Giving Thanks (Psalm 50)

Do we give God thanks, fulfill promises and honor Him? Let’s look at Psalm 50.

Has God summoned all humanity to tell us about something important?

A psalm of Asaph. The Lord, the Mighty One, is God, and he has spoken; he has summoned all humanity from where the sun rises to where it sets. From Mount Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines in glorious radiance. Our God approaches, and he is not silent. Fire devours everything in his way, and a great storm rages around him. (Ps 50:1-3 NLT)

Who does God specifically gather to make this important worldwide announcement?

He calls to the heavens above, to the earth, that he may judge his people: “Gather my saints together to me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” The heavens shall declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Selah. (Ps 50:4-6 WEB)

Does God call upon heaven and earth to judge His people? How does creation judge us? Is it because the evidence for God’s hand is ubiquitous as Romans 1 declares?

God calls out to the skies above and to the earth in order to judge his people: “Bring my faithful to me, those who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” The skies proclaim his righteousness because God himself is the judge. Selah (Ps 50:4-6 CEB)

What kind of attitude does God say is far more important than any other religious sacrifice? How important are giving thanks, fulfilling promises and honoring God?

Listen, my people, I will now speak; Israel, I will now testify against you. I am God—your God! I’m not punishing you for your sacrifices or for your entirely burned offerings, which are always before me. I won’t accept bulls from your house or goats from your corrals because every forest animal already belongs to me, as do the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every mountain bird; even the insects in the fields are mine. Even if I were hungry, I wouldn’t tell you because the whole world and everything in it already belong to me. Do I eat bulls’ meat? Do I drink goats’ blood? Offer God a sacrifice of thanksgiving! Fulfill the promises you made to the Most High! Cry out to me whenever you are in trouble; I will deliver you, then you will honor me. (Ps 50:7-15 CEB)

What does God have to say to the wicked who reject His commands for violence, lies and gossip?

But to the wicked I say: “You don't have the right to mention my laws or claim to keep our agreement! You refused correction and rejected my commands. You made friends with every crook you met, and you liked people who break their wedding vows. You talked only about violence and told nothing but lies; you sat around gossiping, ruining the reputation of your own relatives.” (Ps 50:16-20 CEV)

Was God silent while the nations sinned? Does He eventually rebuke them? How does giving thanks tie into salvation?

These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you. “Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver! The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!” (Ps 50:21-23 ESV)

What does the author of Hebrews say about the ineffectiveness of blood sacrifices compared to the sacrifice of Jesus?

For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, as He was coming into the world, He said: You did not want sacrifice and offering, but You prepared a body for Me. You did not delight in whole burnt offerings and sin offerings. Then I said, “See—it is written about Me in the volume of the scroll—I have come to do Your will, God!” After He says above, You did not want or delight in sacrifices and offerings, whole burnt offerings and sin offerings (which are offered according to the law), He then says, See, I have come to do Your will. He takes away the first to establish the second. By this will of God, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all. (Heb 10:4-10 HCSB)

Do we give God thanks, fulfill promises and honor Him? You decide!