- In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Psalm 40:6 – Now for someone in the Old Testament to say the Lord didn’t want sacrifices and offerings from them, that should draw some questions from us. Why would David say this, and if this was true that the Lord wasn’t looking for sacrifices and offerings…what was God looking for from David? God wanted to give David an open ear. In Exodus 21 we are told about a unique ceremony that could take place in the life of a slave. After the years of service that needed to be completed for the slave, if he loved his master and wanted to remain with him forever, he could willingly allow himself to remain under the service of his master for the rest of his life. The master would then “open his ear.” The master would take the slave to the door post of his house, take a small rod of wood, and pierce it through the earlobe of the slave and into the doorframe of the house. This mark in the ear would be a sign to all that he was now a permanent part of the master’s household and under his care. What we see from this psalm is this is what the Lord wanted from David, and it is what the Lord wants from us too. God isn’t looking for loads of sacrifices and offerings from us, He already received the greatest sacrifice and offering that could ever be given in Jesus Christ. What the Lord wants from us is our willing submission to Him and to forever be His servant. He wants to open our ear. He wants us. Is this though what the Lord is receiving from you? Or is the Lord instead getting good church attendance, offerings to help the poor, and rigid worship? While going to church and worshipping Him is of course good things, scripture reveals what the Lord wants most…us. Today let us fully and willingly give ourselves over to the Lord and what He wants to do with our lives. Let Him open your ear and have your life completely and permanently. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 2995
- In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me.” Psalms 40:6-7 – In Hebrews this passage is spoken of concerning Jesus. Sharing that the burnt offerings and sacrifices of the law weren’t what was going to delight God. Then Jesus speaks saying I come to be the sacrifice that will delight the Father. A sacrifice of obedience to God’s Word. That for us is the sacrifice God desires. He wants us to obey His Word and live in that obedience every day our life. We are to seek to grow in our love for Him and pursue constantly ways to show God’s love to others. That’s the sacrifice God’s looking for from us. A life that says His direction is my life’s path. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 976
- You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told. Psalm 40:5 – Some days we just have to lean into the truth this psalm speaks of. Our days can be heavy and hard and we can feel like the “wondrous deeds” of the Lord are far from our story. Yet what if we pause and begin to recall all the things God has done and is currently doing for us. We’d end up like the psalmist, recalling so many that the number can’t even be counted. In these hard, heavy days we need to pause and recall the blessings we currently have in our story. It helps us remember God isn’t far from our struggle and it reminds us God is able to take care of us. Whatever season we are in, whether drought or abundance, God has done more wondrous deeds in our story than can be told. Yet when we begin to try to recall them all, that’s when we begin to see just how deeply blessed we are. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1757
Daily DEVO 