Psalm 50

A Psalm of Asaph

1 The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.

2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.

This is the first of the psalms of Asaph and the only one in book 2. It forms a division between the psalms of the Sons of Korah and the psalms of David that follow. Thematically it is unique as a psalm that directly calls the people of God to repentance, and it is a fitting antecedent to Psalm 51, a prayer of confession and repentance. The psalm begins quite dramatically with three names for God in succession — El, Elohim, YHWH. This dramatic entrance of the judge into his courtroom communicates the seriousness of what is about to happen. God is summoning the defendant to take the stand in his court of justice.There are three actions in these two verses: God speaks, God summons, and God shines forth (he shines a bright light on things. His summons is universal, from the East to the West, all peoples at all times. He shines forth out of Zion, the capital of Israel. God comes to the world through a chosen people with whom he made a sacred covenant. The people of God are to be the source of justice and beauty to the world because they are the people among whom God dwells. This is not just a statement of God’s universal judgment but also of the role of God’s people in being the agents through whom God’s judgment is mediated. Zion as the perfection of beauty is a direct connection to Psalm 48 which praised Zion as the most beautiful of cities, elevated and secure. We don’t like to be judged, but we do like to judge others. It has been elevated to a national pastime on Twitter. It is a way we can feel better about ourselves, claiming to take the high ground above “the other”, often a straw man, demonstrating that we hold the right view of things, on the right side of history. In the midst of the constant judgment that takes place on social media, God speaks and shines the light on what is really happening. We need a judge. We need an arbiter of truth that sets us all straight. Otherwise we’ll invent our own standards and justify any behavior by them.This is where we are now, and frankly, where human beings have been throughout history, eager to pick up the robe and gavel and lay claim to the bench of heaven. True religion begins with acknowledging that there is a God, and I am not him. There is a God that has every right to hold me to account for my thoughts and actions because He is the one who made me. I would do well to listen to him when he speaks.

3 Our God comes; he does not keep silence;[May our God come, and not keep silence] before him is a devouring fire, around him a mighty tempest.

The text reminds me of the lyrics of Rich Mullin’s Awesome God -- “When He rolls up his sleeves He ain’t just puttin’ on the ritz, there’s thunder in his footsteps and lighting in his fists.” The psalmist describes YHWH coming to his people in a storm, the devouring fire of lightning before him, powerful wind and rain slamming the land. In fact, even today every thunderstorm is a powerful reminder of our awesome God even though we have a better understanding of meteorology than Asaph. Cataclysmic natural events are humbling because they are reminders that we are not in control of our destiny. We’d like to think that with our power of limiting carbon emissions we could make the sea levels drop and diminish the occurrence and power of hurricanes (yes politicians have said these things). “If you elect me, there will be fewer forest fires”, and yet people believe them because they want to. They want to believe that there is no higher authority than themselves, that they can do whatever is right in their own eyes because they are the masters of the universe. God has news for them, and natural calamities serve as regular nudges of that truth. There is a God and there are consequences for sin and rebellion built into the system. Reality has a fine way of winning every time. Always bet on reality. This time God is not only coming in a powerful storm, but he is going to speak words. He will not be silent, we won’t have to guess at his meaning by reading his actions. He’s going to be clear about this. Be prepared to listen.

4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people:

5 “Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”

6 The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge! Selah

This is the language of a courtroom. The Mighty One calls the heavens and the earth as witnesses against his people. They are objective and impartial and they have seen everything. This is personification of course because the heavens and earth can’t actually see and testify, but since we are surrounded by them, they are a silent witness to all human activity. In Psalm 19 those same heavens declare the glory of God and proclaim his handiwork. Here they declare the justness and goodness of God the Judge. The witnesses are present and the defendant is summoned: “Gather to me my faithful ones, those who entered into a covenant with me by sacrifice.” God’s people are on trial. Those whom he describes as faithful and bound to him by covenant will be judged for what they have done, for their faithful adherence to that covenant. 

What if God were summoning you to your trial today? Being a defendant at trial is one of the last places I ever want to be, particularly if I’m guilty and I know it. If I know that I am innocent, there is a better chance than not that I’ll be exonerated. But if I am guilty and there are multiple witnesses that will testify as much, I’m in trouble. There can only be a sense of gloom and foreboding for the inevitable guilty verdict. The world needs a judge, otherwise we are left to our own standards and our own shoddy enforcement of those standards. Without a judge, we will make ourselves judges and tyrants. Judges keep us from destroying one another by introducing a neutral third party to settle disputes. Knowing that we will be held accountable for our actions can motivate us to do what is good and right (some of the time). But knowing that there is a perfect Judge who sees everything is another thing. Hebrews 4:13 tells us that nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account. The purpose of the 50th psalm is to awaken us to this reality so that we may repent and live in a faithful covenant relationship with God. The good news for the Christian believer is that we also have an Advocate (1 John 2:1,2) who comes to our defense at trial. More than that, he, although innocent, took the punishment we deserved. His chastisement brought us peace. God’s justice was satisfied and his love displayed in one moment in time in the cross. 

7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God.

The language of this verse is likely meant to mimic the Shema, “Hear O Israel, YHWH is your God, YHWH is one.” This is the statement of faith that in one sentence summarizes core theology: YHWH is God (ultimate). He is one (monotheistic). He is your God (in a covenant relationship with his people). The duty of Israel is to love YHWH with heart, soul, mind, and strength and to demonstrate that by treating others as equal image bearers of God. It is profound and yet simple, and it tells you just about everything you need to know to make sense of and live a good life in this world. Drawing on that background, the psalmist declares that this same God that is the center of our devotion is coming to speak and testify against us. One gets the impression that the people have not been keeping their end of the covenant, and this is not going to end well. It is the sound of footsteps coming toward the room a child that is about to be disciplined. We’ll all been there -- on both sides of that conversation. There is a fearful child and a loving parent who knows that discipline (tough love) is required in order for the child to flourish. For example, if a child is caught in a lie, depending on the age, it can be cute (like when our son told us that a squirrel had pooped in his pants). When a twenty year old is a habitual liar that can’t be trusted at all, it’s no so cute -- it’s tragic because he will be crippled by this behavior until it comes to an end. And so discipline is necessary for our good. God is coming to speak the truth about us, the truth about me. What will he say about me? If I were before the judge in court and the heavens and earth who see everything were to testify about me, what would they say? This text is in first person plural, so the judgment that is coming is for the community. What would God say about the church if he came to testify against us this Sunday morning? He does testify against us each time we hear his word, and we must be careful to pay attention, lest we drift away and find ourselves with a hardened heart.

8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me.

9 I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds.

As God begins to speak he starts with what he is not doing, what he is not saying. He is not rebuking the people for their failure to offer sacrifices. Apparently they are doing a great job with the burnt offerings. The priests are continually sacrificing the animals that are brought to them, the smoke and the fire are burning constantly (and this may be hyperbole). It seems that the people of God have ritual worship down pretty good. They regularly come to worship bringing things of value and giving them to God -- bulls and goats from their own supply. This may also suggest that the nation is prospering at this time. This kind of sacrificial worship has got to be harder when you’re struggling to feed your family. The question for today is what kind of sacrifices are we bringing to God to which he would say, “I don’t need any more of those. I’ve had quite enough, thank you.” Could it be our elaborate corporate worship services? This hits close to home because my job right now is to train students to produce elaborate worship services. By “elaborate” I mean thousands of dollars of lights, sound and video equipment. For many reasons that I can explain and justify, the worship of God in the modern evangelical church involves the sacrifice, the expenditure of lots of bulls and goats. This is a sobering question. Modern worship does seem to be effective and so this why the expenses are justified. People do seem to connect with the music and the experience, and they demonstrate this by coming to church regularly and giving to support her ministries, including the weekly gathering. If you took all of it away and simply sang acapella (as some of our brothers and sisters do) what would you miss? Would people look for other places to worship? I think so. Which begs the question -- who or what are we worshiping? Our bulls and goats could be testifying against us even as God comes to speak in our assemblies. 

10 For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.

11 I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.

12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.

13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?

God makes his case that he doesn’t need the offerings of the people. This differs from many of the gods of the nations who required animal and grain sacrifice in order to be fed. YHWH is unique in that respect and the rationale for this is the fact that everything already belongs to him. If he needed to eat something he could just kill and eat it himself. He doesn’t need anything from us. Every wild animal of the forest is his and every domesticated animal as well. He knows all the birds of the hills (Jesus notes this as well, and that the smallest one doesn’t fall to the ground without him knowing it). In fact, every moving thing is his -- large and small, from dragonfly to dinosaur. There is absolutely nothing that we could give to God that he does not already have. By implication, the claim made by God declares that he is ultimate. He is not like the gods of the nations who were regional, limited, and needy. He is all-sufficient, the three-in-one. He doesn’t even need us for relationship. Sometimes you will hear people speak as if God was lonely and needed to create us for companionship. Poppycock. That would be like me creating a lowly amoeba for companionship. The degree of difference between humans and God is beyond comprehension (even though we were made a little lower than the angels and we bear his image -- Psalm 8:4-7). There is not something missing in Him that needs to be filled by the creatures he has made. There is not a hunger than can be satisfied by our sacrifices. Recognizing that everything we have actually belongs to God is the key to generosity and mercy. In America we’re taught that what we have is a result of hard work and individual choices. While there is some truth to that, the fact is that much of what we have is a result of the work and choices of others and most importantly and fundamentally, the will of God. Who decided that I would be born in the U.S. in the 1900s? To parents who would value education and hard work? In a community that was stable and safe? With inherent aptitudes for useful things? I am who am I am because of the grace of God, not my competence. God chose the times and places where people would live (Acts 17), so if I’ve prospered it is only because of the grace and will of God. This compels me to be generous because all that I have is really not mine. If every beast, bull, and bird are his, don’t you think you are as well? You are his, and you live and serve at his pleasure. 

14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,[Make thanksgiving your sacrifice to God] and perform your vows to the Most High,

15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

This is the sacrifice that God wants: thanksgiving. Simply say “thanks”. Recognize the reality that every that you have is his. Make a list of all that you have, and I don’t mean an accounting of your net worth. Include the richness of friends and family, the ability to enjoy the world he has made through your senses, the wonders of life and beauty that leave you speechless, the daily graces that are yours simply for being alive on planet earth. Let “thankful for the day” be your motto, seeing the good that is all around you rather than engaging in a self-focused pity party. “Make thanksgiving your sacrifice”. Stop with the substitutes for genuine worship. God wants our gratitude first. Second, he tells us to perform our vows to the Most High. The word perform is a form of the word shalom (to complete, be at peace, satisfy). This is another way of saying that God wants us to keep our promises to him. When I became a Christian I publicly declared that Jesus was my Lord and savior. Implicit in that statement was a promise, a vow to live as one who belonged to another, to obey and serve at his pleasure, to deny self and live a life of love toward my neighbor. All of that and more is bound up in the promise to make Jesus the Lord of my life. That is my vow. I made a vow to my wife: “to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish, keeping myself for her and for her only, until death do us part.” Completing that vow will take a lifetime of daily faithfulness and obedience. It won’t be easy and at times it may seem impossible, but it is a vow that I made before God and many witnesses. In the same way, I made a vow to follow Jesus when I was 10 years old. I was young and didn’t appreciate all that this vow meant, but as I grew I came to understand the cost even more. This is the sacrifice that we make now, offering our bodies as living sacrifices (Roman 12:1). This is genuine worship. The third command in this text is to call upon God in the day of trouble. The promise from God is that he will rescue you, and you will glorify him. You will assign him the weight that he is due. (That’s what the word glorify means). God’s grace is still in the picture. This is not about working harder, being more grateful and more obedient. The life of faithfulness is rooted in the saving, rescuing grace of Jesus. If it is founded in anything else, it becomes a slavish religion of works. Experience God’s saving grace and you will be thankful and obedient for all the right reasons. 

16 But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips?

17 For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you.

The psalmist began with describing the dutiful ritual worship of the people and how it was lacking in gratitude. Now he uses the term “wicked” to describe those who recite God’s statutes and have sworn covenant with him. These are strong words for people who appear to be saying and doing the right things when it comes to worship. In language that is reminiscent of Isaiah I, the psalmist excoriates the people for their hypocritical actions. In one breath they are quoting scripture and making promises to God and the next they are taking those same words of God and throwing them away as they move forward. The image of “casting them behind” suggests that the people are moving toward something, walking in their way, listening to and reciting the words of God and then completely disregarding them, tossing them aside and behind like one might throw away trash. It’s not too difficult to see the contemporary progressive church that is so closely allied with culture that they can twist and ignore scripture to justify their positions. It’s also not too difficult to see more traditional Christians who are faithful in worship, but their lives outside of church are not much different from their pagan neighbors. Hypocrisy is the issue here and it can take many forms. Jesus had similar things to say to the hypocrites of his day, quoting Isaiah, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. In vain they worship me. Their teachings are but rules taught by men” (Matthew 15:7-9). And if I’m honest, this text is squarely addressed to me. I’ve recited God’s words in songs of worship. I’ve committed many of them to memory so that I can easily recite them. I’ve pledged to live faithfully in a covenant with God, and yet my actions and innermost thoughts reveal that I hate his instructions and disregard his words. It’s easy to read this text and say, “Let ‘em have it”. Those wicked hypocrites deserve the judgment of God. But I am that wicked hypocrite. I’ve got no room to stand in judgment on others. I’m undone. 

18 If you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and you keep company with adulterers.

The psalmist gets specific about the hypocrisy of God’s people, using the ten commandments as a reference point. He begins with stealing and infidelity. These are two of the activities that will corrupt society. Stealing erodes the trust that is necessary to have a healthy community. People need to know that their property will not be taken by their neighbor, otherwise they will invest a lot of money and energy in protecting their stuff, and those investments don’t actually produce anything. Private property rights are foundational to a growing economy. Adultery attacks the family structure and destroys the trust between family members. Moms and dads, children can easily be turned against one another when infidelity is involved. And so God indicts his people for engaging in these two behaviors that ultimately result in the dysfunction of society. These commandments are for our good, that it may go well with us. Consider the ways that we are pleased with thieves today. Politically speaking, there are many that argue that it’s morally justified to take from those that have and give to those that have not. In other words, we need a bigger social safety network funded by taxpayers, even to the point of forgiving college debt and reparations for slavery. The opposite side cries that “taxation is theft” and argues that the best way to help people is to encourage them to help themselves, providing the means for them to do so without just handing them wads of cash. James 5 suggests that not paying workers a fair wage is stealing. On a personal level, we steal from friends and family when we disengage with them to pursue self-centered things. The second indictment here is that the people keep company with adulterers. It doesn’t say they participate in adultery, but that is assumed, guilt by association. Adultery has taken quite a different form in recent years with the proliferation of online pornography. Committing adultery is super easy now, and rationalizing it even more so. Afterall, “virtual sex isn’t real sex”. Our country is making a killing on pornography, stealing the life from those who create it and those who consume it. It is our national pastime with estimates of one-third of all internet traffic being porn. There is a price to pay for theft and adultery. We are paying it every day and the cost is being extracted from our children and the generations to come. We are rightly judged for it.

19 “You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit.

20 You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son.

The psalmist moves from our actions which are often done in secret (stealing and adultery) to our words, which are done publicly, or at least with one other person present. Speaking directly to us, God tells us that we give our mouths free rein for evil and deceit. Deceit is the ability to lie while technically speaking the truth. It is the common currency of the realm these days in the political and media world, and if we’re being honest, in our daily lives. Deceit allows us to justify our lies by claiming innocence because what we are saying may be factually true, it’s just not all of the facts and is therefore misleading. God also cites the slander that occurs within the family, brother against brother, presumably vying for power. It’s one thing for children to do this in their power struggles, but if they are not disciplined and trained, this will characterize their adult lives as well. It’s easy to see this in the poisoned political and media environment of today. Maybe it’s always been there in politics, but I think most agree that it’s worse than ever (except maybe during the time of the civil war). The media has an interest in generating conflict to fuel rating and income and they’ve been very good at stirring the pot. Politicians play into this to increase their power, and the cycle continues. We do this in our personal lives as well, tearing others down verbally to make ourselves look better. Honesty and kindness should be the hallmark of the language of the believer. If they are not we are no different from the world and it will not go well for us. Watch your language today, and make every effort to be honest and kind with everyone, beginning with your family. Sometimes it is the people we are closest to that receive the brunt of our painful words. Because of our level of comfort with them, we feel free to say whatever passes through our brains, when we should first hit the filter: is it true? Is it helpful? Is it kind? If the answer is not “yes” to all three, then don’t say it. 

21 These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I [that the I AM] was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.

Lying, stealing, adultery, slander -- these things you have done, and God has seemed to have been silent about it up to this point. This led you to assume that God was okay with it, that he was just like you. If the consequences weren’t forthcoming, perhaps God didn’t mind some illicit behavior. Perhaps he wasn’t as holy as you thought. But now God’s voice has pierced the silence and the verdict has been spoken. The text unveils the central truth that has dogged mankind from the beginning. We have created God in our own image. We have made assumptions about him that are not worthy of him. He made us in his image, and we returned the favor, creating a god that only exists in our imagination, a god whose character and actions we control in our favor. This is the essence of idolatry and a violation of the first commandments -- have no gods before me and make no images of me. It is common today to project our ideas about God as if they were reality. There are plenty of errors on both the left and the right. Those on the left think of God as affirming of everything they affirm. He’s on their side, supporting the cause of justice and sexual liberation in the name of love. Conservatives see God as a judge and moral authority and themselves as better than others because they’ve done a better job of pleasing him, easily slipping into a works righteousness and pride. The temptation to make God in our image is a real and constant threat, often hidden to us. Our understanding of God must be informed by scripture, by an openness to having our assumptions challenged by the text. Our sinful nature is going to be pushing us to conceive of God in a way that is favorable to us, so that we’re on his side (or better yet, He is on ours). The thing about creating your own God is that such a god is not real and therefore has no power. He cannot disagree with you and thus He cannot change you. God shatters our idol with his voice, his rebuke. It is his word that calls us to worship him in spirit and in truth. Truth matters. Reality matters. Make God in your image and you are going to be fighting against reality, and that is a losing battle. 

22 “Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!

23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”

This is the first time we hear language like this in the Psalms describing God’s actions. Usually it is the animal-like enemies of the psalmist who are threatening to tear him apart. And then at times the psalmist calls upon God to tear apart his enemies. But here, God is threatening to dismember his own covenant people. This is possibly an example of zoomorphism, portraying God as an animal, in this case, a predator like a lion. While it is usually the enemy that is seen as a lion, in this case, it is God himself. Of course Jesus is identified as the Lion of Judah in the book of Revelation. This is a sobering judgment upon God’s people. While they may be chosen and recipients of the unmerited favor of God, their position is to some extent dependent on their response. There seems to be this paradox in theology where we are both saved by grace and yet we can fall from grace. Hebrews 10, among other places makes this case. “Forgetting God” suggests that at one time the people “remembered Him”. They have tasted the goodness of God (Psalm 34:8) and have chosen to reject him in favor of gods of their own making. If they remain in this condition there is no hope of salvation. Alternatively, the one who worships with thanksgiving and orders his way rightly will see the salvation of God. Once again we see two requirements for salvation: a thankful heart and an obedient life. To say that we are saved by our obedience is not accurate, but rather, we obey because we are saved. We order our lives rightly out of gratitude for the good grace of God. In doing so, we experience salvation. The Hebrew word for salvation is yeshua, and so this final verse points us to the literal salvation of God: Jesus. The salvation of God is not a concept or theological principle. Salvation is a person. In Hebrews 2:10 we’re told that God made the author of our salvation perfect through suffering. Jesus entered into our world, experienced our suffering and took it all upon himself. This is how God saves us, by suffering with us. If we worship him and order our lives in his ways, we will experience that kind of salvation. God will be present with us in our suffering and in our joy. We know this because of Jesus, the salvation of God.