Sharper Iron — Time in the Psalms - Psalm 50: True Faith in the God Who Speaks

Psalm 50 begins with the LORD summoning His people before Him for a trial. He does not keep silence, but calls out so that His people will listen to Him. He acknowledges that they have made sacrifices continually, but they have done so without faith, as if God needed something from them. Instead, God calls His people to offer their sacrifices with thanksgiving, to keep their vows to Him with faith, and to pray to Him in their time of need. To those who ignore His Word entirely, God speaks with rebuke for their repentance before the day of judgment comes. To the one who hears His call in faith, the LORD promises to show His salvation.

Rev. Luke Zimmerman, pastor at Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mechanicsburg, PA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Psalm 50.

To learn more about Calvary Lutheran, visit calvarymechanicsburg.org.

Join Sharper Iron this summer to study selected Psalms. In the Psalter, God speaks His Word to us and teaches us how to speak back to Him in prayer. Even in the great variety of the Psalms, each one points us to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen. Submit comments or questions to: listener@kfuo.org

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund. Together in faith, LCEF helps to start, sustain and strengthen LCMS ministries through financial and strategic partnerships. Visit lcef.org.

Psalm 50

God Himself Is Judge

A Psalm of Asaph.

50 The Mighty One, God the Lord,
    speaks and summons the earth
    from the rising of the sun to its setting.
²Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
    God shines forth.

³Our God comes; he does not keep silence;^[a]
    before him is a devouring fire,
    around him a mighty tempest.
⁴He calls to the heavens above
    and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
⁵“Gather to me my faithful ones,
    who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
⁶The heavens declare his righteousness,
    for God himself is judge! Selah

⁷“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
    O Israel, I will testify against you.
    I am God, your God.
⁸Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
    your burnt offerings are continually before me.
⁹I will not accept a bull from your house
    or goats from your folds.
¹⁰For every beast of the forest is mine,
    the cattle on a thousand hills.
¹¹I know all the birds of the hills,
    and all that moves in the field is mine.

¹²“If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
    for the world and its fullness are mine.
¹³Do I eat the flesh of bulls
    or drink the blood of goats?
¹⁴Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,^[b]
    and perform your vows to the Most High,
¹⁵and call upon me in the day of trouble;
    I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

¹⁶But to the wicked God says:
    “What right have you to recite my statutes
    or take my covenant on your lips?
¹⁷For you hate discipline,
    and you cast my words behind you.
¹⁸If you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
    and you keep company with adulterers.

¹⁹“You give your mouth free rein for evil,
    and your tongue frames deceit.
²⁰You sit and speak against your brother;
    you slander your own mother’s son.
²¹These things you have done, and I have been silent;
    you thought that I^[c] was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.

²²“Mark this, then, you who forget God,
    lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
²³The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
    to one who orders his way rightly
    I will show the salvation of God!”

Footnotes

Psalm 50:3 Or May our God come, and not keep silence
Psalm 50:14 Or Make thanksgiving your sacrifice to God
Psalm 50:21 Or that the I am

Rev. Timothy Appel

Although a mathematics degree may not be incredibly helpful to (proudly born-and-raised Texan) Rev. Timothy Appel while hosting Sharper Iron, his love of CFW Walther and the season of Easter will come in handy. His Call is shepherding the flock at Faith Lutheran Church in Godfrey, Illinois, and he’s also husband to wife Kristin and dad to their growing basketball team of children. When he’s not carrying out pastoral duties, you may find him reading “The Lord of the Rings,” snacking on Reese’s peanut butter cups, playing dominoes with his boys, or studying up on Texas history (including Sam Houston, of course).