Daily Devotion

June 21, 2006
 
Psalms 40:6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
 
It is uncanny how David’s life was so intertwined with that of the Christ (Rev 22:16) who would be David’s descendent.  His songs reflect the creation of Israel as a nation, its present troubles, as well as its future.
 
The Levitical system of offerings and sacrifices were the corner stone of Jewish worship.  David is the one who ordered the temple liturgy, the priest’s office, and who organized its rituals.  Yet, hear the wisdom of the King, understand the perspective in which God has established all things.  When the sun has risen, do you use candles?  When daylight fills the firmament, do you need a lamp to see your way?  Even so, to you who fear God, in whose heart the Sun of Righteousness has risen (Mal 4:2) and brought light to the firmament of your life:  what is your need of a candle?
(KJV note: fear = have respect for). 
 
Rejoice now in the light of the Bridegroom.  As our sun in his ecliptic course sheds its light on the planets of our galaxy, “as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race;” as “ His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.” (Psa 19:5-6), so our LORD Jesus, the Sun of Righteousness, risen in you, His beloved Bride, shines in your heart to lighten its darkness, and make your soul fruitful with the heat of His love. (Joh 8:12). 
 
Gaudy rituals, spendy offerings, and showy sacrifices have a wicked way of feeding our religious ego.  Whether we like it or not, they make us keep score with God.  They make us compare and measure ourselves with other people, which is not wise (2 Cor 10:12).  Sacrifices and offerings also have a way of making the sacrifice an external part of ourselves, when what God really wants is the “inside scoop” of our heart!
 
Come now, let us offer today on the altar; let us lay on it that which our LORD-Jesus desires the most.  Let us learn what He tries to teach us all along.  Let us give Him the sacrifices of our yielded hearts, of our submissive spirits, and of our unchanging gratitude.
 
Psa 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
 
Romans 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
 
Heb 13:16  But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
 
Patrick Lumbroso
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