Slices
Prepare
Pause to remember that you are coming before ‘The Mighty One, God, the Lord’ (Psalm 50:1).
Bible passage
A psalm of Asaph.
1 The Mighty One, God, the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to where it sets.
2 From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God comes
and will not be silent;
a fire devours before him,
and around him a tempest rages.
4 He summons the heavens above,
and the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 ‘Gather to me this consecrated people,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.’
6 And the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
for he is a God of justice.
7 ‘Listen, my people, and I will speak;
I will testify against you, Israel:
I am God, your God.
8 I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices
or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.
9 I have no need of a bull from your stall
or of goats from your pens,
10 for every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird in the mountains,
and the insects in the fields are mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 ‘Sacrifice thank-offerings to God,
fulfil your vows to the Most High,
15 and call on me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honour me.’
16 But to the wicked person, God says:
‘What right have you to recite my laws
or take my covenant on your lips?
17 You hate my instruction
and cast my words behind you.
18 When you see a thief, you join with him;
you throw in your lot with adulterers.
19 You use your mouth for evil
and harness your tongue to deceit.
20 You sit and testify against your brother
and slander your own mother’s son.
21 When you did these things and I kept silent,
you thought I was exactly like you.
But I now arraign you
and set my accusations before you.
22 ‘Consider this, you who forget God,
or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:
23 those who sacrifice thank-offerings honour me,
and to the blameless I will show my salvation.’
Explore
Throughout the Bible we see a tendency for a relationship with God to degenerate into empty religious actions and legalistic language. The prophets railed against it, Jesus spoke against it (eg Matthew 6:16) and Paul opposed it. This psalm calls God’s people into a living relationship.
The picture here is of a courtroom where the holy God summons the whole of creation to observe as charges are levelled against the people of God. The Hebrew word translated ‘consecrated people’ in verse 5 means ‘the recipients of my faithful love’* or ‘those who have found grace in my sight’.** The covenant relationship God’s people have with him is based on his initiative (see Deuteronomy 7:6), not earned by our actions.
Sacrifices could easily become a means of trying to earn God’s favour, but we cannot provide for God’s needs (vs 7–13). He wants a loving relationship where sacrifices are a demonstration of thanks to God; where his people call to him and he saves them. How do Christians try to win God’s favour by religious observance?
The second charge God levels against his people is that they know and recite his laws, but do not take the action they demand (vs 16–21). The apostle James says God’s Word is like a mirror, showing the things that need attention (James 1:22–25).
*JA Motyer, Psalms by the Day, Christian Focus, 2016, p131
**Amplified Bible, Classic Edition, Zondervan, 1965
Respond
If God has shown you any faults in the ‘mirror’ of Psalm 50, pray for his help in correcting them.
Deeper Bible study
‘Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!’1
This is another psalm addressed not to God but to Israel, ascribed to Asaph, a Temple worship-leader and songwriter described elsewhere as ‘Asaph the seer’.2 He had inspired gifts. We imagine this psalm being delivered prophetically during Temple services. It is an exhortation to sincerity of life and worship.
The first part addresses the faithful and portrays God surrounded by fire and tempest (v 3). This holy and disturbing God is judging the covenant people as their God, the God of righteousness and justice (v 6). God is not displeased with their sacrifices, but he takes pains to say that he does not need them. If God were hungry, which he is not, all the creatures of the field are already his. God does not need the flesh or blood. These are symbols only, not food for the deity. What satisfies God is heartfelt thanksgiving, loyalty and humble prayer (vs 12–15,23). What God hates is hypocrisy, ritual acts of religion that are not expressions of a good life but mask all manner of corrupt behaviour and backbiting (vs 16–21).
Christians do not have to offer animal sacrifices to God – churches would resemble shambles (butchers' shops)! Here too we encounter the themes of continuity and contrast. Animal sacrifices are no longer part of our devotion, but what they symbolise certainly is: the offering of our own lives in thanksgiving and service, offerings made personally and privately as well as when we gather. Made also through the sacraments and ordinances that focus us upon God’s love in Christ. God looks upon the heart. Words and acts are not enough on their own: only when backed by dispositions and deeds.
‘To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.’3
1 2 Cor 9:15 2 2 Chr 29:30 3 Archbishop William Temple, 1881–1944
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: 2 Chronicles 3–5; Galatians 5
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for Christian Teachers Connect, an online event designed to encourage and refresh Christian teachers across New South Wales, Australia. Pray that this will be a source of encouragement and enable good connections to be made.
