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"And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod." 2 Samuel 6:14
As with multiple proof doctrines to support inaccurate meaning, this Scripture is sometimes used to reveal to others that there is something wrong with their spiritual life if they do not dance during worship. Dancing as a form of worship to the true God has a long Jewish history. It dates at least back to the Israelite exodus from Egypt, when Miriam, the sister of Moses, led some of the women of Israel in dance (Exodus 15:20). However, we should ask ourselves, just because David danced, does it mean that Christians are to dance as a form of worship?
As we look back on the story in 2nd Samuel, we read the first attempt to transport the Ark to Jerusalem ends in disaster. David is described as a man overcome with joy as he sees the ox-cart carrying the Ark approaching Jerusalem. But like most of the events in David’s life, his joy is short lived. Without warning, the cart lurches forward and the Ark is almost catapulted from the cart. Uzzah, who is walking alongside the cart, saves the day by catching the Ark as it tilts toward the ground. What seems like the right thing to do, however, spells disaster. It’s as if Uzzah has grabbed a high voltage power line. His body jerks and winces and flails, and he drops dead on the spot.
David’s first celebration of the ark was motivated by pride. He decided to transport the ark his own way, whereas he did not ask God. God struck Uzzah down because of his irreverence. David is enraged. How can God purposely allow something bad to occur during his parade? But David’s rage quickly turns to fear. He wonders, “How can the Ark come to me?” Hearing no answer, he is afraid to continue the parade and abandons the Ark to the nearest house, the home of Obededom. Fearful and disheartened David returns home. The Ark remains with Obededom for three months. But during the time the Ark is with Obededom, Obededom’s house is blessed. His crops exceed expectations. His livestock flourish. His children prosper. David takes note and the extravagance poured out on Obededom’s house gives David new confidence to resume the parade.
This time the Ark is carried on poles, the prescribed way, rather than on a cart. And this time David proceeds with caution, making sacrifices along the way. But then David does the unexpected—he removes his royal regalia and dons the more humble attire of a linen ephod, the clothing of a priest. These changes make all the difference in the world. The once tentative celebration now takes off in exuberance and unexcelled joy. Caught up in the excitement, David dances with abandon. Everything he has dreamed of is finally coming true. David is overcome with joy, and he is no longer watching the parade; he is leading the parade—leaping and dancing and showing a side of himself that the public never sees.
I think it prudent that we notice that David was not in the Tabernacle when he danced. Neither was Miriam afore mentioned in Exodus 15:20. Dancing was a Jewish worship tradition, not necessarily a New Testament Christian manifestation. Also note that David was not in the “right” during this time because he should not have been wearing a Levitical priestly item like the ephod. This was a priest’s garment to be worn in the Tabernacle – David was from the tribe of Judah, not Levi! This could have part of the reason Michal looked on him with such hatred. He was being hypocritical in his worship and position. We are not necessarily told that it was right for him to be dancing or wearing an ephod, it is just recorded that this is what happened. Michal had been removed from her husband who loved her and wept when she was taken away (II Samuel 3), only to be added to David’s harem of other wives (II Samuel 5:13). And yet the kings were commanded in Deuteronomy 17:17 “Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away.” David was in disobedient to God in this area.
Unfortunately, biblical interpreters and preachers more often try to protect David’s reputation by not encouraging us to see the whole picture of this man. I ask why wouldn’t we find it reassuring that the King of Israel was more often a royal disappointment than a faithful servant? Can’t we handle that our leaders are fully human, given to privation as we are?
The point that might be considered is that just because a person acts in a certain manner in the Bible, that might seem like worship, does not necessarily mean that it is ideal action for ourselves today. And many times in Scripture, conduct recorded was not during a season of rightness before God. David had good intent when he tried to bring the ark the first time, he simply did it the wrong way. Sometimes we want so badly to do something for God (like worship) that we can find ourselves pursuing it in the flesh.
A Short Study on Dancing as Worship During the Current Dispensation
I personally have a number of friends in Christian ministry who encourage worship dance as a New Testament truth. Some even create a specific “praise dance ministry” in their churches. These are good leaders, and I genuinely respect the sincerity of their beliefs on this subject. However, in the light of the Scriptures, I do not share their conclusion that dancing in church is a biblical worship form taught in the Bible for New Testament believers. We can draw from Scripture that dancing was valid in certain well-defined contexts in the Old Testament, but it was by no means considered — either by Jesus or the apostles for either the early church or the 21st-century church — to be carried over into the New Testament as a form of worship.
In the New International Version (NIV), there are 27 references in the whole Bible to the word dance only five are in the New Testament. And all of those were in non-church contexts in the first three Gospels. None of them has anything to do with worship or anything religious. The concept of a "dance ministry" is foreign to the New Testament record. Similarly, the waving of praise and worship flags has no mention in the New Testament.
Jesus spoke of a change of worship from the physical to the spiritual. In the Old Testament, worship was largely physical, often with geographical requirements as to where proper worship was to be offered. I mentioned earlier the physical ark, the physical tent that David pitched, the physical burnt offerings before that tent. There came later the physical temple in Jerusalem, to which the faithful made three annual pilgrimages to worship. Fully cognizant of these things in the religion of Israel, Jesus said, “A time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:21-24).
This is of critical importance. Jesus was intimately familiar with the Aaronic priesthood of the Old Testament and all its forms of worship: music, offerings, tents, temples. Jesus’ statement was addressed to a Samaritan woman. The Samaritans had their roots in Judaism, but had blended other things into it. Jesus told her that worship was not to be on a mountain (a physical place) or in Jerusalem (again, a physical place). That is the way she would have understood worship. Jesus said, “A time is coming...” That speaks of change. Then he spoke of leaving her mountain, where worship was partially idolatrous, as well as leaving Jerusalem, a place of worship which had been established by God in the Bible. Three times a year all the males went to Jerusalem: at the feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. But Jesus spoke of major change in the next few sentences, a change to what he called true worship, which He referred to as “in spirit.” If you search the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi, you will not find a verse that speaks of worshiping “in spirit.” It is an entirely new thought introduced by Jesus.
The church is in an evangelistic dispensation. Israel of the Old Testament was not. Israel was not essentially concerned with winning souls. In fact, most Israelites in Old Testament days avoided Gentiles entirely. By contrast, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15) is central to Christianity. The New Testament emphasis on evangelism to all peoples is critically different from that of the Israelites prior to the cross.
The apostle Paul charged, “Make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way…” (Romans 14:13,19-21). Dancing in the church would be a serious stumbling block or obstacle to many Christian brothers and sisters, as well as to many unbelievers who might be in the process of coming to the Lord. Much the same way charasmatic abuse tongues at the peril of new believers or onlookers, causing them to be cast aside from the faith due to the madness perceived. We are in a evangelistic dispensation of time, in which every person who comes into the church must be taken into consideration.
The progression of the Bible is from the natural to the spiritual. “The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:46). Some of the various physical forms of worship used in the Old Testament dispensation: animal sacrifices; temples; altars; a selective, exclusive priesthood; appointed singers. We no longer sacrifice animals, for “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Now we “offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Hebrews 13:15), among other spiritual sacrifices. God no longer dwells in a physical temple, for now “we are the temple of the living God” (2 Corinthians 6:16). We no longer need certain men appointed as priests, for now Jesus “has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father” (Revelation 1:6). We no longer relegate the music ministry to selectively appointed, special singers, for now we all are enjoined to “sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16). The transition of the Bible is continually pressing from the natural to the spiritual. I conclude that this principle is one more reason why there is no Bible record of praise dance or worship dance practiced as a praise and worship form by the New Testament church.
Dancing as worship is not among the many great rediscoveries being made of biblical truths that had been lost since the time of the early church. The apostle Peter spoke of being established in “present truth” (2 Peter 1:12, KJV). I understand, both from Scripture and from history, that important truths which were lost over the Dark Ages and Middle Ages have been restored to the church. Even such fundamental truths as salvation by grace through faith and baptism by immersion in water were lost and then restored. More recently, the truth of the mighty baptism of the Holy Spirit with the accompanying gifts of the Holy Spirit has been restored to the church, together with such doctrines as the laying on of hands, the fivefold ministry, and the church’s call as the bride of Christ. These topics of restoration were all commonly taught in the New Testament. Dancing as worship was not. By contrast to these genuine restored truths, praise and worship dance is nowhere included in the biblical record of the practice, preaching, or teaching of the early church. It is an error to include praise dance in the godly list of biblical truths that are correctly being restored to the church, for the New Testament is devoid of such a revelation concerning dancing as worship.
The teaching that attempts to bring the literal practice of praise dancing over into the New Testament on the basis of the tabernacle/tent of David is inconsistent in leaving behind in the Old Testament the literal ark, the tent itself, and the physical burnt offerings made by David and by Solomon again years later. What is the basis for bringing one of these literal practices (David’s dancing in the streets) forward to the church and leaving the rest behind? The answer I suggest from the New Testament’s utter silence on praise and worship dancing, is that none of those literal practices was to be brought forward to the church. Jesus and the apostles are not recorded as ever dancing or encouraging it. It would be a extraordinary oversight on the part of God to leave out of all 27 New Testament books such a key end-time truth (as praise dance is considered by some to be) while including extensive New Testament instruction concerning other key truths.
When you further review the moral constructs, it is very difficult if not impossible to dance modestly. I have been in churches where people dance by jumping up and down vertically. This is conducive to immodesty, and especially so among women. That reason alone should bring great inhibition to dancing in church. It suggests, perhaps, a reason why the women of Israel often drew apart from the men when they danced.
There is no indication in Scripture that the people of God will dance before the Lord in heaven. I draw that conclusion from Scriptural silence, which is not always an infallible principle for biblical interpretation. However, the silence in this case is quite extensive and persuasive. Many scenes of heavenly worship are included in the Bible, especially in the Revelation, and they include many illustrations of the redeemed worshiping God in many ways. But they include no instances or references to praise dancing in those worship contexts.
Today's hyper-emotionalism gets in the way of proper evangelism. The Pentecostal and Apostolic denominations are notorious for emotionalism, getting caught up in sensationalism, allowing the flesh to rise above the Spirit by means of seeking or trusting a physical experience as a spiritual marker. Being Pentecostal teaches the second blessing of the Holy Spirit with its emotionalism and multiple ecstatic manufestations. Charismatic also teaches the second blessing of the Holy Spirit, but does not typically require a sign of one's conversion by manfestation.
It has been said that whenever emotionalism is provoked in worship, error abounds. While emotional experiences do release endogenous opioid peptides as to create a sense of spirtual elation, the experience is short lived, and normally results in apathy and possibly depression later. Peptides provide opiate activity that are derived from "endorphins", which once decreased, result in the opposite effect, feeling down and despaired. Therefore the emotionally induced person will need to seek greater and repeated experiences, which in effect becomes an addiction to one’s own chemistry. In contrast, a genuine spiritual touch is sometimes not even noted at the time. Unlike emotional stimuli that is chemically induced, a spiritual encounter is deep and internal, resulting in lasting change less the negative physical effects.
The most binding of powers is the rule of tradition, which normally triumphs over truth, often assuring a person remain loyal to their traditional fixations for a lifetime. Let's say we are raised in a home that is indoctrinated by an unorthodox church, whose family are strict adherents and who point out that other ways are error. Such is a cult mindset, and is not uncommon in even orthodox settings. Instead, the awakened soul must chance being different, instead seeking to worship God like HE wants to be worshiped, not how our peer group or family does it. We also have to be honest and evaluate if we are trusting in our emotions to stimulate us toward a psuedo spiritual experience. God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in Truth (John 4:24).
In closing, I must quote 1 Kings 19:12-13 “The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.” The Spirit of God was not in the noise, clamor and chaotic physical expressions. The Spirit of the Lord resides in the quiet still voice who speaks to our hearts today. It is in the reverence of worship, the piety and quiet, that the Lord is manifest. It is in the outstretched arms of adoration, gratitude and holy praise that we are to manifest our love for Him. I pray the Lord guide you in your understanding of these truths presented.
.
As with multiple proof doctrines to support inaccurate meaning, this Scripture is sometimes used to reveal to others that there is something wrong with their spiritual life if they do not dance during worship. Dancing as a form of worship to the true God has a long Jewish history. It dates at least back to the Israelite exodus from Egypt, when Miriam, the sister of Moses, led some of the women of Israel in dance (Exodus 15:20). However, we should ask ourselves, just because David danced, does it mean that Christians are to dance as a form of worship?
As we look back on the story in 2nd Samuel, we read the first attempt to transport the Ark to Jerusalem ends in disaster. David is described as a man overcome with joy as he sees the ox-cart carrying the Ark approaching Jerusalem. But like most of the events in David’s life, his joy is short lived. Without warning, the cart lurches forward and the Ark is almost catapulted from the cart. Uzzah, who is walking alongside the cart, saves the day by catching the Ark as it tilts toward the ground. What seems like the right thing to do, however, spells disaster. It’s as if Uzzah has grabbed a high voltage power line. His body jerks and winces and flails, and he drops dead on the spot.
David’s first celebration of the ark was motivated by pride. He decided to transport the ark his own way, whereas he did not ask God. God struck Uzzah down because of his irreverence. David is enraged. How can God purposely allow something bad to occur during his parade? But David’s rage quickly turns to fear. He wonders, “How can the Ark come to me?” Hearing no answer, he is afraid to continue the parade and abandons the Ark to the nearest house, the home of Obededom. Fearful and disheartened David returns home. The Ark remains with Obededom for three months. But during the time the Ark is with Obededom, Obededom’s house is blessed. His crops exceed expectations. His livestock flourish. His children prosper. David takes note and the extravagance poured out on Obededom’s house gives David new confidence to resume the parade.
This time the Ark is carried on poles, the prescribed way, rather than on a cart. And this time David proceeds with caution, making sacrifices along the way. But then David does the unexpected—he removes his royal regalia and dons the more humble attire of a linen ephod, the clothing of a priest. These changes make all the difference in the world. The once tentative celebration now takes off in exuberance and unexcelled joy. Caught up in the excitement, David dances with abandon. Everything he has dreamed of is finally coming true. David is overcome with joy, and he is no longer watching the parade; he is leading the parade—leaping and dancing and showing a side of himself that the public never sees.
I think it prudent that we notice that David was not in the Tabernacle when he danced. Neither was Miriam afore mentioned in Exodus 15:20. Dancing was a Jewish worship tradition, not necessarily a New Testament Christian manifestation. Also note that David was not in the “right” during this time because he should not have been wearing a Levitical priestly item like the ephod. This was a priest’s garment to be worn in the Tabernacle – David was from the tribe of Judah, not Levi! This could have part of the reason Michal looked on him with such hatred. He was being hypocritical in his worship and position. We are not necessarily told that it was right for him to be dancing or wearing an ephod, it is just recorded that this is what happened. Michal had been removed from her husband who loved her and wept when she was taken away (II Samuel 3), only to be added to David’s harem of other wives (II Samuel 5:13). And yet the kings were commanded in Deuteronomy 17:17 “Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away.” David was in disobedient to God in this area.
Unfortunately, biblical interpreters and preachers more often try to protect David’s reputation by not encouraging us to see the whole picture of this man. I ask why wouldn’t we find it reassuring that the King of Israel was more often a royal disappointment than a faithful servant? Can’t we handle that our leaders are fully human, given to privation as we are?
The point that might be considered is that just because a person acts in a certain manner in the Bible, that might seem like worship, does not necessarily mean that it is ideal action for ourselves today. And many times in Scripture, conduct recorded was not during a season of rightness before God. David had good intent when he tried to bring the ark the first time, he simply did it the wrong way. Sometimes we want so badly to do something for God (like worship) that we can find ourselves pursuing it in the flesh.
A Short Study on Dancing as Worship During the Current Dispensation
I personally have a number of friends in Christian ministry who encourage worship dance as a New Testament truth. Some even create a specific “praise dance ministry” in their churches. These are good leaders, and I genuinely respect the sincerity of their beliefs on this subject. However, in the light of the Scriptures, I do not share their conclusion that dancing in church is a biblical worship form taught in the Bible for New Testament believers. We can draw from Scripture that dancing was valid in certain well-defined contexts in the Old Testament, but it was by no means considered — either by Jesus or the apostles for either the early church or the 21st-century church — to be carried over into the New Testament as a form of worship.
In the New International Version (NIV), there are 27 references in the whole Bible to the word dance only five are in the New Testament. And all of those were in non-church contexts in the first three Gospels. None of them has anything to do with worship or anything religious. The concept of a "dance ministry" is foreign to the New Testament record. Similarly, the waving of praise and worship flags has no mention in the New Testament.
Jesus spoke of a change of worship from the physical to the spiritual. In the Old Testament, worship was largely physical, often with geographical requirements as to where proper worship was to be offered. I mentioned earlier the physical ark, the physical tent that David pitched, the physical burnt offerings before that tent. There came later the physical temple in Jerusalem, to which the faithful made three annual pilgrimages to worship. Fully cognizant of these things in the religion of Israel, Jesus said, “A time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:21-24).
This is of critical importance. Jesus was intimately familiar with the Aaronic priesthood of the Old Testament and all its forms of worship: music, offerings, tents, temples. Jesus’ statement was addressed to a Samaritan woman. The Samaritans had their roots in Judaism, but had blended other things into it. Jesus told her that worship was not to be on a mountain (a physical place) or in Jerusalem (again, a physical place). That is the way she would have understood worship. Jesus said, “A time is coming...” That speaks of change. Then he spoke of leaving her mountain, where worship was partially idolatrous, as well as leaving Jerusalem, a place of worship which had been established by God in the Bible. Three times a year all the males went to Jerusalem: at the feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. But Jesus spoke of major change in the next few sentences, a change to what he called true worship, which He referred to as “in spirit.” If you search the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi, you will not find a verse that speaks of worshiping “in spirit.” It is an entirely new thought introduced by Jesus.
The church is in an evangelistic dispensation. Israel of the Old Testament was not. Israel was not essentially concerned with winning souls. In fact, most Israelites in Old Testament days avoided Gentiles entirely. By contrast, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15) is central to Christianity. The New Testament emphasis on evangelism to all peoples is critically different from that of the Israelites prior to the cross.
The apostle Paul charged, “Make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way…” (Romans 14:13,19-21). Dancing in the church would be a serious stumbling block or obstacle to many Christian brothers and sisters, as well as to many unbelievers who might be in the process of coming to the Lord. Much the same way charasmatic abuse tongues at the peril of new believers or onlookers, causing them to be cast aside from the faith due to the madness perceived. We are in a evangelistic dispensation of time, in which every person who comes into the church must be taken into consideration.
The progression of the Bible is from the natural to the spiritual. “The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual” (1 Corinthians 15:46). Some of the various physical forms of worship used in the Old Testament dispensation: animal sacrifices; temples; altars; a selective, exclusive priesthood; appointed singers. We no longer sacrifice animals, for “Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7). Now we “offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Hebrews 13:15), among other spiritual sacrifices. God no longer dwells in a physical temple, for now “we are the temple of the living God” (2 Corinthians 6:16). We no longer need certain men appointed as priests, for now Jesus “has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father” (Revelation 1:6). We no longer relegate the music ministry to selectively appointed, special singers, for now we all are enjoined to “sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16). The transition of the Bible is continually pressing from the natural to the spiritual. I conclude that this principle is one more reason why there is no Bible record of praise dance or worship dance practiced as a praise and worship form by the New Testament church.
Dancing as worship is not among the many great rediscoveries being made of biblical truths that had been lost since the time of the early church. The apostle Peter spoke of being established in “present truth” (2 Peter 1:12, KJV). I understand, both from Scripture and from history, that important truths which were lost over the Dark Ages and Middle Ages have been restored to the church. Even such fundamental truths as salvation by grace through faith and baptism by immersion in water were lost and then restored. More recently, the truth of the mighty baptism of the Holy Spirit with the accompanying gifts of the Holy Spirit has been restored to the church, together with such doctrines as the laying on of hands, the fivefold ministry, and the church’s call as the bride of Christ. These topics of restoration were all commonly taught in the New Testament. Dancing as worship was not. By contrast to these genuine restored truths, praise and worship dance is nowhere included in the biblical record of the practice, preaching, or teaching of the early church. It is an error to include praise dance in the godly list of biblical truths that are correctly being restored to the church, for the New Testament is devoid of such a revelation concerning dancing as worship.
The teaching that attempts to bring the literal practice of praise dancing over into the New Testament on the basis of the tabernacle/tent of David is inconsistent in leaving behind in the Old Testament the literal ark, the tent itself, and the physical burnt offerings made by David and by Solomon again years later. What is the basis for bringing one of these literal practices (David’s dancing in the streets) forward to the church and leaving the rest behind? The answer I suggest from the New Testament’s utter silence on praise and worship dancing, is that none of those literal practices was to be brought forward to the church. Jesus and the apostles are not recorded as ever dancing or encouraging it. It would be a extraordinary oversight on the part of God to leave out of all 27 New Testament books such a key end-time truth (as praise dance is considered by some to be) while including extensive New Testament instruction concerning other key truths.
When you further review the moral constructs, it is very difficult if not impossible to dance modestly. I have been in churches where people dance by jumping up and down vertically. This is conducive to immodesty, and especially so among women. That reason alone should bring great inhibition to dancing in church. It suggests, perhaps, a reason why the women of Israel often drew apart from the men when they danced.
There is no indication in Scripture that the people of God will dance before the Lord in heaven. I draw that conclusion from Scriptural silence, which is not always an infallible principle for biblical interpretation. However, the silence in this case is quite extensive and persuasive. Many scenes of heavenly worship are included in the Bible, especially in the Revelation, and they include many illustrations of the redeemed worshiping God in many ways. But they include no instances or references to praise dancing in those worship contexts.
Today's hyper-emotionalism gets in the way of proper evangelism. The Pentecostal and Apostolic denominations are notorious for emotionalism, getting caught up in sensationalism, allowing the flesh to rise above the Spirit by means of seeking or trusting a physical experience as a spiritual marker. Being Pentecostal teaches the second blessing of the Holy Spirit with its emotionalism and multiple ecstatic manufestations. Charismatic also teaches the second blessing of the Holy Spirit, but does not typically require a sign of one's conversion by manfestation.
It has been said that whenever emotionalism is provoked in worship, error abounds. While emotional experiences do release endogenous opioid peptides as to create a sense of spirtual elation, the experience is short lived, and normally results in apathy and possibly depression later. Peptides provide opiate activity that are derived from "endorphins", which once decreased, result in the opposite effect, feeling down and despaired. Therefore the emotionally induced person will need to seek greater and repeated experiences, which in effect becomes an addiction to one’s own chemistry. In contrast, a genuine spiritual touch is sometimes not even noted at the time. Unlike emotional stimuli that is chemically induced, a spiritual encounter is deep and internal, resulting in lasting change less the negative physical effects.
The most binding of powers is the rule of tradition, which normally triumphs over truth, often assuring a person remain loyal to their traditional fixations for a lifetime. Let's say we are raised in a home that is indoctrinated by an unorthodox church, whose family are strict adherents and who point out that other ways are error. Such is a cult mindset, and is not uncommon in even orthodox settings. Instead, the awakened soul must chance being different, instead seeking to worship God like HE wants to be worshiped, not how our peer group or family does it. We also have to be honest and evaluate if we are trusting in our emotions to stimulate us toward a psuedo spiritual experience. God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in Truth (John 4:24).
In closing, I must quote 1 Kings 19:12-13 “The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.” The Spirit of God was not in the noise, clamor and chaotic physical expressions. The Spirit of the Lord resides in the quiet still voice who speaks to our hearts today. It is in the reverence of worship, the piety and quiet, that the Lord is manifest. It is in the outstretched arms of adoration, gratitude and holy praise that we are to manifest our love for Him. I pray the Lord guide you in your understanding of these truths presented.
.
Also, reflecting on the account of David has little to do with subject addressed, other than it is often used by proponents as proof text to justify dancing in the church. Similar to David's love for Jonathan being used as proof doctrine to justify homosexuality as approved of God. Even a 390 page book, "Gay Christian 101 - Spiritual Self-Defense For Gay Christians" was written to thoroughly explain why David and Jonathan were gay lovers. Anyone can be quite convinced of any given position, and build a castle wall of justification around it, but if the foundation is not "Truth" it shall perish in time.
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