TONY & MICHELLE PAWLAK
MEMORY VERSE
It is good to praise
the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High,
PSALM 92:1
In class, we've been discussing ways that we worship God and how the word worship sounds a lot like the word "Worth-ship". Some ways we may display worth-ship are by singing, obeying, praying, dancing, kindness and giving. Some play music, some shout about the great things God has done, and some even dance before God. Some forms of worship may seem weird to some but perfectly normal to others. It is easy to misunderstand someone's form of worship if it's not what you're used to.
We learned a few weeks ago about how the two disobedient sons of the High Priest Eli (the priest that raised Samuel) had taken the ark of the covenant into battle against God's will. This was a great tragedy because the Israelite army lost the battle and the Ark of the Covenant was captured by the Philistines. The Philistines had the Ark all the way through King Saul's reign and into the reign of King David after Saul and his sons died.
After it was finally returned to Israel, King David wanted to bring the Ark and the Tabernacle to Jerusalem. God had instructed Israel that the Ark had to be carried by the priests wherever it went. The Israelites thought they had a better way. So, rather than obeying God, they loaded the Ark on an Ox Cart and they were on there way. This greatly displeased God because they chose to disobey rather than to worship Him through their obedience. While they were on their way to Jerusalem, one of the Ox stumbled and the Ark nearly fell off the cart.
A man named Uzzah who was walking beside the cart reached out to steady it so it wouldn't fall.
Was God being mean by killing Uzzah? Absolutely not! If Uzzah, King David, and the other Israelites had obeyed God, the Ark would not have been in danger in the first place. We can either choose to worship God by obeying or accept the punishment for not obeying.
Understandably, David decided that it wan't a good time to bring the Ark to Jerusalem and left it with a man named Obed-Edom the Gittite. Obed-Edom took care of the Ark for three months and God blessed him greatly for it. When David heard about about how Obed-Edom was being blessed, he decided that he wanted to bring the Ark all the way to Jerusalem. Before they set out they sacrificed a bull to God and had the priests carry the Ark like God wanted.
David was so happy to be bringing the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem that he worshiped God by dancing with all his might while wearing an ephod (a priestly undergarment). It was like a big parade with people shouting and many instruments. It must have been crazy fun!
Meanwhile, Michal, David's wife (and King Saul's daughter) was watching the procession with King David dancing all the way. Did she think David was worshiping? No, She thought he looked foolish and was just trying to impress those who watched him. She was actually
God knew that David was worshiping Him by dancing and was not happy that Michal was angry at David for it. God decided it was time to fulfill Him promise that King Saul would never have a descendant on the throne of Israel so He kept Michal from ever having children.
There are many ways of worshiping God and other people may or may not understand them all but we must be careful about judging the way others worship. Sure, there are right and wrong ways to do things but we had better be careful before deciding to scold someone for what we may not understand. Wouldn't it be great to love God so much and feel His joy so greatly that you can't help but dance for Him? I hope we all get there some day.
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