Uzzah acted with good intentions, but he failed to heed what God had commanded about the ark. Here we see David with similarly good intentions desiring to act without first seeking God. David saw that it was not good for him to live in a palace while the ark of God sat in a tent – the tabernacle. His heart was in the right place, but notice what he did. He consulted Nathan, who seemingly without asking God, gave his blessing for David to launch a building program. Now, we would be right to criticize Nathan for failing to ask God about what David should do. Nathan was a prophet – his role was to speak for God, not in place of God – yet we cannot let David off the hook as merely the recipient of poor advice. We have seen David consult God directly before this; he could have done the same here, too.

In this we are reminded of our need never to take our actions for granted. We must always bring our decisions before God, earnestly seeking His guidance. We must live each day with such great dependence on God that it seems absurd for us even to attempt to make a decision apart from God. But let’s not learn this lesson from David alone, let us consider Christ Jesus, who expressed such dependence on the Father throughout the Gospels.

What decisions are you weighing that you need to take to God for direction?