The Lord, the Mighty One, is God, and He has spoken; He has summoned all humanity from where the sun rises to where it sets.
Psalm 50:1
God, the Mighty One, is the source of all wisdom and power. He rules over all He has made . . . and He has something to say. He has a warning for His creation.
Through the words of Psalm 50, God wants people to know that He is paying attention and He has made a judgment about what He has seen.
But God says to the wicked: “Why bother reciting my decrees and pretending to obey my covenant? For you refuse my discipline and treat my words like trash.”
“While you did all this, I remained silent, and you thought I didn’t care. But now I will rebuke you, listing all my charges against you.”
Psalm 50:16–17
God is warning those who are evil to know that although His silence may seem like He condones sin. He is being patient because He wants everyone to repent and turn to Him . . . but the day of His judgment is coming.
That’s a lot to think about, isn’t it?
As His children, we can be assured that God is not looking the other way when it comes to those who are doing evil in the world. As the Psalm says…
“I will rebuke you, listing all my charges against you.”
But wait, that’s not all He said . . . let’s look at what the Lord has to say to people like you and me. Those of us who do believe in Jesus and want to honor God with our lives.
O my people, listen as I speak. Here are my charges against you, O Israel: I am God, your God! I have no complaint about your sacrifices or the burnt offerings you constantly offer. But I do not need the bulls from your barns or the goats from your pens. For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills.
Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High.
Psalm 50:7–10, 14
God is also challenging those who say that follow Him but treat Him lightly . . . He is speaking to people who are simply superficially religious and only going through the motions.
This is what the Lord said to Samuel when He chose David to be the next king of Israel…
“The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7b
You and I tend to look at the way things appear. What other people think. But God says that He’s not interested in our perfunctory actions where we simply follow the “rituals.”
He wants us to love, trust, and obey Him. He wants us to offer Him our hearts full of love and gratitude for all that He has done for us. He wants more than superficial behavior.
Remember . . . God gave everything because He wanted to have a relationship with you and with me.
He inspired Paul to write . . . the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
Humbly repent while God is being patient and there’s still time. (2 Peter 3:9)
Turn from evil and OBEY God’s will. (Titus 2:13–14)
Glorify God with thankfulness and praise always and completely. (1 Corinthians 6:20)
What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8
Let’s pray…
A Prayer to Heed God’s Warnings and Obey His Will
Father, thank you for loving us and for warning us of the dangers of evil and the consequences of lukewarm faith. Your Word warns us that there are consequences to thinking that You look the other way . . . that You don’t care about the wickedness in our world.
But it also says . . .You are not slow in keeping Your promises but patient giving people time to repent and be saved. (2 Peter 3:9) You caution us about simply going through the motions of religious practices and traditions. (Romans 12) You want us to KNOW and TRUST You. (Psalm 9:10) Please forgive us, forgive me, for allowing the things of this world to distract and influence my life and my faith.
I pray the words my Savior taught, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”
Please protect me from the attacks of the enemy. Please guide me and keep me from participating in anything that is against Your will. And please work in me to SEEK, KNOW, TRUST, LOVE, and OBEY You. I surrender my life to You and ask that You will help me glorify You with thankfulness and praise and fill my heart with love. For You alone are worthy forever and always. Amen.
A commonly known verse from Psalm 50 says…
Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.”
Psalm 50:15
It has been misunderstood to mean that God will always deliver us from the trials that confront us.
But the verse before says…
Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High.
Psalm 50:14
Our Heavenly Father wants us to KNOW, TRUST, and LOVE Him wholeheartedly. He wants us to OBEY His will because we LOVE Him and want to honor Him . . . because we get to not because we have to. And by His grace, He will always give the everything we need to do just that.
So, when we’re distracted and influenced by the world around us, let’s repent and turn to the Lord trusting that His will is always best.
Paul wrote it like this…
Warn those who are irresponsible, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient with everyone. See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all.
Rejoice always! Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:14–18
May God be with you and bless you. May we all take His warnings to heart and give ourselves completely to Him in faith full of love and hope.
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This was a post that gave me lots to think about. I examine my motives a lot at times. My desire is to trust and to be obedient. I liked that you touched on how it seems that the evil doers seem to florish, but God is watching them. I have to admit at times I have questioned God about how people can hurt others, steal, lie and still florish. Something I need to work on in the” judgement catagory”. I know that God does not tolerate evil and he hurts when we hurt. I also like that one of the readers touched on the chapeter in Romans that tells of how we want to do what is right, but the sinful nature in us can be a struggle. Yes, this post has given me lot to ponder. Thank you for blessing us as you do, my sweet and dear friend. May God bless you with a wonderful and safe weekend and always. Love hugs to you.
Thank you, Sue. It’s so much easier to talk about the Gospel message of God’s grace, mercy, and love . . . harder to address the Law that shows us how very much we need Jesus and forgiveness. I think we want to judge because it helps us feel “good enough.” I try to remind myself daily that I’m not. I fail every day. Praise God who has always known our weaknesses and willingly gave everything so that we might KNOW, TRUST, and LOVE Him with a heart of obedience. Blessings, sweet friend!
Wow this is a very strong post to give me a wake up call. I seek God daily and praise, love, trust in him that he has control of my life and everything is his will. I fully give my self to him but at times fall in the worldly things. I will continue to pray daily and give him praise so he can continue to give me the courage, wisdom, love, grace, and have mercy on me to continue being a sojourner. Thank you this strong reminder that I need to trust in him to continue to follow him daily.
God Bless you and everyone in the spiritual circle of ladies.????♥️
Ana, thank you for sharing this . . . I think most of us can relate. As Lynn shared, Paul wrote, “I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 7:19 & 25 What a blessing to know we can run to Him for forgiveness and receive His grace and mercy when we need it most. God bless you!
Thank you for this amazing post. The timing is spot on for the world (and church collectively) that we find ourselves in. Your teaching from the Word is most needed and I hope will be heeded by us all. Thank you, Deb.
God has warned us for a reason, and we must listen to Him and His will for our lives.
Have a blessed weekend, Deb!
Amen, Martha! Praying that you enjoy a wonderful weekend! Blessings, dear friend!
This was a post that gave me lots to think about. I examine my motives a lot at times. My desire is to trust and to be obedient. I liked that you touched on how it seems that the evil doers seem to florish, but God is watching them. I have to admit at times I have questioned God about how people can hurt others, steal, lie and still florish. Something I need to work on in the” judgement catagory”. I know that God does not tolerate evil and he hurts when we hurt. I also like that one of the readers touched on the chapeter in Romans that tells of how we want to do what is right, but the sinful nature in us can be a struggle. Yes, this post has given me lot to ponder. Thank you for blessing us as you do, my sweet and dear friend. May God bless you with a wonderful and safe weekend and always. Love hugs to you.
Thank you, Sue. It’s so much easier to talk about the Gospel message of God’s grace, mercy, and love . . . harder to address the Law that shows us how very much we need Jesus and forgiveness. I think we want to judge because it helps us feel “good enough.” I try to remind myself daily that I’m not. I fail every day. Praise God who has always known our weaknesses and willingly gave everything so that we might KNOW, TRUST, and LOVE Him with a heart of obedience. Blessings, sweet friend!
Wow this is a very strong post to give me a wake up call. I seek God daily and praise, love, trust in him that he has control of my life and everything is his will. I fully give my self to him but at times fall in the worldly things. I will continue to pray daily and give him praise so he can continue to give me the courage, wisdom, love, grace, and have mercy on me to continue being a sojourner. Thank you this strong reminder that I need to trust in him to continue to follow him daily.
God Bless you and everyone in the spiritual circle of ladies.????♥️
Ana, thank you for sharing this . . . I think most of us can relate. As Lynn shared, Paul wrote, “I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 7:19 & 25 What a blessing to know we can run to Him for forgiveness and receive His grace and mercy when we need it most. God bless you!
Thank you for this amazing post. The timing is spot on for the world (and church collectively) that we find ourselves in. Your teaching from the Word is most needed and I hope will be heeded by us all. Thank you, Deb.
Thank you so much! I truly appreciate your kind encouragement. Blessings!