Psalm 149:3

Psalm 149:3

Praise His name with dancing

In recent years, our local church fellowship has embraced some of the celebratory events that mark the Jewish calendar. So, in addition to traditional Easter gatherings we always have a night set apart for Passover, and at Christmas we also remember the Festival of Lights or Hannukah. The one thing that symbolises these events is the joyful singing and dancing that are part of every Jewish celebration. 

Dancing before the Lord was very much frowned upon in churches and chapels when I grew up, it would have been impossible to convince the elders and deacons that it was a Biblically endorsed form of praise! But here it is, the verse before us clearly encourages us to dance before the Lord and in so doing we can “Praise His name.” To be fair, I’m no dancer, but I certainly do not stand in the way of those who are! I, like many of you perhaps, stand in the second category of worshippers and prefer to make music to the Lord, not just with stringed instruments like the harp but also with percussion, the timbrel being a small hand drum very much like the modern tambourine. A tambourine played badly is an irritation, but a player with a proper sense of rhythm who is sensitive to the words being sung, can add a great deal to the praises of God’s people. Let’s face it, for all our inhibitions, the Lord is thrilled to see and hear His people simply letting go and expressing their joy before Him, so long as the purpose is not to draw attention to themselves but to be enraptured by Him. If we truly love Him and are thrilled by His presence and His power, what limits can there be to the ways we praise Him? Thank God for those believing individual and communities across the world who know how express their praise to the Lord in singing, music and with their bodies. 

 

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