DAVID WAS DANCING BEFORE THE LORD

2 Samuel 2:6:1-23, Key verse 14-15

“Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, ¹⁵ while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.”

Have you made a mistake and learned from it? When you did it right the second time, how did you feel? Today, David brought the ark of God without the fear of the Lord at the first time, but at the second time, he did right before God, which gave him such joy and blessed his people, except for one who despised his action before the Lord. There are 2 parts. 

1. God’s Anger Broke Out (1-10)

Look at verses 1-2. “David again brought together all the able young men of Israel—thirty thousand. ² He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, which is called by the Name, the name of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim on the ark.” After God established David as the king of Israel, blessing him even with a palace, David also established the tabernacle, where the ark of God should have been. God promised to dwell in it according to Exodus 25:8. But the ark of God was not in Jerusalem but in the house of Abinadab. Why was the ark in the house of Abinadab? 1 Samuel 4-7:2 explains how the ark of God was taken by the Philistines and came back to the house of Abinadab. When the people of Israel depended the ark of God and took it to the war against the Philistines, they lost the war and the Philistines took it with them. 

But the Philistines decided to return the ark due to plagues God brought on their people in the cities wherever they moved the ark. Finally, they sent it on a cart pulled by milk cows that left their baby calves behind, through which they knew that all the plagues happened by the power of God. They even gave glory to the God of Israel, and the ark arrived at Beth-Shemesh. Without Levites whom God authorized to handle the ark, 70 men of Beth-Shemesh looked into the ark of God, and God killed them all. The fear of the Lord fell on the people, and the men of Kiriath-jearim brought the ark to the house of Abinadab and consecrated Eleazar to have charge of the ark of God. Our God Almighty is “I am who I am,” meaning self-existent and self-sufficient. 

David wanted to bring the ark of God to the tabernacle he made in the City of David. Why? First of all, it is the right thing to do. The ark should be in the tabernacle as God prescribed. For 70 years it was neglected during the time of Saul. Moreover, the ark of God represents the presence of God. The ark of God is called the ark of the covenant. It is also called by the name of the Lord Almighty, who promised to meet the high priest on the mercy seat between the cherubim 1) to give the people all his commands, and 2) to forgive their sins through pouring the blood of the offering on it. (Ex 25)

What did David do in order to bring the ark of God to Jerusalem? Firstly, David gathered 30,000 able young men of Israel. Why did David bring so many young men with him? They are the next generation leaders. It would be a historical and spiritual lesson, going with David to carry the ark of God back to the tabernacle. It is very important to raise spiritual leaders among young people, who will be our next generation leaders for our church, for our society and for the world salvation work. Thank God for our growing young leaders among us. May God bless M. Mary Kim’s dissertation, to understand our Gen Zs in N.A. UBF and to know how to raise them to be leaders. 

Secondly, he set the ark of God on a new cart and let cows pull it as the Philistines did. Look at verse 3-4. However, it was the way the Philistines did in 1 Sam 6. How happy David and all Israel were as they were celebrating with all their might before the Lord. They were playing music with all kinds of musical instruments and probably singing and shouting.

But their joy did not last long. Look at verses 6-7. Carrying the ark of God on a new cart from the hill, the oxen stumbled while coming to the threshing floor of Nakon. Uzzah took hold of the ark. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah and killed him. Why? It was because of his irreverent act. The ark of God cannot be touched by a human. It should be carried by the Levites using the poles through the rings on the four corners of the ark. As God promised to dwell above the ark on the mercy seat, they should treat the ark of God with reverent fear. 

What was David’s response? Look at verses 8-10. David was angry because the Lord killed Uzzah. He was afraid of the Lord that day. It was the time of David learning to have the fear of God. He did not know what to do with the ark of God and halted the process, taking it to the house of Obed-Edom. Yet, it was the time for David to check his actions. 1) David followed the pattern of the Philistines. But God does not want his people to follow the way of the worldly people. 2) David did not follow the word of God. He followed the way of the Philistines in carrying the ark on a cart. Ex 37:3-5 say that the ark should be carried by the poles overlaid with gold through the gold rings on the four corners. 3) The ark should be carried by the descendants of Levi. David had good intention and action but neither had the fear of God nor followed the way of God. 1 Chronicles 15 is the same event as this chapter, and David said in verse 13, “It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the Lord our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way.” The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.

We may think Uzzah did not do anything wrong; rather, he was trying to help the ark of God not to fall from the cart as the oxen stumbled. But this passage teaches us that we cannot come to God in our own way, even with our good minds or deeds. All our righteous acts are like dirty rags. We are saved not by our good acts but by faith in God’s acts. We must approach God in God’s prescribed way. Jesus taught his disciples that God is our Father, but we cannot treat God as a grandchild pulling and playing with his long beard. Our God is holy and righteous. With trembling and fear, we must work out our salvation.

2. David Danced Before the Lord (11-23)

What happened to the ark? Look at verse 11-12. While the ark of God was in Obed-Edom’s house, the Lord blessed him and his household. When King David heard that the Lord blessed the household of Obed-Edom because of the ark of God, he was encouraged to bring the ark again with joy. 

What did David do different from the first time? 1) David obeyed God’s word. Look at verse 13, “When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf.” David learned from his mistake. He made the Levites to carry the ark of God this time. In 1 Chronicles 15:2, David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the Lord chose them to carry the ark of the Lord and to minister before him forever.” We are human beings who are men and women of mistakes. Let’s learn from our mistakes and learn to live with wisdom of obedience to God’s word. 

2) David made offerings to God. After every 6 steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. Now David is obeying Deut 16:16b, “No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed.” 

3) David was wearing a linen ephod. Look at verse 14-15, “Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, ¹⁵ while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.” He wore an ephod when he was inquiring of the Lord, and the priest Abiathar brought it to him. (1 Sam 30:7) As a priest serves their duty or come to the presence of the Holy God in reverence in an ephod, David was doing all these in the presence of the Holy God in reverence. 

4) David danced before the Lord with all his might. “Before the Lord” is the same expression as in Ex 28:29, as Aaron bears the names of all Israel and enters the Holy Place before the Lord. This means David danced as if he danced not before people but before the living God. Dancing is the ultimate expression of one’s joy with his body. David learned to have the fear of God. As he came to God in the way of God, he was bringing the ark of God with all people of Israel into the tabernacle he built in Jerusalem. At the same time, he was joyful, doing what is right before God. In his joy he could not but dance before the Lord God Almighty, who has been with him in exile and in Judah and finally raised him to be the king of Israel as he promised. He became like a little child, dancing before the presence of God the Father. Recently, our young disciples are experiencing the presence of God. God called Micah for mission trips and provided him with sufficient funds and God’s word. God is answering Fabian’s prayer for his family to be saved beginning from his mom and now working on his brother, and God has answered Rebekah’s prayer, giving her a scholarship even without applying for it. But Jesus said, “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” May God grant each one of us the joy of salvation and we can dance like David with reverence. 

But there was one unhappy camper. Look at verse 16. When Michal saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she could not understand the joy David had before God. Instead of trying to understand David or participate in his joy, she despised David in her heart. But soon what was in her heart came out and brought tragedy in her life. 

When the ark of the Lord came into the tabernacle he made, David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. David blessed the people and gave them gifts. When David returned home to bless his household, Michal came out and despised David like a crazy man. From her worldly perspective, she was not able to see David’s action from God’s perspective. David said that he will be more undignified than the dancing Michal despised. But he will be honored by the people, even by the slave girls she mentioned. Everyone else understood David except her. Before the Lord, David felt he was nothing but God made him the king of Israel. Before the Lord David became like a little child, trying to please God the Father. 

When we go back to our child life, we may understand better. When I was 5 or 6 years old, my father loved watching pro-wrestling. After watching it on the TV, I played like the wrestler, who was famous through head butting. I was head butting even to a wall. When we come before God, we should be like a little child. A little child is humble and obedient. A little child has learning mind and joyful with a small compliment from parents. A little child wants to please parents and is eager to receive love. Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Those who humble themselves like a little child will be exalted. But those who exalt themselves will be humbled. 

Through today’s passage, we learn that David learned from his first mistake, bringing the ark of God to the tabernacle he made in Jerusalem with the reverent fear of God, and following God’s way with great joy, dancing and leaping like a little child before our God the Father. Let’s learn from our mistakes, live according to God’s way with reverent fear and dance like a little child before God the Father with the joy of our salvation in any situation. Amen!