MP3: Dance With Me My King

Dance With Me, My King
WORDS & MUSIC
Dennis Jernigan
September 28, 1987


“Intimacy is not a happy medium. It is a way of being in which the tension between distance and closeness is dissolved and a new horizon appears. Intimacy is beyond fear.” Henri Nouwen

“All the ills of mankind, all the tragic misfortunes that fill the history books, all the political blunders, all the failures of the great leaders have arisen merely from a lack of skill at dancing.” Moliere

This is an old song from the days when I first began leading worship in a public setting in Oklahoma City.  God had been doing so many wonderful things in my life and I was being drawn more and more into the healing places one finds in an intimate relationship with Christ.  Though I was still not publicly sharing my story of deliverance, I was still very honest and open with the Lord about my past.  I discovered that as I openly confessed my sins and hurts to the Lord I was not rejected…but rather I found a depth of embrace I never thought possible before.  
The thing I feared most was being found out and then being rejected because of my shortcomings…what I found was just the opposite.  This song was a song of intimacy I would sing privately to the Lord during such times of intimacy.  When I began to release it publicly, ladies would be drawn to dance beautiful dances of worship to the Lord and many would be ministered to. Even though I could not share the depths from which the song had come concerning my past, I did find great joy in seeing others experience the same release and freedom one finds in an intimate dance with the Savior.  And now you finally know the rest of the story!
As I deal with Parkinson’s and the loss of my voice, I have grown accustomed to - I expect - intimacy with the Lord. It is the key to my sanity and key to my comfort. Intimacy with God alleviates pain and despoils fear. Intimacy occurs when I turn to my God and say, “here is my heart, Father. Into-me-see”, hiding nothing from Him and withholding nothing of myself from Him. That is but the first step of intimacy with God, though. True intimacy occurs when I turn my heart to Him in naked honesty and He turns His heart toward me in that same moment and says to me, “Here is My heart, son. Into-Me-see.” It is in that moment that true intimacy is attained. Nothing hidden. Everything shared.
I will never forget the first time I danced with my wife, face to face. I will never forget the intimacy of that moment. I will never forget the physical intimacy of our union on our wedding night. Why? Because is was the first time, as a man, I felt completely known and accepted by another human being. It was also the first time I felt I knew another human being - my wife - in such a way that can only be described as pure holy ecstasy.
Knowing God is like that. He knows everything about me and loves me anyway! My greatest desire and the deepest desire of my human heart is to know and to be known by my Maker. It is this type of ‘nothing-hiddenness’ that I felt when writing this song. Completely known. Knowing another completely.

I dance with my King for the sheer joy of the way He has transformed my sorrow into song…

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness…
Psalm 30:11 NASB

I dance with my King for the sheer massive worth of Who He is…

Let them praise His name with dancing;
Let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and lyre.
Psalm 149:3 NASB

I dance with my King for the cleansing He brought to my sin-stained soul…

"Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance,
And the young men and the old, together,
For I will turn their mourning into joy
And will comfort them and give them joy for their sorrow.”
Jeremiah 31:13 NASB

I dance with my King for loving me even when I turned my back on Him…for loving me right where I was…for loving me enough to not leave me there…

21 "And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22 But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; 23 and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.' And they began to celebrate.”
Luke 15:21-24 NASB

I dance with my King as a child with a Father…just because…

Verse
Dance with, my King
While the heavens sing
I love Your name
How I love Your holy name

Dance with me, my King
While the heavens sing
I love Your name
How I love Your holy name

Chorus
I love Your name
Jesus, how I love Your holy, holy name
I love Your name
Exalt Your name
Most high
I love Your name
Exalt Your name
Most high
Dance with me
Dance with me
Dance with me, my King

©1987 Shepherd's Heart Music, Inc./Dennis Jernigan
• 7804 W. Fern Mountain Rd. Muskogee, OK 74401
•www.dennisjernigan.com•1-800-877-0406
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https://www.praisecharts.com/songs/details/3780/dance-with-me-my-king-sheet-music