Monday, May 11, 2009
Sorry for the EXTREMELY LATE post on Psalm 50.
Yeap, the psalm that begins the sharing of our faith in blogs :D
So for those of you who don't bother scrolling down to read the psalm here it is again...:
SERVE GOD WITH A SINCERE HEART
1 The God of gods, the Lord has spoken,
he summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 God has shone from Zion, perfect in beauty.
3 God is no longer silent, he comes;
before him is a devouring fire,
around him a raging storm.
4 He calls to the heavens above,
and to the earth below,
that he may judge his people.
5 "Gather before my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice."
6 The heavens will proclaim his sentence,
for God himself is the judge.
7 "Hear, O my people, for I am speaking.
I will accuse you, O Israel,
I am God, Your God!
8 Not for your sacrifices do I reprove you,
for your burnt offerings are ever before me.
9 I need no bull from your stalls,
nor he-goat from your pens.
10 For I own all the beasts of the forest
and the animals of my thousand hills.
11 All the birds of the air I know;
all that move in the fields are mine.
12 I need not tell you if I were hungry.
for mine is the world and all that it contains.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Yet offer to God a sacrifice of thanks,
and fulfill your vows to the Most High,
15 Call on me in time of calamity;
I will deliver you, and you will glorify me."
16 But God says this to the wicked;
"What right have you to mouth my laws,
or to talk about my covenant?
17 You hate my commands
and cast my words behind you.
18 You join a thief when you meet one;
you keep company with adulterers,
19 You have a mouth of evil
and a deceitful tongue.
20 You speak ill of your brother,
and slander your own mother's son.
21 Because I was silent while you did these things,
you thought I was like you.
But now I rebuke you
and make this charge against you.
22 Give this a thought, you who forget God,
lest I tear you to pieces with no one to help you.
23 Those who give with thanks offerings honor me,
but the one who walks blamelessly,
I will show him the salvation of God."
For me, this psalm is based on the revealation of the glory and might of God. As he was quiet for a long time, he chooses to take action then and presents himself in a majestic way. :).
To the righteous and upright (referred to as the Israelites in the Psalm), he will deliver them from their labour and in turn, they will praise Him for what He has done for them.
God does not want sacrifices or burnt offering, but He wants His people to walk in the straight path, every single each and every one of us and along the path He will always be there to guide us so that we won't stray from the path =D
In contrast to this however, God speaks up to the wicked and the deceitful ones. He questions them, asking them by what right do they have to speak of the commandments when they do not put it into practice at all.
BUT, he then promises that His people, the ones that remained upright, righteous and faithful, will receive salvation, one of the blessings He would bestow upon them.
:3
8:18 AM