Psalm 50: "You Thought I Was One Like Yourself"

August 1, 2021: Ordinary Time

SCRIPTURE: Psalm 50

A Psalm of Asaph.

[1] The Mighty One, God the LORD,

speaks and summons the earth

from the rising of the sun to its setting.

[2] Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,

God shines forth.

[3] Our God comes; he does not keep silence;

before him is a devouring fire,

around him a mighty tempest.

[4] He calls to the heavens above

and to the earth, that he may judge his people:

[5] “Gather to me my faithful ones,

who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”

[6] The heavens declare his righteousness,

for God himself is judge! Selah

[7] “Hear, O my people, and I will speak;

O Israel, I will testify against you.

I am God, your God.

[8] Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;

your burnt offerings are continually before me.

[9] I will not accept a bull from your house

or goats from your folds.

[10] For every beast of the forest is mine,

the cattle on a thousand hills.

[11] I know all the birds of the hills,

and all that moves in the field is mine.

[12] “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,

for the world and its fullness are mine.

[13] Do I eat the flesh of bulls

or drink the blood of goats?

[14] Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,

and perform your vows to the Most High,

[15] and call upon me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

[16] But to the wicked God says:

“What right have you to recite my statutes

or take my covenant on your lips?

[17] For you hate discipline,

and you cast my words behind you.

[18] If you see a thief, you are pleased with him,

and you keep company with adulterers.

[19] “You give your mouth free rein for evil,

and your tongue frames deceit.

[20] You sit and speak against your brother;

you slander your own mother’s son.

[21] These things you have done, and I have been silent;

you thought that I was one like yourself.

But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.

[22] “Mark this, then, you who forget God,

lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!

[23] The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;

to one who orders his way rightly

I will show the salvation of God!” (ESV)