What Is Vulgar
What is vulgar in the eyes of God?
2 Samuel 6:14-23 (TNIV) gives us an idea: "Weearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets. 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 ... When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, 'How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!' David said to Michal, 'It was before the Lord ... I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.' And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death."
So what was vulgar in this story? King David dancing around in his underwear, or Michal's judgmental attitude toward him? Clearly it was the latter, and God punished her for it by not allowing her to have any more children for the rest of her life.
Be careful who you judge to be vulgar. Be careful what you judge to be vulgar. Do you judge something to be vulgar just because it doesn't meet your own human, culturally-derived standards, or because it truly would be vulgar to God? More often than not, it's probably the former more than the latter.
God sees when you are judging others. God sees what you think is vulgar. And God knows your own heart, and whether the problem of vulgarity really lies within you more than within others.
Remember the words of Matthew 7:1-2 (TNIV), "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Also remember 1 Samuel 16:7 (TNIV), "The Lord does not look at the things human beings look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
Michal screwed up because she judged King David, and because she was focused on his outward appearance. Michal was only focused on what she saw as vulgarity, which in her own opinion was King David dancing around in his underwear. She looked at his outward appearance, and not at his heart. God looked at King David's heart, and saw in it a worship of the Lord that was as pure and joyful as could ever be. That is why King David was blessed, and that is why Michal was cursed. It's what eventually will happen to everyone who is judgmental.
Look into your own heart today. Search for any judgmentalism there. Get rid of it - right away. Focus on the hearts of others, and not their outward appearances. It will mean all the difference between whether God will bless you or not.
2 Samuel 6:14-23 (TNIV) gives us an idea: "Weearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and the entire house of Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets. 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 ... When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, 'How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!' David said to Michal, 'It was before the Lord ... I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.' And Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death."
So what was vulgar in this story? King David dancing around in his underwear, or Michal's judgmental attitude toward him? Clearly it was the latter, and God punished her for it by not allowing her to have any more children for the rest of her life.
Be careful who you judge to be vulgar. Be careful what you judge to be vulgar. Do you judge something to be vulgar just because it doesn't meet your own human, culturally-derived standards, or because it truly would be vulgar to God? More often than not, it's probably the former more than the latter.
God sees when you are judging others. God sees what you think is vulgar. And God knows your own heart, and whether the problem of vulgarity really lies within you more than within others.
Remember the words of Matthew 7:1-2 (TNIV), "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Also remember 1 Samuel 16:7 (TNIV), "The Lord does not look at the things human beings look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."
Michal screwed up because she judged King David, and because she was focused on his outward appearance. Michal was only focused on what she saw as vulgarity, which in her own opinion was King David dancing around in his underwear. She looked at his outward appearance, and not at his heart. God looked at King David's heart, and saw in it a worship of the Lord that was as pure and joyful as could ever be. That is why King David was blessed, and that is why Michal was cursed. It's what eventually will happen to everyone who is judgmental.
Look into your own heart today. Search for any judgmentalism there. Get rid of it - right away. Focus on the hearts of others, and not their outward appearances. It will mean all the difference between whether God will bless you or not.
posted by Stephen Guschov at 10:37 AM
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