And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. Exodus 30:7
Listen to the description given by John of a wonderful coming scene in Heaven: And when He (the Lamb) had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints – Revelation 5:8. How amazing is it that the fragrant incense of Heaven will be composed of the prayers of the Lord’s people? It is an odour that brings delight to Heaven’s occupants, and especially to our God. Our text gives us a little picture of where that incense comes from.
Every morning, as he tended to the lamps in the Holy place of the tabernacle, Aaron was to burn sweet incense on the golden altar. The next verse would tell us that Aaron was to do the same in the evening. It is a reminder that we ought to begin and end each day with our prayers. The incense was to be perpetually burning, reminding us of Paul’s admonition to the Assembly in Ephesus: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit – Ephesus 6:18.
The incense that Aaron burned was like no other in the world. A sermon could be preached on how each of its spice ingredients – stacte, onycha, galbanium, and frankincense – all contain wonderful pictures of our prayers. And then there was the salt, a reminder that our prayers are often mingled with our tears as we pour out our hearts before the Lord every day.
Like the golden altar incense, our prayers are very precious to God; don’t withhold them from Him. -Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/_3qxl6rkLO8