Let them praise the Lord for His great love
and for the wonderful things He has done for them.
Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and sing joyfully about His glorious acts.
Psalms 107:21-22* ~ ♥ ~ ✞ ~ ♥ ~ *
A sacrifice can be defined as ‘something valuable given to God.’ An offering can be defined as a ‘gift or anything presented to God.’ According to the Lexham Bible Dictionary , all sacrifices are offerings but not all offerings are sacrifices. In the Old Testament there were two primary reasons for sacrifices and offerings. One reason was for atonement/restoration and the other reason was for worship and thanksgiving. Sacrifices and offerings were needed to approach God.
Jesus became our permanent sacrifice, our eternal sin offering. But that does not mean we no longer need to bring offerings before the Lord. We can still bring a sacrifice of praise, a peace offering before God. Psalm 96:8 (NLT) encourages us to do so.
Give to the Lord the glory due His name;
bring an offering and come [before Him] into His courts.
The idea behind a peace offering was communion with God; sitting down to a meal with God and drawing close to Him. Through praise we can come into communion with God. Our praise celebrates His mercies, His goodness, His provisions and our redemption. In the Old Testament sacrifices served to restore relationship with God and to please Him. Praise gives us the opportunity to do the same. We can bring a ‘thank you’ offering to the altar and a grateful heart to God. Sharing what God has done encourages others and keeps our victories fresh in our minds.
As Charles Spurgeon states:
“Such things are worth telling, for the personal declaration honours God, relieves ourselves, comforts others, and puts all men in possession of facts concerning the divine goodness which they will not be able to ignore.”
Psalm 73:28 (NLT) reminds us that when we draw close to God we can’t help but sing His praises!
But as for me, how good it is to be near God!
I have made the Sovereign Lord my Shelter,
and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things You do.
And, don’t you know, that pleases God.
* ~ ♥ ~ ✞ ~ ♥ ~ *
Heavenly Father, You are deserving of our praise. May our hearts and our lips joyfully ring out in worship of You. We come to You with a grateful heart, thankful for all You have done for us. We know that if we don’t praise you, even the rocks will cry out Your name. Our desire is to please You and we know our praise is pleasing to You. Let an attitude of gratitude inhabit all that we do. In Your name we pray, Amen – so be it!
Cynda, thank you for the reminder that our “thank you” offerings please God, they remind us of His grace to us, and when we share them with others it encourages them. Amen, to your prayer!
Thanks Clella 🙂
I never really thought about the difference between gift and sacrifice. I am reminded of the verse in Rev 3:20 where He says he will come in and “sup” with us, and us with Him…whoever answers the door when He knocks. What a gift He gives us…His time!
Isn’t it amazing that by simply praising God we can come into communion with Him? Christ made it that easy for us
Beautiful post, Cynda! May we ever praise and thank Him!
Thank you! Sometimes I just need to be reminded that I have much to praise Him for