A psalm of Asaph.
I
The God of gods, the Lord,
has spoken and summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
From Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.
Our God comes and will not be silent!
Devouring fire precedes him,
it rages strongly around him.
He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth to judge his people;
Gather my loyal ones to me,
those who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.
The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
for God himself is the judge.
II
“Listen, my people, I will speak;
Israel, I will testify against you;
God, your God, am I.
Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
your burnt offerings are always before me.
I will not take a bullock from your house,
or he-goats from your folds.
For every animal of the forest is mine,
beasts by the thousands on my mountains.
I know every bird in the heights;
whatever moves in the wild is mine.
Were I hungry, I would not tell you,
for mine is the world and all that fills it.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of he-goats?
Offer praise as your sacrifice to God;
fulfill your vows to the Most High.
Then call on me on the day of distress;
I will rescue you, and you shall honor me.
III
But to the wicked God says:
“Why do you recite my commandments
and profess my covenant with your mouth?
You hate discipline;
you cast my words behind you!
If you see a thief, you run with him;
with adulterers you throw in your lot.
You give your mouth free rein for evil;
you yoke your tongue to deceit.
You sit and speak against your brother,
slandering your mother’s son.
When you do these things should I be silent?
Do you think that I am like you?
I accuse you, I lay out the matter before your eyes
IV
“Now understand this, you who forget God,
lest I start ripping apart and there be no rescuer.
Those who offer praise as a sacrifice honor me;
I will let him whose way is steadfast
look upon the salvation of God.”
Psalms 50:1-23
This is interesting, because it seems to be a foreshadowing of the new covenant that Jesus brought to us. I am not a scripture scholar, by any stretch of the imagination, but this is how I understood this relationship.
The people of Israel had a covenant with God, which sort of developed over time. The central tenets of the covenant come from the law that Moses brought to the people. The law had a very strict and lengthy set of rules for the people to follow. It was designed to help God’s people prepare for the coming of the Messiah.
When Jesus came, he brought the new covenant. He became the one true sacrifice, and he left us with a deeper understanding of the greatest commandments – loving God and loving each other.
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them [a scholar of the law] tested him by asking, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:34-40
Yet here is an Old Testament verse that seems to already start shifting the focus away from animal sacrifice and toward pure praise of God. “Offer praise as your sacrifice to God; fulfill your vows to the Most High …Those who offer praise as a sacrifice honor me; I will let him whose way is steadfast look upon the salvation of God.”
As we journey through Lent together, are we remembering to praise God every day? Do we make sure there is time for prayer in our hectic routines? Do we take time to be the light of God in the world?
How difficult can it be to give up something during Lent, as a sacrifice to God, and to do it with a smile and a spirit of joy? But that’s the challenge isn’t it? Let’s go into the weekend with the intention of increasing our devotion to God and the mission He set out for us.