The Right Thing, The Wrong Way

In 1 Chronicles 13, David began to have the ark of the Lord moved to the place it ought to be. This was the right thing to do, and the people were very excited to see this happen. There was a lot of fanfare surrounding this great move. They loaded the ark onto wagons which were pulled by oxen, and the move was under way!

People were rejoicing, David was overjoyed with what they were accomplishing, when suddenly disaster struck...one of the oxen stumbled, and the ark started to slide. One man, Uzza, who was helping with this event saw the impending disaster, and stabilized the ark with his hand. For that reason, God killed him on the spot. Wow - the spirit of rejoicing was instantly squashed, and replaced with fear.

Why did this happen? I'm sure that Uzza loved God, and that he was only trying to help. The reason can be found earlier in the Bible where God told the people in Numbers 7:9 that the ark was only to be carried on the shoulders of people. (The ark was built with a series of rings that poles were inserted into so people could carry it.) When David transported the ark on a wagon, this was in direct disobedience to God's law. Also, they were warned in Numbers 4:15 that if anyone touched it, they would die. So they had been warned.

I wonder - what right thing am I doing the wrong way? How about you?