Psalm 50:1-6
The Mighty One, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.
Our God comes; he does not keep silence;
before him is a devouring fire,
around him a mighty tempest.
He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
“Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge!
Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, song, epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. The psalm for Sunday, February 11, comes from Psalm 50, verses one through six, the Mighty One, God, the Lord speaks and summons the earth, from the rising of the sun to its setting. out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth, our God comes, he does not keep silence. Before him is a devouring fire around him a mighty tempest. He calls to the heavens above and to the earth that he made judge his people gathered to me, my faithful ones who made a covenant with me by sacrifice. The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself, is Judge hearings, the reading. Let's dive in the mighty one God, the Lord speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. So the psalm begins with a title for God, the Mighty One, God, the Lord, he speaks and summons the Earth. This is talking about the power of God's voice to bring the creation into reality. But I think it's also as it's talking about the rising of the Suns to its setting and the gathering of people, he speaks, and he causes things to happen. In this part, in particular, it's summoning the earth that is summoning all the peoples of the earth, from everywhere from when the sun rises to the sunsets to gather together, probably heading towards Jerusalem, because that's what it says next out of Zion, the perfection of beauty. God shines forth. So Zion is a way of talking about the mountain on which Jerusalem sits. And so Zion is Jerusalem. It's the place where God chose to put his name. And we know that through the temple that David built, that God would be there he would dwell amongst to peep his people and be their God. And that is why it calls this mountain, the perfection of beauty. It's not because Mount Zion is anything special. It's lower than other mountains, and it's not particularly beautiful. But it's the perfection of beauty because God has there. As it says, later, God shines forth. Next, it says, Our God comes, he does not keep silence, before him is a devouring fire around him a mighty tempest. So this is our God it comes. So it's expressing faith that God is coming. This could be for people who are looking in exile or worried about dangers or problems they're facing and saying, God comes, we know it, and he does not keep silence. God does not sneak when he shows up to judge, he is not a ninja to hide and dash and come out and strike when no one is watching. God does not keep silence. He is not trying to fool the enemy. He comes with a devouring fire, and around him a mighty tempest. This might be the image that you would think of with Moses and Mount Sinai, where there's fire and lightning and clouds and devouring Tempest. This is the image of the true God. It continues, he calls to the heavens above and to the earth that he may judge his people. So this is a reference to the the Old Testament and the making of the covenant. When when God made the covenant with His people, Israel, he made heaven and earth, the witnesses of the covenant. And so they were the ones who would witness the terms of the covenant, and they would they would be the ones who would testify whether God's people have kept it or not. And in fact, I forget exactly where it is. But there is a scene where one of the prophets holds a trial. And he calls on the heavens in the earth to bear witness about the ways that Israel has broken the covenant. And so this is a reference to that. So the heavens and the earth are gathered together so that God may bring about this judgment. And what does he do? He says, gathered to me my faithful ones who made a covenant with me by sacrifice. And so God gathers together the ones who remain faithful, who make this covenant and stay within it with the sacrifice. And God wants to bring mercy on them. And God gathers together people today through a sacrifice with a new covenant. Jesus, Jesus says, This is my blood of the new covenant, which has shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, and we partake of that sacrificial meal, when we eat Christ's body and drink his blood, like the great sacrificial meals and fellowship offerings of the Old Testament, like the Passover Lamb that was sacrificed in memory of the Passover covenant that God had made when he brought his people out of Israel. We too, are gathered together as God's faithful ones around the covenant meal of Christ's Body and Blood. The psalm finishes with the heavens declare his righteousness for God himself is judge. And so again, we see the heavens being witnesses in this trial, and they declare God's judgment on the on the covenant people as righteous because they are the witnesses, and God Himself is the judge. And we know that God does judge with righteousness. Even when when people are condemned or hurt or bad things happen. God is a righteous judge. But his righteousness also comes with mercy, mercy through His Son, Jesus Christ. That's all we have for today. We'll see you on Sunday. Bye
Transcribed by https://otter.ai