Introduction
I have had
the pleasure of experiencing and being involved in many different Christian
traditions. Some people are upset that there are so many different traditions
and that so few seem to be united as brothers and sisters in Christ. However,
that is not the purpose of this lesson. I believe that it is by God’s grace
that there are so many Christian traditions through which we can experience
God’s revelation of himself and enjoy being in relationship with Him. I have
experienced the Catholic church, the Lutheran church, the Anglican church, the
Baptist church, the Pentecostal church, the Evangelical church, and now this
rather unorthodox online church made up of people from many traditions and
cultures from around the world. God has revealed himself to me through all of
these church traditions at different times of my life and it has brought great
joy to my life even if involvement in some of those traditions has been painful
at times. And I know many of you know exactly what I’m talking about. My mom
goes to church everyday because it brings her great joy. I remember the first
time I went to an Evangelical church and people clapped with the music and
raised their hands during worship, there was great joy as these people
experienced God. I remember going to an all-black, Baptist church and how the
people interacted with the pastor and the joy they experienced. I remember
going to the Pentecostal church and watched as people danced in the aisles,
kneeled at the stage, chanted as they read scriptures and wandered about the
church and all the while as the pastor was delivering his sermon! Nevertheless,
through all the commotion and even some tears, there was great joy as they
experienced God. None of these people were in any way concerned about what they
looked like or what their actions said about them to the outside world as they
worshipped and enjoyed their respective encounter with God. As for myself, I
have a habit of sitting on my back patio early Sunday mornings in front of a
fire in our chiminea just enjoying God’s presence in prayer, meditation and
worship. We have a walking path behind our property and there have been more
than a few occasions when strangers and neighbors have witnessed me praying and
signing with hands raised to the sky—and as usual, I don’t really care what
anyone thinks. I’m sad when the weather doesn’t allow me to follow this routine
on a weekly basis (although that rarely happens here in Colorado). As an
illustration, I received a video clip this week that I wanted to share with you
that shows the beauty and freedom of the joy of a child and it reminded me of a
story of David and his lesson in The Art
of Being Undignified. Let’s watch the video first:
Subject Text
2 Samuel 6:12-22
12Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of
Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to
bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with
rejoicing. 13When
those who were carrying the ark of the Lord
had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. 14Wearing a linen ephod, David
was dancing before the Lord with
all his might, 15while
he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets. 16As the ark of the Lord
was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a
window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart. 17They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the
tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and
fellowship offerings before the Lord.
18After he had
finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed
the people in the name of the Lord Almighty.
19Then he gave 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. And all the people went to their
homes. 20When David
returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet
him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going
around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar
fellow would!” 21David
said to Michal, “It was before the Lord,
who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed
me ruler over the Lord’s people
Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord.
22I 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.”
Context
Jumping
into the middle of this text can be very confusing. What, exactly, is the ark
of the covenant? Why does Obed-Edom he have the ark? Why is David intent on
bringing the ark to Jerusalem? The answer to these questions will, perhaps, set
the stage for the significance or our subject text.
I’m sure
most of you know this but the ark of the covenant was constructed under the
leadership of Moses (Ex 25:10-22).
The ark was the central focus of
the temple because it was the place where God said he would actually be present
with the people (Ex 25:22). Placed inside the ark were the stone tablets of the
10 commandments (Deut 10:5), a jar of manna (Ex 16:32-34), and Aaron’s staff
(Num 17:10).
The ark was probably
constructed sometime between the middle of the 15th century BC and
the early 13th century BC. The ark was carried for forty years
during Israel’s wilderness wandering. Joshua eventually brought the ark to the
Promised Land. Israel was constantly battling against their neighbors, the
Philistines. Eventually, the Philistines took the ark (1 Sam 4). The
Philistines put the ark into the temple of their chief god, Dagon. The next
morning, the statue of Dagon had fallen on its face with its head and hands
broken off. Additionally, in the village (Ashdod) where they brought the ark,
the people where suddenly stricken with tumors and other devastating
afflictions. As a consequence, they moved the ark to another village (Ekron),
but the people knew they would be in trouble if the ark remained there so the
leaders decided to send it back to Israel (1 Sam 5). The Philistine leaders
placed the ark on a cart, hitched the cart to a couple of cows and sent it on
the road toward Israel. The Philistines followed at a distance behind the cart
until it reached Beth Shemesh in Israel. The Philistines had the ark for seven
months. The Levites in Beth Shemesh removed the ark from the cart and all the
people brought offerings and sacrifices and worshipped. However, they knew the
ark couldn’t remain there because that was not its rightful place. Therefore,
they sent word to the people of Kiriath Jearim the retrieve the ark (1 Sam 6).
The ark was taken to Kiriath Jearim where it remained in the home of Abinidab
for 20 years. This period saw the rise and fall of Israel’s first king, Saul, and
the inauguration of Israel’s greatest king of the Old Testament era, David. David
realized how blessed Abinidab had been since receiving the ark and wanted that
same blessing for all of Israel. Consequently, David embarked on retrieving the
ark in order to bring it back to Jerusalem and place it in a tent specifically
prepared for it. However, on the way back to Jerusalem, the ark, which was on a
cart was jostled when one of the oxen stumbled. To avert the possibility of the
ark slipping off the cart, Uzzah, one of the son’s of Abinidab reached out and
touched the ark. Uzzah was immediately struck dead right beside the cart. David
was terrified and left the ark at the home of Obed-Edom for the next three
months (2 Sam 6:1-11). And this leads to our subject text.
Text Analysis
There are
some details missing from our subject text that can make v. 12 confusing. David
is told that God has blessed Obed-Edom because the ark resided there. The text
makes it sound like David somehow didn’t realize that that was going to happen.
Really? Isn’t that the reason David went to retrieve the ark from Abinidab;
because he wanted God’s presence and, by extension, His blessing to be the
central focus for all of Jerusalem? V. 12 creates a sense of urgency in David
that motivates him to act differently in the ensuing verses. Why? What changed?
Well for those of you who are unfamiliar, many of the Old Testament books are
interrelated in their narrative. Some books summarize an event while other
books give greater detail. This is one of those events. The parallel to this
story is found in 1 Chronicles 15:1-13. It reads:
After David had constructed buildings for
himself in the City of David, he prepared a place for the ark of God and
pitched a tent for it. 2Then David said, “No one but the
Levites may carry the ark of God, because the Lord
chose them to carry the ark of the Lord
and to minister before him forever.” 3 David assembled
all Israel in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord to the place he had prepared for it. 4He
called together the descendants of Aaron and the Levites…11Then
David summoned Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and Uriel, Asaiah, Joel,
Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab the Levites. 12He said to them,
“You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are
to consecrate yourselves and bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for
it. 13It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up
the first time that the Lord our
God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it
in the prescribed way.”
And there
we have it. David was initially very casual with God. He was expedient; he
figured he’d just run up to Kiriath Jearim, toss the ark on a cart, start the
party, and caravan that baby down to Jerusalem and then—Let the blessings begin! Well it’s always all fun and games until
someone dies because they thought they could just “handle” God like a piece of
furniture! “What’s the big deal, the big message, about the poles and the
ringlets? The message is your life. It is the details—the pole and the
ringlets—that drive us crazy in our carnal life. We don’t want to take the time
to get the poles, or we don’t want to go to the trouble of putting the poles upon
the right shoulders. I mean, it’s a lot easier just to use a cart. After all,
the American is a pretty pragmatic kind of person. And the Lord can’t be that
concerned about the details, right? Wrong!...If the Lord cared enough to write
it and cared enough to preserve it, He cares enough about the details to have
you pull it off precisely His way. And that’s ultimately what David did.”[1]
I love the
picture of David and the people in vv. 13-15. With appropriate reverence for
God’s precepts and instructions with respect to the way the ark was to be
transported, David is completely free to worship and enjoy God to his heart’s
content. We hear music and we see dancing but we also see proper reverence in
v.13 as the procession advances six paces and then stops to offer a sacrifice. The
purpose of David’s actions in this respect is not really clear since it isn’t
spelled out as something that is necessary yet it isn’t prohibited either. “The
sense of the received Hebrew text apparently is that after the first six paces
of the journey, which showed David that Yahweh would allow the ark to be
brought into the City of David, sacrifices were made in gratitude.”[2]
In other words, no one died so David was free to proceed.
Vv. 14-15 describe David as dancing
before the Lord wearing a linen ephod and the people shouting and playing trumpets.
“Three types of ephods are often distinguished: a simple linen garment worn by
priests, the very elaborate high-priestly ephod described in Exod, and an
independent cultic object used for oracles…The ephod is one of the defining
features of active priesthood in 1 Sam 2:28; 22:18. It is a simple garment worn
by Samuel (1 Sam 2:18) and by David (2 Sam 6:14)…It is always associated with a
priest.”[3]
This is just another example of the change in David’s approach to relating to
God out of proper reverence. Note that even though he is dressed in his
priestly attire, he freely celebrates before the Lord. The Hebrew word that is
translated “dance” is also translated as “twirl” or “pirouette.” David is
clearly not ashamed to show his joy as he gives us an illustration in The Art of Being Undignified.
The celebratory procession reaches
the city with unabated exuberance. However, v. 16 finds David’s wife, Michal
(daughter of Saul—the apple didn’t fall far from the tree), despises David when
she sees how he is behaving in front of all the people. I mean, he’s the King!
Shouldn’t he be setting a better example for the people? “In her objections and
demeanor, she manifests her father’s disposition rather than her husband’s.
While nation and king celebrate the joyous occasion, Michal sulks as though
Saul would have done better. She has forgotten that Saul had neglected the ark
(and God!) and refused to heed the warnings of the prophet Samuel.”[4]
Instead, David is demonstrating the way the people are to revere God yet deeply
enjoy Him and worship Him. In v. 17, David then brings the ark and places into
the tent he pitched. (We learn in chapter 7 that David wants to build a
permanent temple for the ark but God does not give him permission to do so.)
David then goes on to bless the people in v. 18. “The institutions of
society—the family, government, and religion—were the means by which ceremonial
blessings were received. Within the family the father blessed his wife and
children. In the government context, the ruler blessed his subjects. Those who
possessed a priestly role were bestowed with the privilege of blessing.”[5]
And David was in the unique position of being a husband, father, ruler and had
priestly duties so his role was to bless and that’s what he did in v. 19 as he
sends all those in attendance home with not only a spiritual blessing but also
an equal portion of the food from the festivities.
We see in v. 20 that David
continues with his duties to bless as he goes home to bless his household.
Unfortunately, he encounters Michal who confronts him about his celebratory
behavior in public. In vv. 21-22 David not only explains his actions but puts
Michal in her place. It’s hard to tell exactly what Michal’s problem is but she
complains that David’s behavior was inappropriate generally but specifically in
front of the lowly slave-girls as he was dancing around “half naked.” Was she
being sincere? Was David doing something wrong? Well let’s review a couple of
things briefly: In David’s dealings with the ark beginning all the way back
when David first went to retrieve the ark from Kiriath Jearim, what happened
when David and those with him did something wrong? That’s right—one of those
handling the ark was struck dead for his careless actions with the ark. So
let’s fast-forward now to David’s retrieval of the ark from the house of
Obed-Edom and the meticulous way he and the people interacted with God in the
process. Did anyone die? Can’t we assume, then, that God was pleased with the
way David and the people behaved in bringing the ark to Jerusalem after leaving
Obed-Edom? Michal had a personal beef with David for whatever reason and David
made sure to remind her in v. 21 that God had selected him instead of her
father or anyone else from her family line as ruler and nothing was going to
keep him from celebrating God and His faithfulness and blessing. “Two things
strike me here and both have to do with the whole matter of focus; one is
horizontal, and one is vertical. David’s eyes were on the Lord; Michal’s eyes
were on other people. When those opposites mix, an explosion is sure to occur.”[6]
What did David mean when he said in
v. 22 that he would “become even more undignified than this” in response to
Michal’s accusation that his celebratory behavior before the people was beneath
the dignity of the king? David was saying that he knew his place before the
Lord and he would do whatever was called for to glorify God; even to the point
of becoming even more undignified if that meant that God’s glory would be made
known. Simply put, David was saying to Michal: “I am not ashamed of humbling
myself before that God who rejected thy father because of his obstinacy and
pride, and chose me in his stead to rule his people; and even those
maidservants, when they come to know the motive of my conduct, shall
acknowledge its propriety, and treat me with additional respect; and as for
thee, thou shalt find that thy conduct is as little pleasing to God as it is to
me.”[7]
Application
What does
it mean to be undignified? Well if the term “dignified” means a quality worthy
of honor and respect then “undignified” must mean the opposite. Yet David was
described, by God, as a man after God’s own heart. The one who Michal says is
dishonored and without respect is the one God has chosen to be king. When God
selected David, He saw what was on the inside while others only saw some small
shepherd boy. David loved God; he obeyed God (usually); he was in relationship
with God; God came first in his life. Therefore, David was free to enjoy God
with all his might regardless of what people thought of him because David has
his eyes focused squarely on God.
There’s a
freedom in knowing God and being in a personal relationship with him that
causes behavior in our lives that must seem like foolishness to those who are
watching. Behavior like: love those who hate you, don’t repay evil with evil
but repay evil with good, give, serve, put others before yourself, don’t store
up treasures in this life, give up your life in order to find it, turn away
from your sins and turn to God who will forgive your sins and take up your
cross and follow Me. Furthermore, “The better you know where you stand with the
Lord, the freer you can be. When you do the homework, you find out where you
stand with your Lord, and you follow His plan, then you are free. I mean really
free! Many won’t understand, of course. To some, you will be seen as
detestable. You’ll be misunderstood. Like David and his own wife. But you won’t
care that much about public opinion either. You’ll care about the Lord’s
opinion. There is no freedom like the kind He provides. In a word, it’s grace…Those of you who have become
rather concerned about the fine print of your life, I want to commend you for
that. You are the ones who make godly husbands and godly roommates and godly
wives and godly workmen and godly pastors and godly musicians and godly
professionals. You care enough about your life that regardless of your
occupation, when you hear something declared from Scripture, you’re thinking, How can I get that into my life?”[8]
Never let anyone get in your way of knowing God deeply and being in a
life-changing, personal relationship with Him! Worship God in reverence and awe
as the One who struck down Uzzah because he touched the ark when he wasn’t
supposed to. Celebrate God as the One who selected you and said, ‘I want to be
in a relationship with you.’ Dance with joy as you come to realize that God has
done for you what you could never do for yourself. Stand it awe before the
cross as you realize that God has given you the most perfect illustration in
Jesus and the cross of The Art of being
Undignified.
[1]
Charles R. Swindoll, David, A Man of
Passion & Destiny, (Dallas, TX: Word Publishing, 1997), pp. 151-152.
[2]
P. Kyle McCarter, Jr., II Samuel, The
Anchor Bible, (New York, NY: Doubleday, 1984), p. 171.
[3]
Willem A. VanGameren, Dictionary of Old
Testament Theology & Exegesis, Vol. 1, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Publishing House, 1997), p. 476.
[4]
Bill T. Arnold, 1 & 2 Samuel, The NIV
Application Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2003), p. 460.
[5]
Walter A. Elwell, ed., Baker Theological
Dictionary of the Bible, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1996), p. 70.
[6]
Swindoll, David, p. 154
[7]
Adam Clarke, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on
the Holy Bible, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1967), p. 323.
[8]
Swindoll, David, p. 155.
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