Dance: A Key to the Human Heart

 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.”(Deut. 6:5)  This call leaves no room for half hearted, double minded worship. In His perfect wisdom, He demands we love Him with everything we are.  Yet often we may feel dull and emotionless in the place of worship.  We may be tempted to disengage or end up participating in worship/prayer/church while feeling very empty on the inside.  How are we to understand such conflict at the core of our pursuit of God?

One thing we must remember is the reality of spiritual battle over the affections of our hearts.  Jesus, the true and holy Bridegroom of heaven is at work in the hearts of His beloved ones, “that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5: 27  Jesus has washed our hearts clean and is daily renewing our minds through His Word by the power of the Holy Spirit.  One of the most powerful ways He renews our minds is by opening of the eyes of our heart through the Bible to see the superior beauty of Jesus! This revelation is made to stun our hearts, satisfy us deeply, and make us hungry to see more of Him.  It must also lead us to worship…our gaze fixed on beholding more of His glory.  The evil one works to steal our affections away from Jesus and attach them to “lesser loves” which offer counterfeit beauty and pleasure.  He seeks to dull our eyes (2 Cor 4:4) and numb our hearts so that they no longer respond rightly to Reality but believe a lie…namely that there is someone/something more beautiful and satisfying than Jesus.  By the grace of God, Jesus will have the victory over the hearts of His chosen and Beloved ones and keep us growing increasingly in love for Him rather than the world.  I love the stunning promise of His Word from Jude 24 that He is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever.

 As we are being kept, so we are by His grace to,  “keep [o]urselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” Jude 21.  Offering the movements of our physical bodies as an expression of worship and prayer to the Lord is one means of grace we have been given to “keep ourselves in the love of God”.  This  love, though not merely an emotion, must overflow with joy and delight in the presence of the Lord.  It is a command, “Delight yourself in the Lord” Ps 37:4.   Engaging our bodies in worship is a powerful way to help engage our hearts in worship as well.  How can this be?!

In the good purpose and design of God we have been created as embodied souls.  In this life our bodies can not be separated from our spirit.  After sin came in to the world, the separation of our body and spirit became a reality at death.  Yet this separation is only temporary!  One of the glorious realities of the gospel is that Christ, in taking on human flesh forever, will redeem and resurrect our physical bodies.  The significance of Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, keeping a body for the rest of eternity can not be overestimated!

Our bodies are meant to honor the Lord. 1 Cor 6:19, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?  You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.  So glorify God in your body.”  What we do with our bodies, ie., our actions, words, movements are meant to be a direct reflection of our hearts.  Our spirits are likewise affected by what we choose to do with our bodies.  We can not separate ourselves out into disconnected parts.  Jesus means to have all of us!

When my heart feels dull, I have learned that if I will take up the word of God in Scripture and begin to sing it, (such as a psalm) and put expressive movement to it as well, my mind and emotions begin to respond to the truth that my body is expressing. There is nothing magical or mystical taking place. I am simply responding with all that I am to the Lord in faith, and the Reality and Truth of who he is breaks into my heart and renews me. This is what I mean when I say that dance is a way I encounter God. It is not apart from His Word, as if the movements themselves produce a spiritual experience. It is movement produced by a heart response of faith in what I read, flowing back in love to the Source and Savior of my life.

When I dance before the Lord, it is one way among countless ways that I pour out my heart and love to him. In the engaging of my body as an instrument of praise, I find my delight in Jesus increasing and my affections stirred, not primarily because it is enjoyable to dance (though it is that), but because my dance is speaking the truth to my spirit….namely, that who God has revealed himself to be in Christ and what He has accomplished on my behalf (Salvation!) is worthy of extravagant rejoicing.

Sanctifying Dance for the Glory of God

 

In his 2013 national conference message, What God Made is Good–and Must Be Sanctified: C.S. Lewis and St. Paul on the Use of Creation, John Piper expounds on 1 Timothy 4:1-4.

Now the Spirit expressly says that in the later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

As Piper expounds, “The issue is: How are we to experience the material creation (which of course, includes our bodies, and everything we encounter with our five senses) in such a way that God is worshiped, honored, loved, and supremely treasured in our experience of material creation?” In 1 Timothy 4, the specific things being addressed are food and marriage (sex), but the foundational revelation by which they are interpreted is clearly meant to be applied to a much wider range of our interaction with the world around us. As Piper says, “this world and every pleasure in it is designed for the worship of the true God.” Thus it is of vital importance that we give thought to how then, in fact, we can engage with every particular aspect of God’s creation for His glory. This essay provides an introductory overview of the way expressive movement (dance) can be sanctified for the glory of God.

Glorify God in your Body

In the good purpose and design of God, we have been created as embodied souls.  In this life our bodies can not be separated from our spirit. Because of sin, the separation of our body and spirit is a reality at death.  Yet this separation is only temporary!  One of the glorious truths of the gospel is that Christ, in taking on human flesh forever, will redeem and resurrect physical bodies, transforming the saints into the likeness of His glorified body.  The significance of Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, having a body for the rest of eternity should not be underestimated! Throughout Scripture, we are commanded to honor and love the Lord with all that we are, including our bodies. God means to have the fullness of his children worshipping him in the beauty of holiness.

1 Cor 6:19, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?  You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.  So glorify God in your body.”  

 Deuteronomy 5:6, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.”

Romans 12: 1, “I appeal to you therefore brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

There are many varied and beautiful ways we can fulfill this call to love, worship, and thus glorify God with all that we are. Dance, as an expression of our love for Jesus, is one such way. There are as many ideas of what is meant by the word “dance” as there are people in the world, but what I am talking about is not a specific style of dance or movement. It is not something only those with years of training can do. The broad definition of dance I am working with is movement that is expressive of the heart, usually accompanying music and/or rhythmic lyrics.

Worldly Dance versus Godly Dance

In much of our culture, dance is synonymous with sensuality and is thus notoriously frowned upon and forbidden by many Christian churches. One only has to flip through TV channels or browse the internet to see dancing figures promoting countless products and promises of fleshly enjoyment. It is easy to see how Satan has used the sensual delights of dance to turn hearts away from the true God so that people look to a creature for the satisfaction of their souls rather than the Creator. The Bible also reveals several examples of dances that were acts of idolatrous worship (Exodus 32) and wicked manipulation (Mark 6:22). Expressive movement is a powerful way to testify to the reality of what is happening on the inside of us! It is no surprise then, that among unbelievers, sinful desires are often made shockingly evident through dance. When the lusts of the flesh are reigning supreme, a dance can unleash great wickedness..such as took place leading to the execution of John the Baptist (Mark 6). This power to both reveal and allure hearts has caused dance to be feared and often condemned over much of the history of the church.

But it need not be so! Dance itself is not inherently evil. Yes, the Deceiver has almost entirely stolen and corrupted its use for his own evil desires across the earth, but he is not the one who created the body to leap when the heart is joyful or sway to the rhythms of music. Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him. God created dance as a way to express the heart and delight the soul. This is a gift of His common grace to all mankind. Too often people have “delighted” themselves in a dance of darkness, spiritually speaking. Yet, God designed it as an instrument of the praise of His glory.

Psalm 149:3 “Let them praise his name with dancing.” Psalm 150:4 “Praise Him with tambourine and dance..”

The first heart-response to the incarnate Son of God recorded in Scripture was a dance that took place in the hiddenness of the womb when John, filled with the Holy Spirit, leaped for joy at the presence of Jesus (Luke 1:44). In fact, John the Baptist’s life begins and ends with a dance! In the end, the joyful dance of John triumphed over the sensual dance that prompted his execution. John’s great joy in the presence of Jesus will have no end whereas the dance of his enemy has been forever exposed in Scripture to be a weak and futile, momentary attempt to thwart the purposes of God. The dance of the redeemed, as it flows out of genuine joy in Jesus and a desire to see him exalted should cause the enemy to tremble and flee, rather than the church fleeing from all physical expressions of worship. Dance is a gift from God to be received with thanksgiving. It is one of the most powerful expressions of joy the Lord has given us! What then are the implications of loving a God in whose presence is fullness of joy?! (Ps 16:11) Is it any surprise then that Biblically, dance is associated with victory, joy, salvation, healing, restoration, and praise?

To reject dance entirely is to follow the same trajectory as those in 1 Timothy 4 who were forbidding marriage and food under the auspices or religious asceticism. It is taking what God created good and calling it in every form wicked. Piper in his teaching makes note that, “Satan uses both sensual indulgence and abstinence to turn hearts away from the true God.” The one thing the enemy does not want is for the gifts of God to be used in a way that glorifies and honor God. In his attempt to mar and steal the glory of God, Satan would rather us idolize God’s gifts or reject them completely. Forbidding dance entirely, while making it seem easier to restrain fleshly indulgences, actually inhibits the full glory the Lord desires to receive through what He has made.

Because most dance in this world is not God-glorifying worship, it can be genuinely challenging to see how it can truly honor the Lord. In order to glorify God and not self, it must be sanctified. In fact, the dancer must be sanctified, body, soul, and spirit. The distinction between the essence of worship and its expression in dance is crucial to understand to this end. Piper’s definition of sanctifying something is, “setting it apart as a means of expressing the infinite worth of God.” Godly dance requires a heart submitted joyfully to God’s Word and a desire to see Jesus exalted above all. He is after worship in spirit and truth (John 4), and this is therefore the primary litmus test as to whether our dance honors Him or not. It must be flowing from a heart that has truly encountered the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ through His Word and is responding in love to Him on the basis of that glorious revelation. No matter how beautiful or graceful, a dance that is not from this place does not honor God. The movements themselves are worshipful only in as much as they are a genuine expression of the affection, adoration, and desire of our hearts for God. Integrity requires that a dance for Jesus is but one small piece of an entire life lived for the glory of God. When this is true of a person, expressive movement offered, in the beauty of holiness, as a testimony to the very great Salvation He has worked on their behalf, magnifies Christ.

Dance was Designed to Glorify God

The primary purpose of dance as revealed through Scripture is to declare the glory of God. This glorious purpose can be seen in the following three passages: Exodus 15, 2 Samuel 6, and Luke 15. In Exodus 15, Israel had just been stunningly delivered from Egypt and led across the Red Sea on dry land. Moses led the people of Israel in a triumphant song of praise to the Lord declaring his glory, honor, and power revealed in the mighty salvation He had worked on their behalf. Miriam then took up her tambourine and led the women in a dance to this magnificent song of deliverance. It was a fitting response to so great a salvation! Throughout the Old Testament there are references to the dances of the Israelite women being a sign that the Salvation of the Lord has come to His people. (Is 52:7, 1 Sam 18:6, Jer 31:4, 13)

Women are not the only dancers in the Bible. Several of David’s Psalms refer to dancing, (Ps 30:11, 87:7 149, 150 among others) and his own famous dance is recorded in 2 Samuel 6. “And David danced before the Lord with all his might.” He responded with unrestrained joy at the ark of the covenant being restored to the people of God. This was a remarkable response to the Presence of God returning to his people. As he faced the derision of his wife Michal, David revealed that it was the Lord’s presence and approval that was the motivation of his extravagant display. As a man after God’s heart, through the anointing of the Spirit, he had written Psalm 16:11 testifying to fullness of joy being found in the presence of the Lord. His mourning had been turned to dancing because the Lord had restored Himself in the midst of his people.

The New Testament reinforces this connection between dancing, joy, and salvation in the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. When the lost son returns home and is restored in the loving presence of his father, a celebration including music and dancing was the appropriate response. In Luke 15:32, the father says, “It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.”

The Gospel is the Reason we Dance

If rejoicing with song and dance was called for at the Exodus, the return of the Ark, and the return of the prodigal, how much more fitting is it among the church of the living God! For, we celebrate a much greater exodus from sin and death and have received salvation unto an eternal inheritance! (Colossians 1:12-14) We have the presence of the Holy Spirit, not in a box behind a veil, but on the inside of us! (Ephesians 1:13-14) We have been adopted and welcomed by our heavenly Father though we were far off and hostile to Him. (Galatians 4: 4-7) All of this was accomplished through the death and resurrection of Jesus on our behalf for the glory of God. We should dance like no other people on the face of the earth!

The Dance of Faith

Truly, no matter what our circumstances, even when we face hardship and persecution, we have a reason to dance! Jesus in fact calls us to rejoice and leap for joy when we are persecuted (Luke 6:23) because the greater reality of our lives is that we are blessed by God. A dance of joy to God in moments of great trial testifies to the One who has the weightier word over our lives. Because nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ (Rom. 8), nothing can separate us from our joy. No one can turn our dancing to mourning! This does not mean that we will not mourn at all. We groan for the fullness of redemption to be revealed, and we are called to weep with those who weep. (Romans 12:15) But, our mourning does not have the final word! It is temporal. It is filled with hope. Even as we pour out our souls to the Lord with tears, we can set our hearts on the truth of God that is revealed in his word about who He is and the glorious greatness of His promises…such as the psalm that those who weep in tears will reap with shouts of joy! (Psalm 126:5) As a response to such a word, we can dance. Such a dance of faith speaks volumes about the worth of Christ. It is a testimony of His sweet sufficiency in all things…of the joy of His presence…of His mighty Salvation! It is a sight that might even bring our persecutors to repentance. Who else, but the children of God, would dare to dance when facing great trial?

As the dances of the children of God reflect their joy in God, they must be radically different in spirit than the dances of the world. They should be childlike, not caring about the approval of man but delighting in God. They should be humble and modest, aiming to draw attention to Christ and not to themselves. They must be pure. Above all, they should be passionate and extravagant! By this I mean that they should communicate that there is no greater joy, no higher good, no one more worthy than Jesus Christ than to receive all of our love and life.

Incorporating Dance into Corporate Worship

Dance, because of its nature and history, should be incorporated into the life of a local church in the context of much prayer and careful, Bible based wisdom. Psalm 149 and 150 which both call forth dance as a legitimate way to praise the Lord are in the context of the assembly of the godly. In fact, most references to dance in the Bible are in a corporate setting, though not a social one. This is no light or flippant thing. It is not about being cool or culturally relevant. It is not entertainment. It is about the testimony of Jesus going forth for the edification of the church and the salvation of the lost. In the context of a corporate worship setting, careful shepherding will be required by the elders of the congregation that the purity and focus of the worship service stays fixed on Christ. Great safety for the flock of God will come when clear guidelines, Biblical teaching, and intentional discipleship regarding expressive movement are given to the church as a means of grace, facilitating true embodied worship unto the glory of God. It is my prayer that as dance is sanctified in the midst of God’s people, it will be increasingly seen and embraced as a gift of God, a means of grace given to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8)

The Stolen Key of Dance (Pt. 1)

From the beginning of creation there has been a war over the worship of humankind.  This is no surprise as the affection of our hearts and thus control of our lives are given to whomever we worship.  In the garden, Satan convinced Adam and Eve (Genesis 3) that their was another way than God’s way–a way to the knowledge of God (you will be like God-knowing good and evil) apart from intimacy with and obedience to God.  This war over human hearts has raged ever since and will continue to intensify until the return of Jesus to the earth.   At the center of this battle is the glory of God.  We were created to brilliantly reflect His glory for all of eternity.  Thus there is nothing the enemy of our souls desires more than to mar, pervert, and steal the glory of God for himself.

Because dance is a key of praise and worship given to us to encounter the presence and power of God in accordance with His Word *(see earlier posts), Satan has perverted it and used it as a key to draw the nations into communion with evil spirits. His purpose is that the kingdom of darkness would be gain power and be advanced in the earth.  As I began to research the history of dance in the world, I was looking for some small glimmer, however faint and corrupted, of the role, purpose, and significance of dance in the earth.  I believed that what I would find would serve to confirm God’s Word and deepen my understanding of the cultural context of the Biblical passages referring to dance.   As I studied, I was shocked to learn that the primary purpose of dance in every culture for the majority of human history has been to connect with the spiritual realm!   In almost every ancient people group, this purpose was served by inviting demonic presence and possession through music and dancing.  This was not an occasional occurrence but a primary means of religious expression.  Music, dance, and spiritual reality were inseparable in their minds.

Dance is one of the premier ways  the “medicine men” or religious leaders of each native tribe sought  both spiritual counsel and power.   In fact, according to Curt Sachs World History of the Dance, “In ancient and primitive peoples, scarcely anything approaches the dance in its importance.”  “On no occasion of the life of primitive peoples could it be dispensed with”.*  It was thought of as a sacred act and priestly office–the premier way to bridge the gap between the physical and spiritual realm.  Today in our Western culture, dance has for the most part been relegated to the entertainment and artistic realm of society.  Yet its power to influence the hearts and minds of people is seen everywhere from the television dance shows that top the charts to the thousands of commercials that use dance in attempt to sell products.  Dancers beckon to us constantly from such venues without us even stepping foot or setting eyes in such places as nightclubs, raves, or the dark corners of the internet.

There is much more to say about the war over our worship and the role of dance in this battle, but for now, I want to leave you with a question.  How should we as believers in Jesus think about dance?  Should we love it or hate it, welcome or fear it?  There are complexities to the answer that will take time to develop, but to begin with, we surely should not take it lightly or flippantly. Dance can be “fun”, but it is not merely fun.  It is spiritually powerful unto life or destruction.   There should be a tremble in our souls in an awe filled fear of the Lord as we view this gift of expression he has given us.  Where dance draws peoples hearts to Jesus and releases pure and holy delight in one another, it is to be welcomed and celebrated. (Ps 149, 150)  Where dance leads people into idolatry, sensuality, pride, and other such expressions of darkness and wickedness it should be detested and and turned away from.  A Biblical example of this is found in Exodus 32 when Moses comes back from receiving the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel worshipping a golden calf.  Verse 19 says, “And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’s anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain.”  In the context of the chapter and book of Exodus, it was not the dancing itself that was the problem.  It was the fact that their dancing was at that time an act of idolatrous worship.  It led to thousands of them being destroyed immediately following.  When they had danced unto the Lord at the crossing of the sea described in Exodus 15, it was right and honoring to God.  They appropriately celebrated the Lord’s gifts of freedom, victory, and salvation.  As I look at these examples in God’s Word and many throughout history as well, one conclusion is that I do not love dance for its own sake.  I love Jesus, and I love to worship Him with all that I am through dance.  This is an extremely important distinction to make at the beginning of pursuing understanding regarding the purpose of God for dance. Dance was created to be an expression of the heart…thus the fundamental significance of it can not be found in the mere movements themselves but in the reality of the affections they reveal.

Christ Exalting Dance: a Key for Today

Christ Exalting Dance is for Today

Dance as praise and worship is something God is calling His people to enter into today.  Some hold that because dance was often mentioned in the Old Testament in contexts of the people of God offering sacrifices, it has passed away with the sacrificial system at the cross and resurrection.  There are several passages that speak of the Israelites rejoicing at the feasts and celebrations at which they did offer sacrifices according to the law.  The sacrifices were necessary to draw near to God.  A significant part of what was being celebrated in the dance, music, and Psalms was the reality that God had drawn near and blessed them with His goodness.  In Nahum 1:15 it says, “Keep your feasts, O Judah..”  This word for feast in Hebrew is ‘chagag’ which means to dance in a circle.  This passage and others as well as several historical sources paint a picture of celebratory movement being a characteristic aspect of how the people of God observed these sacred celebrations. All of these sacrifices and feasts did in fact find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ.  But it is important to remember that the value of this system, according to the New Testament, is to function as a shadow that points us to the reality and substance that is in Jesus. That means that the glory and joy in God that the Israelites celebrated through dance as they feasted and offered sacrifice was pointing toward Christ, though they could not see the full reality of what they were  proclaiming. But this does not argue for the irrelevance of the dance under the new covenant. In fact, it suggests the opposite. Since the Israelites were called to dance even in the shadow (Ps 149:3, 150:4), how much more should the people of God now, Jew and Gentile alike, rejoice in the substance who is Jesus!  How could our praise diminish and the fullest expression of joy given to us by our God be forbidden? Yet so many of God’s people in Western culture are stuck in immobility during praise and worship because of this wrong understanding among others.  Things that were themselves a shadow, like animal sacrifice and the Levitical code have passed away.  Hebrews 8 among other verses makes this clear.  Hebrews 8:6 says, “But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better (New Covenant) promises.” But the substance of our salvation can still call forth the same response. What a glorious salvation and deliverance the sacrifice of Jesus has bought for us!  It is greater than the deliverance of the children of Israel out of Egypt through the Red Sea described in Exodus 15.  After they safely passed through the waters, Moses sang and Miriam led all of the women of Israel in celebrating such a mighty salvation through song and dance (v20-21).    Colossians 1:13 testifies to the reality that if we are in Christ we have experienced a greater deliverance and salvation than that. “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”  How much more worthy is Jesus of the dance of our hearts as the deliverance he has accomplished for us is greater and eternal!

Dancing in the Image of God (Part 2)

What emotion do you think of when you picture God?  I believe too many people do not picture him with any emotion at all, or they picture Him full of anger at all of the wrong things they have done.  Jesus as fully God and fully man came to reveal the heart of God to us.  Colossians 2:9 says, “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily..” Yet as we saw in Part 1 of Dancing in the Image of God, the Bible says that Jesus is the most joyful man who ever lived.  In Hebrews 1:9 we are told that Jesus was anointed with joy more than all of his companions.  Psalm 103:8 tells us, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.”  His steadfast love is not only faithful and enduring but full of passion. One can not read the gospels without seeing Jesus full of emotion.  Love stronger than death was motivating His desire to fulfill the Father’s will as He agonized in the garden before his impending crucifixion.  When Jesus was lifted up on the cross, the full extent of the love of God was revealed.  He turned away the wrath of God from those who put their trust in Him as he lived and died to pay for sin and grant  His righteousness.  This was the plan of God from eternity past to have a purified people, a Bride, that would reflect His glory and participate with the Trinity in intimate fellowship.  Is 62:5 says, “As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”  The Lord is full of delight over His chosen people and desires for his heart to be seen and known.  Psalm 104:31 says, “May the glory of the Lord endure forever;  may the Lord rejoice in his works.”  The Hebrew word for rejoice in this passage means to ‘jump for joy.’  Rejoicing is a visible expression of joy.  It is something that can be seen!  We were made in the image of a God who expresses Himself passionately so that what is in His heart and mind can be made visible.  In Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke while on the the earth, the words for ‘dance’ and ‘rejoice’ are synonymous.  Luke 10:21 speaks of  Jesus rejoicing in the Holy Spirit, and throughout the New Testament, the disciples of Jesus are called to rejoice in the reality of the Kingdom of God.  The Greek word used in many of these instances is ‘agalliao’ which means to jump for joy.

As mentioned in Part 1, our dance was created to be a reflection of one of the ways we are made in the image of God.  It is little wonder that when something exciting happens to a child they don’t have to be told to jump for joy.  It is a natural expression.  Not to jump is a behavior that has to be learned!  In some places in our own culture, it is still acceptable to rejoice in this way.  For example at a football or other athletic game, when someone scores a touchdown or makes an incredible play they often jump up and down and dance.  Everyone cheering for that team is on their feet jumping and screaming with excitement.  We were created to respond with everything we are when something or someone thrills our hearts.  It is our culture that most often teaches when and how it is appropriate to respond with such authenticity and unrestraint to what we are feeling. While culture has its place, it is the Word of God that should reign supreme in training us to respond rightly to our emotions.

Ecclesiastes 3:4 says, “There is a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.”  This passage makes it clear that there is a place and time in the human experience to enter into the full range of human emotion and express it accordingly before the Lord. Psalm 62:8 says, “Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”  May we be strengthened with grace to bring our hearts to the Lord in both sorrow and joy, weeping and dancing.  May we know the fellowship of the Lord Jesus in these places of deep emotion, understanding that He created these capacities for feeling and expression within us that we might reflect and respond to the glorious revelation of Himself.

Dance: An Instrument of Praise

Dance is a key element of praise.   Psalm 149 is an important passage about the significance of praise. I plan on referencing it regularly.  This scripture helps us understand the role of praise and worship as a key that opens and shuts things in heaven and on the earth.

“Praise the Lord!  Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly!  Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!  Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!  For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.  Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds.  Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands, to execute vengeance on the nations and punishments on the peoples, to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, to execute on them the judgment written!  This is honor for all his godly ones.  Praise the Lord!”

Dancing is to be a part of what God’s people do when they come together to give him glory through their praise.  It is to be accompanied by joyful singing, music and the proclamation of the Word of God.  The call resounds for God’s people to be joyful and exuberantly express that joy in Him through all of the diverse gifts he has given us.  They are to be unashamed in letting their joy in God be made known to all who are assembled.  This joy is flowing out of the revelation that the Creator of the whole earth has chosen them as children adopted into His royal family. (v2)  They have the honor of sharing in his kingdom and authority!  They were once orphans without hope and in desperate need, and their great God has come and delivered them from darkness and saved them unto a glorious inheritance!  This salvation is too great for human voices alone to do it justice;  it also deserves the full expression of human energy and devotion.

Verse 4 of Psalm 149 reveals beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Lord takes pleasure in His people as they demonstrate their unrestrained jubilance.  It is a testimony of his glory and greatness!  If you went to a football game and saw one side of the stadium sitting quietly with their heads slightly hung down and their hands folded carefully in their laps you would assume the team they were there to “cheer” on was doing very poorly and probably losing by a very big margin.  However, if you saw people standing up with their hands raised, jumping up and down, waving their arms and shouting with huge smiles on their face you would assume their team had just made an awesome play and was victorious over the other team.  How much greater is God than a football team!  His people should be expressing a joy in His ultimate victory and salvation that is greater than any other victory or pleasure this world has to offer.  Many people think that these kind of exuberant displays of joy and affection should be reserved for “private” times with the Lord because they will be a distraction to others.  While their may be times where someone is truly doing something inappropriate or out of order and need to be directed to restrain themselves during a corporate gathering, the vast majority of the time this way of thinking is a smokescreen, though perhaps an unconscious one, for having their own empty, joyless heart revealed.  Psalm 149:1 and Psalm 150:1 make it clear that this kind of praise is to take place in the sanctuary of God when his saints are assembled.  Dance is meant to be seen!  It is to speak of the worth of Jesus and glory of the salvation that He has accomplished on our behalf.  Seeing someone else dance before the Lord, be it a little child or an elderly woman or anyone in between, should stir our hearts with love for Jesus.  We are reminded that He really is that worthy, He really does take pleasure in them, and He will take pleasure in each one of us as we begin to move before him in childlike faith.