The Case of God vs. Israel
Psalms 50
Does our attitude in worship say that God needs us or that we need God?
#psalms
#sacrifice
#Thanksgiving
Published September 10th, 2019
Main point summary
Arc
notes
Main point summary
God desires that his people glorify him through thanksgiving, dependence on him, and right living according to his words.
Arc
editing
OT
Psalms 50:1-23
esv
mine
o The Mighty One , God the Lord , speaks
God--the Almighty God-- the Covenant God, YHWH, speaks
and summons the earth p from the rising of the sun to its setting.
calling /summoning the whole earth from east (where the sun rises) to west (where the sun sets).
ideaexplanation
Out of Zion, q the perfection of beauty, r God shines forth.
God radiantly shines forth from Zion , the beautiful city of God, that city that is perfect in beauty.
Our God comes ;
(May) Our God comes /approaches;
he s does not keep silence ; 1
he doesn't come silently but with something to say and with judgment.
actionmanner
before him is a devouring t fire,
A consuming fire goes before him,
around him a mighty tempest.
AND a stormy tempest rages all around him.
series
u He calls to the heavens above and to the earth,
God calls out to the skies above and to earth below,
that he may judge his people:
SO THAT he may judge his own covenant people:
actionpurpose
“[ you ] Gather to me my faithful ones,
"Heavens, gather my faithful people together to me;
who made v a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
THAT IS, gather those people who have covenanted with me through offering sacrifice."
progression
w The heavens declare his righteousness,
The heavens , which proclaim the glory of God (Ps 19:1), also declare God's righteousness, that he is holy and just,
for x God himself is judge ! Selah
FOR/ BECAUSE God is the judge! Selah.
actionresult
y “ Hear , O my people,
God says, "Listen to me, my people,
and I will speak;
"BECAUSE I will speak to you;
ground
O Israel, I will testify against you.
" FOR I am bringing testimony/witness or legal charges against you, O Israel.
z I am God, your God.
" FOR I am the God of the universe, and I am YOUR God, the God you serve and worship.
Not for your sacrifices a do I rebuke you;
" Your sacrifices aren't the reason I am rebuking you or bringing charges against you (see v21) (your sacrifices aren't what I take issue with);
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
BECAUSE you haven't failed in bringing burnt offerings to me-- you continually offer sacrifices to me.
I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds.
BUT/ HOWEVER I don't need a bull from your barn or a goat from your pen--that's not why I require sacrifices,
For every beast of the forest is mine,
BECAUSE every animal in the forest belongs to me,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
I own the cattle on a thousand hills,
b I know all the birds of the hills,
I own and know of every bird that flies in the mountains,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
and every creature (both animal and insect) that moves in the fields is mine , too.
“ If I were hungry,
SUPPOSE IF I were to be hungry.
I would not tell you,
I wouldn't tell you --I wouldn't ask for one of your bulls or goats to eat--
conditional
c for the world and its fullness are mine.
BECAUSE the whole world and everything in it belongs to me (Ps 24:1)! I could provide my own meat to eat.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls
But do you really think I eat the meat of those animals you sacrifice
or drink the blood of goats?
or drink their blood (as other gods supposedly do)? -- Do you think that is why I require those offerings? It is not.
concessive
d Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving , 1
INSTEAD, offer to me sacrifices of thanksgiving-- I desire, your gratitude and thanks.
and e perform your vows to the Most High,
AND keep the promises you make to me , the Most High God.
and f call upon me in the day of trouble;
AND call out to me --call upon my name-- when you are in trouble.
I will g deliver you,
THEN I will deliver you,
and you shall h glorify me.”
AND you will give me glory and honor for what I have done for you.
alternative
But to the wicked God says :
BUT to the wicked, those physical among the congregation of God's faithful ones but not spiritually part of his faithful ones, God says this:
“What right have you
Why do you think you can do this? You have no right
to recite my statutes
to quote and recite my statutes , rules, and decrees
or take my covenant on your lips?
or to act as though you are in covenant with me simply because you recite the words?
i For you hate discipline,
BECAUSE you despise my authority and instruction,
j and you cast my words behind you.
which you show by the way you throw out my words like garbage.
If you see a thief,
When you spot a thief, one who breaks my commandment,
k you are pleased with him,
you are pleased with him and approve of what he is doing! (which violates the command against stealing)
temporal
l and you keep company with adulterers.
LIKEWISE you ALSO approve of adulterers by associating with them. (which violates the command against adultery)
“ You give your mouth free rein for evil,
You let your mouth say all the evil it wants to,
m and your tongue frames deceit.
AND your tongue is attached to deceit like a harness on an animal.
You sit and speak against your brother;
In conversation (or judgment?) you speak ill of your own brother,
you slander your own mother’s son.
Think about it, you speak against, slander, and hurt your own family members (which violates the commands to not bear false witness and to honor your parents)
These things you have done,
You have done all of this,
and I n have been silent ;
and up until now, I have remained silent.
situationresponse
you thought that I 1 was one like yourself .
But you foolishly thought that I --the God of heaven-- was a hypocrite like you , not caring if your actions and thoughts and words were consistent. You thought you got away with it.
But now I o rebuke you
BUT I now rebuke you,
and p lay the charge before you .
AND bring the charges against you. (see v8)
“ Mark this, then, you who q forget God,
Consider and understand this, all you wicked people who forget God,
lest I tear you apart,
OTHERWISE I will tear you to pieces and destroy you,
and there be r none to deliver!
AND no one will be able to save you!
The one who s offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
The person who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving is the one who brings glory and honor to me;
to one who t orders his way rightly I will show the u salvation of God!”
AND, I will show my salvation to the one who sets his way in my path of righteousness.
inference
Psa 96:13
"The heavens proclaim his righteousness (Ps. 19:1), and he is just, thus assuring the world, and Israel in particular, of fair judgment. The heavens and earth were witnesses to the covenant between God and Israel (Deut. 30:19) and are now being summoned to attend the trial (v. 4)." -Tremper Longman III, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. David G. Firth, vol. 15–16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2014), 217.
fire is usually linked with judgment (6)
guaranteeing that his judgment is righteous and just
the problem corrected here is the thinking that God NEEDS my sacrifices/worship >thinking that God needs me, that he is dependent upon me >thinking that we act for God; rather God is the one who acts for us >what pleases God is dependence on him and thanksgiving
the problem being corrected here is lip service: >that worship is a ritual; it has no meaning and no effect on the rest of life >that God doesn't care about anything but hearing the recitations of the people >that God doesn't care about what else we do, say, or think outside of the spiritual recitations >this thinking kind of views religion as placating God, patronizes him by giving him what he wants through religious worship but throwing it all out for the rest of life.
I don't think this is simply a Series. Initially, I would label this Ac/Res (Israel hears, and as a result, God will speak); however, it makes more sense that God will speak whether or not Israel wants to listen. Therefore, I'm labeling this Ground (Israel must hear because God will speak to them)
God is not interested in what we can do for him; he is interested in what he will do for those who trust in him who will give him honor and glory and thanks and praise.
one may object that Jesus often associated with sinners and sexually immoral people, but the fact that these people here are pleased with the thief (which Jesus was not) implies that they are also pleased with the adulterer (which Jesus was not).
1. God desires that his people glorify him through dependence on him and thanksgiving. 2. God desires that his people glorify him through thanksgiving and right living according to his words.
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