David Danced

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

2 Samuel 6:14-15

On Father’s Day, the men danced. 

Pastor was raised in church where all the men just sat there – arms crossed.  Celebrating God was a feminine thing.  So he thought being stoic was manly behavior in church.  He learned he was wrong.  He also said that when we look back at all the things God has done for us, we should dance.  We should do a new dance every Sunday.

He recounted the story of David’s bringing the ark back to Jerusalem.  The ark represented the presence of God.  Pastor said that David mishandled the ark, and that’s why people died while David was trying to do a good thing.  Finally, David realized that when God gives you something, you need to handle it with care.  We need to treat God’s gifts according the God’s instructions regarding the gift.  The ark wasn’t to be transported via cart, it was supposed to be carried on the shoulders of men.  (Joseph Prince says it symbolizes our lifting our champion on high.)

Finally, David figured it out.  Every 6 steps, David and the entire house of Israel stopped to build an altar and worship God.  Imagine how long it took them to get the ark to Jerusalem.  The quick way is not always the proper way.  It’s proper to glorify the Lord.  When he donned the linen ephod, David assumed leadership for the praise and worship.  God anointed David the King of Israel.  Aware of his blessings, he blessed others by giving “a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women” (verse 19).

In my last post, I mentioned an all-male choir.  They got the message.  Moved by the Holy Spirit, some men got up and were jogging around the stage, some were jumping up and down in praise to the Lord.  I’ve never seen Christian men do that on stage.  It was great to see.

I will celebrate before the Lord. 

I will become even more undignified than this,

 and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. 

But by these slave girls you spoke of,

I will be held in honor.

2 Samuel 6:21-22