Have You Ever Been Angry With God?

Have You Ever Been Angry With God?                  December 12, 2021

“But when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen nearly upset it.  And the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and God struck him down there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God.  And David became angry because of the Lord’s outburst against Uzzah, and that place is called Perez-uzzah (the breakthrough of Uzzah) to this day.” (II Samuel 6:6-8)

According to the verses above God was angry with Uzzah because he reached out toward the ark of God and took hold of it.  This action by Uzzah showed irreverence as far as God was concerned.  Why?  Because according to Numbers 4:1-16 only the sons of Kohath had the right to carry the holy things of God.  If anyone including the sons of Aaron were to touch any of these holy things then they would surely die.

Uzza(h) and Ahio drove the new cart upon which was the ark of God (I Chronicles 13:7).  There is no mention that Ahio made any attempt to touch the ark, only Uzzah.  Perhaps Ahio was driving and was unable to touch it or he was too afraid to touch it.  The Bible just doesn’t say.  But it does mention that Uzzah touched it.  And what he did was wrong and it cost him his life.

However, David had trouble accepting the anger of God against Uzzah and he became angry.  He was afraid of God that day and did not take the ark with him to Jerusalem but instead left it at the house of Obededom the Gittite for three months.  God blessed the family of Obededom while the ark stayed in his house (I Chronicles 13:11-14). 

Although it is not wrong to have anger as long as it doesn’t have you, it is not good to store it up.  We need to let it go.  Get rid of it.  Substitute it with goodness.  Talk to God about your anger even when it may be against Him.  However, do so in reverence of Him and remember that God sees and knows what we don’t see and know regarding the hearts of men and Uzzah’s action towards Him was irreverent.

I believe what I just suggested to you about anger was exactly what David did concerning his anger towards God.  He continued to serve God faithfully but with a whole lot more reverence.  We’d be wise to do the same when our anger tries to take over our hearts.  Don’t give Satan any opportunity to use your anger against God (Ephesians 4:26-27).

Brian Thompson