David’s heart was to have the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem so after some time he determined to bring the Ark into the city. This time he inquired of the Lord how it should be done.
Then David summoned Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab the Levites. He said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are to consecrate yourselves and bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the LORD our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way.” So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves in order to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel. And the Levites carried the ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD (11-15).
The errors of the first attempt were corrected. David was a leader who learned from his mistakes. None of us will bat 1000; learning from mistakes is the mark of a great leader. David learned.
Two observations are particularly poignant. He relinquished control that he should not have had and he owned his responsibility. The Levites exercise their rightful responsible for transporting the Ark. David should not have made the arrangements the first time so he handed it back over to them. Yes, he was miffed they didn’t assert their responsibility to do so the first time. At first reading he seems to place the responsibility for the failure on them but in the next breadth he owns his role in the debacle with the simple word ‘We.’ We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way. They, as leaders, had missed the prime rule of living with the Lord… inquiring of Him. The Lord would have told them the right thing to do.
Not only as a leader, but even more importantly as a child of God, there are practical lessons in this passage. I, too, will blow it and sin and get things wrong. I don’t want to do that, but it will happen. I, too, need to learn from my mistakes.
Learning to inquire of the Lord first is a life goal that will save much heartache if I can master it. God will lead the way if I only learn to ask. God wants us to succeed as sons and daughters and He will show us the faithful way to life.
Owning responsibility in failure and sin… my first reaction to a mistake is to blame… somehow I have built this pattern over years of practice. However, I need to re-pattern this to take responsibility if I am to grow in the Lord. I have been working on this for years and this morning’s text is another reminder from the Lord that I have much growing to do. Thankfully the Lord is full of mercy and grace.
Relinquishing control of things I shouldn’t control… I can be a control freak, letting go appropriately is another life-long lesson on which I am working. I am not there but by God’s grace I am growing. Again, this passage is a gentle reminder to keep on working at giving up control of things over which I should not have control.
Today was highly practical as I sat with the Lord. I hope it was helpful for you as well.
Thank You, Lord, for Your reminders. Give me strength to practice those things I heard in Your Word today. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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