Heart, Mind & Soul
And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. And when they came to the threshing floor of Nakon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.
And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day. And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.
2 Samuel 6:5-11
One chose logic.
One chose feelings.
One chose to serve.
For the past two weeks we have focused on this passage of scripture and specifically the first two main characters mentioned, Uzzah and David. If you missed these past Reaches, I do encourage you to go back and read through them to help provide more context. As we have unpacked this story, we have found three men who chose to carry themselves differently from one another.
One chose to rely on his own logic,
this being Uzzah who made the call to grab the Ark despite having been ordered by God never to do so.
Another chose to fall in his feelings,
this being David who upon seeing the death of Uzzah felt angry and afraid of God and so he didn’t allow the Ark to enter the city.
This week we are going to focus on the one who chose to serve, this being a man named Obed-Edom and for the sake of time and to save myself from being tongue-tied, we are going to call him “Obed.” Without a great deal being written about Obed, much can actually be gathered regarding this man.
We know he followed the guidelines God put in place with how to handle the Ark because it remained in Obed’s house for three months after the incident with Uzzah, and during said time — no one died.
We know that despite what happened to Uzzah, Obed chose to harness his feelings on the matter and maintain a healthy fear of the Lord. No doubt Obed had witnessed Uzzah’s death and yet he still welcomed the Ark into his home, with his family.
We know that because of Obed’s actions, his home and all those within it were blessed.
I loved what GotQuestions.org had to say with regards to Obed’s blessing from God:
“One of the ways God blessed Obed-Edom was in giving him many sons—eight to be exact. First Chronicles 26:4–6 lists them and their own sons, along with their father, as gatekeepers in God’s temple. Obed-Edom named each of his sons in honor of God’s blessing on his household. For example, he named one son Jehozabad (“The Lord Has Given”) and another Issachar (“Reward”). Obed-Edom had sixty-two strong male heirs, and it appears that all were faithful to the Lord. Although his was a minor role in Scripture, Obed-Edom is an example to us that God is fully aware of those whose hearts are wholly His (2 Chronicles 16:9), and He delights to bless those who honor Him (see 1 Samuel 2:30).
Obed chose to serve selflessly.
Obed chose to serve faithfully.
Obed chose to serve reverently.
And this man would probably be shocked to know that thousands of years later, God is still using his actions to minister to others. Obed didn’t do what he did to please others or himself. He didn’t welcome the Ark in hopes of receiving a blessing — although that is what he received in the end. No, Obed served because he loved God and that was enough.
God is enough. Do we live like He truly is?
In a world that feeds our feelings and encourages us to lean on our own logic are we pausing long enough to remember that our Maker is enough? That His ways are enough? That His strength, peace, provision, love is actually enough?
Our feelings matter and our ability to think and reason matter…but none of these are safe to rely on or serve if we are not first looking to our Father in Heaven. While Uzzah chose what logically made sense to him and David chose what felt right to him, Obed chose to…Love the Lord his God with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his mind. (Matthew 22:37)
This meant Obed surrendered emotional and rational behavior so he could care for what God was handing him.
What has God handed you to care for?
Are you tending to the matter in a way that logically makes sense? Or are your personal feelings and the feelings of others impacting your work?
Whether it’s a person, a place, a problem or a thing… I hope and pray that you will have the courage to invite God into the matter just as Obed welcomed the Ark into his home. You will be blessed if the work you do is done in a way that is not only pleasing to God, but for Him and beside Him. Apart from God, the work may get done but it may cost you and those around you dearly.
Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the guards stand watch in vain.
In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves.
Psalm 127: 1-2
In the Bible it describes how after three months, King David welcomed the Ark into the city but this time he made sure it was done so in a manner of reverence for God. The Ark was carried properly, no one died and there was much rejoicing and the kingdom was blessed. The following Psalm has been read many times in churches and in quiet study of the word, but I think it’s important to remember this was written by David, the same David in our story:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Psalm 3:5-6
God gave you a mind to use, but not apart from Him.
God gave you a heart that feels, but not apart from Him.
God gave you a soul to walk with through this life, but not apart from Him.
From the beginning God designed humans to walk with Him in the Garden of Eden, to be beautifully in sync with Him. But with the fall came a disruption between our hearts, minds and souls and where they were once in step with Him, they now have a propensity to wonder off in their own rational, emotional ways. So we must work to bring them back to where He divinely designed them to be…heart, mind and soul, reverently beside Him.
Reach for the Father, with every ounce of your being… and He will show you how to carry well what is before you.
