e161 The Better I Know My King, the Deeper My Praise (Part 2)

This is Faith to Witness 99, motivating us to hear God and share the Shepherd.  

Season 3 Episode 161 The Better I Know My King, the Deeper My Praise (Part 2)  

Here’s the gist, human. Consider a word that cuts to the bone for so many humans. Sacrifice. And this. God first sacrifices a Son (John 3:16) to give us a King. Jesus sacrifices his life to give humanity eternal life. Humanity, every human can sacrifice a life of earthly gain, the human gain of things, to live in the redeeming praise of His victory. It takes the fruit of our lips. That’s how praise works. It’s the stuff meant for kings. It’s the spiritual business of having a Savior who is Lord of your life. The eternal King.

And the better we know Him, the deeper the praise. The louder. The longest. The only.

E161. Thanks for listening.

I follow the King of kings. When I proclaim that I have a King, it cuts through the membrane of the heart in so many people. It starts with a word that cuts to the bone for so many humans. Sacrifice. Sacrifice connects the God of David to the High Priest of ultimate sacrifice. Sacrifice is the truth of the God in Hebrews that elevates Jesus to his reign and redeems us for a life filled with praise. Such an epic story arc: beautiful, sacrificial, an emptying of our Savior at the altar. A life-praising of our King.

I’m Kathryn Bise, your host.

Hebrews 13:15 started this whole process.

15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.

 

Hebrews is a place to come to connect to the power, sanctity and holiness of living a life in Christ. This book is meditative in how it speaks to my spirit, how it defines the personal nature of my redemption. Yet it keeps the theological concepts in tact, and speaks to the chosen nation. God’s dialogue with the chosen nation is integral to my spiritual growth. I am not a Jew, but God has created in me the seed of his story with his people. I listen for his voice to them, and to me. Hebrews inspires me to live more fully in his story.

This is also a pensive space for thinking through Jesus as our High Priest. I am reading a lot from God’s word today. Keep this in mind: His Word is filled with the Holy Spirit to guide your life.

God Sacrifices a Son to Give Us a King

Let’s be clear about something. God made the first John 3:16 sacrifice, right? It is a powerful way to enter into the beginning of Hebrews.

Hebrews 1

God’s Final Word: His Son

1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.

The Son Superior to Angels

5 For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son; today I have become your Father”?

Or again,

“I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”?

6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,    

today I have become your Father”?

Or again,

“I will be his Father, and he will be my Son”?

6 And again, when God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”

7 In speaking of the angels he says,

“He makes his angels spirits, and his servants flames of fire.”

8 But about the Son he says,

“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a scepter of justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.

9 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.”

10 He also says,

“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

11 They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment.

12 You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.”

13 To which of the angels did God ever say,

“Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”?

14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?

 

All of that in chapter one.

One Divine Sacrifice for Every Human, Once for All

And let’s be clear about this: God sacrificed his Son. His Son sacrificed his life for every human. Divine blood laid on the altar of the cross.

Hebrews 10:1-18

Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All

10 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,

    but a body you prepared for me;

6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings

    you were not pleased.

7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—

    I have come to do your will, my God.’”

8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

16 “This is the covenant I will make with them

    after that time, says the Lord.

I will put my laws in their hearts,

    and I will write them on their minds.”

17 Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts

    I will remember no more.”

18 And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

 

The author of Hebrews (Hebrews 10:5-7 that we just read) connects David’s words to Jesus by presenting them as a fulfillment of God’s will through Jesus’s death and resurrection. The reference is this:

Psalm 40: 6-8

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

6 Sacrifice and offering you did not desire—

    but my ears you have opened—

    burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require.

7 Then I said, “Here I am, I have come—

    it is written about me in the scroll.

8 I desire to do your will, my God;

    your law is within my heart.”

 

So God sacrificed his Son, his Son sacrificed his earthly life to embody every act of sacrificial offerings. I cannot imagine how hard it was to grasp this in 33AD, having carried thousands of years of offerings to the altar. That Jesus took the law of his Heavenly Father with him on the cross and buried it deep in his heart.

Our Sacrifice of Praise

The Israeli nation approached the altar daily with sacrifices. And on special days. A constant act of bringing sacrifices for sin after sin after sin.

Now, we are called to continually offer a “sacrifice of praise.” It requires my intent. My practice. Not praise to cover sin, but praise to live with a redeemed heart that can draw closer to God. Closer and closer.

And it brings to mind Paul’s words in Romans 12:1,

12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

 

That one of the ways we offer our bodies as a living daily sacrifice is through the fruit of our lips – our praise of the King we worship. The better we know him, the deeper the praise.

Let God teach me about a life filled with offering sacrifices of praise through our High Priest, who made the blood atonement for us. We have a generous God, who shares his attributes through his Son so we might share his attributes through his Son’s sacrifice.

Let’s take Psalm 19 with us today. And a personal shout out to an honest friend, a beautiful sister in Christ who closes her every prayer with the final verse (14). Consider her practice for your life.

Let praise be our meditation. Let our praise bring light to a passageway into someone’s life. Our witness stands on the sacrificial truth of our High Priest, our King. In his words, “If we seek truth, we will listen to him.”

And thank you King David for this praise song.

Psalm 19

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;

    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

2 Day after day they pour forth speech;

    night after night they reveal knowledge.

3 They have no speech, they use no words;

    no sound is heard from them.

4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

    their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

5     It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

    like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

6 It rises at one end of the heavens

    and makes its circuit to the other;

    nothing is deprived of its warmth.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect,

    refreshing the soul.

The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,

    making wise the simple.

8 The precepts of the Lord are right,

    giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant,

    giving light to the eyes.

9 The fear of the Lord is pure,

    enduring forever.

The decrees of the Lord are firm,

    and all of them are righteous.

10 They are more precious than gold,

    than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey,

    than honey from the honeycomb.

11 By them your servant is warned;

    in keeping them there is great reward.

12 But who can discern their own errors?

    Forgive my hidden faults.

13 Keep your servant also from willful sins;

    may they not rule over me.

Then I will be blameless,

    innocent of great transgression.

14 May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart

    be pleasing in your sight,

    Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.