1 Chronicles 15:25-29: in context

David brings the ark of the covenant up to Jerusalem with great celebration. All Israel comes with shouting, with trumpets and cymbals and harps, in a great outpouring of joy. And David himself, the king, dances and rejoices before the LORD with all his might, caught up in the exuberant worship of God. But as the ark comes into the city, his wife Michal looks out the window and sees the king dancing and celebrating, and she despises him in her heart, scorning his undignified joy.

Two hearts are set against each other in this scene: David's, full of exuberant joy in worship, and Michal's, full of critical disdain. David worshiped God with abandon, dancing and rejoicing with all his might, not caring how it looked or what anyone thought, caught up in gladness before the LORD. Michal watched with a critical, self-conscious eye, and despised him for his undignified joy, embarrassed by his abandon. The one worshiped wholeheartedly, free from concern for dignity or others' opinion; the other stood apart, critical, unable to enter such joy and scornful of it in another. This searches the state of our own hearts in worship. Are we like David, able to worship God with wholehearted, unself-conscious joy, not holding back out of concern for how we appear? Or are we like Michal, self-conscious, restrained, critical, holding back from wholehearted worship and perhaps even scorning the exuberant devotion of others? There is a joy in worship that does not care about dignity or others' opinion, that gives itself wholly to gladness before God; and there is a critical, self-conscious heart that holds back from such joy and looks down on it. David worshiped freely; Michal despised him for it. This is not to say that all worship must be exuberant, or that dignity has no place; but it warns against the self-conscious restraint and critical spirit that hold back from wholehearted joy in God and disdain it in others. When David was told he had been undignified, he said, I will be yet more undignified than this; I will celebrate before the LORD. His joy in God was worth more to him than his dignity. Serve the LORD with gladness, the psalmist says; come before his presence with singing. Wholehearted, glad worship is what God desires. This calls us to worship God with wholehearted joy rather than self-conscious restraint or a critical spirit. David danced before the LORD with all his might, free from concern for how he appeared, while Michal despised him from her critical distance; and we are called to David's wholehearted joy, not Michal's disdain, giving ourselves to glad worship of God rather than holding back out of self-consciousness, and not looking down on the exuberant devotion of others but rejoicing, as David rejoiced, before the LORD. Let us worship God with the wholehearted gladness that does not care about dignity or others' opinion, rather than the self-conscious, critical heart that holds back and despises such joy.

In worship, am I like David, able to give myself to wholehearted, unself-conscious joy in God, not holding back out of concern for how I appear, or like Michal, self-conscious and restrained, holding back from such joy and perhaps even scorning the exuberant devotion of others, and can David dancing before the LORD with all his might, undeterred by Michal's disdain, move me to worship God with wholehearted gladness rather than self-conscious restraint or a critical spirit?