Noise from an empty heart

Amos 5:21-23 The Contemporary English version:

I, the Lord, hate and despise your religious celebrations and your times of worship. I won’t accept your offerings or animal sacrifices—not even your very best. No more of your noisy songs! I won’t listen when you play your harps.

Amos 8:11-12, the Lord, also promises you terrible shortage, but not of food and water. You will hunger and thirst to hear my message. You will search everywhere—from north to south, from east to west. You will go all over the earth, seeking a message from me, the Lord. But you won’t find one.

Why? Amos prophesies during a period of national optimism in Israel. Business is booming and boundaries are bulging. But below the surface, greed and injustice are festering. Hypocritical religious motions have replaced true worship, creating a false sense of security and a growing callousness to God’s disciplining hand. Famine, drought, plagues, death, destruction—nothing can force the people to their knees. Israel had tension between their heart condition and their actions. Noise from an empty heart!

Psalms 32:11 Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.