Psalm 50

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:33:48utc

PSALM FIFTY

A Psalm of Asaph

1 The Mighty One, God, the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.

2 From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.

3 Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages.

4 He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people:

5 "Gather to me my consecrated ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice."

6 And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for God himself is judge. Selah

7 "Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God.

8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.

9 I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens,

10 for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.

11 I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.

12 If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?

14 Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High,

15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me."

16 But to the wicked, God says: "What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips?

17 You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you.

18 When you see a thief, you join with him; you throw in your lot with adulterers.

19 You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit.

20 You speak continually against your brother and slander your own mother's son.

21 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.

22 "Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue:

23 He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God."

This psalm is the first in the Book of Psalms that carries the name of Asaph. The other ones are Psalms 73-83. We meet Asaph for the first time as the ark is brought over to Jerusalem. "He [David] appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the LORD, to make petition, to give thanks, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel: Asaph was the chief, Zechariah second, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. They were to play the lyres and harps, Asaph was to sound the cymbals."^¹ The sons of Asaph appear to have received the gift of prophesy, and during the preparations of the building of the temple, their job description was to prophecy while using harps to praise the Lord.² After the Babylonian captivity, the sons of Asaph were still an existing group who took up their historic responsibilities at the at the reconstruction of the temple. We read: "When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD, as prescribed by David king of Israel."³ It is, therefore, quite likely that most of the psalms that carry the name of Asaph were composed by Asaph's sons over a period of several centuries. It is impossible to determine whether this fiftieth psalm is of the hand of Asaph himself, or whether his sons were responsible for it. The contents can pertain to the service in both the tabernacle and in the temple.

Some commentators believe that it was customary in Israel to celebrate an annual renewal of the covenant with God. The psalm would then be sung at the occasion of such a celebration. There are, however, no indications of such a custom in the Old Testament.

Two thoughts predominate in this psalm: 1. The international character of the poem, and 2. The deep insight in the meaning of the temple ceremony.

As far as the international character of the psalm is concerned, it fits well into the series that begins with Ps. 46. The psalm is meant to be a testimony to all nations of the world. The topic is God's revelation of Himself in Zion. Evidently, the Israelite of that time had a clear insight in the role Israel had to play in the world, as a kingdom of priests, as God had showed Moses at Mount Sinai. God had said: "Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."⁴ These two aspects, that the whole earth belongs to God, and that God had given Israel a task to fulfill on earth on His behalf, form the main theme of this prophecy. God reveals Himself in this world, in the first place, through people to whom He has revealed Himself. It is not a theophany, a revelation of God in the direct sense of the word, where the whole world sees the unveiled glory of God. The light has to shine forth from Zion, and has to illuminate the world through the testimony of the people of Israel. The psalm issues, in the first place, a call for world evangelization. Then there is also a reproof to Israel, because her life is so little in accordance with the task God has given her.

"The Mighty One, God, the LORD." This title is full of significance for a world that knows mighty ones but does not know God. It corresponds to the Name given to Jesus in Revelation: "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS."⁵ The world in Asaph's days was full of idols, but I do not think that the psalmist merely suggests that God is above the idols. That would associate the Almighty God with dead statues, which were symbols of demonic powers. There is no common basis for a comparison between God and evil spirits. God is here rather represented as the Lord of the hosts of angels, and of other heavenly authorities.

"God" ('Elohiym) is the universal name for God, by which He was originally known in the whole world. The Mè tribe, the mountain people in Irian Jaya, Indonesia, retained the name Ugatame.⁶ "LORD" is a rather poor rendering of YHWH, the Name by which God revealed Himself to Moses ⁷ ; it is the Name that is related to the covenant which God made with Israel. This double title, therefore, speaks of God's general revelation of Himself in creation, and of His special revelation to Israel in the law, which is the Word of God. We are reminded of the opening verses of the epistle to the Hebrews, where the author says: "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son."⁸ The Gospel of Jesus Christ is meant for the whole world. Wherever the sun shines, this message has to be heard.

At the same time, Zion is the focus of God's revelation. God had concentrated the light of His glory in a beam that fell on the cover of the ark of the covenant. Of this small surface of about one square meter, God had said: "There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites."⁹ This made Zion the center of the world.

God not only speaks, He also summons the earth. In the first two chapters of Genesis, God speaks to His creation, in the third chapter, God calls man. In between the two is the fall. The implication of the sequence of speaking and summoning here is the same. God calls the earth as He called Adam: "Where are you?"¹⁰ The omniscient God knew, of course, where man was, but Adam himself did not know where he was. God calls His creation so that His creation might know where she is. "Where am I? Where do I come from? Where am I going?" Those questions are of vital importance for every person who wants to live a real conscious life. Those questions show the way to the salvation of the world. God's revelation of Himself in Zion is closely connected to His calling, and His saving of the world.

The psalmist described this manifestation of God in terms that are borrowed from the description of His appearance on Mount Sinai. We read there: "On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the LORD descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him. The LORD descended to the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain."¹¹ There is no record that this kind of manifestation ever took place in Jerusalem. It does not seem the intent of the psalmist to suggest that either. David paints a similar picture elsewhere. "The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him-- the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He shot his arrows and scattered [the enemies], great bolts of lightning and routed them. The valleys of the sea were exposed and the foundations of the earth laid bare at your rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of breath from your nostrils."¹² The manifestation of God's glory is expressed in terms of impressive natural phenomena that are understandable to man. We know the impression a thunderstorm and an earthquake can make upon us. But, as the prophet Elijah experienced, God was not in the windstorm, the earthquake, and the fire.¹³ It often depends upon the person and his character as to how he experiences God's revelation. The perfect beauty of Zion, can be a shocking and overwhelming experience for some. If we experience God's beauty as silence, it is an indication that the storms have become still in our own lives. Fire and storm are a form of judgment upon our lives, a judgment we pronounce upon ourselves. The title of Francis Schaeffer's book He Is There And He Is Not Silent is probably derived from this psalm.

The grammar of the first three verses of this psalm is interesting. Some versions put God's speaking in vs. 1 in the present, others in the perfect tense. But then "will not be silent" in vs. 3 is in the future tense. The impression we get is that God's speaking is not something that happens in a point of time, but that it is a continuous communication. It is to be expected, though, that we, who live in time and space, would experience God's speaking as taking place at a certain moment. Such things happen when time and eternity intersect. If sometimes we hear God's voice, and sometimes we do not, it may be because we are not always perfectly tuned in to Him. God's call is continuous, and He is never silent.

Against the international stage which Asaph has set up for us, God directs His summons to the "consecrated ones, who made a covenant with [Him] by sacrifice." Most other translations use the word "saints." The Hebrew word is chaciyd, which means pious, or saint. They are the ones who have entered the covenant with God that was sealed by sacrifices. It is by means of those sacrifices that God's universal righteousness is manifested. For us, who have come to understand the meaning of those sacrifices through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, the message of this is clear enough. The Apostle Paul says that God's righteousness is revealed in the Gospel. In his Roman epistle we read: "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed."¹⁴ The sacrifices brought by the Israelites were an image of "Him who had no sin to be sin for us [by God], so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."¹⁵ Asaph may not have understood this, but the Holy Spirit who inspired these words knew what He was speaking about. The paradox between God's wrath and His love is resolved in this act of righteousness by Christ. God summons us on the basis of the cross of Christ. Those who enter into a covenant relationship with God, stand on this foundation. The psalm may, therefore, be applied to the church of Jesus Christ without any restrictions.

However strange this may sound to us, God judges us on the basis of our being forgiven. Against this background of world evangelization, we are confronted with the question as to what the cross of Jesus means to us personally, and how deeply it has been applied to our lives. It is always tempting to pick the fruits of atonement, and then go one's own way instead of living a life of obedience. Pardon of sin will be an effective truth for us, only if we consider ourselves to be crucified with Christ, as the Apostle Paul says. To the Galatians, he wrote: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me," and "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

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Bonhoeffer, in his book The Cost Of Discipleship, warns against the danger of "cheap grace." This predicate is applicable to the people against whom God testifies in this psalm. To Israel, He says: "What is the meaning of those sacrifices you bring to Me?" To us: "You say you have been saved by the cross of Christ, but how do you apply this cross to your own life?"

God did not reproach Israel that they brought sacrifices, in the sense that they would have interrupted the routine of the ritual. To the contrary, they were very punctual in the fulfillment of their obligations. It almost seemed as if they were doing God a favor by bringing their sacrifices. They gave the impression that they themselves could do without those sacrifices but they brought them because otherwise God would be shortchanged. The essence of idol worship is that man pacifies the gods by giving them what they want. God ridicules the idea that people on earth would have to feed Him. He is the Creator of all the animals, and of life itself. Everything that breathes is dependent upon Him. Paul explained to the philosophers in Athens: "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else."¹⁷ The sacrifices are brought for our sake, not for His.

If the bringing of sacrifices becomes a routine, the awareness of who God is, is lost. Therefore, God says in vs. 7: "I am God, your God." The ritual of sacrifices was part of the covenant YHWH had made with Israel, but in this context God presents Himself as "Elohim." We can never enter into fellowship with Yahweh if we do not remember continuously that He is the Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth.

As creatures, we bring as sacrifice an animal, a fellow-creature, in exchange of our lives to the Lord of the earth. If we thoughtlessly bring sacrifices, we do not only fail to understand who God is but also who we are ourselves: sinners who have forfeited their lives. Sacrifices were never brought to still God's hunger but ours. God is not bloodthirsty. We hardly understand what it means that God's holiness is being compromised by our sin. It is terrible if a person thinks he can stand before God in his natural, filthy condition. It is even worse if this person brings the prescribed sacrifices that atone for his sins, without knowing what he does, or in an effort to cover up the sins he is not willing to give up. The latter is, probably, the main point in these verses. Man, in his blind stupidity, thinks that he can deceive God. He brings a sacrifice which presupposes contrition and confession of sin, not for the purpose of receiving forgiveness and rehabilitation, but as a decoy. The only one who is being deceived is man himself.

For us, New Testament Christians, whose pardon rests on the blood of Christ instead of on animal blood, the principle of the matter is the same. The shadow is replaced by the reality but the tendency of the human heart to deceive and to manipulate has not changed.

Does this not affect the solidity of world evangelization? How can the kingdom of heaven become a reality on earth if God has to build it with such miserable wretches as we are? In the parable of the weeds, Jesus says: "The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom."

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It seems that the worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind, representing seven years of famine in Pharaoh's dream

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would be a more fitting picture of the average Christian. This psalm is meant to bring us to contrition and confession.

David says in another psalm: "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require."²⁰ The thought expressed in those words does not run parallel to Asaph's psalm. David prophesied that God's goal was not animal sacrifices, but the sacrifice of Christ. When the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews quotes David's psalm, he adds: "…although the law required them to be made."²¹ The same can be said about this psalm. The law prescribed sacrifices. David's words are primarily directly to Jesus; in Psalm 50 Asaph speaks to us.

The animals that were killed had been created by God; they belonged to Him. No one can rightfully say that he brought his own sheep or bull as a sacrifice. God Himself had prepared the sacrifices that had to be brought. Abraham understood this when he said to Isaac: "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son."²² The place that was later called "The LORD Will Provide"²³ is an eternal testimony to this truth. David said: "Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand."²⁴ This is a profound lesson we have to learn. The key to this is the word grace.

We learn from this admonition how deceitful the human heart is. We try to twist the process of our redemption, and of our fellowship with God in such a way that we would end up receiving the glory. The Lord shows us again in this psalm that the whole plan of salvation, from beginning to end, is a matter of grace alone. It is a frightful thought that the ritual of sacrifice, which is meant to save and sanctify us, could end up being a pitfall for us.

Verses 14 and 15 show us a way out of the dilemma. The KJV reads here: "Offer unto God thanksgiving," but the NIV says: "Sacrifice thank offerings to God." The law on the thank offering, or fellowship offering, is detailed in Leviticus.²⁵ This sacrifice comprises also the offering that accompanies a vow, which is hinted at in vs. 14. All this cannot be interpreted, of course, in the sense that God would prefer a fellowship offering over a burnt offering. That would be completely contrary to the tone of this psalm. Asaph does not deal with technical details here. The Holy Spirit wants us to understand that we have to use the sacrifice that takes our place to praise and worship God, and that, as a logical result of the atonement by means of the animal we killed ourselves, we should surrender ourselves to God, in order to serve Him. After all, fulfilling our vows, does not mean that we make a deal with God, but that we surrender in obedience to Him. This will result in answered prayer. God says: "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me."

The idea that praise is a sacrifice is a revolutionary thought. On the one hand it means that it does not cost us a thing to praise God; on the other hand it costs us everything. Another life died in our stead, but this also means that we die ourselves, although not in the physical sense of the word.

A missionary friend in Irian Jaya, Indonesia, gave his testimony after the sudden death of his wife. He said he had come to understand the term "sacrifice of praise." Whether he was in the mood for praise or not made no difference. The act of praising God had a therapeutic effect upon him.

The bringing of the fellowship offering in its various forms presupposes insight in the meaning of the sin offering and the guilt offering. A fellowship offering could only be brought if atonement for sin was an accomplished fact. The bringing of a fellowship offering signified, in a way, a return to normal life on the basis of the blood that was shed. It involved eating and drinking, which is an indication of life going on. But there was also the realization that this meant unmerited grace for a person who had forfeited his life. This realization is expressed in the thank offering, and the votive sacrifice. "To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."²⁶

It is impossible to bring the thank offering and votive sacrifice and, at the same time, get bogged down in a routine consisting of sin offering, guilt offering, and thank offering. A living, loving relationship with God is maintained and protected by praise and obedience. Man cannot live without some kind of routine, of course, but if praise is part of our routine, we will be kept from ending up in a series of lifeless liturgies. Love and obedience are logical responses to the redemption of our life.

"The day of trouble" occupies an important part of our experiences with the Lord. God does not give us any guarantee that this day will not catch up with us at one time or another. To the contrary, vs. 15 seems to tell us that we can count on the fact that trouble will come. It sounds as if trouble is part of God's plan for our lives. The Lord seems to say: "Of course, there will be serious difficulties. How else would you learn experientially that I am with you, and that I answer your prayers?" God promises us both trouble and help. There is no better antidote against deadly routine than a crisis. Our praise acquires a deeper and richer tone if it is born out of the experience of help in times of trouble. Vs. 15 is often quoted out of context. It is questionable that we will be able to see our prayers answered if they are not linked to our praise and obedience. Many prayers are born out of need. The popular concept is that trouble breeds prayer. This is not always true, and even if it is, it is not a normal condition. We may cry out to God in a time of need, but when we learn to praise God in a crisis, we have, obviously, moved to a higher level of fellowship with Him; it is a sign of victory.

Against the background of this psalm, we may conclude that praise in times of trouble gives us a key to world evangelization. It is a passport to the kingdom of priests. Praise brings about answers to prayer, and answered prayers honor God. Answered prayers also make us into people who become an honor to Him, because praise is never a matter of the lips alone. God honors those who honor Him with their lives.

The last part of this psalm is directed to the wicked. The question is, who are they? In his Commentary on the Psalms, George Knight says, correctly, that they are not a separate group of people. These people have been addressed throughout the whole psalm. They are the ones who "recite" God's laws, and take His covenant on their lips. The Hebrew word for recite is caphar, which, in Strongs Definitions is given as: "to score with a mark as a tally or record, … to enumerate; intensively, to recount." God used the word with Abraham, when He said: "Look up at the heavens and count the stars-- if indeed you can count them."²⁷ The people in question were quite familiar with both the form and the content of God's Word; they were Israelites.

A person can be included in God's covenant, and yet be wicked. The British preacher/evangelist, Ian Thomas, once said: "It is sometimes difficult to discern between the reasoning and actions of Christians and of non-Christians." Some Christians behave like atheists. There is, of course, nothing against the making of a scientific study of God's revelation. We could rank the enumeration of God's laws in that category. There is, however, a danger in approaching God's Word, without the willingness to surrender to it, and to obey it. Much of the Higher Criticism falls under this heading. This is, obviously, the mentality God condemns here. In New Testament times this attitude had grown into full maturity among the Pharisees and scribes. In recent decades it has entrenched itself in many of our theological schools.

If we do not approach the Word of God with the determination to obey it, we put ourselves up as judges and critics over God's revelation. This not only robs the Bible of its awesome character, but it also robs us of the ability to understand what the Bible says to us. The key to all intelligent Bible study is obedience. We have to begin by acknowledging the authority of the Bible over our lives. How else would the Spirit of God be able to correct us, and to lead us in the right paths? The contents and quality of our lives is determined by our relationship to the Word of God. We will never enter into an intimate fellowship with the Lord, and we will never amount to anything in the Kingdom of Heaven, if we do not take our Bible study seriously. A person who is not willing to be corrected by the Bible is wicked and godless.

The word "wicked" has a moral connotation in modern English. Originally, the Hebrew word rasha` meant a person who was wrong. A godless person is not only an agnostic, but one who does not recognize any ethical restrictions in his social intercourse. Verses 18 and 19, therefore, mention theft, adultery, lies, and deceit. This suggests sins that are committed openly. The psalm does not expressly say that these people steal themselves, or personally commit adultery, but they associate with people who do.

Our lifestyle is closely connected to our fellowship with God. A failure to recognize the meaning of the sacrifices indicates a lack of confession of sin, and failure to abandon sinful behavior. A dim vision of who God is also brings about a blurred understanding of the awfulness of sin and its consequences. Rejection of God's revelation of Himself always results in a hatred of discipline. The result is that the concept of property rights gets blurred (which is stealing), and the sanctity of marriage is violated. The phrase: "You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit," probably suggests more a loss of control than an active intent to deceive. If we do not recognize that fact that sin is within us, sin increases its control over our lives; yet we are supposed to keep our sinful nature under control. God gave this warning to Cain: "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

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A person who does not control his tongue is the immediate victim of the power of evil; lies, deceit, and slander will be the fruit of his lips. If we lie, we demonstrate that we have cut the bond with truth. Deceit is the direct result of this broken relationship in our intercourse with others, and slander is the application of all this for the purpose of destroying our neighbor. Our most natural and intimate relations will be affected by this. God puts the finger on these sins, not among the pagans, but among believers. If this Gospel were preached in our churches today, a revival might break out.

God's silence in vs. 21 contrasts sharply with His speaking earlier in this psalm. There is, however, no contradiction between the two. God is, actually, never silent, but unless the communication between Him and us is open, we will not hear His voice. It is sin in our lives which mutes God's voice for us. If, from this, we draw the conclusion that God is silent, we are way off the mark. If we no longer hear God's voice, His revelation ceases to be for us. This means that corruption will set in. This will make us lose all sense of proportion, and we will make God to be "created in our image and likeness." The gods we create ourselves will, ultimately, be less than we are, so that we will be able to manipulate them. In that way we commit idolatry. Our moral behavior will be judged in the light of God's character. If we make the character of God to be a projection of our behavior, we lose all norms according to which we can be evaluated. The great danger of this is that this is not what reality is like. Our efforts to manipulate God, or our false representations of Him, do in no way change God's reality. If, for instance, we meet a wild animal in the jungle, and we suppose that he is a dead and stuffed creature, we are in much greater danger than if we recognize the reality. God shows Himself here as this kind of wild animal, who will tear us apart. He says: "Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with none to rescue…" In C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia, we often read the phrase about Aslan: "He's not a tame lion, you know." Whether we see in Jesus Christ the Lamb that was slain or the Lion of Judah, depends on what we have done with our sins. The prophet Amos uses the image of a roaring lion when speaking about God; he says: "The LORD roars from Zion and thunders from Jerusalem."

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The same idea is expressed by the writer to the Hebrews when he says: "It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

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Some people find it difficult to reconcile this with the image of God as a loving Father. God's anger about sin is, however, in no way contradictory with His love for man He created. But if we associate with the devil, we will receive our share of God's wrath that is directed against him. Which side of God's character we will be exposed to depends upon our choice.

The psalm ends with one of the pearls of the whole Bible. After the negative verses that deal with man's shortsightedness, we see, in the last verse the light appearing on the horizon, and the doors of heaven open up. "He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God." In connection with vs. 14, we saw already what is implied in the bringing of a thank offering. In the previous verses, the thank offering was recommended as an antidote against getting bogged down in senseless rituals. The thank-offering keeps our relationship with God full and living on the basis of the sacrifice of Christ. The mention of the thank offering in this last verse is placed against the background of a lack of understanding of reality. The person in the previous verses had no notion about who God is. He thought that God was like himself; He had been completely blinded by the darkness that surrounded him. To that kind of person, the Holy Spirit says: "If, without seeing anything, you begin to thank and praise God in faith, the results will be amazing." It is comparatively easy to praise God when we can see Him clearly, and when we feel grateful. We tend to think that people are crazy who praise God when their backs are bleeding and their feet are shackled in iron, as Paul and Silas did in the prison of Philippi. But the outcome of their action justified their behavior.

What the Holy Spirit says here seems so obvious: "He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me." After all, honoring God is the essence of the sacrifice of praise. But the bringing of a thank offering takes on new dimensions when it is brought in the darkness of our circumstances. There is nothing unreasonable in the fact that, if we trust, on the basis of the known facts of salvation, we trust that all things work together for good, even if we see no light at the end of the tunnel, or if we do not understand the reason why we pass through certain experiences. God says that He is honored if we thank Him under all circumstances. In doing this, we open a way for the Holy Spirit to show us the reality of God's salvation.

Preparing a way presupposes that there are obstacles to overcome. Those obstacles are both inside and outside us. There is demonic resistance; the powers of darkness will try to keep us from seeing what is there. The question is not whether God's salvation exists or not, but whether it is visible or invisible. The greatest obstacle, however, is within us. The fact that God's salvation surrounds us, but we cannot see it, is an indication that there is something wrong with our eyes. If we understand this, we can thank God for what we cannot see. The Holy Spirit assures us that praise will change our circumstances. Our eyes will be opened, and will get used to the light, and we discover that "the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD."

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