v 16 But as the Ark of the Lord entered the City of David, Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked down from her window. When she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she was filled with contempt for him.
Being quite blunt, David’s wife Michal, thought David was making a fool of himself. Did she think it was undignified for the King to be up front in leading the leaping and dancing? When David finally went home to bless his own family (v 20) he was greeted with, “How distinguished the king of Israel looked today, shamelessly exposing himself to the servant girls like any vulgar person might do!” Did David dance naked as some commentators suggest? Whatever was the case, David was totally unabashed, his forthright response was ‘ so I celebrate before the Lord. Yes, and I am willing to look even more foolish than this, even to be humiliated in my own eyes! ‘ When it came to celebrating God’s goodness David saw his own reputation as insignificant. He worried not one bit about how others viewed his celebrations. Putting God first was what mattered so deeply to David. It wasn’t a matter of showing off, or being eccentric, or even being especially holy in some way; it was simply that he wanted to celebrate God’s goodness and that was enough.
Are you regarded as a bit odd in your family or amongst your friends that you want to worship God with others? Perhaps your work colleagues think it strange that you want to give up part of your weekend to worship, or your Sports Club friends can’t understand why you won’t join them on Sunday morning.
Just how important is your standing in their eyes when compared with offering yourself to God to honour him?