Mercy not Sacrifice
Notes
Transcript
I want to journey through Scripture this morning and share something God’s Word has taught me about Mercy and worship.
As we engage with Scripture, we learn that obedience and mercy are important in following God.
You need more than mercy and misplaced obedience, on this God is clear.
22 Samuel said, “Does the Lord have as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than a sacrifice, And to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.
23 “For rebellion is as reprehensible as the sin of divination, And insubordination is as reprehensible as false religion and idolatry. Since you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.”
Are you ready for the message God has for us?
Why was Saul disqualified?
Why was Saul disqualified?
Saul was guilty of disobedience.
Consider what was wrong with the sacrifices, he failed to obey — 1 Samuel 15:18-19
18 And the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are eliminated.’
19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Instead, you loudly rushed upon the spoils and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord!”
What was Saul’s response to Samuel, I did obey — 1 Samuel 15:20-21
20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I did obey the voice of the Lord, for I went on the mission on which the Lord sent me; and I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have completely destroyed the Amalekites.
21 But the people took some of the spoils, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things designated for destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”
Saul did not obey — Develop!
No ceremony can make up for the voluntary violation to God and His commandments.
It does not matter what you think is right and wrong!
Saul was disqualified because what he thought was right was actually a sin, rebellion to a known law of God!
Loyalty or Sacrifice
Loyalty or Sacrifice
Which is most important to God? That his people be loyal to God or that the people sacrifice to God? — develop
6 For I desire loyalty rather than sacrifice, And the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
“Loyalty” — An unfailing kind of love, kindness, goodness. Often used of God’s love that is related to faithfulness to his covenant!
“Knowledge” — The psychological result of perception, learning, and reasoning.
Do you see the problem Saul had here too?
What God desires is for us to not go through the motions or do it from a sense of duty.
God wants us to know Him and to love Him as motivation for our worship!
This is what the Pharisees failed to understand! — Matthew 9:13
13 Now go and learn what this means: ‘I desire compassion, rather than sacrifice,’ for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Jesus quotes from Hosea
“compassion” — loyal love to God demonstrated by acts of mercy and loving-kindness.
Do you think they did what Jesus commanded? — Matthew 12:7
7 But if you had known what this means: ‘I desire compassion, rather than sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.
The Pharisees like the people of the Old Testament were not just doing, misplaced worship for self, without mercy and knowledge — Matthew 23:23
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.
Do we understand?
Do we understand?
Consider the question posed by Micah to the people of God:
6 With what shall I come to the Lord And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves?
7 Does the Lord take pleasure in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give Him my firstborn for my wrongdoings, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has told you, mortal one, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?
Look at that!
It’s not about the sacrifice it’s about where the motivation is, where the heart is when God’s people worship!
What about our worship?
Worship with proper motivation has always been important to God — Deut 10:12
12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,
It carries to the new testament - 1 Timothy 1:5
5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from a sincere faith.
It is not about feeling, it is about heart.
It all comes from a relationship with God, you can’t worship if there is no relationship, that is just going through the motions!
Conclusion:
The application is simple: Don’t go through the motions, worship because you love God!
A lesson I learned on my journey: Obedience isn’t because I have to, it’s because I want to!
It all comes down to this simple question: What is your relationship with God?
And then, what are you going to do based upon what God has said today?
