“Sing praises to God and to his name! Sing loud praises to him who rides the clouds. His name is the Lord—rejoice in his presence!” Psalm 68:4
Praise wasn’t new to David. He had learned how to praise the Lord way back in the day as a shepherd boy tending his father’s sheep. And now, as the Ark of the Lord came through the gates of Jerusalem, David praised the Lord with full abandon. Someone not used to praise like that could have thought David was being foolish, and his wife actually did, but that didn’t stop David from praising the Lord his God with all his might.
He just knew he had to get the Ark of the Covenant back to the people of God. David didn’t even want to attempt being king over God’s people without God’s presences being with him. That’s why retrieving the Ark of God was one of the first things David did as king. What David learned, however, was that God had a prescribed way of handling His Ark. Not just any ole way would do. No, God would require special care and detail in the handling of the Ark, but unfortunately the prescribed way for handling the Ark had become a lost art. Somewhere along the way, Israel had set aside God’s prescription for just how the Ark should be handled, and although David’s intent was admirable and sincere, it was out of God’s Divine order and it got a man killed.
As we see in 2 Samuel 6, after the death of Uzzah, the Ark was left at the home of Obed-Edom. During those three months, everything in Obed’s home and life became abundantly blessed, and upon hearing the news David must have thought, “That’s my blessing over there.” That sent David digging through the scriptures to learn the prescribed way for handling and transporting the Ark. David then set out to finally retrieve the Ark the way he should have done the first time.
Through the years, I’ve seen people get out of God’s prescribed order and somehow assume that it was ok just as long as they were praising Him. But, that’s not how it works at all. It’s good that we’re willing to praise the Lord, but what’s even better is when we do things, as Paul said, decently and in order.
Today, in God’s prescribed way and with our whole hearts, let us praise Him and give Him glory.