Episode 120: God kills Uzzah and David dances nearly naked

2 Samuel 6-7

God kills Uzzah for protecting the ark

6 ^1-2 David and 30,000 chosen men went to retrieve the ark of God.

³ When they arrived at the house of Abinadab, they set the ark on a cart, driven by Uzzah and Ahio.

⁵ David and everyone in Israel, played before the Lord with every kind of musical instrument.

⁶ While carrying the ark, the oxen stumbled, causing it to fall. To keep the ark from being damaged, Uzzah touched the ark.

⁷ So God killed him.

David dances nearly naked in front of God and everybody

⁸ David was displeased with God's killing of Uzzah, but he was also afraid of God.

^10-12 So David decided not to bring the ark to Jerusalem after all. He brought it to the house of Obededom the Gittite instead. After three months, David was told that God blessed Obededom, so he brought the ark to Jerusalem.

^13-14 During the journey, they sacrificed an ox and a fat calf every six steps, while David danced nearly naked, with only a linen ephod covering him.

Michal is disgusted by David's performance

¹⁶ When David's first wife, Michal, saw David's performance, she despised him and said to him,

How glorious was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself to all the slave girls in the kingdom, like some shameless man who exposes himself.

²¹ David replied,

God chose me as king over your father and your family. I will play before him if I want to.

²² So I will be even more vile than that. I will be disgusting in my own sight but honored by all the slave girls in the kingdom.

²³ God punished Michal for criticizing David so that she never had any children.

David, God, and Nathan talk about houses

7 ¹ One day, king David sat in his house and said to Nathan the prophet,

² I live in a house of cedar, but the ark lives within curtains.

⁴ That evening, God said to Nathan,

Tell David that this is what God says,

Should you build me a house to live in?

⁶ I haven't lived in a proper house since I brought the Israelites out of Egypt.

Since then, I’ve been living in a tent and a tabernacle.

¹¹ I am building you a house.

^12-13 When you die, the seed that comes out of your bowels will build me a house, and I'll establish his throne forever.

¹⁵ I'll always be merciful to him, and I won't abandon him like I did Saul.

¹⁶ Your house, kingdom, and throne will last forever.

^17-18 After Nathan told him what God said, David sat in front of God and said:

²² You’re great. There aren't any gods like you, at least not that we've heard about.

²⁷ You said you'd build a house for me, so I decided to say this prayer to you.

²⁸ Be good to me like you promised.

²⁹ Bless my house. Make it last forever.