In the Old Testament, sacrifice and worship were inseparable terms. Worship was sacrifice. Worship involved the stoking of fires and the shedding of blood as much as the sound of trumpets and the singing of songs. The worshipers of the Old Testament came to honor God, to be cleansed of their sin by blood and to offer sacrifices to a holy God. Their worship was prescribed, not by their personal taste or style of interest, but by the needs of their spiritual condition and by the righteous requirements of God’s character. Worship was a sacrifice. It wasn’t for the worshiper. It was for God.
It was a sacrifice to bring a lamb to the altar. It was a sacrifice to confess sin. It was a sacrifice to lay hands on the head of the lamb and transfer guilt. It was a sacrifice to keep the fire burning on the altar. Worship was not play. It was work. It was the work of righteousness, of maintaining a right relationship with God.
Is it possible that we focus too often on the musicality of worship and forget that in scripture the songs of worship were the by-product of a heart that had worshiped God aright: through offering the sacrifices that worship required?
- Mike Atkins