Uncovered Before God. 2 Samuel 1-8

Say what you will about David, but he certainly was not afraid of showing how he felt. He tore his clothes and wept all day, mourning the death of his king Saul and his brother-from-another-mother Jonathan. He lamented them with a haunting song. He got angry with their alleged killer and those who slayed Abner and Ish-Bosheth. He mourned and avenged these men's unjust deaths even though they were his enemies.

He also got angry with God, when the Lord struck down Uzzah for such a simple error as touching the Ark of the Covenant, God's holy dwelling place. How can God do such a thing? Is that fair of God? He feared this God, who dwells in such unapproachable light that a human cannot even touch his throne. He realised his own unworthiness to approach God. How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?

David celebrated before God, making merry as the ark was being taken to Jerusalem. He rejoiced and sacrificed, and danced with all his might. He showed generosity in his worship, and his heart wanted to build something great and magnificent for God.

There's a disturbing trend today, when it seems like we're only allowed to bring before God this last paragraph, the "good stuff". Leave the rest of your "baggage" at the door, they say. God's victory means that you should only be living with the good stuff anyway, they say. But David brought it all to God, the good, the bad and the ugly. Anger, fear, doubt, unworthiness. These are a part of life, and a part of who we are. So we should be honest with God (as though we could hide it from him!) about how we feel, how we see ourselves, and how we see him.

David's honesty spilled into his gratitude and wonder for God's work. "Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me so far?" Who am I, with my fears and struggles, with my weakness and sinfulness, that you, Lord God, holy, righteous and wonderful, should have anything to do with me other than destroy me? Yet you have blessed me beyond imagination. The Casting Crowns song Who Am I? captures this. Who am I, that the Lord of all the earth would care to know my name, would care to feel my hurt? ... I am Yours.

David was scolded by his wife for dancing uncovered. But David told her "I was uncovered before the Lord". That was how David lived - uncovered and honest before God.