DISCOURSE: 313
DAVID DANCING BEFORE THE LORD
2 Samuel 6:22. I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight.
A MEASURE of firmness is necessary in the whole of our intercourse with mankind, to prevent us from being drawn aside from the path of wisdom into a compliance with the prejudices and passions of those around us. But in all that pertains to religion it is more especially necessary; because in opposition to true piety the current is exceeding strong; and we must inevitably be borne away by it, if we do not cleave unto our God with full purpose of heart. The great and powerful may be supposed to be more free than others from the influence of public opinion: but their very elevation exposes them to storms and tempests more than others; and they have therefore the more need of firmness, to bear up against the taunts with which they will be assailed, in proportion as their zeal for God is ardent and conspicuous. David was a mighty monarch: yet not even he could serve God according to his conscience without exciting the contempt and indignation of one most nearly related to him. But from the words which we have just read, we see how manfully he withstood the temptation. Let us notice,
I. The trial he met with—
This was very severe—
[He was bringing up the ark to Mount Zion; and had good reason to believe, that the service he was performing was pleasing and acceptable in the sight of God. Hence his soul overflowed with joy; and in the fulness of his heart “he danced before the Lord with all his might [Note: ver. 14.].” “As the ark came into the city, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looking through a window, saw him leaping and dancing before the Lord, and despised him in her heart [Note: ver. 16.].” Unconscious of the impression he had made on her mind, he went home to bless both her and all his house: but instead of finding the reception which he had expected as suited to the occasion, he was greeted with reproaches more keen and scandalous than one should have supposed it possible for the most ingenious malice to invent: “How glorious was the king of Israel to-day, who uncovered himself to-day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself [Note: ver. 20.]!” How must he be thunder-struck, if I may so say, with such a salutation as this! To hear such a construction put upon his conduct! to be accused of an act which no one that was not lost to all sense of decency would commit even in private, and much less in the presence of thousands! to be accused of committing this too under the guise of religious zeal! and to hear this accusation from the lips of his own wife, and in language too as acrimonious and insulting as hell itself could inspire! and all this at a moment when his soul, inflamed only with love to God, was rapt into the third heavens! how inconceivably painful must this have been! Methinks, the cursings of Shimei were nothing in comparison of this.]
Yet do we see in this what all who are zealous for their God must expect—
[Religious zeal is hated by the world, who will never fail to misconstrue it as proceeding from some hateful principle, and as forming a cloak for some hidden abomination. Pride, conceit, fanaticism, and hypocrisy, are usually considered as the springs of action to those who profess godliness, especially if they bear any conspicuous part in the service of their God: their very activity is made the ground of accusation against them. Thus it has been in every age. David “wept and chastened himself with fasting; and that was turned to his reproach [Note: Psalms 69:10-11.].” John Baptist came in an abstemious way; and the people said of him, “He has a devil.” The Lord Jesus Christ came in a way more suited to the liberty of the gospel dispensation; and his enemies took occasion from that to revile him as a “gluttonous man, and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners [Note: Luke 7:33-34.].” Thus it is also in the present day; and thus we must expect to find it: for “the servant cannot be above his Lord: if they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, much more will they those of his household [Note: Matthew 10:24-25.].” Our blessed Lord has told us, that, “if the world hated him, they will hate us also [Note: John 15:18.]:” that they will “speak all manner of evil against us falsely for his sake [Note: Matthew 5:11.];” and that they will even think they render service to God by putting to death his most faithful servants [Note: John 16:2.]. Nor will any eminence in rank, or power, or talent, or wisdom, or piety, exempt us from this lot. If David could not escape it, neither can we: if Paul was said to be “beside himself [Note: Acts 26:24.],” those who tread in his steps must not expect to be regarded as of a sound mind. Nor will this opprobrious treatment proceed only from avowed enemies: our nearest friends and relatives will often be foremost in the assault; and “our bitterest foes be those of our own household [Note: Matthew 10:36.].”]
Having seen somewhat of David’s trial, let us consider,
II.
The determination he formed in consequence of it—
Neither abashed nor irritated, he calmly avowed his unalterable determination,
1. To serve his God without fear—
[If to bear this open testimony for his God, and to glorify him thus in the sight of all Israel, was to render himself vile, “he would be more and more vile” as long as he lived. A noble resolution this, and worthy to be adopted by every child of man! Are the servants of Satan bold, and shall Jehovah’s servants be cowards? Shall the ungodly commit all manner of iniquity without shame, and the godly be ashamed of walking in the ways of righteousness? No: there should be a holy energy in the soul of every saint, a readiness to rise to the occasion, however formidable that occasion be: he should have within him the elasticity of a strong well-tempered spring, whose reaction is always augmented by the pressure. If religion be decried through the whole land, so that not a second family could be found in all Israel to adhere to God, we should say with Joshua, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord [Note: Joshua 24:15.].” Reproach for Christ’s sake should be regarded as honour [Note: Acts 5:41.], and, though not coveted, yet be welcomed as the truest riches [Note: Hebrews 11:26.]. It should be considered as a precious gift of God for Christ’s sake [Note: Philippians 1:29.], and be gloried in as a participation of Christ’s sufferings, and a means of advancing his glory [Note: 1 Peter 4:12-14.]. We should be cautious indeed not by extravagance or misconduct of any kind to merit reproach: but, if it come for righteousness’ sake, we should rejoice in it, and glorify God for it [Note: 1 Peter 4:15-16.], “taking pleasure in it [Note: 2 Corinthians 12:10.]” as a testimony in our favour [Note: Luke 21:13.], and a pledge [Note: 2 Timothy 2:12.] of an accumulated [Note: 2 Corinthians 4:17.] and everlasting weight of glory [Note: Romans 8:17.]. Nor is it against reproach only that we should stand, but against the most envenomed persecution that men or devils can raise against us. We should be moved by no menaces, however cruel; but be ready to lay clown our lives for Christ’s sake [Note: Acts 20:24.], and account martyrdom a ground, not of pity and condolence, but of congratulation and joy [Note: Philippians 2:17-18.]
2. To abase himself without shame—
[The chief reason of Michal’s rage was, that she thought David degraded himself by this public exhibition, which, however it might have become one of his inferior servants, was unsuited to his dignity. But David felt that a monarch in the sight of God is no more than other men; and that any elevation of rank which he possessed above others was rather a call to honour God the more, and not a reason for withholding from God any expression of gratitude and love. Hence he determined to regard himself as on a level with the least and meanest of his subjects in every thing that had respect to God. Nor would he value himself on this as an act of condescension, and thus convert humility into pride; but he would really be in his own estimation, what he professed before others to be, “less than the least of all saints [Note: Ephesians 3:8.],” unworthy to “be a door-keeper in the house of his God [Note: Psalms 84:10.],” or to unloose the latchet of his Master’s shoes [Note: John 1:27.].
And this is the frame of mind which we also should cultivate. So far from regarding earthly distinctions as a reason for rendering to God a more measured service, as though the highest acts of piety were fitted only for the vulgar, we should consider wealth, honour, learning, and influence of every kind, as talents committed to us for the purpose of honouring God with them, and of rendering our example more effectual for the good of others. And, whilst the world is reproaching us for the excess of our piety, we should be ever abasing ourselves on account of its defects. If we keep in view the perfect requirements of God’s law, and the unbounded obligations which he has laid us under by the gift of his only-begotten Son, how infinitely short of our duty will our best services appear! “Our very righteousnesses, in this view, will be as filthy rags [Note: Isaiah 64:6.],” in which we can never hope to appear before God, and which can never come up with acceptance before him, till they have been washed in the Redeemer’s blood [Note: Revelation 7:14.]. Thus, whether men admire or reproach us for our piety, we should equally abase ourselves, as in reality deserving neither their admiration nor their reproach, but rather their pity on account of the defectiveness of our services, and the smallness of our attainments.]
Address,
1.
Those who cast reproaches on the saints—
[Behold Michal and David on this occasion, and say, whether you would not rather be the persecuted saint, than the malignant persecutor? Is there a creature in the world who must not acknowledge the superiority of David’s state, in the midst of all the ignominy that was cast upon him? Such then is the state of God’s people in the midst of all the calumnies with which they are loaded, and such is the light in which their calumniators are regarded by Almighty God. In the instance before us, God marked his displeasure against Michal, by inflicting the curse of barrenness upon her to her dying hour [Note: ver. 23.]. And us also he warns in the most solemn manner to avoid the rock on which she split: “Be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong [Note: Isaiah 28:22.].” If we choose not to serve God ourselves, let us beware how by scoffing and ridicule we discourage others: for our Lord tells us, that “it were better for us that a millstone were hanged about our neck, and we were cast into the depths of the sea, than that we should offend one of his little ones [Note: Matthew 18:6.].” To perish under the guilt of our own sins will be terrible enough: but to have “the blood of others also required at our hands” will be an inconceivable augmentation of our guilt and misery. This then would I entreat of all who despise and persecute the followers of Christ. Look into the Scriptures: see whether you approve of Cain, of Ishmael, of Michal, of Festus, or of any who bear the stamp and character of revilers in the Sacred Records: see whether in your consciences you do not rather side with Abel, and Isaac, and David, and Paul, and all the other sufferers, “of whom the world itself was not worthy [Note: Hebrews 11:38.]?” And if your own consciences bear testimony to the saints, dare not to walk in the steps of their oppressors, persecuting the living saints, whilst you raise memorials to the dead [Note: Matthew 23:29-31.]
2. Those who are called to sustain them—
[Think it not strange that reproach is cast upon you for righteousness’ sake; for thus it has been from the beginning: “They who have been born only of the flesh ever have persecuted those who are born after the Spirit,” and so they will continue to do even to the end. You may, if you please, avoid persecution: “if you will be of the world, the world will love its own.” But are you prepared to sacrifice all your hopes and prospects in the eternal world? St. James says, that “the friendship of the world is enmity with God; and that they who will be the friends of the world, must be the enemies of God:” say then, Are ye in doubt which of the alternatives to choose? What good can the world do you by its friendship, or what evil can it inflict by its enmity? To kill the body is the worst that they can do. But what will not God do for his faithful servants? and what will he not inflict on those who turn back from him? Can you think of being denied by Christ before the assembled universe, and not tremble [Note: Matthew 10:32-33.]? O consider this, and you will not hesitate a moment whom to serve; but will “choose that good part which shall never be taken away from you.” You will gladly “suffer affliction with the people of God, and esteem the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of the whole world.”]