13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Continuing in the reading of Psalm 51, this portion describes what "sacrifices" are acceptable to God. Ultimately, he does not desire burnt offerings, but "a broken and contrite heart." "David knows that the justice and honor of the heavenly Father demand nothing less than His child's utter brokenness." (From A Musician Looks At the Psalms, by Don Wyrtzen)
In the words of a popular worship song:
"A broken heart and a contrite spirit
You have yet to deny
Your heart of mercy beats with love's strong current;
Let your river flow
By your spirit now, Lord we cry
Let your mercies fall from heaven..." (David Ruis, Copyright 1995 Vineyard Publishing)
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.
"The more pure and holy the heart is it will have the more quick feeling as to the sin that remains in it. The believer sees more of the beauty of holiness and the excellence of the law. His earnest desire to obey, increases as he grows in grace. But the whole good on which his will is fully bent, he does not do; sin ever springing up in him, through remaining corruption, he often does evil, though against the fixed determination of his will." (Matthew Henry Daily Readings)
This frustrating truth is describe in near perfect detail in the passage for which the above is a commentary. In Romans 7:18-22, Paul says this: 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being...
Who among us has not felt these frustrations? Indeed, we are tormented by the spirit of sin that remains in our corrupt flesh, while the spirit of God wars against it until we are rid of this mortal coil. God speed the day! Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!
I've always wondered why. The Tabletalk reading has this to say:
"Fundamentally, worship must be done according to the pattern God has given us. Those who worship the Father unworthily, put their lives at risk, so we must always take worship seriously (Lev. 10:1-3). The remaining presence of sin makes us all too willing to worship idols or worship God in ways not pleasing to Him (Rom. 1:18-32), so biblical teaching must always define how we praise His holy name.
"Scripture addresses both the outward form of worship and our inner motivations when we praise the Lord. Today's passage shows how our worship displeases God if we keep its outward rules without our hearts being in the right place."
There was nothing wrong with the substance of Cain's offering. God had ordained grain offerings. However, it is stated that Abel offered the "firstborn of his flock" (Genesis 4:4a), and the same is not spoken of Cain. At this point, in order to understand the event, we must make an assumption that Cain had not offered up the best of his crops. There is no other explanation given. "Unless we give the Lord our first and best, He will likewise have no regard for our worship."
That is a sobering truth. Especially for one whose responsibility is to lead others to worship God in what is, hopefully, an acceptable manner. I certainly don't think there is anything wrong with our outward form, although there are those who would disagree. Let us make sure that our hearts and motivations are in the right place when we come before our Lord to praise and worship him.
I pray that the sin that remains in our corrupt bodies will gradually fade as we strengthen our spirits in you. The struggle that Paul speaks of in Romans, we mirror in our day. And I suppose, as long as there is a struggle, it is a good sign. It's when we stop struggling that we are in trouble. I pray that your spirit will be strengthened within me, Father. Let the flesh continue to get weaker as I study and meditate on your words, and as I listen to the teachings and testimonies of other believers. This is one of the most beautiful aspects of our meetings together on Sunday. What inspiration we can be to each other as we share. Father, I don't think everyone realizes (I know I don't always) how much strength the Family can get from the testimonies of other members. And I'm so grateful for Bill's faithfulness to bring us teaching that you give him, especially the past two weeks on peace and patience. You even taught me a little of that patience this morning.
So let our hearts be broken when we sin. Let our spirits be contrite. This is the acceptable sacrifice to you, Father. And we know that you will not turn that sacrifice away, ever.
Hallelujah!
Grace and peace, friends!