What does 2 Samuel 6:16 mean?

David's relationship with his first wife Michal was always complicated. Her father, King Saul, wanted David dead. He used her love for David to try to get the Philistines to kill him (1 Samuel 18:20–25). When Saul sent assassins to their home, Michal helped David escape, choosing loyalty to her husband over her father (1 Samuel 19:8–17). Michal's betrayal stung Saul, and he married her to another man to keep David from having any claim on the throne (1 Samuel 25:44).

Years later, Saul was killed in battle (1 Samuel 31:1–7), David became king of Judah (2 Samuel 2:4), and Saul's son Ish-bosheth ruled the other tribes (2 Samuel 2:8). As David prepared to become the king over a united Israel, he demanded Ish-bosheth take Michal from her second husband, who loved her deeply, and return her to him (2 Samuel 3:14–16). She arrived to find herself only one of David's growing number of wives and concubines (2 Samuel 3:2–5).

Now Michal looks out of a window and sees her husband David, king of Israel, entering Jerusalem with the ark of God. She probably expects a solemn and dignified religious procession. Or, at least, an exalted king marching proudly as he leads his people. Instead, David dances with enthusiasm and while wearing only a thin linen garment (2 Samuel 6:14). Even worse, for Michal, the lowest of the female servants are watching. Michal is disgusted by what she considers David's shamelessness and vulgarity. She despises the man she once defied her father to protect (2 Samuel 6:20).