And they carried the ark of God on a new cart, from the house of Abinadab, and Uzzah and Ahio were driving the cart. And David and all Israel were celebrating before God with all their might, with song and lyres and harps and tambourines and cymbals and trumpets. And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark, and he died there before God. And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzza to this day

1 Samuel 6:1-7:2; 2 Samuel 6:1-11; 1 Chron. 13:1-4

Good intentions are great as long as they are Godly. David had a desire to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem so Israel would seek God again. Israel had not sought God during the time of Saul and so the Ark was unimportant to the life of Israel. David was going to rectify this problem by getting it back to the center of the life of Israel. His intention was driven by a Godly motivation. He recognized that Israel was out of sync with God and needed to restore His rightful place at the center of life for Israel. No other issue could be more important than getting the presence of God back at the heart of Israel (1 Chron. 13:1-4).

Good intentions are deadly if you don’t act godly. David knew Israel had not sought God during the rule of Saul (1 Chron. 13:3). Saul gave lip service about believing and serving God, but he did not learn to obey God.  He claimed to know God, but he struggled to obey God. Saul was not a victim of his circumstances as much as disobedient to God’s commands. He claimed to be God’s servant and he was supposed to help Israel keep God central, but it never happened. Saul was far too concerned about himself and it was a major distraction in surrendering to God.

Good intentions can have deadly results if not carried out in a godly way. Good intentions, at least for God’s people, can have deadly results if those intentions are not carried out God’s way. While David’s intentions were great, the process turned deadly. They chose to move the Ark by using a cart, very similar to the way the Philistines sent the Ark back to Israel after God punished them for taking the Ark captive (1 Samuel 6:1-7:2). David did not follow God’s will when it came to carrying the Ark to bring it to its new and proper resting place (1 Chron. 15:13).

Good intentions need to be carried out in godly manner. David was angry with God when he struck down Uzza. Uzza “saved” the Ark by grabbing it when the oxen nearly upset it (1 Chron. 13:10-11). In fact, David was not just angry, but he became afraid of God and abandoned the whole idea of getting the Ark back to the City of David because this horrible experience confused and terrified him. He finally realized his intention was right, but his implementation was unacceptable. When he realized they had not moved the Ark the way God instructed it to be moved, he felt the confidence to continue the journey (1 Chron. 15:11-15).

We need to make sure all our intentions are godly. We need to be committed to doing what God calls us to do and doing it in the way that God directs us to do them. We need to listen to the prodding of the Spirit of God who energizes our heart to His assignment and then follow Him in obedience, so that He can accomplish His work through us. There is nothing more powerful than a Godly intention, nothing more deadly than a Godly intention that is not obeyed, and nothing more fruitless than a Godly intention that goes nowhere.

In His hand,

Pastor Brad