Enthusiastic Worship
II Samuel 6
A Sermon by Dr. Neil Chadwick
Nearly two hundred and fifty years ago the founder of the Methodist Church, John Wesley, printed a hymnbook. At the beginning of the book he included these "Directions For Singing": 2. Sing them exactly as they are printed here without altering or mending them at all. 3. Sing all. See that you join with a congregation as frequently as you can, let not a slight degree or weariness hinder you. 4. Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. 5. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation so that you may not destroy the harmony. 6. Sing in tune. Whatever time is sung be sure to keep with it, do not run before or stay behind it; but attend close to the leading voices, and move there exactly as you can; and take care not to sing too slow. 7. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing. In this regard, it's interesting to note that around the same time as he published the hymnbook, Wesley also preached a sermon he titled, "The Nature of Enthusiasm". (Sermon XXXII) The starting text for this 39 point sermon was Acts 26:24, "And Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself."
However, the problem with the Old Testament wilderness worshippers was not "how" they worshipped, but "who" they worshipped. They were worshipping the god of Egypt, claiming they had been delivered from bondage by a cow! On the contrary, there are numerous examples in the Bible where joyful, enthusiastic expressions are very much approved.
2) Joyful praise is encouraged in the Psalms:
"Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp." (Psalm 149:3) "Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs." (Psalm 150:4) 3) Enthusiastic worship was predicted by the prophets ("Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow." Jeremiah 31:13) 4) In the New Testament, at the wedding at Cana, Jesus produced the best wine. (John 2) 5) When He told the story of the returning son, Jesus included the part about the party. (Luke 15:25 - there was "music and dancing") 6) Jesus defended the enthusiastic outbursts of the children, and scolded the indignant priests and teachers by reminding them that "`From the lips of children and infants [God has] ordained praise.'" (Matthew 21:15,16) 7) Watch the man healed by Peter and John. As he entered the Temple, he was "walking and leaping and praising God" probably for the first time in his life. (Acts 3:8) 8) While in a Philippian jail, Paul and Silas sang songs at midnight. (Acts 16) What then is this dancing? Most of what the Bible means with the use of this term is what the formerly lame man did when he was healed outside the Temple gate - he leaped. Adam Clarke defines it this way: "unpremeditated and involuntary skipping . . . the effect of sudden mental elation." This leads us to consider the story of David, recounted in II Samuel 6 and I Chronicles 15. In those days, the Ark of God, which Moses had made in the wilderness, represented the presence of God among His people. Having been captured by the Philistines, it had been moved from place to place, first sitting in the pagan temple where the god Dagon had fallen down and was found broken into several pieces. From there the Ark was moved to two other Philistine cities, resulting in affliction and panic before it was finally returned to Israel seven months later; it was carried on a wagon laden with gifts of gold, pulled along by two oxen without a driver. The Philistines believed that if the oxen independently took the cart back into Israelite territory, that would be proof enough that it was the God of Israel who had caused them all their troubles. (I Samuel 5,6) Several years later, after one aborted attempt (II Samuel 6 and I Chronicles 13), the ark was finally brought into the City of David, Jerusalem. It is during this processional that we learn of David's dance before the Lord. (II Samuel 6:13-23) Follow this simple sketch organized according to the verse numbers:
15. There were shouts and trumpets. 16. Michal, daughter of Saul, scorned her husband David. 17. There were sacrifices and offerings. 18. A blessing was pronounced on the people. 19. Gifts of bread, dates and raisins were given to each in attendance. 20. David went home to bless his family - Michal accused him of lewd behavior. 21. David defended his behavior, and 22. Predicted a future with more of the same behavior with honor. 23. Michal remained barren. 1) Being aware of the presence of the Lord called forth from David an enthusiastic response.
In a way, Michal may have had other reasons to despise David. Perhaps she was still upset about being taken back from her second husband, Paltiel (II Samuel 3). After all David had several wives, and he may have been acting in opposition to the law which indicated a man could not take back a wife who had gone to be with another man (Deuteronomy 24).
It was "before the Lord" that David danced - it was not for his own pleasure, or for the benefit of others;
We believe that in the present day the ark of the Lord, the very manifest presence of God, is being brought back into the city of God, which for us is the church of Jesus Christ. How will we welcome this? With the scornful, bitter response of Michal, or with the enthusiastic response like that of David? When John Wesley preached his sermon on "The Nature of Enthusiasm," he obviously wasn't saying we should not be enthusiastic in our worship. He was trying to guard against the deception where people claim to be filled with the Spirit but are not. Certainly we agree that we should not merely put on a show of enthusiasm, but rather be prepared to respond to the presence of the Lord by worshipping the Lord with our entire being, enthusiastically praising the Lord with body, soul, and spirit.
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