Has your spouse ever embarrassed you? Maybe you’re not married, but you probably have an experience when someone close to you embarrassed you. Next time this happens, think of Michal. I can sort of relate to her looking down and seeing her husband dancing and acting a little crazy (in her eyes) and being embarrassed. It’s natural for some of us humans to want to act “refined” and also for us to want the people around us to act the same. I can’t count on one hand how many times I wish the behavior of someone close to me was different. However, I can’t count at all the times I’ve been embarrassed by someone because they were worshiping the Lord. I truly wish I could. It’s sad to me that more people don’t dance and shout and celebrate before the Lord. Some of my best memories in missions are worship times, when we would gather before the Lord to praise him through song and dance and prayer. I’m sure if someone who didn’t understand what was happening would have walked in on us we would have looked a little nutty. I wouldn’t have cared. I felt closer to God during those worship times than any other time in my life! I bet David did, too. He was close to the Lord, always. He was so close that he became angry with God when he killed Uzzah for steadying the Ark by touching it. God didn’t punish David for being angry with Him, though. I think that’s the most beautiful thing in this chapter. God allows us to be angry with Him sometimes. He knows we don’t always understand His actions, and He gives us great grace when dealing with our emotions regarding them. Great grace. I’ve been angry with God a time or two. I have yelled and screamed at Him (in my mind). I’ve asked Him WHYYYYY with the greatest pain in my heart. And He never fails to answer me, even if it’s an answer I don’t want to hear sometimes. Sometimes the answers don’t come quickly enough, also, and that makes me even more angry and anxious. I can look back now at the times I was angry with God and see where He was working. I can see the blessings from His actions. I can see the lessons He was teaching me. David learned a huge lesson from Uzzah’s death. It took a while though. He abandoned the Ark for three months and moved it to the City of David only after he was confident that God would bless the city in which the Ark lived. His celebration, however, caused Michal to look at him differently. She judged his joy and paid a lifelong price.
Writing prompt: anger
Have you ever been angry with God? Write about the lessons you learned from your anger, or alternatively, write about how David must have felt during the three months that the Ark was at the house of Obed-edom.
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