Song and Sacrifice
Devotions for Growing Christians
Song and Sacrifice
2 Chronicles 29:27-28 - Then Hezekiah gave the order to offer the burnt offering on the altar. When the burnt offering began, the song to the Lord also began with the trumpets, accompanied by the instruments of David, king of Israel. While the whole assembly worshipped, the singers also sang and the trumpets sounded; all this continued until the burnt offering was finished.
Read 2 Chronicles 29-31.
King Hezekiah of Judah is no stranger to students of ancient history. His name and military activities are well documented in the Assyrian records of King Sennacherib. These inscriptions on clay prisms date from the 7th century BC, and support and corroborate the inspired record of King Hezekiah's activities given in the Bible (2 Kings and 2 Chronicles). The rock-hewn water tunnel that Hezekiah constructed under the city of Jerusalem (2 Kings 20:20 and 2 Chronicles 32:30) is documented in the Siloam inscription - inscribed on the wall of the tunnel itself. This underground passage still carries water from the Gihon Spring to the Pool of Siloam, and is well known to Holy Land visitors today.
But Hezekiah's important spiritual activities are known to us only from the Bible. Hezekiah was one of the good kings of Judah, and there are a number of spiritual principles that emerge from the biblical account of his life. Students of history may learn quite a bit about King Hezekiah from the secular records, but growing Christians can come to know and appreciate the divine lessons from Hezekiah's life in the Scripture record.
King Hezekiah's father was wicked King Ahaz. This evil king had shut down the Temple (2 Chronicles 28:24) and even stooped to the idolatrous practice of killing his sons in pagan sacrifice (28:3). But when Hezekiah came to the throne, "he did right in the sight of the Lord" (29:2). The first thing he did was to re-open the doors of the Temple (29:3), cleanse the Holy Place (29:5), and re-establish the public worship of the Lord (29:35). A great revival began and swept through Judah. This revival is the subject of 2 Chronicles 29-31.
As you read through the record of Hezekiah's revival, think of revival today - in your own life, or in the life of your church or fellowship group. In Hezekiah’s revival divine principles for revival will begin to emerge from the text.
For example, all of King Hezekiah's activities in repairing and cleansing the Temple (2 Chronicles 29) have their spiritual counterparts today. Remember that Christians are now the temples of the Holy Spirit, both as individuals (1 Corinthians 6:19) and collectively as the Church (1 Corinthians 3:16). If we want revival, we must be prepared to remove unholy things from our temples. What unholy thoughts or habits need to be removed from the temple of your body and life for revival to begin? What practices or traditions need to be corrected in your fellowship so revival can sweep through your church? Other principles for revival are scattered throughout these chapters. Principles such as obedience to the laws of God (30:16), renewed giving (31:4), and total commitment in service (31:21) are all significant and necessary ingredients for true revival.
Song and Sacrifice
Another important principle of revival (and for just plain Christian living) comes out of our text. Verses 27-28 tell us that singing accompanied the burnt offering. Song and sacrifice went together. When the sacrifice began, the song to the Lord began, and it continued until the sacrifice was completed (v27-28). It was God's intention that the singing and the offering take place together.
Let’s call this “the divine principle of song and sacrifice.” Singing to the Lord is an expression of joy and thanksgiving, and it's hard to sing praises with the mouth if there’s no joy in the heart. Sacrifice involves a solemn recognition of the seriousness of sin and represents the payment for sin. As the Old Testament believers viewed the burning flesh of the sacrifice, they were solemnly reminded of the gravity of their sin, and the severe cost of maintaining a relationship with God. Believers today who understand and practice the principle of sacrifice will invariably be sincere and serious about a holy walk before the Lord.
Song and sacrifice should characterize every growing Christian. They go together - simultaneously. Unmistakable joy as well as a sobering solemnity should mark every believer. Unfortunately, some Christians go to one unbalanced extreme or the other, and consequently they distort the gospel - especially when they try to "correct" their fellow-believers!
Christians who go around looking gloomy, with no expression of joy, convey a distorted concept of Christianity. These Christians may be very sincere and earnest, and they may understand the solemnity of the faith, but they need more of the principle of song in their everyday living. After all, they have been saved! Their sins are forgiven and they're on their way to heaven!
On the other hand, Christians who constantly run around shouting, "Praise the Lord!" and "Hallelujah!" in every situation misrepresent the good news as well. These Christians may be very genuine, and may greatly appreciate the joy that Christ can give, but they need to remember the truth of "sacrifice" as well as "song.” There must be sober and solemn reflection and meditation (even with weeping) about the awful price of our redemption, and our obligations as "redeemed slaves" (1 Peter 1:17-19).
The principle of song and sacrifice means that both joy and solemnity are vital aspects of Christian living. They are not mutually exclusive, and they should be kept in balance in every believer's life. They should be kept in balance in the worship of the church as well. Congregational worship that lacks joy and celebration, and sounds like a funeral service is worship without "song.” But worship that is only a self-centered emotional experience, forgetting that the focus and theme of worship is not on us, but on the Lord who created us and loved us and gave Himself for us. Self-centered worship is irreverent worship that lacks "sacrifice.” Do you practice the divine principle of song and sacrifice in your individual and corporate worship? See 1 Peter 2:4-10 - and note verses 5 and 9.
A Divine Principle
Song and sacrifice as a divine principle is particularly emphasized in verse 25. Here we see that the combination of singing with the burnt offering was not an innovation dreamed up by King Hezekiah. This was ordered many years before by King David - according to a commandment from the Lord. 1 Chroncles 25 tells us about David's organization of the musicians. Music was part of the plan for the Temple that was to be built by his son, King Solomon. 1 Chronicles 28:11-21 emphasizes that all these plans for the new Temple, both building and service, were given to David by direct revelation from the Lord.
No song in the wilderness
It’s significant that God wanted singing included in the Temple worship, because singing was not part of the tabernacle worship during Israel’s wilderness journey from Egypt to Canaan. Sacrifice and song was not commanded in the Law of Moses. To sing while animals were being slaughtered and burned upon the altar would be most unusual - especially when the somber implications of the sacrifices were realized. But God wanted singing in connection with the Temple worship. Why? There may be a number of reasons why God waited until the Temple was built - reasons that we cannot fully comprehend now. Remember - God's thoughts and ways are higher than our thoughts and ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).
But one possible reason is that singing could not characterize wilderness worship, because God's people were undergoing God’s discipline for their sins of discontent and unbelief. They wandered in the wilderness for 40 years - away from God's will, with no song. They couldn’t sing the Lord's song in the wilderness any more than they could sing the Lord's song when they were in exile in Babylon many years later (Psalm 137:4). After crossing the Red Sea and singing the Song of Moses in Exodus 15, there is no record of singing to the Lord until Numbers 21:17 - at the end of the 40 years in the wilderness. What a joyful relief it was to see the Israelites moving forward once again - in the will of God, and ready to enter the Land of Promise!
It appears that God intended to bring singing into the formal worship as soon as the Land was fully conquered and occupied, and the central sanctuary was established at the place of God's sovereign choice, Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 12:1-14 and Psalm 132:13-18). Complete conquering and occupation of the Promised Land did not take place during the time of Joshua or the Judges. It remained for King David to capture Jerusalem and bring the Ark of the Covenant up to God's chosen city (1 Chronicles 15). And then, at the direction of the Lord, David drew up the plans for the Temple and for the the worship at this final resting place of the Ark - the worship of sacrifice with song.
What’s the lesson for the growing Christian in all this? The proper balance of joy and solemnity doesn’t characterize the life of a Christian who is wandering off the path of a close walk with the Lord. The worship of song and sacrifice is not possible if we’re wandering in the "wilderness.” It’s only possible when we are living in the "land of blessing."
A “wandering” Christian can’t be really serious and earnest in worship. An unrepentant wilderness Christian who is under the discipline of the Lord has a hard time singing true praises to God from the heart. In fact, if the wanderer attempts worship without repentance, that worship is nothing but a hypocritical front. Only the Christian who is walking with the Lord can truly experience the worship of song and sacrifice.
- Dave Reid