(Un)Dignity in Worship

Carrying the Presence

Historical Background:

David had it in his heart to take the ark up from Kiriath-Jearim (see 1Samuel 6:21-7:1), where it had been since the Philistines returned it (see 1Sam. 5-6), and before Saul was anointed King (1Sam. 10:1). We read about his first failed attempt and second successful attempt in 2Samuel 6. This is some time after David has been king, conquered Jerusalem, and is beginning to enjoy a time of relative stability.

Excessive or Expressive?

What I want us to notice today is in both the failed and successful attempts to bring up the ark, the worship appears to be excessive and noisy (at least by Reformed standards of worship!). The first time we read this: "David and all Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with castanets, harps, lyres, timbrels, sistrums and cymbals" (2Sam. 6:5).  During the second time the worship seems even louder: "Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets" (2Sam. 6:14–15).

Now, for those champions of decorum in worship, we might have expected a less expressive, a less noisy and more dignified worship after a failed attempt. After all, didn't the first attempt fail because of the lack of respect Uzzah had for the ark (2Sam.6:7), what the Bible describes as "his irreverent act"? After all, isn't all this noise and hullabaloo also wildly irreverent too?

The Regulative Principle 

There's this really weird thing in Reformed theology called the Regulative Principle. The intent of this is right: God should only be worshiped in the way Scripture prescribes that He should be worshiped. It was created during the Reformation, ostensibly to get rid of a lot of superstition that had crept into the Church during the Middle Ages (or perhaps just to be "not Roman Catholic").

The weird thing about this principle is that it is so unevenly applied. Certain things are accepted as prescribed in Scripture, other expressions of worship found in Scripture are not understood this way. I believe this is because the principle has come to be filtered through cultural assumptions. For example, although Psalm 150:4 says "Praise Him with timbrel and dancing," Some object when someone actually plays a timbrel (tambourine?) and certainly if they would dance in a worship service. Or how about "Shout for joy to the Lord all the earth" (Psalm 100:1)? How do we Reformed types feel about shouting for joy during a worship service? Although these things are actually commanded in Scripture (they are in the imperative voice), we somehow believe that these things are not valid for us. Where is the principle?

Dignity and Humility in Worship

 As David brings up the ark to Jerusalem, he dances with all his might, stripping down to his undergarments (possibly to be able to move more freely - or maybe he just got hot). His wife Michal, daughter of Saul, despises David for his wild dancing (2Sam. 6:16); she objects to all this as a vulgar display (2Sam.6:20). In other words, David is not acting as a king should act. He is not behaving with the dignity with which a king should act before his subjects.

David's response is meant to teach her and us about worship: "It was before the Lord..." he says. While Michal's concern is the people, David's focus is the Lord. Often in worship people will or won't do certain things because "what will other people think?" Or, if someone seems to cross some imaginary culture boundary of propriety, they will judge that person as acting in an improper way (and may even talk to the pastor about it!). This is a Michal-like response. Michal, by the way, isn't worshiping God at all, she's just watching--and judging.

To further turn on its head the way Reformed Regulative Principle is often understood and applied, David says "I will celebrate before the Lord! I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes," (from 2Sam.6:21-22). In other words, David is saying that in his celebration before the Lord, he is only beginning to explore the bounds of expressive celebration. He doesn't care one wit about his dignity. He doesn't care what other people think about him, or even what he thinks about himself! Personal dignity in worship is not the issue!

In this chapter, the phrase "before the Lord" occurs six times. Michal missed it; she missed the significance of this event and even more importantly she missed the Lord's presence among His people! Her focus was completely wrong, and therefore so was her assessment of David's expression of celebration before God.

I would never suggest that exorbitant celebration is the only proper form of worship. Of course not! It's also important to be quiet before the Lord (Psalm 46:10; Habakkuk 2:20, for example). But silence isn't the only form of worship. There is a time for quietness and a time for loud celebration.

All the Colors of Worship

Worship has many forms, many shapes, many colors, many sounds. It may be in a minor key, or a major one, Dorian or Mixolidian. It may be blue or yellow, gray or red. It may find the shape of high liturgy, or the freedom of total spontaneity. It may be all of those and blends of all of those. 

One thing worship is not is monotone, or monochromatic. Reading the Psalms, the worship book of the Bible, we find a very wide variety of expression. It's hard to think of an emotion that can't be found in the Psalms in some form or other, as all our emotions belong to God in worship.

I suppose there may be such a thing as excess in worship among some groups. I suppose that there are people who get so carried away that they actually are more interested in their wildness and freedom in worship than the One they claim to be worshiping. I don't think that's an issue among us Reformed types. If anything, we're more inclined to hold back too much. We take "decently and in order" out of its context: "do all things" (including speaking in tongues and prophesying in worship - 1Corinthians 14). I suspect the Reformed understanding of "decently and in order" is not the same as God's.

As David shows in this passage, and throughout the psalms that he wrote, God's greatness requires everything in us that can praise Him. This includes singing, playing musical and rhythm instruments, shouting, blowing trumpets, dancing, as well as tears, quietness, peace. It includes the type of joy that that's noisy and the type of joy that's at rest. 

God deserves our worship in all of its colors. Let's not outlaw certain of them because they don't fit our assumptions. Let's recapture the regulative principle and turn it on it's head: if it's in the Bible and it's not condemned there, it's okay for us too!