A Prayer About Dancing
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. Psalm 30:11-12
Holy and loving Lord Jesus, was there ever a king more into dancing than King David? His victory over Goliath was the inspiration for singing and dancing by many others in Israel (1 Sam. 21:11). When the Ark was returned to Jerusalem, he danced before the Lord with all his might, and with very little of his clothing on (2 Sam. 6:14)! It’s obvious he wrote this very Psalm as a dancer for others dancers, whose joy over the dedication of the temple was understandably, uncontainable.
That’s precisely where you come in, King Jesus, for you are the real Lord of the Dance. Though he didn’t realize it, King David’s work and joy simply prefigured yours. You are the one who truly turns the wails of our sin and brokenness into the dance of hope and joy. In the gospel, you have removed the filthy garments of unrighteousness and our self-righteousness, and you have clothed us with the joyful robe of your very own righteousness. Astounding, astonishing… and so very true!
How can we not sing and make music to you in our hearts? How can we possibly remain silent, in response to who you are and everything you have done for us? Cause the sounds of music and dancing in the gospel-house of the Father’s love to get louder and louder and louder… so loud the main voice we hear in life is the Father saying, “My son, you are always with me and everything I have is yours” (Luke 15:31)
Forgive us and free us when, like the elder brother, we remain smugly on the outside, off the dance floor (Luke 15:25). Forgive us and free us for confusing reverence with rigor mortis. Forgive us and free us from living more by our temperament tests, Myers-Briggs profile, and personality types, than by the lyric, music and dance of the gospel.
One Day, King Jesus, we will give thanks to you with all our might. All personal inhibitions, cultural limitations and sinful prohibitions will be gone. May that Day have much greater impact on this day. So very Amen, we pray, in Jesus’ name.
