Text: Malachi 1:6-8
Memory text:
““A son honors his father, And a servant his master. If then I am the Father, Where is My honor? And if I am a Master, Where is My reverence? Says the Lord of hosts To you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’”
Malachi 1:6 NKJV
Cardiologists believe that when your heart condition is not good, then your general health will be affected. That was the problem of Michal. She had an evil heart. The scripture says, “Now as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal …saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.” (II Sam 6:16). …and she despised him in her heart.
The word, ‘despise’ is the Hebrew word from a root, which means to accord little worth to something. It is to disdain or to hold contempt, in the sense of treating someone or something as totally insignificant or worthless. It is the imagery of a head loftily raised and disdainfully or to look down one’s nose at something! When one despises someone or something, he undervalues the person or the thing. It implies contempt for that thing or person, like the priests who despised God’s altar or table instead of honouring it and revering the God who is worshipped there, according to our memory text.
David highly valued the presence of Yahweh, as represented by the ark, that he forgot about his crown and position, leaping and dancing in excitement, as the ark was being taken back to Jerusalem after 40 years outside.
In contrast, Michal counted as nothing of value to warrant such joy and excitement, which David demonstrated. She disdained what God esteemed and treated it as worthless, insignificant, and totally unnecessary. She had no respect for God’s presence and loftily undervalued it. It was a mark of great dishonour to Yahweh, which God personally regarded as insulting and thus the judgment on her (2 Sam 6:23).
Do you treat His presence as nothing? How do you treat God’s presence? What goes on in your heart when someone rolls on the floor in the presence of God? I get so disturbed when people walk out of God’s presence or when people get unconcerned and pull their chairs to sit down when an altar call for salvation is being made. Do you know how God and His angels treasure the moment of salvation and how He feels when people disdain it or walk out of it?
Friends, always pray, like David, that God will search and examine your heart (Psa 139:23-24). Despising in your heart what God esteems can attract His judgment.
Prayer points
1. Father, please, deliver me from the temptation of despising what You esteem and esteeming what You despise, in Jesus’ name.
2. Father, purge my heart from every evil capable of causing me to misbehave and to attract Your judgment in Jesus’ name.
Today’s declarations
1. I will esteem what God esteems and despise what God despises.
2. I will always ask God to search my heart, examine it, and purge me lest an evil heart bring me into divine judgment.
Contact: pastor@thf.org.ng