Just saying.....: I Hope You Dance!

"And David danced before the LORD with all of his might..."

~ 2 Sam. 6:14 ~

“And David danced…”

David danced! I love that! David danced!

Do you?

It's intriguing to me that David danced. And now I wonder if you do? If I do? If you have? If you could? If you would? If you should? “David danced before the LORD with all of his might.” Could the same thing be said of you? If your name and if your story were penned and placed in Scripture, inspired by God and engraved on His pages, exposed for the world to read, would one verse hold words to say of you - that you "danced before the LORD with all of (your) might"? Have you ever danced before Him? Has God seen your dance?

"Danced" - is actually the Hebrew word karar. This particular word for dance is used only twice in Holy Writ, both defining David's dance before his LORD. It seems more special somehow when only ‘one’ is worded as wearing it. David danced. Danced / karar means: to whirl, to dance, a whirling, dancing. Whirling and twirling..... before and toward and to and for his God alone! David danced! It was:

An internal feeling - externalizing itself!
A feeling so huge INside - that it moved the out!
A sensation so vast - that the OUTside had to give demonstration of the IN!
An overflow of the heart - that was so filled that it flowed over into movement and moved the whole body that it was carried in.

Thus, David danced for his LORD! His in-ternal feeling had no choice other than to exposed itself out! It had to! I could no longer keep itself bottled silently and stayed still!

David gave dance to the songs that he sung.

David danced.

It’s as if his song, as if his verbalized words put with melody, needed step! As if his feelings INside needed to show OUTside how he felt! As if his vibrating feeling from within vibrated the whole vessel that carried it. So he danced to the tune that his heart did sing!

In the psalms David wrote words to pen his feelings to the LORD, and in one specific psalm he wrote:

"You turned my wailing into dancing;

You removed my sackcloth

and clothed me with joy,

that my heart may sing to You

and not be silent.

O LORD my God,

I will give You thanks forever."

~ Ps. 30:11-12 ~

So indeed, his heart did sing... and his legs moved to dance the feeling it felt!

Perhaps you've had cause for "wailing" as David did? And you've wailed! Go on, then, do! Wail on! Wail as long as you need to. If you've had reason or have reason to now for wailing, then wail! Wail out loud and lament with all your might! Wail on! God knows your heart, sees your hurt, and can handle your loudest wail. WAIL! If your heart needs wailing, then yell your WAIL… or wail your yell, whichever best suits you!

This word "wailing" is from a Hebrew root word (caphad) that means "to beat the breast, as a sign of grief; especially for the dead..... It is sometimes so used as to be applied to the voice of the mourners."

With that said, I’ve taken it upon myself to define it this way:

A wail – is a voice of the mourner!
A wail – puts sound to the hurt.
A wail – is an utterance of the grief.
A wail – is a vocalized weep.
A wail – is an outward expression in verbal form of the grief of the heart in mourning for the death of a thing!

Have you had something to die? And you grieve its death? Are you caught in the horror of its hurt?

What died?

A dream?

Hope?

Health?

Happiness?

Joy?

Peace?

Love?

A friend?

A marriage?

Something you wanted?

A desire?

A need?

A job?

Some freedom?

A ____ ? (What was (is) it for you?)

What died? What pain caused such hurt to the heart that your hands balled themselves into clinched fists and raised themselves to beat its ache? What caused your sounds to pass what’s called a cry and grew into a wailing? Are you wailing now?... And, if so, how long has it been since you have been wailing? Have you grown comfortable to its sound and in your cover of sackcloth that came with its cry?

“You turned my wailing into dancing…… You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy…”

Sackcloth?

Sackcloth is “saq” in the Hebrew. And ‘saq’ is defined as: “sackcloth, sack, sacking, worn in mourning or humiliation. The word saq when used as “sack” (as in a “bag”) is a flexible container that may be closed for holding, storing, or carrying something in.”

Everything has its season. But woe, did you “sack” your sorrow in the bag ("the “flexible container”) of your own body; and now, do you still hold and store and carry your wailing after it is way past its season of carrying? Does the stench of it reek to all who near you? Truly, I won’t argue the fact of your cause to wail, we've all been given times to. BUT, have you kept yours sacked and stored and bagged within you, and are you still holding on to it and still carrying it way past its season?

“There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,

… a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance.”

~ Ecc. 3:1,2,4 ~

What “time” do you find yourself in?

And are you living in a season that’s past its “time”? Have you never gone past your mourning to get to your dance? Have you stayed yourself in your “weeping” and never journeyed further to find your “laughter”? Have you (in your sacked horror) “died” before your “time” while you've still been left here breathing?

No matter the what that brought your wail, God can “turn” your wailing into dancing! He can remove your sackcloth, pull you out of its “bag,” and clothe you with a “joy” that not only sings its song but must dance! It won't be able to help it! It'll have to! Yet the question is: Will we let Him? Or will we (waaaay past it’s “time”) wallow forever in our wail?

That “joy” that God will clothe us in (if we let Him) means: joy, gladness, gaiety, pleasure. Do you want to have joy? Do you wish to be glad? Do you dance with gaiety? Do you know what it’s like to dance in His pleasure? What are you presently wearing: sackcloth? or gladness? Do you mourn? Or do you dance? What season are you in? And are you living in your season? Or, are you living in yesterday’s season? Or maybe even last year’s? Or... are you still in your yesteryear’s wail?

My heart has fallen for a guy that I was introduced to through my sister via the Internet. He doesn’t know me, but I admire him from afar. I’ve prayed for him, grieved for him, felt for him, loved him, laughed with him, mourned with him, danced with him, celebrated with him, been inspired by him, spent lots of time reading his Blogs, and I’ve spent a tremendous amount of time just thinking about him. I’ve talked about him to so many people: my husband, my children, my friends, their friend’s friends, my Bible class students, myself, GOD(!)…… he stays on my heart and in my mind, I so totally truly LIKE this guy! His name is Kenny. He is 28 years old and he's beautiful! He’s a gorgeously handsome guy! I've known him (without him knowing me) for 4 years now. February 11th was the 5th year anniversary of a skiing accident that he had in 2004. He went on a skiing adventure for fun, and came back from it changed forever. He returned forever frozen since then in total paralysis from his neck down.

Why do I like him? And why does he inspire me so? This is my reason: he cannot walk, he can’t move unless someone moves him, he has to be carried whenever he’s moved, he can’t feel (yet still feels – inside, not out)… his whole world fell to its horror when he did on that day…… yet he still dances his dance with the only “legs” that’s been left him,… he writes. Writes, not whines mind you, but writes with such a humor that you can’t help but love and admire him! He dances with what he’s got. He dances with his words and his song is still sung!!!! He is one of the most gorgeous guys I’ve ever seen, He was full of life and lived it to its full…… and yet when the steps he used to take was taken from him…… never did he loose his song!!!! Weeping came for a night, but he chose joy’s laughter in the morning! He’s not living in yesterday’s season! If you won’t dance for yourself, then could you choose to dance for Kenny? He would love to have what you have!.... yet he doesn’t wallow in his wail that he does not.

"..David danced before the LORD with all of his might..." … David danced before God with all of the strength he had in him. Kenny dances “with all of his might.” What “might” you have, and do you dance with the might you've been given?

I’ll end with the words of LeeAnn Wommack’s song, sung by her voice and words penned on her album, but for today penned from my hand and my heart to yours! For, with all of my heart I hope you dance and I sincerely hope that whenever you see me that you'll see me dancing too!