Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving

Psalm 50 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

God the Judge of the Righteous and the Wicked. A Psalm of Asaph.

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 psalmist says:  “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. Selah   “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.”    If we are the people of God, those who make a covenant with Him by sacrifice, what is it that we are to sacrifice if all that we have is already His?  The text says:  Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High. Romans 12:1-2 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. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.  We today are under the New Covenant established by Christ, through His sacrifice on the cross. There is nothing we can add to His finished work. Still though, a covenant is between two parties and while there is nothing we can add to Christ’s sacrifice, we must offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving for the price that He paid. We must give ourselves back to God because we have nothing else to give. We must live in obedience to Him in order to obtain the promises of the covenant from Him.  Then we can call on Him in the day of trouble and He will rescue us.

The psalmist says:  But 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.   How applicable are these words to our culture and society today? How often do those who have no regard for the Bible quote or misquote what it says for their own purposes and at their own convenience? They say it has no value or truth, yet they attempt to use its words against those who do believe.  The psalmist says:  “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.    How true is it that our society has glorified those who break the law and villified those who enforce it. We use different words to describe those who have broken the law in order to justify and embrace their actions. What is true regarding the laws is even more so regarding righteousness and morality. Our society and culture no longer considers sin, unrighteousness or immorality. They call it choice. Truth is no longer based on fact, but rather each person has their own truth based on preferences and perception; or even worse they justify deceit if it helps to achieve their desired outcome and agenda. In Isaiah 5:20 God says:  Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!     The text says:   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.   Many take the silence and inaction of God against the vileness of our culture to mean that He is in agreement with it; that He is like us. They mistake His silence for His grace, believing God winks at sin. God’s grace though was demonstrated and distributed to us on the cross, when Jesus died for our sins. We are not judged because He was judged in our place. God’s judgment against sin and evil has not changed. Just as He did in the days of Noah; just  as He did in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah, just as God has always judged sin and unrighteousness, so will He continue to judge it, even to the end. Along with the cross, God’s mercy and grace can also be seen in His patience and the time He gives us. 2 Peter 3:9 says:  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

The text says:  “Now consider this, you who forget God, Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.  “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.”  We can choose to forget or disregard God and His word, but God will not forget His dislike for sin and unrighteousness. He will not forget that His covenant of grace and redemption came at the cost of Jesus life on the cross. God doesn’t expect us to repay Him for the price of our redemption, only that we honor Him with thanksgiving and that we order our way aright.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for You love and Your grace; for the redemption of the cross. May I never forget what Your free gift of grace cost.   Amen.