The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken

Psalm 50 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

God the Judge of the Righteous and the Wicked.

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.”

The psalms were written before the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ, so they have an Old Covenant perspective. In Matthew 26:26-28, at the Last Supper, it says:  While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”  In Matthew 5:17-20 Jesus says:   “Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them.  For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished.  Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”    We then, can look at the Old Covenant observations and declarations of the psalmist from a New Covenant perspective, understanding that Jesus did not do away with the law, we can see how Jesus fulfilled what the psalmist knew and experienced.

The psalmist says: May our God come and not keep silence; Fire devours before Him, And it is very tempestuous around Him. He summons the heavens above, And the earth, to judge His people:  “Gather My godly ones to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” And the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is judge.   Whether old or new covenant, it remains that God Himself is judge.  For the psalmist and those under the Old Covenant, the sacrifice of the covenant was the prescribed offerings required to attone for sin. For us, under the New Covenant in Christ’s blood, His sacrifice on the cross is the fulfillment. We are judged as redeemed from sin, not merely as having our sin temporarily attoned for. The sacrifices of the Old Covenant had to be repeated over and over. 1 Peter 3:18 says:  Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.  Jesus perfect sacrifice fully and forever fulfilled the requirement of our redemption.

The psalmist says:  “Hear, O My people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you; 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.”   What can we offer to God that is not already His? He created the heavens and the earth and all that it contains. He needs nothing from us, but as the psalmist says, we Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Romans 12:1 says:  I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.  Along with thanksgiving, we offer ourselves to God. In Leviticus 20:26 God said:  You are to be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy; and I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine.  To live holy and acceptable to God is the thing that we can offer to Him.

The psalmist says:  To the wicked God says, “What right have you to tell of My statutes And to take My covenant in your mouth? For you hate discipline, And you cast My words behind you. When you see a thief, you are pleased with him, And you associate with adulterers. You let your mouth loose in evil And your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son. 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. Now consider this, you who forget God, Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.”   Many today believe that because Jesus died for sin, once for all, that there are no longer any consequences for sin.  The psalm says: You thought that I was just like you; I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.   Many today reason that God is like them. They believe that because He is loving and compassionate that He would not judge their sin. They believe that because of His grace sin no longer matters. They wrongly believe that God will come into alignment with them rather than that they should come into alignment with Him. In Matthew 7:21-23 Jesus says:  “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’”   In John 14:30;23-24 Jesus says:  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments…If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words.”  Obedience to God is still vital for the New Covenant believer lest God say: “What right have you to tell of My statutes And to take My covenant in your mouth? For you hate discipline, And you cast My words behind you.”    

The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken, And summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting...  “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.”

Amen.  Thank You heavenly Father, the unchanging God. You are a compassionate and gracious loving Father. You are a righteous judge. There is nothing I can give to You that is not already Yours, so I choose to give You my life. Lord Jesus You redeemed me from my sin and Holy Spirit You empower me to walk in obedience and in the righteousness of Christ. I am blessed that You have chosen to make Your abode with me.  Amen.