As part of my morning walk with God I listen to the bible and some worship to help me start the day and focus things. At the end of my walk I head over to Spotify and listen to some Rend Collective Songs. One in particular recently has been on repeat, big time! It’s called; Undignified.
Here are some of the lyrics to give you an idea:
I am dancing as David danced
In the thrill of a wild romance
I’m in love, and I’m not ashamed
Love’s a fire that won’t be tamed
Oh, my soul, was not born to be caged
OK, let’s step back a moment and get some context. You can read about this moment in 2 Samuel 6:14-23. ‘And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.’
Why? What was going on? Well David and his people were bringing the ark of the Lord back into their community as God had instructed them to. As the ark was moving forward David was in front of it dancing with everything he had, I liked that.
David was caught up in the thrill of a wild romance, he was unashamed of his love and passion to worship God. This is powerful and I personally felt that for me, I needed to unlock this level in my own faith walk with God.
But, here’s the rub with this one, just a few months before, David and the boys tried moving the ark, but it hit a rut in the path started to fall and a lad called Uzzah reached out to steady the ark from failing. In this moment Uzzah was struck dead instantly. Now, we are not doing a theological essay here but, we can summarise that this was a bad move and the ark was something so connected to God that no human hand could survive touching it/his presence. It was a big deal.
David was angry about this, angry with God. The progress of the ark was halted because it splintered the relationship for a time while David went away and processed it.
The point I am trying to make is that David went from angry and upset with God to uncontrollable joy in the presence of God, he gave God the full spectrum of his life and emotion. It is ok to go to God with your anger, even if it is about him and something in your relationship with him. It might feel irreverent, but I actually don’t think it is. Can Jesus take your anger at him? Frustration at him when you feel let down, hurt or that life is just so brutally unfair? Yes he can take it. What you discover is as you take this raw emotion at the end of both scales, anger and joy, to Jesus he transforms you. Works it through, deals with it and helps you deal with it.
The song goes on to say, ‘my soul was not born to be caged’. These emotions, moments and the ‘stuff’ we go through in life can cage us spiritually and perhaps this is one of the rarest things about the life of David in the bible. A man who tasted victory and defeat both personally and professionally, but he knew how to be real in his walk and relationship with God.
What about you?
Image Credit: Andre Hunter
