Passage To Study:Psalm
50:7-9
[7]
“Hear, O My people, and I will speak, Flow of the Passage:
What Do I Think About It?
(Verse
7) - God is now introduced as speaking for Himself. All that went
before this was introductory. He will speak for Himself the case against
His people. Note that He is speaking to the nation, as noted, a mixed
multitude of believers and unbelievers. He will testify against the mere
outward observance of religion. ''I am God, even thy God" establishes
God's right to speak as He is authoritative and standing to speak.
''Thy" God calls to mind all of the personal and particular
interaction God has had with them. He has been their God and has acted on
their behalf to protect, provide, and a hundred other things over the
years. He can speak to them because they have known Him and He, they. (Verse
8-9) - We could paraphrase this as: "I do not rebuke you for
witholding sacrifice. You have been diligent in the observance of the
exterior aspects of religion." It should be noted that God is saying
nothing about this other than that it is not wrong. They are not to be
rebuked for it. It is almost as if He is saying that such matters are
irrelevant. It is important to see that they are not commended for it
either. It was irrelevant to the matter at hand. Verse
9 carries the idea a bit further saying that they were not found to be
''owing" any sacrifices. They had fulfilled the obligation the Law
had set upon them and had not fallen behind here. This is an interesting
point, because this "owing" issue is precisely why the nation
eventually went into captivity to Babylon for 70 years. They had neglected
the command to observe the rest of Jubilee and so ''owed" God those
years of rest for the land. Here we see this not the case. They were not
owing God any due sacrifice. What
is profound here is that the wording of the verses surely implies that the
whole matter was one that was irrelevant, essentially unimportant to God
in the larger scheme of things. There is certainly a context in which such
obedience would be important and would be relevant and pertinent to a
discussion such as the one God is having with Israel. However, Israel had
not met the spiritual conditions needful to making such subjects relevant.
They are relevant only when spiritual life is present. This was not the
case here. Actually,
one could make the case that the "non-issue-ness" implied here
is very significant. Israel had spent a great deal of time and effort on
that which, ultimately, made little or no difference. How sad! It took a
great deal of time and effort to fulfill the requirements of the
sacrificial Law. It was no small matter, humanly speaking. That they were
not held accountable for failure in this area. Christ said that the Jews
had a zeal for God, but not after knowledge. We are presented, in the NT
with the Pharisees, who observed the outward aspects of the Law even to
the tithe of spices, but had neglected ''weightier" matters. We are
consequently told that the righteousness needed to enter the Kingdom had
to exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees. Humanly, such a standard was
impossible. The Jews were spending their time in the pursuit of a goal
that was, ultimately, unattainable for them. What Difference Does This Make To
Me?
It
is curious to me to ponder how much time I spend pursuing matters that, in
the long run, are inconsequential. These would be things that are
important to me, but not important to God. I should think it extremely
important to learn to discern the difference between the two. Is There Anything For Me To Do?
I must learn to see the difference between what matters to God and what only matters to me. |
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