Confession
Okay, I am
cynical today. I apologize about it
beforehand. But I am cynical about all
this sacrificing and prayer going on in this chapter. I find it odd that here we have a whole
chapter dedicated to the lavishness of the thousands of sacrifices offered up
and the verbose prayers offered up – yet this passage stands in contrast to
Hosea 6:6 and Psalm 51:15-17. God
desires steadfast love rather than sacrifice.
God desires knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. The psalmist says that God does not delight in
sacrifice or he would give them. Rather,
God delights in a broken spirit and a contrite heart.
So I pause
for a minute and reflect on everything that we read today. How did God react to such an event?
God’s Reaction
Well, we
do know that the presence of the Lord filled the Temple. So certainly God did not react
negatively. I don’t want anyone to think
that I am saying Solomon’s lavishness was sinful in the eyes of God. Certainly God came and dwelled within the
Temple, so at the very least God accepted and received what was offered up to
Him. But was God convinced about
Solomon? I’ll leave that question
lingering for the day, but go ahead and read His reaction to Solomon in 1 Kings
9:3-9 and decide for yourself how convinced God is based on the sacrifices
offered. You’ll get my opinion tomorrow.
Self-Reflection
I do want
to pause, though, and turn the thoughts of this chapter onto myself and allow
you to turn it onto yourself. How often
do I give God what I think He wants rather than giving God what He truly wants? I think He wants me to come and worship once
a week. I think He wants me to cut a
check to the church for 10% of my income.
I think He wants me to acknowledge that He’s here, to sing songs about
Him, and to say some Creed confessing the He’s real.
Don’t get
me wrong. None of these things are bad;
just like the plethora of sacrifices that Solomon offered are not bad. But is that what God really wants?
What do
Hosea and the Psalmist seem to indicate God wants?
- God wants me to pursue Him in knowledge. God wants me to have an unquenchable thirst that cannot get enough of Him. God wants me to beat down the doors of my spiritual leaders and absorb all they can give to me. God wants me to wear out the covers of the theological collections to which I have access so that I can learn more about Him.
- God wants me to love Him steadfastly through the day and the weeks and the years, not just periodically when it is convenient.
- God wants me to be broken before Him – how often do I present myself as broken at any time, much less before Him?
- God wants me to be contrite. How often am I genuinely sorrowful for my wrongdoings?
God wants
so much more than what I choose to give Him.
He definitely wants something different than what I think He wants. I think I can define a portion of my life to
give to God. But He wants it all. Do I actually think that I can please Him
with anything until I have given Him everything?
Do I give
God what He wants? Or do I give Him what
I think He wants? Do I give Him a
glorious worship service when He wants a genuine one? Do I focus on the beauty of the worship when
God would rather me focus on a deeply spiritual contrition and grace? Am I so worried about doing it “right”
according to the eyes of mankind that I don’t give a moment’s thought to
whether it is really right in the eyes of God?
I can have the most glorious worship, filled with the most glorious
procession/recession, using the most glorious gold implements, dressed in the
most glorious robes, speaking with the most glorious charisma, distributing the
most glorious bread and wine. But if my
heart is not contrite, if my heart is not truly following God, if I do not
genuinely pursue God – what worth is any of it?
Back to Solomon
In this
aspect I find it extremely telling that so much of Solomon’s prayer focuses on
repentance and forgiveness. Solomon
knows the depth of the sinfulness of humanity.
Solomon understands that human beings always focus on the wrong things. Solomon’s prayer is a plea for God to never
stop turning us back to Him and to never stop relenting from the punishment we
truly deserve.
Yet, this
is the man who ultimately finds himself following other gods. Oh, how we can say all the rights words and
do all the right actions and make such an incredible show about our faith. But if it does not genuinely live in our
heart, what is it worth? All the
knowledge in the world about repentance is useless unless we remember to repent
and turn back to the Lord. All the pomp
and circumstance is pointless unless we do it with genuine contrition and a genuine
desire to seek the Lord.
Deuteronomy
4:29 tells us: “You will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you
search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Isaiah 55:6 tells us: “Seek the Lord while he
may be found; call upon him while he is near.”
There is a warning in both of these passages. We will find the Lord when we seek after Him
with all of our heart. And we best seek
Him now when He can be found. Who among
us knows for sure that we can put it off until tomorrow? Pursue Him fully today. Give everything today. For Christ sake, don’t wait any longer!
<><
{And yes,
I mean it when I say “for Christ’s sake.”
It’s not just some expression, I mean do it for Christ!}
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