The LORD, the Mighty One, is God

Meditations on Christ in the Psalms

September 12, 2022

The LORD, the Mighty One, is God

“But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me.

If you keep to my path,

I will reveal to you the salvation of God.”

Psalm 50:23

John Wesley sent Circuit Riders to the American colonies with a dual charge: “You have no other business than to save souls and to spread scriptural holiness across the land.” He certainly could have drawn his inspiration for this charge from Psalm 50.

The psalm’s beautiful prose is attributed to Asaph, one of King David’s chief musicians. The psalm is also deeply prophetic as it reminds Israel that one day, all of humanity will stand before their Creator to give an account of their life.

This judgment by God will look deeply into our heart and at our hands. In verses 7-15, God judges worship, and in verses 16-21, God judges obedience. God’s judgment of both is not superficial. God is interested in how we live our lives. Are we thankful for the gift of life? Is our thankfulness expressed in acts of compassion and mercy for our neighbors?

In verses 14 and 23, the psalmist asserts that thankfulness truly honors God. Perhaps James, the brother of our Lord, also took inspiration from Psalm 50 when he taught that faith without works is useless, because Biblical thankfulness is focused on the Giver of life, not the gifts received (James 2: 14-19).

My Takeaway: I think James couples the psalmist’s dualism of worship and obedience beautifully when he writes:

“Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds” (James 2:18).

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2022 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.