Worship has vital connections with work. There are nerve-relationships
between the heart and the hand. The condition of the sanctuary is
reflected in the state of the empire. If there is uncleanness in "the holy
place," there will be blight and degeneracy among the people. The fatal
seeds of national instability and decay are not found in economics; they
are found in the sanctuary. "Until I went into the sanctuary ... then
understood I!"
Hezekiah cleansed "the house of the Lord." He cast forth the filthiness
out of the holy place. He ushered in his golden age with the reformation
of worship. He recalled exiled and white-robed Piety to her appointed
throne. He began the re-establishment of right by recognizing the rights
of God. He gave the Lord His due! All our rights are born out of our
"being right" with God! We begin to be rich when we cease to rob God!
"_And when the burnt offering began, the song of the Lord began also._"
That is ever so. Our real songs begin with our sacrifices. We enter the
realm of music when we enter the realm of self-surrender. A willing
offering, on a clean altar, introduces the soul into "the joy of the
Lord."