Sacrifices that please God
Vicky Moots
What sacrifices please God? I would like to start out by giving an example of a sacrifice that did not please God. In Gen. 4 we find the story of Cain and Abel. Abel was a keeper of the sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. Verses 3-5 tell us this: “... Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock... And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect...” Why was God not pleased with Cain’s offering? Because it was not a blood sacrifice. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. In v. 7, God told Cain to offer an animal for a sin offering, but he was angry and refused to do it. Instead he killed his brother Abel. He was disobedient.
All of the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament pointed forward to Christ. We don’t need to offer animal sacrifices today because Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. He was the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world (John 1: 29). God was well pleased with and satisfied with the sacrifice of His Son.
So what sacrifices does God really desire? David wrote Psalm 51 as a Psalm of repentance from his great sin with Bathsheba. In vs. 16-17 he declares, “For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” David recognized that a burnt offering alone was not sufficient to pay for sin. He realized that what God really wanted was the repentant and broken heart of the one who brought the animal to be sacrificed. This should also be our heart attitude when we sin, even as Peter when he went out and wept bitterly after denying the Lord. A broken and contrite heart will weep before the Lord and ask for forgiveness and cleansing.
Another sacrifice with which God is well pleased is the sacrifice of praise, as Paul informs us in Hebrews. 13:15: “By him [Jesus] therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” It is easy to praise God in the good times, but what about in the bad times? If praise is called a “sacrifice,” then it implies that it is not an easy thing to do. Our lips do not always feel like praising the Lord. Sometimes we would rather complain about our circumstances than offer praise.
David, in Ps. 69: 30-31 compares singing God’s praises in times of trouble to sacrificing a ram: “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the LORD better than an ox or a bullock, that has horns and hooves. David didn’t say that praising God with a song would take the place of an animal sacrifice, but that the Lord was more pleased with a heart full of praise and thanksgiving than someone who was merely fulfilling an obligation of offering a sacrifice.
A good example of a sacrifice of praise is found in Acts 16:16-34 which records the account of Paul and Silas being thrown into prison for preaching and casting a demon out of a young woman. Verse 23 states “And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison...”
Paul and Silas were now bruised and bleeding and in a great deal of pain. There seemed to be no hope for them. But then we read in v. 25 that a strange thing happened: “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.” This was a true sacrifice of praise, a sacrifice that was well pleasing to God. God heard their praises, and He answered their prayers with a great earthquake which loosed everyone’s bands and opened all the doors of the prison (verse 26).
Jesus is also an example of one who sang God’s praises in His midnight hour, after finishing the Passover supper with His disciples. This is recorded in Matt. 26:30: “And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives.” He was on His way to Gethsemane to pray and to prepare to offer Himself as the final Passover lamb, and yet He offered a sacrifice of praise and song.
What about us? Is it possible for us to offer a sacrifice of praise in our midnight hour, in the midst of our darkest trial? Yes, it is, but not by our own power. The same Holy Spirit who empowered Paul and Silas to praise God at midnight will also empower us as we yield our bodies to Him.
