God Speaks
50 A psalm of Asaph.
1 The Lord, the Mighty One, is God,
and he has spoken;
he has summoned all humanity
from where the sun rises to where it sets.
2 From Mount Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines in glorious radiance.
3 Our God approaches,
and he is not silent.
Fire devours everything in his way,
and a great storm rages around him.
4 He calls on the heavens above and earth below
to witness the judgment of his people.
5 “Bring my faithful people to me—
those who made a covenant with me by giving sacrifices.”
6 Then let the heavens proclaim his justice,
for God himself will be the judge. Interlude
7 “O my people, listen as I speak.
Here are my charges against you, O Israel:
I am God, your God!
8 I have no complaint about your sacrifices
or the burnt offerings you constantly offer.
9 But I do not need the bulls from your barns
or the goats from your pens.
10 For all the animals of the forest are mine,
and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird on the mountains,
and all the animals of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for all the world is mine and everything in it.
13 Do I eat the meat of bulls?
Do I drink the blood of goats?
14 Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God,
and keep the vows you made to the Most High.
15 Then call on me when you are in trouble,
and I will rescue you,
and you will give me glory.”
16 But God says to the wicked:
“Why bother reciting my decrees
and pretending to obey my covenant?
17 For you refuse my discipline
and treat my words like trash.
18 When you see thieves, you approve of them,
and you spend your time with adulterers.
19 Your mouth is filled with wickedness,
and your tongue is full of lies.
20 You sit around and slander your brother—
your own mother’s son.
21 While you did all this, I remained silent,
and you thought I didn’t care.
But now I will rebuke you,
listing all my charges against you.
22 Repent, all of you who forget me,
or I will tear you apart,
and no one will help you.
23 But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.
If you keep to my path,
I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”
51 For the choir director: A psalm of David, regarding the time Nathan the prophet came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
and your judgment against me is just.
5 For I was born a sinner—
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the womb,
teaching me wisdom even there.
7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again;
you have broken me—
now let me rejoice.
9 Don’t keep looking at my sins.
Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and make me willing to obey you.
13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
and they will return to you.
14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
15 Unseal my lips, O Lord,
that my mouth may praise you.
16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
You do not want a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
18 Look with favor on Zion and help her;
rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: Psalm 50 is a psalm directed at nations, large groups of people, or human beings as a whole to draw them back to God and avoid His just judgment. The true and living, almighty God calls humanity to account for their actions toward Himself. He is prefect in beauty and gloriously radiant. He calls all of His creation to witness His judgment of the people He chose to bless but who have betrayed Him with false worship. These people have outwardly worshiped with various rituals and sacrifices but have not offered what He truly desires and deserves–their honest and humbled hearts. The true sacrifice He wants and is entitled to receive involves thankfulness and gratitude for His mercy, grace, and love. People are wicked when they disobey or dismiss their solemn promises to God, while expecting Him to keep His to them. They have recited decrees without any intension of fulfilling them. They have refused discipline, while treating God’s word shamelessly. They have become thieves, adulterers, wicked ones with mouths full of lies. They slandered fellow human beings. When God was silent, they thought He didn’t care or didn’t even exist, but now God has taken charge. He is calling people to repent so that He will not have to come and tear them apart. Even now, if they truly give thanks, honor Him, and keep to His path, He will reveal Himself to them and be the God who rescues them.
Psalm 51 is the honest repentance of an individual (King David himself) that can be used as an example of how one should respond when confronted regarding one’s own sin: begin with a personal cry for mercy from the only God who is love and compassion. Acknowledge the need and ask for the blotting out, cleansing, and purifying of the sin. State whom you have truly sinned against–God Himself. Appeal to God’s nature as a righteous judge, while accepting the fact that it is one’s human nature to sin; however, God Himself came as a human being to cleanse us by His blood, to restore our joy, and to fill us with His Spirit, thus enabling us to willingly obey Him. Then the penitent will be able to lead and teach others God’s ways, to offer forgiveness to others, and to preach, praise, worship and serve God and other people properly.
Prayer: Dear Awesome Creator God, You desire and deserve honest worship, not phony ritualistic cover-up. Forgive us, LORD, not because we deserve it but because You do. True and living, almighty God, You are calling all of humanity to account for our actions toward Yourself. You are prefect in beauty and gloriously radiant. You are calling all of Your creation to witness Your judgment of the people You chose to bless but who have betrayed You with false worship. These people have outwardly worshiped with various rituals and sacrifices but have not offered what You truly desire and deserve–our honest and humbled hearts. The true sacrifice You want and are entitled to involves thankfulness and gratitude for Your mercy, grace, and love. We are wicked when we disobey or dismiss our solemn promises to You, LORD God, while expecting You to keep Yours to us. We have recited decrees without any intension of fulfilling them. We have refused discipline, while treating Your sacred words shamelessly. We have become thieves, adulterers, wicked ones with mouths full of lies. We have slandered fellow human beings. When You, God, were silent, some thought You didn’t care or didn’t even exist, but now, LORD God, You have taken charge. You are calling people to repent so that You will not have to come and tear us apart. Even now if we truly give thanks, honor You, and keep to Your path, You will reveal Yourself to us and be the God who rescues us–both corporately and individually. As an example of this type of individual honest repentance when confronted regarding my sin, I offer this prayer: I begin with a personal cry for mercy from the only God who is love and compassion. I acknowledge my need and ask for the blotting out, cleansing, and purifying of this sin in my life (be specific). I state that I have sinned against You, O God. I appeal to Your nature as a righteous judge, while accepting the fact that it is my human nature to sin; however, Jesus, You Yourself came as a human being to cleanse me by Your blood, to restore my joy, and to fill me with Holy Spirit, thus enabling me to obey the Father willingly. Now as a repentant sinner made saint, I will be able to lead and teach others God’s ways, to offer forgiveness to others, and to preach, praise, worship and serve You, LORD God, and other people properly. All for Your glory, LORD. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on one of the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will confess my personal sins to God daily, following King David’s pattern in Psalm 51.
- I will confess the sins of my people group or nation using the pattern of Psalm 50.
- I will ask God to show me who He wants me to talk with regarding both of the above, then do it.
- I will ask the Holy Spirit to empower me to lead and teach others God’s ways, to offer forgiveness to others, and to preach, praise, worship and serve God and other people properly.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.