2 Samuel 6:9
‘David was afraid of the Lord that day and said, “How can the ark of the Lord ever come to me?”’
David had feared the Lord his entire life. This was a different fear. Here's some back story. Israel had won some battles against the Philistines. They wanted to move the Ark of the Lord. They did so on a cart pulled by an ox. In transport the Ark was teetering and Uzzah reached out to steady it. He died instantly at that touch. This is why David was afraid.
David had an enviable relationship with God. He knew that God loved Him and he loved God. Nothing like this had ever happened. A few entries ago the reason for this death was discussed in depth. The title was Holiness. I will summarize it.
God is holy. Due to the fall we had become sinful. We couldn't be in His presence due to sin. The whole Mosaic system of sacrifices was instituted to cover sin. God told them to construct the Ark. It was to contain the tablets of the law and was symbolic of God's dwelling place. It was transported by priests on poles. David and the people were moving the Ark in an irreverent manner. That was the problem.
The people must have known this. They had all been told of the stories. We don't know why they moved it this way. Anyways, that was why Uzzah died. It frightened David.
We can be too casual in our relationship with God. We might bump into warnings about that. Especially if we are doing something outside of the bible's allowances. Here's a list of things that are sinful: being unloving, impatient, getting drunk, fornication, going against any of the commandments and so on. God will get our attention about these. If we live with these, then we are either backslidden or not a christian, as Jesus isn't the lord of our lives.
We should be fearful if we are living out of God's will. If we are His child, He will do things to get us to stop. Some things could be very difficult. Mark 9:43 says, "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, into the unquenchable fire." That's big. To save us, if we ignore the small warnings, something big could happen.
Paul brings up a situation like this. Here's what he says in I Corinthians 5:5, "hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord." The salvation of the soul is far more important than one's mortality. We will all know that one day.
Lord, help us to fear You. Help us to be knowledgable about matters so as not to offend You.