David is outside in the street worshiping the LORD with all of his heart! He is bringing the sacrifice of praise on his lips. He is dancing before the LORD with all his might. He is wearing the garments of “praise to the LORD”. He is wearing the righteousness of Christ; the garments of a priest of God. He is rejoicing! He is leaping, whirling around and dancing in worship before the LORD! There is shouting and the sound of the trumpet! He is offering many offerings of worship before the LORD His God.
But Michal is inside the house. She prefers to be where she is comfortable, where her idols are (1sam19:13). She is looking out the window and sees David outside. He is in the streets! In her pride, she is disgusted by what she sees. She is much like her father Saul. She is a professing Christian but she hates the true consecrated life of David. She looks: David is worshiping the LORD with joyful abandon. He is blessing the people in the name of the LORD of hosts. He is ministering; distributing food to all the people, to all the multitude of Israel.
David intends to bless those in the house as well, but before he can, Michal bitterly rebukes him for what she considers his undignified behavior. She is all about appearances and looking good and respectable on the outside. She criticizes him for not being dressed properly for worship according to her standards. She is very embarrassed by his “unnecessarily excessive” devotion to God, his willingness to publicly humble himself and his “inappropriate” display of zeal for the things of the LORD. Her lukewarm heart desires to mock and persecute the soul that is aflame with the Spirit of God. She resents his pursuit of God. She is supposed to be supportive and kind to David, but instead she attacks with venom. Like snakes and scorpions, her words do bite and sting.
David knows that the LORD chose him, and because of this, he will celebrate with joy before the LORD. He knows that he will be even more humiliated and undignified than this. He does not mind, he is happy to be humbled and despised for the sake of God, and according to His will. He is not ashamed of abandoned worship to Yahweh. He is not discouraged by the disparaging remarks from the Pharisees. Love, devotion, humility, gratitude, and faith proceed out of David. But Michal bears no fruit at all.
2 Samuel 6:14-23
David=Jesus, Jacob, true remnant believers, the unashamed
Michal=Saul, Esau, Cain, Pharisees, lukewarm, professing Christians,Church System, ashamed
Michal’s house=lukewarm apathetic apostate Church with idols
Distributing food to the multitude of Israel= teaching, feeding the ppl with Spirit and Truth
found this quote:
“The world will tolerate religion so long as its carnal repose is not disturbed; yea, while it provides a garb to hide its shame, the world approves. But let the high claims of God be pressed, let it be insisted on that He demands the first place in our affections, thoughts, and lives, and such a message is at once distasteful. The professing Christian who attends the church on Sunday and the theatre during the week, who contributes occasionally to missionary societies but underpays his servants and overcharges his customers, is commended for his broad-mindedness and shrewdness. But the real Christian who lives in the fear of the Lord all the day long, and who conducts himself as a stranger and pilgrim in this scene, is condemned as a bigot and puritan. Let the saint weep over the dishonoring of his Lord by many that bear His name, or leap for joy in his service as David did, and like David he will be dubbed a fanatic and his whole-heartedness will be similarly censured.”
—by A.W.Pink
Is there a way to delete my comment from May 24 listing my full name, as Google apparently displays these entries prominently when employers search for name and I had no idea a post here would be so searchable on Google, sorry but I didn’t know your email – it’s the one with my name and last name on May 24, I prefer to keep my comments anonymous and thank you for your help with this, Natalie
Natalie, I’ll write to you via email now. love, Loretta
What is God by the Spirit leading you to do? How is He having you respond to Him? The Religious will look down and hold you in contempt. If you are not conforming to established propriety, you will be condemned by the religiously proper. If you are not going along with tradition and Church customs, you will be belittled and despised. If you do not behave the way she thinks you should act as a proper Christian, (according to her list of rules) you will be maligned. But you know she does not understand. You know the Truth and you celebrate with joy. And you do not mind being humbled for His sake. You listen to Him and are led by Him. You know who you are in Him.
Another excellent study Lorreta thanks in abundance.
Bill