“Take away from me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
These two verses summarize why many people who want to know God, just don’t find Him at church. Because God isn’t there.
I can’t just sing a few religious songs and expect God to show up all grateful and excited that I took time out of my busy schedule to worship Him.
Rituals mean nothing to God —even rituals He originally instituted, like communion and church worship — when my life is full of hypocrisy. In fact, those rituals are worse than nothing. What should be a beautiful enticing aroma to Him becomes a stench. Music, like in today’s verse, becomes nothing but noise.
This makes me think of a car bearing a Jesus bumper sticker speeding angrily down the road giving me the finger as they pass by.
If I ignore, neglect, or mistreat people instead of actively loving them in practical ways, I may as well be flipping God off. And slapping a Jesus bumper sticker on my life won’t solve it.
If I sing about God’s forgiveness, yet fail to forgive others, God plugs His ears and turns away.
If I gossip about my neighbors all week and then smile at them in church, God will leave the building in disgust.
If I donate money to pad the church pews and get a new sound system while the homeless shelter runs out of beds and the line at the free clinic is out the door and the food bank shelves are bare, God isn’t going to be in attendance at that church. He’ll be busy at the homeless shelter and free clinic and food bank.
Dear God,
Thank you for the reminder that that best way to worship you is by loving people. Forgive me for mistaking empty rituals for worship and vacant gestures as obedience. I don’t want you to hold your nose or plug your ears when I send you my offerings of worship. Teach me how I can delight you with my life and my worship.
CamDevo 