2 Samuel 4-7: Who's in Charge?

The Ark of the Covenant has been sitting at Abinadab's house ever since the Philistines returned it to Israel.  Now, years later, David decides to transfer the Ark from Kirjath-jearim to Jerusalem. On the way, the Lord kills Uzzah when the oxen stumbled and he put his hand out and touched the ark. This frightened everyone, including David, so he left the Ark with Obed-Edom, the Gittite.  When the entire household of Obed-Edom was blessed during the three months the Ark sat at his house, David decided it was safe to retrieve it and bring it to Jerusalem. 

Had the Israelites made a god out of the ark, had they begun trusting in it for their security instead of in the true God of Israel? Did Uzzah put a hand out waiting for the ark to catch and support him? Did Obed-Edom recognize that the ark was not a god but merely the symbol for the true God? Did he fear the Lord and not the ark during those months that the ark sat in his yard? And did the Lord let the ark stay there until the children of Israel remembered again who the true God was?

When the ark was finally brought to Jerusalem, David sang, danced, and worshipped not the ark, but the Lord. Included in his song in 1 Chronicles 16, were these words: "For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. He is also to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the people are idols: But the Lord made the heavens. Glory and honor are in His presence: Strength and gladness are in His place." - 1 Chron. 16: 25-27 NIV

When David became concerned that the Ark of God was residing in a tent, and he decided to build a temple for God, he was told 'no'.  'This is what the LORD says:  "Are you the one to build me a house to dwell in?  I have not dwelt in a house from the day I brought the Israelites up out of Egypt to this day. I have been moving from place to place with a tent as my dwelling.  Wherever I have moved with all the Israelites, did I ever say to any of their rulers whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?" ..."The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you." '  - 2 Sam. 7:5-11 NIV

God was the god.  He was not a possession, he was not a fixed place.