The Altar of Sacrifice

Psalms 51:17: The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 

The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit.  Psalm 34:18

Hebrews 13:15:  By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

The altar of sacrifice…visualize standing before this altar.  Look at the above scriptures.  Do you see the  extremes in emotions that we can bring to this altar?  A truth that I believe is being presented is this: Our extremes are acceptable to God.  

I remember when I found Psalms 51:17.  I did not like it at all.  I told God that I had done the broken spirit and contrite heart.  Been there.  Done that.  I wanted a different assignment.  Then I found Psalm 34:18 and saw that in that experience of brokenness, He was there.  He saved me in that experience.  He is near to those who have a broken heart.  He saves those who have a contrite spirit.  

God knows that “In this world we shall have trouble, but be of good cheer for He has overcome the world.”  This is another scripture that looks at the extremes in our lives.  I want to live in the “be of good cheer He has overcome the world.”  Praise God.

A sacrifice costs something.  It cost Jesus His life.  It will cost us our personal agendas.  A sacrifice of praise means that it costs us something.  It means that those places were we offer up our lack of understanding, our grief, our anger, our humiliation, etc. alongside our praise is practice in living in the “be a good cheer” part of this journey.    This part of the journey is about learning that even the hard stuff which doesn’t look like an answer to our prayers IS an answer to our prayers.  It is helping us let go of something. This refines us. 

If we only praise we when all is going well, then the relationship is missing something. It is like being happy “just” when all things are going your way.  It is A. W. Tozer who said that God needs not so much to teach us things as to help us unlearn that which is not true.  We have the admonition to be happy in whatever state we find ourselves.  That is a sacrifice of praise lived out.  God is with us in this process… the broken spirit and contrite heart are waiting for the songs of praise.  It ceases to be about me and becomes about Him.