2 Samuel 6:14-16 “And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was belted with 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 horn.” Today's episode talks about how great it would be if we could worship God like David did without worrying about if we were being judged or not. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Dance Like No One Is Watching
2 Samuel 6:14-16 “And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was belted with 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 horn.”
I like this verse because it shows how happy David was that the Arc was coming back home. It says that David danced before the Lord with all of his might; and that David was belted with a linen ephod. I am not sure how much you know about David, so let me give you a quick recap. David is the King. He is usually dressed as a King in splendid garments. However, in order to bring the Arc of the Covenant back into Jerusalem David had set aside his royal robes and was “wearing a linen ephod”—a clear indication that he was not naked. The ephod David wore was a garment usually reserved for priests and those ministering before the Lord. As David led the procession of the ark into the city, he humbly laid aside his royal garments and worshiped the Lord, in ecstatic joy, as the representative of God’s “kingdom of priests.”
There is so much in these 3 short verses. First, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might. When is the last time you danced in front of the Lord with all your might? When is the last time you did anything in front of the Lord with all your might? What amazes me is that David was the leader, he was the king and yet he humbled himself and set aside his royal robes to welcome the Arc of the Covenant back into the city. David was the king and yet he didn’t care what others though of him. He didn’t care that he was wearing very little clothing. He didn’t care that he might look silly dancing around like a fool. In fact, in a later verse one of his wives sees him leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. When he got home she called him on his behavior and he didn’t try and defend it, he didn’t feel he needed to explain himself to her, he simply said in 2 Samuel 6:21, “It was before the Lord, who chose me above your father, and above all his house, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will make merry before the Lord.” He is basically saying that he doesn’t care what she thinks. The Lord has done amazing things for him, so he will praise him any way he likes.
I wonder what it would be like to have that kind of courage. Actually I don’t think it took courage for David. I don’t think it even occurred to him to stop and think about what others would think. I bet his love for God was so great, he couldn’t help but be filled with joy! I love that David was filled with joy. I have heard it said that martyrs, those who die for the faith, don’t really have a choice. Their faith is so strong, their love and belief is so strong that the option to stay alive as long as they denounce their faith, is not an option at all for them. They couldn’t do it. I think it similar with David and the way he worships. I think his heart is over flowing with joy of the Lord and so the option to “tone down” his praise, it not really an option for him. It is not something that would enter his mind. I don’t think he is thinking of others at all. I think his eyes are fixed on God and that is all he is thinking about when he is praising.
I wish this was me. I wish I could freely praise God without worrying what the person next to me is thinking. I wish I could just throw my hands up in the air or dance around the room without the fear of being judged. I pray for a holy boldness all the time. However, maybe I need to pray for a deeper faith, or a less distracted faith? Maybe I need to pray for God to help me keep my eyes fixed on Him so I am not thinking of what others might be thinking. It seems crazy to me that I would care more about what other people think than I would about what God thinks. I know God would be smiling down at me if I was to let loose and just worship with a childlike sense of abandonment. If I know God would be smiling, why do I care what others will think? This is my great mystery. This is the thing I keep trying to tell myself and yet I still get nervous about what others will think.
I am working on this and I hope to get to David’s level of praise someday. I pray I will be able to just let the Holy Spirit lead me however He wants to. I pray I will be able to give up that control and just follow the Spirit as He leads me in praise. I pray I will have so much joy, like David did, that I can’t help but dance and leap for joy. I pray I have so much joy I can’t contain it. Sometimes I stand in the back of the church during praise and worship in my class. This way I don’t have to worry about being judged because everyone else’s eyes are straight ahead focused on Jesus. I don’t know why I think people will judge me, I am not judging them, my eyes are fixed on Jesus too.
The last verse says, “So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the horn.” This is another thing I have been working on over these last few years. I am learning to praise God out loud. At prayer group I still use the praise sheets. They are sheets of paper with a bunch of praise sayings on them. When I first started going I had no idea how to praise and so these sheets were very helpful. I still find them helpful, although I also think of them as a crutch sometimes. I now know that Jesus talks to me. I know how to praise Jesus and so sometimes when I use these sheets I think I am using it as a crutch instead of listening to see what praise things the Holy Spirit brings to mind. I like all the things these sheets say and so I keep using them because I figure I am still new to praising out loud. However, sometimes I do try to “wing it” so that I can practice doing it on my own as well. I like both ways, but I prefer to read the sheets until I have more of them memorized.
The thing that stands out in my mind the most about these 3 verses is the joy of David. He was filled with so much joy it spilled out of him. He danced so freely. I just got a sense that the Lord was saying, “He wasn’t worried about what others thought of him because He knew who’s he is. He knows that he belongs to the Lord God almighty and if God is pleased, then that is all that matters. What can we do this week to be a little more childlike in our praise and worship?
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all of those listening to this episode today. Lord we ask you to help us all to approach praise and worship in a child like manner with no fear of judgement. We ask you to help us care more about what you think of us than what other people think of us. We ask you to fill us with the joy that David had. We ask you to fill us with so much joy that it spills out of us and onto others. We love you Lord, you are amazing. You are worthy of all our praise. You are the King of kings and Lord of lords. We thank you and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen!
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I just want to let everyone know that I will be going away on a New’s Year’s Retreat this upcoming weekend. I am starting the road trip to this retreat with a friend and two of my sisters tomorrow, Wednesday. I am hoping and planning to bring you a new episode each day like normal. However, if there is a day without one know that I am fine and I just didn’t have internet or life got in the way, as we have very long days of driving ahead. I am grateful for your grace this week. If there is a day without an episode you could go back and listen to one of the older episodes. There are over 400 to choose from. I look forward to bringing you a new witness tomorrow. Remember Jesus loves you, and so do I. Have a blessed day!