2 Samuel 24:24

( 1 Chronicles 21:24 , 1 Chronicles 21:25 ).—( MORIAH .)

Personal sacrifice.

"And I will not offer unto Jehovah my God of that which doth cost me nothing." The gift of Araunah would have enabled David to perform a religious service in a cheap and inexpensive manner. But,

1 . Enjoined by the express commands of God. "None shall appear before me empty" ( Exodus 34:20 ); "Every man as he is able," etc. ( Deuteronomy 16:16 ); "It shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein. Neither from a stranger's hand," etc. (Le 2 Samuel 22:21 , 2 Samuel 22:25 ). Men were required to offer what was valuable, not worthless; what was their own, not another's. Even the poorest were not exempt. Self-denial is also "the law of Christ".

2 . Incited by the supreme claims of God; arising from his greatness and goodness, his ownership of all things ( 1 Chronicles 29:14 ), his manifold mercies ( 2 Samuel 24:14 ), above all, the unspeakable Gift of his only Son ( Romans 8:32 ; Romans 12:1 ).

3 . Expressive of a right feeling toward God. Reverence, gratitude, love, self-consecration, holy zeal ( John 12:3 ). "Everything depends on the predominant principle and purpose. If a man's prime feeling be that of self, he will go the easiest and most economic way to work and worship; if a man's prime feeling be that of God, he will rebuke all thoughts of cheapness and facility. In the first ease, he will seek the largest possible results from the least possible expenditure; in the second, the expenditure will be itself the result. Now, it is the end and essence of all religion to turn the mind from self to God; to give it absorbing views of the Divine beauty and glory; to fill it with Divine love and zeal; to make it feel honoured in honouring God, blessed in blessing him; to make it feel that nothing is good enough or great enough for him; and when the mind is thus affected and thus possessed, it will understand and share the spirit of David's resolve" (A.J. Morris, 'The Unselfish Offering').

4 . Essential to the true service of God; for this depends not so much upon the form or amount of the offering as upon its relation to the offerer; its being.the genuine expression of the heart (as it professes to be); without which the service is formal, unreal, and insincere. That which costs nothing is worth nothing ( Malachi 1:8 ; Isaiah 1:11 ; Psalms 51:16 , Psalms 51:17 ).

5 . Necessary to the assured acceptance of God. It alone is attended with the sign and sense of his approval ( 1 Chronicles 21:26 ).

6 . Conducive to the proper honour of God amongst men; in whom it begets a spirit like its own.

7 . Embodied in highest perfection in Christ; "who gave himself up for us, an Offering and a Sacrifice to God," etc. ( Ephesians 5:2 ). "A Spanish proverb says, 'Let that which is lost be for God.' The father of a family, making his will and disposing of his goods upon his death bed, ordained concerning a certain cow which had strayed, and had been now for a long time missing, if it were found it should be for his children, if otherwise for God. Whenever men world give to God only the lame and blind, that which costs them nothing, that from which they hope no good, no profit, no pleasure to themselves, what are they saying in their hearts but that which this man said openly, 'Let that which is lost be for God'?" (Trench, 'Proverbs').—D.