Ps 40:6: Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced…. [NIV]
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire …” David speaks prophetic words about the Messiah in verses 6-10 of Psalm 40. By Divine inspiration, he understood that the Levitical sacrificial system was not the ultimate pathway to God. Lambs and goats would never be sufficient to atone for the sin of mankind. Instead God would send His Son, and the Son would submit Himself as a servant to do the work and will of the Father.
“But my ears you have pierced …” refers to the Old Testament law regarding indentured servants found in Exodus 21. If a Hebrew sold himself to another to pay a debt, he was to serve for six years and then be set free without paying anything. However, the servant could – out of love for his master and by choice – remain a servant for life. To seal that choice, the servant would be taken before the judges and his master would than take an awl and pierce his earlobe. [v2-6 NIV]
Jesus came as a servant … as He said to seek and save the lost. He did it willingly, as God revealed prophetically through David. We, too, are servants. And like our Master, we must offer our ears to be pierced.
Serving Christ Jesus is not an occasional duty. It is not something we fit into our lives when we have time. Servanthood is also not something reserved only for sacred settings. Our servanthood is played out in everyday life. It’s getting into the ditches to find the wounded and castaways. It is searching the highways and byways for the lost.
Father, I offer my ears to be pierced. I love You. I want to serve you in this life so that I might glory in You in the next. Amen.
