Of Time and a Season Part 8b

[HKHaugan]

Of Time and a Season Part 8b

…a time to dance…

 Like all the emotional varieties we experience, there is a time to dance and the season to cover it. If Solomon is the author of Ecclesiastes it would follow that the experience of His father David’s past was in his mind. David had some things in his past for which there was not only regret and remorse but the weight of guilt all of which had been forgiven as Nathan the prophet had told him (2Sam.12:13). Psalm 30 is both David’s lament and the recognition of God’s forgiveness. That combination produced vs.11 “Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing.”

 The Bible sees spirituality, the work of the Holy Spirit, to convict us when we sin and forgive us when we repent. For David the forgiveness was so deeply felt that what he had done faded and dancing began. Dancing starts in the mind with the realization of the difference between lonely self-condemnation and relational acceptance by God. That realization grips the heart which opens the spirit to motivate the body in dance. So, when the mind dances, it dances because of the insight the Spirit gives it. The heart feels the impress of the mind and the spirit reacts to the heart ‘jumping’ within. What we see in these words is internal dancing and emotional dancing and the natural motivation to physical dancing. What is being described here is downright deep personal dancing that is the expression of true worship. This is not about ballet, ballroom or learning how to move your body on a dance floor. This is everybody’s built-in ability to respond when God forgives our sins.

 Take a look at these verses as an example of the many: “I will build you up again, and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt. Again, you will take up your timbrels and go out to dance with the joyful (Jer.31:4),

“They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD— the grain, the new wine and the olive oil, the young of the flocks and herds. They will be like a well-watered garden, and they will sorrow no more.   Then young women will dance and be glad, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into gladness; I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow (Jer31:12-13).

“Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the LORD with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets (2Sam.6:14-15).”

Psalm 150 sums it all up, “Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.”

 How do an unfulfilled people respond when Jesus speaks? “We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn (Mt.11:17).” The pipe is the joy of the Lord and dirge is a call to repentance. It’s always a time for repentance and it’s always a time for joy. The season? They take place in the season of God’s love, grace and truth, the eternal season.