I know that when I say that worship is not all about singing and dancing, religious folks are going to say, “But, what about David?” The following verse clearly shows that David danced before the LORD as an act of gratitude.

As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart.
~2 Samuel 6:16

Yet, if I may ask, was this really a dance in the sense that we use it today? Did David really dance before the LORD, or did he make a mess of himself before his subjects?

Here’s the first man of the nation; a royal personality. Yet, he was leaping, jumping, and his robes were flying up and down. He wasn’t doing something that would be regarded as dignified and skillful before people. His dance before the LORD wasn’t choreographed by a professional director. It wasn’t dignifying. It was a disgrace!

In that moment, David had become a huge embarrassment to his wife; and probably some of the other leaders. I could imagine them bowing their heads in shame. His wife was the only one that had the audacity to confront him, but I think a lot of the other top guns in the nation felt the same way as Michal.

David’s dance wasn’t skillful. It wasn’t dignifying by any stretch of the imagination. It was not applaudable at all. And by the time he got to the house, his wife gave him a piece of her mind!

“How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!”
~2 Samuel 6:20

Now, take a deeper look; what was David really doing?

It wasn’t a mere dance. It was a sacrifice. As we all know, your dignity, image, and reputation are intangible assets; but they are far more valuable than money. We would give anything to protect and defend our image.

What we are seeing in David’s dance is that the man came to a place in his walk with God that he was so overwhelmed with gratitude, so full of adoration and love for God, that he took his dignity, royalty, respect, reputation, and image, and just threw them all at the feet of God.

David’s dance truly belongs in the domain of genuine worship, but only because he sacrificed everything that made him a king; right there he gave it all up at the altar to God.