Dancing with David ~ based on 2 Samuel chapter 6
We've been looking at the stories of David for five weeks now, and even so, we have missed so much of his life. We started with Israel's plea to have a king like everyone else instead of judges, which led to Saul being chosen as their first king.
As I mentioned with the children, Saul didn't stay faithful to God, so God chose David to be king in his place, which led to conflict with Saul. As the story goes on Michal, Saul's daughter, falls in love with David, Saul tries to use her as a pawn by marrying her to David, then Saul tries to kill David and marries Michal to someone else.
Meanwhile Saul's son Jonathan is David's best friend,constantly trying to mediate between his father and his friend. Things get so bad for David that at one point he's hiding in a cave, completely alone. Then his family joins him, then the Bible says “everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented came to him and he became captain over them.” In other words, he was leader of people marginalized by society, misfits and malcontents. And somehow out of them he created an army and finally defeated not just Saul, but greatest enemy of Israel, the Philistines.
There is a lot of loss along the way. Jonathan, David's greatest friend, is killed in battle. Despite David's greatest efforts to save Saul from himself, Saul commits suicide after losing in battle. David is anointed king first in Judah, the southern part of Israel, then seven years later becomes king for all of Israel. He defeats the Jebusites who have a stronghold on Mt Zion and decides to build his own city there and make it the capital, Jerusalem.
This is a wise decision, as the city belongs to no tribe of Israel, therefore it belongs to them all. As we know Jerusalem went on to become central city to three faiths: Judaism, Islam and Christianity. It all began with David's decision to center his kingdom there. So David has his crown and his capital city. He gets Michal, his first wife, back from her second husband and he's ready to govern, but then he realizes one thing is missing, the Ark of the Covenant. This was the wooden chest containing the tablets of the ten commandments. It was the most holy object of the Jewish faith at that time, a tangible symbol of presence of God. With all the fighting it had gotten moved around a lot, even being captured by the Philistines at one point.
For a number of years it had been kept by an Israeli family, now David decides it is time to bring it to Jerusalem, that will complete his capital and will honor God. David takes a huge crowd with him to get the Ark. They put it on a new cart, take it towards Jerusalem, with everyone dancing, singing, playing music along the way. Then one of the oxen stumble, one of the men reaches out to steady the Ark, and according to story, God strikes him dead for touching the Ark improperly. It's hard to know what to make of that part of story. One of the resources I used said it was because the book of Numbers outlines very precisely how to transport the Ark and David hadn't followed protocol. It said that the point of the incident isn't that God is vengeful, the point is that David got above himself. He was bringing the Ark to Jerusalem for his own glory, not God's and therefore he hadn't bothered to make sure he was giving God, and the Ark, proper respect. So the Ark goes to the home of ObedEdom for several months. That home is blessed and finally David decides to try again. This time David does his research, and everything is done properly. David even goes as far as sacrificing an ox and a calf after carrying the ark 6 steps, just to be sure God is happy.
Once they realize all going well, the dancing and singing begin again, even more joyfully than the first time. David dances with all his might, leaping and singing. Try to imagine that if you can. The streets filled with thousands of people, everyone singing, dancing, playing music. Everyone filled with joy at how God has blessed them, filled with awe that this tangible sign of God's presence is back among them. What an incredible moment.
Once the Ark is in place in the tent, David makes burnt offerings and then a great feast held for all people. Every single person is served bread, meat and cake. One person is not happy, David's wife Michal, Saul's daughter. David was dancing in a linen ephod, a thin garment of the priests which apparently doesn't leave much to imagination and Michal is not happy about that. She tries to scold David for being so unseemly, dancing and showing himself in such undignified way, but David isn't having any of it. “I was dancing for God, not for you, not for the crowds, certainly not for your father,” he says. Quite the story! It's easy to simply say that it shows that as people of faith we are called to dance and rejoice, not to always be solemn and serious about our faith, and that is certainly true, but there is more to it than that. David isn't just being a joyful, thankful follower of God here, he is also being a canny politician. His first motive in bringing the Ark to Jerusalem was to complete the picture of a king in control, a blessed king. That's why his first effort fails, it's about him, not God. David only makes a second attempt when he hears that the family keeping the Ark are being blessed. There's a little bit of opportunism going on there! Then there's the dancing. Michal may not have liked it, but clearly it was a shrewd political move. Saul was the depressive, angry king, David is the joyful, fun king. Dancing was perfectly acceptable in that culture, it made David look accessible, king and yet one of the people.
It emphasized how God had blessed him and through him the people were blessed. Pretty smart. I had never thought of this story that way before and have to say, it really bothered me at first. I wanted to do this sermon on David's joy and how we are called to embrace the joyful side of faith in same way. How could I do that if was all politically motivated? I did some more research and found these wise words from Biblical scholar Richard Nysse: “David's motives are not pure in this story and yet God is involved. Sin is real and faith is real; at times they are concurrent in one event and one characte The narrative leaves room for both readings. Perhaps it even insists on both readings, and thus depicts a world that has resonance with our own.”
In other words, as usual, David is so human. Yes, there was some political manipulation going on. There was also a lot of heartfelt faith going on. This story tells us that one doesn't cancel out the other. Sin and faith, self centeredness and joy, they are all part of life and part of who we are. Our joy and love are rarely pure, but God still works through them and is present to us in them. Life is not perfect, we are certainly far from perfect, but despite our imperfection or perhaps because of it, God is always moving in our world and in our lives. So when things go well, or when we have moments when God's presence is especially strong, let's just dance with David and rejoice in those moments with no holding back!
I'd like to end with a poem I found that has both that sense of heartfelt joy and that sense that there is much to learn from this story. David Danced - Michal Watched Michal was loyal to everything royal For she was the daughter of Saul. But her husband was boorish, so awfully boorish With simply no manners at all. It was her fate to marry a mate Who had grown up with chickens and sheep How to bring charm to this boy from the farm Was causing his queen to lose sleep. Oh, she had to confess he was a success, In the eyes of the world, Dave was famous But of how kings comport themselves when in court He remained a complete ignoramus. David's heart soared and he danced to the Lord In a manner more free than refined. And his poor little wife got the shock of her life So she gave him a piece of her mind. "I don't care a smidgen about your religion As long as it's solemn and chaste But the way you're behaving with arms wildly waving is shockingly lacking in taste." "If you must raise your spirit in praise, Please see that it's soothing and calm. The Lord I am sure would really prefer Something more like the 23rd Psalm."
Then God's anointed became disappointed
He knew he had nary a chance
Of ever persuadin' this prim, regal maiden That the Lord is a lover of dance.
Churches these days talk a lot about praise
And the Joy that accomp'nies Good News
But don't tap your feet or get out of the seat
For Michal still lurks in the pews.
By David Steele