The altar is a burden, there is no faith here in this verse. We are told that it is all weariness, it is all a burden. Is that going to please the Lord, when he sees that we would rather be doing almost anything other than coming into his house and worshipping him? How much we miss out on by such an attitude. For the obedient Christian who is walking in fellowship with the Lord, there is nothing that brings more joy than to draw close to his God. Worship was never intended to be a drudgery to us, but the most exalted of activities. If it has become a weariness, it is certain that we are out of sorts with the Lord and not obeying him, for his Spirit puts joys in the hearts of his people and draws them to himself in sweet communion. If we find that we are not experiencing this, then we mush search our hearts and ask ourselves what we have done to cause him to go from us.
The curious thing is that the worshipper thought that it was necessary to make an offering to God, and dare not bring nothing, but at the same time thought that what he knew to be an inadequate offering would be acceptable to God. Is God less discerning than a man? If their governor would be insulted by such a gift, is God going to be pleased with it? David understood this principle clearly: ‘And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the LORD my God of that which doth cost me nothing’ (2 Samuel 24:24).