And the heavens declare His righteousness.

Psalm 50 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken,
And summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
² Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God has shone forth.
³ May our God come and not keep silence;
Fire devours before Him,
And it is very tempestuous around Him.
⁴ He summons the heavens above,
And the earth, to judge His people:
⁵ “Gather My godly ones to Me,
Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
⁶ And the heavens declare His righteousness,
For God Himself is judge. Selah.

⁷ “Hear, O My people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you;
I am God, your God.
⁸ “I do not reprove you for your sacrifices,
And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
⁹ “I shall take no young bull out of your house
Nor male goats out of your folds.
¹⁰ “For every beast of the forest is Mine,
The cattle on a thousand hills.
¹¹ “I know every bird of the mountains,
And everything that moves in the field is Mine.
¹² “If I were hungry I would not tell you,
For the world is Mine, and all it contains.
¹³ “Shall I eat the flesh of bulls
Or drink the blood of male goats?
¹⁴ “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving
And pay your vows to the Most High;
¹⁵ Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”

¹⁶ But to the wicked God says,
“What right have you to tell of My statutes
And to take My covenant in your mouth?
¹⁷ “For you hate discipline,
And you cast My words behind you.
¹⁸ “When you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
And you associate with adulterers.
¹⁹ “You let your mouth loose in evil
And your tongue frames deceit.
²⁰ “You sit and speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
²¹ “These things you have done and I kept silence;
You thought that I was just like you;
I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.

²² “Now consider this, you who forget God,
Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.
²³ “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;
And to him who orders his way aright
I shall show the salvation of God.”

When you think of the tremendous forces in and of nature, the heat and the light of the sun; the power of a mighty rushing river or waterfall, or of the oceans with their currents and powerful waves, when you think of the power of the winds of a hurricane or a tornado, that no one can stand against a volcano or earthquake, how could you think you could stand against the God who created all these things? The psalmist says:  The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken, And summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shone forth. May our God come and not keep silence; Fire devours before Him, And it is very tempestuous around Him.   God is all powerful. His very being and His very presence exude power. Yet, the psalmist says: …the heavens declare His righteousness.  God is almighty. He is omniscient, all knowing; He is omnipresent. Yet it is His righteousness that the heavens declare.

The psalmist continues, speaking prophetically he says:   “I am God, your God. I do not reprove you for your sacrifices, And your burnt offerings are continually before Me. I shall take no young bull out of your house Nor male goats out of your folds. For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls Or drink the blood of male goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High; Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.”   God doesn’t need anything from us. He is the creator and the controller of all things. Even the things we possess are only ours because He allows it; because of His grace. In a moment all the things we have or our life itself could be gone. God needs nothing from us. All He desires from us is that we are thankful. Whether we have excess or lack God is righteous and will provide all we need. He will rescue us in the day of trouble. In Philippians 4:11-13 Paul says:  I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.   In Matthew 6:31-33 Jesus says:  “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ … your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”    God will indeed provide all that we need, but it is His righteousness that the heavens declare and it is His righteousness that we should seek. In the presence of God, in the kingdom of heaven there is no need and no lack. On the cross Jesus said: “It is finished.” (John 19:30)    Everything that He came to accomplish is complete, finished, accomplished in the cross and all that we need is ours through Him.

The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken… And the heavens declare His righteousness. He spoke and the world came into being. By the power of His voice and His breath, by the very thought of the omniscient God we exist. In Him we live and move and exist. (Acts 17:28)  The heavens declare His righteousness and so will I. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for all You do and for all You have done, but most of all for who You are.   Amen.