Meditation

Hi there,

Just as we saw yesterday, today's verses are a study in contrasts.

In celebration of the arrival of the ark, David sacrifices burnt and fellowship offerings and follows this up by giving loaves of bread and cakes of dates and raisins to the whole crowd of Israelites.

The sacrifices, offerings, and gifts signal the communal celebration of the restoration and the goodness of God's provision for the people, and are offered in worshipful reverence.

However, when David returns home, he experiences the full force of Michal's wrath. Referring to his dancing, Michal states that he has embarrassed himself in front of slave girls and not behaved as a king should.​

Michal is that rare combination of a daughter of a king and the wife of a king, but seemingly is not a true follower of The King, the Lord of all. And so she views the celebration only in very human terms.

In so doing, she fails to participate in the joy that even the most lowly of the Israelites is feeling at this moment and is therefore isolated from her people.

We'll conclude the story tomorrow with David's retort and Michal's fate. I've included those verses for context and for you if you'd like to finish today.

Today's verses are 2 Samuel 6:17-20. Yesterday's and tomorrow's verses are in grey for context.

^{2 Samuel 6:12-16}

The Ark Brought to Jerusalem

¹² Now King David was told, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-Edom and everything he has, because of the ark of God.” So David went to bring up the ark of God from the house of Obed-Edom to the City of David with rejoicing.

¹³ When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf. ¹⁴ Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, ¹⁵ while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

¹⁶ As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart.​

¹⁷ They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord.

¹⁸ After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty.

¹⁹ Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes.

²⁰ 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!”

²¹ 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.”​

²³ And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death.

Encouragement

Consider the blameless, observe the upright;
a future awaits those who seek peace.

​Psalm 37:37​

Andy

God's Word In Your Hand

​This study in Michal from Revive Women draws some interesting and useful conclusions from the whole story. I'll be featuring it here throughout the week.

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