[1Sa 18:6-9 KJV] 6 And it came to pass as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of musick. 7 And the women answered [one another] as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 8 And Saul was very wroth, and the saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed [but] thousands: and [what] can he have more but the kingdom? 9 And Saul eyed David from that day and forward.
[2Sa 6:12-16 KJV] 12 And it was told king David, saying, The LORD hath blessed the house of Obededom, and all that [pertaineth] unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with gladness. 13 And it was [so], that when they that bare the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings. 14 And David danced before the LORD with all [his] might; and David [was] girded with a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. 16 And as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David, Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.
Yet, in each passage, the conclusions share that these outward displays of exuberant love, joy, and thankfulness resulted in King David being reviled. Why? One man's celebration is another's sorrow.
Although the Lord has an unlimited Fount of Blessing from which we can all draw, it seems that some cannot be happy at the sight of another's overwhelming joy when he is blest. The blessings that King David celebrated represented blessing for all of Israel, including King Saul and his daughter; yet, they were looking at what they "might" lose as a result, instead of what they had gained. Such feelings only come from the evil one.
For this author who was rather bookish and never attended any dances or waltzes while in high school or college, he only has a couple of dancing moments in life that really standout in his mind.
While a high school junior, he experienced his first series of unchaperoned dates. He was student-athlete who excelled academically and played three sports: football, power-lifting, and track. He was pursued and "tackled" by a young woman who had beautiful deep auburn ringlets draping her neck, lovely brown freckles, and stormy grey eyes. She set his heart-a-thumping when he first laid eyes upon her. Like most teenage romances, it was ill-fated and ended with irreconcilable differences. Yet, in the midst of the misty watercolor memories of heartache and the "silent" treatment, were some very "special" moments. One was a dance.
After their second or third movie date, they found themselves in her room in the attic of her family's house. Her mother was in the kitchen on the main floor, and her youngest siblings were in the living room watching Nestor the Long-Eared Donkey. She stood in the middle of her bedroom floor and the author sat on her bed. And, something said, "Dance!" So, the author took this young woman who made his heart throb so by the waist, and they simply started slow-dancing. He remembers the gleam in her eyes, the reddish glow that filled her neckline and cheeks, and the vigorous pounding of her heart the he felt as their torsos pressed against one another. They lost track of time as the gentle and soft sounds of music seemingly filled the room.
Worried about what a couple teenagers, who had been rather quiet for some time, might be doing upstairs in her house, her mother burst through her daughter's bedroom door like Sargent Friday asking, "What is going on in here!" Her daughter with the biggest smile said, "We are dancing, mama! Don't you hear the music!" Her mothers simply replied, "You are being so silly!".
Yet, it did not feel like silliness. It felt quite real. It felt so real that when she told him "good-bye" during the first snowfall of 1987 on the day after Thanksgiving, he felt that "thumping" suddenly stop in his chest. Although an emotional blow, the physical manifestation of the "pain" that he felt hurt worst that receiving a blow from the strongest athlete on his football team.
Although the author was size-able at nearly seventy-six inches tall, one hundred and eleven kilograms, and rather strong for a natural athlete, he had felt the sting of an unbuffered blow from the team's strongest athlete. He was seventy-inches in height and weighed one hundred and fifty kilograms. He could squat over six hundred pounds and bench press of five hundred pounds. Plus, he ran a forty yard dash in under five seconds. He was as strong as many NFL linemen.
In other words, "good bye" has never hurt so. It hurt with such force, because a lifetime of plans and "sweet" dreams ended in an instant. It was not assuaged by the resultant hug, when his earthly "love" interest just could not let go, but eventually did so reluctantly.
Yet, never marrying, that upstairs tango was the author's most memorable "earthly" dance. However, he has had a "heavenly" dance that eclipses these moments.
After his life events were forcibly interrupted by medical malpractice in the late-1990s, he decided that he would be more serious about his walk with the Lord. He renewed and strengthened his allegiance. This included spending many hour volunteering among the ministerial workers within his and other churches. He cleaned grounds and buildings. He did much of the menial work around the places of worship. He felt blest living the life of a spiritual vessel of dishonor; custodians much like commodes are not highly respected. However, the are sorely missed when they are not available.
[Rom 9:20-21 NKJV] 20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed [it], "Why have you made me like this?" 21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
[1Co 12:20-27 KJV] 20 But now [are they] many members, yet but one body. 21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: 23 And those [members] of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely [parts] have more abundant comeliness. 24 For our comely [parts] have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that [part] which lacked: 25 That there should be no schism in the body; but [that] the members should have the same care one for another. 26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. 27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
The days of those years were filled with diligent scriptural study and the ingestion of only Christian media. It goes without saying that the author's collection of gospel music grew. And, it was while he played one of these compact disc that something said, "Dance!". So, with the curtains and blinds on his living room window fully opened, he dance, like Daniel prayed in full-view, and was overwhelmed with the contemplation of his life's events and how the Lord had spared him on many occasions.
It seemed that the sun shown ever more brilliantly through the large picture window that faced the boulevard just west of his living room. He became lost in the moment and time simply past. This only embittered satan who had been wreaking havoc in his life for over a couple of decades, infuriated by the potential blessings he might might reap for himself and his community.
He realized he could dance in the honor of a Lord, who simply would not leave and was not temperamental. And, although the author fully knew that someday he might hear, "Depart from me!", he knew that such rejection would only come if he did not accept and follow the Lord's Statues and Commands.
[Eze 3:17-21 KJV] 17 Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. 18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked [man] shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 19 Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul. 20 Again, When a righteous [man] doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand. 21 Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous [man], that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
Yet, the author knows that if he is faithful and obedient.
[1Jo 1:9 KJV] 9 If we confess our sins, [The Lord] is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
He thanks the Lord that He has never given him the "silent" treatment and always offers him a route for reconciliation.
We all deserve a memorable dance in life:
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