Dancing As Praise
In both the Old Testament and the New Testament, God commands and expects all of His people to dance in joy and worship (Ps 96:9, NEB; Rev 15:3 with Ex 15:20). It is not optional (Ps 87:7, CW; 149:3; 150:4). It is commanded during times of persecution (Lk 6:23, NJB with NEB) – how much more would it be expected during times of joy or blessing such as healing (Mal 4:2, NLV cf. NLT with CEV)?
Dancing can include the idea of swaying from side-to-side, twirling, leaping, jumping, and the like. The Lord does not expect us to dance on every occasion of worship or joy. He Himself is said to dance over us (Zeph 3:17, NJB; JB). Yet, part of this verse can also refer to the Lord being silent (AB), shouting for joy (NASB, JB, NJB), and singing loudly (ESV). At times the Lord is silent in His love and bids us be quiet with Him while at other moments He wants us to loudly sing, shout for joy, or dance with Him. Our worship is to be directed by God’s Spirit (Phil 3:3, NIV). As people who have God’s Spirit, Christians are prophetic people. Part of what prophetic people do is to dance before and with the Lord (Ex 15:20, CEV). He desires to guide us to walk with Him in harmony.
We are told that Christ conducts the worship of Heaven’s choir (Heb 8:1-2, Message). On a particular occasion, He, by His Spirit, will ask part of his choir to sing at one moment while another part is quiet and yet another part is asked to sway. However, since all are commanded to dance, we should expect that our Great Conductor will ask each of us to do this from time to time. If we are never dancing, in any form, then, at times, we are undoubtedly missing the cues of our Conductor.
Loving trust is more important than mere head knowledge.