Seeing Jesus in Psalm 50

 Psalm 50

The real God, the only real God doesn’t need anything from us. He does not need us to feed Him. He does not need us to sacrifice to Him. It is not because He lacks something that we offer a sacrifice. God owns everything. Everything is already all His possession. And as the owner of all things, He is calling all things to account. He is evaluating all His possessions. All people have been summoned and all things will be judged v.4. And while God is assessing all that is His, He will bring out His prized possession, and before all creation He calls all creation, everything in heaven and earth to be present as witnesses for His judgement of His people. 

Judgement is not always a negative word. If a young person who has raised a calf brings it to the county fair, they are hoping that the judge will notice all the fine qualities they have nurtured and developed in the fine animal they bring to be evaluated by the judge. A young person who knows their stuff will notice if the judge misses the strongest characteristics. Imagine a person who has brought a painting they purchased at a secondhand shop to the Antiques Road Show in England. They bought the painting because they recognised qualities of artistry that were pleasing to the eye. And the expert evaluator begins to notice many characteristics of a very fine and valued work of art and then sees a somewhat hidden signature on the painting unnoticed by the purchaser. They will be thrilled to have their painting judged as authentic and of great value. Or will they be disappointed to have it be found to be a cheap fraud, a knock off of the real thing. Still, better to know the truth rather than be deceived by a charlatan. I love it when something of great value that's been hidden and unappreciated is brought to light and given honour. (v.23)

Then let the heavens proclaim his justice, for God himself will be the judge.

Interlude

Psalm 50:6

MAIN POINT: God doesn’t need me, He doesn’t need anything from me. What God wants from me is repentance and thankfulness; these two will lead me to God's salvation.

1. I can't give God anything that isn't already His.

1. “...all the world is mine and everything in it.” v.12b

2. My body is His, my heart is His, my attention and love are rightfully His, my time is His, my money is His, my children are His, my wife is His, I have nothing to give God that He isn’t already the rightful owner of and is due.

2. God has charges against His possession. 

1. Have you ever borrowed something? Have you returned it in worse condition than you received it? Was your usage more than the normal wear and tear of life? Did you apologise for not caring for someone else's possessions with less care than you would want people to treat your possessions? You have nothing that isn’t God’s. Your body, your mind, our family, your friends, your home and your job are all God’s possessions. All these things were made by Him to glorify Him. Imagine a small child one evening sneaking into her much older sister’s room and taking her wedding dress the night before the wedding and then playing outside in it in the mud puddles and all through the family farm holding all the baby animals and mucking around through the tractor shed. The wedding dress will not be fit for purpose the following morning.

2. “O my people, listen as I speak. Here are my charges against you, O Israel: I am God, your God!” v.6

16….“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.

20You 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.

3. God gives us troubles and discipline so we will give Him glory.

1. v.15 “Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.”

2. v.17 “...For you refuse my discipline” 

1. What discipline is God giving me that I am refusing?

2. What discipline from God am I trying to pray away?

3. What discipline from God is teaching me obedience, saving me, showing me the path of salvation and making me like Jesus?

3. God delights in being your hero and showing everyone else that He does things no human could imagine. In what areas of your life have you left God-sized holes so that God swoops in and shows His unparalleled power and glory?

4. Can I be thankful for pain? Problems? Troubles that require God’s help? Am I grateful for His discipline? vv.22-23

Conclusion: God doesn’t need me, but I need God. All that I have and all that I am is His and is made to showcase His workmanship. If I don’t let God chip away what isn’t in His design and if I fail to recognise His work in all things I will miss His way of salvation. I must consider what charges laid against God’s people fit me and submit to having these things removed so that I thankfully display the ways and works of God to a watching creation.

When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” Mark 2:17

Handwritten Psalm 50