Sing like no one is listening, dance like no one is watching.

I recently watched a video of a young woman, probably in England, who was dancing to the tune of Dancing Queen*. While she did slow down on occasion for passers-by and the random vehicle that tooled past her, she did what I would like to do. She danced like no one was watching. Problem is, I’m not much of a dancer and with some balance problems as of late, I’d look more like the Weeble that wobbles. But that free spirit that over-took her, to move with the music, well, that moved me and got me to thinking…we need to be that way when it comes to worshipping God. Then there’s the subject of singing like no one is listening.

I have to admit, there are times that a song during the worship service is out of my range, which, for me is a little difficult. If it’s high soprano, bass or baritone, I can’t hit it but I can hit everything in between. Sometimes a key change can throw me off then forget it, I end up singing something between a harmony and “what the heck is that”. That’s when I look around to see if anyone noticed that I wasn’t on point with the melody or if they noticed my sour note. I get the “make a joyful noise unto the Lord” part, but sometimes it sounds just like I got the goose instead. When I squeak, I wish to hide. My daughter, Andrea, however is polar opposite of me. She can’t carry a tune in a bucket that’s been reinforced. If she doesn’t know the words, she makes them up and sometimes those words make more sense than the ones originally written for the song. Sometimes it sounds like a Gregorian chant, but when she’s singing songs that are meant to worship the Lord, she sings them with a gusto that is unmatched anywhere. She is the epitome of “make a joyful noise unto the Lord all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise” (Psalm 98:4 KJV), because a loud noise it is (where are my earplugs??), but she sings with spirit, with such energy that sometimes, just sometimes, you have to stop and listen. Not so much to the words, but to the experience and the way that she emphasizes the praise that she showers on her Jesus. I say that because out of all of the words that are recognizable, Jesus, Lord and God are the only ones that you can understand totally and are said with such reverence and gentleness that you get goose-flesh.

Dancing on the other hand, is not so much a worship experience to her as it is a cheer routine. For a chubby little Downs Girl, she’s pretty fluid, but breaks down into a fit of giggles when she’s caught dancing without you having permission to see. I wish that I could do both, but I can only sing either in the congregation anymore or when I’m by myself. Dancing, that’s totally a by myself operation.

I oftentimes think about when David returned to Jerusalem after recovering the Ark of the Covenant from Obededom the Gittite. It is said that he danced and rejoiced in a linen ephod (an apron to you and me…), blowing the trumpet to announce its arrival. Can you see it? A king, in a plain apron-like garment, singing and dancing before his people….worshipping the one True King, praising His Name and thanking Him for His blessings. In fact, it’s been said that his praise, worship and dancing was actually violent in nature (not to say bad violent, just really, really uninhibited).  I want to be in that place. I want to sing like no one can hear and dance like no one was watching, to be so free in my worship that I don’t care really who is watching. Kind of like David when he was confronted by Michal about his foolishness in front of the maidservants…He didn’t care, I really liked his response to his wife:

 (2 Samuel 6:21-22 NKJV) 21 And David said to Michal, It was before the Lord, who chose me instead of your father, and all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel: Therefore will I play music before the Lord. 22 And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight: but as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honor.

That’s how we should worship our Lord! That’s how we should praise our King!

Not with our hands at our sides or crossed over our chests. Our hands should be lifted and our worship should move us! Our praise, whether or not you can carry a tune, should be loud and free from worry, focusing on the One True King who is worthy of all of our praise and honor! Who cares if you can’t sing? Be like Andrea who doesn’t care if she can sing or not, she sings to her Jesus who knows that it’s the most beautiful sound because she’s singing to Him! Be like David who danced with pure joy and abandon and didn’t care what the neighbors thought, he was dancing for his King!

Let me encourage you, Dear Readers, the next time that you find yourself singing praise and worship to God, sing it with everything you have. It doesn’t matter if you are in your car, in the shower, in the mall or in Church, sing like no one is listening. The next time that you just want to dance and sing and praise your Creator, do it with such abandon that it takes your breath away. Dance like David danced. Make that joyful noise unto the Lord all you Saints! It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks, what matters is what God thinks. Think about this, when your little girl first danced for you, didn’t you smile and secretly think that she was the best dancer on the planet? Guess what, your Abba Father knows that you are! When your little boy sang his first “concert” for you with his cowboy hat and guitar with one string, didn’t you believe that you heard a country legend in the making? Imagine what your Father in Heaven thinks when you lift your voice in praise and worship to Him!

Friends…dance like no one is watching and sing like no one is listening!

*Dancing Queen – recorded by the Swedish pop group Abba and released in 1976 on RCA records.