OUR GOD IS A JUST JUDGE - Psalm 50

Every pastor needs a pastor. And for me,

that's the role that Dr. Singleton

serves as a mentor, as a co as a coach,

as a pastor, uh, and as a friend. And

so, I'm so glad that he is able to be

here this morning to lead us in the word

as we continue in our summer in the

Psalm series. So, would you join me in

welcoming Dr. Singleton to the Grove

this morning?

Bless you, brother.

>> Well, it is great to be here. Thanks for

that introduction. And uh it is just a

joy and privilege to serve uh our many

churches. We have 53 churches between

the two associations. We'll be adding

more this year. And uh we get to do some

cool things together. A lot of which

does revolve arounding supporting our

pastors and ministers. And and I I know

from just knowing Roland and Eric that

y'all do a tremendous job caring for

them. And uh that's not true in every

church. And I just want to brag on you

and say thank you for doing a tremendous

job loving them and supporting them and

keep up that good work because you've

got some great pastors and you are

really blessed with wonderful leadership

here and uh I'm just excited to be able

to come and and share God's word with

you. We're going to be in Psalm 50

because last week you were in Psalm 49,

I think, and next week you'll be in

Psalm 51, I believe. So that's kind of

how it works from what I understand. So

I don't know, this is my third summer, I

think, coming and preaching the Psalms.

So when he gave me this one, I had pause

for a second. It's like, okay, Psalm 50,

what are we going to do with this? But

it's God. It's God's word and he has a

message for us. And and we just want to

hear from him today. Amen.

>> So we're going to read God's word

together.

Psalm 50, starting in verse one, we

read, "The mighty one, God, the Lord,

speaks and summons the earth." Let me

pause. Let me tell you what's going on.

God is setting the scene here.

for judgment.

It's a courtroom scene. God is gathering

everybody together. You're going to find

in these verses that there is two

defendants

and two decisions.

From Zion,

perfect in beauty, God shines forth.

Our God comes and he will not be silent.

A fire devours before him and and around

him a tempest rages.

He summons the heavens alone above and

the earth that he may judge his people.

Gather to me this consecrated people who

made a covenant with me by sacrifice and

the heavens proclaim his righteousness

for he is a God of justice.

Listen

my people and I will speak. This is

something that makes this psalm unique

is from here on out we are going to hear

from God. God is speaking.

He says listen my people and I will

speak.

Do we have ears to hear today? I will

testify against you Israel. I am God

your God. I bring no charges against you

concerning your sacrifices

or concerning your burnt offerings which

are ever before me. I have no need of a

bull from your stall or goats from your

pens. For every animal in the forest is

mine and the cattle on a thousand hills.

I know every bird in the mountains and

the insects in the fields are mine. If I

were hungry, I would not tell you, for

the world is mine and all that is in it.

Do I eat the flesh of bulls and drink

the blood of goats?

Sacrifice thanks offerings to me.

Fulfill your vows to the most high and

call on me in the day of trouble and I

will deliver you and you will honor me.

second defendant.

But to the wicked,

to the wicked person, God says, "What

right have you to recite my laws or take

my covenant on your lips? You hate my

instruction and cast my words behind

you. When you see a thief, you join in

with them. You throw your lot in with

adulterers, and your mouth you use it

for evil. You harness your tongue for

deceit. You sit and testify against your

brother. You slander your own mother's

son.

When you did these things and I kept

silent, you thought I was exactly like

you.

But I now arain you and set my

accusations before you. Consider this.

You who forget God. Consider this.

God's word here is

a word I feel compelled to encourage you

to do today. Consider this. Consider

this.

You who forget God or I will tear you to

pieces with no one to rescue you. Those

who sacrifice thank offerings, honor me.

And to the blameless,

some will talk about a path of

righteousness.

I will show my salvation.

God, you are good and your word is good.

May it speak to us today. I pray it

would convict us and comfort us,

challenge us, and move us

onto that path with gratitude in our

heart that we might live for you. So,

Father, I know there's lots of

distractions going on even in our own

minds. So, just clear those away.

Lots of troubles in our own hearts that

might interfere from considering what

you have to say, from hearing from you.

So, I pray that you prepare our hearts

even now. Soften the soil that we may

receive your word.

And God, may it not end here,

but may we take what you show us in the

word and live it out today in our lives.

This we ask in Jesus name. Amen.

I don't know if you've had this

experience, but you've been to the

grocery store three times and then it's

about dinner time and someone's in the

kitchen preparing and what happens? Oh,

we forgot this incredibly key ingredient

for which we cannot eat this meal unless

you go to the store a fourth time.

Happened to you? Ever happened to See, I

I live about 3 seconds from Walmart now.

So, it's bad. We just We don't even

worry about grocery shopping for the

week or the month. No, no, no. We just

We just go to the store continually.

Now, I go almost gladly.

You say, "Matt, that's because you're a

great husband, a great father." No.

I mean, I hope.

But if I go to the store by myself,

guess what? I can get a little treat.

Nobody has to know. See, I've got this

hiding place in my refrigerator where I

keep chocolate. All right? No one knows

it's there. They'll never find it unless

you tell. And if you tell on me, I'm not

coming back.

Unless you offer me chocolate. And then

you see my problem. Okay, I'm I'm

struggling with that. That's something I

work on. But

my motivation

to go is not because I'm good. It's

quite the opposite of that. The first

defendant in this case,

their motivation is on trial.

Why they do what they do. So, here's

what I think God wants us to consider.

Remember that two words in verse 22.

Consider this. Here's something I think

God wants us to consider today. Why do

you go?

Why are you here?

Why do you gather in this place to

worship?

Why do you seek to grow together in

God's word?

Why do you go out and make disciples?

And why do you give of that time and

treasure and talents that God has given

you?

That sounds so good. That should be a

church's mission statement.

Some of you don't know that is your

church's mission statement. Come on.

Come on. It's right there on the

website. That's how I found it.

Why

Why do you do any of that stuff? Have

you ever stopped to consider that

why? What's my motivation?

The truth is our motivation matters to

God.

So much so

that God would come down to Mount Zion.

You know, Mount Zion is the the holy

hill, the city of David, the place in

which the tabernacle, and then and then

eventually the temple was placed, in

which was the holy of holies, in which

was the ark of the covenant, in which

was Aaron's staff, and it and the mana

and the ten commandments etched on which

were the finger of God. Those ten

commandments were written.

All of that to say God dwells there in a

special and peculiar way in the Old

Testament

and he's calling everybody

everybody

to court.

Now here's the interesting thing is the

scripture tells us here who's on trial.

Is it the world?

I look in the world I see a lot of evil.

We we need go God to judge those people

who are doing all that wrong. Right.

But who's on trial?

It's God's covenant people is on they

are on trial.

I don't know if this has ever happened

to you, but you you've ever gotten

pulled over and you just saw someone

pass you going 100 miles an hour

officer. But you don't understand. Like

I know I was going 10 miles over, but

that other guy in the Camaro that was

red, I don't know how you missed it.

I could just imagine God's covenant

people saying that. Why are we on trial?

Come on. There's a whole wide world out

there doing wrong and and we're your

people. Why would we be on trial? And

here's the incredible thing.

It was their motivation.

It wasn't their sacrifice. We read that

God says, "Hey, listen."

Verse 8, "I bring no charges against you

concerning your sacrifice or concerning

your burnt offerings which are ever

before me.

What's on trial? Their motivation or

what motivated them?"

You have to read between the lines here

some,

but I think it's pretty clear. These

people gave to God because they thought

God was in need.

Therefore, they were serving an

insufficient God.

And if I can give to God three square

meals a day, guess what God owes me?

God's in my pocket.

You get this idea because what is What

does the psalmist say? He says, "I have

no need of bulls from your stall or

goats from your pens. For every animal

in the forest is," This is where it's

gets interactive. I know. I know it's

hard. Okay, let's try it again. For

every animal in the forest is

>> we're Okay, this is a little bit better.

And the phrase that we've heard a the

cattle on a thousand hills. Not a

thousand cattle. the cattle on a thous.

It's all his.

I know every bird in the mountains and

the insects in the fields are

>> We're getting better. Here we go. We got

another chance. If I were hungry, I

would not tell you. For the world is

>> and all that is in it.

See, there is some hold over to the way

in which they viewed God in the

Mesopotamian world in which they

existed. The gods are those you serve to

put you in debt so that you can call out

favors on them. They literally have

needs.

And we give the sacrifice of the bull or

the goat

to the gods because they're hungry.

And if we meet their need,

they'll owe us things like sunshine and

rain and crops and children and so on

and so forth.

Their

motivation

was to get from God, not to give to God.

And this motivation

is on trial.

Now, I know uh you never would have

thought like that. You you your your

motives never would have been mixed like

that, right?

you you you never would have done this.

You you never would have said, "God, you

owe me.

But I have."

And it wasn't that long ago. I wish I

could say this was a long time ago. In

fact, it was when I was transitioning

from pastoring into this role.

I loved being in that role. It was

great. It was comfortable. Had a great

parsonage I got to live in. I was happy.

And God said, "Nope, we're going to do

this now."

And let me tell you, it was hard

because, you know, I I'm looking at

finances and all of that and we got to

buy a house. We never bought a house. We

don't have money for a house. Goodness

gracious.

We're looking everywhere. We're trying

to find something that would fit a

family of our size. We six in our

family. And so, it's tricky trying to

find somewhere that would work. And and

nothing was coming together. And then

I'd tell my friends and my friends would

say, "Oh, I've been in that place." And

then God just blessed me with this and

he blessed me with that and somebody who

had money came along and I'm just like,

"Well, that's great for you, but that

ain't happening for me." And I would

pray,

"God, why are you holding out on me?"

Since I was 16 years old and gave my

life to Christ, all I've done is serve

you.

Been a minister in the church for years.

That's why I ain't got no money to buy a

house.

Lord, why? Why?

You owe me, God.

Now, I'm glad he didn't hit me with

lightning cuz he would have been totally

justified.

He did a God thing, things that only God

does where he blesses you when you

deserve cursings. And that's what he

did. He blessed our socks off. I look

back and I'm just ashamed like that

attitude.

Was it really my motivation all along to

serve God to get from God? I hope not.

But in that moment, that's where I was

and I had to confess it and I had to

repent of it and I had to change course

because our motivations matter to God.

So why are you here?

Why do you go?

Why do you gather? Why do you grow? Why

do you give? Why do you sacrifice to

God? Is it to get?

Is it so that he owes you in some way?

Cuz I'll tell you, you'll find out your

motivation

when you are in great need, when you are

in trial, when things aren't going your

way.

And if you're like me, God is going to

God's going to reveal some things in

your heart. And that's my greatest

thanks to him in that season is he

revealed that in my heart because it

needed to get out. It needed to be

rooted out.

And God did that. But what what

motivates you?

Why'd you show up this morning?

Why do you serve the Lord?

Why did you put that money in the

offering plate?

Consider this.

What is your

motivation?

Why do you do

what you do? The truth is we owe God

everything.

He owes us nothing.

He owes us nothing. Yet he has given us

everything.

He is not in our debt. We're in his

debt.

Every time we should have done good and

we did bad. Every time we shouldn't have

done bad and we did good. Our debts just

kept getting higher.

Our sins are a debt that we owe God. We

owe God a righteous, holy life.

And not one of us, and I know especially

not me,

are living the perfect life God has

called me to live.

He owes me nothing. I owe him

everything.

So what's the decision? We got two

defendants, two decisions. The first

defendant, they're on trial for their

motivation. What is the decision that

needs to be made?

The scripture says this,

"What I want you to do is give a

sacrifice of thanks." Verse 14,

"Sacrifice, thank offerings to God."

Now, see, this is totally the opposite.

This goes exactly the other direction.

It is to recognize that God doesn't owe

me. I owe him because he has given me

everything. I've given him nothing. He

has given me everything. So what would I

do in that position but give thanks?

I must give thanks. Look what God has

done. I can't outsacrifice

God.

Cuz look at what he has sacrificed for

me.

Look at what he has given me. When I was

in his debt, do you know what? He did

not demand payment.

He said, "I'm going to pay it for you.

You owe me everything, but I'm going to

give you everything. I'm going to give

you more. Here's what I'm trying to say

is that why do we give thanks on the

other side of the cross

is that all those debts of sin that we

racked up, Christ paid that. That's

that's what he's doing in his death.

That that's what he's doing for you and

for me.

How dare I think I owe him anything? He

has given me everything. And so what is

my response? It is to offer a sacrifice

of thanksgiving.

To thank God

for all that he has done, but especially

to thank God

that the father sent the son for me.

Could we pause for just a second? No,

we're not done. How much time I got? I

got plenty of time. Goodness. Yes.

Praise the Lord.

Can you just

close your eyes where you are? Can you

just pause and thank God?

Whatever comes first to mind, can you

just thank God for that?

Whatever it might be, can you thank God

for that?

God, we give you thanks. You have given

us life and breath.

You have given us blessing upon

blessing.

The greatest of which is that you have

given us your son Jesus. He is

everything to us.

You owe us nothing and yet you have

given us everything.

God, let that shape our motivation

that we sacrifice unto you. We give to

you

out of gratitude.

You'd shift our mindsets from you owe us

to one of gratitude. This we ask in

Jesus name. Amen.

So the first defendant, you could say

they're the you owe me group. Then

there's a second defendant. We see the

shift in verse 16.

It's the the wicked person. This is the

God don't own me. So if you got the

first group, God owes me. The second

group is God, you don't own me.

To the wicked person, God says, what

right have you to recite my laws or take

my covenant on your lips? So these are

still God's covenant people. We are

still not dealing with the world out

there, but the people in here.

and they're giving great lip service to

God,

but their life looks nothing like the

commands in scripture. It's as if they

took the pages of scripture and baldled

them up and just threw them over their

shoulder.

We might call them carnal Christians.

Some might be able to hide it from the

world, but God sees. He sees everything.

and he is the ultimate judge and and he

has seen

that they're willing to take what is not

theirs.

He has seen

that they are willing to take the gift

of sex and abuse it.

He has seen that they are willing to use

this mouth from which fresh water should

flow

and it's poisoned.

that they would, I love this language.

This is 18 through20, harness their

tongue for deceit.

There's intentionality there. An animal

doesn't get harnessed by accident.

One who would intentionally use their

words to deceive.

He says, "You sit and testify against

your brother and slander your own

mother's son. It's not a pretty

picture."

And they thought they were going to get

away with it.

They had done the crime, but they didn't

think they were going to have to do the

time because they hadn't yet.

And God says, "You think that I'm on

board with this because I have yet to

act, but I will."

And here he is judging. He sees

everything. Nothing's getting by him.

Nothing is getting by him.

This is the hardest verse I think in

this passage

because this is the judgment for the

covenant people of God. Verse 22.

Consider this.

You who forget God.

I I got to tell you that there have been

days where I get to the end of the day

and I think I didn't pray at all today.

I just forgot God today. How does that

happen?

I can look at these people and judge

them, the covenant people of God, all

the great miracles that they saw, all

the provisions that God clearly made for

them. But I'm in the same boat.

I have forgotten God.

I have done much of the things that he

is accusing them of as a Christian. I

wish it weren't true,

but it is.

So this is this is scary. So if I if you

could just imagine this courtroom scene

and God is there. He is the judge and he

is the prosecutor. I'm the defendant.

I'm sitting in the witness stand and God

is saying all of these things. I've got

no defense.

There's nothing I can say. I can't say

but.

I can't point to someone else.

It's on me. I'm guilty. I know it.

And then he says, "I will tear you to

pieces

and no one can rescue you." Let the

weight of that hit you for a second. If

God says, "No one's coming to your

rescue," guess what? No one's coming to

your rescue cuz he's God.

Now, the language here is of a wolf

tearing a sheep in two.

And God is saying, "Those who are

wicked,

who sin with disregard, who forget me,

that's what they deserve.

To be torn in two like a small little

lamb being attacked by a wolf.

I'm that lamb. I'm not an innocent lamb.

I'm a guilty lamb.

That's what I deserve.

Now what's interesting is again

these are the covenant people of God.

This means that they have a covenant

relationship with God. Do you know what

a covenant is? This agreement

between two parties.

When agreement was made between two

parties, often what they would do is

they would take an animal

like a sheep. They would cut that animal

in half and lay one piece on this side

and one on the other. Both parties would

pass between that animal cut in half.

That's why in some translations

going back earlier to verse 5 when the

word of God says, "Gather to me this

consecrated people who made a covenant

with me by sacrifice." Some translations

will actually translate it is those who

have cut a covenant with me.

And that's what who made in the NIV

is the Greek word or it's the Hebrew

word krath and it means to cut.

Because here's the significance of that.

When you made a covenant with someone

and you cut that animal in half and you

walk through, what you're saying is,

I'll uphold my end of the deal and

you'll uphold your end of the deal. But

if one of us doesn't, what happened to

this animal is going to happen to us.

And God says, "You didn't uphold your

end of the deal.

And I'm coming for you."

Like a wolf with sharp teeth coming

after a lamb. Like that animal that was

cut in two. We had a deal

and you didn't uphold your end of the

deal.

I thank God that we are not an old

covenant people.

I thank God that we're a new covenant

people because you know what happens in

the New Testament? Do you know what the

new covenant is? Do you know what the

good news is? The good news is God said,

"You know what? I'll be the lamb.

I'll cut myself in two for you.

>> Christ is that sacrificial lamb for us.

God took our punishment on himself.

What we deserved, he paid.

Christ was torn into for us. He was the

innocent lamb.

What then is my response?

What's the decision as the defendant

that God is calling me to make?

Verse 23, we read it. Those who

sacrifice thank offerings honor me.

That's the first defendant. That's the

first decision.

The second,

and to those blameless, I will show my

salvation.

Other translations will talk about

walking along

the righteous path.

It is to turn

from the direction I'm going to the

direction God wants me to go. That's

what repentance is.

Some of you know this. I do a podcast.

Uh Roland and Eric have both been on it.

It's a lot of fun. I really enjoy it.

And uh I had a guest on and he was

talking about

uh

what it means to be totally depraved.

Not that I'm as bad as I could be, but

that every area of my life has been

touched by my sin and my sinful nature.

And he says, so there's really no sin in

which I can say I'm not on some level

guilty at that guilty of that at some

point. He made this great analogy.

So if we use the language here of the

psalmist like what are some of the

accusation he makes stealing? Well if if

if stealing were red and he talks about

adultery and adultery is blue

we're all red and blue. My shade may be

darker or lighter than yours, but

there's no sin in which at some point on

some level that I have not committed.

And for some of us, we've got a a color

running through us right now that is so

dark and so clear. There's sin in our

lives that we haven't kicked out

and we're struggling.

Or maybe we're not struggling. Maybe

we're enjoying it. I don't know.

I can tell you what I need. I need this

right path. I need this call to walk on

the path of righteousness. I need to be

reminded that there is a holy life in

which God has called me to. I need

people in my life who can see where I'm

going wrong and point it out.

I've got a group of men I meet with

every Wednesday morning and we confess

our sin to one another just as the

scripture commands us to do in James

James 5:16

5:16. I need that. I've got to have

that. I will get off the path so easily

and so quickly

and I don't want to go back.

I don't want to be an old covenant

person. I want to live in light of the

new covenant. I want to stay on that

path. I want to stay on this path that

God has called us to.

All this reminds me of what Paul wrote

in Romans 6.

He says, "Count yourselves dead to sin,

but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Therefore, do not let sin reign in your

mortal body so that you obey its evil

desires. Do not offer any part of

yourself to sin as an instrument of

wickedness, but rather offer yourselves

to God

as those who have been brought from

death to life.

Offer every part of yourself to him as

an instrument of righteousness. He's

talking to the Christian. He's talking

to you. He's talking to me.

For sin shall no longer be your master

because you are not under the law. You

are under

grace. So let me ask you a question. As

a Christian, is your rhetoric outpacing

your righteousness?

Is your walk matching your talk?

Are you on the right path?

Can I give you some good news? Yes,

please. Yes, Lord. Please.

You know what your kids heard this week?

If you had kids at camp,

they heard about this parable,

not really of a lost son, but of two

lost sons.

But the one who left, you know what the

father did? You know what he did? Luke

15, you know the story. He sat on the

porch and he waited and he watched.

It's clear he's not doing that to

condemn the son when he comes home,

which is probably what I would do as a

parent. I'm just waiting for that sucker

to get here because I got some stuff to

say.

That's me. I'm not God. God's so much

better.

We have a father in heaven who will sit

on the porch and wait for you.

He longs for you to come home. He longs

for you to turn.

Let his love

bring you to repentance

and walk the path of righteousness he

has called you to.

And let us do it with much gratitude.

For we have a God

to whom

we owe everything.

He owes us nothing, but he has given us

everything.

We have a God who would come into this

world and be torn in two for us, taking

the covenant curses on himself.

and calling us, beckoning us, come back

to me.

Let's pray.

Father God, I'm glad that you do not

hide the truth from us. You tell us what

we need to hear. Maybe even when we

don't want to hear it. Maybe people

showed up this morning and they just

wanted to hear a cheerful, hopeful

message.

Lift them up. Send them out.

And God, there are times in which we

must consider this.

Are our motivations

right?

Are we walking through this Christian

life thinking that because we have

sacrificed so much to you that you

somehow owe us?

I've been there. And if there's anyone

here who is there now, God, I pray that

you call them out of that

helping them to see that you don't owe

them anything, but you have given them

everything

and you might so fill their hearts with

that truth that they can't help but to

give you thanks

and to live a life of gratitude. And

there's some of us here today that just

tend to forget you. We just live how we

want. We do what we want. Yet we say we

are a Christian.

God, convict our hearts. Help us to see

the sin that is destroying

our intimacy with you.

Help us to see you're the father on the

porch beckoning us home.

Not to condemn,

but certainly to change.

That we might look more and more as

children of God, the son of God.

Now, we can do none of this without you.

Holy Spirit, come. Speak. Fill this

place. fill this altar

with people who want to purify their

motivations

and get on the right path.

Not simply out of fear, but father

because they see they are coming to a

God who loves them so much that you

would give your son for us.

If you have moved our hearts, let us

move our feet today in Jesus name. Amen.

Now is a time of invitation. Your

pastors are going to come as we worship

together. I just want to challenge you.

Respond. Respond. Whatever it looks

like, whatever it sounds like, whatever

God's calling you to do, don't leave

this place without doing it. Amen.