Day 47: 2 Samuel 6:12–23

David was dancing with all his might before the Lord wearing a linen ephod. He and the whole house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of the ram’s horn (vv. 14–15).

Hard lessons learned well undoubtedly usher in a fresh respect and new freedom. As strange as this statement may seem, the more we learn about and fear God, the more freedom we have to worship Him! We’ll see this principle at work in David’s life as we continue the next portion of 2 Samuel 6.

David reacted to the death of Uzzah with anger and fear, yet Scripture calls him “a man after God’s own heart.” I think one reason why this is true was his unwillingness to turn from God, even when he felt negative emotions. David allowed his anger and fear to motivate him to seek more insight into the heart of God.

We need to follow David’s example by allowing our questions and confusion to motivate us to seek God. At first consideration, the account of Uzzah and the ark is hard to swallow. God almost seems mean-spirited. But David’s attitude changed once he discovered that God had blessed the household of Obed-Edom. He again went down to get the ark, but this time his methods showed a change of attitude. This time the priests carried the ark. With every six steps they offered sacrifices, and David “danced before the Lord with all his might” (v. 14).

The success of the second attempt to transport the ark demonstrates the following points:

1. All worship is based on sacrifice. Just as our bold approach to the throne of grace could only have followed Christ’s shed blood on Calvary, David’s bold approach that day in Jerusalem could only have acceptably followed the shed blood of sacrifice. David was not free to worship acceptably until sacrifice had paved the way.

2. Worship with abandon is an intimate experience. We see David almost oblivious to everyone around him, totally liberated in the spirit, dancing through the streets of Jerusalem “with all his might” (v. 14). Oh, I love this scene! Centuries later, a group of disciples were stunned when Mary of Bethany poured the fragrance of abandoned worship on Christ’s feet (John 12:1–8). Completely abandoned worship is often misunderstood.

Sadly we see the legacy of Saul bear more bitter fruit in this chapter of rejoicing. His daughter, David’s wife Michal, looked out the window and saw David dancing through the streets of Jerusalem. We can imagine that she could have been filled with either of at least two emotions: she could have been filled with pride, honored by her husband and God; instead she burned with jealousy. “When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart” (v. 16).

David went home to “bless his household,” but he was met with ridicule and condemnation (v. 20). He did not allow Michal to quench his spirit. He responded to her with the words, “It was before the Lord” (v. 21). You can almost hear him say, “How dare you! My worship was not for you; it was for the Lord!”

Her scolding must have stung his heart. You can sense his reaction from the text, yet he resolved, “I will celebrate before the Lord.” He seemed to be saying, “Whether or not my family does, whether or not my friends do, whether or not this nation does, I will celebrate!”

What a slice of life we see in this episode. We’ve gone from anger to rejoicing, devastation to celebration. We would miss a certain blessing if we did not conclude with David’s words in Psalm 30:11–12:

You turned my wailing into dancing;

you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.

O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.

I’m not sure we will ever be fully released to “dance” before the Lord until we’ve learned to wail. You’ll never know the experience of being clothed with joy until you’ve allowed Him to remove your sackcloth. Like David, you may be angry at God for taking someone’s life you cared for deeply. Perhaps you are still hurt and confused. We have no idea whether David ever fully understood Uzzah’s death. We just know he was willing to wait, to study, to hear God’s Word, and to approach Him again. Then came indescribable celebration. He may not have understood more about Uzzah’s death, but he understood more about God, which made his loss more tolerable.

God is not harsh; He is holy. He is not selfish; He is sovereign. He is not unfeeling; He is all-knowing. Like David, we need to come to know Him, and respect Him; and like David, we will love Him more.