Theological Commentary: Click Here
Psalm 50 has
a great truth deep at its core. Before
getting there, though, look at the surface level of this psalm. This psalm is about God being a judge. He is capable of calling all into account
under Him. There is no fooling God. He knows all and sees all. He knows who are the righteous and the
unrighteous. Above all else, He is
capable of judging.
Having said
that, the second half of this psalm is about the nature of sacrifices. I love the middle of the psalm where God
talks about offering sacrifices to Him when the animals are already His! How arrogant we are when we take something
that already belongs to God and give it to Him, expecting it to raise His
opinion of us! That’s like a child making
lunch for their parents out of groceries that the parents themselves bought!
Hopefully, in
reading that last paragraph there is something that does jump out. It truly is the thought that counts. The child who makes lunch for their parents
doesn’t sacrifice from their own life, but rather make a gesture in love. It isn’t the sacrifice that the parent cherishes,
it is the thought.
The same
thing is true with God. As we read
through this psalm, we hear that God wants a sacrifice of thanksgiving more
than anything else. He doesn’t want us
slaughtering some goat because it will make Him love us more, He wants us to
turn to Him in gratitude and relationship.
Those of us
who live in the time of the New Testament know that this is even more
true. There is no way that we can buy
our salvation. No sacrifice of ourselves
is good enough. God has already given
the sacrifice in His Son. What He wants from
us is thanksgiving. He wants us to turn
to Him in relationship.
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