Respectful Awe vs. Comfortable Familiarity

I had a second thought from 2 Samuel 6 I want to share. This is quite tricky because we need to have a balance. We cannot be so cavalier as to think God is there only for our benefit. And we cannot view God as so distant that He has nothing to do with us. In fact, He wants us to be completely satisfied by His entirety.

What do I mean? Let’s look at 2 Samuel 6:5 in the Complete Jewish Bible (CJB).

David and the whole house of Isra’el celebrated in the presence of ADONAI with all kinds of musical instruments made of cypress-wood, including lyres, lutes, tambourines, rattles and cymbals.

At first glance, what happened may seem like a good occurrence; however, the key to understanding what David and the rest of Israel did wrong is found in the Hebrew word translated “celebrate.” The word written in English is “sachaq.” It has the connotations of laughter, mocking, making merry, jesting, and joking all in a frivolous manner. This is not the attitude God desires of us when we approach Him or desire to worship Him.

How is this different than what David and the people did later? The second half of verse 12 says,

So David went and joyously brought the ark of God up from the house of ‘Oved-Edom into the City of David (CJB).

Isn’t celebrating the same as being joyous. After all later in the chapter we see David and the people dancing and playing the shofar (a kind of horn made from a ram’s horn). This time we look at the Hebrew word for “joyous.” It is “simchah” and means inner joy and gladness of heart. It’s not an outward or showy celebration that focuses on the happiness of the participants.

What this all means for me is that we need to be careful not to lower our standards of worship to a raucous party-like atmosphere. While dancing and singing and playing of instruments are not wrong in and of themselves, it’s the condition of our hearts that God is looking for. He wants us to approach Him with a sense of awe and wonder. He wants us to have inner joy and a deep gladness in our hearts. And, he does want us to come to Him with our problems, concerns and joys. It’s a balance between respectful awe and comfortable familiarity.