Psalms 40:6-10 You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings. Now that You have made me listen, I finally understand. You don't require burnt offerings or sin offerings.
Then I said, "Look, I have come. As is written about me in the Scriptures: I take joy in doing Your will, my God, for Your instructions are written on my heart."
I have told all Your people about Your justice. I have not been afraid to speak out, as You, O LORD, well know. I have not kept the good news of Your justice hidden in my heart; I have talked about Your faithfulness and saving power. I have told everyone in the great assembly of Your unfailing love and faithfulness.
I just came back from a short term mission trip to the Amazon rain forest. One day during my morning devotions my Bible "accidentally" opened to this scripture in Psalm chapter forty.
There are several truths about the work that we were doing in the jungle that I found in this scripture.
God wants obedience with the right attitude.
God wants me to keep my attitude in check when I am working for him. God wants me to make sacrifices with the way that I use my money, my time and my talents but if I have the wrong motives or do it with a bad attitude then my efforts for him are worthless.
The improper attitude of the people in the observance of animal sacrifices in the Old Testament is a great example, they didn't always obey and when they did obey they didn't always have a heart of genuine repentance, they just went through the motions and made their sacrifices to him without changing their ways.
We should take joy in being obedient to God.
King David said that he was full of joy and he knew that he was being obedient because God's word was written on his heart. I have never seen delight in God displayed as much as King David did so many times in the Bible.
Too many people leave their Bibles sitting in the dust. How can we experience the joy of being obedient if we don't dig into God's Word and spend time with him?
God wants us to tell others.
If we understand how good God has been to us then how can we keep the good news to ourselves? King David didn't keep God's goodness to himself, he said that he told everybody about the goodness of God, he told them all about the love and faithfulness that they will never find anywhere else.
John 20:21 “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.”
When I read these scriptures on the mission trip I was surprised to see such a "New Testament" concept in the Old Testament. I was reminded of my responsibility that Jesus gave me of telling everyone about the love of God. God's love and faithfulness are too good to keep to ourselves!
It is too easy in the middle of our everyday lives to forget about our mission. A mission trip is a great way to regain your focus and determine to live out the great commission in our everyday life.
