WORSHIP IS COSTLY

Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard,

an expensive perfume;

she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped His feet with her hair.

And the house was filled with the fragrance of perfume.

John 12:3

King David was not a perfect man - in fact he was an adulterer and a murderer, among others. Yet God called him a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22), because David was man who loved God, who discovered many of God's divine principles and obeyed them. This is seen in 2 Samuel 11 where Nathan the prophet confronted David with his sin of adultery with Barsheba. David's immediate response was, "I have sinned against the Lord." (2 Samuel 12:13). God never smiled on or condoned David's sin but He forgave David because David repented. This principle for forgiveness was shown by David himself when he found king Saul sleeping at the entrance of the cave who was seeking to kill him. David merely cut off the skirt of Saul's garment because he saw that it was not for him take vengence but to forgive just as God forgives.

David discovered God's principle of pouring out in 2 Samuel 23:13-17. Here, in response to an uttered wish by King David for water from the well of Bethlehem, three of his mighty warriors broke through the army of the Philistine that surrounded them and obtained that water for him. Yet, instead of drinking it, David poured it out before the Lord, saying , "Is this the blood of men that went in jeopardy of their lives?" He had a legal right to drink that water, but he realized that there was a higher principle involved then just merely drinking it and satisfying himself and his desire, and so he poured it out on the ground before the Lord as an offering.
A similar episode is found in John 12:3, where a young woman poured out an alabater box of precious perfume upon Jesus. It was a posture and an act of a glorious worship seen in the Bible (PROKUNEO - To Kiss, To Kneel Down In Reverence And Adoration). WORSHIP IS VERY COSTLY! - The alabaster box of purest perfume represents part of her entire future. Yet when she poured it upon the Lord, the smell filled the whole house.

What is our motive for going to the house of the Lord? Do we complain, "The Lord did not touch me tonight." Do we go to ask for blessing or to pour out our worship to the King of heaven? There is a difference between going there for Him to please our hearts and going there for us to please His heart. We touch a higher dimension in God when we learn to give up the deepest desires of our hearts and pour them out before the Lord. It does not mean we do not care any more about these desires; in fact we will care more about them than we have ever cared in our lives. But when we touch this principle of pouring out in worship, it will not really matter as long as He receives the glory, and God will accept our offering, turning the barren earth in our hearts into new life.

Abraham knew the meaning of pouring out in worship. When God told him to sacrifice Isaac to Him, Abraham did not bargain but obeyed. He knew God so well that in Genesis 22:5 he could say, " ... I and the lad will go yonder and WORSHIP and come again to you." As a result of his obedience, Abraham met the God of resurrection (Hebrew 11:17-19), and God promised him He would bless him and multiply his seed. Only that which is offered in death will spring forth in resurrection life.

Blessings - TPWC