David was a man who got things done. If there were sheep to tend, he protected them from anything that might harm them. If there were giants threatening his nation’s army, he killed them. If there were battles to fight, he won them. God’s glory was his primary motivator, and David accomplished great things for Him. The only times David got into trouble were when his ambition went ahead of God’s directions. The Ark of the Covenant was not in Jerusalem where it belonged and he became determined to get it there. But God had given specific instructions as to how His dwelling place was to be moved and David didn’t follow them; as a result, a man named Uzzah died. David’s heart was in the right place, but his procedure was wrong and that made the difference between success and failure. Here’s what he had to say afterwards when he had stepped back and evaluated his actions and their results:
“It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the Lord our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way.”
This turning point on David’s endeavor came after He had taken the time to evaluate what went wrong and how to fix it, and the lesson I’ve learned from this is that I need to take the time to fully hear and understand God’s directions before I act. God has requirements that are for my good and His glory, and there are negative consequences when they are not followed. My heart needs to be in the right place and my actions need to line up with them. I cannot be successful when I am only partially following God; I need to completely follow His directions.
This crazy world wants to carry us along at a breakneck speed, trying to convince us to act before we think. Follow your heart and do what feels good, they say; but that philosophy never ends well in real life. The only way to successfully follow Christ is to be too deeply rooted in Him to be moved by anything else. In the words of the Psalmist,
Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.
Proclaiming His Goodness 