638
Patriarchs and Prophets
God, on an equality with his subjects. Upon that day Jehovah was to
be adored. He was to be the sole object of reverence.
Again the long train was in motion, and the music of harp and
cornet, trumpet and cymbal, floated heavenward, blended with the
melody of many voices. “And David danced before the Lord,” in his
gladness keeping time to the measure of the song.
David’s dancing in reverent joy before God has been cited by plea-
sure lovers in justification of the fashionable modern dance, but there
is no ground for such an argument. In our day dancing is associated
with folly and midnight reveling. Health and morals are sacrificed
to pleasure. By the frequenters of the ballroom God is not an object
of thought and reverence; prayer or the song of praise would be felt
to be out of place in their assemblies. This test should be decisive.
Amusements that have a tendency to weaken the love for sacred things
and lessen our joy in the service of God are not to be sought by Chris-
tians. The music and dancing in joyful praise to God at the removal of
the ark had not the faintest resemblance to the dissipation of modern
dancing. The one tended to the remembrance of God and exalted His
holy name. The other is a device of Satan to cause men to forget God
and to dishonor Him.
The triumphal procession approached the capital, following the
sacred symbol of their invisible King. Then a burst of song demanded
of the watchers upon the walls that the gates of the Holy City should
be thrown open:
“Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors;
And the King of glory shall come in.”
A band of singers and players answered:
“Who is this King of glory?”
From another company came the response:
“The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle.”
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Then hundreds of voices, uniting, swelled the triumphal chorus: