Reflections on Psalm 50

Psalm 50 ends like this:

The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!” – Psalm 50:23

When you say “thank you” to the Lord what are you acknowledging?

(Psalm 50 answers this question as well as many other places)

We need to be reminded of what’s at the root of thanksgiving. There’s a danger of saying it without thinking and setting our minds on why we are giving thanks.

In addition, as this Psalm points out, “to you who forget God,” it’s possible to stop thinking about the Lord and that might have come from forgetting why you give thanks and eventually those empty words result in an empty heart.

This reveals itself in this psalm by hating discipline, turning one’s back on God’s word, and several OBVIOUS sins and acceptance of other’s sins without regard for the Lord.

And here’s the thing…all the while…don’t miss this…telling “my statues” and taking “my covenant in your mouth.”

In other words, one can say with their mouth (mindless repetition) the word of God while “letting your mouth loose in evil.”

Let’s pray this: “May our God come and not keep silence.” Better that we judge and be judged NOW than later. The Lord is merciful to those who bend low before him and lay bare our drift into empty words of thanksgiving.

I bet when he forgives you/us again you/we will finds plenty of heartfelt reasons to give thanks!