Undignified
Today’s Bible Reading: 2 SAMUEL 6:12-23; 1 CHRONICLES 15:1-16:43
2 Samuel 6:14 Then David danced before the Lord with and all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.
Church should be a celebration. It should be a celebration of all that God is and all that He has done in our lives. It should be a jubilee of joy. His presence should penetrate into the very depths of our soul and spring forth with resounding praise. Every time the church gathers, we should be struck with His majesty and moved by His magnificence. Our singing should reflect His significance. Our preaching should declare His perfections. Every aspect of our worship should be a powerful proclamation of the grandeur of our God. Church should be fun. We should be excited about studying His word and singing His praise. Yet for many the joy of the Lord is absent and they are left with a stuffy, stagnant and stiff service.
Our text tells the story of the ark of God’s presence entering the city of Jerusalem and David’s response. The ark had been residing with a family for three months (2 Sam 6:11). David had erected the tabernacle within the city to hold the ark. He prepared and participated in a grand spectacle to mark its arrival into the city. He enlisted hundreds of people as well as singers and musicians to raise their “voice with resounding joy” within the massive processional. This was to be a celebration that would rival the sight of a victorious king returning from battle. This was not just any king, but the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
David’s exhilaration led to his expression. The long-awaited ark was now parading through the city. Surely the blessing that had been bestowed on the house of Obed-Edom would befall the ark’s new resting place. David was elated with the arrival of the presence of the Lord. As such he could not contain His composure. He was overwhelmed and overcome by a king greater and grander than himself. He gave no regard to his position or status. His royal strappings were removed. He began to dance. He was leaping and whirling before the Lord. (2 Sam 6:16) He became completely “undignified” (2 Sam 6:22). The joy of the Lord jolted through him and he could not help but express himself. He found himself dancing in the streets with “all his might”. Every ounce of his being was exploding in ecstatic praise before the Lord. Now that’s doing church!
David was unhindered in his excitement at the Lord’s presence. He held nothing back. He let nothing or no one halt his enthusiasm or hamper his praise. Yet not all agreed with his exuberant dance. Michal, his wife and herself a daughter of King Saul, was appalled at his actions. She expressed her concern that a King would not act like the common folk. She felt that what he had done was shameless and not befitting of a King (2 Sam 6:20). Basically, she was saying, my dad, King Saul, would never have acted so “undignified” and inappropriate in the eyes of the people.
David’s response is significant. He replies, “It was before the Lord”. He was not dancing before the people or before His wife, but before the Lord. He was dancing for an audience of one. It didn’t matter how others felt about what he had done. It was not before them or for them. His “praise dance” was for Him, not for them.
This is a great truth to consider. David’s dance was because of the Lord and before the Lord. There are times when we are so moved by the Spirit and the presence of God that we should become a bit “undignified”. We simply have to let what we are experiencing be expressed. We can no longer hold it in. We have to let it out. His word speaks to us, so we shout our amens. Worshiping Him stirs us, so we sing our hallelujahs and proclaim our praise. Our hearts are full and hands are raised. The joy of our Lord overwhelms us and overtakes us and we will not let the “Michals” around us obstruct our praise. His presence pierces into the deepest recesses of our being and like David we pour forth our praise before the Lord with “all our might”. Let His church proclaim Him. Let His church praise Him. Unfiltered and unhindered, let the praise of His people resound.
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