Undignified for God

"Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, 'How the king of Israel honored himself today, uncovering himself before the eyes of his servants' female servants, as one of the vulgar fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!' And David said to Michal, 'It was before the Lord---and I will make merry before the Lord. I will make myself yet more contemptible [KJV, "undignified"] than this . . .'" (2 Samuel 6:20-22).

The background of our little marital spat is the parade bringing the long-estranged ark of the covenant up to the City of David. King David was so elated that he forgot himself. I don't suppose that kings generally strip and dance before their subjects. Noblesse oblige, you know. I understand it raised a few eyebrows when Michelle Obama gently touched the royal back on her recent visit to England.

I love this about David, that he was so into the Lord that he forgot his regal manners, forgot his station in life, forgot snobbery and the social roles we create for ourselves. Next thing you know he'll be singing the wrong songs in church. Or raising his hands. Or walking into seminary dining rooms and blurting out "Wow, isn't Jesus wonderful!" Or giving speeches at polite Christian functions that tell a little too much truth, or that are just a little too excited to be appropriate for the occasion.

This old Rogers and Hart tune came to mind:

I get too hungry for dinner at eight,

I like the theater but never come late,

I never bother with people I hate.

That's why the lady is a tramp.

I don't like crap games with barons and earls,

Won't go to Harlem in ermine and pearls,

Won't dish the dirt with the rest of the girls.

That's why the lady is a tramp.

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