The danger of good intentions

I'm reading through 2 Samuel and last week I read something that has given me so much to think about.  It's the story of Uzzah, the guy God struck dead because he reached out to steady the ark of the covenant when one of the oxen stumbled (you can read it in 2 Sam 6).  I think most people when they read or hear this story think that God was being hyper-sensitive and petty and I've heard people use this story as proof that "the God of the Old Testament is vengeful and angry."  I've already blogged about how false that notion is.  But there are some deep things to learn from the story that require some chewing.

Maybe a little backstory is in order.  The first mistake the Israelites made was taking the ark with them to battle.  The ark symbolized the presence of God but they misused it, taking it with them superstitiously and putting their hope in the ark instead of in God Himself.  They were defeated in battle and the Philistines took the ark.  The hand of the Lord was then heavy on the Philistines (read all about it back in 1 Samuel 4-6) and the Philistines decided they needed to get rid of this ark!  They put it on a new cart along with some offerings and hooked up two milk cows on which there had never been a yoke and which had never been separated from their calves.  The point of this was to prove something to themselves:  if the cows went straight to the border of Israel, it would obviously be a sign from God.  Sure enough, that's what happened.  There, some of the Israelites were curious about the ark and decided they would have a little look inside.  God struck 50,070 of them dead for this disobedience.  Obviously, a holy God does not take irreverence lightly.  

Eventually the ark was to be returned to Jerusalem.  Instead of carrying it according to the law laid down by God through Moses (see Numbers 4: the ark was only to be moved by Levites, with special poles on their shoulders, and they were forbidden to touch it on pain of death), the Israelites imitated the Philistines and put the ark on a cart.  Uzzah, chosen to drive the ark, obviously had no idea of the unapproachable holiness of the ark of God.  At some point he reached out to keep the ark from falling over because the oxen slipped.  And God instantly smote him.

What I've been thinking about was, exactly what was Uzzah's sin?  Keil & Delitzsch say this:  Uzzah's offence consisted in the fact that he had touched the ark with profane feelings, although with good intentions, namely to prevent its rolling over and falling from the cart.  Touching the ark, the throne of the divine glory and visible pledge of the invisible presence of the Lord, was a violation of the majesty of the holy God.  'Uzzah was therefore a type of all who with good intentions, humanly speaking, yet with unsanctified minds, interfere in the affairs of the kingdom of God, from the notion that they are in danger, and with the hope of saving them' (O.v.Gerlach)  

Those few sentences left me speechless.  I can recall so many instances where I am sure that I, like Uzzah, violated the majesty of God with profane feelings, by thinking that unless I did something, the kingdom of God (in some small way) was in danger.  It's truly a case of fools rushing in where angels fear to tread.  My intentions may be good but if my thoughts are unsanctified - I have not waited on the majesty of God - I do more harm than good.  This has given me so much to think about when deciding what to do in situations.   The sovereign, gracious, majestic and holy God of the universe is in control and does not need my help.  I do not need to rush to His defense.  Instead I need to walk in daily obedience to Him and let Him work out His plans.  Ephesians 2:8-10 springs to my mind.  We are not saved BY works but we ARE His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus FOR good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.   God has works for me to do.  He prepared them for me long ago.   That's enough to keep me busy the rest of my life.  No need to reach out and steady the ark.  God is in control.