Introduction

A very large church had a financial problem.

Their budget commitment to missions and to ministry for a year was 1 million sixty-four thousand dollars.

Taking the adult worshipers who attended that church regularly that commitment would cost about $19.23 a week per person or $2.75 a day

$1.84 to the local ministries

And $.91 to missions

But as of 12 Sundays before the end of the year they were $160,000 short

To meet their budget for that year they needed an average of $35,000 each Sunday for the rest of the year.

That meant that if all the regularly attending worshipers gave an equal share there would be $362.50 each left to be given during those last few Sundays that year.

Or $33.00 a week per member for the remaining Sundays.

Now that church add a building program as well and had a goal of $10,000 a Sunday for a new sanctuary, what they really needed was $43 a week for the rest of this year from each regularly attending adult.

The pastor explained that this amounted to a tithe of an annual salary of $22,360 per person.

Then with a lot of homemaking spouses, and with many young people and students, and with numerous retired people, he didn't know if the church averaged a $22,000 annual salary

Probably not.

The pastor went on to explain that this meant at least three things.

One is that compared to other churches his church was giving very well, there had been a 64% increase over two years

A second thing was that this meant that reaching their goals would simply require far more than tithing for many of the members

And third, God was the root issue in this matter

Their shortfall had to do with their view of God

And if they were to reach our goals that year it would have to do more with God than anything else.

We are not a large church and we had been meeting our financial goals

But, there is still a need to examine our view of God

Lets open our Bibles to Psalm 50 and

Body

Let's turn our attention now to the God who owns us and everything we have.

Here in Psalm 50 is a courtroom scene.

Just imagine the roof of the courtroom is heaven above

And the floor of the court room is the earth below

In Psalm 50:4 God himself is the judge

He shall call to the heavens from above, And to the earth, that He may judge His people:

Notice that in the latter part of that 4^th verse it says that He is there to judge His people

Then in verse 6 "God himself is judge."

Let the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is Judge. Selah

And in Verse 5: he calls the defendants to the bench making God the clerk of court.

"Gather My saints together to Me, Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice."

In this Psalm Asaph envisions the saints as Israel with whom God made the Mosaic covenant

This is detailed in Exodus 24:7 - 8

Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, "All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient." {8} And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, "This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words."

Now in Psalm 50:7 the Lord accuses Israel

"Hear, O My people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you; I am God, your God!

So that God becomes the chief witness for the prosecution

So from this passage we can see that the defendants in this trial are God's own people

Once the scene is set in verses 1-7 there comes

The indictment

The sentence

The rationale or explanation for the indictment and the sentence

The prescribed correction

And a statement of the ultimate goal that the judge is trying to accomplish in this trial

So let's continue through these things and then focus on the practical implications for us as a church

First the indictment in Verse 8.

I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices Or your burnt offerings, Which are continually before Me.

The indictment is not stated directly. It is implied

Ryrie says that God does not reprove them for failing to bring their offerings

But that He does reprove them for bringing them with the motive of trying to make the God who owns everything dependent on their generosity.

Their crime is one of bringing their sacrifices with the wrong attitude

One commentator says that their attitude is that God somehow needs these sacrifices

That he is some how dependent on his people for his food or for his satisfaction or strength

That's the indictment their sacrifices are an insult to God

That He is a needy God or a dependent God

The sentence for this insult is given in verse 9

I will not take a bull from your house, Nor goats out of your folds.

God says, "I will accept no bull from your house, nor he-goat from your folds."

The sentence is to nullify the sacrifice

To declare that it is not pleasing to him

This is a devastating penalty

It basically says that the center of their religious practice is empty and void as long as this attitude prevails

Then in verses 10-13 comes the rationale or the explanation for the indictment and the sentence

For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills. {11} I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine. {12} "If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness. {13} Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats?

This is the very heart of the passage

This is very important, because it reveals who God really is

The rationale for the indictment has two parts

One part in verse 12 says, "If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness"

And the other part in verse 13 says, As a matter of fact I do not get hungry: "Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats?"

So can you see that it was their insulting attitude was that the people were on trial for?

Their view of God made him dependent on them

They had slipped into the mind set that their gifts were somehow meeting God's needs and that he would be at a loss without them

God’s response was to say that he does not need their sacrifices for two reasons.

As already pointed out, God is never hungry

He is always totally satisfied with what He is in Himself and what He does for His glory

In John 4:34 Jesus tells us what His food is

Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.

Since Jesus is divine then God’s food is to do His will

God is an infinite ocean of supply, not a little water trough that needs filling with the buckets of our supply

If we turn to Acts 17:25 we find these words

"Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.

God is not served by human hands as though he needed anything, for he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything."

In verse 12, the second reason God does not need our sacrifices is that if He were ever to get hungry He would not have to depend on us for his meals because He owns everything

"If I were hungry, I would not tell you; For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.

But verses 10-11 spell it out in detail so that we don't miss the point

For every beast of the forest is Mine, And the cattle on a thousand hills. {11} I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.

The point of the psalm is that there are no exceptions

God owns everything

We own nothing.

What we call ownership is really trusteeship or stewardship

From the birds of the air to the bugs of the field

From the animals in the forest to the cattle on the hills

It is all God's

He can do with it as he pleases

It is impossible for God to steal, because there isn't anything he doesn't own

This is what the Israel had forgotten

And so they were insulting God in their worship by coming with the attitude that they would now give to GOD some of THEIR possessions.

They had not learned to sing, We give thee but thine own What e're the gift may be, All that we have is thine alone, A trust O Lord from thee

They had forgotten the truth,

All things are Thine: no gift have we Lord of all gifts to offer Thee; And hence with grateful hearts today Thine own before Thy feet we lay.

If we turn to Psalm 50:14-15 we see that

The correction comes and what it is

Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High. {15} Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."

What should we do if we have fallen into this kind of attitude

The attitude that our possessions were ours and not God's

The attitude that God is somehow poor and deficient without us?

These two verses tell us to do three things

Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving

Pay your vows to the Most High

And call upon God in the day of trouble

This is a description of the correct attitude

First, every sacrifice must be a sacrifice of thanksgiving because the real giver in every act of my giving is God

If I have something to give it is because it belongs to God and He put it in my hands.

Philippians 2:13 tells us that if we have a WILL to give it is because God put it there

for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

Even our giving is really God's giving to us

Therefore ALL giving must be a sacrifice of gratitude

If we don’t grasp this, then our giving is an insult to God

Second, the correct attitude pays its vows to the Most High

If you want to see what a vow is look at Psalm 66:13-14

I will go into Your house with burnt offerings; I will pay You my vows, {14} Which my lips have uttered And my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble

A vow is a promise you make to God when you are in trouble

Some make a vow on the battle field

Lord, if I come through this alive, I will serve you

Paying a vow is not paying a salary or paying a bribe.

It is simply keeping your word

It is not lying

It is a matter of faith

Do you trust God to be as good and helpful for you in the fulfillment of your vow as He was in delivering you from trouble?

So paying a vow honors God as the owner of all things by looking back at the time He helped you and by expressing trust that He will keep on doing that in your fulfillment of your vow

The third thing the correct attitude does is call upon God in the day of trouble

God is not the one in trouble

He is always in a position to save us from trouble

God is not hungry or poor

He is infinitely resourceful

So the way not to insult him is to need him and to call to him for help

So that is the corrected attitude

Be thankful

Pay your vows

Call for help.

Now finally we ask what is the ultimate goal of the judge in this courtroom?

What is God trying to accomplish in the life of His people?

The last line of verse 15 gives the answer

Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."

He wants to answer their cry for help so that they will glorify Him

His goal is our good and His glory

We get the salvation; He gets the glory

We get delivered; he gets admired

That is the goal of the psalm

It's the goal of our church

And it is the goal of God in all that He does to satisfy his hungry people and glorify Himself, who never gets hungry. "I will deliver you, and you will glorify me."

Conclusion

Now here are the lessons that I want to apply to us

At home and at the church

Keep God great in your eyes

Beware of an attitude that belittles and insults God

God is an absolutely unstoppable, unfailing, constant, source of power and fire and joy and help

He never get wearies and is omnipotently enthusiastic about His gracious purposes in your life

Never let a weak or miserly or tightfisted or weary or boring God enter your mind.

He owns all and loves to glorify his power and grace by delivering people who call on him.

Keep God great in your eyes

Believe his promise in verse 15: "Call on me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you.

In the day of trouble trust him

Remember he is talking to people in this psalm who are on trial in his court for insulting him

There is hope even for these people and for us

Believe God

Call on the Lord

Always pray and do not lose heart

Wait patiently for the Lord

He will come just when it is best for you

Call him to give you what you need

Then to help you find the courage you need to give what you should

Not just money

But, time

Energy

Love

And self

If God leads you make a vow

And it is not required

But if He does, Pay that vow

Finally when God delivers you from the day of trouble, glorify him with all your heart

The church I spoke of in the beginning

Vowed two things

As a church to pray for the financial strength of the church

And to pray for an attitude of thanksgiving in the heart of their membership

They also vowed that they would not fail in any of their mission and ministry commitments

The troubles mentioned in this church came in the late 1980's

And I can tell you that the church is still a power in their city

Evidently the Lord had honored their commitment

And the financial problems were solved

If we practice these three things

Giving thanks

Pay our vows

And call upon the Lord

We may never again have a problem in meeting our commitments

Financial

Or ministry