Psalm 50 - True Worship
Well this morning we continue on our sermon series to the Book of Psalms like we do in the summer today looking at some 50 worship that glorifies God. This is an interesting song for many reasons. One of the reasons. It's interesting is because the bulk of the content in Psalm 50 is God bringing a charge against those people who are worshipping him is Covenant Community. We don't have songs like that. We don't have songs that we sing the majority of the lyrics that are bringing charges against us and you this is a song for God's covenant Community to worship him. And so it's an interesting thing. It's so we're going to look at it this morning as we look at it. I want you to have in your mind's the main idea of this passage, which I would articulate this way. God desires demands and deserves sincere worship. God desires demands and deserve sincere worship. Therefore. I worship should not be formalistic or hypocritical and we'll flush that out as we go forward, but courage you to join with me and reading Psalm 50 open up your Bible to turn on your devices. And let's look at God's word Psalm 50 a Psalm of asaph. The mighty one God the Lord speaks and summons the Earth from the rising of the sun to its setting out of Zion the Perfection of beauty God shines forth. Our God comes he does not keep silence before him as a devouring fire around him a mighty Tempest. He calls to the heavens above and to the Earth that he may judge his people gather to me my faithful ones who made a covenant with me by sacrifice the heavens declare his righteousness for God himself is Judge here all my people and I will speak o Israel. I will testify against you. I am God your God not for your sacrifices. Do I rebuke you your burnt offerings are continually before me I will not acceptable from your house or goats from your fools for every beast of the forest is mine the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills and all that moves in the field. Is mine if I were hungry, I would not tell you for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the Flesh of balls or drink the blood of goats offer to God a sacrifice of Thanksgiving and perform your vows to the most high and call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you and you shall glorify me. Which of the wicked God says what right have you to recite my statues and take my Covenant on your lips for you hate disappointing you cast my words behind you. If you see a thief you're pleased with him and you keep company with adulterers you give your mouth free rein for evil and your tongue frames to seat you sit and speak against your brother you slander your own mother son these things you have done and I have been silent you thought that I was one like yourself, but now I rebuke you and I lay the charge before you mark this then you who forget God lest. I tear you apart and there be none to deliver the one who offers Thanksgiving as a sacrifice glorifies me to one who orders his way. Rightly. I will show the salvation of god. Let's pray.
Father God we thank you for your word. We confess this morning that you are worthy of praise and that we are obligated to glorify you because you are a great and awesome God. Father God we would ask you to help us this morning as we consider song 50 as we consider the charge that you bring against your Covenant Community. We would ask that you by your spirit would convict us. four ways in which we are guilty of what you charge your Covenant Community with I pray you would open our eyes and two ways in which perhaps we worship. That aren't glorifying to you. Father God will you help us to understand their minds and our brace with our hearts Your Truth this morning knowing that as we do so we will be conformed to the image of your son and we desire that greatly father God for Jesus our savior and beautiful and he is glorious and we desire to be like him. Father God, would you help me to Proclaim your word accurately? faithfully and hopefully and I pray you would help us to see Jesus is in his name. We pray. Amen.
And this song from the psalmist for claims and image to us that pictures a courtroom. And pictures charges being laid out. The psalmist begins this song by introducing those who are present in this courtroom drama. We see a court clerk and witnesses to the proceedings and defendants and a judge. Anna versus 123 God is introduced by the psalmist with a cluster of majestic titles that recognized him as the Covenant God of Israel. Mighty one God Yahweh. Let me see God acting as an AR words, perhaps the court clerk or maybe the bailiff as he summons people to court and notifies the world that court is in session. The witnesses to this Covenant lawsuit of the inhabitants of the whole earth. There is a global audience for the charges that God brings. Listen to Kate's the magnitude of the proceedings. It indicates that they are serious and it has a sense of it being an ominous what will happen. God is further described with what one commentator calls Epiphany language. And Epiphany in terms of God's word is when in the Old Testament God would make himself physically present to his people that was called in Epiphany and a song that uses Epiphany language uses languages uses language that would remind the Israelites of God's presence. Now these the scriptures highlight two aspects of God's nature and God's work his work of Illumination and his work of purification of his people. So we see God shining for incoming is a devouring fire. The light of his presence is to expose sin and the devouring fire of his Holiness will purify the sin that is exposed. We also have storm and imagery clouds and lightning and thunder which would further call to remembrance to the Jews God's work on Mount Sinai and what you came in the fire in the clouds, and it was Thunder. The Mount Sinai is where God dealt with the sin of his people and so sin is a significant issue in this song and God brings charges against his people. How much does 426 all of Heaven and Earth are called on to witness? The number told you the defendants are have been accused. They are introduced as God's faithful ones who made a covenant with God it is a Covenant Community God's families have been charged in this courtroom drama.
Majestic titles that the song began with which might seem over-the-top for one who is simply playing the role of a court clerk or a bailiff. They always said make sense says God is explicitly introduced as the judge. So the scene has been said in the song the legal proceedings will commence and there are two indictments which God brings forth against his people. And so that's what we're going to consider this morning these indictments not as we look at these indictments, they both follow a similar form. That is God sets forth the charges against his people and then God gives evidence to support the charge. And then there's an indication of the wrong assumptions or thinking on behalf of God's people. And then God brings correction to those who he is accused and it's finished with a promise delivered by God that judge. So let's look at the first indictment verses 7 through 15 the first charge against God's covenant people is one alleging shallow and empty formalism in the worship. Now for some is worship that is pretentious or disingenuous yet has a strong attachment and focus on the external forms and observances. It's making a big deal about the actions you taken worship. But having a mind and a heart that is disconnected from that's formalism. Making a big deal about the forms of worship of being detached from it enough hard and the mind. Know the seriousness of these charges are conveyed with forceful. I will statements God the judge says I will speak. Oh Israel. I will testify against you and then versus 80% evidence. Diffuser light Syracuse, but they're not accused because of their actions. In fact God the judge approves of their actions, not for your sacrifices. Do I rebuke you? You are doing what you have been commanded to do those forms of worship those actions that you take I have commanded you to do them. That's not the problem here. Continually bringing sacrifices before God is what he had told them to do is how his long lays it out for them? They were doing the right thing, but they were what we'll see is that they were doing them for the wrong reasons. So the rest of the evidence that God puts out in regards to the charges is seen in the wrong assumptions that people make sure they were all about the forms of worship but not about the Heart of Worship. We see this in verses 9 through 13. We see that the Israelites make to wrong assumptions about God which indicate the internal transgression, even though externally they were being obedient. The first wrong assumption is that the Israelites assumed that they themselves were the true owners of the sacrifices? They were bringing. An Israelite would say this is my bowl that I am bringing to give to God. This is my goat that I am giving as a sacrifice to God. No, second wrong assumption was that God actually needed them to do this.
They needed to understand it. So God reminds them that all creatures belong to God for every beast of the forest is mine the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills and all the moves in the field is mine. They need to understand that and giving sacrifices. They were only giving back to God a portion of it was truly is.
They also needed to know that God didn't need this provision. If I were hungry, I would not tell you for the world and its fullness or mine. Do I eat the Flesh of balls or drink the blood of goats? This is a rebuke there a function that God was needy the God was like the pagan gods of all the many nations surrounding them seeing those Nations feeding. The gods was a pagan Approach To Worship. It treats the gods as if they're like humans who need to be fed and water. This is an absurd idea. That's not what God is like. Other forms of worship were fine. They were being obedient terms of how they were practicing their worship. A God's people were worshipping with ideas that were sinful. But God was needy that he needed humans to help him. That's what they were bringing to sacrifice was truly there is and not his externally they appeared faithful but because of the wrong thoughts and motivations the accusation in the charge of formulas of formalism sticks and so God brings correction vs. 14 and fifty He commands them to continue with the forms because offered a goddess sacrifice of Thanksgiving and perform your vows now, we read that very gently but this would have been pointing to a very specific thing 1, tier is very helpful in regards to what is this God is describing when he says offer to God a sacrifice of Thanksgiving and perform your vows of the commentary says When people receive the blessing or an answer to prayer from God they were to go to the sanctuary with a sacrifice to be offered as a peace offering celebrating the fact that they were at peace with God while the animals on the altar they were to stand there and declare what God had done for them. Then they would all eat the sacrifices a communal meal. If this was done correctly. The meaning would be clear to all they were making a sacrifice to acknowledge that they themselves had needed gone and now they were praising him for meeting that need. A parallel phrase add there to pay their vows to the most high love you instruction to pay valves could fit many occasions in this context. It has to do with offering their prey a study of the lament Psalms Orville that drink their prayers the people often valve that they would praise God once their prayers were answered. If God wanted to hear those prayers are those Praises he would have to answer the prayer. This was not seen as crass bargaining but confident faith in the cycle of prayer and praise once God answer to prayer than the worshipper was bio bound to fulfill The Vow, the praise had to be declared in the sanctuary and that meant it also had to follow the ritual of the sacrifice of praise. It was not simply praising that would correct their worship. It had to be this kind of Praise that came from a living space. See their thinking and their hearts couldn't be detached from the forms of worship that they were practicing. The correction. God brings is a they fulfilled a forms of worship. They must internally recognize that God has provided not them that God is not needy, but they are and they needed to do that and recognized with living space in their hearts. And God makes it promised. God prompt God's promises that Isis people perform the right forms of worship with sincere motivation and Orthodox believe he will deliver them and he will be glorified. I want to make one point of application in regards to this because I think most of you will have been in a place where you have recognized you are being formalistic you are practicing the forms of worship that we have and yet in your mind and your heart you're a bit detached from that. I think every one of us has experienced that we're were acting formerly, even though on our minds and our hearts. There's not a corresponding Living Faith in regards to what we're doing. I think that sort of a universal experience that we've all been through. I don't want you to make note of how we react to that. We have a tendency when we recognise formalism in our lives to blame it on the forms and reject them. So perhaps we are going to church we're going regularly. We're doing everything we should be were praying at the right time. We're singing at the right time. We're raising our hand. We're giving our offering we're listening to the sermon. We're buying our heads when it's time to pray but we notice in our own minds in our own Hearts eye Detachment from what we're actually doing that were worshipping formally but not fully with our minds and our hearts Austin what we do is we will blame the form. Oh, it's the services fault. It's the church's fault. It's the sermons fault. It's the preachers fault. It's the music's fault that I'm like this.
We blame the for there's something wrong with the form and then we reject it. Or we noticed that in our own personal lives and we get up in the morning to do our devotions and it seems kind of dry because we're just going through the motions of reading her Bible and journaling. We recognize that attachment and then we blame the form and reject. It will then I'm not doing devotions anymore, or I'm going to stop going to church.
Stop participating in life group. We need to not react and respond in that way when we recognize formalism in our lives. It's not that all the forms are always perfectly recognized or not in his problems. Sometimes go to forms, but generally speaking the problem is not with the forms. It's with our hearts. And if we blame the form and reject the form particular if that form is something God has commanded like Gathering to worship like sitting under the preaching of God's word like congregational singing together to praise him. If we reject those forms that he is giving us not only are we not going to find that sincere God glorifying worship. We want furthering our Disobedience because God has commanded those things generally speaking. The problem is not with the for the problem is with her heart. We cannot blame the form when he does not stop doing the form of God has commanded to it, but rather we need to repent of the disconnect in our hearts. I got to keep moving here. The second indictment the god brings against God's people is Cena versus 16th through 23. We see in verse 21, but now I rebuke you in and lay the charge before you got it and died in his people again. And the second charge is not the gods people are formalistic. But rather that they are hypocrites. They have a pretentious insincere posture in which they profess proper virtues beliefs and principles but their actions directly and emphatically contradict what they profess God rebukes the Hypocrites and lays the charge against them. He gives his evidence in verses 16 through 20. The formulas were following the law precisely but the Hypocrites are brazenly walking in rebellion and Disobedience to God's law. And yet they were still part of this worshiping Community God the judge offers to restore question as a rebuke. What right have you to recite my statute or take my Covenant on your lips? They were still pretending acting like they're part of the Covenant Community. The judge knows that they load and they repudiate wisdom that would help them to live obedient lives. He lays out the evidence of three particular sins participation and thievery toleration of adultery and speaking evil things and slandering God's people with their mouth. They too have assumptions about God that are not true.
He says these things you have done and I have been silent you thought I was one like yourself is he they assumed that God's patience was his permission to continue on Sunday. They also assume that God was like them that is God was a hypocrite see the the Hypocrites assumed that God was okay with their sin. He had been silent. He hadn't punished can bring judgment against them. This must mean that he's like us he speaks certain things with his mouth, but he doesn't live them in his life. There's no correspondence between what he does and what he says, both terrible assumptions about God and profoundly untrue and so God brings correction. Convert 22 got into case. His patience is not permission to send in the judgment is coming. He says Marcus then you who forget. God lest. I tear you apart and there be none to deliver that sprays tear you apart is meant for God's people think about when a predator captures pray and tears it apart to eat it. It's a pretty violent serious. Indication of judgment and I like to watch nature shows. I like to watch animals in the wild and I merely thought of two things would say would be familiar with The first was a crocodile if you ever watch a nature show a crocodile when he grabs its prey the way it tears apart is the clamp on the flash and then the alligator does was called a death roll. It spins its body around to tear their prey apart. It's not a pretty picture. Furthermore you can watch National Geographic or or other videos of predators particular the lion. And well one lion is holding the throat of the pray that it's caught that are members of The Pride come while the animal is still alive and begin to eat it tearing apart. This is a vicious picture of vicious image which God is indicating. He is not okay with sin. His patience is not permission to continue and there will be judgment calming II correction. They need to stop sinning and Order their way, right Lee. Is emphasizing the fact that obedience is required? And then a third correction, they needed to remain worshipers and bring their sacrifices and perform the rites. Interesting that the Hypocrites get a promise to in fact, they receive the same promises as the formulas God's promise. Is that as his people perform the right forms of worship with sincere motivation and Orthodox believe he will deliver them and he will be glorified. think of a Grace in that because the grace in the fact that when we worship God formalistic lie, when we go through the motions of the actions that we are rightly called to do but our heads in our hearts are detached from them. God can still look to us and say you can glorify me with your worship. Enter the hypocrite who says one thing with his mouth but lives in a way that directly contradicts what he professes who brazenly sins against God in his actions. God can still say there's a promise for you. If you will change your worship can glorify me. Such Grace there.
Two applications for the second charge the second indictment. I think one of the things this song is indicating to God's covenant people who were worshippers of him. Is that there is a progression here. That when we find ourselves worshiping in a for formalistic way. We are in danger of continuing down that path into being a hypocrite. I think there's a progression here. And so we need to be vigilant because like I said, I think we've all experienced and you may be experiencing out this morning as you came to church. Of going through the motions of the form of worship of being detached in your mind and in your heart from what you're doing. And we need to take warning when we recognize that in our lives because if we continue down that path we get to the path of the Hypocrites who is brazenly sinning against God. Who God says in that send judgment will come you'll be torn apart. So. As we think of how we apply this let's think about this when we have that sense of formalism in our lives of going through the motions. Let's be vigilant to repent of that and to ask God to change our hearts to not continue on down that path which will lead us into full-blown hypocritical live in. And it's also understand God's posture towards sin is always the same. He is never okay with it. It will bring judgment upon the sin. Even when he shows us patients. As I finish this morning here, we have this song a song about worshipping God that goes out to God's people.
A song that indicates there is a proper way to worship. There is a worship that is sincere that glorifies God and it's required by God's people and we need to ask ourselves. Where is the gospel in all of this? You see the history of the Israelites demonstrated and our lives confirm that apart from a momentous work of God in our lives. These applications are impossible. Apart from a significant intervention by God, we will constantly be more concerned with the forms of worship. Then we are about our hearts in worship. And when we do recognize formalism will blame the forms and will reject the meeting if they've been given to us by God. And we don't reject the forms, but continue with cold hearted worship. We will eventually succumb to sin and become those Hypocrites that God of horse. We need a cataclysmic nature change in work of God to help us in regards to worshipping him. The gospel is the announcement of that change. The gospel is when we hear of how God's son Jesus Christ to his life and his death and his resurrection accomplishes this exact moment his work of God by giving us a new heart. A new heart that desires to worship God the desires to worship God wholeheartedly the desires to worship god with genuine integrity.
UC While we were unbelievers and if you're here this morning or listening online in your non-believer. You need to understand that apart from God's gracious work.
true Jesus Christ Which we Avail ourselves through turning from our sin and putting our faith in Jesus apart from that momentous work. Your worship will always be formalistic and will always be hypocritical. Because without a new heart you can't worship God in a way that glorifies him. I drove your a non-believer this morning. And you've been moved by this idea of not being formalistic and not being hypocritical. You need to know this morning that apart from a new heart the desires those things. You cannot glorify God and worship and the gospel is the answer to that encourage you to turn to God. Review here as most of you are as Believers this morning. You need to recognize this morning that you have been given a new heart. So if you are worshipping formalistic lie, or if your life is the example of the hypocrite. The call that goes out to you is to repent of those things and then pray to God that he will deepen and he will expand and he will intensify the desire that he has already placed in your heart to worship him in a manner that glorifies him. Call out to God for help. If you're finding yourself formalistic this morning if some of that prick your heart. Repent of it and pray to God say God help me. I don't want to be that way. I want to be whole heartily engage with my mind and my heart as I come to worship you. And I'm not going to stop worshiping you cuz you commanded. And if you find yourself in the way of the hypocrite again, repent of your sins and ask God to show enlarged the desires of your heart that he is giving you to worship him that you have the strength to turn from that sin and glorify him and worship. Let's pray. Father God we thank you for your words. We we recognize this morning Father got a different difficult word. We for this morning 8 a song which brings charges against us. You're worshipping people. And yet we recognize this morning Father God there's truth in it. We would pray father God is your Covenant people is those who have entrusted Our Lives to Christ and availed ourselves of his work on the cross. We would ask that you would take that new heart that you have given us and you would fan the Flames so that our desire to worship and glorify you would intensify and expand. Can we get Beyond just the forms of worship that we continue to practice because you called us too and we would in our minds and our hearts be wholeheartedly engaged with glorifying you read as we walk as Hypocrites who profess one thing with our mouths, but brazenly sin against us we would ask that you would help us to repent.
Which very thing is in our heart to do and that you would help us stuff. Love you more and worship you again that you might be glorified. We ask all this in Jesus name. Amen.