How To FOLLOW God’s INSTRUCTIONS

DOING IT GOD’S WAY

2 Samuel 6:1-7; Selected Scriptures
By
D.Z. Cofield, Th.M., D. Min.
October 4, 2020

1. You need to know HOW God INSTRUCTS you to LIVE.

2 Samuel 6:1-2 (NLT2) – Then David again gathered all the elite troops in Israel, 30,000 in all. 2 He led them to Baalah of Judah to bring back the Ark of God, which bears the name of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, who is enthroned between the cherubim.

Exodus 25:12-15 (NLT2) – Cast four gold rings and attach them to its four feet, two rings on each side. 13 Make poles from acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 14 Insert the poles into the rings at the sides of the Ark to carry it. 15 These carrying poles must stay inside the rings; never remove them.

Numbers 3:30-31 (NLT2) – The leader of the Kohathite clans was Elizaphan son of Uzziel. 31 These four clans were responsible for the care of the Ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the various articles used in the sanctuary, the inner curtain, and all the equipment related to their use.

Numbers 7:9 (NLT2) – But he gave none of the wagons or oxen to the Kohathite division, since they were required to carry the sacred objects of the Tabernacle on their shoulders.

2. You need to DO what God COMMANDS no matter how you FEEL.

2 Samuel 6:3-4 (NLT2) – They placed the Ark of God on a new cart and brought it from Abinadab’s house, which was on a hill. Uzzah and Ahio, Abinadab’s sons, were guiding the cart as it left the house, 4 carrying the Ark of God. Ahio walked in front of the Ark.

There are 3 things you, and others, typically use as excuses to do what you want instead of what God commands.

A. Don’t use your IGNORANCE as an excuse to disobey God.

Numbers 4:15 (NLT2) – The camp will be ready to move when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the sacred articles. The Kohathites will come and carry these things to the next destination. But they must not touch the sacred objects, or they will die. So these are the things from the Tabernacle that the Kohathites must carry.

B. Don’t use your IMITATION of others as an excuse to disobey God.

1 Samuel 6:10-16 (ESV) – The men did so, and took two milk cows and yoked them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. 11 And they put the ark of the LORD on the cart and the box with the golden mice and the images of their tumors. 12 And the cows went straight in the direction of Beth-shemesh along one highway, lowing as they went. They turned neither to the right nor to the left, and the lords of the Philistines went after them as far as the border of Beth-shemesh. 13 Now the people of Beth-shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley. And when they lifted up their eyes and saw the ark, they rejoiced to see it. 14 The cart came into the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there. A great stone was there. And they split up the wood of the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. 15 And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD and the box that was beside it, in which were the golden figures, and set them upon the great stone. And the men of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices on that day to the LORD. 16 And when the five lords of the Philistines saw it, they returned that day to Ekron.

C. Don’t use your INCONVENIENCE as an excuse to disobey God.

2 Samuel 24:18-25 (NLT2) – That day Gad came to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the LORD on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” 19 So David went up to do what the LORD had commanded him. 20 When Araunah saw the king and his men coming toward him, he came and bowed before the king with his face to the ground. 21 “Why have you come, my lord the king?” Araunah asked. David replied, “I have come to buy your threshing floor and to build an altar to the LORD there, so that he will stop the plague.” 22 “Take it, my lord the king, and use it as you wish,” Araunah said to David. “Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and you can use the threshing boards and ox yokes for wood to build a fire on the altar. 23 I will give it all to you, Your Majesty, and may the LORD your God accept your sacrifice.” 24 But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the LORD my God that have cost me nothing.” So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen. 25 David built an altar there to the LORD and sacrificed burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the LORD answered his prayer for the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.

3. You need to realize following God’s INSTRUCTIONS are ALWAYS more important than your INTENTIONS.

2 Samuel 6:5-7 (NLT2) – David and all the people of Israel were celebrating before the LORD, singing songs and playing all kinds of musical instruments—lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals. 6 But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out his hand and steadied the Ark of God. 7 Then the LORD’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him dead because of this. So Uzzah died right there beside the Ark of God.

Uzzah –

L.I.F.E. Group Questions

1. What’s easier for you to cook perfectly – rice or grits? Explain
2. Are you the person who tries to put something together before reading the directions or reads the directions thoroughly before you put something together? Explain
3. Looking back over your life, who’s instructions do you wish you had followed? Explain.
4. Why do you think God gives you instructions to live by?
5. Can you think of a time you didn’t obey God because you didn’t feel like it? Explain
6. When you think about not doing what God commands you to do, is your disobedience rooted more in your ignorance of what God wants, imitating others or in it being inconvenient to obey God?
7. Why was Uzzah’s action judged so harshly even though he was trying to protect the ark?
8. How important are your intentions in comparison to doing right or wrong?
9. In what ways can you become subtly irreverent in your behavior before God?
10. What can you do this week to make sure you do a better job in obeying God in every aspect of your life?