The Way
The Ark Comes Up with Dancing
A king dancing with all his might
Story
Word reached the king that the Lord had blessed the house of Obed-edom. David set out again and brought the ark up with joy. This time it was not on a cart; people carried it. When they had taken six steps, David sacrificed an ox and a fattened calf. Then, wearing a linen ephod, he danced before the Lord with all his might. Shouts and the blast of trumpets rang through every street of the City of David.
Just then David's wife Michal, Saul's daughter, looked out of a window. She saw the king leaping and dancing before the Lord, and in her heart she despised him. The ark was set in its place inside the tent David had pitched. David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings and blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. Then he gave every man and woman a loaf of bread, a portion of meat and a cake of raisins.
When David came home to bless his household, Michal came out to meet him with a sneer: “How glorious the king of Israel was today, throwing off all dignity before the eyes of his servants' slave girls!” David answered, “It was before the Lord that I danced. Before the one who chose me over your father, I will celebrate. I will make myself even lower than this.” Michal, the daughter of Saul, had no children to the day of her death.
Walk this scene on the map →Words of God and David
It was before the Lord that I danced. Before the Lord, who chose me over your father and all his house and made me leader of Israel, I will celebrate.
I will become even lower than this, and humble in my own eyes. But by those slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.
How glorious the king of Israel was today, throwing off his dignity like some vulgar fellow before the eyes of his servants' slave girls!
The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: 2 Sam 6:12–23
Background
The ephod was a short garment worn by priests. That the king wore a linen ephod rather than royal robes is read as a sign that he stood there as a worshiper. This time, as the law required, people carried the ark on their shoulders.
Pause and Reflect
Do I value joy before God more than how people see me?