Dance in worship - what does the Bible say?

These outward expressions of praise (David in a linen robe and dancing) are not for the saints in the church of God now, whose melody is made in their hearts, and more acceptable to God than the best harmony of voice and instrument, even though the singers and the players, yea, the instruments be all appointed by Him, as they were at that feast of joy (1 Chron. 16:42). For the song of the church exceeds that song of Israel infinitely more than that song exceeded the perhaps disorderly singing and shouting which characterised the previous attempt to bring the ark to Jerusalem, but which ended in failure.

Israel will not always be dumb as to the praise of Messiah. They will yet sing when that day comes. "Praise waits for Thee, O God, in Zion." Many scriptures prove it. "Let Israel rejoice in him that made him. Let the children of Zion be joyful in their king" (Ps. 149). It will be quite in its place by and by for an earthly people to have the dance and the instrumental music. But we are "holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling," and God has given us no warrant for such things now that the Holy Ghost is here since Pentecost, and we have the Holy Spirit indwelling the Christian, and the church. On the contrary, where singing in the assembly is spoken of, it is, "I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also." Do we want more?

Instrumental music is out of place at such a gathering and contrary to the spirit and character of the Assembly so gathered. The object before us at such a time is not the pleasing of our senses, our fallen nature, or the gratifying of the outsider with pleasing sounds, but the presenting to God of what suits Him-that with which He has filled our hearts by the Holy Spirit. That which is acceptable and pleasing to God is "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord" (Eph. 5:19), "singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord" (Col. 3:16). After all, no instrument can equal in effect the human voice; so said Haydn a famous composer. With Israel, an earthly people, we find instrumental music in place, but the Church is a heavenly body and all is to be by the Holy Spirit. It should hardly be necessary to add that reverence should certainly accompany a true spirit of worship. Since we enter into the holiest of all, our souls should be filled with such reverence and godly fear as becomes the presence of God. If we consider the examples given of worshippers in the Scriptures, we find that saints of every age were careful to express reverence before God even in the posture of body which they assumed in worship and prayer. Abraham fell on his face before the Lord (Gen. 17:99; Moses bowed his head toward the earth and worshipped (Ex. 34:8) ; the Levites called the people to, "Stand up and bless the Lord your God" (Neh. 9:5). The wise men fell down and worshipped the Child Jesus and the leper who was healed fell down at Jesus' feet (Matt. 2:11; Luke 17:16). To assume positions of bodily ease and indifference during praise or prayer (when physical infirmities do not hinder), certainly does not express reverence before the Lord.

And the trumpets! And joy! And David rejoicing with all his might before the Lord! The king was clothed with a linen ephod (v. 14), the distinctive garment of the priests. Here we see him once more become a type of Christ in His future glory. There is a bit of Melchisedek in the person of David as he is presented to us here. Here we have kingship united to priesthood. Blessing goes up from the people to God by David's mouth, and blessing comes down from God upon all the people through His mediator (vv. 17-18).

“David danced before Jehovah with all his might” (v. 14). He made himself ridiculous; at least that is what Michal, Saul's daughter, felt and said when she saw her husband forgetting his dignity that he might exalt the Lord alone. Often the world judges the worship given to God by His children to be ridiculous; and the more it is according to God the more those who offer it will be despised. This is because the worshipper makes no account of himself. “We … worship by the Spirit of God,” says the apostle, “and boast in Christ Jesus, and do not trust in flesh” (Phil. 3:3). David in himself was nothing; he was vile: “I will make myself yet more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight” (2 Sam. 6:22). This cannot suit the world, but thanks be to God, there are simple souls who understand this abasement and esteem it an honor when the Lord is concerned: “And of the handmaids that thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honor.”

David danced before the Lord and did it for Him, forgetting himself so that God might be glorified. He divested himself of his royal dignity. David was nothing more than a simple worshipper, full of joy in the presence of the Lord of hosts who is seated between the cherubim and who had come to make His dwelling forever in the midst of His people.

Dancing in public before the ark may not have been a kingly act; but the dignity of the king was forgotten in the joy of the worshipper. And when twitted by Michal for demeaning himself as a vain fellow among his servants, his answer was, that he would yet be more vile, he would be base even in his own eyes when it was in praise to the Lord (2 Sam. 6:20). What a constraining power there is in joy and gladness; and when this joy is from God and with God, how unworthy earthly appearances and earthly considerations become. The church of God now has greater motive for joy than had David then.

A study of the directions in the Law for the conduct of Israel's worship has provided a starting-point in previous chapters; but where can a glimpse be obtained of the spirit in which, even though only in an ideal case, these directions were carried out? Much of the worship of the ancient world was licentious in the extreme. By contrast, Israel was called to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Did this mean that their worship was morose, sombre, gloomy and dismal? Such a glimpse is obtainable in the Psalms, and it will be found that nowhere in Scripture is joy in God given such exuberant, even ecstatic, expression as in the psalmists' dilations on the temple worship. In "Reflections on the Psalms" C. S. Lewis has given this personal witness: "The most valuable thing the Psalms do for me is to express that same delight in God which made David dance. I am not saying that this is so pure or so profound a thing as the love of God reached by the greatest Christian saints. … But I am not comparing it with that, I am comparing it with the merely dutiful 'church-going' and laborious 'saying our prayers', to which most of us are, thank God not always, but often, reduced. Against that, it stands out as something astonishingly robust, virile, and spontaneous ; something we may regard with an innocent envy and may hope to be infected by as we read. … It has all the cheerful spontaneity of a natural, even a physical, desire. It is gay and jocund. They are glad and rejoice. Their fingers itch for … the lute and the harp—wake up, lute and harp—let's have a song, bring the tambourine, bring the 'merry harp with the lute', we're going to sing merrily and make a cheerful noise." There are, as always, many contrasts, as well as parallels, between all this and the true worship, but let us agree that such joy in God is infectious, and pray that we may catch the infection.

The Last Psalm "Praise ye the Lord." Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let every thing that has breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

The women too join in the praise of the Lord as fully as the rest of Israel. Miriam, the sister of Moses, leads them in this, taking a timbrel, as did others, dancing before the Lord with overflowing adoration. She echoes the song of Moses, “Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously! the horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!” This is the seventh section, which completes the chorus of praise to the Lord.

In Exodus 15:20 we read: "Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the Lord," etc. This was a good service. She led the women in a song of praise to the Lord; she did not seek to lead the men. Here her service was quite acceptable, but later on when she led Aaron in complaining about Moses, she was stricken with leprosy for her sin (Num. 12).

This was no common joy which found expression in this song of jubilant praise. It evidently pervaded the whole host; for "Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances." (v. 20.) And Miriam cried, as she led the chorus of their song, "Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea." (v. 21.) It is the first mention of Miriam by name, and it is exceedingly interesting to notice that she was a prophetess. It was she, most probably, who watched over the ark of bulrushes in which her infant brother Moses was laid, and who was the means of his restoration to his mother. Thus she also becomes prominent in Israel, not only from her connection with Moses, but also from her own distinct gift. It is the way of the Lord to bless all connected with the man of His counsels; and at the same time it reveals to us how sacred is the family tie in His sight. But in the scene before us it was her honour and privilege to be the leader and mouthpiece of the joy of the women of Israel. The hearts of all were filled with gladness, and found their utterance in music, dancing, and song. They were redeemed, and they knew it on this happy morn; and laden with the joy of their salvation, they tell it out in these accents of gratitude and praise.