Psalm 50:1

Psalm 50:1

Do not forget who God is!

As we know, Israel was prone to lapses of concentration! When the nation was plunged into war or famine or some other kind of adversity, they tended to remember their God and to be anxious to have Him on their side. When things were going well and they lived in peace and prosperity, it seems that they thought nothing of fraternising with their enemies and pursuing pagan gods. So, Asaph, the Levitical writer of the Psalm who was one of David’s three choir leaders, does three things in this song: -

·      He reminds the people that the Lord God will call them to account

·      He reminds the devout that it was relationship God wants from them, not religion

·      He rebukes the wicked amongst them

 

V1        The opening words here are extraordinary and should not be overlooked. This title for the Lord God is only repeated in one other place in the whole Bible, in Joshua 22:22. You can almost imagine Asaph, the writer, stamping his feet and bellowing out these words. He wants to get our attention; He wants people to understand just how important his message is. “The Mighty one! God! The Lord!  Listen to Him for He speaks! And it is not just Israel who needs to take note; the whole earth should listen.”

This injunction should be read alongside subsequent verses because you will note that in verse 4 the Lord God also summons the heavens to take note. Every living thing in this world and the heavens beyond, should LISTEN! I guess that Asaph is making his readers aware that when God speaks and when God acts and when God reaches out to living things, nothing is overlooked. All life must heed Him, He does not act in isolation, His interventions on earth affect the heavenly powers and vice versa. That reminds me of Paul’s words in Romans 8:22 where he speaks of the liberation of the earth when the children of God are revealed. He explains that the whole of creation is groaning up to this present time but freedom from its bondage to decay is all tied up with the liberation of God’s people! So, the affairs of the church are interwoven into the lives of all created things. In Ephesians 3:10-11 Paul takes that argument a step further as he points out that the church is also the vehicle to make God’s manifold wisdom known to the “rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms.” You see, everything is interlinked, nothing exists in isolation, all things belong to the Lord and inter-act. Creation, spiritual men and women and the heavenly beings all interact have an effect on each other. Wow!

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