Ezra 3:1-7: in context

When the exiles have returned and settled in their towns, they gather as one to Jerusalem, and their first act is to restore the worship of God. Before the foundation of the temple is even laid, Jeshua and Zerubbabel and the priests build the altar of God and offer burnt offerings on it, morning and evening, as the law commands. And they do this, the text notes, in spite of their fear because of the surrounding hostile peoples. They set up the altar and worshiped, prioritizing the worship of God, and doing it even in the face of fear.

Two things stand out in what the exiles did. First, they made worship their priority. The temple was not yet rebuilt; the great work of construction lay ahead. But before that work, before laying the foundation, they built the altar and restored the daily worship of God. They gave worship first place, restoring their devotion to God before the larger building work, recognizing that worship was not something to wait for until everything else was in order, but the first thing to restore. Second, they worshiped despite their fear. The surrounding peoples were hostile, and the exiles were afraid; yet they set up the altar and offered their sacrifices anyway, not letting fear silence their worship. Both of these are worth learning. The first, prioritizing worship, speaks to how easily we can defer worship and devotion until other things are in order. We can tell ourselves we will attend to worship once the pressing work is done, once life settles, once the foundation is laid. The exiles reversed this: they restored worship first, before the temple work, giving God first place. Seek first the kingdom of God, Jesus says, and his righteousness; worship and devotion are to come first, not last. And the second, worshiping despite fear, speaks to how fear can silence our devotion. The exiles were afraid, and had reason to be; yet they did not let fear stop them from worshiping. The LORD is my light and my salvation, the psalmist says; whom shall I fear? Fear is not to silence our worship or our devotion to God; we are called to worship even in the face of it. This searches our own priorities and courage. Do we give worship and devotion to God first place, or defer them until other things are settled, treating them as what we will attend to once the more pressing work is done? And do we let fear silence our devotion, or do we worship God even in the face of it, as the exiles set up the altar despite their fear? The returned exiles built the altar and restored worship first, before the temple, and did it despite their fear; and we too are called to give worship and devotion to God first place, not deferring it until everything else is in order, and to worship him even in the face of fear, not letting either the press of other things or the presence of fear silence our devotion to God.

Do I give worship and devotion to God first place, or defer them until other things are settled, and do I let fear silence my devotion, and can the returned exiles, who built the altar and restored the daily worship of God before laying the temple foundation, and did so in spite of their fear of the surrounding peoples, move me to give worship first place rather than last, and to worship God even in the face of fear, letting neither the press of other things nor fear silence my devotion?