II Samuel 6, Bring the Ark to Jerusalem

David is now king of all Israel and has pushed the Philistines out of the center of the country.

2 Samuel 6: 1-5, The ark on a cart

David again brought together out of Israel chosen men, thirty thousand in all. He and all his men set out from Baalah of Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the LORD Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim that are on the ark. They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. Uzzah and Ahio, sons of Abinadab, were guiding the new cart with the ark of God on it, and Ahio was walking in front of it. David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals.

Now that he is king, David wants the ark to reside in the new capital city of Israel, Jerusalem.

The thirty thousand (or thirty elefs) that David gathers to bring up the ark is equal to the number killed when the ark was first captured by the Philistines in 1 Samuel 4: 10-11.

2 Samuel 6: 6-8, Death of Uzzah

When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The LORD's anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God.

Then David was angry because the LORD's wrath had broken out against Uzzah, and to this day that place is called Perez Uzzah.

This is a shocking event -- the ark is apparently to be treated much more carefully than it has been. Apparently for merely touching the ark, Uzzah is struck down. And then David, naturally enough, is angry at YHWH.

We have no real explanation for this event -- except for a dramatic message about the importance of the ark.

In verse 8, Perez Uzzah means "outbreak against Uzzah" (according to NIV footnotes.)

2 Samuel 6: 9-11, The ark at Obed-Edom

David was afraid of the LORD that day and said, "How can the ark of the LORD ever come to me?" He was not willing to take the ark of the LORD to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it aside to the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite. The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months, and the LORD blessed him and his entire household.

Shaken by the death of Uzzah, David is not sure he wants the ark close to him. So the ark is set aside at the house of a man named Obed-Edom. Obed-Edom is a Gittite, a former resident of Gath, and likely a former Philistine.

2 Samuel 6: 12, The ark at Obed-Edom

Now King David was told, "The LORD has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God." So David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing.

After some time, David hears how the house of Obed-Edom has prospered and so again makes plans to move the ark on to Jerusalem.

2 Samuel 6: 13-15, Sacrifice and dancing

When those who were carrying the ark of the LORD had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

David slowly, with great fanfare and rejoicing, moves the ark.  After the first six steps, he sacrifices a bull and a calf. He then begins to dance and shout, as trumpets are played. One imagines this excited dancing continuing on into the city of Jerusalem, all the way to the palace.

2 Samuel 6: 16, Michal's mistake

As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart.

Michal is embarrassed by the actions of her husband, the king. This is a foolish reaction, focusing on an outward appearance -- and by association, on her own status as a queen -- instead of embracing David's joy at the return of the ark.

2 Samuel 6: 17-19, The ark in Jerusalem

They brought the ark of the LORD and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the LORD. After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD Almighty. Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. 

And all the people went to their homes.

The ark is finally in its place in Jerusalem, within a tent near the palace.

2 Samuel 6: 20-23, Separation from Michal

When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!" 

David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel--I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor."

And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.

Michal had lived with another husband, having been given to another man by Saul. Here, finally in the palace with the new king, she reacts in disgust at David's exhibition of excitement and joy. When she expresses her disgust, David sharply defends himself. 

David's words to Michal echoes those of Samuel to Saul in I Samuel 13: 14, reminding her that God has chosen him, David, not Saul, her father, as king.

We are told that Michal then had no children. Presumably this is because David rejected her and no longer slept with her.