Breaking His Silence :: Psalm 50
Our Lord says, Listen, my people, and I will speak (v.7).
Discern this, please, those of you who forget God (v.22).
I will come, and I will not be quiet (v.3).
I know this is hard to believe because sometimes ... it seems ... he’s been silent for so long. But God will break his silence.
Too often we wonder, where is he? Is he even listening? If he is with me, is his silence golden? Does it mean that I’m A-Okay, that I’m right with God ... that he won’t address my sins of omission ... you know, the things I was silent about?
If you’re like me ... you need to listen up, O Israel.
You need to hear this word of the day: God will break his silence ... and then ...
YOU WILL HEAR AND SEE HIS SALVATION
This is the theme of our Psalm for today.
Unlike last week when we heard Psalm 92, a song for the Sabbath ... or two weeks ago, when we broke our silence concerning our sin and opened our lips with Psalm 51 to thank him for his absolution ... it’s not really clear how and when Psalm 50 was used. But listening to this Psalm by Asaph today ... it’s clear that this is a perfect song to break our silence today. This Psalm provides a natural progression through the liturgy as we reaffirm our commitment to receive God’s covenant that delivers his salvation with thanksgiving.
Asaph writes ...
The God of Gods, Yahweh ... he speaks, and he calls the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. From Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines. Our God will come, and will not be quiet. The fire before him devours, and around him it’s a great tempest. He will call toward the heavens from above and to the earth, to judge his people. Gather to me, my saints, those of you who are cutting my covenant on account of a sacrifice. And the heavens will declare his righteousness because God, he is judging (vv. 1-6).
He will break his silence.
This is an important word to remember ... because too often ... like the people of Israel ... the only thing we seem to ever hear is the sound of silence. And too often we think that silence is God’s acceptance of our lives, and that this is our worship to God. That’s one of the realities Psalm 50 highlights in conjunction with our readings from Genesis 4 and Luke 18.
By the time God became flesh, the Jews had lived as if the Lord were a numb God, a God of silence, a God who didn’t really care about how they actually lived their lives. They thought that their sacrifices ... their peace offerings, burnt offerings, sin offerings, tithes and offerings ... were the most important things to God ... that on account of these offerings he was accepting them. They thought like Cain, that if they just gave something, anything, it would be good enough for God, that he would prosper them on account of them. They thought like the Pharisee in Jesus’ parable, that if they just doubled down on fasting that God would be doubly impressed. They thought like the tax collector, that if they just humbled themselves and showed up on the Lord’s Day ... that it was for this reason that they were good to go with God. They thought that God’s silence meant his wrath was appeased.
Truth is, they were all wrong. It is not humility alone that makes us right with God. They were all too proud of their own bravado, their own holiness to hear the truth. See, I fast twice a week, and give a tenth of all I gather, the Pharisee said (Lk 18:12). ... God, I thank you that I am not a poor, miserable sinner (Lk 18:11).
Aren't you proud of me for showing up?
Actually, no, God tells us.
As Asaph writes ...
It’s not for your sacrifices that I reprove you. Your burnt offerings are before me continually. I will not take from your house a bull ... nor will I take rams from your folds ... because to me belong all the living of the forest, the behemoths on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills and the creatures of the field. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, because the world and its fullness is for me (vv. 8-12).
Instead, sacrifice to God thanks and complete to the Most High your vows.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, too often we think that we are somehow offering God a service to him here on Sunday mornings, and that the paltry hour that we devote each week is somehow pleasing to him. Too often we think that we somehow deserve some measure of praise for the gifts we do bring. Too often we think our humble preparation for the Lord’s supper twice a month will make this meal that awaits us even more special. Too often we think like the tax collector, that we will simply be heard for our wonderful prayer, as we cry: Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.
If you’ve been listening, you know the truth now.
God is breaking his silence in word and sacrament. He is the sacrifice.
He is opening our eyes to see our sin and need for a savior. He shows us how we hate his discipline ... How we set aside his Word in our lives, leaving it behind on Sunday mornings ... How we silence sin in our lives, delighting in adultery and gossip. How we slander our brothers and sisters and become jealous of others. And worst of all, how we liken God to be just like us (vv. 16-21). These are the indictments from Psalm 50. And these are the indictments that led the tax collector to have faith in Christ.
In the name of Jesus, repent every one of you. Today God is speaking out to all who will listen, urging you to call upon him in our days of trouble; to turn and be saved. Sacrifice to God thanks, he says. Complete to the Most High your vows. ... He promises to rescue you, and when he does, he knows you will then glorify him. (vv. 14-15)
Brothers and sisters in Christ, our just and righteous judge has in fact destroyed sin, death, and the power of the devil once for all, just as he promised. This is the reason we break our silence in praise and thanksgiving.
He has broken his silence concerning his silence on sin, pouring out his wrath upon his only begotten son, our Lord Jesus. He who knew no sin became sin on account of you. Our sinless savior became the perfect sacrifice, going silently to the cross on Zion. God poured out his wrath upon Jesus on the cross. There, he was bruised for your iniquities and crushed for your transgressions. There, your sin was consumed in God’s fire as he poured out his wrath upon the cross. This is the truth that shines from Zion. And this is the reason we give thanks.
In exchange for your sin, God broke his silence concerning your unrighteousness, declaring you righteousness on account of Christ. And now you can sing with praise and thanksgiving on account of what God has done. Through the cross, planted on Zion, his glory, the perfection of beauty, is now shining forth. Christ has redeemed you. And on account of his resurrection, you have the hope of eternal life.
Discern this, please (v.22), he declares.
This is the gospel I’ve been preaching to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved ... For I delivered to you as of first important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve ... then ... to more than five hundred brothers and at one time ... then to James, then to all the apostles (1 Cor 15:1-7).
And because of this you can see and hear how God has broken his silence!
Now we can see that our Lord Jesus isn’t ONLY a red-letter word on a page in our Bible: He is the basis of our faith. He isn’t ONLY a Word on our lips: He is the Word on a cross, in a grave, and then in our midst; He is the Word speaking and proclaiming that we have eternal life in his name; He is the word singing in the Psalms; He is the Word doing something, baptizing us and making us sons and daughters, heirs of the Most High who call upon [him] in the day of distress, and are indeed rescued.
So thank the Lord and sing his praise, resting your faith in Him. In doing so you will complete your vows ... Returning to your baptism and having faith in Christ. ... Receiving his absolution that your sins are forgiven on account of Christ. ... Proclaiming the Lord's death, as he delivers to you his good grace, the meal that nourishes your faith and refreshes your soul (vv. 14,15).
Brothers and sisters in Christ, receive his gift with thanksgiving whenever you can. It is the sacrifice of praise for your good and in his glory.