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"I JUST CAN'T WORSHIP WITH
THOSE PEOPLE!"
(By: Emerson Blythe)
How
many times have you heard someone say, "I just can't worship
with those people because they don't do something right!" STOP
AND READ SECOND CHRONICLES, CHAPTERS 29 AND 30, NOW. These
people had gotten out of the habit of worship, and their house of
worship had become dilapidated. Their children had departed from
God, and they were having familial and national problems. Under the
leadership of their King Hezekiah, the house of worship was restored,
and a great worship assembly was called. There
were many things about this great worship service that were not being
done right, but they did the best they could. Among these were: The
yearly feast was to be observed in the FIRST month, but they
couldn't get things ready in time, so it was in the SECOND month. There
was more to do than the prescribed "clergy" could handle, so they let
laymen handle some of the holy ordinances. Many
people ate of the sacrificed animals without proper sanctification. The
meeting got to going so good that the people lingered another week
past what had been prescribed. Some
people pooh-poohed it and wouldn't come. The
king, realizing that some things were out of order "prayed for
them, saying, 'May the good Lord pardon everyone who sets his heart
to seek God, the Lord, the God of his fathers, even though not
according to the sanctuary's rules of cleanness.' And the Lord
heard Hezekiah and healed the people." (2 Chron 30:18-20, ESV) "So
there was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the time of Solomon the
son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in
Jerusalem. Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the
people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to His holy
habitation in heaven." So,
those who said, "I just can't have any part in that hap-hazard
worship" are the ones who missed out. The ones who sought were
the ones who found. They did what they could, and got a blessing!
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