We started by saying that all of us as kids even as teens danced. We put on a tune and by ourselves like Tom Cruise in Risky Business danced a free and abandoned dance.
Little kids who can barely talk will dance. You don’t have to be taught how to dance, you have to be untaught to not dance.
The most dance free zones in America are the Churches. So what can we do, what should we do? Why don’t we dance despite the Biblical Encouragements:
He turned our Mourning into Dancing Psalm 30:11
When we are most depressed or discouraged the dance will break the back of it.
11You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,
Dancing as an act of Faith Jeremiah 31:3-4
Sometimes when you don't believe you must dance anyway
3The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying,
"I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore I have drawn you with lovingkindness.
4"Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt,
O virgin of Israel!
Again you will take up your tambourines,
And go forth to the dances of the merrymakers.
Dancing for Joy before God 2 Samuel 6:16
David before the Ark Danced with abandon. He was critisized. But he loved God more than the approval of men.
14And David was dancing before the LORD with all his might, and David was wearing a linen ephod.
15So David and all the house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouting and the sound of the trumpet.
16Then it happened as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.
20 When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "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!"
21 David said to Michal, "It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD. 22 I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor."
23 And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.
It’s still that way today.
People that won’t dance or are critical of dance in worship will be rendered barren and fruitless.
David after bringing the Ark to Jerusalem made sure that worship went on day and night with plenty of noise. 1 Chronicles 16-4-6 and 40-43
4He appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the LORD, even to celebrate and to thank and praise the LORD God of Israel:
5Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom and Jeiel, with musical instruments, harps, lyres; also Asaph played loud-sounding cymbals, (editorial comment, this should take care of the idea that drums don't belong in Church)
6and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests blew trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God.
39He left Zadok the priest and his relatives the priests before the tabernacle of the LORD in the high place which was at Gibeon,
40to offer burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of burnt offering continually morning and evening, even according to all that is written in the law of the LORD, which He commanded Israel.
41With them were Heman and Jeduthun, and the rest who were chosen, who were designated by name, to give thanks to the LORD, because His lovingkindness is everlasting.
42And with them were Heman and Jeduthun with trumpets and cymbals for those who should sound aloud, and with instruments for the songs of God, and the sons of Jeduthun for the gate.
Dancing to insure the future
This is dancing for a new and better future.
Judges 21:21 Shiloh and the Sons of Benjamin
17They said, "There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, so that a tribe will not be blotted out from Israel.
18"But we cannot give them wives of our daughters." For the sons of Israel had sworn, saying, "Cursed is he who gives a wife to Benjamin."
19So they said, "Behold, there is a feast of the LORD from year to year in Shiloh, which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south side of Lebonah."
20And they commanded the sons of Benjamin, saying, "Go and lie in wait in the vineyards,
21and watch; and behold, if the daughters of Shiloh come out to take part in the dances, then you shall come out of the vineyards and each of you shall catch his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
22"It shall come about, when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, that we shall say to them, 'Give them to us voluntarily, because we did not take for each man of Benjamin a wife in battle, nor did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.'"
23The sons of Benjamin did so, and took wives according to their number from those who danced, whom they carried away. And they went and returned to their inheritance and rebuilt the cities and lived in them.
Anyone who decided they didn't want to dance that morning was left behind and never was able to move into the inheritance of the Benjamites.
Dancing on those injustices in your life
Sometimes when things are done to you, you have to place them under your feet and dance upon the injustice in your life. That is why the part in the song
"Can you hear the mountains tremble" includes the verse that says "Dancers that Dance on Injustice".
Psalm 149
1 Praise the LORD!
Sing to the LORD a new song.
Sing his praises in the assembly of the faithful.
2 O Israel, rejoice in your Maker.
O people of Jerusalem, exult in your King.
3 Praise his name with dancing,
accompanied by tambourine and harp.
4 For the LORD delights in his people;
he crowns the humble with victory.
5 Let the faithful rejoice that he honors them.
Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds.
6 Let the praises of God be in their mouths,
and a sharp sword in their hands—
7 to execute vengeance on the nations
and punishment on the peoples,
8 to bind their kings with shackles
and their leaders with iron chains,
9 to execute the judgment written against them.
This is the glorious privilege of his faithful ones.
Praise the LORD!
Dancing in Victory over your Enemies Exodus 15:19-21
Miriam and the women danced after the Egyptians were drown in the Red Sea.
19 When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots, and charioteers rushed into the sea, the LORD brought the water crashing down on them. But the people of Israel had walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground!
20 Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine and led all the women as they played their tambourines and danced. 21 And Miriam sang this song:
“Sing to the LORD,
for he has triumphed gloriously;
he has hurled both horse and rider
into the sea.”
Dancing to Honor and Celebrate God’s Hand on Others
1 Samuel 18:6-7
It’s right to dance to celebrate and honor others. We do it at weddings.
6 When the victorious Israelite army was returning home after David had killed the Philistine, women from all the towns of Israel came out to meet King Saul. They sang and danced for joy with tambourines and cymbals. 7 This was their song:
“Saul has killed his thousands,
and David his ten thousands!”
Dancing to Release the Power of God in Warfare (God will fight our battles for us as we dance).
Joshua 6 Jericho March
Like Joshua marching the Israelis around Jericho until God came to fight their battles for them by crushing down the walls, So, when we take a stand in faith God will fight our battles for us and push back the darkness.
2 Chronicles 20:14-25
Worshippers and Dancers before the army confuses the enemy
15 He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel. 17 But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the LORD’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the LORD is with you!”
18 Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the LORD. 19 Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout.
20 Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.”
21 After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the LORD and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang:
“Give thanks to the LORD;
his faithful love endures forever!”
22 At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the LORD caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves. 23 The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they began attacking each other. 24 So when the army of Judah arrived at the lookout point in the wilderness, all they saw were dead bodies lying on the ground as far as they could see. Not a single one of the enemy had escaped.
25 King Jehoshaphat and his men went out to gather the plunder. They found vast amounts of equipment, clothing, and other valuables—more than they could carry. There was so much plunder that it took them three days just to collect it all! 26 On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing, which got its name that day because the people praised and thanked the LORD there. It is still called the Valley of Blessing today.
And, the ultimate Dance - Father God Dances over you (Exults) with singing.
Origional Hebrew in this phrase has him twirling and spinning while he sings over you. Zephaniah 3:17
17Jehovah thy God is in thy midst, a mighty one that will save: he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love; he will exult over thee with singing.
Exult and Sing. Two different actions.
If you could NOT Speak or Sing could you worship? Why do we think singing is the only acceptable form of Holy Worship?
Luke 1:20-23 Zacharias struck DUMB and still worshipped.
20"And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time."
21The people were waiting for Zacharias, and were wondering at his delay in the temple.
22But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them; and they realized that he had seen a vision in the temple; and he kept making signs to them, and remained mute.
23When the days of his priestly service were ended, he went back home.
DID HE WORSHIP? HOW?
In the Dance. In movement.
We all danced when we were younger. We were born to dance. Little kids dance constantly.
At the disco you did before you were saved.
Let's Twist Again, The Monkey, The Swim. We all did.
Why not here? Why not us? Why not NOW?
With Tambourines and Banners
Raising of the hands in A Wave Offering
When we raise our hands and wave them we are saying, GOD, Here is my offering to you today. I bring a sacrifice of praise. Many people use the waving and hand motions to accentuate what is being sung.
Exodous 29:23
and one cake of bread and one cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread which is set before the LORD;
24 and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and shall wave them as a wave offering before the LORD.
Leviticus 7-9
26From the basket of unleavened bread that was before the LORD, he took one unleavened cake and one cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer, and placed them on the portions of fat and on the right thigh.
27He then put all these on the hands of Aaron and on the hands of his sons and presented them as a wave offering before the LORD.
The Clapping of hands
Psalm 47:1
1 O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph.
Isaiah 55:12
12For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Falling Before GOD
17.--And when I saw him, I fell down at his feet as dead; and he laid his right hand on me, and said, Fear not; I am the First and the Last; I am he who lives and was dead; and behold I am living forever and ever; and I have the keys of the unseen world, and of death. Write the things which you see, even those which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. As to the hidden meaning of the seven stars, which you see in my right hand, and of the seven lamps of gold: the seven stars are messengers of the seven congregations; and the seven lamps, which you see, are seven congregations.
Bowing a la Jews at the wall
Whenever the Hebrew word "shahhah" is used as an action toward God, the translators translate this word as "worship". But, whenever this same Hebrew word is used as an action toward another man, the translators translate this word as "obeisance", "to bow" or "bow down".
Worship by bowing is appropriate and Biblical. Copy those Jews at the wall and bow to the music.
Dancing before the Lord sometimes even means moving our feet
Worship is not a noun, It is A VERB
An action work that means as David Says:
Psalm 150
Let EVERYTHING that has breath praise the Lord
Let all that is within ME praise the Lord
IF you don't want to dance and sing just hold your breath for an hour. It says if you have breath praise the Lord.
Psalm 103
1Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Some might say, It’s not my style, or I don’t need to dance to worship God. That’s true sometimes.
BUT:
We don’t have to dance all the time, but if we never dance ………..
We don’t have to clap our hands all the time but if we never do ………
We don’t have to raise our hands all the time but if we never do………..
The choice is ours,
If you choose NOT to who is it you really are worshiping…..Pride Fear?
If you choose not to who is really restraining you in worship
If you enter in it will be contested. Satan hates worship. He hates that you worship. HE was the worship leader in heaven and thru pride was cast out. He is jealous and angry when you worship. He does all he can do to stop you.
Pride, Tradition and Fear will keep us from Evangelizing, Worshipping and Prayer
It can NEVER be based on how we feel.
He’s either worthy of all our worship or he’s not
We must get up and do it.
We need a touch of madness. Madness driven by our love for Jesus. Fearlessness,
Boldness, presenting our body in dance as a living sacrifice before the Lord.
Romans 12:1-3
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
To truly worship it must be as if you were in a deep rushing river. If you stay motionless you will drown. We must be moving and trusting the River of God to take us where HE want to. We must dance to survive.
Ezekiel 47:
1 In my vision, the man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple. There I saw a stream flowing east from beneath the door of the Temple and passing to the right of the altar on its south side. 2 The man brought me outside the wall through the north gateway and led me around to the eastern entrance. There I could see the water flowing out through the south side of the east gateway.
3 Measuring as he went, he took me along the stream for 1,750 feet and then led me across. The water was up to my ankles. 4 He measured off another 1,750 feet and led me across again. This time the water was up to my knees. After another 1,750 feet, it was up to my waist. 5 Then he measured another 1,750 feet, and the river was too deep to walk across. It was deep enough to swim in, but too deep to walk through.
6 He asked me, “Have you been watching, son of man?” Then he led me back along the riverbank. 7 When I returned, I was surprised by the sight of many trees growing on both sides of the river. 8 Then he said to me, “This river flows east through the desert into the valley of the Dead Sea.
The first 6 verses of Isahia 62 speaks to why we move out in God in Worship including the dance.
Isaiah 62
1 For Zion's sake I will not keep silent,
for Jerusalem's sake I will not remain quiet,
till her righteousness shines out like the dawn,
her salvation like a blazing torch.
2 The nations will see your righteousness,
and all kings your glory;
you will be called by a new name
that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.
3 You will be a crown of splendor in the LORD's hand,
a royal diadem in the hand of your God.
4 No longer will they call you Deserted,
or name your land Desolate.
But you will be called Hephzibah (which means married or Betrothed),
and your land Beulah ;
for the LORD will take delight in you,
and your land will be married.
5 As a young man marries a maiden,
so will your sons marry you;
as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride,
so will your God rejoice over you.
6 I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
they will never be silent day or night.
You who call on the LORD,
give yourselves no rest, (DANCE)
Then we closed with a Song that is drawn from these two passages of Scripture:
The Song is "THE RIVER":
I have heard there is a river
Making a way thru the desert
Life Giving streams to all who dream on a barren height
All who’ve tasted of this river
Have touched on joy and new found freedom
There’s deeper water still
so let the hunger build a greater thirst for more
And my heart cries over here Lord
I need much more of you,
I need much more of you
And my heart cries over here Lord, I can’t stay silent – NO
I need you much more than I ever knew
I am going to that river
Take me into the deep water
Trusting in your strong arms
Learning to hold on with all the faith I have
I know your best is in the river
Because you are in the water
I have tasted the best,
Now I can’t settle for less than your own presence Lord
Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. Come to think of it, for the Christian, Every Sunday celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus.
We just spend a little more time on it tomorrow.
Let yourself worship Jesus in the Dance. It’s the right thing to do. At least How I read my Bible.
Have a Great Easter.
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