HOW DO YOU SAY THANKS?

By


O God, save me by your name, and vindicate me by your might. O God, hear my prayer; give ear to the words of my mouth. With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good. For he has delivered me from every trouble, and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies. 
Psalm 54:1-2, 6-7 ESV



¶The freewill offering was just that. It was voluntary. It was not paid out of any obligation. It was part of a virtuous cycle of thanksgiving, petition, and fulfillment, leading to further thanksgiving. There was no schedule given for performing the freewill offering. In fact here's the schedule Hebrews 13:15 gives for it: "Through Jesus, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God". There is a place for freely given praise anywhere any time on the praise/thanksgiving/petition cycle. Hebrews 10:25 calls us to "not forsake the assembling of ourselves together". Leviticus calls the freewill offering a "fellowship offering of praise". The offering had to be eaten on the same day, too much for one person to finish by himself. He had to share. It sanctified and made holy to the Lord the gathering of God's people together.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE POWER TO FORGIVE

By
But they conspired against him, and by command of the king they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord . Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, had shown him, but killed his son. And when he was dying, he said, "May the Lord see and avenge!" 2 Chronicles 24:21‭-‬22 ESV ¶Contrast Joash's response to that of Jesus, who, when He was reviled and crucified, asked God not to hold their sins against them. Which of the two of them had more of a right to seek vengeance? Which of the the two had more power to forgive? We can forgive when we know God is in control.
Read more

THE HORRIBLE PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE

By
Oh, continue your steadfast love to those who know you, and your righteousness to the upright of heart! Let not the foot of arrogance come upon me, nor the hand of the wicked drive me away. Psalm 36:10‭-‬11 ESV ¶The goal of the evil one is just to deprive us, not to have for himself the blessing of knowing God, just to take it away from us, just to drive us off the holy ground procured for us at the foot of the cross.
Read more

CORAM DEO? YES OR NO.

By
And David said to all the assembly of Israel, “If it seems good to you and from the Lord our God, let us send abroad to our brothers who remain in all the lands of Israel, as well as to the priests and Levites in the cities that have pasturelands, that they may be gathered to us. Then let us bring again the ark of our God to us, for we did not seek it in the days of Saul.” All the assembly agreed to do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people. 1 Chronicles 13:2‭-‬4 ESV ¶David gathers the people of Israel together in a great assembly and does something new. He asks their opinion. He asks them to inquire of the Lord for themselves, and decide. They have the opportunity to bring the ark of God close to them in their midst. Are they, unlike in the days of Saul, ready now to have the ark among them? Do they want to walk close to God, or keep Him at a distance? If His presence is right there, will it just become overly familiar to them? Will they begin to ignore Him and the ...
Read more