The Sacrifice of Doing Right 

Psalm 4:5

In this verse there is the phrase, “offer the sacrifice of righteousness”. In this lesson we will look at this verse from the viewpoint of the Church Age to see if there is an application that we can make for us from this verse.

When we think of sacrifices usually the first thing that comes to mind are the animal sacrifices from the Old Testament. But even in the Old Testament when dealing with literal sacrifices there were sacrifices that were accepted and those that were not. A good example would be Cain and Able (Genesis 4:1-6). From the example of Cain and Abel we see that pleasing God with the sacrifice was more important that just offering a sacrifice.

What sacrifices do we offer in the Church Age?

Since Jesus became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, we do not offer up animals today during the Church Age. But there are some sacrifices that are mentioned in connection with us today.

There are two sacrifices mentioned in Hebrews 13:15-16. Note in these sacrifices that God is well pleased.

1)  Offering praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name verse 15.

2)  To do good and to communicate.

Since our flesh usually always wants to do wrong, take short cuts, cheat, etc. Then it will always be a sacrifice to do right. In other words, doing right will usually cost us something.

How do we know what is right?

The word of God is right (Psalms 33:4). God’s statues and commandments are also right as well (Psalm 19:18). Then the following God’s word and doing what we find in it for us to do is right. And one of the great benefits is that God blesses us for doing right (Exodus 15:26 ; Deuteronomy 6:18).

Some will ask what about doing right when it cost me something dear, or when everyone else is doing wrong and it doesn’t seem to make any difference whether we do right or not. The answer is found in the verse we used for this lesson. In Psalm 4:5 David said, “Offer the sacrifice of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.”

Many times, we are just going to have to trust God and do what is right.

The Sacrifice of Doing Right : Handout

Psalm 4:5

1)  What kind of sacrifices can we offer today in the Church Age?

2)  Why is it a sacrifice to do right?

3)  What are somethings that are right?

4)  What happens when we do right?

5)  What can we do when it seems like doing right is getting us nowhere?