“The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets… Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages,” Psalms 50:1, 3 NIV.

Wow, Asaph. Strong words! Surely, he must have been speaking out against God’s enemies.

“…He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people,” Psalms 50:4. Oh. Yikes!

Asaph goes on to describe how God will primarily judge two types of “worshipers:” the religious who attended all the sacrifices and went through all the motions of worship but were completely disengaged from God, and the hypocrites, those who kept up appearances at the sacrifices and recited all the right things but lived completely wicked lives outside the tabernacle.

So why was God so angry if he told them to bring the sacrifices in the first place? They were lacking relationship. God owns all of creation. He doesn’t need our food. God is the Almighty One. He doesn’t need our help.

Our sacrifices are a symbol of our dependence on Him. Our service is out of gratitude and love. God doesn’t want our lip-service. He wants our hearts.

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased,” Hebrews 13:15-16 NIV.