David Dances Before the Ark
Study Scripture: 2 Samuel 6:1-5, 14-19
Background Scripture: 2 Samuel 6, Psalms 24
Devotional Reading: Ecclesiastes 3: 1 – 9
Lesson 2 September 11, 2021
Key Verse
Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord with all kinds of instruments made of juniper wood, and with lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals,
2 Samuel 6:5
INTRODUCTION
God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth, (John 4:24).
Doing a right thing the wrong way might get by with some people but note the word ‘must’ in the quote from Jesus just prior!
In this Study we are going to examine what God requires of people who profess to believe in Him. Are there rules of order and practice, things that are very important to God and with regard to which God will not tolerate any deviation?
Do our motivations supersede everything else, or can our seemingly trivial acts of irreverence made God angry at us?
How does God look at our actions when we try to do what we think is right pertaining to the things which belong to God?
Has God said?
Are there things that belong to Him, called by His name and which carry His authority and power?
Do you understand David’s most famous of titles “a man after God’s own heart” which is in fact a most remarkable title.
Why is David so described as a man after God’s own heart?
And what makes David so remarkable? Is it in part due to his obedience before the Lord and responding to God in a powerful way?
Is it possible for you to compare yourself to David despite David’s up and down in behaviour?
Are you allowed to get angry with God like David did at God’s anger?
What does that emotion of anger show about you? Is it wrong to be angry with God?
Will God ever tolerate the importing of pagan cultural practices and how they treated their gods with you treating your God the same way?
Can we understand why God gets so upset at some things?
Are you prepared to always inquire of the Lord before you make decisions small or great?
Do you know that as a believer you’re always in the presence of the Lord and should therefore be very cautious in how you behave, following His word and His instructions to the letter to the fullness of the extent you’re able?
Hopefully this Study will answer some of these questions as well as others not listed for us.
In some of the preceding chapters in the Book of Samuel it had been made clear that it was a time of uncertainty and upheaval in Israel. The nation’s ‘official’ army had just suffered a decisive defeat at the hands of the Philistines, their perennial enemies. King Saul and his heir apparent, his son Jonathan were killed in the battle. The nation for all intent and purpose was divided; ten tribes loyal to Saul’s House and two loyal to God’s anointed but yet to crowned king over all Israel, King David. Civil war seemed a distinct possibility but then the commander of the forces loyal to Saul was killed in a personal incident and the tribal leaders of the ‘ten’ tribes decided with good reason to pursue rapprochement with King David.
A suddenly loyal delegation from these tribes visited David in Hebron, pledged loyalty to him and acknowledged that after all, he was God’s anointed king and it was he David that waged a successful ‘guerilla type’ campaign against the Philistines and not Saul! Finally, God’s anointed ascended to the throne over all Israel. (‘… they anointed David king over Israel, in accordance with the word of the Lord through Samuel’, 1 Chron. 11:3).
Continuing military victories and all, confirmed God’s approval of David as King and he in turn always sought God’s leading before any venture.
Chapter 5 told us that David triumphed over the Philistines on two occasions and before both cases of triumph he “inquired of the Lord”. He realized that he faced a significant challenge and so he asked the Lord whether he should go into battle on both occasions as noted in chapter 5: 19 and chapter 5: 23.
Interestingly, though the questions David asked were the same, the answers on both occasions were different.
David always sought direction from the Lord. He knew that he was dependent on God and in addition to this his heart was always fixed on worshiping God and obeying God. Clearly David fully lived as God wanted and he met God’s primary qualification for him being King.
On the first occasion when the relentless enemies of Israel, the Philistines, attacked David because they had heard that David was appointed king over all Israel, David asked God’s permission as to what to do in response. David asked God if He would deliver the Philistines into his hands, and God replied that He would deliver them into his hands. But after this failure the Philistines again attacked and again David asked God what he should do. This time God’s response was very specific and He told David to wait until he was told when to attack the Philistines. He was told to circle around behind the Philistines and to wait until he came in front of the Mulberry trees. When he heard the sound of marching in the top of the mulberry that was when he should move out and strike the camp of the Philistines.
The angel armies of God were obviously deployed and the giant trees were the first battle ground. At first it was quiet in the top of the trees but then they began to shake violently. God plan was to have His army first go before David and fight on his behalf and then David’s army would join into the fight.
David’s obeyed God, the Angels of the Lord fought on his side and the final victory came. The nation and the kingdom of David was secured.
So now that there was order and peace in the land David would be able to concentrate on properly unifying the nation by retrieving the Ark of the Covenant from where it had been waiting for 30 years.
The spiritual life of Israel had been in a state of neglect under King Saul and further deteriorated with the death of Samuel who had provided godly advice to the king. The ‘new’ King’s first two official acts showed that he understood there was a King above himself.
Now we should note carefully that a foundation had to be established for this new Kingdom. The question therefore arises as to whether or not the new Kingdom would be marked by disobedience as Saul’s kingdom had been.
Would the people listen to the voice of the Lord or would they try to behave and worship God the way that suited them?
Would the leaders of the new Kingdom follow the Commandments of God to the letter or would they try to import into the community of God the practices and attitudes of the pagan nations around them? The answer to these questions would be found in this event where the Ark which represented the presence of God would be brought into the very heart of the nation’s capital.
All nations seek to find one overarching cause for unity; some common cause or factor to which all citizens can find commonality. For Israel, a nation comprised of twelve independently minded tribes, the over-riding cause for being was their religion. Israel was a theocratic state; they were the people of the one, true and living God, Jehovah.
David’s first concern was to establish a formal, national worship of Yahweh throughout Israel. It was then necessary to secure the special place designated by Jehovah for His worship, Mount Zion in Jerusalem and secondly, have the Ark moved to a Tabernacle in Jerusalem. David also showed himself a statesman by engaging all the tribes in these endeavors which in turn promoted national unity.
The king earnestly desired to bring the Ark to the now conquered Jerusalem where he had erected a tabernacle for its keeping. We can be sure the tabernacle was constructed in line with the specific instructions given to Moses; it was to be built according to a specific design.
The Ark was the symbol of God’s presence among His people and from the days of their wilderness wanderings, it played a very prominent role in the life of Israel. It was always located in the center of their camps and led the people when they moved; carried only and specifically on the shoulders of the Kohath clan of Levites.
(See Numbers 1:50, 4:15, 7:9, 10:7). It was the place God would ‘meet with’ and communicate with His people, (Ex. 25:22).
It was an ornate chest (box) made of acacia wood, lined inside and outside with gold. The lid of the Ark was called the Mercy Seat and had two figures of angels at either end. (Ex. 25 et al). The Mercy Seat and cherubim were made of pure gold and the Mercy Seat was 45 inches or 1.14 m in length and a cubic and a half or 27 inches or 69 cm wide. The Ark housed the Tables of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed, as well as the Golden Pot with Manna and Aaron’s rod that ‘budded’. These were reminders of deliverance from Egypt and provisions on the way to the Promised Land. One detail of the Ark’s construction is especially important for today’s Lesson: the gold rings and wooden staves (2 Samuel 6:3).
Clearly, carrying the Ark on poles for miles was a critically important but difficult job for the Kohathites. We can therefore understand why David nor the Kohathites would prefer to place the Ark on a new cart to spare them the burden of carrying the Ark. but note the serious consequences for not following the detailed instructions of God.
This sacred symbol was kept in the innermost section of the Tabernacle known as the Most Holy Place, a place that no one could enter the except the High Priest and he would enter once a year with the smoking censer, to sprinkle blood on the Mercy Seat in atonement for the sins of the people. That Ark was so holy that those responsible for its upkeep and transportation were not allowed to touch it, lest they die (Numbers 4:15, 20; 2 Samuel 6:5).
Some twenty years or so earlier as the ‘period of the Judges’ (about 1380–1050 BC) was ending and prior to the establishment of the monarchy, the Ark was captured in battle by Israel’s perennial enemy the Philistines. They took it to Ashdod (about 1070 BC) a city near the Mediterranean coast and about forty-five miles west of Jerusalem.
The Ark however was a very ‘unhealthy’ presence for the Philistines as God plagued them with some peculiar maladies. They wisely sent the Ark of the God of Israel back to its country. They placed the Ark on a ‘new cart ‘and let the unguided by man but providentially guided oxen, carry the Ark back into Israel, (1 Sam.4 – 6). Note that this was how the pagan nations carried their sacred objects. They always use new carts.
The new cart carrying the Ark came into the town of Beth-shemesh where some people with either misguided or evil curiosity lifted the lid to look in and many died for their presumption. In terror the Ark was then sent to the nearest big town Kirjath-jearim, though at this time this was not even a Jewish town but a Canaanites town. Some Jews lived in the town and the Ark stayed in the House of Abinadab the Levite under the care of Eleazar his son, who was sanctified to keep the Ark of God.
It stayed there for twenty long years, “and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord” until King David made plans to take it from Kirjath-jearim and to Mount Zion.
It was at this time that the King, fully aware of the significance of the Ark, for the Ark was the presence of the Lord, in Jerusalem made plans to bring it the capital city and center of worship. Led by the new King David, the nation was gripped with a sense of joy and elation in anticipation of the ‘repatriation’ of the Ark and all the tribes endorsed the move. The King planned a significant, celebratory, thanksgiving trip from Kirjath-jearim to Jerusalem, commensurate with the gravity of the occasion.
Far too often the people of God get careless in times of triumph and become slack, let their guard down, forget that our God is holy, diligence to His specific commands wanes and presumption ensues resulting in God’s discipline.
On this occasion, everybody, including David, thought that God’s judgment for not following His detailed instructions was excessive and an overreaction and we might be inclined to think the same. We should keep in mind the ‘God of the whole earth will do right! (Gen. 18:25).
The focus of our Study is the exuberant thanksgiving and worship of the occasion. However, the mood was initially dampened by a tragic incident due to the “irreverence” of one Levite, that should have known better; the King himself was also culpable in the affair.
All Israel, from one end of the country to the other, 30,000 witnesses had come to this great event and was rejoicing, worshiping and glorifying God. But something was wrong! They had forgotten the Divine Law. The written Word of God ordered that the Ark of God was to be carried on the shoulders of the sons of Kohath of the tribe of Levi. No one else was to carry it, no one was to touch it and it was to be carried on the shoulders of these priests. The priests should bear ‘God’ on their shoulders. Instead, the Ark was being transported on a ‘new’ cart, as per the pagan customs, contrary to the specific instructions of God.
Noteworthy, the Philistines had sent the Ark back to Israel on a ‘new’ cart some years earlier without any apparent, negative consequence, (1 Sam. 6). Are the people of God to take their cue from the ungodly who are ignorant of and have no regard for God’s commandments?
Let us learn the lessons from our Text starting with the fact that no good or noble intent or precedent should set aside God’s commandments and disobedience invites His judgment. God will not accept worship in the wrong way!
THE TEXT
As we come to the Text it appears stability has finally come to the still fledging nation. Jerusalem is fully under the control of the Israelites.
Why did this occur?
This occurred because David had inquired of the Lord and God had fought for him and destroyed his enemies.
David had constructed his palace in the city; a tabernacle was prepared and waiting … The army under his God-directed leadership had inflicted crippling defeats on the Philistine army, so there was peace on Israel’s borders. The only missing piece to complete the picture of united nationhood was the absence of the Ark from Jerusalem; this is where the Study Text picks up.
Note however that rather sad omission as David approached that red letter day, the nation’ national milestone. There is no record of David inquiring of the Lord even though he had done this when it was a matter of military need.
But it was fitting that David would write Psalms 24
Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is the King of glory!
The Lord strong and Mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle.
Lift up you heads, O you gates!
Lift up, you everlasting doors!
And the King of glory shall come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the king of glory.
The Ark symbolized the presence of God. (Exodus 25).
But keep in mind that Jesus fulfilled all that the Ark symbolized. The Lord Jesus Himself fulfilled all that the Ark symbolized. Therefore let us bear in mind that the presence of God among His people was a very fearful thing, and the moment that we engage the presence of God this is a dreadful, awesome, or inspiring moment which should instil reverence and wonder.
It therefore is to a certain extent understandable that now that the most important symbol of the presence of God which had been absent, but which was now returning, the King and the people would be carried away to such an extent that the requirements of their relationship to the Ark had been set aside.
So the requirement to worship God with trembling love and penitential tears as one writer calls it, was missing despite the massive celebrations.
Can we learn anything from this?
Verse 1. David again gathered all the chosen men of Israel,.. refers to David’s reassembling the men of his army. They had conquered Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5:6) and defeated Philistine armies (5:20–25). Following the capture of Jerusalem, David had it in his heart to retrieve the Ark of the Covenant which was kept privately in the home of Abinadab at Kiriath-jearim. David carefully consulted the leaders of the nation, so that this was an action taken by the whole nation, (1 Chronicles 13:1-5).
Verse 2. Baale of Judah is another name for Kiriathjearim (Joshua 15:9 and 1 Chronicles 13:6). This town is about eight miles west of Jerusalem, so a walking trip can be made from Jerusalem to there and back in one day. The Ark was resting there for some twenty years since its recovery from the Philistines.
Whose name is called by the name of the Lord of hosts …. every aspect of God’s designation is significant in this verse. Lord (indicated by small capital letters within the text to show the name Yahweh was used) refers to the personal name of Israel’s God (Genesis 4:26; Exodus 3:14). The word translated hosts may refer to angelic beings who serve the Lord as He directs (Psalm 148:2;
Hebrews 1:13–14). It also may refer to stars, planets, and other heavenly bodies that He had created (Nehemiah 9:6). The word speaks to God’s fighting on behalf of His chosen people
(Isaiah 1:24; Psalm 84:1). The bottom line is that this designation celebrates the Lord’s power in various contexts (1 Samuel 17:45; Isaiah 1:24).
Verse 3. They had mounted the ark of God on a new cart … disaster was looming and had David consulted the Levites, whom God appointed to care for the Ark (Numbers 1:50–51; 1 Chronicles 6:48), he would have learned that the Ark must only be carried by two long wooden staves through rings affixed to the Ark (Exodus 25:12–15; 37:5). The sons of Kohath had never been given a new cart by Moses because God charged them that in their service of the holy things these things had to be carried on the shoulder. Exodus 25:13 -14.
This method both (1) kept the ark a safe distance from human contact and (2) kept the top-heavy ark stable. Beyond this, it was the king’s responsibility to know the Law, (Deut. 17:18-20).
The Text does not reveal why David chose instead to set the ark of God upon a new cart. Perhaps it is evidence of David’s ignorance of the law: he became giddy over the occasion, or maybe it betrays a flippancy toward God’s presence. Or he could have thought that if a cart safely brought the Ark back from the Philistines, it could surely take the Ark safely to Jerusalem.
But we know that Joshua 4 tells us that the priests followed the instructions of God and carried out the Instructions from God when the Ark was first carried into the Promised Land. One writer has this explanation as to why these sons of the Levite Abinadab, Eleazar, Uzzah, and Ahio who we are not even told were Kohathites and so responsible for carrying the Ark did what they did:
“So where did Uzzah get the idea to put the Ark on a new cart? It came from the Philistines. When they sent the Ark back to Israel after stealing it, they sent it on a new cart. This is how the Philistines treated their gods. So it’s how they treated the God of Israel. Uzzah wasn’t being careless, he was just being careful in the wrong way. He was treating the God of Israel the way the culture around him treated their gods”.
… the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill … this journey involved some changes in elevation since Kiriath-jearim was located in the hills and so was Jerusalem, but in between there were lower lying areas, which meant some up and down hill maneuvers.
Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab were leading the new cart… these two men were Levites.
Four Levites (specifically Kohathites; Numbers 4:1–15) were to carry the ark by means of the two staves that were kept in the gold rings (Exodus 25:14–15). Two branches of the Levites did indeed use carts for transportation of various tabernacle items, but not the branch that was charged with transporting the Ark (Numbers 7:4–9). The use of a cart in this regard was reckless in that it indicates David’s failure in not inquiring of the Lord regarding procedure or consulting the Scriptures.
Verse 4. We do not read of any expressed concerns with the Ark being transported on a ‘new cart’. Reverence for God should have prompted David and or the Levites to review instructions concerning the transportation of the Ark. Hard to say if this oversight was a lingering hold-over from the time of the Judges or people were just swept along in the euphoria of the moment. One writer jumps in with his comment:
“Did somebody say, “Wait a minute! Do you think it’s okay that we use a cart”? Did somebody say, “Well, I think probably….. It’s a new cart, after all. Do you think this is close enough? Do you think this is okay? Do you think, really, God means what He says when He says what He says? Do you think it’ll be okay if I cheat? Just a little? Do you think this is where, again, our view of God comes in– the God who searches our hearts, who knows when we sit down and when we get up, who knows the words of our mouth before we even speak them. “Do you think it’ll be okay?” Somebody must have said, “Yeah, I think it’ll be all right. I mean, we don’t want to be too fastidious about these things”. Well…..
So off they go.
The uncertain terrain should have prompted someone to see the likelihood of the oxen stumbling and putting the Ark at risk.
Verse 5. Meanwhile, David and all the house of Israel were celebrating… the procession of thousands broke out into spontaneous, exuberant celebration and rejoicing as they headed towards Jerusalem employing every musical instrument of the day. King David and the Israelites celebrated in grand style and he spared no expense with wood, string and percussion instruments.
Verses 6 – 13. The celebration however was cut short by tragedy. The oxen stumbled, the cart tipped, the Ark slid and Uzzah says, “Oops’, put out his hand, and says, “It’s okay, I got it”, and then he was so wrong that he struck dead when he instinctively grabbed the Ark to stabilize it (v s. 6–7). The party ended abruptly, suddenly celebration turned to horror, everyone including the King was aghast. One writer tells us that Calvin said, “what we have is “a man attempting to honor God, burning with a good and holy devotion,” being “punished like a criminal”.
Clearly, worshiping the God of the Bible is different from worshiping the gods of the people around us who worship celebrities, money, sports and music and so on. The death of this Levite makes it clear that worshiping God is serious business. You cannot just worship God in a way that makes the most sense, bringing in ideas from the pagan culture that bind them to their god and expect God to be happy with that.
So we think that after all, all Uzzah did was to touch the Ark.
But if God asks His people to carry Him on their shoulders because He is a personal and intimate God who wants that kind of relationship, He does not want your best effort to keep Him happy.
Remember that God has purposes and is so purposeful, full of wisdom and so vast, that ultimately He is unfathomable. One writer says that the Judgments of God are a profound abyss.
Brethren, Never forget there is a chain reaction whenever anything is done.
First there is the cart, and there never should be a cart in the first place.
Then you have stumbling oxen.
Then you have the hand of a Levite UZZAH who tries to do the work of God and protect God even though God had been protecting His Ark all these long 20+ years and had disciplined the Philistines when they fooled around with it. God did not need anybody’s help then and now He did not need any help from anybody including David, Saul’s house and army, and the nation of Israel.
So then you have God’s anger.
Then you have the death of Uzzah.
Then you have the anger of David.
Then you have the fear of David.
Then you have the whole project being put off on hold for three months.
So Isaiah the prophet states for our benefit reminding us that His words are Yea and Amen:
Who has understood the mind of the Lord? Who has instructed him or been his counselor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him?
But we must not let it slip from our memories that the warnings of God given in Scripture are given because of His kindness. The warnings of dreadful judgments are not there to frighten us but to help us approach Him recognizing that we are creatures standing before our Creator. We are His subjects and He is the King. His ways are not our ways and our thoughts are not His thoughts.
So God does not leave loose ends. He comforts us that He is not indifferent to us but He will bring everything to judgment. After all, He provided His beloved Son to sacrifice Himself to save us. So God cares for us. Our comfort is that when we make a mistake God will not condemn us or Uzzah. If God condemns us when we make mistakes, Who would be saved?
The ways of God are perfect and God demands that when we know His words revealed to us we act as servants of God, listen to His words and watch the way He direct.
The men of Beth-Shemesh had been struck down with a terrible blow because they looked into the Ark. At this strike they mourned and said, Who can stand before the Lord”. Now David would have to ask essentially the same question, “How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?
You might have to ask a similar question to God when you made a mistake. The Apostles have given you much advice on this matter.
The King’s shock soon turned to anger, then fear. The parade was meant to honor God but instead incurred judgment. Disobedience to God’s commandments invites judgment regardless of good intentions.
David left the Ark in the house of Obed-edom, where it remained for three months. This gave him time to reflect on the incident, the inflexibility of God’s commandments and educate himself to the proper transportation of the Ark.
So are you disappointed with God? What do you then do? Do you push God away from you utterly or do you deal with God, complaining to Him in prayer and bring your anger to God as David did many times in the Psalms that we so love.
Are you open to the presence of God and to the blessing that the presence of God bring or are you afraid of God, doing the hard part of dealing with God even though not doing this makes you miss out on the good stuff.
Remember now that David was open to God. His arms were open so wide that he danced before God, humbling himself. He knew God and he knew that he was safe with God. But before that he had to hear that God was blessing the house of Obed-edom where he had to park the Ark after the shocking death of Uzzah that shaped David to the core.
In a childish way he was angered by what had happened even though it was his fault that he was not as instructed in the word of God as he should have been. But he was a remarkable man and he loved the Lord God and even though he had at first not been thinking logically, now after three months of rethinking things, he still desperately wanted to bring the Ark to the city of Zion, this time as it should have been carried on the shoulders of the Levites to the city of Jerusalem.
He heard that God blessed them also Obed-edom. He knew that God always did what was right. He knew that he should not have been complaining about the providence of God when things happened contrary to the way he thought they should happen. The presence of God brought blessing and a new meaning to life and this would always be the case.
We should therefore remind you that as one writer said:
“The presence of the Ark of the Lord, is of lesser significance than what you as a believing Christians should do with God, the Holy Spirit, indwelling your body. Never forget that. This is the Holy home of the Holy Spirit”.
Verses 12 and 13 record the successful, incident free trip of the Ark from Obededom’s house to Jerusalem. The king obviously learned the necessary lessons and verse 13 speaks specifically of …
and it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the Lord…
This time there was a greater respect for God’s holy presence. God must be honored and His instructions obeyed. David picked up his celebration where it left off and welcomed the Ark into his city the right way as our Text continues.
Verse 14. And David danced before the Lord … dancing was a common form of celebration in Israel, especially for women. Israelite women danced with Miriam to celebrate God’s victory over Pharaoh’s army at the Red Sea (Exodus 15:20). During the period of the Judges a daughter danced to celebrate her father’s triumphant return from war (Judges 11:34) and the women of Shiloh danced in celebration of an unspecified festival (21:21–23; Psalms 149:3; 150:4). To dance is the opposite of mourning (Psalm 30:11; Lamentations 5:15).
During the time of David, women danced to celebrate the return of Saul’s army after David’s defeat of Goliath and a successful campaign against the Philistines (1 Samuel 18:6–7).
And David was girded with a linen ephod… The ephod was one of six pieces of clothing traditionally worn by priests (Exodus 28). In terms of construction, ephods were sometimes made “of gold, of blue, and of purple, of scarlet, and fine twined linen.… with … two shoulder-pieces … joined at the two edges” (28:6–7). As part of a larger ensemble, the ephod’s holy intent was to communicate “glory and …, beauty” (28:2).
Given all that, it is unclear what we should make of King David’s wearing of a priest’s garment since the Old Testament offices of prophet, priest, and king were normally distinct from one another
(1 Kings 1:32–45). Perhaps the safest conclusion is that David wore the ephod in the same sense that young Samuel did in 1 Samuel 2:18: a waistcoat suitable for worship. That would lead us to understand the garment as having religious significance apart from the priesthood.
It is however generally felt however that this kind of garment was accessible to anyone and could be worn by anyone. It was however also the kind of garment that was worn by priests on particular occasions.
The important statement however that is repeated over and over again was that he did it “before the Lord”. David put on this simple garment which was not his royal robes and he did it before “all the people”.
David had now been transformed into an ordinary man and worshiped as a member of the general worshiping congregation.David also wore a robe of fine linen on the occasion, (1 Chron. 15:27). One writer tells us that David‘s spiritual sanity was restored.
Verse 15. As all the house of Israel… speaks to a unified nation.
Only the trumpet is mentioned as musical accompaniment to the shouting this time. Trumpets are associated with priests many times in the Old Testament (Joshua 6:4–13, 20) and with the presence of the Lord (Exodus 19:16–19; 20:18; Matthew 24:31; 1 Corinthians 15:52; Revelation 1:10). In the case of the latter, trumpets were linked to fear of God. \
Verse 16. Michal Saul’s daughter … Michal was David’s first wife, and they had a rough history together (1 Samuel 18:20–29; 19:11–17; 25:43–44; 2 Samuel 3:13–16). Her reasons for despising David are not completely clear. But there may be a clue in the fact that she was not celebrating with the crowds; choosing instead to stay inside and watch through a window. Perhaps she did this to model what she considered to be royal behavior—behavior that kept herself apart from the common people in their revelry.
There is much controversy as to whether one should sympathize with Michal and her behavior. It is recognized by everybody that she had helped her husband escape from her father King Saul. But we know that Saul had given her to David in marriage because he thought that she would give him trouble.2 Samuel 18 reports Saul had promised to give his eldest daughter to David in marriage but instead for political reasons he changed his mind and gave David Michal because he heard that she in love with this popular, young, charming hero. In doing this, Saul said, “I will offer her to him, so that she may be a snare to him”.
When we look at Michal’s responses to the men that Saul sent to capture and kill David, it would seem that she was prepared to defy her father for she was quite willing to disguise David and let him escape certain death. When David was fighting his guerilla warfare she did not choose to join him but stayed in the palace apparently enjoying the affairs of the court. Even when David ruled over the two tribes she stayed where she was.
But there was a lot of water under the bridge and she had been through hard times. She had been given in marriage to another one of Saul’s courtiers and she had to put up with the practices of the court of the king. Now that her father’s house had been destroyed and she had come under the control of David who had already married several women we can imagine that her thought processes were somewhat cloudy and she would never have understood what David was doing.
She is referred to as the “daughter of Saul” and so we know that there was trouble coming. We are told that she despised David in her heart.
We are told in verse 20 that Michal accused David of acting in an undignified and inappropriate way in front of other women who served him. She was scornful and sarcastic, called David literally “empty”, And she should have known that that was not how one treated the King, who in addition to everything had been appointed by the Lord God of Israel. David rebuffed her by claiming that he danced before the Lord (6:21–22).
Verse 17. And they brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in his place , mission accomplished!
…And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.
Burnt offerings (Leviticus 1) were prescribed for specific occasions (Ex. 29:38–42; Numbers 28:9–10). But they were also appropriate as freewill offerings (Leviticus 22:18). Peace offerings (Leviticus 3) could express thanks or obligation to God (7:11–16). Both kinds of sacrifices indicated the joy of the occasion and the felt need to praise God for bringing it about.
Verse 18. David’s son Solomon will later follow in his father’s footsteps by sacrificing burnt offerings and peace offerings in dedicating the newly finished Temple; the massive numbers of Solomon’s sacrifice recorded in 1 Kings 8:62–63 make an interesting contrast to the “seven bullocks and seven rams” offered on this occasion (1 Chronicles 15:26).
It is very significant that after the burnt offerings and peace offerings we are told that David blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. This made everybody understand that the Lord God was with him and that no army should even bother to try to fight him. God had come down on his side and so he could bless the people, the multitudes of Israel who were now one.
Verse 19. … even among the whole multitude of Israel, … the language here is inclusive: David shared this celebration with all the people—not just his fighting men or the priests or those of his own tribe. God’s presence among His people was a momentous occasion for the whole multitude of Israel. A full meal for the assembled celebrants was a massive and extravagant undertaking (Nehemiah 8:10).
One can just imagine how remarkable a day it was and the kind of conversations which took place around the grand feast and what David had done dancing in that linen ephod. Kings in the East did not dance like that, humbling themselves, opening themselves to the people and to God, declaring that they were servants of God.
When David hosted a giant fellowship meal for all gathered, he continued a practice we see throughout Scripture. Sharing a meal brings people together in more than just a physical sense. Do your own meals foster unity among God’s people?
CONCLUSION
Kings were generally models of propriety and they would behave in certain ways to show people their majesty. But David’s action was designed to show that God’s blessing was for all the people and that life should be celebrated.
Would you ever be like that and abandon yourself in the presence of God? Our culture says that we should not as leaders ever do things like that and let yourself go for we have to maintain our dignity at everything around us to see that things do not get out of hand.
But if you want to worship God you have to be prepared to be honest about who you are. You should learn to deal with your fears and your weaknesses as well as your joys and your victories. So just live being aware of the presence of God.
You do not have to dance but you should understand that sometimes you let your guard down and be your true self. That way you will be able to really celebrate and to join those around you in celebrating. Then you will be a blessing to others.
There will be dreadful moments from time to time. But when we look at the behavior of David we understand how he could write so many great and blessed Psalms in which he poured out his heart. The psalms he wrote are written from his heart and has blessed people all through the centuries.
Christians get excited when we see God at work among us. We are then tempted to respond in ways that come naturally to us; we are inclined to do what our culture has conditioned us to do when things are going our way.
Yet David learned that not any and all responses are appropriate to our holy God. In every believer’s life, the end and the means are all tangled together. How a thing is accomplished matters to the Lord.
We must consult God’s word to learn the right means to the ends we seek as we honor the Lord. We must not rush to do what seems right in our own eyes, even when we are trying to do right by God. Let us not assume we know God’s will until we have carefully tested it against His word.
It is a very common error to believe that if we do something from a right motive even though it’s the wrong thing, God will accept it and smile at us. God’s law must be kept and He will insist on that. There is to be no toning down, excuses made, or trying to make God’s laws better.
(See Revelation 22:18-19).
We must be purged from even the slightest of sins, confess them, repent, pray for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven, and do what is right in the right way.
So, what do you look for in God’s King? Do you think that you want a humble King? Is Jesus the humiliated King who came and who made ultimate sacrifice of His life, was mocked, despised, humiliated good enough for you?
You should like David learn that humility and sometimes humiliation is a prerequisite for being a representative of God. David learned that lesson and so should you. Just do whatever you are doing, even dancing, in the presence of God