But to the wicked, God says: "What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant with your lips? You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you. When you see a thief, you join with him; you throw in your lot with adulterers. You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit. You speak continually against your brother and slander your own mother's son. These things you have done and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you. But I will rebuke you and accuse you to your face. Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces with none to rescue."
A few years ago a woman by the name of Joan Osbourne wrote a song titled, "What if God were one of us?" The title of this song and its lyrics upset many in the Christian community. How could this woman show her lack of respect and fear of God in such a blatant way. That was completely unacceptable! This woman was blatantly slandering the name of God.
But as we look at Psalm 50, we see that God's condemnation of the wicked is much more broad than just a warning for the blatant slanderers of the name of God. He says that the wicked recite laws and make covenants with their lips, but they hate his instruction.
We may look at Joan Osbourne and people like her and say, "The audacity of that woman, to think that God is one of us..." But in essence many professing Christians live our lives just like the wicked that God talked about in Psalm 50. We attend church, participate in all the ritual and pomp and circumstance that is expected of us there, we may even recite scripture and preach from the pulpit, but we refuse to live a life that is reflective of God's impact on us. In essence we "thought [God] was altogether like us." (Psalm 50:21b) A complete lack of reverence and fear for the Creator of the Universe.
Look at what else the wicked are accused of in this text:
- They hate God's instruction
- They cast his words behind them
- They steal
- They are adulterers
- They speak against one another
- They use their mouths for evil
- They are deceitful
- They are slanderous, even to relatives
- They thought God was like them
- They forget God
Looking at the list above, I cannot help but see some pretty bad things, some of which I'm guilty of. Which items on the list do you have problems with? Why is that? God has called us as believers in Him to live a lifestyle that is God glorifying. To glorify him with our actions, with our mouths, and with all that we are and have. Is the life you are living when no one is looking representative of God's presence in your life? Do you delight in the ways of God, or rebel from them. The warning offered to those rebellious people is pretty strong: "I will tear you into pieces, with NONE to rescue." (Emphasis mine). What will you do in order to lay aside the wickedness that often creeps into your life?
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