This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

(upbeat music) - Welcome to our last day this week. We're looking at Psalm 50
today, day five of our look through Psalm 46 to 50. And I'm glad you're here.

I told you yesterday we're going to talk about God's judgment today, and you're
actually listening to Psalm 50. That's a good first step. Because the truth is,
all of us, myself included, we think and talk a lot about God's love, and that
is good.

We don't think enough. We don't talk enough about God's judgments, and that's
not good. It's not good because God's judgment is actually an expression of
God's love.

God is love, and everything that he does is an expression of his love, and his
judgments come out of his love. All of God's judgments are not pleasant, but all
of God's judgments come out of his love, and all of God's judgments are right
and good. In this Psalm, two very powerful things happen.

God summons to judgment, and God speaks in judgment. God summons to judgment in
verses one to six. Psalm 50 verse one says, "The mighty one, God, the Lord,
"speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun "to the place where it
sets.

" So all are being summoned to judgment, to hear God's judgment. In these
verses, you see something that we don't look at often enough as we should as
God's children. You see God's awesome judgment.

You see that God's judgment is awesome in its beauty. In verse two, "From Zion
perfect in beauty, God shines forth. " Judgment is not an ugly thing.

It is a beautiful thing because everything is set right. Judgment is a beautiful
thing because God's character is revealed for all of eternity. It is a beautiful
thing because everything is brought into the light.

It's awesome in beauty, and it is awesome also in power. In verse three, "Our
God comes and will not be silent. "A fire devours before him, and around him a
tempest rages.

" There is power to God's judgment to consume all that is not eternal and to
purify all that is going to last forever. There's this summons to this beautiful,
powerful judgment in this psalm, but it is not a judgment of all. It's a
judgment, we see very quickly, it's a summons to judgment of God's people.

Listen to verses four to six. "He summons the heavens above and the earth "that
he may judge his people. "Gather to me my consecrated ones "who made a covenant
with me by sacrifice, "and the heavens proclaim his righteousness, "for God
himself is judge.

" So my people, my consecrated ones, this is about judgment of God's people. 1
Peter 4:17 says, "Judgment begins "with the household of God. "God judges his
people.

" Now, let me be very clear about this. If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, if
you've been forgiven of your sins because you've made Jesus the Lord of your
life, your eternal life is secure. You've already passed out of that judgment
into life.

Jesus is clear about this, the entire scripture is clear about this. But the
fact that your eternal life is not at risk does not mean you should not be
concerned about judgment. Because the rest of your life on this earth is
certainly at risk, and the way that you choose to live or choose to believe or
choose to trust, your marriage might be at risk, your business might be at risk,
your witness at risk, your peace at risk, your love, your service at risk,
that's at risk.

And also, your eternal rewards are at risk, rewards that will praise Jesus
forever. And I don't want to miss out on those. So I want to hear God's judgment.

Well, I don't want to hear it. Part of me doesn't want to hear it, probably like
you, but I also want to hear it. I want to hear it, I need to hear it.

What does God say to us, his people, as he speaks in judgment? Now, I know this
was originally to the people of Israel, but there is something here for us,
there is no doubt. God speaks in judgment.

And as he speaks in judgment in this psalm, it's a word of judgment against two
groups of people. It's a word of judgment about how we relate to God. First
group, he says there's a judgment for thinking that God needs you.

He says, I've got a judgment to bring against those who think God needs me.
Verse seven, let me read verse seven to 13. Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you.

I am God, your God. I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt
offerings, which are ever before me. I have no need of a bull from your stall or
of goats from your pens.

For every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. I
know every bird in the mountains and the creatures of the field are mine. If I
were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine and all that is in it.

Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? So notice he doesn't
rebuke them for giving their offerings. I don't rebuke you for your sacrifices.

He's saying that's not wrong. The rebuke was for what they were thinking as they
gave. They thought that God needed those offerings.

They thought that they were in some sense feeding God. This is a judgment for
making worship about you and not about God, and it's not about you. We have to
come back to the heart of worship, which is that it's all about you, Jesus.

It's all about Jesus. God reminds us here that he doesn't need our worship, that
he owns it all. And it's a judgment for those times in my life when I think,
wow, I went to worship today.

I'm pretty impressed with myself. I think God was pretty impressed with me. And
I'm sure it made God maybe more God than he was God before.

We would never say those words. We never even think those 'cause we know it even
as I say it out loud. But in our soul, there's that feeling that somehow I'm
feeding God.

I'm making things better for God. And God's saying, I own it all. So stop
thinking that somehow you're making things better for me and realize that it's
all about me and what I can do for you.

We need God. And so in verses 14 to 15, when we recognize that, we do this.
Verse 14, sacrifice, thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the most high
and call upon me in the day of trouble.

I will deliver you and you will honor me. So he says, when you recognize that
it's not about you meeting God's needs, but God's meeting your needs, then you
become more thankful. You sacrifice, thank offerings.

That's said again and again in this psalm a couple of times. Lord, I thank you.
I want to live in that place of thanksgiving.

You fulfill your vows to God. You don't think, well, I fulfilled one vow. That
was enough.

That met God's need. No, you fulfill all your vows because you realize you're
fulfilling them not to meet God's need, but to meet your needs. You're not doing
it for God.

He gave you those vows to fulfill for you, for you. You need to go to the
worship service not to make God feel better about himself, but because you need
to know who God is. So you call on him in the day of trouble.

You don't depend on yourself. You call on him every time you have a day of
trouble. So this is a judgment about those who think that somehow God needs
them.

But there's a second group that he talks to here. There's a judgment for those
who think that they don't need God. People who think they just don't need God.

Now he's speaking to God's people here, to believers, not unbelievers. He's
saying some of you, you pay lip service to me, but you don't think you need me.
You say the right things, but you live any way that you want.

Verses 16 to 20. But to the wicked, God says, what right have you to recite my
laws or take my covenant with your lips? You hate my instruction and cast my
words behind you.

When you see a thief, you join with him. You throw in your lot with adulterers.
You use your mouth for evil and you harness your tongue to deceit.

You speak constantly, continually against your brother and slander your own
mother's son. What he's saying here is you live like you want because you don't
know God. You don't think you need God.

Verse 21 and 22. These things you have done and I kept silent. You thought I was
all together like you, but I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face.

Consider this you who forget God or I will tear you to pieces with none to
rescue. You don't think you need God. He says here, because you think that I'm
like you.

God says, you think I'm like you and I've been silent and haven't judged you
even though you've done what you want while you're paying lip service to
following me. And you think that God's silence means that he's like you, that he
won't act. God's silence means that he's not like you at all.

It means that he's loving, that he's patient, but don't fool yourself. He one
day will act. That sin you've allowed to creep into your life will one day be
judged.

It's being judged today in the way that you relate to God and what you're
missing out on, the way you relate to others, what you're missing out on. It'll
be judged through your life if you allow it to continue and what you will miss
that God has for you. And it will be judged in eternity and the rewards that
will be missed forever.

Now I think we'd all admit, I sure can admit, it's easier to think of myself as
one who struggles with thinking that maybe God needs me sometimes than to think
of myself as someone who thinks that I don't need God. But the truth is there
are far too many times when I act like I don't need God. When I do something
without praying, I'm acting like I don't need God.

As hard as that is for me to say, that is the truth. And God says, I'm bringing
judgment against that. You need to hear my judgment and repent and turn to me.

And Psalm 50 ends with an encouragement for all of us who are under judgment
'cause God's judgment is not to make us feel depressed or discourage us, to
cause us to repent and to know the truth. So in verses 23, he says, "He who
sacrifices thank offerings honors me and he prepares the way so that I may show
him the salvation of God. " Instead of living under judgment, we can prepare the
way, prepare the way for God to do new things in our lives.

In fact, that's what happens when you accept this word of judgment in your life.
If God has spoken to you in a hard way today, I have been acting like God needs
me. I've been too impressed with myself as God's servant.

Or I have been living like I don't need God. I don't pray about it, I just do
what I want. And I've allowed some of these sins into my life that as I look at
it now, how could I allow that into my life?

I have been doing that. If God has spoken to you today, as hard as that is to
hear, when you repent, when you let him speak to your heart, he begins to
prepare the way for the new thing that he wants to do in your life. And so God,
right now, as we pray, we pray that we'd accept your loving judgment.

And God, repent. Say we want to turn our hearts and minds to your way. Instead
of thinking that somehow you're impressed with us as we worship, we want worship
to be all about you and not about us.

Instead of thinking that we can get away with trusting in ourselves and not you,
we want to recognize that it's only through trust in you that the blessings
come. And that your silence does not mean that there's no judgment, it just
means that you're patient and loving. And so God, we hear you today.

We turn to you today. You are our God. You are our Lord.

You are the Almighty. And we pray this in your name. Amen.

Well, thank you for being here this week. Join us next week. We're going to
continue to look at God's word together and drive time devotions.