Psalm 50 Silent No More

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How often do we wish God would speak to us directly as if we could just hear his voice over the phone? It is a common human response in times of trouble and doubt to wish that God would make his will for our lives clear. I would contend that he has done just that in the scriptures, in the Son, and by the Spirit. However, having God speak truth into our lives is not always well received. What if the truth reveals wrong thinking, speaking, or living on our part? How open are we to correction?

Psalm 50 has some very well-known verses (e.g., God’s ownership of hills full of cattle) in it, but it is really about a seemingly silent God finally telling it like it is. It is a psalm that requires the reader to sit down and buckle up for a dose of revelation about the nature of God and the appropriate response of humanity.

Today, I encourage the reader to see this psalm in light of God speaking to creation in general and to his people in particular.

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 is a devouring fire,
    around him a mighty tempest. (v.1-3)

This “devouring fire and wind imagery is used for the appearance of God’s glory many times in the OT starting with Moses in the presence of God on Sinai (Exodus 24:16-18),

The glory of the Lord dwelt on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Visions of fire and sounds of wind were not only poetic descriptions of theophany (a physical manifestation of the presence of God in a storm) but markers of God moving in a new way on behalf of his people. In the New Testament, at the birth of the church, the presence of the Holy Spirit was indicated by tongues of fire and the sound of a mighty wind (Acts 2:2-3).

While idols are mute and cannot hear or answer the prayers of those who worship them (e.g., Jer. 10:5; Rev. 9:20), the Lord hears, listens, and acts to bring deliverance. In Psalm 50 we don’t have their question and can only imply what it might have been based on the Lord’s response.

“All Rise” Calling Creation to Witness His Righteous Judgment

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! (v. 4-6)

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Judgment can be scary if we know we are guilty. I am so thankful that God is the one who sacrificed himself for us. He is the one who makes us faithful. He is the one who calls and gathers us to himself. It is time for us to stop wearing our worn-out "I can fix it" lab coats of self-sufficiency and cling to the Lord who does all things well! While God is a judge when he has to be, he is not primarily a judge, for before the fall there was nothing to judge. When God judges, it is a function of his overflowing love. We should note who is being judged here to fully understand the situation. Here, the judgment involves those who are described as “his people” and “my faithful ones.”

God’s perfect beauty shines forth (v.2). He does not keep silent (v.3). He set up the courtroom scene, as we just read when he called all of creation as witnesses and then he testified against his people (v.7). As he spoke the truth in love, he didn’t reject his people in condemnation. Rather it was more of a convicting refresher course in theology and godly living. The people fundamentally misunderstood God and their role in his kingdom. Their view of the Lord had come to be shaped more by pagan culture than by God’s word. As a result, the Lord spoke frankly, like a loving Father. In the end, what they should have been doing was easier, and more heart-based, than what they had been doing. Though written to Israelites some 3,000 years ago, there is wisdom in this passage for us as well. Here are four simple lessons we can take from this psalm.

• We need to have a right understanding of God and his motives.
• We need to be careful what we do with his words. It will impact our heart’s desires and everything that flows from them.
• We should be careful what we do with our words.
• We should take his lesson to heart and be thankful.

Okay, these lessons are more like topical folders filled with many other lessons.

 

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“I’m Not Hungry”— Clearing out the Cattle (v.9-15)

How have our false ideas about God and his motivation shaped our lives and spiritual practices? Have we elevated our sense of self-importance to think that God needs what we can provide or that by what we provide we can curry his favor? The shocking truth is that he doesn’t need us but knows that we need him. The people thought that animal sacrifices were the answer to everything, and certainly to getting what they wanted from God. Here, the Lord makes it clear that he doesn’t want or need more animal sacrifices.

  "If I were hungry,

      I would not tell you,

             for the world and its fullness are mine.

Do I eat the flesh of bulls 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." (v.12-15)

Sacrifice-loading doesn’t make God happy. It’s like he was saying, “You can’t buy me off with barbecued bulls and goats. It’s time to clear out the cattle.” The truth is, he is not so interested in our stuff...it’s all his anyway. That might be comforting to think he is not “in it for the money” but are we comforted to learn that what we thought was ours is really his?

God not only stated the problem but the solution. His people should be thankful, keep their promises, and depend on him (not their own bright ideas), and he will deliver them. We learn that, amazingly, we will glorify him by being thankful and keeping our promises.

When everything is already God's, he is not dependent upon us—a humbling thought. The sacrifices he is looking for are decidedly less messy and more relational. We are simply to offer thanks for his abundant goodness towards us, and as a result, we are to do what we say we will do, trusting him to deliver us.

Again, in this psalm, God makes it clear that He doesn't need nor want animal sacrifices...it's not like he is hungry or something, and besides everything is already his! What the Lord desires is that we are thankful for what he provides. Gratitude puts us in a position to be delivered in our time of need, and to bring glory to God.

God's faithfulness is not questioned, nor is our salvation by grace. However, thankfulness /gratitude is shown to be the appropriate way for us to draw near to God.

Throwing Out Love Letters & Casting Off Restraint

The Lord says we have no right to expect the benefits of covenant promises when we are not willing to live under the covenant (v.16). What was the most important part of the OT Covenant Law? It was the Shema (Deut. 6:4-9).

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Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The heart of the law was about loving God with one’s total being and that involved hearing and keeping (i.e., remembering and obeying) his words. But in Psalm 50 God says some should not try to invoke covenant promises for they had cast off restraint,

“For you hate discipline,
     and you cast my words behind you.” (v.17)

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This is the opposite of his words being on/in their hearts. It reminds me of the Parable of the Sower where some of the seed falls on the hardened ground of the path and the devil comes like birds and snatches it away. 

In verse 17, we see their active dismissal of precious words spoken by their loving Lord. Such a dismissal quickly led to a tragic failure of discernment and values (v.18). Similarly, what right do we have to complain about God’s “situational silence” when we have cast his written and timeless words “behind our backs”?

We’ve Been Charged—Throwing Our Words at Others

Not only had some among God’s people cast his words behind their backs, but they had also thrown their deceptive and slanderous words at each other. It is as though they had thrown the many lessons about our words/tongue from Proverbs 12 away.

“You give your mouth free rein for 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 have been silent;

you thought that I was one like yourself.

            But now I rebuke you and

     lay the charge before you." (v.19-21)

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This psalm, better known for its "cattle on a thousand hills" section also contains this rebuke. A wrong view of God leads to harmful thinking and twisted desires that overflow in our words and deeds. What comes out of our mouth? Do we support evil ideas and deceitful plans? How do we speak about others? How do we treat our families? The psalmist makes it clear that just because God doesn't immediately zap us with a lightning bolt doesn't mean he is okay with our behavior. Rather, he is patient with us, waiting for us to repent and return to him, but if we demand justice, he will bring it and who can then deliver us? I for one don't want to give God any more grounds to judge my speech (Mt. 12:36). How about you? Whatever uncleanness is in our hearts comes out through our mouths to the harm of others! God had been patiently silent, but now was making his thoughts clear. Later, in the New Testament, John instructed the church that they couldn’t say they loved God when they hated other people (1 John 4:20).

Take Care!

           The psalm wraps up quickly with a review of what is necessary to remember and allow to shape how we live our lives.

"Mark this, then, you who forget God,

lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!

The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;

to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!" (v.22-23)

In this psalm God lets us know that he doesn't need us to barbecue for him and that anything we give to him is already his, he also tells his faithful people to upgrade their worship by offering “the sacrifice of thanksgiving" and do what they have promised. Then, after warning the wicked not to fool themselves into thinking that God thinks and acts as they do, we get this verse that sternly warns the wicked to repent and develop a heart of gratitude for God's grace. Why? Because the Lord wants to show us all His salvation! When we are thankful to God, we are learning to see what he is showing us and trusting that it flows from his steadfast and eternal love for us.

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Thankful hearts will always lead us home, into the twin blessings of both humility and joy. And when we are grateful, to the LORD, we will be open to hearing what he says next. And whatever it is, he says it because he takes great care of us!

 

 

A Season of Thankfulness (Part 3)

This is Day 3 in our 5 Days of Thankful Preparation. I hope you are reading these few verses along with me! I wonder how these verses are directing your heart and attitude this week? 

If you are like so many, the stress level can rise significantly with commutes lengthened, not to mention any out-of-town travel (oops, I mentioned it—Portland International Airport expects 67,000 passengers just tomorrow!), shopping, cooking, trying to create lasting memories, etc. I can either get caught up in the madness, adding my own thrashing about to the storm, or allow the oil of gratitude to calm some of the troubled waters around me for the good of others.

My hope is that this sequenced release of verses this week will tenderize our hearts with thankfulness and re-center our view of God's loving map of our life.

With each of the following passages from the Psalms, take time to read it out loud, and then after you finish reading it, ask two simple questions…

1. How does this passage reveal God’s goodness?
2. What can I learn from this passage about my gratefulness?

Psalm 92:1-4

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, 

    to sing praises to your name, O Most High;
to declare your steadfast love in the morning,
    and your faithfulness by night,
to the music of the lute and the harp,
    to the melody of the lyre.
For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;
    at the works of your hands I sing for joy.

His goodness?

My gratefulness?

Psalm 95:1-3

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
    let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
    let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God,
    and a great King above all gods.

His goodness?

My gratefulness?

Psalm 97:11-12

Light is sown for the righteous,

    and joy for the upright in heart.

Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous,

    and give thanks to his holy name!

His goodness?

My gratefulness?

Psalm 100:3-5

Know that the Lord, he is God!

    It is he who made us, and we are his;

    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

    and his courts with praise!

    Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the Lord is good;

    his steadfast love endures forever,

    and his faithfulness to all generations.

His goodness?

My gratefulness?

Psalm 105:1-3

Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name;

    make known his deeds among the peoples!

Sing to him, sing praises to him;

    tell of all his wondrous works!

Glory in his holy name;

    let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!

His goodness?

My gratefulness?

Psalm 106:1-3

Praise the Lord!

Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

    for his steadfast love endures forever!

Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord,

    or declare all his praise?

Blessed are they who observe justice,

    who do righteousness at all times!

His goodness?

My gratefulness?

Here are just a few of my own answers to the questions asked above:

Psalm 92… Thankful living starts the day trusting in God’s love and ends it by rehearing his faithfulness throughout my day. Noticing what God does should produce joy and gladness. My thankfulness is a good response to the steadfast goodness that God shows to me.

Psalm 95... The goodness of the Lord exceeds that of anything or anyone else we might be tempted to worship. I should have a word of thankful praise on my lips when I meet God—not because he demands it, but because (1) He delivered me, and (2) I get to meet the Lord! Wow!

Psalm 97… It is the goodness of God that lightens my soul, enabling me to rejoice instead of cowering in fear at my circumstances. It is a sign that things are right in my life when I rejoice in God and am thankful for everything about him.

Psalm 100… While I may not like being compared to a sheep, God’s goodness gives me a place to belong (we are his people!) and to celebrate the gift of his steadfast love. Because God doesn’t change, he remains faithful to all generations.

Psalm 105… Gratitude is more than saying thanks in the moment of enjoyment, it involves remembrance—a calling to mind of past expressions of his goodness—and declaring them thankfully! God is not a killjoy, but rather the source of all joy!

Psalm 106… The goodness of God’s love doesn’t end, and if we had eyes to see everything he does for us, neither would we be able to express all the praise in response. One way I can show gratitude is to live justly and do what is right for all we encounter.

[This is also posted on my Our Long View blog.]

A Season of Thankfulness (Part 2)

This is Day 2 in our 5 Days of Thankful Preparation

I won’t repeat all of my introductory comments (See Part 1) but will keep it short.

My hope is that this sequenced release of verses this week will tenderize our hearts with thankfulness and re-center our view of the God-loving map of our life.

With each of the following passages from the Psalms, take time to read it out loud, and then after you finish it, ask two simple questions…

1. How does this passage reveal God’s goodness?

2. What can I learn from this passage about my gratefulness?

This is a short week, and we all have lots to do, so much that we need to be intentional about practicing our gratitude and allowing our hearts to respond to God's goodness!

Psalm 44:7-8

But you have saved us from our foes
    and have put to shame those who hate us.
In God we have boasted continually,
    and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah

His goodness?

My gratefulness?

Psalm 54:6-7

With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you;
    I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.
For he has delivered me from every trouble,
    and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.

His goodness?

My gratefulness?

Psalm 57:6-10

They set a net for my steps;

    my soul was bowed down.
They dug a pit in my way,
    but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
My heart is steadfast, O God,
    my heart is steadfast!
    I will sing and make melody!

Awake, my glory!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
    I will awake the dawn!
    I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
    I will sing praises to you among the nations.
For your steadfast love is great to the heavens,
        your faithfulness to the clouds.

His goodness?

My gratefulness?

Psalm 75:1

We give thanks to you, O God;

 we give thanks, for your name is near.
We recount your wondrous deeds.

His goodness?

My gratefulness?

Psalm 79:12-13

Return sevenfold into the lap of our neighbors

    the taunts with which they have taunted you, O Lord!

But we your people, the sheep of your pasture,

    will give thanks to you forever;

    from generation to generation we will recount your praise.

His goodness?

My gratefulness?

Psalm 86:11-13

Teach me your way, O Lord,
    that I may walk in your truth;
    unite my heart to fear your name.
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,
    and I will glorify your name forever.
For great is your steadfast love toward me;
    you have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

His goodness?

My gratefulness?

In case you are curious, here are just a few of my own answers to the questions asked above:

• Psalm 44... I can trust that his goodness will restore our reputation and deliver us from enemies, though things may get worse before they get better. Gratitude talks about what God has done more than what I have done.
• Psalm 54... The best offering is one given willingly; gratitude is no different. Just because we haven’t been at war doesn’t mean that God hasn’t delivered me. How has God given me victory recently?
• Psalm 57... He faithfully loves us to space and back…and his love changes everything! Gratitude is not shy but eager, bold, and far-reaching in a desire to share the blessing.
• Psalm 75... The name of God represents all that he is in character, power, and deeds. Our gratitude is evidence that he is near to us.
• Psalm 79... God's goodness multiplies and redirects the taunts of those who trash-talked against him. Gratitude is a wonderful inheritance to pass down to our kids and their kids.
• Psalm 86... The more we know God, the more we will respect and love him. Gratitude should be shaped by the steadfast goodness of God…wholehearted and enduring.

Psalm 9 "Just Men"

Psalm 9:1-2, 15-16, 19-20

I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High...
The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
     in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.
The Lord has made himself known; he has executed judgment;
    the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands...

Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail;

    let the nations be judged before you!

Put them in fear, O Lord!

    Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah

Comments:

This psalm is an acrostic psalm that seems to be paired with Psalm 10. It is acrostic because each four-line section starts with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This poetic and memory-aiding element does not generally come through in translation. While its poetic technique is acrostic, its style is one of praise and prayer. Psalm 9 seems more focused on praise with a little lament (think “prayer request”) thrown in, while Psalm 10 is more lament with some praise thrown in. 

In Psalm 9 we see the Lord as praiseworthy, upright and just, and enduring. We also see the opposite in the nations/wicked who are despicable, oppressive, and doomed. Do you remember the cereal commercials that touted, “Silly Rabbit, Trix are for kids!” Well, I hear a little of that taunt in the psalmist's descriptions of those who would think that praise, honor, and glory are their own possessions. Praise is for God not for men. If we need to be personally reminded with regularity that we are “but men” (v.20) how much more so for the large groups of prideful people like us that we call nations?

I was talking this week with a couple of friends about how uncomfortable it is when we are reminded that we are “just men” and our illusion that we are something more is shattered. It is painful because such revelation happens in times of weakness, failure, rejection, disappointment, and loss of situational control. However, it is out of such times of conviction that we can confess and repent (1 John 1:9) and experience the total cleansing of Christ. It is out of the crushing brokenness that we can become vessels of encouragement to others (2 Cor. 1:3-5). It is from the dark valley of our humiliation when even in our wildest imagination we can’t take credit for anything good that might happen that God can use us powerfully like he did Gideon’s remnant of 300 (Judges 7:2). In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul wrote a humbling message to the church that thought it had it all together,

For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31)

But let’s be honest, how many people would want to play the part of Wile E. Coyote?

Wile E. Coyote Explodes (Looney Tunes)

You remember who he is—the buyer of all things ACME to catch the Roadrunner but who always fell into his own trap (or had his own trap fall on him). Yet we do it all the time when we think we can manipulate and objectify others.

Psalm 9 makes it clear that the person who is unjust, unkind, and treacherous towards other people (who have been made in the image of God) will fall into their own trap (v. 15-16), and worse! So, I am thankful for those times when God reminds me that I am just a man; I don’t enjoy them, but I am thankful for the results.

In the end, God wins, and the nations that forget him shoot themselves in the knee.

 

I pray that my knees might not be locked or hyper-extended in my prideful defiance, but bent in the humility of praise and prayer. So far, the Lord has been faithful to let me know. How about you?

Psalm 138 "Whole-hearted Thankfulness"

Photo by Alex Woods on Unsplash

Psalm for Today = 138:1-3 

¹ I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
    before the gods I sing your praise;
² I bow down toward your holy temple
    and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,

    for you have exalted above all things
    your name and your word.
³ On the day I called, you answered me;
    my strength of soul you increased.

    before the gods I sing your praise;

Comments:

What a tremendous psalm of whole-hearted thanks (v.1) by David and words of his future confidence in the Lord. But what is David thankful for?

1.    God was a God of steadfast love and faithfulness (v. 2a)

2.    God had exalted the name and word of God above all things (v. 2b).

3.    God had answered David’s prayer and strengthened his soul (v. 3)

4.    The Lord, though high, regards the lowly while distancing himself from the haughty (v. 6).

5.    God preserved David’s life amid trouble (v. 7a).

6.    God opposed the wrath of David’s enemies (v. 7b)

7.    That God’s purpose for him (David) would be fulfilled (v. 8).

So, what are we wholeheartedly thankful for, or does our thankfulness not rise to such a level? I think it is possible in our affluent society to have become so acclimated to having our needs met and dwelling in relative safety that while we may have a habit of saying “thank you,” we don’t fully live lives of gratitude.

David knew what it was like to be falsely accused, hunted, and betrayed by a trusted advisor. He knew what it was like to have it all and also to have nothing. He knew what it was like to mourn the apparent death of his family after an Amalekite raid (1 Samuel 30). Yet, even then, he encouraged himself in the Lord. Thankfulness is a great way to encourage yourself in the Lord.  

I would like to borrow the age-old question, “What comes first, the chicken or the egg?” and apply it to the issue of personal gratitude. So what comes first…the thankfulness (v.1) or the strengthening of the soul (v. 3)? 

Perhaps David understood something that we don’t. While if our prayers are answered it makes it easier to be thankful, the gratitude that arises from a love relationship with the Lord will never be dependent upon our getting what we want.

Mere things cannot produce “whole-hearted” gratitude…can they?