2Sam. 6:14 Then David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod.
For the religious, this is a highly disturbing scripture. What does it look like to dance before the Lord with all your might? Have you ever danced, or worshipped for that matter, with all your strength before the Lord? Some may think this is extreme or unnecessary but if we are passionate about anything shouldn’t it be the Lord? Don’t you think our strongest feelings and displays of affection should be reserved for what is the most valuable, or most beautiful or most powerful? Should I be more excited about football, winning the lottery, or even marriage than I am about the Lord and His mercy? Absolutely not. The problem is this, passionate worship is the results of a personal revelation of the Lord. Apathy is a sure sign of having a head knowledge of God rather than an encounter with His redeeming love. Why was David dancing? The Lord had delivered him from many years of facing death and living in caves. He found himself in the presence of God in front of the ark of God. He had to dance. Here are some thoughts from John Piper on passionate worship.
“A key measure of a heart’s worship is whether it is authentic and intense or divided and tepid. Authentic means undivided, genuine, real, sincere, unaffected. Intensity implies energy, vigor, ardor, fervor, passion, zeal. The Bible does not leave us wondering what kind of worship God is aiming at in all his work and word. Over and over God calls for our hearts to be authentic and undivided in our worship. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”. You shall “search after him with all your heart and with all your soul”; and “serve the Lord your God with all your heart”; and turn to him with all your heart; and “trust in the Lord with all your heart”; and “rejoice and exult with all your heart”; and give thanks to the Lord with your whole heart. No competitors. No halfhearted affections.”
You can check your spiritual temperature by the passion in your worship. Remember what Jesus said about the woman who washed His feet with her hair, “the one who is forgiven much loves much”. So go ahead and dance, it’s the least we can do after all He has done for us.
