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Psalm 50

The Folly of Formalistic Worship

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A psalm by Asaph.[a]

The Summons

God, God the Lord, has spoken.
He calls to the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
From Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined.
Our God comes and he will not be silent.
Fire devours in front of him.
Around him a storm rages.
He calls to the heavens above and to the earth
    to judge his people.
“Gather to me my favored ones,
who make a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
So the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
    because God himself is judge. Interlude

The Lord’s Charges Against Them

Listen, my people, and let me speak, O Israel.
Then I will testify against you:
I am God, your God.

Hypocritical Sacrifices Are Useless

It is not because of your sacrifices that I rebuke you
or because of your burnt offerings that are always in front of me.
I do not need to take a bull from your barn
    or goats from your pens,
10 because every animal in the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand mountains.
11 I know every bird in the mountains,
and everything that moves in the field is with me.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
because the world is mine, and all that fills it.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls,
or do I drink the blood of goats?

Sincere Sacrifices Bring Blessing

14 Sacrifice a thank offering to God,
and fulfill your vows to the Most High.
15 Call on me in the day of distress.
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.

Treacherous Deeds Bring Destruction

16 But to the wicked, God says:
What right do you have to recite my statutes
or to take up my covenant with your mouth?
17 As for you—you hate discipline,
and you throw my words behind your back.
18 If you see a thief, you approve of him,
and you cast your lot with adulterers.
19 You devote your mouth to evil,
and your tongue weaves deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother.
You slander your own mother’s son.

The Verdict

21 These things you have done, and I kept silent.
You thought I was just like you.
I will indict you and accuse you to your face.
22 Now consider this, you who forget God,
or I will tear you to pieces,
and there will be no one to rescue you.

The Way to Escape

23 The one who sacrifices a thank offering honors me,
and he sets up the way by which I will show him the salvation of God.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 50:1 Asaph, a leading musician, was a contemporary of David.