My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.

This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.

I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.

In our last post I needed to stop on the last thought, that of praising God, and just settle in that mindset for a short period, for it is a good thing to do. He really is good, you know.

This next couple of verses, they also are super famous, with songs a plenty being written based on them. Yet David continues to amaze me, for he is describing concepts that go beyond what was available for the common Jewish man of his day.

During David’s time, to approach God involved sacrifice. Sacrifice of animals was the primary (only) way to approach a holy God. God established a sacrificial order to deal with personal sins, iniquities, transgressions and rebellion. Beyond the sacrificial system, which is a picture of the Christ, the Jewish man had no way to enter into God’s presence. God had provided a way for the covering of sin, but it was highly specific, detailed and required multiple steps, even an intermediary, as in the Levitical priests that would provide this service.

But read the verse above once more.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

Sacrifice was the prescribed method of approach to God, given by God in that time. Yet David says God does not delight in sacrifice, nor is He pleased with a burnt offering. What type of heresy is David teasing us with? Or is David a New Testamental believer that is far beyond some of our own understandings of God and His ways?

I would suggest the latter, for David understands the relationship connection with the Almighty, and the secondary religious priority of sacrificial offerings. This is not to say David no longer went to the temple to offer up sacrifices of bulls, lambs and goats, but that his thinking had shifted. Maybe he had always understood this prioritization of relationship over religion. Maybe those days in the fields with his sheep had been times of understanding God’s ways.

God is looking for sacrifices, that is true, but we understand in the church that the vicarious death of animals was a picture of the Lord Jesus, and always has been. David takes the concept of sacrifice and internalizes it, speaking of his brokenness and regret. And expresses his realization of the nature of God in that He will not despise one who comes to Him broken, humble and open to Him.

God will not despise this heart attitude. As we approach Him in humility and brokenness, we can have confidence that the Lord of Glory will receive us, minister to us, heal us and save us. One of my favorite set of verses in this vein of thinking may be found in Matthew 12:18-20, where the Lord Jesus is describing Himself, God’s Chosen Servant, and the character the Servant would display.

Matthew 12:18 “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
Matthew 12:19 He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets;
Matthew 12:20 a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory;
Matthew 12:21 and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

Did you catch it. A bruised reed has no strength. A smoldering wick has no life. He will not quarrel or shout, but understands the condition we are in. He is approachable in our very weakness and contrition. His character is to heal, not to destroy or to take advantage of any weakness we come to Him with.

As we walk the way, following after Him, we may stumble, even rebel against the good life. Do not hesitate to return to Him, admitting to and confessing your sin, for He is a great Father, One who delights in truth in the inward being.

Praise Him.

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Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.

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