WATCHWORD:
6 The Mighty God, the Eternal—God of past, present, and future —
7 “Listen, My people, I have something to say: O Israel, My testimony comes against you; I am God, your God.8 I am not going to scold you because of your sacrifices; your burnt offerings are always before Me.
9 I will not accept the best bull from your fields or goats from your meadow, 10 For they are already Mine, just as the forest beast and the cattle grazing over a thousand hills are Mine. 11 Every bird flying over the mountains I know; every animal roaming over the fields belongs to Me. 12 I would not come to you if I were hungry, for the world and all it contains are Mine. 13 Do you really think I eat bull meat? Or drink goat’s blood?
14 Set out a sacrifice I can accept: your thankfulness. Be true to your word to the Most High. 15 When you are in trouble, call for Me. I will come and rescue you, and you will honor Me.”
16 But to those acting against Him, God says, “Who do you think you are? Listing off My laws, acting as if your life is in alignment with My ways? 17 For it’s clear that you despise My guidance; you throw My wise words over your shoulder. 18 You play with thieves, spend your time with adulterers.19 Evil runs out of your mouth; your tongue is wrapped in deceit. 20 You sit back and gossip about your brother; you slander your mother’s son. 21 While you did these things, I kept silent; somehow you got the idea that I was like you. But now My silence ends, and I am going to indict you. I’ll state the charge against you clearly, face-to-face.
22 All you who have forgotten Me, your God, should think about what I have said, or I will tear you apart and leave no one to save you. 23 Set out a sacrifice I can accept: your thankfulness. Do this, and you will honor Me. Those who straighten up their lives will know the saving grace of God.” Psalm 50:6-23 The Voice
Meditation:
Artificial Worship
That was a long scripture passage, but necessary to capture the whole of God’s message. God’s people, that would be you and me, often go through the motions of worshipping the Lord. We load the service with all of our pomp and circumstance, long impassioned sermons, special music; yet fall short of a true sacrifice of our thankfulness. It makes all of our extended efforts seem like window dressing, artificial worship.
Artificial worship? What is that? The question kept coming back. I considered the 613 Jewish laws that seemed to dominate the worship of God by the Jews. Then I wondered about the worship of the Lord given to us all through the New Testament, with references to all the feasts, the festivals and the sacrifices of blood animals and birds. Each creeping into the idea of the rationale for the tithe…artificial.
As recently as last week there was a time in our Bible study group when it seemed like we were following some kind of a worship formula, checking boxes off, and someone even wondered if we’re trying to emulate the 613 laws? Were we trying to build an unnecessary framework around God’s commands and Lessons?
I thought about that as I read the Psalm 50 passage above. David, the prophet of the Lord, is passing on to us what amounts to the wrath of God. Do you see that? Look at verses 9-13: I will not accept the best bull from your fields or goats from your meadow, 10 For they are already Mine. Every bird flying over the mountains I know; every animal roaming over the fields belongs to Me. Then, as if to underscore the Lord’s concern for our unfaithfulness, He says – 12 I would not come to you if I were hungry, for the world and all it contains are Mine.13 Do you really think I eat bull meat? Or drink goat’s blood?
You get the distinct impression that God is not happy, this is the Almighty who is angry with his chosen people, including you and me. You may defend yourself by saying we don’t actually sacrifice animals and offer blood sacrifices in this modern era — but, maybe we do, in our own sneaky way. What do you and I sacrifice to honor the Lord? How about all the wars fought to defend (or enforce) Christianity? How about stresses within the whole Church? Do we honestly think that stress and violence is what the Lord wants?
When we read Micah and he asks: “What does the Lord require of me?” The answer is not to sacrifice livestock or wage a war, but thankfulness and love. And what does the Lord require? To do justice, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God. It is hard to be humble. Then we must ask ourselves: Do we take God’s word seriously or do we read His words and go our own way without any change in behavior or thought and no sacrifice of thankfulness to the Lord?
Then comes the judgment: Verses 16-17: God says, “Who do you think you are? Listing My laws, acting as if your life is in alignment with My ways? 17 For it’s clear that you despise My guidance; you throw My wise words over your shoulder. Then in verse 23, He tells you plain — Set out a sacrifice I can accept: your thankfulness. Do this, and you will honor Me. Those who straighten up their lives will know the saving grace of God.”
If God could use a donkey, He can use me and you. Remember, we are not called to bear alone this heavy load. Christ is there, ever-present, working all things for my good. There is always time to be thankful.
A Message from God:
Children, your artificial worship does not impress me. I look into your hearts and see how you embrace evil. STOP! Do good, correct wrongs, show compassion and defend the weak. You are My children…Act like it! Rest in the Joy of My salvation.
NOTE: As instructed by our Lord, I’m correcting a wrong — My apologies, due to my error, there was NO Watchword this past Monday. Please forgive me, I’ll try not to let that happen again. Stan
Closing Prayer:
I know not what to pray for or what sacrifice you would find acceptable, Lord. I come to you empty-handed but not empty hearted. My heart is filled with gratitude and thankfulness to you for I know that you are my Creator God and that you love me. Just the thought of that fills my heart to the breaking point. You say you want to accept my thankfulness, well, I give you all to You. Help me, Lord, to be true to Your word, to honor You in all that I do. May my life reflect honor and glory to you, my Savior and Lord. Amen.
