How to Worship

Eight Crucial Questions

Question One – Has God ever been mad at you?

Many preachers have said that God is not mad at you, but it sure looks like He is mad at someone in this chapter.  II Samuel 6:7 says, “The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah” (NIV).  God was angry at Uzzah and Uzzah dropped dead.

God struck him dead and Uzzah was a believer.  He was not a pagan.  He was not an idol-worshipper.  He was a Jew.  His dad was the priest.  It is like one of the pastor’s kids dropping dead.  He will probably be in heaven. God killed him.  That is strange.

God judges two people in this chapter.  He judges a man, and He judges a woman. Uzzah loses his life and Michal, David’s wife, loses her fertility.  Michal was the woman in the window.  Instead of worshipping with David, like she should have been doing.  She is on the outside, criticizing and judging those who are worshipping.

She had a negative, judgmental critical spirit.  She despised her husband in her heart.  She mocked him. God kept her from having any kids. Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death. (II Samuel 6:23 NIV)

We think of infertility as just a medical condition today but, in this case, it was divine judgment.  In our culture today, some might see infertility as a blessing but, in that culture, it was considered a curse.

You say, “This is OT.  It is old covenant.  God does not do that today.  He doesn’t get angry at people today.  He does not get angry at believers.”  The only problem is that God’s nature has not changed.  God is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Furthermore, the same thing happened in the NT.  It happened to Ananias and Saphira.  They were Christians.  They were members of the first church in Jerusalem.  Read Acts 5.  It is the NT that says, “our God is a consuming fire.”

Question Two – Have you ever been mad at God?

Many have experienced a terrible tragedy in their life, such as a monstrous crime, the death of a loved one, or loss of a child, and they are mad at God.  Sometimes, we do stupid things, get in trouble and blame God for our problems.

Proverbs 19:3 says, “A person’s own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the Lord” (NIV).

Some people in the Bible were mad at God.  Some of the greatest saints in the Bible were mad at God.  David was one of them (II Samuel 6:8) and he was a man after God’s own heart.

David was angry. He was angry at God.  He tried to bring the ark to Jerusalem.  He tried to put God first.  He tried to honor God and a man died.  If people were going to die, he did not want anything to do with it.  He let someone else take it. Some people stay angry and bitter forever.  They never get over it but David didn’t stay angry forever.

Question Three – Have you ever been afraid of God?

Should we be afraid of God? Most Christians have no fear of God.  Many see God just as their friend and buddy. The Bible talks about the FEAR of the Lord.  The Bible says that fear is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7).  In this chapter, David was afraid of God (II Samuel 6:9).  Why?

A man in this chapter dropped dead.  God struck him dead, and people were afraid.  The same thing happened in the NT.  When Ananias and Sapphira dropped dead, we are told that, not just fear but GREAT FEAR “seized the whole church and all who heard about these events” (Acts 5:11 NIV)

Question Four – How do you respond when you fail at something?

How do you react when you fail at something?  You try something and it does not work.  Your failure may even be public and embarrassing, like David’s was.  Many of us try something fail and just give up.  David tried to bring the ark into Jerusalem and failed.  Three months later, he tried again and this time he was successful.  He did not give up.

Question Five – Have you ever done the right thing and been punished?

How many of us have done the right thing and got in trouble for it?  In this chapter, the ark of God is being transported.  It starts to fall.  A man reaches out his hand to stop it from falling on the ground and he dies.

That seems a little harsh.  It seems a little excessive.  You touch something and you die.  You touch something that you are trying to protect.  It is like getting in trouble for trying to help someone.

It sounds like he did the right thing. It sounds like he did what anyone else would have done in that situation.  There is only one problem.  God said NOT to touch the ark, or you will die (Numbers 4:15).

The ark was so holy that it could never ever be touched by human hands.  You could not even touch it accidentally.  If anyone did, it would be instant death, like touching a live wire.  Uzzah defied the Word of God.  He defied God’s revealed will and did what seemed right to him.  Many still do that today.

Question Six – Is it wrong to dance in church?

Many churches say that it is.  The Bethlehem Christian Church in Elon, NC adopted a strong stand against dancing over a hundred years ago.  In 1898, it adopted a motion saying, “whereas dancing is a sin, therefore be it resolved that any member of this church engaging in any form of dancing shall be considered guilty of disorderly conduct and dealt with accordingly.” [1]

Many Baptist churches teach that dancing is a sin.  Are they right?  Sometimes dancing is wrong.  Some worldly dancing today is without question sin.  It can also lead to sin.

Herodias’ daughter danced before Herod before John the Baptist was executed (Matthew 14:6).  Erotic dancing involved when Israel worshipped the golden calf (Exodus 32:6) but all dancing is NOT sin.

King Solomon said that there is a time to dance (Ecclesiastes 3:4). Psalm 150:4 says, “Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!” (NIV).  David dances in this chapter.  He is not just dancing.  He is dancing in worship.

This is a worship dance.  This was not Dancing with the Stars.  It was NOT entertainment.  It was worship.  Our chapter says that “David was dancing before the Lord with all his might” (II Samuel 6:14 NIV).

It is interesting to me that when we think of David in the Bible, we think of David the SHEPHERD.  That is what he was as a young boy.  We think of David the POLITICIAN.  We think of David the king. When we think of David, we think of David the MUSICIAN.  He played the harp.

When we think of David, we think of David the WARRIOR.  He was a military man.  He was a soldier.  He was a fighter.  He knew how to fight.  He knew how to use a slingshot.  He killed Goliath.

When we think of David, we think of David the WRITER.  He wrote Scripture.  When we think of David, we think of David the ACTOR.  He acted like he was completely crazy before the Philistine king.

Now we see another side of David. In II Samuel 6, we see David the DANCER.  He had some moves.  David was definitely NOT a Baptist.  He was leaping (II Samuel 6:14).  He was spinning.  There is a big contrast here between Uzzah and David.  One is dead and one is dancing.  One is face down on the ground and one is leaping in the air. [2]

Question Seven – Have you ever had marriage problems?

Everyone who has been married has some marriage problems.  No one has a perfect marriage.  What we don’t think about is people in the Bible having marriage problems, but they did.  Pastors sometimes have marriage problems.  Apostles had marriage problems.  Prophets had marriage problems.  Anointed kings had marriage problems.

David, a man after God’s own heart, had marriage problems.  Some of those problems were his own fault.  Having multiple wives didn’t help.  Having an affair didn’t help his marriage either.  Other times, they were not his fault.

David just finished blessing the nation, comes home to bless his family and when he gets home, he arrives to a battle zone.  David created a revival in the nation.  He brought unity and worship back in the nation.  People are happy.  They are celebrating but not Michal.  She is angry perhaps because David is more popular than her dad was.  Her dad was King Saul.

Instead of encouraging, and supporting him for what he had done, his wife Michal is angry with David.  She is bitter and sarcastic.  She mocks him.  What is even worse, she criticizes him.  David is out worshipping, and she is critical.  Have you ever criticized the way someone else worshipped?  Many act just like Michal, even today.

Question Eight – Have you ever been falsely accused?

Many of us have been false accused at some time in our life.  Joseph was falsely accused of a sex crime by Potiphar’s wife.  David was falsely accused by his own wife.

Michal accused him of being undignified.  She accused him of unkinglike behavior.  She accused him of immodesty.  She accused him of exposing himself in public.  She accuses him of being an exhibitionist.

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, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!” (II Samuel 6:20 NIV)

Of course, it was not true.  It was a lie.  David did take off his royal robes, but he was NOT naked, and he did NOT apologize. He does not back down and say, “I am sorry you were offended by what I did.”  In fact, he doubled down and said he would do it again and even more.  He even gets a few digs in about her father, King Saul.

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.” (II Samuel 6:21-22 NIV)