God looks at our hearts, not our deeds. He desires sincere thanks, trust and praise from us. He doesnt want us to be superficially religious people.. (vs 1-15) People used to offer sacrifices to God for forgiveness of sins or thanksgiving. But God doesnt need these sacrifices, He created them. What He desires are heart of obedience and faith in His unfailing love and mercy as the people offered sacrifices.
In today's context, our sacrifices are in the form of tithes, attendance in church and serving and giving to Him. I'm not saying that these things are not important, they are. But God wants us not to go through them like habits or just going through the motion. God wants us to do them with a heart of obedience. Like in verse 14, God desires true thanksgiving and faithfulness from us.
God will also judge the wisked and hard hearted people for their evil or immoral lives. (vs 16-22) In psalm 1, we learnt that wicked are not only those who do wrong, but includes those who know the right things and not doing them. It is also a sin when we only want God's blessings but not want to obey Him. Maybe there are some areas in our lives we refuse to let God take charge. Maybe we want good lives, but in our own ways and ask God to bless us.
God may seems to be silent, and we may seem to get away with our sins, or living our lives the way we want. But God does not condone our sins. He is withholding punishment, giving us time to repent. (2 Pet 3:9, Eze 33:11)
God is love, that He sent Jesus to die for our sins. God is love, that He disciplines us. God is love that He doesnt want us to perish, thus He is patient and forgiving. He is waiting for us to repent, to come to Him. Let's not take Him for granted, lest we regret when He really comes.
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