The sacrificial system the Israelites followed in Old Testament times can seem foreign (and rather barbaric) to us. But to them it was a gracious gift, an act of worship they could offer to atone for their sins and make them able to dwell in God’s presence.
But just like us, the Israelites were forgetful. Making a sacrifice became a begrudging duty made in an attempt to put God in their debt. The heart behind this act of worship became darkened by sin.
Are we so different? Do we sometimes offer God our worship with hearts that are in the wrong place? Does God accept this kind of worship? This Friday morning we’ll take a look at Psalm 50:9 and ask: what kind of sacrifice does God find acceptable?
I have no need of a bull from your stall
Psalm 50:9 (NIV)
or of goats from your pens,
Context
Psalm 50 begins by describing God in all his splendor and glory coming forth to bring judgment. He is described as “shining forth” in his “perfection of beauty” (vs.2). He is also described as driving before him “a devouring fire” and around him is “a mighty tempest” (vs.3). He is “the Mighty One” coming as a judge (vs.1)
But unlike most Psalms, God is not bringing forth judgment on the wicked but on his own “faithful ones” (vs.5). God comes to rebuke his people. In verses 7-22 we hear God’s rebuke. The main point of it is this: God is always more concerned with the condition of our hearts than he is with our outward signs of religiosity.
Observation – What does it say?
I have no need
In the ESV this verse is translated as “I will not accept” . The NKJV translates it “I will not take.” The original Hebrew word used in this verse means “to take or receive.”
So why does the NIV translate this phrase to “I have no need”? The verses that follow can give us a clue:
for every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know every bird in the mountains,
and the insects in the fields are mine.
If I were hungry I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
Psalm 50:10-13
The animals they are sacrificing are not really theirs, but God’s. There also must have been a common misconception in Israel that God needed their sacrifices for sustenance (as many Pagan gods did). They must have believed that they were somehow doing God a favor by offering him sacrifices. This is why the NIV translates the phrase as “I have no need” because this is clearly the message God was communicating.
of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens
Bulls and goats were animals used in sacrifices. After the Exodus from Egypt, God established a covenant relationship with his people and prescribed the ways in which his covenant people were to live out God’s kingdom on earth. God would lovingly provide atonement (forgiveness and cleansing) for his people’s sins through animal sacrifice. The animal would pay the penalty (death) for the person’s sins so they could be forgiven and able to dwell near the presence of God.
For a clearer understanding of sacrifice and atonement, watch this video from The Bible Project:
The sacrifice of bulls and goats was God’s gracious way of taking care of his people’s sin so that they could live in fellowship with Him. Every time an animal was slaughtered on their behalf, the people were reminded of the gravity of their sinfulness and the utter holiness of the God who cared for them.
Interpretation- What does it mean?
There is none like our God.
Although we are created in his image, and called to mirror certain aspects of his character, there are certain characteristics God possesses that are completely unlike us.
One of these characteristics is God’s perfect self-sufficiency. He is a God of absolutely no needs.
He did not need to create us. He created out of the overflow of his abundant love. He does not need our worship. Although he is glorified through it, worship is largely for our benefit. He does not need our sacrifices. He contains within himself everything he could ever possibly need.
Acts 17:24-25 says:
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything (emphasis mine).
I like the way Jen Wilkin puts it in her book, None Like Him:
Creating and sustaining all things, he is himself created and sustained by none. For all eternity he is perfectly provided for in and of himself, needless of any aid, unflagging in strength, never hungry or thirsty, experiencing no lack. Nothing and no one outside of himself offers aid to him. Because he created everything, nothing he has created could possibly be needful to him for his existence. If it were, then like him, it would have always existed. Our God is self-sufficient, needed by all, needful of nothing.
Can you wrap your mind around a God who has no needs? We have no idea what that would be like because we are so utterly needy. We are constantly in need of the one who has no needs.
But verse 9 from Psalm 50 seems to indicate that the Israelites have forgotten this. They have forgotten the purpose of their sacrifices. They seem to think that by offering God their bulls and goats they are somehow doing God a favor, somehow putting him in their debt. They have forgotten that their sacrifices are not a gift from them to God, but a gift from God to them. Thus they are making their sacrifices in arrogance not thanksgiving. And making a sacrifice with this heart attitude is not the kind of worship that God finds acceptable.
Application – How should it change me?
Do I do this same thing?
Whenever someone else’s sin is laid out before us on the pages of Scripture, this is the question we must ask ourselves.
And the answer is always yes.
Just like the Israelites, I forget that my God has no needs, and I treat him as though he is in my debt.
I forget this when I pray. I can treat prayer like a good luck charm thinking that if I pray just the right amount of times with just the right words God will grant me whatever it is I’m praying for. As if God needs me to say just the right thing in order to act, and then he owes it to me to act accordingly.
I forget this when I suffer. It’s normal to wonder why God allows us to suffer. But we must caution ourselves that our questioning God’s will doesn’t come from the misbelief that God owes us a pain-free life. We sometimes believe that we surrendered our lives to God as a favor to him and he is therefore in our debt to give us the life we’ve always pictured.
I forget this when I worship God out of obligation and not joy. When I go to church just to check it off my list for the week. When I balk at being a living sacrifice for my family. When I serve someone without love. I lay down my offerings with arrogance and not thanksgiving saying in essence, “Here it is, God. This is what you needed me to do. Now I did it, so give me what you owe me.”
I need to remember that God is always more concerned with my heart than my offering. Out of the overflow of my thankfulness for his abundant grace I need to joyfully offer him my life. Knowing that he does not need my offering, but in his kindness he allows me to offer myself. This is truly the only way to have an abundant, happy life in his presence. My sacrifice is his grace to me.
So lean your needy, weary body on the God who needs nothing. Joyfully offer him your life because, in Christ, he joyfully offered his to you.