a Numb. iv. 15. ^ Numb, vii. 6 — 9.
r2
then was highly criminal, and justly merited the rebuke it met with.]
2. The reason of noticing it with such severity —
[Besides the enormity of the offence, there was additional reason for punishing it with severity, arising out of the very nature of that dispensation. God had shewn himself so gra- cious and condescending towards that nation, that there was great danger lest they shoidd entertain erroneous notions of his character, and overlook entirely his majesty and greatness. Indeed even his condescension itself would be undervalued, unless they should be made sensible of his justice, his holiness, and his power. Hence on many occasions He had taken care to blend some displays of his power with the manifestations of his love. When he came down upon Mount Sinai to give them his law, he accompanied the revelation with awful demon- strations of his greatness. When he had sent fire from heaven to consume the sacrifices on his altar, and to declare his accept- ance of them, he destroyed Nadab and Abihu by fire for pre- suming to burn incense before him with fire different from that which he had kindled ''. When a single individual in the nation had offended him, he withdrew his protection from all, till the person was discovered and put to death**. Thus, he was now suffering the symbols of his presence to be transported to Jerusalem ; and the people would be ready to think that they had conferred an honour upon him : he therefore shewed them, that no service could be accepted of him, unless it were regu- lated by a strict adherence to his revealed will ; and that whilst they received from him such signal tokens of his favour, they must at the peril of their souls conduct themselves towards him with the profoundest reverence®. In this view the judg- ment inflicted upon Uzzali was an instructive lesson to the whole nation, and is a standing proof that " God is greatly to be feared, and to be had in reverence of all them that are round about him*^."]
We lament however to observe,
II. The effect it produced on the mind of David —
Truly the best of men are but weak, when they are visited with any heavy trial. Fervent as David's mind was, no sooner was he thus rebuked than he was filled,
1. With proud resentment — [It is probable that there was in his mind an undue degree
<= Lev. X. 1, 2, '' Josh. vii. 5, 11, 12.
'^ Lev. X. 3. f Ps. Ixxxix. 7.
311.] uzzah's punishment. 245
of complacency, from the idea that he was the honoured instru- ment of thus exalting and glorifying his God. To meet there- fore with such a check, in the midst of all his glory, and in the presence of all the great men of the nation, was very mortifying to his pride ; and in an instant he betrayed what was in his heart. Had he been displeased with himself, it had been well : but " he was displeased" with God, whom he con- sidered as dealing wrongfully and unjustly towards him. Alas! that so good a man should indulge such an unhallowed dispo- sition. Had he himself corrected one of his little children, he would have expected the child to conclude of course, from the very correction itself, that something was amiss in him, though he "could not immediately see wherein the evil of his conduct lay : and should not David have exercised that same temper towards God? Should he not have concluded that God was too wise to err, and too good to do any thing which was not strictly right ? Should he not have acted, as he did on another occasion, " I was dumb and opened not my mouth, because thou didst it ?" It is characteristic of the vilest of men to fly, as it were, in the face of God^; yea, it is their very employ- ment in hell to curse him for the judgments he inflicts'*. Did such a temper then become " the man after God's own heart?" No; he should rather have said, " It is the Lord; let him do what seemeth him good' ; " " I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him*^." But in this con- duct of his we have a lamentable illustration of that proverb, " The foolishness of man perverteth his way, and his heart fretteth against the Lord'."]