Ps. 69:30-31
I will praise the name of God with a song: I will magnify Him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs.
God said in 1 Sam. 16:7, But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." With God this is a clearly established principle. Whether singing praises or magnifying Him, it must come from a heart truly in love with God, not from a heart merely going through the motions.
Ps. 51:16-17 says, For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Once again, the idea of a sacrifice of an ox or a bull, an overt act. But with all overt acts, there is the possibility of reducing the act to mere motions. Mere motions do not cut it with God!! It must come from a broken spirit and a contrite heart. The heart must be right before God.
So when I praise Him in worship, which should be every waking moment and with every breath that I have, I must have my heart engaged. It must be right before God. Why broken and contrite? Because my sin must be confessed before I can praise Him. I cannot allow my flesh to muddy the waters or to contaminate my heart. One of the first things that my heart wants to do is reduce my relationship with God to mere motions. So sad! I must be watchful always checking my heart. Is it right before God? Is it broken and contrite?
Father,
I confess my faulty confession. How prideful is that! Somehow being careless about this has such devastating consequences. Please, Lord, blot out those sins that I have allowed, that I have neglected to confess. Open my eyes and my heart so that I may see clearly what I should confess. Help me to praise You from a broken and contrite heart.
In Jesus name,
Amen
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