The Offering of Praise
It’s pretty significant of a change in the priesthood from Old to New Testaments. No longer is the sacrifice the same, nor the people administering it. The new and forever priesthood supersedes everything and bestows on the church a new crown with scepter of their King held forth to sing. Olley writes in his ESV Expository commentary,
“Christians experience…change with the coming of Christ, “a high priest forever,” whose sacrificial death means “there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (Heb. 6:20; 10:26); yet there are still sacrifices to be offered: “praise to God, . . . to do good and to share what you have” (Heb. 13:15–16). Together with him we are to become a “holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices” (1 Pet. 2:5). No more is priestly ministry dependent on one’s genealogy; rather, it depends on the gifting of the Spirit on all Christians. Striking is Paul’s description of the “grace given [to] me by God . . . in the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable” (Rom. 15:15–16). Corporate worship through praise, acts of goodness and sharing of resources, and fruit of evangelism: all are now offered to God throughout the world. And in this mix of ministries, the Chronicler draws our attention to the important place of music offered to God in corporate worship.”
Music—an offering? Yes, the songs we sang and will sing now are as an offering to God. They were central in the levitical description in 1 Chronicles 6, with some new Davidic order that anticipating the days we live in now unto eternity, where song and praise are an offering.
And as Olley states above, it is more than praise, but not less. Praise, acts of goodness, sharing of resources, the fruit of evangelism (that’s a strange term isn’t it?) are all now offered to God throughout the world!
So, it stands out to me this morning, that when we sing unto God, and carry out the other things mentioned, it is truly an offering to God in this New City and Kingdom of God that is coming down out of heaven.
