Under the New (Renewed) Covenant, Christ, in a first for a priest, finished his work and sat down (Heb 1:1-3). Because of Him, we who are followers of Christ are a priesthood of believers called through the blood of Jesus (1 Peter 2:5, 9; Rev 1:5-6) to continual prayer and blessing (1 Thess 5:17; Heb 13:15).
At the altar of incense, an essential part of the morning
and evening service was the censer of incense. The priest would carry a censer
of hot coals and throw the incense onto them, pouring forth smoke and fragrance
before the Presence of God. The smell of the incense filled the sanctuary like
the fragrance of the nard poured over Jesus’ feet by the sinful woman filled
the house at Bethany (John 12:3).
David wrote Psalm 141
as an evening prayer (Psalm
141:2). He calls on the Lord to hear him and come quickly to him (Heb 2:18). He
then asks the Lord to allow his prayer to rise before Him like incense and the
lifting of his hands like the evening sacrifice (Psalm 141:2; Luke 1:10). David
stretched forth his hands in believing and fervent prayer, like the standing of
a priest blessing the people. It is the only way of grasping mercy. The priest
lifted his hands above his head and pronounced Num 6:24-26.[1] The
Apostle John in his heavenly vision saw the golden vials of incense in heaven,
the prayers of the saints (Rev 5:8; 8:3-4).
How is incense like
prayer? First, incense was beaten and pounded
before it was used. Acceptable prayer, David says, comes from a broken and
contrite heart (Psalm 51:17). Second,
it was of no use until fire was put under it, fire taken from the altar. Nor is
prayer of any virtue or power which was not put through the fire and is not
kindled from the fire of the Holy Spirit from our Altar, Jesus Christ. Third, it naturally ascends toward
heaven. Prayer is designed to ascend to the throne of God (Psalm 5:3-4).
Just before the incense
was burned, a lamb
was devoted every morning and evening in the Temple. A lamb. Our prayers every
morning and every evening are a sacrifice of praise to the Lamb upon the
Throne. The altar of incense was just outside the Holy Place where the blood of
atonement would be sprinkled on the four corners. The coals, the blood, and the
incense were all a necessary picture of the intercessory work of the Lord Jesus
through His Blood to pay the debt of punishment for us.[2]
Without the incense to throw on the
coals from the altar, the priest was not allowed into the Holy Place. In the
same way, prayer opens the door to a personal relationship with the Lord.
Acceptable, prevailing prayer is a sweet-smelling savor to the Lord. Our
intercession is founded on the Atonement. His Atonement was done by His
Intercession for us.[3]
[1] When
Zechariah the priest came out to pronounce the blessing, he was speechless
(Luke 1:22).
[3] Charles
Spurgeon, The Treasury of David
(Peabody, MA: Hendrickson), 3:312-14.
No comments:
Post a Comment