Hebrews 13:15 is our final stop on our “let us” tour through Hebrews, “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God…” Webster says sacrifice is “a giving up, destroying, Etc. of one thing for the sake of another of higher value.” A true sacrifice is costly; in 2 Samuel 24:24 we have the example of David when he is about to make offerings to the Lord for his sin of numbering Israel against God’s word, when Araunah offered to give him not only the sight but also the implements David refused, saying “No, but I will surely buy it from you for a price; nor will I offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God with that which costs me nothing.” A sacrifice may take on different forms at different times or for different people; it may be giving up a pleasurable activity choosing rather to assemble with the congregation to worship; it may be giving up a personal want in order to help someone else in the name of the Lord Jesus, Etc. To God it is the denying of ourselves for the sake of His glory and kingdom. Here it is specifically pointed to “the fruit of our lips”. The Psalmists prayer in 19:14 is “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart (the source of our words, see Luke 6:45) be acceptable (or delightful) in Your sight, O Lord…” Instead of using our lips to exalt ourselves, our achievements, our accomplishments, our possessions, we use them to offer praise and to glorify Him; instead of using our tongue to criticize, complain, and exploit the faults of others we will use it to speak of His goodness; instead of using our mouth to magnify difficulties we should use it to give Him thanks (see Philippians 4:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:18). Yes in a sacrifice of praise we deliberately choose to bring forth words of praise to God even when our flesh pulls the other way! Let us live by offering “the sacrifice of praise to God…giving thanks to His name.”
Pleasing, praising words
By Rose Hill
Let us not use our mouth to complain,
But instead use it to magnify Your name.
Our words must be pleasing in Your sight,
A sacrifice of praise is always right.
Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version copyright …1982 by Thomas Nelson Co. used by permission.