Psalm 69:30-31 - July 24, 2009

Ps 69:30-31 "I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. 31 This will please the LORD more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs." NIV

True worship is the praises of the lips rising before God. True praise is a thankful heart in every circumstance. True praise is the sacrifice of a life of obedience! God does not take pleasure in the blood of bulls and goats. The blood of His son was enough! The sacrificial system of the Old Testament was a type and a shadow of the greater sacrifice of the blood of Christ which has been shed as the atoning sacrifice for all sins, for all ages! In Psalm 50 Asaph makes a clear statement of God’s priorities: Ps 50:13-15 “Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? 14 Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, 15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me." Lift up thanksgiving to the Lord and live a life that is truly dependent upon the Lord! This very act of dependence, when it is vindicated by His powerful interventions in your life brings Him honor before all men! When you are facing the fire and lean on Him instead of your own strength for your deliverance He is exalted in the eyes of all who see.
In Isa 1:1 & 15-17 Isaiah increases the clarifying of this principle: "The multitude of your sacrifices — what are they to me?" says the LORD. "I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats”. 15-17 “When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; 16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, 17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.” It is clear from these verses that God is more interested in clean hands and a pure heart offered as a sacrifice of praise than with the blood of animals offered in sacrifice instead. God states clearly that His pleasure does not come from the blood of animals. His pleasure comes from your upright life.
There is no gift that we can bring to God, no act of sacrifice that can replace the central priority of a surrendered life that worships from a pure heart that has said “yes” to God’s commands. In a confrontation with King Saul the prophet Samuel identifies God’s priority with great accuracy. 1 Sam 15:22 “But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.” The greatest pleasure that we can bring to God is to listen to His voice and obey what He asks of us. Saul was full of compromise due to His fear of man that he held onto as a greater concern than a right fear of God. Imagine offering a sacrifice to God that is itself an act of disobedience. We cannot please God with an act of worship on one hand while holding on to an act of disobedience with the other. “Lord, give us a sensitive heart that will bring praise that is pleasing from an obedient heart!”