Are you undignified in your praise of God?
I’ve been thinking about what it means to praise God. Often we are restrictive in our praise. We are hesitant, worrying what others may think if they see us lifting up our hands or letting loose in our worship of God. We want to be dignified in our praise and worship.
Our worship indicates the following sentiments;
“We can’t put our hands up in church, it causes too much excitement.”
“Church should be quiet and meditative, the Bible says so.”
“Let’s just keep one hand in our pocket, the other holding the hymnal and sing each verse in the same monotone voice. Keep it simple and no one will get hurt.”
In other words, we are saying, “let’s be dignified, civilized people in church.”
Worship has nothing to do with being dignified, it has to do with praising our creator and savior with heart, soul and strength. Caution: worshiping God with heart, soul and strength may cause you to be undignified in church.
An Undignified King
In 2 Samuel 6 we read how David, the greatest king of Israel undignified himself in praise of God. David is leading the procession as the ark of the covenant is finally coming to Jerusalem. David, without hesitation or concern what others might think danced up and down the streets of Jerusalem exposing parts of his body unbecoming royalty. In short, King David exposed himself before the people. His wife Michal put it best; “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!” (v. 20).
David, not ashamed of given praise to God; replied 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 (v. 21-22a).
David justified his praise before the Lord. He was not concerned with appearance or what others might think. He was not concerned with dignity. His worship was not quiet or meditative, much to the chagrin of his wife. David was not afraid to get loud and boisterous in church. King David praised God with his heart, soul and strength, with undignified praise.
Will you give God undignified praise?
Nspire4Today 