To be fully HUMAN — A Daily Reflection

David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David , Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart.

After one unsuccessful attempt to move the ark to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:1-8 NIV), David finally saw the light and realized his earlier mistake.  Now David was moving the ark in the fashion that God had prescribed, and he was overjoyed at finally being able to bring the ark to Jerusalem .  Filled with the Spirit and overwhelmed with worship, David “danced before the Lord with all his might.”  All of Israel was electrified by the triumph, and they brought the ark into the city “with shouts and the sound of the trumpets.”  What a sight that must have been!  Thirty thousand men singing and shouting and dancing before the Lord!  Wow! 

Whoops!  Not everyone was happy…  Michal, Saul’s daughter and David’s wife, looked out of her window and saw her husband dancing in the streets, and she was furious.  How undignified!  How disgusting!  How unbecoming of a king to let the people see his jubilation in the Lord!  It just wasn’t done!

Somehow, so many of us have become “Michals” – forming the opinion that worship must be quiet and staid and “dignified.”  Heaven forbid we should ever shout hallelujah in the middle of the pastor’s sermon!  No, we must quietly fold our hands over our Bibles in our laps, nod with dignified restraint and possibly – and only if it’s an especially stirring moment – we just might murmur a tiny “Amen.”  Anything beyond that just isn’t done.  It isn’t dignified.  It isn’t respectful.  It isn’t reverent.  It isn’t worshipful.

And yet, we shout and laugh and clap and jump up and down when our team wins at football.  We cheer with jubilation when one of our children graduates from high school or college.  We laugh and applaud, sometimes even standing, as we whistle and cheer for a superb stage performance.  We shout our exultation when we get an unexpected bonus or promotion at work.  And, according to commercials, we even jump with joy when we purchase a new car. 

Why don’t we give God as much honor as we do our earthly achievements?  What has happened to the jubilation we read about over and over in the Bible?  Where did it go?  Where did we come up with the idea that it’s wrong to rejoice, to praise with gusto, to clap our hands and shout praises to the Lord?  When did we become Michal?  Why do we get more excited about the quarterback scoring the winning touchdown than we do about the King of Kings who scored an eternal “touchdown” – and sacrificed Himself to give us eternal life? 

If you’ve been sitting on your hands all these years, try taking David’s example for a change.  Don’t quench the Spirit within you.  Get even more excited about the Lord than you do a football game.  Rejoice in the Lord – with gusto!

 “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.  How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth.”  Psalm 47:1-2 NIV

       Praise the LORD.
       Praise God in his sanctuary;
       praise him in his mighty heavens.

       Praise him for his acts of power;
       praise him for his surpassing greatness.

       Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
       praise him with the harp and lyre,

       praise him with tambourine and dancing,
       praise him with the strings and flute,

       praise him with the clash of cymbals,
       praise him with resounding cymbals.

       Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
       Praise the LORD.  Psalm 150 NIV