To Praise Him
Psalm 50: 1-23
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A PRESBYTERIAN PSALTER - by Pastor Max A Forsythe |
Years ago, I bought a brand new mini-pickup and drove it until it rusted through. Towards the end of its usable lifespan, it stranded me a few miles from home. I walked towards home and one of the neighbors saw me and picked me up. When I described the problem, he stopped to pick up some tools and drove me back to where my Orange Blossom Special, as the boys called it, was stalled in the ditch. He found water out of the carburetor and showed me how to drain it out. We drained almost a whole pint! The truck started and ran a mile, not quite home. Again, we drained out some water. I was able to get to a mechanic who removed the water from the system. I was okay for a day or so. Then it rained again and then truck sat useless, flooded with water again. I finally learned that what we needed was a new gas tank
You know, when the Lord talks about putting a new heart into man, it must be something like putting a new gas tank into that truck! It is indeed frustrating. How one little mechanical problem could make life so very interesting. In such a way, perhaps, the Lord may view our own particular progress in sanctification. Extremely frustrating! After all, we are indeed imperfect in our Christian life, witness and worship on a regular basis.
Yet, God is patient. Let us look to Psalm Fifty for how God deals with all of us who regularly frustrate Him! In the first six verses, our "Mighty One, God, the Lord" summons the whole earth to hear Him. His saints are to be gathered to hear His word. Those who have covenanted with Him are to be called.
The next two sections are God's word for two groups within the Church assembled. The word here will suffice to divide the people according to their heartfelt understanding of worship. In verses seven to fifteen, God declares the nature of worship that He expects from His church. Notice that mere external worship without spiritual faith is declared futile. He does not question the regular maintenance of worship. He is concerned with our inner attitudes. In verse nine we see that He is not pleased when people consider their act of sacrifice of worldly goods to be true worship. He explains that He has no need for what little His worshipers can sacrifice since He has the countless cattle of a thousand hills.
No, he has no need for the worldly elements that we are willing and able to lay upon His altar. I am reminded of a pet cat we once had who went hunting on a regular basis. One day she was meowing out on the porch for attention. When I looked out, there she was with a mouse offering for us. Sherry wasn't happy with that dead critter on the porch, so I had to persuade little B.C. that her gift wasn't necessary. I threw it out in the field three times before she stopped bringing it back. So in a similar vein do we stand before the God of heaven. Nothing that we have will ever suffice to impress the owner of the Cattle on a thousand hills.
What He desires is more clearly stated in the King James in verse fourteen. "Offer unto God thanksgiving." As we were told when we were small, it is not the gift, but the thought that counts! What we mean here is that we should never consider our gifts pleasing in and of themselves. What is important is the spirit in which we give.
In the third section of the Psalm (16-21) God turns His attention to the wicked, who shall have a word from Him. These are the people who hear His word and yet fail to even attempt to implement it within their lives. The ungodly are clearly accused of going along with the world when they had had clear teachings to live otherwise. And yet, in verse twenty-two He is willing to still give them warning. His patience is not yet ended.
Remember, how I started by talking about my temperamental truck. I was not quite ready to trade it in, it got another chance. But, my patience was not unlimited. Even with a hastily repaired gas tank, it was still a run down rattle trap. Neither is the Lord's patience unlimited. In verse twenty-two even the vilest sinner is called to reason with the Lord. There is an invitation with a serious reminder. In the last verse is His instruction for us. As the King James' translators have it, "Who so offereth praise glorifieth me:". This is what we must learn from this psalm that we owe Him praise. We owe Him worship as well.
Of course, in our fallen world we can wrongly apply the flattery that is common to success in our temporal organizations to our God. Look back at verse twenty-one "You thought that I was altogether like you"!
Like Cain we cannot take what we have learned and grown in the world and make that acceptable to the Lord our God. No indeed, we must offer Him the praise and gifts that are appropriate. The praise in question is like the praise that people use when they describe something or someone they really care for.
A young man with a "new" car:
"Isn't it beautiful!"
A shepard with a new baby lamb:
"Isn't he cute!"
A mother with a new baby:
"Isn't she just wonderful!"
A grandma with her grand children's brag book:
"Aren't they all great!"
And even a cat with a dead mouse:
"Meow!"
That is what we must learn to give to Him. Heartfelt praise for who He is and what He has done for us. And look at the promise in the last part of the last verse. What is the purpose of our praise, so that He may show us salvation of His very own giving. Now there is a free gift of grace far beyond what we in all of our thousands and ten thousands could never ever equal even if we had a thousand years to give all that we have and could produce. Let us praise Him with hearts filled with gratitude and let us pray that those we love might have the new heart promised for all those whom our Father is calling into His Church family. Amen.
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Resources Used: |
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Kidner, Derek. |
Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Psalms. | |
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Spurgeon, C.H. |
The Treasury of David. | |
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The Holy
Bible, New King James
Version. | ||
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Psm 050a |
19 December 99 | |