Psalm 50

Order of Service

• Scripture Reading — Psalm 50
• Sermon
• Closing Prayer

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Sermon Title: The Problem with the Covenant People

Scripture: Psalm 50

I. The Setting: God's Covenant People on Trial

A. The psalm opens with cosmic imagery echoing Mount Sinai and the original giving of the covenant (Exodus 20–24) B. The focus is not on the Gentile nations but on disobedient Israel — those who know God's word and have been specially called C. The psalm serves as an indictment against the covenant people and ultimately a call to repentance

II. First Problem: Rote Ceremony (Psalm 50:7–11)

A. Israel's sacrifices appear outwardly correct — nothing is technically outside God's law B. Yet God rejects them: he owns the cattle on a thousand hills and needs nothing from his people C. The contrast between pagan religion and Yahweh's worship

1. Pagan worship is a bottom-up approach — the worshipper sacrifices to move toward the gods and fill their need
2. Yahweh's worship is a top-down approach — God initiates, redeems, and provides the sacrifice himself (cf. Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah)
3. God is full; the worshipper is empty. Worship fills the worshipper, not God D. Augustine: Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God E. Application: It is possible to follow correct forms of worship while the heart is not drawn to God — the forms are meant to draw us closer to him, not become ends in themselves

III. Second Problem: Lack of Thanksgiving (Psalm 50:12–15)

A. Ancient Near Eastern gods (e.g., in the Epic of Gilgamesh) were depicted as hungry, needing to be fed by sacrifice — the gods gather "like flies" around the offering B. Yahweh is entirely unlike this: the sweet aroma of Noah's sacrifice in Genesis 9 is not about feeding a hungry God but about appeasing his wrath and restoring relationship C. The call in verses 14–15: Offer to God a sacrifice of Thanksgiving and perform your vows to the Most High; call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver you

1. God answers the one whose whole life is a sacrifice of thanksgiving
2. Sacrifices are a manifestation and token of the heart, not a transaction to manipulate God D. The New Testament concept of agape love illuminates verse 15 — a covenant-bound, duty-keeping love that moves toward its object in service, fulfilling vows made

IV. Third Problem: The Ways of the Wicked (Psalm 50:16–21)

A. The wicked addressed here are members of the covenant community — not Gentiles

1. Cf. Romans 9 and Romans 11: not all who are of Israel are truly of Israel B. Three general practices of the wicked

1. They hate discipline (v. 17)

• They cast God's word behind them
• No conviction of sin, no shame, no turning from sin to God
• Contrast with Psalm 51 — David's confession after his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah
• Application: We tend to welcome God's word when it confronts others' sins but cast it aside when it confronts our own

2. Wicked associations (v. 18)

• They keep company with thieves and adulterers while going through worship rituals
• Derek Kidner: there is a hypocrisy in enjoying sin secondhand while keeping out of trouble oneself
• Application: Watching or reveling in others' sin from a distance — "as long as I don't touch it, I'm innocent" — is still a matter of the heart; the omniscient God sees all
• Who you are on Sunday ought to be an authentic reflection of who you are Monday through Saturday

3. Wicked tongues (vv. 19–20)

• They appear godly and loving toward their brothers in the worship setting
• Yet in other contexts they slander and disparage those very people
• Deceit is the key word carrying these verses

C. Verse 21 — You thought I was one like yourself

1. Israel was treating Yahweh as the pagans treated their gods — as a bigger version of themselves
2. Application: Our hardest doctrinal questions become manageable when we remember that God is not like us — his thoughts are not our thoughts; he is the Most High (Psalm 50:1, 14)

V. Fourth Point: A Call to Remember (Psalm 50:22–23)

A. God's tone is harsh, yet the purpose is to incite repentance — the longsuffering of God is on display: I was silent, but now I speak B. Jonathan Edwards' Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God is a parallel: what seems severe is in fact deeply merciful — the reality of judgment sobers the hearer to repent and lean on God's grace C. Derek Kidner on verse 23: The language dismisses any notion of our doing God a favor... the giving of salvation is on God's side; ours is to receive it with the delighted thanks and obedience it deserves

1. For pagans, sacrifice is manipulation — using ritual to get what you want from the gods
2. For God's people, sacrifice is response and reception — a heart swimming in grace, worshipping with thanksgiving D. New Testament fulfillment: believers are themselves living sacrifices — no longer offering the blood of bulls and goats but their very lives in pure praise, having received the grace of God in Jesus Christ