A Study in Psalms - Psalm 50

I want to welcome you back to our third week of studying the Psalms. Everybody remembers the first psalm we did two weeks ago?

Psalm 11. Do you remember the first six words of Psalm 11? Somebody here called Don Scott in Texas and told him what I said. So I got this in the mail today. In the Lord I take record. So whoever you are, thank you. I appreciate it. I told you I wanted that banner. Last week we looked at Psalm 22, the prophecy of the cross. Tonight we're going to go in a little bit of a different direction. We're going to study a different kind of psalm, one that we probably haven't studied in the last two or three years.

And I call Psalm 50 a psalm of judgment. Last week I began talking about the disciples on Emmaus Road. I want to begin tonight talking about that wonderful story of Nicodemus visiting Jesus in John 3. We won't take the time to read it, but you know it, right? Nicodemus was a religious man, perhaps was the most religious man in all of Israel or in Jerusalem. He was a Pharisee. He was a member of the Sanhedrin. He was a religious man, but he did not have a relationship with Jesus. And although he was a religious leader, he was in spiritual darkness until Jesus met him, when he met Jesus that night.

And Nicodemus and the Pharisees are kind of like the people we're going to talk about tonight in Psalm 50. They externalized religion. They invented all sorts of man-made regulations. They added to the Law of Moses, and they took pride in observing them, right? And Jesus, in the great woe chapter of Matthew 23, where it says, Woe to you, woe to you, woe to you, he would blast them for their hypocrisy. They would tide the spices, and he says that you would wash the inside of the cup out, but you neglected to deal with the sin in your lives.

So Nicodemus was kind of like that man before he found Jesus. Someone has said that religion is man-made. The gospel is God-given. Religion is what man does for God. The gospel is what God does for man. Religion is good views. The gospel is good news. Religion is an outer reformation. The gospel ends in an inner transformation. Religion often becomes a farce. The gospel is always a force, the power of God unto salvation. A thousand years before Jesus came and met Nicodemus, and before he blasted the religious leaders for their religiosity and their rituals of worship, a worship leader in the Temple of Jerusalem wrote this psalm, and he would give a warning about false worship.

His name is Asap, and he gives us a warning on judgment. I think in the Bible someone has said it talks about judgment is coming over 265 times. The word judgment is one of the most hated words in human vocabulary. It's why many years ago Pastor Lance told us when you share Jesus, you share that all are sinners, the wages of sin is death, and after death comes judgment. Romans 3.23, Romans 6.23, and Hebrews 9.27. Judgment is not well liked, even though the Bible talks about it a lot. Ecclesiastes 13, verse 14 says, For God will bring every deed into judgment, every secret thing, whether good or evil.

Acts 17.31 says, God has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead. That man is Jesus Christ. And I just mentioned Hebrews 9.27 says, And just as it is appointed for man to die once, after that comes judgment. A few months ago Lance went through the seven judgments in the Bible, and I thought I'd just review them real quickly. In the Bible there's seven judgments. The first one is the judgment of sin.

And that's at the cross. Colossians 2.14 says, By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with his legal demands, this he set aside, nailing it to the cross. If you have Jesus Christ in your heart tonight, your sins were nailed to the cross. So there's a judgment of sin at the cross. Then number two, there's a judgment of self.

We call this today in the believer's life. First Corinthians 11.31 says, If we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.

We examine our lives, we confess our sins daily or whenever we sin. And then number three, there's going to be a judgment of the believer's works.

It's called the Bema Seat Judgment. This is not a judgment of sin, but someday we'll stand before Christ. Second Corinthians 5.10 says, For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

So it's a judgment for our rewards. And then number four, we have the judgment of Israel. That's going to happen at the end of the tribulation. Ezekiel 20-44 talk about that. And number five, there'll be a judgment of nations also at the end of the tribulations. Jesus talks about that in Matthew 25 verses 31-46. And then there'll be a judgment of Satan at the end of the millennium, Jude 6. It says he is bound for everlasting judgment. And lastly, there'll be a judgment of the unsaved. And that's in Revelation 20, and we'll look at that later.

So which judgment is this psalm talking about? Well, it can be argued that Psalm 50 only has in direct view God's judgment of Israel because it is the nation joined to Him in the covenant as described here, Exodus 19, Exodus 24. Yet by extension and the principle of 1 Peter 4.17, this has all people of God in view. So we'll talk about Israel tonight, and we'll talk about us. So let's read Psalm 50, and then we'll pray. Psalm 50. Psalm of Asap. The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth.

From the rising of the sun to its setting, out of Zion the perfection of beauty, God shines forth. Our God comes. He does not keep silence. Before Him is a devouring fire, around Him a mighty tempest. He calls to the heavens above and to the earth that He may judge His people. Gather to Me My faithful ones who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice. The heavens declares righteousness, for God Himself is judge. Hear, O My people, and I will speak. O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God.

Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you. Your burnt offerings are continually before Me. I will not accept a bull from your house or a goat from your folds, for every beast of the forest is Mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is Mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and all its fullness are Mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving and perform your vows to the Most High.

And call on Me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me. But to the wicked God says, What right do you have to recite My statues or take My covenant on your lips?

For you hate discipline, and you cast My words behind you. If you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and you keep company with the adulterers. You give your mouth free reign for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother. You slander your own mother's son. 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. Mark this then, you who forgot God, lest I tear you apart and there be none to deliver.

The one who offers thanksgiving as a sacrifice glorifies Me. To the one who orders his way rightly, I will show the salvation of God. Let's pray. Father, we thank You that we can study Psalm 50 tonight. May we leave here tonight knowing more of You. And when we come into the sanctuary, may we come in with proper worship as we've been warned by Aesop tonight. Thank You, in Jesus' name. Amen. So first off, what type of psalm is this?

We looked at a song of trust in Psalm 11 two weeks ago. Last week we looked at a messianic psalm. So this is called a covenant renewal psalm. And what is a covenant renewal psalm? There's really only two of them out of the 150. Psalm 50 and I believe Psalm 86, I think, is one of them. A covenant renewal psalm is designed to lead God's people to a renewal of the covenant that was first given at Mount Sinai in Exodus, I think, 19 to 24.

Yeah, I'm sorry, Psalm 50 and Psalm 81, not 86. So we looked at a song of trust, we looked at a messianic psalm, and now we're going to look at a covenant renewal.

So in the Old Testament, there was quite often, not too much, but Joshua would renew the covenant in Joshua 8. Ezra would renew the covenant in Ezra 8 to 10. Asa in 2 Chronicles 15. Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20. And then the two good kings we know of, Hezekiah would renew the covenant and Josiah would renew the covenant. One example of Josiah, it says in 2 Chronicles 34, 31, And the king stood in his place and made a covenant with the Lord to keep the commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all his heart and soul and to perform the words of the covenant that were written in this book.

Actually, Josiah is renewing the covenant that was first made on Mount Sinai. But if Israel did not renew the covenant, and you know there were only 8 kings out of 20 who were good or very good, most of them were awful, judgment awaited. If they didn't obey God's word, there will be judgment. So this is a covenant renewal psalm, but I'm calling it a psalm of judgment. Alexander McLaren said, It's hard to think of a psalm that is as relevant to our day as this one. This psalm has been keen and edge for modern as for ancient sins.

We do have a superscription. It just says above your Psalm 50 there, Psalm of Asaph. Who's Asaph? Asaph wrote 12 psalms, so this is the first one.

He wrote Psalm 50, and then you have to jump to Psalm 73 to 83. Now, last year we looked at Psalm 77, and I think the year before that we looked at Psalm 73. So Asaph wrote those psalms, so if you want to study more of Asaph's psalms. It's interesting because Asaph's going to talk about false worship, and he's the Tim. He's the guy sitting up there, and imagine him in the temple looking around. He knows who's phony. He knows who's going through the rituals, so he's the right guy to write this psalm.

1 Chronicles 16 says that Asaph is one of the three great song leaders in the temple. Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were the three leaders, and they would lead the temple worship and the music. Is there a context connecting this? Well, just go back to Psalm 49, verse 20. We actually studied Psalm 49 last year. We called that psalm The Worthlessness of Wealth. But the last verse says, Man in his pomp, yet without understanding, is like beasts that perish. So there's a warning there for rich people, a warning that you will die and spend eternity in hell.

So Psalm 49 does kind of connect in the context with Psalm 50. You're outlining the three main points. God summons to judgment, verses 1 to 6. God speaks in judgment, verses 7 to 15. And God sentences in judgment, verses 16 to 23. So let's look at God summons to judgment, verses 1 to 6.

So first off, the judge is heard. It says the mighty one, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth. This psalm begins with Asap describing a courtroom scene. The roof of the courtroom is heaven above, and the floor is the earth beneath. God himself is the judge. God is also the judge. God is also the prosecuting attorney. All rolled, and the jury, all rolled into one. There is no defense attorney in this courtroom. The psalmist compounds three names for God. You've probably seen this before. The only other occurrence of this is Joshua 22, 22, which says the mighty one, God, the Lord, and that's what our psalm begins.

So you have three names for God, El, Elohim, and Yahweh. So it gives an awesome sense of the majesty. He could have just said Yahweh, right? He just could have said Elohim, but he's going to say the mighty one is El, is the God the mighty one, that awful one who has attributes and judgments. Human judges, when you go in the courtroom, if you've ever done, I haven't done jury duty probably in 25 years, but when you go in the courtroom, they still make you stand up, right? The honorable judge comes in and you stand up, right?

Well, this honorable judge is called the mighty one when he walks into the courtroom. The second name is Elohim, and that means the God that who is majestic.

He's the God of creation. He's the God of the sun and the stars and the galaxies and the planets. And then the third name, Yahweh, is the God merciful one who reveals himself to men and he signs contracts or covenants with them, the covenant he did with Israel.

So this God is majestic and all-powerful who speaks and summons the earth to appear in judgment before him. And it says from the rising of the sun to its setting. So from the east to the west, the whole earth is summoned to appear before this almighty judge, not just the children of Israel who he specifically is speaking to. So the judge is heard. Now, number two, the judge is seen.

He says, Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth. Zion is the holy mountain where the temple stands. Zion stands for perfection because God is intermissed. God's holiness and majesty radiate the light that shines forth. You know, I mentioned that when the human courtroom, we all stand respectively when the judge enters the courtroom. But here, God's entrance is accompanied by the Shekinah glory and the fury tempest that was described on Mount Sinai when he gave the law in Exodus 19.

If you want to turn there, you can. But in Exodus 19, when the law was given, verses 16 to 19 of Exodus 19 says, On the morning of the third day there was thunder, there was lightning, and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast so that all the people in the camp trembled.

Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke went up like the smoke of a kiln and the whole mountain trembled greatly and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Moses spoke and God answered him in thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain and Moses went up.

So this judge is going to leave his chamber and he's going to appear on Mount Zion in the form of a dazzling, brilliant glory cloud that we call the Shekinah glory. He's not going to be silent about people's sins any longer. He's been silent for a long time. But he comes down with fire, a great storm, with thunder and lightning all around him. At Mount Sinai he came to give the law. Here he comes to interpret the law, its spiritual meaning. He will come as a judge. The New Testament states the fact that this will be done.

We read Acts 17.31, that Jesus Christ is going to gather all the nations before him and he will pronounce the final sentence on mankind. Verse 3 says, Our God comes. He does not keep silent. He's a devouring fire and around him a mighty tempest. For most people it seems that God is silent now.

They can't hear God. Why doesn't God answer me? No voice is heard. No sentence is pronounced. So people think they can get away with things. They make themselves up gods of idols. But this will not always be the case. As the time is coming when God will no longer be silent to the conduct and character of men, the wicked will see and hear, and much like the children of Israel who trembled at Mount Sinai, the wicked will tremble with fear. Point C, the judge takes his place in the judgment seat. It says he calls to the heavens above and to the earth that he may judge his people.

I read one psalm a day, which I encourage you to read one psalm a day. And today's psalm I read was Psalm 75. And I hadn't even noticed that. But Psalm 75 verses 6 to 8 says, For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up. But it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another. For the hand of the Lord, there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed. He pours out from it on all the wicked of the earth, shall drain it down to the dreads. So this is the judge that comes in.

And in the Bible when it calls heaven and earth as a witness, it's a very serious thing. Isaiah chapter 1 verses 1 and 2 says the same thing. Isaiah begins his 66 chapters of his book by calling heavens and earth above that he may witness. So it's a very serious thing. God is going to subpoena heaven and earth. He's going to gather all the defendants to stand by the witness stand. So he commands the attendants to bring in the defendants. First, he's going to talk about the faithful ones in verses 7 to 15, which we'll get to in a minute.

Later, he's going to have a special court session for the wicked ones, verses 16 to 19. God will call on all the universe. He will summon all who dwell on earth. The world, the heavens, the universe will see and admit that this judge is just. The heavens are called to bear witness to the righteousness of God's judgment. The fact that this judge has perfect knowledge of all facts, he's absolutely impartial. His verdicts are wise and just. Number point D, the judge summons his people. He says, gather to me my faithful ones who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

So this would be talking about the children of Israel. All the Psalms were written for the children of Israel who made a covenant by sacrifice. God's people entered into a solemn covenant relationship with him and this covenant was made at Mount Sinai and, as I mentioned, was renewed periodically by good leaders and good kings. And lastly, point E there, the judge is declared righteous. What a statement we have here in verse 6. The heavens declare his righteousness for God himself is judge, Selah.

So when you see a Selah, it means there's a pause. Maybe time to go to the second chorus, but usually there's a space and there's a pause here because God wants you to think about what he just said.

This is a serious and sober statement and we're invited to pay attention to this momentous announcement of the judgment of God upon mankind, particularly here to the children of Israel. As applied to Christians today, he would speak of our relationship to Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit is going to summon every man, woman who ever lived someday, those who don't know Christ. I read an article about Shaquille O'Neal was sued by something to do with Bitcoin. I don't understand it completely, but they couldn't catch him.

They couldn't find him because you can't drag someone into court without having a summons, right? So the process server has to find someone and I guess they finally caught up after a year or two.

They got Shaquille O'Neal to be served. Now he has to appear in court. Well, Shaquille O'Neal avoided it for some time, but there'll be no escaping the process server who is the Holy Spirit in this courtroom. John 16 verses 7 to 11 talk about the Holy Spirit is a spirit of judgment. Let's move on to point 2, God speaks in judgment. Okay, the main idea in verses 7 to 15 is the judge is going to summon his covenant people, Israel. God is going to judge their worship. Nominally, orthodox, mechanically, and pious would be how you describe their worship.

For a modern application for us, it would be a group of people who profess Christ. They might go to church, but there's no fruit, just external mechanics. Maybe you'd call those, sometimes we call them the CEO Christians, they come on Christmas, Easter only CEO. Facebook Christians, I have some relatives who claim to be Christians and they're really good at posting verses on Facebook or Instagram, but they're never in church except on Christmas or Easter. So God speaks in judgment. Number one, let's talk about the prosecuting attorney.

I mentioned there is no defense attorney in this courtroom. He says, here, oh, my people, I will speak, oh, Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. In courtrooms today, it would be impossible for a judge to serve as a prosecutor, but in this case, it's altogether proper because he's just, he's righteous. For the judge is the Lord God Almighty. God is also the chief witness in this courtroom and the defendants here in trial are God's own people. So God is going to speak 10 times in this section, verses 7 to 15, it says, I, I, I.

And I just imagine every time he says, I, there's a thunder, there's lightning, okay, there's fire. So he's going to say, I, God is speaking here. And what's he saying? He's basically saying, I am sovereign. I am the sovereign God of the universe. And when he says, I am God, your God, there is no other. Number two, what are the charges that are brought against the children of Israel?

It's the charges are the sin of ritualism, ritualism, kind of like Nicodemus. They did all those rituals and washing cups, tithing, mint, you know, trimming their beards, doing all those things. But this group of people, God makes it clear they had not failed to bring sacrifices because he says, not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you. They brought the sacrifices. The men came three times a year for the feasts, but they had failed to bring sacrifices to him. They had been faithful in bringing the burnt offerings.

They felt this was all they had to do. That was all that was expected of them, like showing up to church on Sunday, like I did many years ago. Someone has described them as being sons and daughters who treat their parents indifferently day after day by doing things that grieve them. Then on some special occasion, they present their mother or father with special gifts. Isaiah 1, 11 to 15 talks about this in graphic terms. Amos 5, verses 21 to 24 talk about it, but I thought we'd turn to Micah 6, and I think a lot of you know verse 8, but we'll read Micah 6, verses 6 to 8.

So there's lots of chapters in the Bible that talk about it. But Micah 6, verses 6 to 8 says, With what shall I come before the Lord and bow myself before God on high? They could say, what do you want me to do, God? Shall I come with him with burnt offerings, with calves that are a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? And then you all know verse 8, I hope.

He has told you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk humbly with your God? God wasn't interested in the sacrifices that they were bringing. But they loaded his altar with all these animals. They treated God with coldness and neglect. They thought they would earn merit. They'd walk out of the temple. Oh, we're all right now for another few months until the next time of sacrifices. But when it came to a warm relationship with God, it was seriously lacking.

There's always a danger of outward obedience, but it's a failure to have a burning heart of love for God and His Word is a lesson for us. God had never intended right outward action to serve as a cover for wrong inward attitudes. The attitude of the author is significant. We'll talk about that in a minute. A true worshiper recognizes the fact that everything we bring to God is already His, including ourselves. So they had a lack of reasoning. That's point number C or 3 there in verses 9 to 13. And here he's going to say it's not for your animals.

I don't need them. The problem is your attitudes. So not for the animals. They had failed to stop and think that God owns these animals. He owns all the creatures in the world already. Kind of like when we put money in the offering, we think we're tithing out of our money. It's God's money altogether when we tithe. But they failed to stop and think about God and His creatures. That God owns the beasts of the field. He owns the cattle in a thousand hills. He owns the birds in the air. He owns everything that moves in the field.

God doesn't really need a single thing from these men. He's never hungry. And if He were, He has a well-stocked pantry in heaven. God received no nourishment or satisfaction from the blood of bull's meat or goat's blood. God is completely self-sufficient. God instituted sacrifices not because He needed them, but because people desperately needed Him. Their attitudes were wrong. They thought they were benefiting God. They thought God needs these sacrifices. He needs these offerings. Someone has said, actually he wrote this probably 150 years ago, William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army.

And this is true of our church today. I consider that the chief dangers which will confront the 20th century will be religion without the Holy Spirit, Christianity without the Christ, forgiveness without regeneration, morality without God in heaven, I'm sorry, morality without God, and heaven without hell. So they had a lack of reasoning about their animals and their attitudes were wrong when they came to the temple. So point number four there, D, what does God want from His people? And I wrote them out in your outline four things.

First off, He wants thanksgiving. Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving. You know, no gift can take the place of simple gratitude. You know, there's a story told of a family. They took their mother for granted. They didn't visit her a lot. When she was on her deathbed, they rarely came. But after her death, at the funeral, they attempted to atone for their thankfulness by dressing her in a $2,000 Dior gown. That's what a lot of people do, right? After. But we need to have a thankful heart before.

We need to fulfill our vows to the Most High, vows of love for God, worship, service, and devotion. So He's telling them that they need to offer God sacrifices of thanksgiving. And number two, I'm sorry, excuse me, Colossians 4.2 says, Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.

Number two, we need to have an obedient will. He says, Perform your vows to the Most High. Notice the kind of obedience it is.

It's not something forced upon us. It's something you choose to do. And the Bible tells us in 1 John 5.3 that, For this is love for God that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are what? Not burdensome. Number three, we need to have prayful spirits.

It says we need to call upon Me in the day of trouble. This is a lovely verse in the insight of the God, this judge here, the very heart of God. He loves to hear from His people. He loves it when they pray. And He loves to answer those prayers. God wants a close relationship, intimate relationship, a tender relationship with His people and Himself. And number four, He wants dependent lives. He says, I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me. Jude 1.20 says, But you, beloved, building yourselves up in the most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit.

God wants your proper worship. He wants your prayers. He wants your tithes. He wants your service. Not because He needs them, but because He wants your heart. The greatest commandment, Jesus said, in the Old Testament says, and Jesus repeated it when asked, was to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind. One, Martin Lloyd-Jones said, The chief problem today is not the problem of those people who say there is no God and who are in the world.

It's the problem of people who go to the house of God in a purely mechanical manner. They go there, but why? Because it's the thing to do. They attend church as a matter of duty. It's the thing to do. It's just a formality. It's entirely eternal. Let's move to point number three.

God's sentence is in judgment. Verse 16 to 23. We just saw in verses 7 to 15 a group of people, Israelites, and some Christians today, who don't properly worship God. Those people, though, can repent. They can find salvation with God. But now, He's going to judge another group of people. These people also profess to be religious, but their lives are an open denial of the truth. He levels a series of charges against them that we're going to look at.

So in verses 16 to 19, He's going to not judge the religious ones. Here, He's going to judge the wicked ones. And I mentioned Asaph as the chief musician, who has certainly had many opportunities to observe the worship of the people who are hypocrites in their worship. So in verses 7 to 15, you saw the personal pronoun, I, I, I, 10 times. But now, in verses 16 to 23, you're going to see You, You, You 15 times. With increasing intensity, God is rebuking the wicked. You did this. You did that. You recited the laws.

You agreed to the covenant without any conviction. These religious hypocrites, in spite of their presence in public worship, actually hated God's instruction and they rejected His word. Let's look at point A, the evidence that was presented.

They were disobedient in verses 16 to 20. And there are four things that you don't have in your outline that I'll give you real quick. Number one, they hated discipline.

But God says to the wicked, What right have you to recite My statutes or to take My covenant on your lips?

For you hate discipline. This group of people consider themselves above correction. They resented correction, much like people today. Even if this correction was from God Almighty. They only want it their way. These people are interested in religion that has no influence upon their life. They might talk about God, but they live as if He doesn't exist. They hated instruction from God's word. And that goes to some point number two.

They treated God's word with contempt. It just says, And you cast My words behind you. I was thinking of that example of King Jehoiakim in Jeremiah 36. Remember what he did? Jeremiah was... Barak, Jeremiah's scribe, wrote out the scroll and they eventually got it to the king. And the king would read a couple lines and then he'd cut it and throw it in the fire. Can you imagine that? So these people though would cast God's words behind them. I guarantee you they would know the Psalms. They would know the Torah.

They would know the Bible. But there was no impact on their life. Number three, They refused to walk in a path of separation.

It says, If you see a thief, you're pleased with him and you keep the company of adulterers. So by fellowshipping with thieves and adulterers, they had disobeyed the Lord and brought reproof upon His name. So the psalmist is going to use the 8th commandment, You shall not steal. And the 7th commandment, You shall not commit adultery. Leviticus 20 and all the covenants says, I have separated you from the peoples that you should be mine. So there was always to be a separation. I think if you just remember, just a couple months ago, not even a month ago, right?

In our study of Hebrews, Lance gave the message, Tackling 10 Timeless Truths. Remember that? Do you remember what truth number 7 was? It was, Realize the importance of separation from the world. That was from Hebrews 13 to 10 to 14. And you remember what Lance said, If you're a companion of the world, you'll start caring about the world. You'll become contaminated by the world. You'll be conformed by the world. You'll be controlled by the world. And you'll be convicted by the world. So these people did the same thing.

They refused to separate and be holy. And the fourth thing that God says they're guilty of is their speech was wicked.

Verses 19 to 20. So now he's going to give the ninth commandment. So he's given the seventh, eighth, and ninth commandments. He could give them all, but he's just using three as example. But the ninth commandment is Exodus 20, 16. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. But this verse tells us that they were experts in lying, experts in deceit, experts in slander. Even their close relatives, it says, you speak against your brother. You slander your own mother's son. So close relatives were not safe from this vicious, wicked talk of these people.

So the psalmist selects three of the ten commandments to reveal how these hypocrites had no intention of keeping the law. Let's move on to sub-point B, the execution, spoken, destruction. Verses 21 to 22. So here, in verse 21, it says God, number one, God has been silent.

God had been silent. Much like today, people think God is silent. And because God didn't judge them immediately. Now, occasionally, God would judge people. Sodom and Gomorrah, and Achan when he stole, and sons of Korah, Ananias and Sapphira. There are people who got judged immediately. But most often, our merciful, kind God doesn't judge them and doesn't judge us immediately. So that gave them the thought that they could disobey God and they would create a God in their own image. Lance talked about this on Sunday.

So God had been silent, verse 21. But then he says, in the last part of 21B, God now speaks. And he says, You thought that I was one like yourself. Martin Lloyd-Jones preached an entire sermon on Psalm 50, verse 21. You thought that I was one like yourself. And it's so important. You thought that I was one like yourself. They believed in a God. They're interested in religion. But they ultimately make themselves out to be a God. But where do they get their ideas from? They have thoughts, it says. You thought.

So they think, they think, How can I justify my sin? They make a God in their own likeness after their image determined by their thoughts. Monday night at the men's meeting, I had a group of men and I brought this up about you hear the saying from homosexuals, Jesus never spoke on homosexuality. You heard that? There's videos out there, there's false teachers talking about that. So, is that true? Okay. So, the homosexual hears that and they believe that. Well, God doesn't speak about homosexuality, so I can stay in my sin.

I can live in this lifestyle. After all, God loves me, right? Well, Votie Bachman, you can Google it, what Votie Bachman says on this. When Jesus says, He never spoke on homosexuality, Votie Bachman says four things.

He says, number one, Jesus did speak on marriage in Matthew 5 and especially Matthew 19, that marriage is between one man and one woman.

Okay? Number two, and this is where 1 Corinthians 2 is at 14, says the man without the spirit cannot understand the Bible and things of the spirit.

When God speaks, Jesus is speaking, the Holy Spirit is speaking. Jesus was there when Leviticus was written, which says that sodomy is an abomination against God. The Holy Spirit was there. So when Jesus speaks, God speaks. You can't separate the Trinity. So when they say Jesus didn't say anything about homosexuality, you can't separate Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and God, but of course they don't know that. And then number three, the Bible is one uniform book from Genesis to Revelation.

It's one story about man and sin. You can't just take out certain parts of it. And number four, the silent argument is what fools use, right? Jesus never said anything about homosexuality. Well, Jesus never said anything about pedophilia. Does that mean it's okay? So arguing the Bible from silence is really a stupid argument, but you can see how the homosexual people create a God in their own mind. They'll go to church thinking that they won't be judged. So God says, you thought, think about it today.

You thought you could make a marriage covenant between same sexes. You thought you could kill that baby in your womb because you call it a fetus and not a person. You thought you could change your sex when I created you beautiful. You thought you could call yourself an agnostic and not know me. You thought you could call yourself an atheist and claim not to know me. You thought you could have a God without wrath and without hell and judgment. You thought you were like me, a God, is what he's saying.

So God speaks powerfully in verse 21. And now in verse 22, he sentenced the wicked. So God had been silent. God now speaks and now God sentences. He says, mark this, then you who forgot God, lest I tear you apart and there be none to deliver. God is going to judge them. He already has judged them. The Bible says, unless they've renewed their covenant, the soul whose sins will die.

Ezekiel 18 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3 23. He does not leave the guilty unpunished. Exodus 34 7. So you have these wicked people who made a God in their own image and they're living in their sin. And these are for us modern day application. It would be the people that go to church, the people who come on Christmas and Easter. And these people will be like what we quote this verse. I think every month that Christ made church. Matthew 7 verses 21 to 23. Very familiar.

Right. Jesus says, not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Not everyone will enter the kingdom of heaven. There's no universalism. OK, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven on that day. What day is that? The great white throne judgment. Many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, cast out demons in your name, do many mighty works in your name. And then I will declare to them. I never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.

So there's a warning to Israel. There's a warning for us. And then in Revelation 20 verse 11 to 15, I read this, I think just a few weeks ago. It says in Revelation 20 11 to 15. Then I saw a great white throne judgment. Again, this is the great white throne judgment is for the unsaved. OK, the unsaved of the whole world. And him who was seated on it from his presence, earth and sky fled away. And no place was found for them. And I saw the dead great and small standing before the throne. And the books were open.

Then another book was open, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged. By what was written in the book, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it. Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them. And they were judged. Each one of them, according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. So these wicked people would be judged unless they repented and turned to God. But let's finish our song with verse 23. The expectation required delight. OK, says the one who offers Thanksgiving as a sacrifice glorifies me. That's the second time in our song.

We've had the word Thanksgiving to the one who orders his way rightly. I will show the salvation of my God. So the true worshiper knew his sin. Right. The true worshiper humbly came before the Lord. You know, I read that and I think of Luke 18 with the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Right. You know, one time I counted the Pharisees prayed 33 words. Right. Thank God. I'm not like this person. I did this. I did that. 33 words. And his prayer went to the rafters or the temple or the ceiling.

The tax collector, he only said seven words. Right. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. That's somebody who comes, who knows they're a sinner, who comes humbly before God. First Peter 4 17 says, for the time of judgment is to begin.

If it begins with the household of God, and if he begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? So I'll finish tonight with a illustration from Martin Lloyd Jones, and he talks about Psalms 14 one. You all know Psalm 14 one, right? The fool in his heart says, what? There is no God. So Lloyd Jones says, I wonder, is that, could anything be more foolish than that? Is there any greater folly than saying the, the, the fool in his heart says there is no, no, no God.

Well, Jones says, I would like to suggest that in the 50th Psalm, there is a suggestion that something worse or stronger than that. There's people, the folly of people who say they believe in God, but who in the terror of their lives and the whole of their conduct daily, forget God and live exactly as he does not exist. At least you must grant the fool because he says there is no God. The fool doesn't read the Bible. He doesn't think about God, but these other people, the people in our Psalm, they're in a worse state.

They proclaim that they believe in God, but there's no influence in their lives. Their outlook and the whole of their behavior and living. So tonight, you know, I'm, I'm preaching to the choir tonight, the Wednesday night people. I'm not preaching to the Sunday people, but maybe some of us need to have a sober reflection upon our life. Do you have a religion or do you have a relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ? Are you religious or ritualistic or is Jesus your relationship? What do you have? If you died tonight, where would you spend eternity?

I've only had one person in my entire life. Tell me how most people say heaven, right? So the second question is, if God were to ask you, why should I let you into heaven?

What would you say? And I'll let you think about that. Hopefully everyone here tonight would say, well, Jesus Christ died for my sins on the cross. I believe in him. I trust in him. I've accepted him in my life. Okay. The Bible says in Romans five, eight, that God demonstrates his love to us.

While we were sinners, Christ died for me. Romans 10, nine says, you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised from the dead. You will be saved. Is that you tonight? Well, then you don't have to worry about judgment. You don't have to worry about the judgment songs. You're not going to get a summons. Okay. You're not going to get a summons. You're going to be welcome into heaven, but your sins were judged at the cross. You have peace with God. Romans five, one and two says, we have peace with God.

Thanks to what Jesus Christ did. You, your expectation is the glories of heaven, eternal life. And that's why I title it delight. So if you answer that correctly, then you say you love Jesus. You say, Jesus loves me. Do you love Jesus? Can you see that in your life? Now the children of Israel, they took a covenant, right? But most of them forgot that covenant. Their, their worship became mechanical, pious. Okay. Uh, is the love for Christ on display in your life? It's not just reading the Bible. It's not just praying.

It's not just going to church. It's not just tithing. It's not just serving. Cause even that you can be very mechanical and pious about, right? You got to love him with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind. So the second question is tonight, do I need to renew my covenant with the Lord?

What is a covenant with the Lord? You said, I didn't take a covenant with the Lord. Well, you did. You took a covenant with the Lord. Have you joined Christ community church? You took a covenant with Christ community church. A covenant is unusually formal, solemn, binding agreement. When you're baptized, you're giving a, uh, you know, you're testifying to the world that I'm going to follow Jesus Christ. When you confess Jesus Christ, you say, I'm going to follow him. That's a covenant. You're, you're going to love him.

You're going to serve him. You're going to worship him. But many of us have forgotten the covenant card that we took. Cause I think I took this covenant card. Anybody remember this? It's the covenant card that we show you in the new members class. Well, I've had the joy of teaching the new members class to maybe about 50 people in the last three years. Well, many of us have forgotten this. You remember Marlene? Cause it's been like 28 years for me, 28 years for some of you. Well, I got good news in the month of September.

Pastor Lance is going to review our covenant card. So I don't need to spend a lot of time on it tonight, but you know, some people say not important to join the church, not important to go through a covenant card, but Christ community church is the local church in the larger body of Christ. It's the living organism in the body of Christ in West Camino, Baldwin park, Irwindale, Southern California, and the ends of the world. So we're going to look at that and I'll just leave you with Hebrews.

We looked at Hebrews 12. It says, let us offer to God, acceptable worship with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire. The children of Israel will be judged while they were judged, but they will be judged in the, in the judgment of Israel someday also. And so will everyone who ever lived that rejects Jesus Christ. If you have Jesus Christ tonight in your heart, you don't have to fear judgment. You have peace with God. You'll have the delights of heaven, but does God have your heart? I read this and I realized there are things I need to do to renew my covenant with God.

And I hope you will too. Next week, we're going to look at Psalm 56, a Psalm of trust. When trials come, let's close in prayer. Father in heaven, just want to thank you tonight for Psalm 50. Thank you that I hope every single person here tonight has Jesus Christ in their heart. Father, but some of us, our worship has become mechanical. We just come, we sit like I did many years ago before Lance preached the word of God and shook me up. Father, I pray that we would renew our covenant like the children of Israel did periodically with Hezekiah and Josiah.

May we have true worship for you. Sing and praise and worship you. Not just read the Bible to read through it in one year, but to study it so that we can obey it when we leave our Bible study, knowing more of you and what it is that we could share it. Father, that we could love you and serve you. There's so many places to serve at Christ community church. Father, can we give you our heart, our soul, our strength, our mind. So we pray that we could renew our covenant worship with you. Father, we also want to uplift little Joshua Bustos, who's in surgery right now.

I know they delayed the surgery. We pray that he would be getting out of surgery. You have to spend one night in the hospital a night, be with Esteban, be with Michelle, but please heal little Joshua. I made the surgery. We hear good news tonight that it's done and successful, and we look forward to seeing you in Sunday. In Jesus name. Amen.