Psalms 50:16-23
Theme: The revival
of our churches begins with a renewal in our worship of God. God’s
priority is to restore His people and then return them to heartfelt (spirit)
and genuine (truth) worship.
Relevance:
the God of astonishing glory demands worship that work. The Christian lives in
this tension between rituals and reality! Too often our churches are accused of
hypocrisy: “They don’t practice what they preach.” We gather to merely
go through the motions of “worship.”
Introduction:
In Psalms 50 formalism in worship and hypocrisy in
living are addressed. In prophetic fashion God exposes Israel’s sins: theft,
adultery, and lying (see verses 18–20). God sternly warns of judgment; however,
His promise of salvation is preferrable (see verses 22–23). There is something
here we desperately must learn now….
Message:
I.
The Great
Judge’s Accusations (Ps. 50:16-21).
God demonstrates his rule and rejects
worship that is intensely insincere and flagrantly hypocritical.
These “wicked”
individuals only paid lip service to God’s commandments while they habitually
violated them.
A.
A Rebuke for Hypocritical
Living (Rejecting God’s Word) (Ps. 50:16-17).
1. God decried the nation’s hypocritical living. He addresses “the wicked” (singular) in judgment, rebuking him for reciting His laws and speaking of His covenant as their profession of faith, while they actually hated God’s instruction (“discipline”).
2. Only the person with a heart for God has any right to approach Him (v. 15).
3. Though these wicked people assembled with those who loved the Lord, God knew their hearts.[1] Jesus also knew the hearts of the hypocritical Pharisees in Matt. 23. God knows the heart still today.
4. “A
hypocrite is someone who not only does not practice what one preaches, but a
person who does the opposite of what one preaches. A parent holding a beer and
smoking a cigarette who admonishes a child not to drink or smoke, for instance,
may be viewed as being a hypocrite by the child.
Similarly, critics of Christianity
who raise the hypocrisy objection usually point to some moral failure in the
lives of Christians they know as examples of Christianity being false or at
least highly suspect. “See!” they exclaim. “There goes another hypocrite in the
church! How can I believe Christianity if the church is full of hypocrites?””
-Focus on the Family, What about Hypocrites in the Church?
B.
A Rebuke for Participating
in Theft (Ps. 50:18).
1. The
proof of this charge is given in verses 18. The wicked person “consentedst” with a “thief.”
2. The
verb for “consent,” meaning “to be pleased, to accept favorably,” of course,
violates at least the spirit of the eighth commandment, “Thou shalt not steal” (Ex. 20:15).
3. Those
who were dishonest swindlers were just as much "thieves" as those who
swiped fruit from open baskets. The former thief was to no longer lie or
manipulate others, but personally work to provide for his own needs.
4. Ephesians 4:28, Let him that stole steal no
more: but rather let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is
good, that he may have to give to him that needeth.
C.
A Rebuke for Participating
in Adultery (Ps. 50:18).
1. The
wicked person has been “a partaker with adulterers.” To be a “partaker” here is to “have a portion”
with those who break the marriage vow, violating the seventh commandment. “Thou shalt not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:14).
2. The
seventh Commandment deals with all immorality. If a married person
commits adultery, they have sex with someone they are not married to: Many
people in public life have committed adultery. Such involvement is a sin
against God.
3. Cultural
values: American culture often places a high value on individualism and
personal freedom, which can sometimes conflict with traditional notions of
monogamous (one spouse) relationships. This may make it easier for people to
justify or explain infidelity.
4. How
adultery affects society? Children may experience feelings of guilt, blame
themselves for the affair, or struggle with trust issues in their own future
relationships. The stability and cohesiveness of their family unit are
disrupted, affecting their overall well-being, academic performance, and future
relationships. (From MyWellBeing,com)
5. The
command to refrain from adulterous relationships is foundational to the well
ordering of the marriage bond and the promotion of intimacy between husband and
wife.
D. A
Rebuke for Participating in Lying (False Accusations) (Ps.
50:19-20).
1. The wicked person has a deceitful and slanderous “tongue.” This includes “evil” coming from his “mouth,” his “tongue” framing “deceit,” and speaking “against thy brother” (Israelite) in “slander.”
2. This
violates the ninth commandment, “Thou shalt not bear
false witness against thy neighbour” (Ex. 20:16).
E.
A Rebuke for Practicing
Wrong Ideas and Injustices (Ps. 50:21).
1. Previously, God was silent over this, and the wicked took His silence as approval: “thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself.” However, they were wrong; God has come in judgment to Israel and this is the time for Him to take action. The verb for “reprove” (v. 21) means to “judge, convict, correct.” The judgment here then is redemptive in its intention.
2. The case has been made, and God has “set” the evidence “in order before thine eyes,” as in a legal case. Similarly, in Romans 2:17–24 Paul accuses the Jews of knowing the law and yet disobeying it. While preaching against stealing, they steal. While claiming to abhor adultery, they commit adultery. While hating idols, they rob temples. Thus they “boast in the law” and break it at the same time. The judgment of Psalm 50:15–17 retorts, “What business do you have declaring My statutes, seeing you do not live up to My expectations? In fact, you hate My instructions! The nerve of you…what right do you have?”
3. Please
do not confuse God’s patience with His approval. God’s silence did not mean
that He agreed with their actions. No, the Lord would rebuke them directly for their sins.[2]
II.
The Great
Judge’s Decision (Ps.50:22-23).
Offer God, our royal Ruler and Great
Judge, worship free of formalism and hypocrisy; offer Him heartfelt and since worship
(in spirit and in truth).
A. Notice
His Passion—The Urgency of Worship (Ps. 50:22).
1. God’s rebuke must be heard. If not, He will come against those who “forget” Him. He will rip the wicked apart like a wild animal and “tear [them] in pieces.” No one will be able to “deliver” them.
2. God’s judgment will be swift, violent, and final. He is not only against this form of hypocrisy, but he will confront and deal with people on this. He is serious about this…are we?
B. Adopt
His Priority—The Glory of Worship (Ps. 50:23).
1. However, those who worship God correctly, offering (“sacrificing”) “praise” will glorify Him and those who order [their] “conversation” (“way”) according to His law will see “the salvation of God.”
2. How then can hypocrisy be banished from our church? How can we have a “whole” gospel? The answer, according to Psalm 50, is in worship and work, faith and obedience. Offer real worship from a heart that is free of formalism and hypocrisy.
3. The revival of our churches begins with a renewal in worship. Worship begins with the individual being right with God. This is God’s priority. When God restores His people, He restores them to worship: “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth Me.”
4. Asaph
instructed the hypocrites to consider
their ways before it was too late. Again, he called on them to sacrifice thank
offerings (cf. comments on v. 14) from hearts that are right with God.[3]
C.
Believe His Promise—The
Salvation of Worship (Ps. 50:23).
1. Those
who come to Him with sacrifices of thanksgiving glorify Him; all who walk in
this pathway of obedience will experience God’s marvelous deliverances in times
of peril.[4]
2. When
our faith grows, obedience will come and God will fulfill His word: “will I shew the
salvation of God.”[5]
Conclusion:
So, the Psalm indicts God’s people for formalism in
worship and hypocrisy in living. “Jesus’ advice to “worship
in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24) provides the proper correctives for
these faults.”[6]
Why do we play the hypocrite at times? Are there
instances when we fail to live up to other’s expectations or our own standards?
Perhaps we all are morally smaller than we would like others to believe…so we
pretend or fake it until we make it? Perhaps we pretend when we are not
Christlike inside…when we are not filled with the Spirit of God. There is only
one way to truly live Christian and that is by Jesus Christ living through us. Listen
carefully to God’s Word:
John 15:5, I am the vine, ye are the
branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much
fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Galatians 2:20, I am crucified with Christ:
nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who
loved me, and gave himself for me.
Let’s start with being honest with God about our need
for Christ in all facets of life.
[1]
Allen P. Ross, “Psalms,” in The
Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F.
Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 831.
[2]
Allen P. Ross, “Psalms,” in The
Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F.
Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 831.
[3]
Allen P. Ross, “Psalms,” in The
Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F.
Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 831.
[4]
William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible
Commentary: Old and New Testaments, ed. Arthur Farstad
(Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 629.
[5]
Donald Williams and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Psalms 1–72,
vol. 13, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc,
1986), 378–384.
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