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Moses burned the whole ram on the altar. It was a burnt offering with a pleasing aroma, a food offering for the Lord, as the Lord commanded Moses. - Leviticus 8:21
As king of Israel, David would have certainly known about all of the sacrifices required in the law of God. In fact, David had offered his share of burnt offerings and sacrifices to God himself.
And David built there an altar to the LORD and presented burnt offerings and peace offerings and called on the LORD, and the LORD answered him with fire from heaven upon the altar of burnt offering. - 1 Chronicles 21:26
God clearly commanded that His people offer sacrifices for their sin and He gave specific instructions on how those sacrifices are to be offered (lev. 1-5). So, what exactly is David getting at when he says that God will not delight in sacrifice?
Notice that David does not say that God never requires sacrifices for sin, he says that God does not delight in them...he goes on to add that the real sacrifices God desires are those of a broken and contrite heart. In other words, God is not as concerned with the external sacrifice as he is with the heart from which they are offered. Or, to put it into terms that fit our context today - God is not as interested in your religious duty as He is in the attitude of your heart.
What good does it do you to go through the motions of your faith, to look the part on the outside, and yet to be hard hearted and far from God on the inside? One of the places in the New Testament where this truth is clearly portrayed is in a parable Jesus told about a Pharisee and a Tax Collector...
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” - Luke 18:9-14
The difference between these two men was great, but not for the reason the Pharisee thought. No, the difference between these two men was not their outward actions or their words, it was their hearts.
JeffFrazier
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