Dancing Before the Lord
II Samuel 6:
There are many examples of worship in scripture and even though we may or may not follow these examples explicitly there are principles in these examples that we must follow if we are to offer worship that God will accept.
God will not accept worship that is pretentious and full of form and not substance
God will not accept incomplete worship
God will not accept worship that cost nothing; it must involve offering and self-denial
Sometimes worship may be spontaneous or it may be planned but in either situation the worshipper must be prepared to worship
The story before us today is tailored to teach us when to worship and how to worship and how sometimes people won’t appreciate our worship
The text says that the king danced before the Lord
Dancing is considered radical worship
It is seen as unusual; out of the ordinary, extreme and for some unnecessary, but David will show us in the text that it is not
But perhaps the real question is how did we get here, what brought this on
It really begins in I Samuel chapters 5 & 6
The ark of God had been taken by people who believed that since Israel prospered with the ark so will they
But as I told you before, other people will not prosper with your blessing
Let me put a pin right
You may have lost something but the person who found it can’t enjoy it because it is your blessing
Someone may have taken something but...
Someone may have stolen something but...
Whether it was accident, coincidence , or happenstance they can’t enjoy it because it is your blessing
***Cleo told us last Sunday how to do it
Tell the devil I want my stuff back
The blessing can only be a blessing to the one to whom it was assigned
They stole the ark and put it in Ashdod where it knocked over Dagon
They move it to Gath and there he caused tumors
They moved it to Ekron it caused trouble there too
They sent the Ark back to the people it belonged too
But they had to realize that the blessing was a blessing
The Ark was out of Place
David said we must bring the Ark of God back
It is in the area but it is out of place
In the area is not good enough
Close is not good enough
God will not settle for being in the area
God will not settle for being close
Close is out of place
In the area is out of place
He must be in his rightful place
Worship cannot be authentic if He is not in place
Not only must He be in His rightful place
But He must also be approached and handled properly if I can use that term
They put the ark on a new cart
They were celebrating but it was incomplete, there were songs of celebration there was the music, but the worship was incomplete because they were not handling the Ark as God prescribed
Nowhere in the law was the Ark to be placed on a cart
This is what the Lord said when the ark is to be moved there were rings on the Ark for poles to be inserted through they were not to be moved
The priests were to carry the ark using these poles and the people were remain at a distance of at least 1000 feet
When the Ark moved then the people moved
But that’s not what happened
When they got to Nacon
The description is that the Ark stumbled and a well intentioned Uzzah reached out and put his hand on the Ark and he died right there
Worship was interrupted for three months
They put the Ark temporarily in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite
***A funny thing happened Josephus says that Obed-edom was a poor man, but as long as the Ark of God remained at his house his entire household was blessed
***Everything he had was blessed because he had the Ark of God at his house
***His house was blessed because he had God at his house
Can I tell you that if you invite God to your house your entire household will be blessed?
As long as God is a guest at your house everything that you have will be blessed
The reason is because the Guest becomes the host
David regrouped
So David went back to Get the Ark of God
But this time his approach was different
He had on a priestly garment
Look at verse 13 now when those who were carrying the Ark, no cart this time.
Six steps and then offering and sacrifice
I Chronicles 15:26 says 7 bullocks and 7 rams were sacrificed
Some believe that every six steps David offered a sacrifice
Now David was prepared to Dance
The approach was right
The attitude was that of reverential fear
They handled the ark properly
They offered sacrifices
They were singing unto the Lord
Now avid can dance
Now dance David dance
David danced with all of his might; he danced out of his clothes
The sanctuary was waiting
When they got the ark in its place there were more offerings burnt offerings and fellowship or peace offerings
The Conscientious Objector
All of Israel was celebrating, but in the window was an objector
There is always somebody watching you worship
There are always those who can’t appreciate your worship, and sometimes they are right in your own house
Michal despised him she greeted him with sarcastic criticism
How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”
David says to her I may be king
But Yahweh is King of kings
You are the daughter of a rejected king
I will celebrate before the Lord and if you don’t watch out I will become more dignified than this
Because of her attitude she missed the blessing of bearing children
The consequence- a barren womb
That’s all I want to tell you if you prepare properly you can dance like David danced
He blessed Israel but he could not bless his own house
