February 19, 2017
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Ritualist Or Hypocrite?

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

Mighty God, when I think of Your gifts of nature and grace, I gladly and joyfully give praise and thanks to You.

Read Psalm 50

[1]A psalm of Asaph. The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets. [2] From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. [3] Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages. [4] He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people: [5] “Gather to me this consecrated people, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” [6] And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice. [7] “Listen, my people, and I will speak; I will testify against you, Israel: I am God, your God. [8] I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me. [9] I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens, [10] for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. [11] I know every bird in the mountains, and the insects in the fields are mine. [12] If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it. [13] Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? [14] “Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, [15] and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” [16] But to the wicked person, God says: “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips? [17] You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you. [18] When you see a thief, you join with him; you throw in your lot with adulterers. [19] You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit. [20] You sit and testify against your brother and slander your own mother’s son. [21] When you did these things and I kept silent, you thought I was exactly like you. But I now arraign you and set my accusations before you. [22] “Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you: [23] Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me, and to the blameless I will show my salvation.”

Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Reflect

“So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God… So let’s do it—full of belief, confident that we’re presentable inside and out” (Heb. 10:19,22, The Message).

This psalm resonates with expressions Christians love to use to praise God: “from the rising of the sun” (1; also Psa. 113:3) “our God comes and will not be silent” (3); “the heavens proclaim” (6); he owns “the cattle on a thousand hills” (10). These are promises to those who welcome God’s instruction. It reminds us how important it is to read, recite and sing words that reassure us of God’s love, whether or not we have a book or an iPad or music in front of us. Familiar words can also lull us into complacency, however, and we may not hear the warning this psalm holds. As in Hebrews, we are cautioned strongly about the consequences of not heeding God’s Word, because the One who gives us steadfast love through his covenant with his people is also the Judge. Peter told his readers that judgment must begin with the household of God (1 Pet. 4:17). God has not forgotten his covenant people (4) but of those who have received much, more is expected (Amos 3:2; Luke 12:48b)—a sobering thought. Jesus himself was particularly severe in his condemnation of hypocrites who purported to teach the Law but in fact led their hearers astray because they did not practice it (Matt. 23). Parents hope that gentle correction will guide their child into a good path in life. So it is with the Good Father. The “wicked” addressed in verse 16 onwards are not the distant heathen but those who think they can combine worship with hypocrisy or maybe go through formal rituals without heart devotion (8,9). God our covenant parent longs to see us return to worship in spirit and in truth, and to practice the moral living that the disciplines of the Ten Commandments (18–20) were intended to promote.

Apply

This psalm is directed to those who are “playing church.” Is your worship merely outward or truly from the heart (7–15)?

Closing prayer

Mighty God, I bring the sacrifice of praise to You, my Lord and my God.

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