Rejected Sacrifices
Psalm 50 expresses how God does not honor the offerings of those who do not seek to honor God first.
Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
Psalm 50:7-8
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
It is not a problem that they haven’t offered sacrifices, but rather that those sacrifices are not offered for the right reasons. After all, God doesn’t need the offerings of man.
I will not accept a bull from your house
Psalm 50:9-13
or goats from your folds.
For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and its fullness are mine.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
What Is Wrong?
If the people were offering sacrifices and even taking the word of God on their lips, why was God not accepting their worship?
For you hate discipline,
Psalm 50:17-22
and you cast my words behind you.
If you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
and you keep company with adulterers.
You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.
You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother’s son.
These things you have done, and I have been silent;
you thought that I was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.
Mark this, then, you who forget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
These people shamelessly practice evil and encourage it in others. They keep company with sinners, but not to call them to repentance. Instead, they approve of their sins. Assuming God will remain silent regarding evil, they feel safe to both practice and promote it as they continue offer their sacrifices and recite his covenant and statutes.
The Antidote
What God is seeking is a people who recognize that they are dependent upon him. Contrast this with the wicked, who felt they were providing for God in order to appease him while living for themselves. Instead, the righteous are those who offer to God a small part of what they have, knowing that all of what they have came from him anyway.
The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
Psalm 50:23
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!
David made a plea for this heart personal in Psalm 51. He begins where anyone wishing to honor God with their hearts, by acknowledging our dependence upon his mercy.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
Psalm 51:2-3
and cleanse me from my sin!
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
This salvation he is seeking leads him to call others to repentance. He will not be like the wicked who are pleased with evildoers.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
Psalm 51:13-15
and sinners will return to you.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
He reminds the hearer that God may reject sacrifices offered with wrong motive, but he will never reject those who humble themselves.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
Psalm 51:17
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Those who wish to honor God must understand that we have nothing apart from his blessings. Our possessions are not really ours. Even the skill we have used to earn what we have we have by the grace of God who gives to each according to his eternal purpose.
God doesn’t want your time, your talent, or your words unless you first recognize that he needs nothing and you are completely dependent upon him for it all. Every word you utter started with the breath he gave you. Every moment you have to give is one he has decided to allow you to have. Every skill you have trained is one for which he has given you opportunity.
There is nothing you have that he needs and everything you need you are dependent upon him to receive. Once you understand your dependence, then your offering is both pleasing to him and rightly understood as only right in response to his generosity.
