David’s dance before the Lord is described in 2 Samue16:14. This passage of Scripture may rank as one of the most misunderstood accounts in the Old Testament. Some seem to think that David danced practically in the nude before the Lord. But read the account in 2 Samuel 6 carefully: “And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.” It doesn’t exactly sound like David was naked, does it) An ephod was a close-fitting, armless outer vest commonly extending down to the hips. In Old Testament times it was used almost exclusively as a priestly garment and worn in connection with the worship of God. David was not naked when he danced before the Lord; he was instead dressed for worshipping God.
David’s leaping and dancing before the Lord was expressive of joy and praise to God. David’s dancing (described in 2 Samuel 6:14) was a form of religious rejoicing, an expression of joy on the occasion of the return of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. King David and all the house of Israel brought up the Ark of the Lord with shouting and with trumpets, and David danced before the Lord. He took the place of a slave at the head of the procession to express honor to Jehovah God. His willingness to be the Lord’s bondslave shows the true purpose and intent of his worship.
Michal, King david’s wife, not understanding her husband’s motive, and thinking he had lowered himself before the people, reproached him bitterly, and despised him in her heart. But David’s motive for rejoicing was pure. Proponents of modern-day dancing often forget that Hebrew men and women did not dance together. David did not dance all over the streets of Jerusalem in the arms of another man’s wife. Such activities held too many pagan connotations of sensuality. To the chosen people of God, dancing was not something to be performed for social amusement. The modern-day method of dancing by couples was unknown in Old Testament times. (And the word “dance” is never once used in the New Testament in connection with Christian worship). Surely 2 Samuel 6:14 cannot be used to justify present-day social dancing without lifting the text completely out of its context.
–Steve Wagoner
November/December 1986