Psalm 50: Need more meat!

By Sean Theunissen

Psalm 50 (NIV)


"The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to the one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God." v 23

Israel had a privileged position, they were the first installment of renewed mankind, but with great privilege comes great responsibility. God was starting to detest Israel's so called sacrifices.

It wasn't that God hated all animal sacrifices, it's just that that He could see straight in to the heart of each 'worshipper'.

Israel's sacrifices were being used to try and bribe God as if God was somehow hungry and needed more meat before He got up and did what they wanted. This may be how my body works but not God. God had to remind them that, "Every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills...if I were hungry I would not tell you”.

He wants a sacrifice of thanksgiving; it was the only type of sacrifice in which the worshipper would eat some of the animal. The function was to eat a meal with your family and the needy with God as the host, a prelude to the Lord's Supper. It's about being welcomed in to His presence, fully dependent on Him and dealing justly with others. This type of worship engages the heart.

God doesn't want lip service. Worship, which glorifies God, is that which says, “I love you Lord with all my heart, soul and mind, and I choose to love and deal kindly with those around me.”

He wants our time, our money, our relationships to orbit around Him, a sacrifice which says, “Thank you for all this stuff you give me, it’s all yours Lord, I hold tight to You alone.” What our lips say or sing are important and relevant but only in light of our heart position.

If we want things to stop becoming our trust then we need to start giving these things to Him. I find the times when I'm most fully engaged in worship is when I've had to sacrifice something or make a decision that lifts Him high and bows my heart low.

Let's bring more fragrant offerings.

Father, show me the areas of my life I'm not letting you in to and then help me to offer these things to you. Let my lips say what my life and heart are already reflecting.