Psalm 50, 53, 60, and 75

Psalm 50 is another of the twelve Psalms of Asaph, assistant to Heman. We’ve looked at some of his Psalms before: Psalm 73, 76, and 78.

In Psalm 50, he makes the point that God does not need their sacrifices or burnt offerings. You’ve probably all heard the words of the song “He Owns the Cattle” by John W. Peterson:

He owns the cattle on a thousand hills,
The wealth in every mine;
He owns the rivers and the rocks and rills,
The sun and stars that shine.
Wonderful riches, more than tongue can tell -
He is my Father so they're mine as well;
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills -
I know that He will care for me.

God tells them to make thankfulness their sacrifice to God and to keep their vows made to him. God promises that if they do that, we can call on him when we are in trouble and he will rescue us and we will give God glory. Thankfulness as a sacrifice? It’s so easy to be thankful when everything is going our way, but to be thankful when it looks as if our world is falling apart is truly a sacrifice. It takes faith in God that he is watching over us, that his wings shelter us, as mentioned in Psalm 36. God tells us that giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors him and if you keep to his path, he will reveal the salvation of God.

Psalm 53 is described as a meditation, something we should think about, but what are we to think about? First, to put it bluntly, atheists are fools, because only fools say in their hearts that God does not exist. Romans 1:19 - 20 says, “They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

It is in this Psalm that God makes it clear that “no one does good, not a single one,” but it also talks about God restoring his people and rescue Israel. We would be without hope if Jesus had not paid the price for us – As Romans 5:1 says: “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.” In verse 6 of the same chapter, Paul says: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.”

Psalm 60 was written as a result of a specific event – David’s battle agains Aramnaharaim and Aram-zobah and Joab killed 12,000 Edomites.

Do you suppose David had experienced an earthquake before he wrote this Psalm? He says in verse 2: “You have shaken our land and split it open.” And then pleads ”Seal the cracks, for the land trembles.” He finally asks God for help against their enemies recognizing the human help is useless. His faith in God is very clear, however, in verse 12: “With God’s help we will do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes.”

Psalm 75 is another song of Asaph. He starts right out giving thanks to God, because God is near. “People everywhere tell of your wonderful deeds.” He warns the proud and defiant not to raise their fists against God, because God alone judges and decides who will rise and who will fall.

Tomorrow, it’s II Samuel 10, I Chronicles 19, and Psalm 20.

Until next time…