Undignified Series

Undignified Worship

2 Samuel 6:12 – 23

In the early 1900’s, there was a little boy who lived out in the country who dreamed of being able to see a circus. He had heard great things from his friends about the circus, but he had never been to see one. One day, the boy was excited to find out that a circus was indeed coming to town, so he asked his father if he could go. His father agreed to the request as long as all of the chores were done. When the morning arrived, the child woke up early and finished all of his chores, so he went to his dad for the dollar bill he would need to get in. His dad gave the boy the bill and sent him into town to see the circus.

As the boy reached town, he began to notice that people were lining the streets. Finding a place to squeeze in, he watched the parade of those who were going to appear in the circus. The animals went by on foot and in cages. The ringmaster bowed to applause. A marching band came by and played some music. Finally, a clown brought up the end of the line. Reaching into his pocket, the boy took that single dollar and gave it to the clown. Before the clown could reply, the boy turned around and went home.

Why had the boy given the clown the dollar? The boy thought he had seen the entire circus when in fact he had only seen the parade. He was impressed with what he saw, but he only experienced a portion of the great things the circus had to offer. There was so much more that he missed out on.

I think this same thing happens in church as well. We come with the intent of worshipping, but all we see is the parade. We see the worship leader, the words to the songs, friends, and the pastor. When the service is over, we are satisfied with all that has gone on, but we have missed the most extraordinary part. We missed an intimate time of deep worship with God. That is what church is to be about.

Last week, we talked about some non-negotiables that we need to have in our worship times according to the Bible. Our worship must be God-centered, excellent, passionate, celebratory, reverent, and diverse. This is the first step in having worship that is pleasing to God. The next step is to go deeper. We must develop a personal and intimate bond with God in worship. To do that, we must become undignified, and to learn what that is, we must look to Scripture. Turn with me to 2 Samuel 6:12-23.

Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went down and brought the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing. When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the Lord with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sounds of trumpets. As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart. They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the Name of the Lord Almighty. Then, he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes. When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!” David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord’s people Israel – I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.