The Life and Times of

Sour Grapes (6:16, 20-23)

16 Then it happened as the ark of the LORD came into the city of David that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out of the window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart. . . . 20 But when David returned to bless his household, Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David and said, “How the king of Israel distinguished himself today! He uncovered himself today in the eyes of his servants' maids as one of the foolish ones shamelessly uncovers himself!” 21 So David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the LORD, over Israel; therefore I will celebrate before the LORD. 22 “I will be more lightly esteemed than this and will be humble in my own eyes, but with the maids of whom you have spoken, with them I will be distinguished.” 23 Michal the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.

It seems there was only one person in all of Israel who did not, who would not, enter into the spirit of rejoicing and celebration, and that person was Michal, David's wife. The author of the Chronicles makes very little of this, devoting only one verse to the subject and informing us that as Michal looked on, she despised her husband in her heart for his role in the celebration (1 Chronicles 15:29). The author of 1 and 2 Samuel has a similar verse (2 Samuel 6:16), but he then follows up by describing the confrontation between David and Michal which followed, and telling us the outcome (verses 20-23).

Let us first consider what appears to be Michal's perception of the whole event. Michal was not a part of the celebration; she was a spectator, not a participant. She was looking out the window of the palace, watching the ark arrive within the city (verse 16). All the rest of the nation were in the streets. Indeed, all the rest of the nation had been with the ark from the time it left the house of Obed-edom. She was not a part of the caravan which accompanied the ark. She seems to want no part of it. Even if she had not been personally thrilled about the event, you would think she could have made some kind of token appearance with her husband, but it didn’t happen.

After all the celebration ended, David went home to bless his household. Michal had no intention of being a part of this, and so she proceeded to “rain” on David's praise and blessing. She must have been standing in the doorway as David arrived, with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. Before he could open his mouth, she seems to vent her anger toward him. What was it she saw, or thought she saw, that made her so angry? By her own words, she saw a king, a man of position and power, acting like a fool. She saw a man indecently clothed -- not naked, grant you, but dressed in a way that was far below his position -- and she was livid about it. David had acted like a fool; he had embarrassed himself, and most certainly he had embarrassed her.

Before we turn to David's perception of this same situation, let us first look at what the author tells us. How does the author see David here? Does the author's assessment of the situation square with Michal's? First we must note that our author does not suggest that David was naked or improperly dressed. He does tell us that David was dancing with all his might, and that he was wearing a linen ephod (6:14). He tells us that when his wife Michal saw this, she despised him in her heart (6:16).

The author of Chronicles tells us more about David's actions:

25 So it was David, with the elders of Israel and the captains over thousands, who went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-edom with joy. 26 Because God was helping the Levites who were carrying the ark of the covenant of the LORD, they sacrificed seven bulls and seven rams. 27 Now David was clothed with a robe of fine linen with all the Levites who were carrying the ark, and the singers and Chenaniah the leader of the singing with the singers. David also wore an ephod of linen. 28 Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with sound of the horn, with trumpets, with loud-sounding cymbals, with harps and lyres (1 Chronicles 15:25-28).

The first thing I would emphasize here is that David was not acting alone. He was celebrating with all Israel. If he was dancing, so were the rest, and the rest included Israel's top leaders. Was David joyful and exuberant? So was everyone else; well, nearly everyone except Michal, of course. Was David dressed in a linen ephod? That was what Samuel used to wear as he ministered to the Lord (1 Samuel 2:18). It was what the priests wore (1 Chronicles 15:27).

Michal was not angry with David for doing something wrong and thus standing out from the rest of the people. She was angry with David for behaving like the people, the commoners, and looking like a lowly priest. She was angry with David because he was not acting like a king as he worshipped God. He had humbled himself. He had demeaned himself. He had lowered himself. And Michal would not forgive David for doing so. If God rained on David's first parade by striking Uzzah dead, Michal rained on David's second parade, by despising her husband and criticizing him for acting like less than a king.

David's words to his wife are strong and may even seem harsh, but that is because they reflect the wickedness of Michal's heart. A righteous man cannot take her rebuke lightly. David had several things to point out to his wife:

(1) His conduct, which Michal found so disgusting, was “before the Lord” (6:21). David's actions may have been seen by his wife, but they were not done for her benefit; they were done for God's benefit. David was not performing for his wife. He was not even performing for the crowd. He was performing for the Lord. His worship was not intended to please her. I am reminded of the words of the apostle Paul here:

10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ (Galatians 1:10).

3 For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts. 5 For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed -- God is witness -- 6 nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority (1 Thessalonians 2:3-6).

Worship has become a performance in our day, I fear, a performance for the audience and not for God. David's words to his wife could just as well apply to us. Worship should be “before the Lord,” performed for His pleasure and for His approval, not for man's. Far too much of what passes for worship today may be only a man-pleasing performance.

(2) David will not be kept from celebrating, especially when the one whom he is seeking to please is also the One who promoted him (6:21). I think Michal was disgusted because David was celebrating, because he was joyful. She was like all too many Christians today who seem to be saying, “Wipe that smile off your face. Don't you know you're in church?” David was celebrating because he had much to celebrate. He was celebrating his kingship, and this kingship had been given Him by God. How then could his celebration be wrong? It was wrong to refuse to rejoice over that which gave God pleasure.

I wonder how long it has been for many of us since we last did something joyfully, exuberantly, enthusiastically? There is no virtue in being somber. There is no excuse for being somber when God Himself is rejoicing, when God is finding pleasure. We should rejoice not only with those (fellow-men) who rejoice (Romans 12:15), we should rejoice with God who rejoices. I fear we are more like Michal than David when it comes to the joyful celebration of our God and His works.

(3) Third, David reminded his wife that she was acting like her father, and that her husband was the one God elevated as king in her father's place. God exalted David above Saul, Michal's father. He made David king in Saul's place. He set Saul's entire household aside and started all over with David and his house. Here was Michal, taking her father's place. How could Michal be so proud, proud of her status as the daughter of the king (Saul)? Why did she disdain David so much, even though he was God's choice for Israel's king? This was only because she was the daughter of her father. Did it trouble her that David had won the hearts of the people, and that her husband refused to distance himself from those he ruled? Instead of standing with her husband, as Jonathan did, she stood up against him. And in this, she was just like her father. But let her be reminded that God set her father aside. And so David likewise sets Michal aside. Whether David ceased to have intimate relations with Michal or God simply closed her womb, Michal died childless. This we know was a source of great sorrow, sadness, and shame from the first chapter of 1 Samuel. God's judgment was upon her.

(4) Fourth, David ruled over his people as a humble servant, and not as a tyrant. Michal had despised and criticized David for not acting like a king. David's response appears to be that because God had made him king, he would be God's kind of king. He would not be a king like Saul, her father, because God removed Saul, setting that kind of king aside. God raised up David to be a different kind of king, a servant-king. If this was the kind of king Michal loathed, so be it; David would be the kind of king God appointed him to be. David identified with the people rather than distinguish himself from them. Even more, David dressed and worshipped God “as a priest” (6:14-19; 1 Chronicles 15:25-27). Did God not call Israel to be a “kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:6)? In wearing a linen ephod, David exercised a legitimate form of priesthood.

Saul was wrong for usurping Samuel's role as a priest and prophet (1 Samuel 13:8-9). This was wrong because it was disobedience to a clear command. David was exercising his priesthood in a way that was pleasing to God. But in Michal’s mind, this humble position was below the dignity of a king, and so she despised her husband for humbling himself before the people.