Rejoice in the Lord & Dance while you’re at it!

This past Sunday we discussed what it means to rejoice.  Celebrating God is something we find throughout the Scriptures.  There were festivals set up for such occassions and revolved around praising, dancing and singing of God’s goodness.  This is a lost art of communal celebration that we as a church can restore.  Looking into the Scriptures for inspiration and direction will give us a chance to do so.

In the Aramaic language (which Jesus spoke on many occasions) the word for rejoice is the same word for dance.  To rejoice is to dance!  While this can be a stretch for some it is found throughout the Bible as a way of expressing one’s gratitude and thanks to the Lord.  I’ve listed below the passages we examined this week in hope that it will inspire you to be more expressive in your thanks to God and to see the joy we have in the awesome God we serve.

Matthew 11:16-19
16″To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
17″ ‘We played the flute for you,
      and you did not dance;
      we sang a dirge
      and you did not mourn.’   18For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.” ‘ But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”

Exodus 15:19-21
19 When Pharaoh’s horses, chariots and horsemen went into the sea, the LORD brought the waters of the sea back over them, but the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. 20 Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing. 21 Miriam sang to them:
       “Sing to the LORD,
       for he is highly exalted.
       The horse and its rider
       he has hurled into the sea.”

Judges 11:34
34 When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter. 

1 Samuel 18:6-7
6 When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes. 7 As they danced, they sang:
       “Saul has slain his thousands,
       and David his tens of thousands.”

1 Samuel 21:11
11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances:
       ” ‘Saul has slain his thousands,
       and David his tens of thousands’?”

1 Samuel 29:5
5 Isn’t this the David they sang about in their dances:
       ” ‘Saul has slain his thousands,
       and David his tens of thousands’?”

2 Samuel 6:14-16
14 David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, 15 while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets.
 16 As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart.

Jeremiah 31:4
4 I will build you up again
       and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel.
       Again you will take up your tambourines
       and go out to dance with the joyful.

Jeremiah 31:13
13 Then maidens 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.

Psalm 30:11-12
11 You turned my wailing into dancing;
       you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,                                     12 that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
       O LORD my God, I will give you thanks forever.

Psalm 149:3-4
3 Let them praise his name with dancing
       and make music to him with tambourine and harp.
4 For the LORD takes delight in his people;
       he crowns the humble with salvation.

Psalm 150

 1 Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary;
       praise him in his mighty heavens.
 2 Praise him for his acts of power;
       praise him for his surpassing greatness.
 3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
       praise him with the harp and lyre,
 4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,
       praise him with the strings and flute,
 5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
       praise him with resounding cymbals.
 6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
       Praise the LORD.

Lamentations 5:15 (The opposite of rejoicing/dancing is mourning)
15 Joy is gone from our hearts;
       our dancing has turned to mourning.

Luke 15:25-26
25″Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on.

21 ἀγαλλιάω [agalliao /ag·al·lee·ah·o/] v. From agan (much) and 242; TDNT 1:19; GK 22; 11 occurrences; AV translates as “rejoice” seven times, “be exceeding glad” once, “be glad” once, “greatly rejoice” once, and “with exceeding joy” once.  to exult, rejoice exceedingly, be exceeding glad

25.132 ἀγαλλίασις, εως f: a state of intensive joy and gladness, often implying verbal expression and body movement (for example, jumping, leaping, dancing)—‘to be extremely joyful, to rejoice greatly, extreme gladness.’ ἐσκίρτησεν ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει τὸ βρέφος ἐν τῇ κοιλίᾳ μου ‘my yet unborn child jumped with great gladness’ Lk 1.44.

25.133 ἀγαλλιάω: to experience a state of great joy and gladness, often involving verbal expression and appropriate body movement—‘to be extremely joyful, to be overjoyed, to rejoice greatly.’ ἠγαλλίασεν τὸ πνεῦμά μου ἐπὶ τῷ θεῷ τῷ σωτῆρί μου ‘my soul rejoices greatly because of God my Savior’ Lk 1.47; In Ac 2.26 it may be impossible to say ‘my tongue rejoices.’ One may, however, translate in some language

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