Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem. Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering; then they shall offer bulls on Your altar. (Psalm 51:18-19)
Let’s consider what we have addressed in the two previous devotions; in summary, God wants our hearts more than He desires our sacrifices. He wants us to be willing to humble ourselves and approach Him in brokenness and contrition, and when we do, He will receive us. Furthermore, when we have approached Him in such a way, He will accept our sacrifices, whether they be our works or our finances. In short, everything has to be done in order and according to His purpose and protocol, which is to say, everything has to start on the inside, the heart, and then work outwardly.
After acknowledging the need for brokenness, David began to speaks of the future — when God would build the walls of Jerusalem and establish His Sanctuary upon the Temple Mount. Though he does’t use those exact words, the Bible does reveal that David desperately desired to build God’s House atop Mount Moriah. He infers that, when all of this was accomplished, specifically when the walls of Jerusalem were in place, then God would accept the people’s sacrifices and offerings upon the altar. Again, the point is everything needed to be done in its proper order; then, and only then, would the people’s offerings be received.
Let’s put it this way: for the sake of protection, man wants to build the outer walls first, then the houses. In other words, man starts on the outside and then turns his attention to the inside. In contrast, though “man looks at the outward appearance, the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). And so, before the walls of Jerusalem were in place — evidence that God was ready to receive their offerings — God’s residence had to be established within the city. He must dwell among them, and then they could approach Him. Likewise, before any outward expression of worship can be deemed acceptable to God, our hearts must be open to Him; He must reside within us and preside over us. We cannot be king of our own hearts and then expect our outward expressions of worship to convince God that we regard Him as King. To please God, everything must begin with our heart, and once are hearts are His, we are ready to turn the rest of our being over to Him. Thus it is written:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart (first, and then, with all your soul, and with all your strength. (Deuteronomy 6:5).
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
Recent Comments