So ask before you act. Seek the Lord’s guidance for today’s battles. Destroy any idols, visible or hidden, that pull your heart away. Bow low before the Lord and rejoice in His presence. Choose humble, obedient worship over protecting your image. Remember that all of it comes from Christ. All of it is for Christ. To Him be the glory, now and forever. Amen.