Tuesday, September 09, 2008

A neglected Psalm - Rebuke

Psalm 50 reminds me of Romans 2. Notice the variety of words about speaking and keeping silence.

A Psalm of Asaph
The God of Gods יְהוָה spoke
and he called earth from the rising of the sun to its going down
God has shined, the perfection of beauty, from Zion
our God comes and and will not keep silence

Fire from his presence will devour
and about him will be exceeding terror
He will call to the heavens from the height
and to the earth to judge his people

Gather to me my mercied ones
those cutting my covenant of sacrifice with me
And the heavens will declare his righteousness
for God himself is judging
Selah
Hear, O my people, and I will speak
O Israel, and I will bear witness in you
I am God your God
Will I not rebuke you for your sacrifices?
or your burnt offerings which are before me continually?

I will not receive a bull from your house
nor goats from your flocks
for every beast of the forest is mine
and the cattle on a thousand hills

I know all the birds of the hills
and the creatures of the field are mine
If I were hungry I would not say so to you
for the world is mine and its fullness
Will I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?

Sacrifice thanksgiving to God
and pay your vows to the Most High
and call on me in the day of trouble
I will invigorate you and you will glorify me

But to the wicked God said
What is it to you to recount my statutes
and that you would take my covenant in your mouth
for you hate correction and cast my words behind you

If you see a thief then you are pleased with him
and if those committing adultery, you want your portion
your mouth you cast in evil and your tongue joins deceit
you sit and speak against your brother
You assign blame to your mother's son

These things you have done and I kept silent
Did you think that because I am, I would be like you?
I will rebuke you and I will arrange it in your sight
Consider then this your forgetting of God
lest I tear and there is none to deliver

One sacrifice of praise glorifies me and defines a way
I will show that one the salvation of God.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the comments, I appreciate you reading. Your blog is great, I'm glad I found it (or, you found me). Would you mind if I linked to your blog?

Bob MacDonald said...

Peter, please do link and thank-you. I have been reading your earlier posts on the pictographs. What a creative way to approach the alphabet. You make the original abstraction so concrete.

You may also be interested in how I have begun teaching children the Hebrew alef-bet - at the St Barnabas Blog.