Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
Psalm 50
The Folly of Formalistic Worship
Heading
A psalm by Asaph.[a]
The Summons
1 God, God the Lord, has spoken.
He calls to the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined.
3 Our God comes and he will not be silent.
Fire devours in front of him.
Around him a storm rages.
4 He calls to the heavens above and to the earth
to judge his people.
5 “Gather to me my favored ones,
who make a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 So the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
because God himself is judge. Interlude
The Lord’s Charges Against Them
7 Listen, my people, and let me speak, O Israel.
Then I will testify against you:
I am God, your God.
Hypocritical Sacrifices Are Useless
8 It is not because of your sacrifices that I rebuke you
or because of your burnt offerings that are always in front of me.
22 Now consider this, you who forget God,
or I will tear you to pieces,
and there will be no one to rescue you.
The Way to Escape
23 The one who sacrifices a thank offering honors me,
and he sets up the way by which I will show him the salvation of God.
Judgment on Aram and Samaria
8 The Lord sent a word against Jacob,
and it falls upon Israel.
9 All the people will know,
including Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria,
who say with pride and with an arrogant heart,
10 “The mud bricks have fallen down,
but we will build with cut stone.
The sycamore fig trees have been cut down,
but we will replace them with cedars.”
11 Then the Lord will raise up Rezin’s adversaries against him,
and he will stir up his enemies.
12 Arameans from the east and Philistines from the west
will devour Israel with an open mouth.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike.
13 But the people have not returned to the one who struck them,
nor have they sought the Lord of Armies.
14 Therefore, in one day the Lord will cut off from Israel
head and tail, palm branch and reed.
15 The elder and the honored man are the head,
and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail.
16 It is the leaders of this people who lead them astray,
and those who are led by them are destroyed.
17 Therefore, the Lord will not rejoice over their young men,
nor will he have compassion on their fatherless and widows,
because everyone is godless and an evildoer,
and every mouth speaks foolishness.
Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
and his hand is still stretched out, ready to strike.
The Blessings of the True Israel
9 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying—my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit 2 that I have great sorrow and continuous pain in my heart. 3 For I almost wish that I myself could be cursed and separated from Christ in place of my brothers, my relatives according to the flesh, 4 those who are Israelites. Theirs are the adoption as sons, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, came the Christ, who is God over all, eternally blessed. Amen.
6 This does not mean that God’s word has failed, because not all who are descended from Israel are really Israel, 7 and not all who are descended from Abraham are really his children. On the contrary, “Your line of descent will be traced through Isaac.”[a] 8 This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are counted as his descendants. 9 For this is what the promise said: “I will arrive at this set time, and Sarah will have a son.”[b]
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.