2. Scripture  Revelation 2:2-5

3. The Great Psalms  Psalm 50  Thank the Lord!

4. The Author of Psalm 50  Asaph  Appointed worship leader of Israel by King David  Wrote Psalms 73-83

5. Psalm 50’s Uniqueness  The Lord God is speaking directly to His people.  Psalm 50:1, 5, 7, and 16.  Note: “I,” “Me,” “Mine,” and “My.” Man to GodGod to Man

6. Entering God’s Courtroom

7. Psalm 50:7  The Lord speaks first to those who are indeed His people, but their hearts are not in their worship. Their devotion is faithful but only routine. Like the church at Ephesus, they had “left their first love” (Rev 2:4) and were worshiping the Lord out of habit and not from the heart. Outwardly, they were doing what the Lord commanded and honoring the daily sacrifices (Ex 29:38-42), but inwardly they lacked love and fellowship with God. They forgot that God wanted their hearts before He wanted their sacrifices. The Bible Exposition Commentary

8. Psalm 50:8  ERV = “The problem I have with you is not your sacrifices or the burnt offerings you bring to Me everyday.”  “He does not accuse them of failing to be religious enough. Rather, they have abundantly fulfilled their ritual obligations.” Broyles, Psalms, page 224

9. Psalm 50:9-10  ERV = “Why would I want more bulls from your barns or goats from your pens?” (v9)  NLT = “But I do not need the bulls from your barns or the goats from your pens.” (V9)  NCV = “Because every animal of the forest is already Mine. The cattle on a thousand hills are Mine.” (v10)  CEV = “Every animal in the forest belongs to Me, and so do the cattle on a thousand hills.”

10. Psalm 50:11-12  There is nothing we can give to God that He doesn’t already own or that He hasn’t given to us.  “John answered, ‘No one can have anything unless God gives it to him.’” (John 3:27, TEV)  “John replied, ‘No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven.’” (NLT)

11. 1 Chronicles 29:14, 16  “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from You, and we have given You only what comes from Your hand. O LORD our God, as for all this abundance that we have provided for building You a temple for Your Holy Name, it comes from Your hand, and all of it belongs to You.”

12. Psalm 50:12  ERV = “If I were hungry, I would not ask you for food. I already own the world and everything in it.”  He (God) instituted the sacrifices not because He needed the animals but because the people desperately needed Him. Bible Knowledge Commentary

13. Psalm 50:14  ERV = “The only sacrifice I want is for you to be thankful and to keep your word.”  TEV = “Let the giving of thanks be your sacrifice to God, and give the Almighty all that you promised.”  NLT = “Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God.”

14. Psalm 50:15  “What the Lord wanted from His people was thanksgiving from their hearts, obedience to His Word, prayer, and a desire to honor Him in everything. But the Lord doesn’t want ritualism or formalism. He wants our worship to come from the heart.” The Bible Exposition Commentary

15. Psalms  Psalm 69:30 – “I will praise God’s name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving.”  Psalm 95:2 – “Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.”  Psalm 100:4 – “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.”

16. Psalms  Psalm 107:21-22 – “Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men! Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving.”  Psalm 116:17-18 – “I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord now in the presence of all His people.”

17. NT Verses  Hebrews 12:28 – “Let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.”  Colossians 4:2 – “Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving.”  1 Thes 5:18 – “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”  Ephesians 5:20 – “Giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”