Fourth Thursday in Advent (2014 Year B)

Today's Readings

Psalm 89:1-2 starts out very universalistically. (Is that a word?)

I will sing of your steadfast love, O Lord, forever;
    with my mouth I will proclaim your faithfulness to all generations.
I declare that your steadfast love is established forever;
    your faithfulness is as firm as the heavens.

But again, I'm aware I'm picking and choosing.

I found the 2 Samuel reading (verses 6-11) to be quite interesting (shortened version below.) It talks about a very wrathful God who kills the person who tries to protect His stuff. I'm not sure how this story is supposed to teach us anything positive about God. Maybe that if we watch his stuff but don't touch it, he'll be nice to us. WTF?

David and all the people with him set out ... They carried the ark of God on a new cart ... Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving ... David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. ... When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen shook it. The anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God struck him there because he reached out his hand to the ark; and he died there beside the ark of God.  David was angry because the Lord had burst forth with an outburst upon Uzzah David was afraid of the Lord that day; he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come into my care?” So David was unwilling to take the ark of the Lord into his care in the city of David; instead David took it to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. The ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months; and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.