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Psalms 50
1The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks, and calls the earth from sunrise to sunset.
2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines out.
3Our God comes, and does not keep silent. A fire devours before him. It is very stormy around him.
4He calls to the heavens above, to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5“Gather my saints together to me, those who have made a with me by .”
6The heavens shall declare his , for God himself is judge. Selah.
7“Hear, my people, and I will speak. Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God.
8I don’t rebuke you for your . Your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9I have no need for a bull from your stall, nor male goats from your pens.
10For every animal of the forest is mine, and the livestock on a thousand hills.
11I know all the birds of the . The wild animals of the field are mine.
12If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
13Will I eat the meat of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
14Offer to God the of thanksgiving. Pay your vows to the Most High.
15Call on me in the day of trouble. I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
16But to the wicked God says, “What right do you have to declare my statutes, that you have taken my on your lips,
17since you hate instruction, and throw my words behind you?
18When you saw a thief, you consented with him, and have participated with adulterers.
19“You give your mouth to evil. Your tongue frames .
20You sit and speak against your brother. You slander your own mother’s son.
21You have done these things, and I kept silent. You thought that I was just like you. I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes.
22“Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear you into pieces, and there be no one to deliver.
23Whoever offers the of thanksgiving glorifies me, and prepares his way so that I will show God’s to him.”
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Read Psalms 50 three times
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Questions this passage answers
Who is God?
God is the one living Creator who made everything and depends on nothing, and Scripture answers this question mainly by telling us his character rather than by defining his substance. When God described himself to Moses he said he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness and truth, and yet will by no means clear the guilty. The New Testament adds that this God is finally known in Jesus Christ, who has made him known.
Who wrote the Bible?
The Bible was written by many human authors over a long period, and Scripture presents itself as God-breathed rather than as human opinion. Some books name their writer, some do not, and honest study says which is which. Paul calls every Scripture God-breathed, and Peter says no prophecy came by the will of man but that people spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, which is the Bible's own account of how both authors are involved at once.
Can the Bible be trusted?
Scripture claims to be true and invites examination rather than avoiding it. It says God's word is truth and that it stands when everything else fades, and the New Testament writers appeal to eyewitnesses, named places and public events rather than to private experience. Trust in Scripture is finally trust in the God who speaks in it, and the clearest reason a Christian gives for that trust is that Jesus treated these writings as God's own word.
How should I pray?
When the disciples asked this, Jesus answered with a pattern rather than a technique. Pray to your Father, in private, without performance and without needing many words, because he already knows what you need. The prayer he gave begins with God's name, kingdom and will, then asks for bread, forgiveness and protection. Scripture adds that we may bring everything, that the Spirit helps our weakness, and that we can ask with confidence when we ask according to God's will.