This morning I've been pondering the dance that David did before the LORD and how Michal despised him for it (2 Sam. 6).
She was Saul's daughter, born to royalty. She knew the life of luxury. Now she was a queen. But here is her husband, the king, dancing in the street, as a commoner. Dancing with the plebes. How dare he! This is beneath the dignity of his high state.
My take, therefore, is that David's dance, far from being useful in making statements in favor of the employment of popular beat and music--to say nothing of liturgical dance--into the church's song, is rather a prolepsis of the humiliation of Christ. David did not come down from heaven, but he came down from his throne. He was not equal with God, but he was a bearer of God's kingship. And he, like Jesus, made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant.
The dance of David is about the humiliation of David. Michal despises this, because she is the bride of false devotion. She, and not he, is more the token of false worship. He will not succumb to her pressure, but remains resolute in his humble devotion to God.
Such is true faith.
A brilliant observation Fr. E - -
ReplyDeleteI'm stealing it ;)
Brother Rogue,
ReplyDeleteYou are not stealing, you have done research.
Pax,
Fr. J. W. Berg
I have said same Fr. John everytime I've preached one of your sacramental/incarnational homilies- - which, I've "researched" from the pages of Gottesdienst:hard-copy.
ReplyDeletePax Vobiscum
How does it fit in that Saul had married her off to somebody else earlier?
ReplyDelete"My take, therefore, is that David's dance, far from being useful in making statements in favor of the employment of popular beat and music--to say nothing of liturgical dance--into the church's song, is rather a prolepsis of the humiliation of Christ."
ReplyDeleteAny usefulness is also hobbled by the fact that the king's improvisational "dirty dancing" was done on the mean streets of life, and not within the innards of God's house.
God is remarkably flexible and creative when it comes to mundane existence on earth; He even squeezed into a manger (dimensions unspecified). If the prophetic unfoldings of the Pentateuch, Ezekiel and Revelation mean anything at all, He is unstintingly precise, orderly and decent when it comes to even the measurements of His dwelling. Plus, He seems to like incense.
Your (unworthy) servant,
Herr Doktor