GOD
WILL NOT RECEIVE TO EMPTY WORSHIP!
Psalm
50:1
The
Mighty One, God the Lord,
speaks
and summons the earth
from
the rising of the sun to its setting.
In
this psalm, the author presents God as the righteous judge, the one Who has the
right to call every creature on earth to judgment. No one escapes the right of
the Lord to judge.
Psalm 50:3
Our God comes;
he does not keep silence;
before him is a
devouring fire,
around him a mighty
tempest.
God’s judgment is clear
and consuming. Nothing is hidden from His sight.
Psalm 50:4
He calls to the heavens
above
and to the earth, that he
may judge his people:
The heavens are His
witnesses of His judgment against His people. His judgment is not against the
sacrifices they make, but against the attitude behind their acts of worship.
Psalm 50:7-9
7 “Hear, O my people, and
I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify
against you.
I am God, your God.
8 Not for your
sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are
continually before me.
9 I will not accept a
bull from your house
or goats from your
folds.
God is looking for His
people to have an attitude of thanksgiving.
Psalm 50:14-15
14 Offer to God a
sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and perform your vows
to the Most High,
15 and call upon
me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you,
and you shall glorify me.”
God’s words are clear:
gratefulness and humility are what God is expecting, and then He will deliver
them in the times of trouble.
As we rehearse our lives,
do we recognize the same unacceptable traits that the children of Israel
Do we recognize God as the
One Who has the right to judge all? Do we remember that He is interested in our
hearts, and not our empty acts of worship?
It’s easy to live a life
of ingratitude and still show up for church, as if all is well. At times we
have allowed sin to find root in our hearts, while we sing heartily on Sunday. We
know that we have unresolved issues with others, yet come and think that God is
satisfied with our verbal assent in church.
Nothing is hidden from
God. He is not interested in our hypocritical worship. Jesus said it clearly:
Matthew 5:23-24
So if you are
offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has
something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go.
First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
The Apostle spoke very
clearly of the sin of participating in the Lord’s Supper without being purified:
1 Corinthians 11:17-18,
27-29
But in the following
instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for
the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come
together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you… Whoever,
therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy
manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let
a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the
cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and
drinks judgment on himself.
We tend to repeat the same
sins Israel
Lest you think that the
solution is to just avoid worship, so you will not incur the judgment of God, I
want to remind you that the only wise and Godly solution is to repent and make
sure that your heart matches your actions.
God desires our gratefulness. The Lord loves our worship when it is the expression of a submissive heart. He loves to succor us in our times of trouble.
Why don’t you stop and
check your heart? Make sure that it is right before God, and then worship Him
in a way that truly honors him.
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