Sermon – Psalm 50 – God Speaks

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Sermon – Psalm 50 – God Speaks

August 11, 2013

I am continuing today with my summer series drawn from the Book of Psalms. This wonderful book is the favorite of many Christians. It contains prayers and songs, and expresses our deepest emotions. Jesus loved the Psalms and ofter taught from them. And so it is very appropriate that we take an extended look and this important book in the Bible. Today we will turn to Psalm 50. This psalm tells us about a theophany, an appearance of God on Earth. In this case we see God come as the judge and all creation is called as a witness. We will get to this, but first let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Psalm 50:1-23 ^NIV Psalm 50:1 A psalm of Asaph. The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets. ² From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. ³ Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages. ⁴ He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people: ⁵ "Gather to me my consecrated ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice." ⁶ And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for God himself is judge.

The image we have here is a courtroom. We all know about courtrooms. If you are my age you remember Perry Mason. Younger people will think of Law and Order. And some of you have served on juries, or possibly were judged yourselves. The courtroom here is in Jerusalem and God is the judge. A summons has gone out to all people on earth to come to Jerusalem and appear before God. All of creation will be called as witnesses for the prosecution. God's courtroom is not the mahogany paneled room we see on TV. Before god is the refiners fire. Around him is a great storm which reminds of the scene when Moses went up Mt. Horeb to get God's law. Now God has returned to see if that law has been kept.

God opens our trial by speaking.

⁷ "Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God. ⁸ I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. ⁹ I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, ¹⁰ for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. ¹¹ I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine. ¹² If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. ¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? ¹⁴ Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, ¹⁵ and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me."

God's first concern is with our worship. Worship had become empty and devoid of meaning. People would bring their offerings and say their prayers, but there was no sense of them coming into the presence of God to account for their actions. They thought that they could go though the motions of worship, and that would be enough. But it's not. God wants more than worship. He wants us to fulfill our promises. You see we have a contract or a covenant with God. God promises to bless us richly with land, and sunshine, and rain so that we can be fruitful and multiply. God gives us everything we need for life. And all he wants in return is our obedience. We can't get away with worshiping on Sunday and then disobeying God the rest of the week. We must obey God during the week and then on Sunday come here to thank God for all our blessings. Then when the day comes and we really need God, he will be there when we call on him in prayer.

So God is concerned about empty worship coming on the heals of disobedience. So what is it that we do, or do not do that has brought us before God for judgment. Listen to God and the charges against us.

¹⁶ But to the wicked, God says: "What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips? ¹⁷ You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you. ¹⁸ When you see a thief, you join with him; you throw in your lot with adulterers. ¹⁹ You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit. ²⁰ You speak continually against your brother and slander your own mother's son. ²¹ These things you have done and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you. But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face.

Well, there is the indictment. We have been accused not just of taking what does not belong to us, but also in joining with other thieves to steal. Not many of us are burglars, entering homes to steal what is not ours. But we have more subtle ways of getting what we want. We know how to cheat the system and take advantage of others for our own gain. We do this again and again all week long and then we come to church on Sundays. God wants an explanation.

But that's not all. God is concerned about the adulterers. God has blessed us with the covenant of marriage where three persons, the couple and God, promise their love and faithfulness for each other. Adultery is the sin that causes these promises to be broken. And yet we do it, or enable others to do it. And the result is broken marriages and broken lives. We do this again and again all week long and then we come to church on Sundays. God wants an explanation.

But our disobedience goes on. God has blessed us with tongues and the ability to communicate. This blessing allows us to trust God and others when they speak. All he asks is that we always speak the truth. But we don't. We might not tell bald faced lies, but we do shade the truth a little and spin it for our benefit. As a result trust is lost and relationships are broken. We do this again and again all week long and then we come to church on Sundays. God wants an explanation.

But there is even more disobedience that we are accused of. God has blessed us with friends and families. This allows us to live in community. All God asks is that we speak the truth in love to one another. But we don't. We gossip all the time, even in church. If we hear a bad story about someone we repeat it, even if it is not true. As a result friendships are broken and people hate each other. We do this again and again all week long and then we come to church on Sundays. God wants an explanation.

There is a rumor going around that a prominent pastor is having an affair. This pastor is a friend of mind and I do not know if this rumor is true or not. I heard this rumor because someone told it to a friend, he told it to his wife, the wife told it to her sister, her sister called her cousin, and the cousin told me. And so we have a possible adultery, possible lying, and obvious gossip.

God has heard all the evidence and is ready to pass judgment. Listen carefully to what he says.

²² "Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue: ²³ He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God."

You have been ordered by God to come on Sunday mornings filled with thanksgiving for all the blessing you have received. Do this and there will be no punishment. Come to worship thanking God for your spouse and your families and your friends. Realize that these are all blessings from God. And throughout the week don't mess up these relationships by lying or stealing or cheating or gossiping. This is the Word of God. Thanks be to God. Let us pray.

We come to you O Lord thankful for all your blessings. We confess that we have messed things up with our sin. We repent and ask forgiveness in the of Jesus Christ, our savior. Amen.