Many sacrifices are described in the Old Testament that seems bloody and gory, just down right disgusting. Just imagine that it is time to offer a sacrifice because of a festival or because of some sinful act. You would have to go to your herds, pick an animal (all of which you know well and care for very much), take it to the temple, follow the prescribed way of offering the sacrifice laid out in the law and offer the animal to God. Was this all done without thought and cold heartedness? More than likely no. The goal was to prepare one's self for worship while the sacrifice was being chosen and prepared before the sacrifice actually happened. You would be thinking the entire time about what is going to happen and what is about to happen and why you are doing this. You would have to prepare your heart for worship while the ritual preceding it took place. You would also be thinking about why you are doing what you are thereby making the act of worship and the preceding ritual very personal to you.
The same is true today, or at least should be. Worship is not an afterthought or just a meaningless set of rituals we go through. Before heading to church, you are thinking about what is going to happen while you are there, what is expected of you, and what you expect of God (or at least I hope that is what is happening in your thoughts). You are just as much preparing yourself and your heart for worship as the Old Testament rituals required. Not only that, in Psalm 51:17 it states: “The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise." But even before that David writes in verse 16 "You would not be pleased with sacrifices, or I would bring them. If I brought you a burnt offering, you would not accept it." Why would the animal sacrifice not be accepted? Because the worshippers heart is not in the right place, their heart is not prepared to enter God's presence. But once your heart is broken before God and repentant for sins committed, then the sacrifice of the ritual act would be acceptable to God. "Then you will be pleased with worthy sacrifices and with our whole burnt offerings; and bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar" (verse 19).
So how does Old Testament sacrifice relate to today? Simple. God does not want our ritual of raising hands or singing songs, He wants our hearts. He wants us to break our hearts before Him so that we will be acceptable to Him. It means that we call out to Him and grab on to Him and prepare ourselves to worship Him by looking at our hearts. Over and over God tells us to be Holy as He is Holy. Many times we attempt to worship Him without taking the proper steps to become Holy. But, I can hear you thinking, I can’t do anything to make myself Holy. EXACTLY! God also says over and over that He is the one that makes us Holy. It is in recognizing our broken state before God that we put ourselves in a posture of receiving Him and the Sacrifice He provided for us. It is not about ritual, although that helps us get in the right heart mode to worship Him correctly and as he deserves to be worshipped. God knew it would be a process for us to prepare ourselves to enter His presence, which is why we are created to want and desire ritual. But here is where the problem lies. We can take the ritual and do it out of habit and no thought and therefore not have a correct heart attitude and posture to be acceptable to a Holy God.
So the next time you head off to church or a prayer meeting or a revival service, check yourself. Are you preparing your heart to be acceptable to Him? Are you allowing yourself to be broken before Him? If you are, your worship will be acceptable. After all, if He is the one that makes us Holy and if He is the one that offered the sacrifice for us to be able to enter God's Holy presence, then shouldn't part of that heart preparation be adoration and praise to the one that did the work for us? Shouldn’t that make us even more humble before God since there is nothing we can do other than come to him broken to be accepted?
The Old Testament can offer many awesome insights into why things were done and why, because God never changes, things are the same with our hearts even though the ritual may change. My prayer for everyone is that they come broken and fully prepared to worship the God that makes us Holy, if we allow Him to.
The same is true today, or at least should be. Worship is not an afterthought or just a meaningless set of rituals we go through. Before heading to church, you are thinking about what is going to happen while you are there, what is expected of you, and what you expect of God (or at least I hope that is what is happening in your thoughts). You are just as much preparing yourself and your heart for worship as the Old Testament rituals required. Not only that, in Psalm 51:17 it states: “The sacrifice you want is a broken spirit. A broken and repentant heart, O God, you will not despise." But even before that David writes in verse 16 "You would not be pleased with sacrifices, or I would bring them. If I brought you a burnt offering, you would not accept it." Why would the animal sacrifice not be accepted? Because the worshippers heart is not in the right place, their heart is not prepared to enter God's presence. But once your heart is broken before God and repentant for sins committed, then the sacrifice of the ritual act would be acceptable to God. "Then you will be pleased with worthy sacrifices and with our whole burnt offerings; and bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar" (verse 19).
So how does Old Testament sacrifice relate to today? Simple. God does not want our ritual of raising hands or singing songs, He wants our hearts. He wants us to break our hearts before Him so that we will be acceptable to Him. It means that we call out to Him and grab on to Him and prepare ourselves to worship Him by looking at our hearts. Over and over God tells us to be Holy as He is Holy. Many times we attempt to worship Him without taking the proper steps to become Holy. But, I can hear you thinking, I can’t do anything to make myself Holy. EXACTLY! God also says over and over that He is the one that makes us Holy. It is in recognizing our broken state before God that we put ourselves in a posture of receiving Him and the Sacrifice He provided for us. It is not about ritual, although that helps us get in the right heart mode to worship Him correctly and as he deserves to be worshipped. God knew it would be a process for us to prepare ourselves to enter His presence, which is why we are created to want and desire ritual. But here is where the problem lies. We can take the ritual and do it out of habit and no thought and therefore not have a correct heart attitude and posture to be acceptable to a Holy God.
So the next time you head off to church or a prayer meeting or a revival service, check yourself. Are you preparing your heart to be acceptable to Him? Are you allowing yourself to be broken before Him? If you are, your worship will be acceptable. After all, if He is the one that makes us Holy and if He is the one that offered the sacrifice for us to be able to enter God's Holy presence, then shouldn't part of that heart preparation be adoration and praise to the one that did the work for us? Shouldn’t that make us even more humble before God since there is nothing we can do other than come to him broken to be accepted?
The Old Testament can offer many awesome insights into why things were done and why, because God never changes, things are the same with our hearts even though the ritual may change. My prayer for everyone is that they come broken and fully prepared to worship the God that makes us Holy, if we allow Him to.
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