And so it was, when those
bearing the ark of the LORD had
gone six paces, that he sacrificed
oxen and fatted sheep.
Then David danced before
the LORD with all his might;
and David was wearing a linen
ephod.... Now as the ark of the
LORD came into the City of David,
Michal, Saul's daughter, looked
through a window and saw
King David leaping and whirling
before the LORD; and she
despised him in her heart.
2Samuel 6:13-14, 16
All men and women have unused reserve potential, whether they use it or not, even if they do not they have such potential. It is when we tap into that potential that we find that our focus and vision is enhanced and our effort is increased. This is what occurred with King David, he tapped into his reserve of emotion and his focused was not on the emotion but the object of his emotion: God. The ark being brought into the City of David was an exercise in faith, belief, that God was represented by this object and then knowing that this action, this carrying of the ark into the city was pleasing to God David could do nothing more than to express his emotion and this he did by dancing, whirling, etc. Now do not use this example to give validity to emotions that are similar but do not have God as the focus, rather their focus is on the emotion as can be seen in many Churches that perform emotionalism as evidence of their piety. Only their piety is not God centered as they believe due to the fact that they are playing on the feelings of the congregant rather than their untapped emotions are due to the Holiness of God and that He is pleased to save. Now, a problem exists; some will consider our emotions to be wrong and will be displeased as was David's wife Michal, for they only see the actions and not the reason for such actions. It is hard though to separate actions from one person that is not centered on God, from those who have similar actions that are centered on God. Yet, we are not to dispose of emotional actions, that is to be stoic, proper so to speak, we are to apply those dynamics to your own spiritual life. It is of supreme significance that even with all our flaws and weaknesses we are called to use our senses, our untapped emotions in our worship. Only though they must be controlled so that our emotions are focused on God and not on ourselves. We cannot neglect this task for by it we are motivated to do what needs to be done. Now, do not think that when I speak of emotions that they must be displayed as did David, rather that our emotions should drive us to be all that God requires of us. Emotions can supply the extra impetus to move us to action.
Do you not know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? In fact, do you realize that the Son of God is God? Think upon that fact, it is hard to realize that God came in the person of the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, the very Wisdom of God and is that not adequate enough to cause us to live holy lives? Ponder on this fact: Jesus Christ is the Savior for all of those that the Father gives to Him, and to be the Savior He had to suffer on our behalf. Why did He have to suffer? Because man is evil and Satan has chosen to use evil men to do his work, that is, to destroy, if he could, the Savior, and this he did by using the most cruel punishment possible at the time; crucifixion. Jesus did this knowing that this was the outcome of His coming to become the Son of Man, the Son of God; should this not drive us to be devoted to Him, does this not stir up deep emotions inside of you: He came for you!
Has your faith brought you this far? Have you come to the point where Authentic Biblical Faith has given to you authentic affection for Jesus Christ? Has the cross penetrated deeply inside of you and made cause for emotions to rise, to drive you to be used by God? When this penetrates our hearts and our minds so that we experience genuine gratitude, then we have a whole new set of resources to motivate us to follow and obey and trust Jesus Christ. It would unreasonable to attempt to follow Jesus, to leave behind all for Him, to put Him first in our lives above all others, to trust Him to our death. Yes, it would be unreasonable and our response to all that He did is to be motivated, to allow our emotions, not just outward display of emotions as some believe are justified causing them to be holy, no emotions that are so deep that the bubble out driving us to devotion and action. This is not an impossibility for residing in us is the Holy Spirit who will, if we allow Him to do so, channel our emotions that are pleasing to God, for by those emotions we come humbly before a Holy God who loves us with a love that is unmeasurable. Praise God!
Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
While I live I will praise the LORD;
I will sing praises to my God
while I have my being.
Psalm 146:1-2
God Lifts Up The Humble: Be Humble
Richard L. Crumb
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