2 Samuel 6

Samuel 6: David Sets Out to Bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem- 1 Again David gathered all the choice men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2 And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called by the Name, the LORD of Hosts, who dwells between the cherubim.

“In bringing up the ark to Jerusalem, the king showed a commendable desire to interest the whole nation, as far as possible, in the solemn service.” (The Expositor's Bible Commentary) “The return of the Ark is not merely the bringing forth into notice of a long-neglected and sacred vessel belonging to the sanctuary; it, is the coming back of God Himself to a people whom he had temporarily forsaken. (W. H. Green, D. D.)

Again David gathered all the choice men of Israel, thirty thousand. He brings the leaders on the battlefield. “Keil understands this assembly to have been composed of representatives of the entire nation (religious men), but the use of the word ‘again’ seems to point to the military gathering. Thenius remarks that we learn from this ‘that David already in a certain sense maintained a standing army.’” (Jospeh S. Exell)— And David arose with all the people. "David had consulted with ‘the captains of thousands and hundreds, and every leader’ (1 Chron 13:1), and it was with their good will that he drew the ark of God out of its long concealment. A select body of these nobles, or sheiks, would accompany the king, while the rest, with their attendants, would be posted along the eight miles of road.” (The Pulpit Commentary)

The group of choice men including David went “to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called by the Name, ‘the LORD of Hosts,’” etc. This cannot be limited to God's being ‘LORD of the armies of Israel,’ although it includes that. As Willis noted, ‘This means that God is Lord of the angelic armies of heaven, of the sun, moon and stars, of the armies of the nations of the world, and of the armies of Israel.’” (Burton Coffman)— “‘who dwells between the cherubim.’ Not only does the God of Israel go to war with them on just causes, employing the host of heaven when needful, but He dwells above the mercy seat for forgiveness.

Forgiveness was needed. “It is interesting though that as David sought to bring the Ark of the Covenant back, rather than going back to the book of the law to see how God had ordered the Ark of the Covenant to be transported, David was following the Philistine example. When they sent the Ark of the Covenant back, they had built a cart, and they took oxen and had it pulled back with the cart pulled by oxen. Now that was the Philistines' method of transporting the ark. However, the law of God said that when they bore the ark, they were to put these staves through the rings, and it was to be borne by four priests. So David really wasn't following the law of God in building this new cart, and having it pulled by oxen. He was not following God's pattern, but the Philistine pattern. It had, of course, disastrous results.” (C. W Smith)

3 So they set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart. 4 And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill, accompanying the ark of God; and Ahio went before the ark. 5 Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the LORD on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.

“‘So they set the ark of God on a new cart,’ etc. (3a) “Every thing used in the worship of God was hallowed or set apart for that purpose: a new cart was used through respect, as that had never been applied to any profane or common purpose.” (Adam Clarke) However, their error was “that they carried the ark in a cart or carriage, whereas the priests should have carried it upon their shoulders. The Kohathites that had the charge of the ark had no wagons assigned them, because their service was to bear it upon their shoulders,Numbers 7:9.” (Matthew Henry) It was to be carried on the shoulders of Levites only. — “And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart.” (3b) But Uzzah was not a Levite “because his father (or grandfather) Abinadab was ‘of the tribe of Judah.’” (Coffman Commentary)“The responsibility for bearing witness to God's sovereign authority (as symbolized in the ark) is not to be placed upon oxen and a cart, but upon the shoulders of the Levites, the sons of Kohath (Numbers 3:27-32). Today every believer too, as the Levite Kohathites were, is responsible to bear Christ upon his shoulders as the One who sustains the throne of God's glory.” (L. M. Grant) “And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab,” etc.- “‘Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the Lord on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.’ Confession of sin in leaving the ark so long forgotten would have been better than this tumultuous joy; and if there had been more trembling in it, it would not have passed so soon into wild terror.” (Alexander MacLaren)

6 And when they came to Nachon's threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. 7 Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God. 8 And David became angry because of the LORDs outbreak against Uzzah; and he called the name of the place Perez Uzzah to this day. 9 David was afraid of the LORD that day; and he said, "How can the ark of the LORD come to me?" 10 So David would not move the ark of the LORD with him into the City of David; but David took it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. 11 The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the LORD blessed Obed-Edom and all his household.

The wheat harvest was prophetic in Israel. As a place where the wheat harvest (Gods’s people) is separated from the chaff (worthless outer covering), the threshing floor has always been a symbol of the end-time judgment of God. In 1 Chronicles 13:9, it is called the threshing-floor of Chidon, but here “Nachon's threshing floor.’ (6a) “Goren nachon means ‘the threshing-floor of the stroke’ ( nachon from נכה , not from כּוּן ); in the Chronicles we have goren chidon , i.e., the threshing-floor of destruction or disaster ( &#כּידון כּיד , Job 21:20).” (Keil & Delitzsch) In 2 Samuel 6:6, the “word נכון Nachon is used by way of anticipation, in allusion to the fate of Uzzah; for נחה nakah, signifies to smite, and נכון nachon, the act of smiting. In 1Ch 13:9 it is called the threshing-floor of Chidon, which conveys the same idea; for כיד kid, signifies destruction. ’Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled.’ (6b) The oxen stuck in the mire.” (Thomas Coke) “The ark is never in danger. That throne needs no buttress of our building. What share have we in keeping the stars in their places? How much of the security of the constellations is owing to our pre-arrangement, forethought, and devotion?” (J. Parker, D. D.) “Uzzah was a type of all who, with good intentions, humanly speaking, yet with unsanctified minds, interfere in the affairs of the kingdom of God, from the notion that they are in danger, and with the hope of saving them’ (O. von Gerlach). Judgments of this kind were, however, temporal, and give in themselves no indication of the treatment of the offender beyond the grave.” (C. J. Ellicott)

David became angry because of the LORD’s outbreak,’ (8a) rather, grieved; for, whatever were his first impressions, he became sensible of the sin that had been committed, and, sincerely repenting, took care that the people should not again all into the same, error (cf 1 Chronicles 15:2; 13).” (Jamieson Fausset, Brown) “Were his motives not right in ringing the ark to Jerusalem? If so, why should God kill Uzzah for doing a very natural thing? But right motives alone do not secure God's approval. They must be accompanied by obedience to God's Word.” (L. M. Grant)— “’and he called the name of the place Perez Uzzah to this day.’ Not only does the LORD break forth upon his enemies as the breach of waters as in against the Philistines/ Amalekites, he also smites religious men with no regard for His Word.— “‘And David was afraid of the LORD that day,’ (9a) His feelings on this alarming judgment were greatly excited on various accounts-dreading that the displeasure of God had been provoked by the removal of the ark, that the punishment would be extended to himself and people, and that they might fall into some error or neglect during the further conveyance of the ark. He resolved, therefore, to wait for more light and direction as to the path of duty.” (Jamieson Fausset, Brown)

“‘How shall the ark of the Lord come unto me?’ (9b) Now he inquires into the torah of the Pentateuch go the God of Israel. And, as an example, here appears another unknown character upon the scene.— a “Levite descended from Kohath (1 Chron 26:8).” (Daniel Whedon)

Obed-Edom-- “He is a man hitherto unknown. The name of Obed-edom will always be honoured as that of the man who, while all others were filled with terror and dismay, shrinking in dread from the ark of God, held in his bosom the secret of a far different feeling--looking upon the ark indeed with all veneration, but without fear, opening the doors of his dwelling to welcome it, and finding it a source of unmingled good… Through the spreading story of Obed-edom’s blessing all Israel learns anew the loving-kindness of the Lord. The skepticism which that day of gloom had rolled over the land begins to be dispelled. The scoffers are silenced, the disheartened take courage. They learn that although the highest kings must not trifle with the holiness of the Lord, the humblest worshipper, anxious only to obey completely His sacred will, shall find Him a Father full of smiles and tenderness, Obed-edom restores: David’s faith, and David at length leads the nation back to God.” (A. Mitchell, D. D.)

Samuel 6: The Ark of the Covenant is established in Jerusalem. - Part 1

12 Now it was told King David, saying, "The LORD has blessed the house of Obed-Edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God." So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with gladness. 13 And so it was, when those bearing the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, that he sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep. 14 Then David danced before the LORD with gladnesst; and David was wearing a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.

"As David could read God's frowns upon them all in Uzzah's stroke, so he could read God's favour to them all in Obed-edom's prosperity… The ark was not such a burdensome stone as it was taken to be, but, on the contrary, happy was the man that had it near him. Christ is indeed a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, to those that are disobedient; but to those who believe he is a corner-stone, elect, precious,1 Peter 2:6-8.” (Matthew Henry)

In the three months, David “is exercised in the school of God and taught in grace…. When grace has done its work in David and he hears of the blessing that the ark has brought, it leads him to bring up the ark from there. This time he does it properly, in accordance with God’s Word. David has learned and now lets Levites carry the ark (Numbers 7:9; 1 Chroniclea 15:2).” (G. de Koning) “‘And so it was, when those bearing the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, that he sacrificed oxen and fatted sheep.’ (13) Sacrifice was not made every six steps as some suppose but rather than repeating his “first mistake of transporting it on a cart, had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings, literally, ‘he caused to be sacrificed an ox and a fat calf,’ in order to consecrate the procession, which had started so auspiciously.”(Paul E. Kretzmann) "After six steps, not some (other) Uzzah dies, but a sacrifice. This means that the ark can only be placed on Zion because of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus.” (G. de Koning)

It might seem that in taking the ark from Obed-edom’s house, David took away his prosperity as he later did the life of Uriah the Hittite, “But,” alas, “1 Chronicles 26:4-10 sheds a new light on the subject, for there we learn that the whole family became attached to the service of the Lord’s house, and even the grandchildren became mighty.” (F. B. Meyer) And David wore a linen ephod— "the usual habit of the priests and Levites in their sacred ministrations, yet sometimes worn by others, as it was by the young child Samuel, 1 Samuel 2:18, before he was come to those years in which the Levites were allowed to minister; and so hereby David, who laid by his royal robes, and put on this robe, to signify and declare, that although he was king of Israel, yet he willingly owned himself to be the Lord’s minister and servant.” (Matthew Poole)

And after the consecration, David danced before the LORD with gladness’ especially with joyful music and song (1 Chronicles 15:16).” (Albert Barnes)— “’and with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet’— the shofar. “The order of it is set forth Psalms 68, 'The singers went before, the players upon instruments after, in the midst (that is, between both) the damsels playing with timbrels' (Psalm 68: 25); then followed, in all likelihood, the several tribes with their princes, elders, etc.; for this seems to be the meaning of that expression, 'The princes of Judah and their council.' (Psalm 68: 27) This whole company, with David at the head of them, sung alternately [this and] Psalm 24, which was composed for this occasion [the movement to Jerusalem]; which is so noble a composition that scarce any reader can fail to be struck with the beauty and sublimity of it, and its propriety for the occasion.” (Joseph Benson)

Psalm 68 was composed by David and sung whenever the ark moved. It began with the shofar sound. “The sight of the sacred chest under way suggested the time when God arises to action.” (Bible Believer’s Commentary) “It opens with an echo of the words with which the ark set out on all its journeys (Numbers 10:35); and finds its climax in God's ascent of the ‘high mount’ which he has chosen for His dwelling.” (Derek Kidner), that is Jerusalem.

“Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered; let those also who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God; Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly.” (Psalm 68:1-3)

“This was sung when the Levites took up the ark upon their shoulders..."(Adam Clarke) and began to move, as it is written “So it was, whenever the ark set out, that Moses said:

‘Rise up, O Lord! Let Your enemies be scattered, And let those who hate You flee before You.’ And when it rested, he said: ‘Return, O Lord, to the many thousands of Israel.’” (Numbers 10:35-36)-> “‘Let God arise’ etc. ה, kumah, whereas here the word is in the future tense, and is literally rendered, ‘God shall,’ or will, ‘arise.’ And, in like manner, all the clauses of this and the next two verses are expressed in the same tense, as if they were a prediction of what was to come.” (Joseph Benson) “To the Jewish mind, the ark rightly represented the presence of God; when the ark moved, God moved.” (Bible Believer’s Commentary)

And thus: “‘As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.’ The implication here is that the enemies of God are of no more significance than a column of smoke driven away by the wind, or a little wax, melted and destroyed by the fire.” (Burton Coffman) “All the Lord's enemies shall perish. <Judg. 5:31>, Deborah's song.” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown)— “‘But let the righteous be glad.’ etc. for they will not perish. “The righteous are here represented by Israel; all the godly, the true Israel spiritually, are included.” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown)

“Sing to God, sing praises to His name; extol Him who rides on the clouds, by His name Yah, and rejoice before Him. A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy habitation. God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; but the rebellious dwell in a dry land. O God, when You went out before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness, Selah” (Psalm 68:4-7)

“‘Extol Him who rides on the clouds’ etc…. (4b) “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11)— in the clouds. The Hebrew, ‘extol’ means also ‘make a way for;’ ‘raise up a road for Him who rides on the clouds.’ Jesus will descend on the clouds of heaven when He returns to judge the world. John the Baptist prepared the way for Messiah. And so must we! Here is the ancient message that he was charged to proclaim: “The voice said, ‘Cry out!’ And he said, ‘What shall I cry?’ ‘All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.’ O Zion, you who bring good tidings, get up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, you who bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength, lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’” (Isaiah 40:6–9) “‘A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows,’ a title that God much glorieth in; and although he rideth upon the heavens, and is higher than the highest, yet so low stoopeth he to our meanness; neither will he leave his people orphans or comfortless, John 14:18.— This “‘is God is in his holy habitation’- Not in heaven only, but in and with his Church on earth; the ark and mercy seat were never sundered.” (John Trapp)

Samuel 6: The Ark of the Covenant is established in Jerusalem. Part 2-

16 Now as the ark of the LORD came into the City of David, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart. 17 So they brought the ark of the LORD, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

This event was for the welfare of the unified houses of Israel. “This was felt to be a turning point in the history of the nation. It recalled even the great epoch of the passage through the wilderness. It awoke again the inspiriting strains of the heroic career (Psalms 68:7-9, cp. Judges 5:4) of the Judges.… That glory which fled when the ark was taken was now returning. From the lofty towers the warders cry, ‘Who is this King of Glory?’ (Ps 24:8-10)...” (Stanley)

Psalm 24:8 Who is this King of glory?

Yahweh strong and mighty,

Yahweh mighty in battle.

9 Lift up your heads, O you gates!

Lift up, you everlasting doors!

And the King of glory shall come in.

10 Who is this King of glory?

Yahweh of hosts,

He is the King of glory. Selah

Who is the Yahweh of hosts? "And his Redeemer, Yahweh of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last; besides Me there is no God.” (Isaiah 44:6) Comparing Scripture with Scripture, we find that in Rev 22:13 Jesus identifies Himself as "I am the Alpha & the Omega, the first & the last, the beginning & the end." which clearly parallels the Isaiah passage. So Jesus is our Jehovah Sabaoth (similar affirmation by Jesus are found in Rev 1:17, Rev 2:18) Zechariah prophesied of the Second Coming saying, "Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts and to celebrate the Feast of Booths.” (Zechariah 14:16)

“‘Now as the ark of the LORD came into the City of David, Michal, Saul's daughter, looked through a window and saw King David ... and she despised him in her heart.’ King David’s enthusiasm “will be understood by everyone who carries the things of the LORD upon their hearts. It is about the ark of the LORD who is brought to the place He Himself has chosen for it!” (G. de Koning) “The ark was safely brought to, and honourably deposited in, the place prepared for it, 2 Samuel 6:17. They set it in the midst of the tabernacle, or tent, which David had pitched for it; not the tabernacle which Moses reared, for that was at Gibeon (2 Chronicles 1:13), and, we may suppose, being made of cloth, in so many hundred years it had gone to decay and was not fit to be removed; but this was a tent set up on purpose to receive the ark. He would not bring it into a private house, no, not his own, lest it should seem to be too much engrossed, and people's resort to it, to pray before it, should be less free.” (Matthew Henry)

“In the midst of his transports he had the calamity to be despised and reproved by his queen, whom he tenderly loved. She felt her pride hurt on seeing him so plainly dressed...” (Joseph Sutcliffe)- in a linen ephod. Michal saw services and the holy dancing and the common meal. “Just as Michal is blind to what overwhelms her husband’s heart, so the world sees nothing attractive in our Beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who had as limited a view as Michal saw in Christ no more than ‘the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon’ (Mk 6:3) and ‘the carpenter’s son’ (Mt 13:55).” (G. de Koning)

"'Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.' (17) “To implore the continuance of God’s mercies to them, and to thank him for those they had received.” (Joseph Benson) The burnt offerings speak of atonement. The victims are consumed by fire on the altar in place of the true worshippers. It is a sweet aroma to Yahweh. (Genesis 8:21) And the peace offerings were for communion, made "with a special view to feasting the people (Cp. 1 Kings 8:63-66).” (Albert Barnes)

18 And when David had finished offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts. 19 Then he distributed among all the people, among the whole multitude of Israel, both the women and the men, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins. So all the people departed, everyone to his house.

“’And as soon as David had made an end of offering burnt offerings and peace offerings (the grounds for this great day), he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts.’ as Moses, Joshua, and Samuel had done before him. As the vicegerent or representative of Yahweh, he was entitled to do this act as much as any other connected with the office of theocratic ruler.” (Jamieson, Fausset, Brown) “It was like the benediction with which we close our public services. The benediction is more than a prayer. The servant of the Lord appears in the attitude of dropping on the heads of the people the blessing which he invokes.

Not that he or any man can convey heavenly blessings to a people that do not by faith appropriate them and rejoice in them. But the act of benediction implies this: These blessings are yours if you will only have them.” (Expositor's Bible Comm.)—> "Then he distributed among all the people, among the whole multitude of Israel, both the women and the men, to everyone a loaf of bread, a piece of meat, and a cake of raisins,' which speaks of the ordinances of the Lord Jesus Christ. “The feasting with, and the presents David made to the people upon this service, serve to show us what ground there is for holy joy in all our religious ordinances. Paul beautifully observes, upon this subject, the kingdom of God, that is, the kingdom of grace in this life, leading to the kingdom of glory in another, is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Romans 14:17. “ (Poor Man's Commentary)

20 Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, "How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!" 21 So David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the LORD. 22 And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor." 23 Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.

After having received from the LORD, each man and woman returned to their own house to bless it. So did David. But Michal railed at him for his lack of dignity. (20)Thus, she is called here not the wife of the king, but “the daughter of Saul.” “In the days of Saul the ark had been neglected, and Saul had in everything shown himself to be an irreligious king. Michal seems to have been of a like spirit.” (Albert Barnes) David responded in the intgretity of his heart, "It was before the LORD, who chose me instead of your father and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel. Therefore I will play music before the LORD.” (21) He reminds of the change of administration from her father's house to his "that she might not think herself the most proper judge of propriety.” (Matthew Henry)

"And I will be even more undignified (vile) than this, and will be humble (base) in my own sight.’ (22a) The words נקלתי nekalloti, and שׁפל shapal, which, we render vile and base, by no means convey the ideas which those English words convey. The first is twice rendered in our version by 'despised'; Genesis 16:4-5. The almost constant sense of the latter is 'humble'; and the passage before us should be rendered, 'And I will be more despicable than this, and humble in mine own eyes.'” (Thomas Coke) “I will always be ready to abase myself before God, and think nothing too mean to stoop to for his honour.” (Joseph Benson)

David contrasts Michal with her maidservants who were one with him in service to the LORD. “But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor." (22b) David was a great king of Israel, but the blessings of the real King of the theocracy was there to bless everyone who would serve in their various stations. So “in acts of devotion he lays aside the thought of majesty, humbles himself to the dust before the Lord, joins in with the meanest services done in honour of the ark, and thinks all this no diminution to himself. The greatest of men is less than the least of the ordinances of Jesus Christ.” (Matthew Henry)

These maidservants “had more sense than did Michal, for they would recognize that the man who takes a lowly place before the Lord is the one who can be trusted in the place of authority over men.” (L. M. Grant) “And in the early Churches St. Paul tells us that there were ‘not many wise after the flesh, or mighty, or noble;’ but that these were put to shame by the weak and despised (1 Corinthians 1:26-28).” (Joseph S. Exell) “’Therefore (because of her voiced enmity with the church) Michal the daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.’ (23) This does not mean that Michal died childless, “but merely that she had no child after her return to David. Her five sons are mentioned in 1 Samuel 21:10.” (Burton Coffman) In childbirth, Israel looked for Messiah to come, of which she seems to have no regard nor lot.