Post by Les on Mar 1, 2024 10:16:55 GMT -5
Owner or Steward? By: James Banks
Click here for the Audio Message
Every animal of the forest is mine.
Psalm 50:10
Today's Scripture & Insight :
Psalm 50:7–15
“Am I an owner or a steward?” The CEO of a multibillionpound company asked himself that question as he weighed what was best for his family. Concerned about the temptations that can come with vast wealth, he didn’t want to burden his heirs with that challenge. So he gave up ownership of his company and placed 100 percent of the voting stock in a trust. Recognising that everything he owns belongs to God helped him make the decision to allow his family to earn a living in exchange for work while also using future profits to fund Christian ministry.
In Psalm 50:10, God tells His people, “Every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.” As the Creator of all things, God owes us nothing and needs nothing from us. “I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens,” He says (Psalm 50:9). He generously provides everything that we have and use. Because He does, as the psalm shows us, He’s worthy of our heartfelt worship.
God owns everything. But because of His goodness, He even chose to give Himself, entering into a relationship with any who turn to Him. Jesus “did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). When we value the Giver over the gifts and serve Him with them, we are blessed to delight in Him forever.
Reflect & Pray
What has God given you that you’re grateful for? How can you serve Him with it?
You made everything, faithful Creator. Help me to live my life as a gift from You today.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The superscription attributes Psalm 50 to Asaph, a Levite and one of David’s three chief musicians (see 1 Chronicles 6:31, 39; 16:4-5; 2 Chronicles 5:12). Asaph also composed eleven other songs (Psalms 73-83). In Psalm 50 , a didactic psalm (one that teaches us about God and how to live in a way that pleases Him), he describes a courtroom scene where God testifies against and judges His people for two grave sins—their formalism in worship (vv. 7-15) and their hypocrisy in living (vv. 16-23). We’re reminded that God has no need for our offerings, for He’s the Lord of all creation and owner of all we have (vv. 8-15). Instead, He desires us to “make thankfulness [our] sacrifice to” Him ( v. 14 NLT).
K. T. Sim
Psalm 50:7-15
King James Version
7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.
8 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.
9 I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:
15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
Click here for the Audio Message
Every animal of the forest is mine.
Psalm 50:10
Today's Scripture & Insight :
Psalm 50:7–15
“Am I an owner or a steward?” The CEO of a multibillionpound company asked himself that question as he weighed what was best for his family. Concerned about the temptations that can come with vast wealth, he didn’t want to burden his heirs with that challenge. So he gave up ownership of his company and placed 100 percent of the voting stock in a trust. Recognising that everything he owns belongs to God helped him make the decision to allow his family to earn a living in exchange for work while also using future profits to fund Christian ministry.
In Psalm 50:10, God tells His people, “Every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.” As the Creator of all things, God owes us nothing and needs nothing from us. “I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens,” He says (Psalm 50:9). He generously provides everything that we have and use. Because He does, as the psalm shows us, He’s worthy of our heartfelt worship.
God owns everything. But because of His goodness, He even chose to give Himself, entering into a relationship with any who turn to Him. Jesus “did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). When we value the Giver over the gifts and serve Him with them, we are blessed to delight in Him forever.
Reflect & Pray
What has God given you that you’re grateful for? How can you serve Him with it?
You made everything, faithful Creator. Help me to live my life as a gift from You today.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The superscription attributes Psalm 50 to Asaph, a Levite and one of David’s three chief musicians (see 1 Chronicles 6:31, 39; 16:4-5; 2 Chronicles 5:12). Asaph also composed eleven other songs (Psalms 73-83). In Psalm 50 , a didactic psalm (one that teaches us about God and how to live in a way that pleases Him), he describes a courtroom scene where God testifies against and judges His people for two grave sins—their formalism in worship (vv. 7-15) and their hypocrisy in living (vv. 16-23). We’re reminded that God has no need for our offerings, for He’s the Lord of all creation and owner of all we have (vv. 8-15). Instead, He desires us to “make thankfulness [our] sacrifice to” Him ( v. 14 NLT).
K. T. Sim
Psalm 50:7-15
King James Version
7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.
8 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.
9 I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:
15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.