“But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high! I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive. For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.” (Psalm 69:29-33, English Standard Version Bible)
There can be some awkwardness when we approach our God when we have no offerings to bring to the altar. We feel we should be thankful and worshipful. We know our Father has watched over us. We know His grace and favor have kept us. We know He has redeemed and saved us. We think and feel that should be approaching Him with a sense of joy for all He has done for us but instead, we stand with nothing to bring because at this moment because our hands are full holding the parcels of sadness and heaviness.
We have an overwhelming sense of heaviness with all our cares we are concerned with. We have so many burdens and are anxious about so many more. Our hearts struggle as the weight of all we are carrying is too much to bear.
In any moments of our deep struggles, Our Gracious Father in heaven does not need any ritualistic offerings nor is concerned with our feeble attempts to force words of gratitude from our broken hearts thanking Him for His love and favor … He is simply joyous in our need for Him and His love. Standing at the altar with no offerings, with nothing in our hands but our troubles, is a really truthful acknowledgment of our need for Him. We are closer to Him in those moments than at any other time in our life. Our Father’s love, comfort, and grace are after all why we come to the altar in the first place. Coming to Him when we have no words to say and no offering to bring, is coming to our Father needing Him to supply our deepest needs. Crying out to Him when we have nothing, is crying out to Him because we need Him. He meets us right there in all our affliction and pain through His Son and His Spirit to revive us with love and grace as He lifts us up by His loving arms to His caring presence.
Connecting with Christ Daily Reading … Psalm 69