Sacrifice of praise

In studying Leviticus for the Precepts class I am teaching, I am spending a lot of time looking at the Old Testament system of sacrifice and praise. Worship of a Holy God required a holy people - a people set apart from those around them and cleansed of their sin. Animals were offered up (first for the priest and then for the people - Lev 9) with the blood being offered on the altar and the animal slain. Death, blood, and fire defined the approach to the Lord, because of the weight of sin and the price of guilt. The symbol protrayed just how fallen we are and just how holy He is. When Christ completes His perfect sacrifice after a guiltess life, He cleanses us, once for all time, creating a way to life instead of death (Heb 9:28).

But the blood itself was a representation of sin bringing death (Romans 6:23) - it was symbolic. The blood did not actually cleanse anything (Heb 10:4). God made the system of atonement for our benefit to better understand ourselves and to learn to relate to Him. His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).

Instead, we see verse after verse, throughout the Old and New Testament describing the true approach God desires. (Psalm 40:6, Psalm 51:16, Hosea 6:6, Matt 9:9-13, Heb 10) David writes after being confronted about his sin with Bathsheba "O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." (Psalm 51:15-17)
This whole interaction to me is amazing. David, a man after God's own heart, knows that what the Lord desires is to bring praise and humility. On the Sermon on the Mount (Matt5:3) Jesus says "Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven".

When I see these verses that combine our sacrifice with brokeness, I can't help but think of some of the commands for Christian conduct given in the New Testament. "Be joyful always, pray continually, be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." (1 Thes 5:16-18). And in Hebrews 13:15 "Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name."

David saw the heart that God desired - humble praise. But it is a sacrifice, isn't it? When we don't understand what God is doing in our lives; when He leads us through times of trouble; when we are confronted with the ugliness of the sin in our own hearts; these aren't the traditional times to praise. These are the times we question; we doubt; we wrestle. 

You know, there are a lot of times where offering up a bull would be a lot easier than bringing to God a humble heart that acknowledges just how far away my life is now from the holiness He calls me to. This is how you end up a Pharisee - go through the motions and lose sight of the heart. When Jesus quotes Hosea in Matt 9:9-13, He is talking to Pharisees who are questioning why He "eats with tax collectors and sinners". Jesus exposes the emptiness of their life - He sees their desire to justify themselves. (This is also what He addresses in the rest of Matthew 5:17-48. He ends with the ultimate challenge in verse 48 -  "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.")

The sacrifice of praise is the sacrifice of ourselves. We put ourselves to death. We put our will, our way, our pride, our sin, our guilt; all of it goes on the altar and it creates a soothing aroma for the Lord. Paul tell us in Romans 6: 11-12 "In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires." The sacrifice of praise is one we offer up daily, until Christ comes to take us home. But our God is a consuming fire who can totally remove all our sin and guilt in His sanctifying work. And He has been broken more than we could ever comprehend to bring us to Him.

Hebrews 12:28-29 says "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”

As we tie these things all together we see that our acceptable worship is one that is thankful of who He is and what He has done. When we recognize our need and His holiness, we cannot help but fall to our knees in pure awe. And when we know what He has given us in Christ, we cannot help but praise with thanksgiving. These truths cannot be shaken - regardless of our circumstances or even our own thoughts or feelings. We can be joyful always and thankful in all circumstances, and even pursue the calling of holiness through Christ. We don't thank Him for the trouble - but we praise Him for being unchanging, even in our times of trouble. We don't thank Him for feeling broken - but for His healing hand. We don't praise Him for our struggle - but for His perfect love, that loves us in our sin and ushers us home eternally with Him. This process of becoming more aware of who He is is the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Heb 12:11) that discipline brings. This is the mature faith, unshaken by life (James 1:2-8) and able to rejoice in suffering (Romans 5:3-5). The way we walk through our trials and the faith that results is the offering in which God delights (1 Peter 1:6-9).

Are you broken, weary, sinking under the waves of life? Go ahead and cry! Shout! Shake your fist at the sky! And then sink into the unchanging love of your Heavenly Father. And when you realize that He holds you, even while you hold the weight of the world, you will offer a sacrifice of praise.