Dance as though no one is watching!
Amanda MacQuarrie
January 15, 2023
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2 Samuel 6: 14-22 (NRSVA)
14 David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.
16 As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.
17 They brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt-offerings and offerings of well-being before the Lord. 18 When David had finished offering the burnt-offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, 19 and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.
20 David returned to bless his household. But Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, ‘How the king of Israel honoured himself today, uncovering himself today before the eyes of his servants’ maids, as any vulgar fellow might shamelessly uncover himself!’ 21 David said to Michal, ‘It was before the Lord, who chose me in place of your father and all his household, to appoint me as prince over Israel, the people of the Lord, that I have danced before the Lord. 22 I will make myself yet more contemptible than this, and I will be abased in my own eyes; but by the maids of whom you have spoken, by them I shall be held in honour.’
After Saul’s death and David’s anointing as King, one of the first things he does after the defeat of Israel’s old enemies the Philistines is to bring the Ark of the Covenant — the dwelling place of God since the earliest days of Israel — to the city of Jerusalem where he establishes the capital.
It’s an occasion for great rejoicing and David gives himself over fully to the moment and giving thanks to God.
Think of your own self… how often are you so truly comfortable in your own skin that you can give yourself over to being free as the moment takes you to respond?
So often we are self-conscious, anxious of what’s expected of us and those expectations, or that anxiety, inhibits our communication… maybe keeping us quiet when we long to share our thoughts because of fear of what others might think, or becoming reticent to show our feelings because we’re anxious about what might happen…
God longs for us to come as we are, to be fully open, without fear or anxiety…
What if, like David, we could dance as though no one was watching…?
How do you come to God today?
Why not take a moment to notice….
Without judgement.
Are you heavy? Or do you come lightly? Are you weary, or energetic? Are you joyful or are you in a season of lament?
Would others know how you are feeling by watching?
Would you feel free enough, confident enough to let them really see?
Can you be real with God today and show how you really are… with the one who sees and cares?
PRAYER:
El Roi,
The One Who Sees Me…
All that I am.
Remind me of what it feels like to come to you as a child,
Freely with wild abandon,
With my heart on my sleeve —
Just to revel in your love.
Just to be free…
Just for a moment.
Let me shake off my grown-up armour
And feel the weightlessness of just being me
Before you God.
Seeing what you see before you God…
Me…
The apple of your eye.
Amen
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