After King David and his men conquered Jerusalem in 2 Samuel 5, it seemed good to them to bring the Ark of the Covenant there.  This is not Noah’s great big boat, but the chest portrayed in the Indiana Jones movie as attracting lightning and melting Nazis.

As the oxen were transporting the ark, they stumbled.  Uzzah, one of the priests, put his hand on the chest to steady it.  God was angry at this touching and struck Uzzah dead on the spot. Other bible characters like Aaron’s sons (Leviticus 10) and Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5) have been killed dead by God, but they seemed to deserve it more for playing loose with fire and money. The death of Uzzah was a huge warning to the whole kingdom about observing the holiness of God and the His things.

King David was angry and afraid at the same time, “How can the ark of the LORD come to me?”

They left the ark in the nearby home of Obed-edom the Gittite for three months.  Once everyone saw that Obed and his household were exceedingly blessed during this time, David decided to move it the rest of the way to the new capital city.  This time, they went with dancing, singing, praising God, and presumably, more care with the transportation.