Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Friday, November 9, 2012 Read – 2 Samuel 5 & 6 Chapters 5 and 6 contain two very important pieces of information regarding the story of David. First is the story of David making Jerusalem the capital of his kingdom. David had reigned seven years as king at Hebron. With the inclusion of the northern kingdom, a new start was needed. David skillfully conquers Jerusalem, a hold-out of the Canaanite Jebusites. Since neither the north or the south had controlled Jerusalem and because Jerusalem was strategically located between the two halves of the kingdom, Jerusalem made a perfect place for David to make his capital. A similar event happened in the history of our country when Washington, DC was made our nation’s capital. Washington, DC lies between the north where slavery was forbidden and the south where slavery was embraced. Part of the glue that brought these divergent states together was this “neutral” territory. Of course in the case of our own country that glue was not able finally to prevent the civil war from erupting. David’s choice of Jerusalem will also fail in the long run – but it was a wise strategic move on David’s part to bring the north and south together. The other event of significance in these chapters is David’s move to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. We have not heard much about the Ark for a long time. That should be both surprising and troubling to us. If the Ark was such an important item in the lives of God’s people, why has it simply passed into nonuse? Why was it forgotten? And what led David to remember and restore it to prominence? The last time we heard about the Ark was when it had been captured by the Philistines only to bring them much trouble and cause them finally to send it back home to Israel. But when it came back home, the Ark apparently was simply put into storage. Now David seeks to revive this great religious symbol. The story is not without its challenges for us. There is a terrifying account of the first attempt to move the Ark to Jerusalem. A cart is sent to bring it. But in the process of the bumpy ride on the cart, the Ark is nearly dropped to the ground. Poor Uzzah does what anyone might do – he reaches out to steady the Ark. The narrator tells us the God burst forth and killed him for doing so. The Ark is promptly set aside again for a time. This is not an easy story for us to make sense of. What kind of God is it who would kill someone for steadying the Ark? Is the Ark that filled with “magic”? Some have argued that the problem was that God had specified that the Ark was to be carried by poles – which David is careful to do in the second and successful attempt to bring the Ark to Jerusalem. But is God that touchy? This is no easy story to hear and perhaps most of us will simply have to leave it as one of the things in the Bible we just don’t understand.