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2 Samuel 24:20-21 – God Has Done So Much

Whether we’re willing to pay the cost shows what we really think of God. That’s God’s own argument in Malachi chapter 1. He says: ‘Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favour?’ In other words, try and be so half-hearted as you serve your king – or as your serve your employer – and see what they think of it! What would an employer think of an employee that just turned up when it suited them? And when they did come, didn’t engage with what they were meant to be there for? An employer wouldn’t stand for it. And yet people have the idea that God should just be grateful to get anything from them.

David here is determined not to offer God worship that costs him nothing – not simply because of God’s greatness – but because of his goodness. God had done so much for him. And God has done so much for us. David knew God as his Shepherd. He tells us that in Psalm 23. With the New Testament in our hands, we can see more clearly than David could that the Good Shepherd would one day come and lay down his life for the sheep. The book of Malachi, which we’ve referred to a number of times, starts with the LORD saying: ‘I have loved you’. That’s the fundamental reason why their half-hearted worship was so bad. Yes it dishonoured him, which is a serious thing. But it also threw that love back in his face. The LORD said: ‘I have loved you’. But they replied: ‘How have you loved us?’ What an awful question to ask! And God tells them that he had loved them by choosing them out of all the nations. And if we were to ask the question today ‘How have you loved us?’ The ultimate answer is the cross. And so in light not only of the greatness but also the goodness of the LORD, are we really going to offer him worship which costs us very little? It would be better not to worship than to offer worship which costs us nothing.

Question

  1. What does our worship show about how we view God?

Prayer Points

  1. Give thanks for all that Christ has done for you.
  2. Use prayer points from your congregation.
  3. Pray for family matters.