Missing the Mark Part 1 By Rayola Kelley

To remind myself that the great failure in humanity is due to sin, I think of Romans 3:23, and the fact that it’s because of sin that I can easily enough fall short of the glory of God. This simply means I am missing the mark. You might say, “What is the mark that we, as humans, are missing?”

It comes back to potential. God, our Creator formed man to reflect His glory. To fail to do what one has been created to do, points to falling short of reaching their potential. When something fails to reach its potential, it is considered broken, faulty, and useless.

I know that as a vessel of God I have been broken by sin. As an instrument of God, I am full of flaws that make much of what I do lack harmony when it comes to heaven. In the past I have been clearly out of step with heaven’s harmony and walked according to some beat that was dark and contrary. And, as a creation of God, I was useless because of being unable to fulfill the high calling of my potential in such a state.

The truth is, when I’m at my highest point, I’m more prone to fall than climb to the top of the peak, and in my clearest moments, I’m still limited in what I need to know to get it right. It is in times of enlightenment that the times of testing can overtake me and I find myself in greater darkness. It seems we do live in an upside-down world. But when our world is turned upside-down, that is when we can look upward in the right direction to our Creator and allow Him to put it right.

I recently wrote some Facebook posts about an incident in Scripture that started out right but ended upside-down. My co-laborer encouraged me to put them in one of my articles for the edification of others. Each separate post starts with a Scripture: “And David consulted with the captains of thousands and hundreds, and with every leader” (1 Chronicles 13:1). One of the incidents in the Bible that used to cause much conflict in my mind was the death of Uzza. The Lord smote him because he touched the ark in order to stabilize it when the oxen stumbled.

It seems that David’s intention to bring the ark to Jerusalem was honorable, and Uzza’s desire to keep the ark from possible damage was natural as well as honorable, but for some reason God had a problem with it. What appeared to be honorable resulted in judgment. How could something, that from all appearances, seemed to come from an excellent desire cause even David to be displeased with the Lord while fearing Him at the same time?

When you read the first verse in 1 Chronicles 13, you see where it started off wrong. David did not seek the Lord about his honorable desire to bring the ark home; rather, he consulted with his captains and leaders. When we fail to seek God first about those matters that are important to Him, and instead seek the counsel of mere men, we are starting out on the wrong footing.

The key when it comes to starting out on the right footing is one must first seek the Lord and consult with Him as to whether a matter is important to HIM as well as the timing and the procedure to bring it about. There is no doubt the ark would eventually end up in Jerusalem, but the issue was not necessarily the ark ending up in the right place, but the right protocol when it came to moving it.

God has His ways and He clearly stipulates what they are in order to ensure His people line up to Him and His protocol. We must come into step with God, knowing He will never come into step with us. His ways are higher than ours and He will never step outside of them to adjust to our human ways.

I don’t know about you, but every time I failed to consult God first about a matter, I started on the wrong foot and ended up straying from the course and tasting bitterness because it proved to be disastrous in the end. Consulting God first has to become a trained habit. It can take everything in a person, after tasting enough defeat along the way, to avoid seeking out their answers through intellectual deduction or the advice of others, to naturally seek God first. They must stop and pull themselves back from relying on their wits or others and truly humble themselves to seek the Lord out of great need to come into step with Him and do what is right before Him to ensure good results.

“And all the congregation said that they would do so for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people” (1 Chronicles 13:4). The death of Uzza happened when all seemed right and good but the Lord was not pleased with the whole situation. King David rightfully wanted all of Israel involved in the auspicious event of bringing the ark to Jerusalem. After all, in David’s mind they, as a people, could not really consult God without the ark.

The ark represented the presence of God among His people, but God had something else that could have been consulted and that was the Law. We do not see David consulting the priests or the Law. Granted, the priests and Levites were invited to be part of this event, but they were not sought out about this matter; rather, David sought out the people in general. He even reasoned with them about it, and we are told this action seemed right in their eyes.

At this point David is clearly operating according to assumption. He calculated that it was the right thing to bring the ark back to Jerusalem but because of assumption, he failed to first seek the priests and the Law as to the proper procedure.

This has been true for my life. As a new Christian, I initially relied on my understanding, sought others for their approval, and felt that if it met with the majority of those involved, it must be the right thing to do. However, we are not to rely on our own understanding and we must seek God’s approval, knowing that when He does approve, He puts the fire to it to ensure purity.

The final part is that if God represents the majority in a matter, no matter how many people side with what seems right, it will prove to be wrong if God does not give His approval. God is the only one who can validate the integrity of a matter. Even though the cause seems honorable, if you are on the wrong side of a matter because God is not pleased, you could end up being another Uzza.

“And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab and Uzza and Ahio drave the cart’ (1 Chronicles 13:7). When I recently studied this chapter of the Bible, I was once again reminded of the pitfalls I encountered in my own Christian life. King David knew a lot about the Law, but he did not return to it to reiterate God’s instructions or seek out those who would know the proper procedure when it came to the Ark of the Covenant.

People start out with a sense of what is right and wrong. Unless their conscience has been seared by evil agendas, they know that some actions are not acceptable. David was clear about the logistics of the Law, but he was not in the habit of knowing about the handling of the articles of the tabernacle. You could say that when it came to the holy articles of God, David was a fish out of water. When it comes to God it is not just a matter of right and wrong, but the way in which something is carried out.

The Lord established clear instructions about the handling of the articles in His tabernacle. The only ones who could handle any of these articles were the actual priests and it was up to certain Levites to properly transfer them from place to place. This was the way to ensure that the objects of God stood distinct in their importance and purpose. It was clear that both Uzza and Ahio were not Levites, making their duty to appear common instead of being attached to a holy calling.

David felt the ark was worthy of a new cart, but he failed to realize that his greatest responsibility was to be obedient to God’s instructions when it came to the handling of His holy things. Assumption about the matters of God at any point produces a flippant attitude, over-confident conclusions, and presumptions that end in unpleasant consequences.

This is a good example for Christians to consider as well. We are told by John that he handled the Word of Life, Jesus. I have posed the question to myself, “Are you handling Jesus in the right way?” In order to handle Jesus correctly, I must seek His ways in the Word of God, take His examples seriously, and not assume in self-confidence that I can’t end up taking a misstep and tasting the bitterness of being foolish about something that has been clearly established because I failed to seek out the proper instructions.

“And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets” (1 Chronicles 13:8). The Ark of the Covenant was being brought to Jerusalem, the place where God chose to establish a witness of Himself, put His name there, later build a temple, and to dwell among His people.

It is clear that David and the people were excited about bringing this altar to God’s chosen city. In their mind, God had to be impressed with their feat to bring it to Jerusalem, their zealousness to do so, and their expression of joy in doing it. However, there is an eerie quietness that, in a way, you sense because you know the outcome.

As I was considering this scene, I was wondering how many religious people are doing the same thing in their churches. How many are playing before their altars with such gusto. There is excitement, there is a sense of something special occurring, perhaps it is expectation but the real question is not what man is doing before the altar, but how God perceives a matter.

What is important to God? What is His heart in a matter? It is easy for man to play religion in some form, but is God in it? Is His presence there? Will He ultimately show His approval because it is being done according to His righteous, holy ways.

God is not moved by our different religious exercises. He does not get caught up with fleshly zealousness no matter how it is clothed in some religious activity. He is not impressed with our best because according to Isaiah 64:6 it is filthy rags before Him. The truth is, what pleases God is obedience that comes from faith that believes and wants to please Him because of love.

The harsh reality is that David and the people were quite impressed with their performance before God, but God was silent because their way was perverse to Him. It clearly was not in line with His instructions about the moving of His ark. In fact, their way was an offense to Him and it would take one common and understandable act to cut through their celebration to realize God was not pleased. He was both quiet and absent from the whole celebration.

We have our ideas of how to worship and please God, but we must always discern if He is in any of it. God is not pleased by our forms of worship; rather, He is pleased when our worship manifests itself in simple obedience that simply seeks to please and honor Him above all of our religious activities.

In the next issue of “The Bottom Line,” I will share the rest of the valuable lessons concerning this incident. Meanwhile, the examples in this incident reminds us just because we think it is a good idea, it does not automatically mean God can honor it. We may be doing all kinds of religious deeds when it comes to our commitment to God, but we need to make sure we are not missing the mark, and that He is behind it, in it, and is able to approve of it.