Nothing changes following the death of Uzzah for touching the ark, other than the way they carry it. David was excited to have it back in Jerusalem, as are the people. David’s wife figures into this story as she detested David for celebrating its return. (Aside – She is referred to as the daughter of Saul in every reference so the writer is signaling how that matters in the narrative).
Emotions are neutral. Emotions themselves are not the problem. Consider:
1. Negligence, not expressing emotion, angered God. 1 Chron. 15:13. Does expressing emotion enhance our worship or does not expressing emotion enhance our worship? It’s a matter of judgment and opinion. Some of the arguments against expressing emotion are pretty lame. It’s easy to get caught up in the emotions of our culture and just assume. Ex. 25 – details of how to handle the ark are given. Numbers 4 – more instructions about service in the tabernacle, very specific instructions, including not to touch the ark. So the problem in 1 Chron. 15 was that they did not follow the rules. Here’s the thing – emotions don’t change any of this. The ark coming back was a huge event. There was reason to celebrate.
2. Formality and orderliness can be mixed with emotion, 1 Chron. 15:16, 2 Sam. 6:13. Example – writing out a prayer does not make it less spiritual. It’s still from the heart. David put lots of effort into planning the return of the ark and that did not detract from the emotion associated with it. Same with us. Our services are carefully planned but that should not take away from the emotions we feel as we worship.
3. Emotional worship can be God-centered worship. 2 Sam. 6:21-22; 1Chron. 16:8-36. David tells Michel just because you see something wrong with this doesn’t mean it is. She seems interested in royal status and David’s image. He brings her dad, Saul, into this, Saul who was really interested in pleasing himself. David messes up initially, does his homework, and fixes the issues. He wants to glory God, not himself. Michel doesn’t see it that way. This could be because her father was not this way. She is cast in a negative light in the story. David is portrayed positively during his second effort in bringing the Ark back to God’s people. The next story in 2 Samuel is God promising to build David a house, and extending the original Abrahamic promises to David’s family. The idea is that God is going to make him great and establish his kingdom.
How does this all tie in with the original question? There is nothing wrong with expressing emotions but they have to be in accordance with truth. In fact, when we follow the truth it ought to elicit emotion.
Sermon by Brent Moody
