David danced enthusiastically as they moved the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. Do we fully appreciate the joy of faith?
Here’s a transcript:
I’m thinking about the sixth chapter of Second Samuel (2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12-19), when King David brought the Ark of the Covenant into the city of Jerusalem.
The description is of quite a major festival. there are priests, there are attendants, there are musicians, there are lots and lots of people joining in a great parade, and there, somewhere either in the front or in the midst of it (in any case not far in front of the Ark itself upon its cart), King David danced, danced energetically, enthusiastically. Later on he would be criticized by one of his wives for it.
David danced before the Lord.
There are branches of Christianity, and the Congregational tradition is clearly one of them, in which enthusiasm, emotion in worship, well, we’re not enthusiastic about it. We meet a text like this with a certain amount of, well, discomfort. How could someone dance before the Lord so energetically that later on his wife would criticize him for being too exultant?
And indeed, if you look at worship from Church of the Holy Cross you will find that I as a worship leader am fairly measured, and that we as a worshipping congregation are not terribly given towards emotional excess. But maybe we can find a little more room for it.
Why do we want to set aside the joy of faith?
Oh, I am certainly somebody who could be a reason why faith doesn’t seem so joyful. I will happily tell you about all the things that God wants you to do, God wants me to do, and how difficult they all are. That’s very much the case.
But isn’t it true that the very first thing that God wants us to do is rejoice in life? Isn’t it true that the very first thing that God wants us to do is to appreciate the wonders around us? Isn’t the very first thing that God wants us to do is to rejoice in the inexhaustible, ever-flowing love of our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Sustainer.
I confess you’re not likely to find me dancing down the aisle (although I try to wave a palm branch pretty enthusiastically on Palm Sunday). Still, we might find some ways to open our hearts a little wider, mightn’t we? We might find some ways to let our spirits and even our bodies move just a little bit, or a little bit more. We might find ways to celebrate the love of God and to let our joy ring out.
That’s what I’m thinking. I’m curious to hear what you’re thinking. Leave me your thoughts in the comment section below. I’d love to hear from you.
