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Topic: Happy (07/12/07)
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TITLE: Zechariah's Heart | Previous Challenge Entry
By Eva Piscitell
07/18/07 -
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2 Chronicles 29:30
Zechariah couldn't have been happier. King Hezekiah, in his first month as ruler of Judah, had opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them.
The king had assembled the priests and the Levites, Zechariah among them, and ordered them to consecrate themselves and the Lord's temple. He shared what Zechariah had already known in his heart—that the unfaithfulness of their fathers who did evil in the eyes of the Lord their God had caused the Lord's anger to burn against Judah and Jerusalem. They had forsaken and turned their faces away from the Lord's dwelling place and shut their hearts to Him. They had neglected the burning of incense and presented no burnt offerings in His sanctuary.
A glow of hope began to stir in Zechariah's heart. Hezekiah continued, "We need to make a covenant with the Lord and restore the house of the Lord." Zechariah's heart pounded within him at the king's closing remark. "My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense." Zechariah did not hesitate, but consecrated himself and set to work alongside his fellow Levites on the purification of the temple following the king's command. Work began that day and the temple was consecrated by the sixteenth day.
Zechariah's heart nearly burst with happiness when the Levites were able to report to the king that the temple was consecrated and ready for burnt offerings! The sounds of praise and worship to the God of Israel would fill the temple again!
The king assembled them in the temple. They stood ready—with cymbals, stringed instruments, harps, and lyres, just as Zechariah's ancestor Asaph had stood before the ark of the covenant centuries before. The priests stood nearby with trumpets.
The offering began and the Levites began to sing, "Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre." They continued as one voice the song his ancestor had written so many years before for the director of music. As they came to the words, "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt. Open wide your mouth and I will fill it," Zechariah opened his mouth in a prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord who had filled his mouth with praise: "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His mercy endures forever!"
The whole assembly bowed in worship while they sang and the trumpeters played and the instruments accompanied them. It was like nothing Zechariah had seen or heard before. All of Judah worshiping the God of Israel! His soul had yearned for this day of public worship; his heart had cried out for this moment.
They continued until the sacrifice of the seven bulls, seven rams, seven male lambs, and seven male goats was complete. Then the king and everyone present with him knelt down and worshiped, as the choir sang praises with gladness and bowed their heads and worshiped.
That day remained with Zechariah forever. As a Levite, he had been chosen and set apart by the Lord for service. He found his only true happiness in worshiping the God of Israel. He continued to sing the songs of Asaph and David all the days of his life, testifying, "Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God."
He never grew tired of the shouts, the sounding of rams horns and trumpets and of cymbals and the playing of lyres and harps. They were music to his ears, gladness to his heart.
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