No Sweetness

by I. Lithgow, Innerleithen, Scotland | Category: General | Jun 1985

Some fruits look delicious but cause disappointment when eaten, as they can turn out to be dry and totally lacking in sweetness.

Israel's God looked forward to enjoying the worship that would arise from the hearts of those He had personally set free from slavery and brought into a close relationship with Himself. What joy was His when the fire was first set alight on the copper altar in the wilderness! The people also rejoiced in the privilege of participating in the service of God. The fragrance that ascended from the various offerings in those early days however, lost its savour to God in succeeding generations.

God looked for much, but was greatly disappointed by the attitude of the nation to His will and by their dealings with one another. They were often referred to as the fig tree, but the fruit they yielded throughout the centuries proved to be unpleasant, until finally, God caused them to be carried away into captivity. Before this captivity took place the prophet Isaiah conveyed to the men of his day a cry from the heart of God, "Thou hast bought me no sweet

cane with. money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices" (Isa. 43:24). These two ingredients, the fat and the sweet cane, seem to be linked together in the context of worship (vv. 21,23).

The fat of all the offerings was without exception God's portion (Lev. 3:16, 7:23). It spoke of an aspect of the person of the coming Son that only God could fully appreciate. The sweet cane or calamus was one of the substances found in the holy anointing oil of Exodus 30:23, but God was missing this ingredient in the service of His people, and because of its absence their worship lacked sweetness.

The challenge comes to our hearts today - are we lacking in our service to God? Do the sacrifices that we offer in our capacity as a holy priesthood contain the sweetness which God through the Spirit can delight in (Ps. 22:3)?

The verse in Isaiah reads, "Thou hast bought me no sweet cane". What was the problem? In a word, cost. They were unwilling to part with something, and that resulted in God being robbed of His portion.

We also must pay the price to make our worship acceptable to God. It will cost us time to sit with the Word, meditating.,. upon it and allowing the Holy Spirit to warm our hearts with precious thoughts of the person and work of Christ. There are many things that consume our time, some legitimate, others not so legitimate. One of the greatest dangers lies in what has been referred to as the "plug-in drug" namely, television, with its extension, the video, which if uncontrolled, can seriously affect the believer's appetite for the Word.

If many responsible bodies in our day are concerned about the affects of so much viewing, should not those who own Christ as Lord see to it that the influence of television does not dominate the free time in home life?

There are also things that might be allowed to creep into our personal relationships which would hinder our worship. One cannot give acceptable worship to God from a heart that is not at peace with one's neighbour. Paul, writing to the Ephesians, gave the following exhortation: "Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and railing, be put away from you, with all malice: and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, even as God also in Christ forgave you" (Eph. 4:31,32).

Such an attitude of mind should characterize us in our dealings with one another. Disruption of relationships is a breeding ground for bitterness which can completely dry up the exercise of free worship (Heb. 12:15), and rob it of its sweetness.

As the people of God we have a unique privilege and responsibility that as a holy priesthood we might offer worship, from grateful and pure hearts that respond to the full provision we have in our Lord Jesus Christ.

I. Lithgow, Innerleithen, Scotland | Jun 1985
General