Guard Your Heart

The sixth chapter of 2 Samuel tells of the triumphant story of the return of the ark of God to Jerusalem by King David. This historic event comes itself on the heels of several successful military campaigns by the nascent leader. He had captured the stronghold of Zion, despite its seemingly impregnable defenses, and he had executed the ground breaking defeat of the Philistines at Baal-Perazim. It was against this backdrop – of the house of David steadily strengthening – that David went to the house of Obed-edom to retrieve the ark of God “with gladness.”

Things were looking up for David, and he knew it. But he recognized that his success was a result of divine favor. He realized that God had established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom would be exalted for the sake of the nation. Moreover, his breakthrough of the Philistine armies came about after receiving strategic counsel directly from the Most High. So when he realized that God was going to favor his efforts to bring the ark of God to Jerusalem, he had every reason to be jubilant.

As is often the case with expressive people, David knew how to be jubilant. After the first six steps of the ark-bearers, he offered a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God. As the procession entered the city, he leapt and danced before God with all his might. Indeed, the whole house of Israel was with him, shouting and playing trumpets. When the ark of God arrived at the tent that had been pitched for it, David offered further sacrifices of thanksgiving, and even gave gifts to all the multitude that were there, celebrating with him. Needless to say, I think it is safe to conclude that this was widely viewed as a joyful occasion.

But not by everyone, unfortunately. David’s wife Michal – who was also the daughter of King Saul – had taken in the parade from her window and was apparently embarrassed by her husband’s behavior. In his celebratory actions, David had put on the priestly garment and, presumably, shed his royal vestments. This bothered Michal, but the Scriptures don’t tell us clearly why she was upset.

Perhaps her personality was more reserved, and she felt disconcerted by David’s unmitigated expressions of joy. Perhaps other activities had kept her busy, keeping her from fully engaging with the celebration and therefore understanding its significance. Perhaps she was feeling the effects of pride in her heart: “My father was never that undignified when he was king…”. We don’t really know. But we do know that she allowed, tragically, this difference to transact something far more serious than a mere personality difference might otherwise suggest: she despised him in her heart. This, as we know, went on to have severely debilitating effects on their marriage.

Undoubtedly, none of us are stranger to the periodic encounters that highlight differences of personality or expectations. These occurrences are not, in and of themselves, wrong or necessarily indicative of a problem. But we should do everything we can to avoid the fate of Michal, who allowed them to develop into something which eroded the effectiveness of one of her most important relationships. A key antidote to this fate is given for us in I Peter 4: “Keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins,” and, I would add, a sea of idiosyncrasies and a mountain of quirks. As we navigate those seas and mountains especially, may we each be diligent in expressing the love of Christ to those around us.