Read 2 Samuel 6:1-23
After the failed attempt to take the Ark to Jerusalem David was afraid, dismayed and unwilling to give it another go and he parked the Ark with a local family. However, he heard reports that Obed-Edom and his family, who had been given the dubious privilege of looking after the Ark, had been blessed because of the Ark. So there was nothing inherently bad about the Ark, and it was always God’s intention to bless people with the Ark, not destroy them.
David had obviously thought through the earlier incident and was now willing to have another try at taking the Ark into Jerusalem. And this time it would seem that David made sure that the Ark was handled properly, with due respect to God and in accordance with his wishes. We read in Verse 13 about those who were carrying the Ark – and we presume that it was those of the designated clan – they were carrying the Ark in accordance with the rules in Numbers – no ox cart this time, no stumbling, no unfortunate helpers being zapped.
In fact, the accent is on joy. Every so often there was praise and worship for God and there was singing and dancing, not least by David himself. And to great cheering and celebration, the Ark of the Covenant, the symbol of God’s presence with his people arrived in the City of Jerusalem, the heart of the nation, the centre of God’s people.
But wait, there is a sour note. Michal (remember her, Saul’s daughter?) was watching all this with great displeasure; ‘when she saw David leaping and dancing she despised him in her heart’ (v16) and later she confronted David saying, ‘How the King of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would’ (v20). The sarcasm is almost tangible. Michal is a relic of the old age, the old king’s daughter – the daughter of the king who did not respect God, who did not follow the instructions of God’s representative, Samuel, but rather did want he wanted and went his own way. Michal was all for the values of this world, everyone in the proper place, acting with the right degree of dignity – the king has an image to maintain, he should not behave like the riff-raff.
David’s answer tells us a lot about relationships before God. Unlike Michal, he did not feel that he was dancing for the benefit of the watching slave girls. He was dancing for God (v21) and he did not care how low that made him look – in fact, he was prepared to go even lower in the sight of others. He saw himself as God’s servant rather than as the king over the people; he preferred humility before God rather than lording it over fellow human beings. David’s motivation lay in the sheer joy of being in God’s presence.
Should this attitude inform us in our worship of the Lord? While I think it is important to have orderly worship (and Paul reminds us of that in his letter to the Corinthians) we should also be intent on taking joy in being in the presence of the Lord, our creator and redeemer.