PODCAST
The Secret to Joyful Worship
July 26th, 2017
Ezra 6:13-22
It’s sobering to be the oldest person in your family’s generation. Home, as you knew it growing up, now belongs to someone else. The yard you played in, the room in which you slept, the place you bowed to give thanks before you ate your meals is no longer available.
That must be how the Jews felt when they returned from exile. They had been in captivity for seventy years (Jeremiah 29:10). Under God’s providence they had returned home to reestablish themselves and rebuild the Temple. As they rebuilt on a much smaller scale, the younger rejoiced, but those who were older recalled the former days and wept. They wept because of their disobedience and idolatry, which had cost them dearly. They had refused to listen to the messengers God sent. Sin is never without consequences; nevertheless God in His merciful grace restored them, allowing them to return and rebuild. He sent His prophets to preach God’s truth, and enabled them to prosper.
What does this show us? What is the secret to joy in worship? It is found in confession and repentance.
Author: Jerry Frye
