Comments on: David Danced Why Can’t I?

By: Rev. Paul R. Harris

Rev. Paul R. Harris — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 16:41:17 +0000

“Got me”; it is disdain the noun though distain could be made to work as verb. The poster ignores the context of David’s dance but is right that humbling oneself is part of worship as is rejoicing. However, in and from the world, we certainly do get less from expressing Christian humility and joy. The poster apparently doesn’t understand what even Muslims do. Palm Sunday was a humiliating event. Up till the 19th century in some Muslim countries Christian’s were required to ride donkeys not horses. In the Imperial pages quarters in Rome dating to the 2nd century there is a crude sketch on a wall of a crucified man with the head of donkey. The inscription reads, “Alexmenos worships his god.” As far as what I can’t bring myself to say: Theologians of the cross call things what they are; theologians of glory call things what they want them to be. N.B. I said nothing about dancing being impure; she did.

By: cathi

cathi — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 06:56:47 +0000

///quoting/// …It is more exciting. They get more out of it. David got less out of it. He got the distain of his wife. He was abasing Himself before the Lord who condescended to come to where He is. He danced because he knew he was unworthy. .//..unquote/////

I think you meant “disdain”?

David didn’t get “less” out of it! If you read Psalms prayerfully, you will find that for yourself.

Whenever we humble ourselves, we don’t get “less out of it.” We are enriched instead.

“Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing: thou hast put off my sackcloth, and girded me with gladness; to the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent!” (Psalm 30)

Those who humble themselves will be _exalted_.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is — there is liberty.

It would be more appropriate to say: “David danced because he knew that the Lord loved & forgave him, and he was _filled_ with the Holy Spirit. David danced because he was grateful,” etc.

Of course, there are also Psalms that say that we ought to praise the Lord in dance.

Holding a palm frond doesn’t sound like a humiliating idea to me, nor does it sound like something that was _meant_ to be humiliating. I’m sure it is for some people!

///quote//// David wasn’t dancing to be dancing. He was dancing to be humiliating himself before the Lord. ////unquote////

Nor do I advocate dancing for the sake of excitement or “to be dancing.”

You can’t bring yourself to say that the Lord enjoys seeing us having fun as we worship and praise, because it seems impure to you. — Yes, there are some idiots (who act and dance impurely) who are NOT doing it for the Lord. … But that doesn’t mean that the Lord doesn’t grant joy to His own children! He fills them with His Holy Spirit, and they dance and praise — Not for any other reason but because they love Him! — They do not dance in ORDER TO humiliate themselves; nor did David. They dance (as David did) as a form of sincere worship. Humility is a _part_ of that sincere worship; so is gratitude, trust, adoration, thankfulness . . . It bubbles up.

And it warms the heart, sustains the spirit, and shines out from bright faces of those who love the Lord and are full of His Spirit.

“But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

By: Bart Goddard

Bart Goddard — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 16:40:28 +0000

I watched the video and had several reactions. The last
reaction was “What? No rousing applause at the end?”
My chief reaction was to the most repeated line of the song,
“We lift You up on our praises.” I seems to me, first, that
it was our _sins_ which lifted Jesus up, and, second, perhaps
we can, in some sense, lift Jesus up on our praises, but
on Easter, His raising of _Himself_ ought to be the
focus. The dance and song shows that Jesus can’t
entertain us without our help and that He can’t raise Himself
without our help. Maybe it’s not a matter of whether we
can dance before the Lord, but whether we can blaspheme
before the Lord.

By: Outer Rim Territories » Blog Archive » David Danced Why Can’t I?

Outer Rim Territories » Blog Archive » David Danced Why Can’t I? — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:07:07 +0000

This blogger has posted on his blog a video of a dance done in an LCMS church on Easter Sunday. It should be viewed. PRH

[...] Danced Why Can’t I? April 5th, 2008 | by Christopher Gillespie | Print This Post St. Antony’s Cave » Blog Archive » David Danced Why Can’t I? …The problem is the contemporary worship movement hasn’t added dancing or bumping another [...]