Psalms 51:16-17, 2 Corinthians 3: 6,17-18

We are continuing in David’s prayer of repentance after his sin was exposed. During the time between his fall into sin and the confrontation by Nathan the prophet, David must have gone to sacrifice to the Lord. All the singers he assigned were in place, lifting praises to God. He would have brought the priest the lamb or goat that was without blemish, and ceremoniously lifted his hands to heaven in prayer, as the sacrifice burned upon the altar. He may have even brought thank offerings and celebrated one of the feasts of the Lord, all the while knowing in his heart that he was a murderer and adulterer.

Once he finally faced how hard his heart had become, he realized that going through the motions was not what God was after. The motions and ritual did not ease his guilty conscience. What was God looking for? A broken heart! A contrite spirit! That was all that God would accept. The sacrifices were done, but were not accepted, and David knew it. The lack of peace in his heart told him that God was after something else. Once he admitted his sin, his heart broke and he realized that brokeness was the real sacrifice. Now his future sacrifices would be accepted.

Have you felt that gnawing pain of your worship falling flat? Something in your heart is telling you that all is not well between you and God. You do everything you are supposed to but there is no intimacy between you and God. You don’t sense His acceptance. Check your heart. You don’t need a prophet to tell you, the Holy Spirit can point it out. Unforgiveness, bitterness, a complaining spirit, or some overt sin you hide from the world but justify in your mind may be the source of the broken relationship between you and God. Confess your faults one to another that you might be healed. To tell a trusted friend or advisor, to get it out of the darkness and into the light will help you forsake it and live. Confess to God how you have let that thing come between you. Then, let your heart be broken over your rebellion against Him. Then you will find your sacrifices accepted, your worship full of life, and sense of His acceptance in your heart.


Evening

6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant--not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3: 6,17-18 NIV)

In this chapter, Paul shares a comparison of the fading glory of the old covenant and the surpassing glory of the new covenant that transforms the hearts of men. He has asked, “Who is up to the task of spreading the fragrant knowledge of Christ?” Then He says that we are, for the new covenant brings the life of Christ that enables us. The Spirit imbues us with His very life. The old regulations just pointed out sin and therefore sentences us to death.

The Spirit is the very presence of the Lord in us! He gives us the freedom to obey His voice and not the hard fast rule. He can interpret the Spirit of the Word to us instead of being bound by strict legalistic interpretations. We are free from the chains of regulated behavior to obey the Spirit in a given situation.

As we look to the Lord for direction and instruction, we reflect His glory. Instead of the cold dead rules, we act in the Spirit that brings life. In doing so, we look more and more like Him. The attributes that are His are expressed through us, so that people increasingly see the glory of the Lord in our life. That is not our work, but the work of His Spirit within us. The more we look to Him and walk in that commune, the more people see the likeness of Christ in us.

Does this describe your life? Are you being changed with ever-increasing glory? If not, perhaps you are not looking constantly to His Spirit but to the letter. Even in Christianity today there are those who look to hard cold letter instead of the Spirit of the Lord. Let His Spirit interpret the letter in a given situation and point you to the Scripture He would apply. Keep looking to Him expectantly for direction and instruction.

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