Stop your singing

“I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savour your sacred assemblies. Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. Take away from Me the noise of your songs, For I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments. But let justice run down like water, And righteousness like a mighty stream.- Amos 5v21-24

What do we do to try and please God? I think we could all come up with some answers if we were truthful. We go to church on Sunday. We meet together with other believers. We give our tithes and offerings. We sing great songs accompanied by pianos and organs and guitars and all kinds of instruments. We do all that and we leave church thinking we have done our bit and made God happy.

Israel thought the same thing. They held their feast days. They came together for worship and offered their sacrifices and offerings. They sang their songs and played their instruments. They too thought they were making God happy.

But what did God say? He said ‘I hate, I despise your feast days. I don’t get any pleasure from your assemblies. Stop the songs. Stop playing your instruments.’

One gets the distinct impression that God doesn’t care too much for false religion. It reminds me of where He tells the lukewarm church in Revelation that their half-hearted religion makes Him sick.

Let’s be sure that our worship truly elevates and glorifies Him. Let’s be sure that it is for Him and not for us.