Focus
Take a few minutes to push the “pause” button on whatever is going on around you and be still with God.
Read
Psalm 50
The Acceptable Sacrifice
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 The mighty one, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God comes and does not keep silent;
before him is a devouring fire
and a mighty tempest all around him.
4 He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge. Selah
7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9 I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
10 For every wild animal of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the air,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and all that is in it is mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and pay your vows to the Most High.
15 Call on me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?
17 For you hate discipline,
and you cast my words behind you.
18 You make friends with a thief when you see one,
and you keep company with adulterers.
19 You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your kin;
you slander your own mother’s child.
21 These things you have done, and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one just like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.
22 Mark this, then, you who forget God,
or I will tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver.
23 Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice honor me;
to those who go the right way,
I will show the salvation of God.”
Reflect
The people of Israel had grown confused in their religious practice. They believed God needed their animal sacrifices in some way. “Not so,” said the Lord. God made the point through the psalmist that all creatures already belong to him. God doesn’t need the people to “give” to him what already is his. Neither does God need their sacrifices for food. Does God eat the flesh of bulls? That’s preposterous!
God simply wants a people who give thanks, who turn to him instead of other gods in their time of trouble and who live according to God’s life-giving, just will. Animal sacrifices and religious lip service are vain attempts at appeasing God. God would rather have a grateful people who treat their neighbors like fellow children of the Almighty.
I wonder what distortions I bring to the table when it comes to practicing the faith. Do I make fruitless sacrifices of time and energy that miss what God truly wants? Do I offer fluffy prayers of praise, but fail to treat others with justice and mercy?
Thank goodness for Psalm 50 to straighten out my distorted understanding of what God wants from me.
Pray
One and only God, thank you for being clear about what you want the most. Help me to live as your grateful servant, relying on you and doing your will. Amen.
Go with God!
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