2 Samuel 6:6-8 — And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzza put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzza; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God. And David was displeased, because the Lord had made a breach upon Uzza: and he called the name of the place Perez–uzzah to this day.
Mentoring is an interesting thread that can be traced in the Bible — Moses and Joshua, Jesus Himself and Peter, Paul and Timothy … and — I think — God Himself, and David.
There are plenty of instances of God taking David by the hand and teaching him by experience. One key lesson was the vital importance of carefully observing God’s requirements for religion.
The ark of the covenant had been neglected for years, and David decided to bring it to Jerusalem. As the cart carrying it reached the threshing floor of Nachon, Uzza put out his hand to steady it, as one would any precious cargo. God strikes him down — and David is angry. David missed the point. The ark had been neglected, and he did well to want to bring it to a place of honor. But there were very precise rules for the movement of the ark, and they were not obeyed. Uzza, in steadying the ark treated it just like any any precious cargo — not as the most precious of all cargoes as it should have been. David’s anger with God was completely misplaced. It seems that, somehow — perhaps guided by Nathan — David learned his lesson for when, a few months later, the ark was finally moved all the details were exactly right!
The mentoring relationship is about a process, more than about an end point. It should be no surprise, then, that God had more to teach David about the relationship between the heavenly and earthly spheres of authority. The next lesson came when David wanted to build a temple. Nathan at first approved, but was redirected by the Lord, and returned His instruction to David:
Go and tell my servant David, Thus saith the Lord, Shalt thou build me an house for me to dwell in? Whereas I have not dwelt in any house since the time that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. In all the places wherein I have walked with all the children of Israel spake I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying, Why build ye not me an house of cedar? (2 Samuel 7:5-7)
It was not for David to take the initiative. God graciously explains His reasoning — David was “a man of blood” and, in any case, it was not yet the time. David, it seems, finally gets the point.
David was a man after God’s own heart, and God took enormous pains to shape Him and lead him in the way he should go. The Bible is full of examples of God taking similar care over individual development. It’s a wonderful thing to me … because the same hand is at work in every believer’s life.