The Lost Song

The message was brought by Rev. Donnie White.

II Chronicles 29: ²⁷And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel.

I like good singing.  It lifts us.  Where would we be without music?  I believe it’s a gift from God.  We may only make a noise but that’s all right.  The Bible tells us to make a joyful noise.  Here we find the nation of Israel has lost its song.

Hezekiah was twenty five years old when he began to reign over Israel.  Not all the kings did what was right.  Many thought they knew better than God and did their own thing.  Israel suffered because of it.  Hezekiah determined to do what was right.

³ He in the first year of his reign, in the first month, opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. ⁴ And he brought in the priests and the Levites, and gathered them together into the east street, ⁵ And said unto them, Hear me, ye Levites, sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify the house of the Lord God of your fathers, and carry forth the filthiness out of the holy place.

Prior to this Israel had forsaken the house of God and the temple fell into disrepair and filth.  If we’re going to have revival, God will have to do a cleaning of the people and the church.  Lots of things go on now days that shouldn’t.  It’s important to have a building that is well maintained.  It’s a testimony to the community.  Taking care of the house of God is part of being a child of God.  The church is not the building; it is the people.  These people had gotten in a bad way.

⁶ For our fathers have trespassed, and done that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs. ⁷ Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel.

They had given up on the temple.  Today people have given up on coming to church. It’s a discouraging time but God still has it under control.

⁸ Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing, as ye see with your eyes.

There’s a lot going on in our nation.  Christians are in the minority.  We can’t really call ours a Christian nation anymore.  There is no respect for the Word.  When we say “the Bible says so” as the reason for something, people say “so what.”  It means nothing to them.  They’ve not been raised in church and don’t know.  We have to remember that the Bible didn’t start the Christian movement.  An event started it.  The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ spurned a group of believers and the church was born. It is time to cleanse the house of God and get our eyes on him—get back to the event.

⁹ For, lo, our fathers have fallen by the sword, and our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.

They had literally been in captivity.  Today people are captive to sin.  The fathers didn’t do what they should in teaching their children.  And now we see kids who don’t know because they haven’t been taught.

¹⁰ Now it is in mine heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.

It’s time to get down to business with God.  We can’t expect the world to live right if we’re not willing to be what we should be.

¹¹ My sons, be not now negligent: for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him, and burn incense.

All priests were Levites but not all Levites were priests.  The Lord has chosen you to live upright before him.  Don’t put it off.

¹⁵ And they gathered their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and came, according to the commandment of the king, by the words of the Lord, to cleanse the house of the Lord. ¹⁶ And the priests went into the inner part of the house of the Lord, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found in the temple of the Lord into the court of the house of the Lord. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.

They had an old fashioned spring cleaning.  They scooped up the filth and took it away.  It’s easy to get caught up in uncleanness of the world.  There is no embarrassment over anything; people will do anything, dress anyway and we can’t help but see it.  We must stay focused on Christ.

¹⁷ Now they began on the first day of the first month to sanctify, and on the eighth day of the month came they to the porch of the Lord: so they sanctified the house of the Lord in eight days; and in the sixteenth day of the first month they made an end. ¹⁸ Then they went in to Hezekiah the king, and said, We have cleansed all the house of the Lord, and the altar of burnt offering, with all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread table, with all the vessels thereof. ¹⁹ Moreover all the vessels, which king Ahaz in his reign did cast away in his transgression, have we prepared and sanctified, and, behold, they are before the altar of the Lord.

Not only was a cleansing done; a restoration was made of the things of God.  The devil has stolen some things from us.  A church is only as strong as its families.  It is the family’s responsibility to teach the things of God to the children.  The church’s responsibility is to encourage families and support them.  Too many expect it all to be done at church and provide nothing at home.  People used to be devoted to church.  Now they shop for a church like they do groceries.  The church isn’t here to entertain.  We’re here for worship. There is a need for people cleansing and cleansing of the house and the things of God.  We need to be honest with ourselves.  Get everything in order.

²⁰ Then Hezekiah the king rose early, and gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the house of the Lord.

Hezekiah called the Levites first.  Now he’s calling the rulers.  Wouldn’t it be great if our rulers would gather and go to the house of the Lord!

²¹ And they brought seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he goats, for a sin offering for the kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah. And he commanded the priests the sons of Aaron to offer them on the altar of the Lord. ²² So they killed the bullocks, and the priests received the blood, and sprinkled it on the altar: likewise, when they had killed the rams, they sprinkled the blood upon the altar: they killed also the lambs, and they sprinkled the blood upon the altar.

Here’s the blood!  The altar is a messy place.  At that time all the sacrifices were made there.  Today we meet God there with our sins.  The sacrifice has been made.  It’s still a messy place.  When the blood is applied it makes the difference. There has to be a sacrifice for the cause of Christ.  Why did they do a sacrifice?  Because of their sin.  The blood of animals only postponed sin.  When the perfect Lamb was sacrificed, it was once and for all.  When people mean business they’ll do it regardless of the cost.  The trouble today is that people don’t see that they are lost.

²⁴ And the priests killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar, to make an atonement for all Israel: for the king commanded that the burnt offering and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.

The king commanded it to be done.  There has to be cooperation with the leader.  That means we have to cooperate with the pastor.  He’s God’s man.  There are things that are not necessarily sin but can be stumbling blocks.  If he tries to instruct you in something, don’t get mad.

²⁷ And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also with the trumpets, and with the instruments ordained by David king of Israel. ²⁸ And all the congregation worshipped, and the singers sang, and the trumpeters sounded: and all this continued until the burnt offering was finished. ³⁰ Moreover Hezekiah the king and the princes commanded the Levites to sing praise unto the Lord with the words of David, and of Asaph the seer. And they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped.

The house was restored and cleansed.  The offering was made and the song was sung. We can sing the song of praise because of the sacrifice Jesus made.  There is a difference in praise and worship.  Many are comfortable with praise but then don’t know how to worship.

It’s time to get our lives in order and get the house of God in order.  Then go out and witness.  Praise him.  Worship him.  Rejoice because your name is written in heaven.  God cannot bless over sin.  I don’t want to be a hindrance.  The people brought so many animals for their offerings that the priests couldn’t take care of all it.  Other Levites stepped up to help.  Then Hezekiah and the people rejoice.