Then David summoned Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab the Levites.
He said to them, “You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are to consecrate yourselves and bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it.
It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the LORD our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way. ”
So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves in order to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel.
And the Levites carried the ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD. - 1 Chron 15:11-15 NIV
There's a right way and a wrong way to do things. David figured this out after his first unsuccessful attempt to bring the Ark to Jerusalem. Before a second attempt was made, David decided that they should inquire of the Lord "how to do it in the prescribed way." As is usual with most of us, David first had to learn the lesson the hard way. Not inquiring of God created the situation where Uzzah was struck dead after accidentally touching the Ark. David's first response was to be angry with God, but eventually he saw that God was only being God, the only thing he can be.
How often do we take matters into our own hands, do things our way, only to discover that our efforts are useless without consulting the Lord.
O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry
Everything to God in prayer
from What a Friend We Have in Jesus
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