Psalm 50

Personal Observations:

This is a psalm of Asaph

v. 1, YHWH spoken word has cosmic power (earth, sun movement)

v. 2, Through the standard of beauty, Zion, is where God has revealed Himself

v. 3, May God come and not be silent; He is not a safe God (fire devours before Him and His presence bring about a storm)

v. 4, His creation stands as a judge against His people

v. 5, God speaks, He calls His people to Him

v. 6, The Heavens declare His righteousness; He is a judge

v. 7, God call His people to hear as He speaks; He will testify against them; He not only declares He is God, but He is their God

v. 8-15, He addresses their sacrificing, His no need of it, His possession over everything regardless of what they sacrifice; why is this all significant?

v. 16, Next God changes His sights to the wicked; it appears to be the wicked of His people

v. 17-20, God’s wrath rages against these people who hate discipline, disregard God’s word, approve of thieves and adulterers, evil in their mouths, tongue frames deceit, they speak evil and slander against their own brothers, their own people

v. 21, They mistook God’s silence for God’s approval of sin, but God will correct them and bring forth their wrong before their very eyes.

v. 22, God issues a warning; those who forget God will be torn apart with no hope of salvation

v. 23, Those who follow God, sacrificing to Him honor Him and those who direct their way to God’s will be shown salvation

(Cut and Paste observations to points of discussion when beginning outline)

Subject: What am I talking about?

ex. “Why is unity central to the Church?”

Complement: What exactly am I saying about what I’m talking about?

ex. Spiritual unity in the Church is a reflection of the oneness spread into every facet of the relationship between God and His people.

The Big Idea:

ex. Spiritual unity is central to the Church because it is a reflection of God’s relationship with His People.

Prayer Requests & Praise Reports

Read Passage

Intro:

The psalm is divided into three sections: (1) an introduction in which Yahweh appears to judge his people (50:1–6), an accusing speech to the people relying more on sacrifice than God (50:7–15), and a harsh condemnation of the “wicked,” who forget God but who are nevertheless called to return to covenant faithfulness (50:16–23).

Asaph is the chief of the Levitical singers (along with Heman and Jeduthun) mentioned in as being put in charge of the “service of song” in the Jerusalem temple and in 16:1–4 as being appointed to “minister before the ark of the Lord, to make petition, to give thanks, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel” (16:4).

In this powerful psalm the imagined scene is a theophany, God appearing in fire and tempest at mount Zion to summon the entire world to his judgment seat. But if all eyes are on him, his eyes are on Israel. The whole psalm is addressed to the covenant-people, speaking first to the unthinkingly religious, and then to the hardened and hypocritical, to bring them a sharp breath of reality. It is the message which the prophets and finally Jesus had to put to a people that had forgotten that its dealings were with the living God.

Wilson, G. H. (2002). Psalms (Vol. 1, p. 759). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Kidner, D. (1973). : an introduction and commentary (Vol. 15, p. 203). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Point 1 (v. 1-6)

Point 2 (v. 7-15)

The Calling (v. 1-6)

Point 3 (v. 16-23)

God Over Sacrifice (v. 7-15)

Return to the Covenant (v. 16-23)

The Calling (v. 1-6)

This is a psalm of Asaph

v. 1, YHWH spoken word has cosmic power (earth, sun movement)

v. 2, Through the standard of beauty, Zion, is where God has revealed Himself

v. 3, May God come and not be silent; He is not a safe God (fire devours before Him and His presence bring about a storm)

v. 4, His creation stands as a judge against His people

v. 5, God speaks, He calls His people to Him

v. 6, The Heavens declare His righteousness; He is a judge

God calls creation, heaven and earth, to witness His judgment upon His people; not to pass a sentence, but to bring truth to light and sinners to repentance.

What’s the Main Point?

God calls creation, heaven and earth, to witness His judgment upon His people; not to pass a sentence, but to bring truth to light and sinners to repentance.

God Over Sacrifice (v. 7-15)

v. 7, God call His people to hear as He speaks; He will testify against them; He not only declares He is God, but He is their God

v. 8-15, He addresses their sacrificing, His no need of it, His possession over everything regardless of what they sacrifice; why is this all significant?

Mindless religion

Verses 8ff., by their very reassurances, give a more damning picture of mindless religion than would any accusation.

Kidner, D. (1973). : an introduction and commentary (Vol. 15, pp. 204–205). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

There is this idea that God is being done a favor with these sacrifices

What caricature of God does Israel picture to itself? Is he a celestial ‘poor relation’, grasping, dependent and reproachful? And why, at the first sign of his displeasure (7), do their thoughts fly to points of ritual, not of relationship? Verses 14f. are equally revealing, by their implication of prayers and promises made in adversity and forgotten in prosperity.

But the truth is meant to heal, not only to convict. The speech has opened (7) with reminders of the covenant (my people … your God) in words that recall both the Shema (‘Hear, O Israel …’, .) and the Decalogue (.); and it presents God as the great Provider (cf. 11 with ; ) and great Deliverer (15), who looks for the warm response of gratitude and trust. These are the sacrifices (cf. ; ) and this is the glory—not pomp but love—which he most desires.

What’s the Main Point?

God is not some trite deity whining about “not good enough sacrifices”; He is GOD, YHWH, KING of kings and LORD of lords. Nothing less than true worship is worthy of His joy. Sacrifice given in love over ritual obligation is pleasing to God.

Return to the Covenant/Conclusion (v. 16-23)

v. 16, Next God changes His sights to the wicked; it appears to be the wicked of His people

v. 17-20, God’s wrath rages against these people who hate discipline, disregard God’s word, approve of thieves and adulterers, evil in their mouths, tongue frames deceit, they speak evil and slander against their own brothers, their own people

v. 21, They mistook God’s silence for God’s approval of sin, but God will correct them and bring forth their wrong before their very eyes.

v. 22, God issues a warning; those who forget God will be torn apart with no hope of salvation

v. 23, Those who follow God, sacrificing to Him honor Him and those who direct their way to God’s will be shown salvation

These men are not the heathen but the nominally orthodox, those who combine ‘wickedness and worship’; it’s cultural Christianity as we would understand it of the Old Testament, cultural Judaism.

What’s the Main Point?

The call for repentance, whether in motive or action and motive, is upon both groups mentioned

The Big Idea:

This situation is not so alien to us, especially when we look out our own Christianity as presented in America. God does not call people to worship Him idly, but to love Him with heart, soul, and mind.