It is deeply important that the christian reader should understand the true character of the worship God looks for, and in which He delights. God delights in Christ; and hence it should be our constant aim to present Him to God. Christ should ever be the material of our worship, and He will be, in proportion as we are led by the Holy Ghost. How often, alas! it is otherwise with us the heart can tell. Both in the assembly and in the closet, how often is the tone low, and the spirit dull and heavy! We are occupied with self instead of with Christ; and the Holy Ghost, instead of being free to do His own proper work—which is to take of the things of Christ and show them unto us—is obliged to occupy us with ourselves, in self-judgment, because our ways have not been right.
All this is to be deeply deplored. It demands our serious attention, both as assemblies and as individuals, in our public reunions and in our private devotions. Why is the tone of our public meetings frequently so low? Why such feebleness, such barrenness, such wandering? Why are the hymns and prayers so often wide of the true mark? Why is there so little that really deserves the name of worship? Why is there so little in our midst to refresh the heart of God?—so little that He can speak of as “ My bread for my sacrifices made by fire, for a sweet savor unto me?” We are occupied with self and its surroundings—our wants, our weakness, our trials, our difficulties; and we leave God without the bread of His sacrifice. We actually rob Him of His due, and of that which His loving heart desires.
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