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“I will not take for the Lord what is yours, nor offer burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”  1Chron21:24

He was finally King. It took countless sleepless nights, countless turns and returns. Someone had been after him from the time his eligibility for King was announced (actually prophesied). He been betrayed, chased and finally vindicated.
As one of his first acts as King, David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. He wanted to put God first in the nation. He wanted the ark (a symbol of God’s power and salvation) at the center. He arranged to have the ark brought to Jerusalem as part of a joyous, worshipful event but something went wrong. God had specified that the ark must be carried with poles. When it was brought in on a cart, the oxen pulling it stumbled and the driver Uzzah, steadied it with his hand. That was death for Uzzah and it put an end to the procession.
Fast forward nearly 30 years toward the end of David’s life.  Again he is seeking to worship God. This time at the direction of a prophet, David must build an alter. This would stop the pestilence ravaging the land because of his disobedience. Araunah, the owner of the threshing floor where the alter must be built tells David to just have his property and his oxen for the offering – no small gift I’m sure. It would have been EASY for David to just accept it and make the offerings. After all, he was the king right? Plus this would save him, and the kingdom some money right?
David however, was not willing. He’d learned something earlier about worship and God’s heart:  “But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.”
There are lots of lessons from this story.  You may have already picked some up yourself.
One is that WORSHIP IS NEVER FREE. It costs something to worship God. Let that sink in. As a Christian the amazing truth is that our ability to come before God and be accepted by Him, is not based on any offerings we can make. No matter how much we seek to “pay” for this acceptance it’s impossible – it costs too much. Jesus however, paid the price for us with his own life. This is the central message of our faith.
What we must continue to remember is that it costs to be able to worship God. It cost Jesus his life. I’m afraid that in our modern worship culture, sometimes we approach worship as if we are going to a movie, or a game, or something else for our own fulfillment, fun or satisfaction. We want our worship to be easy and we can ignore the price it cost for us to even think about entering God’s presence.
This is one reason we must always keep Jesus’ life and the cross at the center of our understanding when it comes to worship. I get nervous when I’m at a worship event, and amidst all the celebration, there’s no attention or meditation given to the cross.
Another lesson here is that while we don’t worship for acceptance before God, WORSHIP STILL INVOLVES SACRIFICE. Note that David’s sacrifices were also peace offerings – offerings that celebrated peace (acceptance) with God, as opposed to the burnt offerings for sin. Worship by its nature is about putting God first, not ourselves. It’s about honoring God through the “process” as well as the “product” of our worship.
The sacrifices we now offer are for God’s pleasure, to lift Him up above ourselves. Hebrews puts it like this: “ Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” Heb13:15
How does our approach to worship, stack up here? Does our approach to worship embrace this principle of sacrifice?  I think this primarily this means I must die to myself when I worship. I must take up my place in Christ – demonstrating His humility, His love, His obedience (i.e. my new nature.)  I must die to myself – even in the small decisions. David learned this  – to carry the ark with poles, – to not take the easy way but pay for his offerings, – to not build the temple when God had told him his son should build it etc.
And for me?  And for you? What have we learned? Dying to self will look differently in different worship cultures. (It’s even different on different days for me!) The list of ways we should die to ourselves could go on and on couldn’t it? I must die to myself in order to worship authentically.
NO Easy Buttons allowed.

Tags:discipleship, worship, authenticity