So kick off your shoes... say goodbye to the blues...
Let your heaviness turn into dance!
Forget about your past, never looking back, dance like David danced!Like David danced!
Like David danced!
Like David danced!
Like David danced!
Like David danced!
© 1996 Heath Christopher Goodman
Today’s Scripture Readings: (Psalm 72:8-14) Ishbosheth (Son of Shame is Assassinated) 2 Samuel 4:1-6:23 Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in Him. (John 13:31-14:14) He that refuses instruction despises his own soul. (Proverbs 15:31-32)
Scriptural Text: 2 Samuel 4:1-6:23
2 Samuel 6:5,14 (NIV)
David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals. [14] David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might.
1 Chronicles 15:27 "And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with the singers: David also had upon him an ephod of linen."
WHAT MAKES US DANCE?
"You have turned for me my mourning into dancing. ou have put off my sackcloth and girded me with gladness." (Psalm 30:11)
David was passionately absorbed with restoring the glory of God to Israel. He went after it with enthusiasm. The ark was fetched from Kirjath-jearim. David assembled together again all the chosen men of Israel, thirty-thousand. (2 Sam. 6:1-10) The writer of the Chronicles elaborates on the preparations of the festivities. (1 Chron 13:1-5) David took counsel with the heads of thousands and hundreds, and all the leaders --all the heads of households and then with their consent collected together the whole nation from the brook of Egypt to Hamath, with the heads of households representative of the whole.
In the same way that God chose David for the holy purpose to which he was set apart, the call of God came upon our lives by the word of the Lord. God looked down through time, and saw us assembled prophetically by His own fore-knowledge, in anticipation of that day when we would give our lives to Him, and be joyful in God's house of prayer. God beheld us, and the Lord of Life rejoiced in our movements before the foundations of the world were laid.
The Psalmist wrote of the Creator's absorption with us in Psalm 139:15: "My substance was not hid from thee. The substantial part of my being was before thine all seeing eye; the bones which make my frame were put together by thine hand. The essential materials of my being before they were arranged were all within the range of thine eye. I was hidden from all human knowledge, but not from thee: thou hast ever been intimately acquainted with me."
The Lord's attention toward us wasn't based on whether the home to which we were going was rich or poor, or whether our parents would be able to provide us with a college education or not. The Prophet Jeremiah speaks of dance as one of the earmarks of the end time restoration of all things. (Jeremiah 31:4)
And David arose and went with all the people that were with him from Baale-Jehuda, to fetch (bring up) from thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the Lord of Hosts that dwells between the cherubim." (2 Sam. 6:2) Baale-Jehuda was another name for the city of Kirjathjirim. (City of the woods) It is called Baalah in Joshua 15:9. The ephitet "of Judah" is a contraction of the fuller expression "City of the children of Judah," in Joshua 18:14.
"Again I will build you, and you shall be rebuilt, o virgin of Israel! Again you shall take up your tambourines, and go forth to the dances of the merrymakers."
Yeshua/Jesus alludes to the familiarity of the Hebrew culture with dance when he states: "We have piped unto you but you have not danced, we have mourned unto you but you have not lamented." (Matthew 11:17). All of life is a dance. From our mother's womb we moved and unfurled a clunched hand or kicked a small foot. From the time we first saw the light of day, parents tell us that we did not keep still. There were a miriad of things which caused us to leap for joy or to put our foot down! Now that you are older, what makes YOU dance? If you feel inhibited there are times when you want to express how you feel before God. Inside every believer is a river of life, seeking to flow forth into the dry places. Do you stiffle or suppress the urge to leap and jump and shout? Can you think of a moment when you were motivated to whirl or twirl around in movement as your response to an event or blessing? Did the Seahawks win? Or did you get a promotion at the office? Or was it a moment in worship when your heart wanted you to physically bow before the Lord of Glory? David danced because God's presence was so awesome to him, that dancing was the appropriate thing to do! The ark of God had been displaced for many years, and it was being restored to it's rightful place.
BIBLICAL TERMS FOR DANCE
CONVEYING THE HOLY PRESENCE OF GOD
The Ark is representative of God’s holy presence. Wherever God's presence is welcomed among His people, the devil has suffered a tremendous defeat. Satan works to cause people to be distracted by temporal things. His aim is to wean them from their live for the fresh prophetic moving of the Spirit of God. Our faith in the Lord is the victory that overcomes.
Much attention is given in our day to the symbolism of costume colors, costume design, the shape or hue of banners and flags, and so forth, and while these have meaning for some and as such seem to help them to release their faith, there is the danger of that which people intend to transmit to fall into a legalistic wearying system. God Himself is no more impressed with the megachurch the size of the Chrystal Cathedral, than He is the revival that takes place in the storefront of a bowery. In Ezek 43:5, it's significant that the glory of the Lord filled the house. The size of a place of worship with all it's beautiful furnishings mean nothing if God's presence is not there. All the ornaments of a religious building mean nothing if the true God is not the center of one's worship, and He is not glorified in the lives of His own.
The king of a nation lavishly bestows upon God the vast wealth of his riches, and a tiny child a butterfly wing. A professionally trained singer offers the Lord his opera or her aria, and the dear mute signs to the Almighty, "I Love You Lord." We convey our heart joined to the heart of God. Or we fail to convey what truly matters at all, simply depending upon our attitude. Pride will transform the simple child-like heart of that one who comes to the Lord just wanting to be used by Him, anytime and anywhere, into one who steps into a position where it's not who he is before God but who he sings or dances before, and where this all takes place. Or the amount of the offerings which come in dictate where he goes or chooses not to go, though the Lord may wish that one to be at such and such a place, at a given time. (Is. 1:9-20)
When we dance before the Lord, this is frequently in celebration of a great spiritual victory which God has wrought in our lives. We spent several years in the adoption process, in our desire to adopt our daughter from a foreign country. There were numerous disappointments and trials along the way. One day as I was in prayer, I saw myself dancing with our baby daughter in my arms, as she was being dedicated to the Lord. When that marvellous day came, when we held her in our arms for the first time, I was reminded of the words of Yeshua/Jesus: "Inasmuch as you do it to the least of these, you do it to me." At the time when we dedicated her to the Lord, it was a moment of victory. We'd triumphed over the lies which Satan sent to discourage us, and to make it look like that day would never come. God turned our mourning into dancing. Joy was exactly the emotion that I felt, as I lifted our 7 month old baby Zani up high in my arms as an offering of praise to the Lord, and danced. God's had brought His prophetic word to pass in our lives.
I danced because this was the fulfillment of a prophecy God had given us years earlier. It took a long time to get to this position of victory in our lives. About 12 years or so. But God brought us along that often times, difficult road. Without Him we could have done nothing. We had to run that race with patience. The journey was dangerous, as David's own process prior to being exalted to the throne was even filled with attempts on his life. We were warned of the Lord concerning the very flight we were scheduled to take to eastern europe. As we sought the Lord, and dispatched angels to uncover the problem, the plane was grounded due to a major mechanical failure.
The victory which comes, comes through faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not being seen. There can be a fear of the unknown. David's life was not all roses. Those whose own personal discontent with life caused them to him, could in the natural have caused him to suffer far greater deprivation than he did. But God was the strength of David's life, and His provider. God showed David what we have come to understand as the sure mercies of David.
Although life was filled with warfare and fighting, God brought him forth to victory. Victory to David was the time to dance before the Lord with all of his might. His weeping had been turned to joy. He wanted to give God all the honour and the glory due His holy name. It would have been inappropriate to stand or to sit still. In responding to God's goodness with a thankful heart, David's actions were an example to all Israel.
GOD TEACHES US DANCE HAS A TIME AND A PLACE
"A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. (Ecc. 3:4) KJV
What makes dance in it's various forms appropriate is what the Spirit of the Lord is doing, and how He is moving at any given time. If it's not in line with what God is bringing forth, it's inappropriate. If it's the same old, same old, it can also be very inappropriate, because the Spirit of God is a life imparting Spirit. He renews and refreshes. People may love a song and sing it till they cease to listen to it as intently. At this point, although the writer was anointed, and there was a season in which God used it to speak to hearts, it is time to believe God for a new song.
A Jericho March or processional around the church in the flow of the Spirit can be meaningful experience. If it's something done by rote, it loses it's true intent. People may sing of dancing like David danced when the Spirit descends on them, but David's dance before the Lord was most likely what is sometimes called an "ecstatic or trance dance." This type of dance occurs where there has been much preparation in prayer. David was immersed in the presence of God. We know that David had definately made preparation in prayer, by the fact that he wrote Psalm 24 specifically for the religious ceremonies connected with the removal of the ark to Mount Zion. When the Psalmist wrote songs, his practice was to pour out his heart before the Lord, and God's anointing would descend upon him prophetically, inspiring the psalms found in the word of God. We call this lifting of the soul to God, "masa." He loved the presence of the Lord, and it has not been experienced in this dimension for so many years. The unfortunate breach of Uzzah, did not deter David, and he relinquished his focus upon bringing it to Jerusalem, and placed it in the house of Obed-edom the Gaddite, only momentarily, while he earnestly sought the Lord, for a period of three monthes. Obed-edom was a Levite of the family of Korahites, who sprang from Kohath. (Ex. 6:21,18:16, 1 Chron 24:4) He belonged to a class of Levitical doorkeepers, whose duty it was in connection with other Levites, to watch over the ark in the sacred tent. (1 Chron. 15:18-24) He's called the Gittite or Gathite from his birthplace, the Levitical city of Gath-rimmon in the tribe of Dan. (Joshua 21:24,19:45)
When David heard that the Lord had blessed the house of Obed-Edom for the sake of his concern for the ark of God, he wanted to bring it to Jerusalem. Reconsidering the necessity to fetch the ark from it's temporary 3 month abode, he stated: "How shall the ark of Jehovah come to me?" (2 Sam. 6:9-10, 1 Chron 15) He not only gathered all Israel in Jerusalem for this solomn act, but summoned the priests and Levites and commanded them to sanctify themselves, and carry the ark according to the right, or as God commanded in the law of Moses.
Great care was shown in bringing up God's holy ark from the house of Obed-edom to Jerusalem. And it came to pass, when the bearers of the ark of Jehovah had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatted calf." (2 Sam 6:13) And David danced before the Lord with all his might and David was girded with a linen ephod. (shoulder dress) The white ephod was a priestly costume, denoting the wearer's priestly character and David wore it as head of the priestly nation of Israel. (1 Sam. 2:18) They brought up the ark with jubilee and trumpet blast. (2 Sam. 6:15)
Now with the presence of the Lord enthroned in the establishing of the ark to it's place in Jerusalem, David's dream to see the holy ark of God restored to it's rightful place had been fulfilled. It had to be the Psalmist himself who cared passionately for the accommodating of the Lord's presence. He made place a for it, where King Saul failed to see the importance of it! And David danced before the Lord with all his might...
Unfortunately, ankle deep is what many people settle for, when there are waters to swim in! Many are opting for "Seeker Services." In the revivals in the past, the church did not hand out a menu for members to select from. You got God in the same old fashioned way. The unsaved came to the Lord because the Spirit of God moved so powerfully that they were convinced of all, judged of all. (1 Cor. 14:24) If you want "rivers to swim in" you usually are forced to go to a revival meeting down the street. But when you get fired up and win converts to the Lord, if you bring them to your church, they come in at the same low tide level.
Congregational dancing is a marvellous opportunity to worship together, and may demonstrate unity, if the believers are in proper relationship toward one another. If they gossip and backbite behind one another's backs, the lovliest dance configurations fail to impress the Lord at all.
God provides us with many opportunities in life to show forth His praise in dance. These are derived from the revelation that God gives us our victories. We see the Israelites dancing in celebration of military victories in 1 Samuel 18:6.
And it happened as they were coming, when David returned from the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy and with musical intruments.
David's success did not lay in his grand abilities. Or the strength of his armies, though God caused the armies of Israel to be mighty in his day. David danced because his own conscience told him this was right, and he danced in spite of the critics, that felt his dance was absurd or totally unnecessary. In the early centuries songs were written in dance meter. Carols were not written for one season alone, but spanned the seasons, as songs of thanksgiving, particularly at harvest time.
DAVID SAID: THE LORD CHOSE ME
Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaidens of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself.
And David said to Michal, It was before the Lord which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel: therefore will I play before the Lord. And I will be yet more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them I will be had in honour. Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her . (2 Sam. 6:21-23)
When the offering of sacrifice was over, David blessed the people in the name of the Lord, as Solomon did after the dedication of the Temple. (1 Kings 8:55) And gave to all the assembled men and women a slice of bread, a measure of wine, and a cake for a festal meal. (Ex. 29:23, Lev. 8:26, 1 Chron 16:3) For the sacrificial meal which was celebrated with the shelamim after the offering of sacrifices, and after the king concluded the festival with a benediction.
Historically, the church wrote many festive songs of celebration, which were lost in antiquity. Some have been discovered together with ancient notes concerning the dance meter in which they were written. When in the passing of time, the church came under religious and lost the freedom of the Spirit in haMashiach/Christ, the meter of many of these ancient carols was changed to a more somber tone--much like that of a dirge. The critics of dance felt that church was not the place for dancing. It seemed sacriligious to them. In the Old Testament, David was free in his spirit like a little child before the Lord. He did not suppress the need to dance because of the criticism it brought forth, nor allow others to inhibit true worship. Neither did he dance alone in the secrecy of his own prayer closet. David did find however, the necessity in his own life of praise and worship to address the criticism of those who viewed his dance as an unholy manifestation. He said: "I'll be yet more vile!"
The critics in your life may say: "Dancing is of the world! Or "Then tell people to wash their nylons or their socks! To buy new socks because theirs are in bad shape! Wear deodorant! Buy themselves a sports bra and dress appropriately!" And while all these are valid points, to forbid dance because of any of these reasons would be like forbidding the choir or the congregation to sing until everybody had a miraculous miracle with their teeth, could afford to have their dental work done, or had breath-mints. Or not passing the offering plate till you could afford a gold and velvet offering holder to pass down the aisles of your church. People permit in God's house, what they personally feel has validity. But it's not what man derives worth from, but what God's word says is truth, and what He commands that should matter to the people of God.
Dance has a way of bringing forth the criticism of those who have s or wrong concepts. Be patient and apt to teach, in meekness instructing those who oppose themselves. (2 Tim. 2:25)
In both the Old and New Testaments, we see dance terms which depict more than one form of praise and worship in the dance. One of these of course, is David's worship before the ark of God. What sort of dance was this? The scripture uses the word KARAR (3769) - to dance or whirl. (2 Samuel 6:14-16) He may have also been encircling the ark, or moving in a semi-circle before the Lord, as he danced. Now returning home to bless his own house, as he'd blessed the people, dancing before the Lord became the subject of conflict in the life of King David's marriage, as his wife focuses not so much on David's worship as on what she perceived as her husband's inappropriate clothing as he ministered unto the Lord, before the people of God. The scriptures designate her as "Saul's daughter" instead of David's wife here, in that she manifested her father's disposition, rather than being one heart with her husband, concerning glorifying the Lord. Michal, King Saul’s daughter represents the old guard who view dancing before the Lord as undignified. Her eyes weren't on the Lord. She was more worried with what others thought. Michal is reminiscient of the pastor's wife who says to her husband: "Remember your position!" The image Michal sought to "keep up" would have "kept God in his place!" Her's was the spirit which suppresses truth. That hid her light under a bushel, and she was a chip off the old block. Her Dad kept the ark in what he felt was it's proper place. The storage room. For 20 long years! Saul had many misunderstandings, and he did not always put forth the effort to know God accurately. But David who was jealous for the presence of God, wanted to see the ark of God in it's true resting place, which God ordained.
We see the "spirit of Michal" in the worship leader who makes sure that her dance team is perfectly choreographed and mocks the church member who does the Pentecostal two-step! It's a proverbial "Mexican standoff" between those who choreograph everything and the others who think 90 year old older sister of 80 year old Moses named Miriam's dance team just danced as it came naturally, on the shore of the Red Sea. What made her a dance leader at that moment? Her degree from a college of dance back in Egypt? Or the anointing?
It's "before the Lord" like David, that we dance the dance team says. Then why is everybody in the team under 30, you ask? So you won't drop of a heart attack during a song number. Our church has liability you know. Hey! What better way to go than worshipping the Lord! Why do some people insist that all dance must be done by individuals whose eyes are shut? But songs and choruses are sung with eyes wide open, staring at those around the room? In reading through the bible, you will observe instances in which dance is simply the manifestation of ones reverence or joy in the Lord. It's not necessarily done with the eyes closed and face upturned toward heaven. This posture in worship tends to come from the depth of the experience, and is vastly different as chorus singing versus being lost in the Spirit while singing in other tongues.
In dancing before the Lord, David was not out there just showing off his body, but he was celebrating God's glory returning to Jerusalem. But his wife accused him of such. He used this teachable moment to instruct others, by lovingly rebuking his wife before them. He made her personally accountable for the false teaching which she sought to perpetrate before the group. He wanted her heart to be totally for God. The grief David endured because of this embarrassing event affected his marriage for life. He and Michel had no children, for God made her barren.
A TIME TO DANCE OR REFRAIN FROM IT
We are the army of the God! Nothing brings forth the revelation of ones self as a warrior more than worshipping the Lord in dance. Martial dances have long held an integral place among the folk dances of many cultures and nations of the world. These are referred to as "martial or military dances," due to the fact that historically they were used to train warriors to be quick on their feet. "Don't worry about it, a pastor says: One hour worshipping in church per week is not going to matter that much. His point is who needs dance worship because it is not going to add any necessary dimension to the worship service so you may as well go ahead and quench the Spirit. Man cannot give you permission to quench the Spirit when God has His Spirit being stiffled or quenched! Does quenching the Spirit matter? Yes! God's word forbids it! People are reluctant at times to display liberty of the Spirit when this is quenched at their house of worship. Why train people to be quiet and reserved, but preach that they should be bold witnesses for haMashiach/Christ outside the walls of the church?
The Apostle Paul said that bodily exercise profiteth little, but he didn't teach that it had no profit. The political situation in many nations today is such that being quick on your feet could save your life, or that of family member. Your quick action could save an child from choking. How many over-weight Americans have a tough time getting up out of that recliner to pray the paper boy? God delights to heal His people, but there's much to be said for taking care of ones body which is the Temple of the Holy Spirit. With longevity, you extend the opportunity to serve and glorify God in your body.
Do you get weary of those who focus upon outwardly perfect performance in worship, and especially in dance, but you hear them speak philosophies or manifest attitudes that betray their lack of concern for purity of heart? The temple worship under David's administration was glorious, with gifted choir leaders who were skilled in the prophetic. In the New Testament, God placed his prophetic Spirit into the hands of novices, particularly when He poured forth His Holy Spirit on the Gentiles, who spoke with tongues and prophesied instantaneously.
The bible exhorts us to "Let everything be done unto edifying." Dance edifies the Lord so much that He commands that we dance in scripture.
- Psalm 149:3 Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with the tambourine and harp.
- Psalm 150:4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance, praise him with the stringed instruments and flutes.
There's a scriptural song which states "Let God arise" and His enemies be scattered. We dance as we praise the Lord and it bubbles up from within us like an artesian fountain. One of the times when Israel danced in the Old Testament, was in celebration of victories. We should dance over those spiritual milestones in our lives. We dance at times as a reaching toward the Lord and His light even when we don't sense God's presence at all, because of a lengthy grief filled trial. Or when in our praise and worship, there's a conscious sense of the Lord's presence. Dance when you want to sincerely express the thankfulness that comes from your heart to God. David got rid of the encumberances, that he might abandon himself to the worship of Yahweh. He laid aside the heavy royal robe, like we take off our coat at God's house. He humbled himself before the Lord. He appeared before the Lord stripped that which represented his kingly position. There is a letting go of our fears and yielding to the Lord when we dance. David said that it was before the Lord that he danced. Your dance may enact something the Lord shows you in a vision prophetically, or your own victory. Lift holy hands in praise to the Lord as you dance. Your dance may be a telling of your own testimony. Dance with joy for the new life God has given you! Dance in the beauty of holiness. Dance for the purpose of giving thanks. Yeshua haMashiach/Jesus Christ is the Lord of the dance. He is the Creator, and as you dance, he will create new steps for you to trod. You are unique Him. Be filled with grace, so that grace will flow out to others. God created you and gave you a body that you might glorify Him.
