Throughout history, throughout the history of the church, the church has worshiped primarily in four different ways when the body of Christ comes together and worships corporately. One, through singing, two, through prayer, giving, and finally, through the teaching of God's word. Those four things, generally, that's how the church has corporately worshiped. We see and we know from scripture that God actually knows perfectly what's at the heart of our worship. He knows, for instance, why you sing. He knows that you sing, but he knows why you sing. He knows also why you give, et cetera. We also see in scripture that our hearts, our attitudes, are of primary importance. They're of primary importance when it comes to our worship. In other words, it matters to God the condition of your heart when you worship, your attitude, your motives, your thoughts when you worship Him. Before we get to the psalm here, before we get into the text, I'd like to start with just a few questions, and then we'll maybe refer back to these as we get further along. I'd like for you to ask yourselves a few questions. First question, do I ever sing hymns or psalms without considering the words I'm singing to God? Next question, do I ever let my mind drift when someone is leading the church in prayer, maybe even fall asleep? Do I ever give begrudgingly, even if it's just a little bit begrudgingly? Do I actually listen to learn from God's word as it's being taught, or do I allow myself to get distracted by any number of other things? If you're like me and answered in the affirmative to any of those or all of those, I've been guilty of all of those at some point in time. If you can answer in the affirmative, then like me, you need to ask yourself, you need to evaluate your attitude, you need to evaluate your heart when it comes to your worship. God knows it. You need to understand that. But evaluate your heart. And consider, as we look at this psalm today, Psalm 50, consider whether God has some instruction for you today in Psalm 50. We're going to see in Psalm 50 that the solution to our problem may actually be that we need to correct wrong thinking about God. We may need to correct how we think about God. And the result that we'll see in Psalm 50 is that that should, when we correct certain wrong thoughts about God, that should actually cultivate true worship, true gratitude towards God. And we'll also see that an offering and an attitude of thanksgiving and worship truly honors God. If you want to truly honor God, we see that God is honored when we give him true thanks. When we're truly grateful, God is honored by that. He's pleased by that. So let's look at what he says here in Psalm 50. Starting in verse 1 I'm going to read the first 6 verses here The psalm of Asaph The mighty one God the Lord has spoken and summoned the earth from the rising of the Sun to its setting Out of Zion the perfection of beauty God has shown forth May our God come and not keep silence fire Devours before him and it is very tempestuous around him He summons the heavens above and the earth to judge his people. Gather my godly ones to me, those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice, and the heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Seal it. We see at the very beginning of the psalm that Asaph wrote the psalm. Probably a familiar name, Asaph wrote at least 11 other Psalms, so Psalm 73 through Psalm 83. Those are credited to Asaph. Asaph himself is mentioned in First Chronicles. We see him mentioned there. Remember, First Chronicles is primarily an historical account about the nation of Israel, especially during the reign of King David. And we see there in 1 Chronicles chapter 16 that Asaph was actually commissioned, appointed by David to be one of the three main worship leaders in Israel. That chapter mentions a few other guys, the two other guys, the musical instruments that they played, the harps, the lyres. And then after that, my translation says, also Asaph played loud sounding cymbals. So he wrote songs. and he played loud sounding cymbals. Now, when I read that, I'm probably going to distract somebody here, but when I read that, my musically challenged mind immediately went to this middle-aged man playing the cowbell. Or, and then secondly, went to the guy in the back of the band with the hand cymbals, you know, just at the right time with the big clang. I don't think that's probably an accurate picture of ASAP. I realize that's probably not quite right. The cymbals that Asaph played, I'm sure they sounded beautiful. I'm sure Asaph, in order to have that role in the nation of Israel, to be appointed to that position, I'm sure he must have been incredibly gifted by God to have that role. But verses 1 through 6, they set the stage here for us. They set the stage for what this psalm is all about. He uses imagery describing a courtroom, this heavenly courtroom scene, which God himself, the judge, he comes to preside and render his verdict. That's the scene that's being set in the first six verses. Three names are used for God. God, the Mighty One, and the Lord. Lord in all caps, that's God's covenant name with Israel, Yahweh. Yahweh summons heaven and earth. He calls heaven and earth to the courtroom along with Israel. Israel is chosen people and the righteous, holy, perfect God prepares to hold court. God's in complete control of the proceedings in the scene here. He's the one doing the summoning. He's the plaintiff. He's the one testifying, and he's the judge. God is in complete control of what's going on here in this scene. Now, I'd like to pause just a second and kind of go through. We're not going to go through the whole psalm here, but I want to pause and just kind of give an outline so we understand kind of the context of what we're going to look at. So you could break the psalm out. There's 23 verses in the psalm. You can break the psalm out into three sections. The first section is pretty easy to distinguish. It ends at verse six, okay? Selah comes after verse six. Pause and think about the first six verses. Okay, that's what we just talked about. It's God calling the people, summoning the people, the witnesses, that's heaven and earth, as well as those he's bringing the charges against, that's his nation Israel. And then the last two sections are charges brought against two different groups of people. The first group really is in verses 7 through 15. These are people that are worshiping God, people that are bringing sacrifices to God. That's the part that we're going to focus on. And then the last section starts in verse 16. And it's pretty clear where it starts, because God says, but to the wicked. And so he addresses the wicked. starting in verse 16. To this group, God says, you hate discipline. You think so little of my word that you cast my words behind you, God says. He brings the charge that their tongues frame deceit. In other words, they lie. He says they slander. You slander your brother, your mother's son. So God charges the wicked with being lying slanderers who have hated discipline, he says. They don't care about what he says. And he says, you have no right to tell of my statutes. And then he says in verse 21, look at the condemnation in verse 21. He says, these things you have done and I have kept silence. You thought that I was just like you. I will reprove you and state the case in order. before your eyes. That's a strong condemnation that God has for this group. But at the end of both of those sections, at the end of verse 15 and at the end of verse 23, we see that God ends with the idea that His people can actually please Him. They can actually honor Him. If they will come to Him, if they'll change their minds, if they'll come to him with an attitude of thanksgiving. So what was it that they needed to correct? What in their thinking needed to change? That's what we're going to focus on. We're going to focus on that first group in verses 7 through 15. In order to cultivate, develop, grow that attitude of thanksgiving, of gratitude, what needed to change? We're going to look at, in verses 7 through 15, at least four things, four wrong ways of thinking about God that needed to be corrected. There's maybe more there, but there's at least four that we can pull out. Let's look at verses 7 through 8 to start with here. Starting in verse 7, God says, hear, O my people, and I will speak. Israel I will testify against you. I am God your God. I do not reprove you for your sacrifices and Your burnt offerings are continually before me In verse 7 we see that God has inspected the worship of Israel That's maybe one important thing to note here. God has seen what their worship is all about. He knows their hearts perfectly and look at what he says I will testify against you." That's not a positive thing. God's not approving their worship here. God has inspected their worship, and He is now going to testify against them. So when we think about this, we need to consider for ourselves, too. Consider that God sees our worship. God sees your worship. He sees our corporate worship. As a church, he sees your personal worship of him. And that should cause us to pause and think about how we worship, about how we worship God. It should cause us to care about the things that God cares about when it comes to worship. What does God actually care about when it comes to worship? We should have that concern, that question. We should want to focus on the things that God cares about concerning worship. The way Israel is described worshiping God in verses 7 through 13, it resulted in them being reproved. In other words, God did not approve of their worship. God is reproving them. He's testifying against them. So what can we learn? this what can we learn from Israel and make sure we don't do the same thing here they were falling short of what God desired from them in their worship so what was it let's look verse 8 we see in verse 8 that God is not primarily concerned about external worship That's not what God is primarily concerned about. He's not correcting them because they failed to bring sacrifices. They have brought sacrifices. In fact, what does he say? At the end of verse eight, and your burnt offerings are continually before me. It's not that they've failed to worship. That's not the issue. The primary issue here is that they were thinking that the main way to worship God was external. This is a very common and very incorrect way to think about God and how he desires to be worshipped. The external is not what he's primarily concerned about. God is always, he always has been, concerned about the condition of the heart when it comes to worship. That is the primary concern of God when it comes to our worship. First Samuel 16, chapter 16. If you remember, God had sent Samuel to go anoint David. You remember what Samuel thought when he first saw the eldest brother, Eliab? Surely this is the one. He looks the part, doesn't he? This has got to be him. But what did God tell Samuel? Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For God sees not as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. God cares about, he always has cared about, what's in the heart. And that's a continual temptation for us to focus on the external, even in our worship. The problem is that's not what God is primarily concerned about. That's not really where true worship comes from. It's not the external. We more fully understand how big of a problem this is when we understand that God knows perfectly our heart. God knows my heart. God knows your heart better than we will ever understand our own hearts. God knows perfectly your heart. Turn over maybe a page or two in your Bible and look at Psalm 51. Starting in verse 16. For you do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it. You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Coming to God in humility, a heart that's broken over sin, a heart that recognizes our dependence on him, In His forgiveness, in His grace, what does it say? It says God will not turn that person away. God will not despise a person that comes to Him with that kind of heart. A heart that's truly broken, a heart that's truly contrite. God will not despise, it says. Notice too, further down in verse 19, It says, then you will delight in righteous sacrifices and burn offering and the whole burn offering. Then the young bulls will be offered on your altar. So God wasn't, we'll see here, God was not saying don't bring sacrifices. God wasn't at this point doing away with the sacrificial system. The point was, and it always was, it's about the heart. Turn back to Psalm 50, look at verse 9 and 10. I shall take no young bull out of your house, nor male goats out of your folds, for every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. Verse 11, I know every bird of the mountains and everything that moves in the field is mine. Now, bulls and goats were common sacrifices here in Psalm 50. They probably represent all of the things that were sacrificed in the sacrificial system. This was done all the time, right? This was a constant thing. The sacrificial system was a constant thing in Israel. And so God is saying here, Verses 9 through 11, what he's really saying, and we'll look at other parallel passages, I don't really want your sacrifices. I don't want them. Now again, don't misunderstand. He's not saying I'm not putting away the sacrificial system. That's not what God's saying. I'm not doing away with the sacrificial system. That comes later. But what he's saying is the external worship of me through these things, they're not acceptable. They're not acceptable. I don't accept it. That's what he's saying. You're worshiping me, but I don't accept it. Lots of parallel passages here we could go to. Let's look at just a couple. Turn to Isaiah chapter 1, if you would. This is one that you're probably familiar with. Verses 11 through 18, God says, what are your multiplied sacrifices to me, says the Lord. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. When you come to appear before me, who requires of you this trampling of my courts? Bring your worthless offerings no longer. Incense is an abomination to me. New Moon and Sabbath, the calling of the assemblies. I cannot endure iniquity in the solemn assembly. I hate your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts. They have become a burden to me. I am weary of bearing them. So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you. Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. Wash yourselves. Make yourselves clean. Remove the evil. of your deeds from my spirit, cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, reprove the ruthless, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. We see that God is concerned primarily here about obedience that flows from the heart, not the external, sacrificial, ritualistic worship. God is concerned about the obedience that flows from the heart. All those other things were rejected because their hearts weren't right. 1 Samuel, if you would turn there. 1 Samuel 15, starting in verse 22. Samuel said, has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice." Again, obedience from the heart. What's the point of these two passages, or several passages like this? The main point is that external worship is not accepted if it's not accompanied by loving God and loving your neighbor. That's how we could summarize those things. External worship is not accepted by God if loving your neighbor and loving God doesn't go with it. Obedience from the heart. God rejects some worship. God rejects some external worship. And so what's the fix for thinking that God is, when we think about ourselves, evaluate ourselves, What's the fix for the wrong thinking that says God is primarily concerned about external worship? Well, it's kind of flipping it around. It's understanding that God is not primarily concerned about external worship. Understand that. Maybe that's too simple, but we need to understand that God is not primarily concerned about the external. We need to examine our hearts. Make sure we're concerned about the type of worship that God actually desires. Do we have that in mind when we worship God? We need to make sure we're pursuing the things that actually are pleasing and honoring to God. There's another point here in verses 9 through 11, though, I think, back in Psalm 50. And it highlights maybe another incorrect way that we sometimes think about God. And if we think this way, this one is probably clearer to see. This one really will destroy our gratitude if we think this way about God. Look what he says here. Look at the contrast in verses 9 and 10 of the word your in verse 9. and mine in verses 10 and 11. I shall take no young bull out of your house, nor male goats out of your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird of the mountains and everything that moves in the field is mine. Here's the point. that God is making in verses 9 through 11. Israel, your bulls and your goats, they're already mine. The beasts of the forest, the wild animals, they're mine. The cattle on a thousand hills, the domesticated animals, they're mine. They're already God's. God owns it all. It's all His. Lydia, all the barn cats are God's. They're not yours. God owns them all. God owns all. And by the way, it's not just animals, right? Psalm 24, 1, the earth is the Lord's and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it, everything. If we're going to have an attitude of thanksgiving, it's really important to understand this concept. This is really important. I think if we don't have this understanding of God, I'm not sure that we can have a truly thankful heart. If we don't understand that everything is his, I'm not sure that we can truly be grateful. It's all God's. Anything that we have temporary possession of, who owns it? Who really owns it? God does. It's all his. Who does my house belong to? God. Who owns my 2001 Toyota? God does. More seriously, who does my family, my wife, my children really belong to? They belong to God. God alone. My bank account, not mine. What about your good health? Is that yours? What about your talents and ability? What about your time? What about your very life? Who truly owns these things? God is the rightful owner of everything on earth. He created it, and because he created it, he has rightful claim to it. So when we have temporary possessions, what's the right outlook? We're stewards, right? The idea of stewardship. Think about that husbands and fathers. Think about what God has entrusted you with. He's placed your family under your care. And we'll give an account. It's a high responsibility. We could go down that path of stewardship on lots of topics. But the point here is that it's all God's. So if God takes something from me, maybe a transmission, and an engine, and a hot water heater, and a washing machine in a matter of three months, what if that happens? He's not taking what's mine. It's not mine. He's taking what's already His. When we put an offering in the back, in the box, we're simply giving back to God what is already His. It's already His. When we give our time to God, when we give our talents, etc., we're giving back to God what's already His. It's all His. If we come, here's the Challenge I'd like for you to think about if we come with any other attitude or understanding of our giving Then we're acting like the people God is reproving in Psalm 50 If we think it's really ours It's the wrong attitude Here's a quote that I came across If you think that anything in your life truly belongs to you I can guarantee you that you will never truly be thankful for that thing. If you think that anything in your life truly belongs to you, I can guarantee you that you will never truly be thankful for that thing. Here's how it's put in scripture. Paul in 1 Corinthians 4-7, he asks the Corinthians, he says, what do you have that you did not receive? The answer is nothing. Anything you have, you received. James 1.17, we looked at this the last time we met on Wednesday. Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights. What do you have that you didn't receive? Back in 1 Chronicles, if you want to turn there, 1 Chronicles chapter 29. The context here is that the people and David have given an offering, have given all the materials to build the temple. And David is offering a prayer of thanksgiving, a prayer of praise to God for what's been given. David's prayer is a really good example for us and a really good explanation of what we're talking about here. Starting in verse 11, David prays this. He says, yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed, everything that is in the heavens and the earth. Yours is the dominion, O Lord, and you exalt yourself as head over all. Both riches and honor come from you. and you rule over all, and in your hand is power and might, and it lies in your hand to make great and to strengthen everyone. Now therefore, God, our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name. But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this? For all things come from you, and from your hand we have given you. For we are sojourners before you, and tenants, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, And there is no hope. Oh, Lord, our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build you a house for your holy name, it is from your hand and all is yours. Since I know, oh my God, that you try the heart and delight in uprightness. I, in the integrity of my heart, have willingly offered all these things. So now with joy, I have seen your people who are present here make their offerings willingly to you. David, recognize this is a great example for us. for what our hearts should be when we actually offer something to God, whether it's our time, our resources, whatever it may be. David recognized that the only reason they were able to give was because God had given it to them. He recognized that he was only giving back, the people of Israel were only giving back what God had already given them. And he recognized that it was all God's anyway. There's an old hymn based on this concept. Some of you may have heard it. It's not in our hymnal. The title of it is, We Give Thee But Thine Own. It was written in the 1850s, I think. It says in the first stanza, We give thee but thine own, whatever the gift may be, and all that we have is thine alone, a trust, O Lord, from thee. The second stanza goes on and says, may we thy bounties thus as stewards true receive, and gladly as thou blessest us, to thee our firstfruits give. Everything we have comes from God. So what's the fix for the wrong thinking that believes that when we give, we're giving something that actually belongs to us? What's the fix for that? Well, it's, again, understanding that everything is His. When we give, knowing that we're simply giving back to God what's already rightfully His. It's knowing that we don't have anything. None of our possessions that we have are anything that wasn't given to us. Everything we have, we've received. Also in verse 11, In Psalm 50 we see here another potential way that the Israelites were thinking incorrectly about God. Verse 11 says, I know every bird of the mountain, and every thing that moves in the field is mine. The words that are used there That word no actually indicates an intimate, close, perfect knowledge. The word mine, in verse 11, I think is actually, I read somewhere, is better translated, is with me. God is there. God is present. There's nothing outside of his control, outside of his care, outside of his presence. The wrong thinking that could be corrected here is that God Yes, God's powerful. Yes, he's creator. But God doesn't really care about me. That's wrong thinking. I know every bird of the mountains. Remember what Jesus says in Matthew 5? That should remind us of that. On the Sermon on the Mount, if you want to turn there, we'll read from Matthew 5. What does Jesus say about this? Starting in verse 26. Chapter 6, sorry. Matthew 6, chapter 6, starting in verse 26. Jesus says, look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you, by being worried, can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe the lilies of the field. They do not toil, nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will he not much more clothe you, you of little faith? Do not worry then, saying, what will we eat, or what will we drink, or what will we wear for clothing? For the Gentiles eagerly seek after these things, for your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. If God provides for the birds on all the mountains, is He not going to provide for you? God cares for you. God will provide for you. If we don't understand that, if we think that God really isn't good, if we think that God really doesn't provide all that I need, what does that do to our thankfulness? That destroys our thankfulness. If we think that God is like holding out something from us, just not giving us quite enough, That destroys thankfulness. And that's also a lie. That's a lie that Satan wants you to believe, that God just isn't good. Right? It's the same lie that he told Eve. God's holding back on you, Eve, because God knows if you eat of that fruit, then you're going to, you know, you're missing out. God's holding out. That's not true. That's a lie. God perfectly provides. God is good. We need to fix our wrong thinking if that's how we think about God. God's not holding out on us. God perfectly provides for his people. OK, last bit here, verses 12 through 13. The last thing that needed to be corrected. Starting in verse 12, God says, if I were hungry, I would not tell you. For the world is mine and all it contains. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of male goats? Pagan religion at the time, one of the reasons that they offered sacrifices was because they actually believed that they needed to feed their gods to sustain them, that their gods would actually consume the food that they put before them. They literally sacrificed to feed their gods. God is saying, and that was common. That was a common pagan belief, common in and around Israel at this time. God is saying, I am not like that. I am not like your false gods. I'm not like those false gods. And it's crazy to think that God would need us to feed him. And if he did, he says, I wouldn't ask you. But he doesn't. The larger point here, though, is that God is completely, wholly self-existent. He's self-sustaining. He has no need. He has everything that he needs. The point is that God... Listen, here's the main point here. God is not dependent on you. God is not dependent on you. We are dependent on God. And if we get that backwards, if we somehow mix that around, like God is correcting here, if we somehow think that God is dependent on us and we're not dependent on God, think what that does to our thankfulness. I can do it on my own. I don't need God. I'm not dependent on God. What's there to be thankful for then? If we can go at it on our own, if we don't need God, that's an unthankful, ungrateful heart. We are dependent on God for everything. We need to understand that we can't get this backwards or it destroys our thankfulness. We see this in other places in scripture. Paul explains this when he's sharing the gospel to the Athenians in Acts 17. Let me read from Acts 17 verses 24 through 25. Paul is addressing the Athenians at the Areopagus, and here's how he explains it. He says, the God who made the world and all things in it, since he is the Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all people life and breath and all things." God does not depend on us. Paul stated it very clearly there to the Athenians. God doesn't depend on us. We depend on Him for everything, for life, breath, and all things, as Paul puts it. So then, verse 14, correct those wrong ways of thinking about God, and offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving. Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the Most High. The sacrifice of thanksgiving here is a spiritual sacrifice. It's a condition of the heart. It's a heart that's truly thankful. It offers to God what he deserves. God deserves, He's worthy of our thankfulness. It honors Him, we see here in verse 15. A thankful heart honors God. You don't need to turn there, but I'll read from Hebrews 13. This same idea is expressed in Hebrews 13, so it's clear at the end of the book. The writer of Hebrews has explained why Christ is superior. He's explained the new covenant. He's explained that the sacrificial system is over. Hebrews was written primarily to a Jewish audience. And surely they must have been thinking, sacrifice is such a big part of our religion, even culture. This is so important to us. Surely we need to sacrifice something. And the writer of Hebrews says this in verse 15, through him, talking of Christ, through him then, through him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God that is the fruit of the lips that gives thanks to his name. He says, actually, there is a sacrifice that you can give. There is actually an offering that you can bring. It's Thanksgiving. It's thanks to God. He deserves it. He's pleased with it. He goes on and says, and do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices, God is pleased. You want to please God? You want to honor God? The writer of Hebrews says, God says, do not neglect doing good and sharing. Give thanks. Those are sacrifices that are pleasing to God. Verse 15 in Psalm 50. It says, call upon me in the day of trouble. I shall rescue you and you will honor me. What does it mean to call upon God? How do we do that? We pray, right? When we call upon God, we pray. We ask for His help. We ask for His provision. We ask for deliverance. And that's one thing that prayer always does. It puts us in a place where we belong positionally before God. It puts us in a place of dependence before God when we pray. It's recognizing that we depend on Him. This I thought was really interesting. As I looked at this, I never really considered it, but I believe it's true, that dependence on God and thankfulness really are inseparable. They go hand in hand. It's different sides of the same coin. If you're truly dependent on God, you're going to be thankful for what he has provided or what he will provide. If you're truly dependent on God, if you're truly thankful toward God, then you realize that you're dependent on him for all things. If you're truly thankful, they go hand in hand. I don't think you can separate the two. Dependence and thankfulness. What's the result? of these things, if we come to God with that attitude of thankfulness and dependence. Verse 15 in Psalm says that God is honored. Back in Hebrews, it pleases God. Verse 23 of Psalm 50, he who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me. If we want to honor God, we need to come to him in a position of dependence and with a heart of thanksgiving.