Psalm 50 - The LORD Speaks

Read: Psalm 50 vs 1-23

The Bible has many different words and phrases that it uses to describe God. So for example He is referred to as ‘the Lord’, ‘our Father’, ‘my Saviour’, ‘the Shepherd’. All of these names (and there are many more) tell us something about God. Indeed our picture of God will be incomplete if we only ever think of God in one way, when the Bible describes Him in many ways. 

Psalm 50 calls on God as ‘the Mighty One’. This way of naming God is used 7 times in the Psalms, and it is also used in other places in the Bible, so for example we hear it on the lips of Jacob in Genesis 49:24 and of Mary in Luke 1:49. The more we read the Bible the more our vocabulary of prayer expands, so we pick up these phrases from Jacob, we start to pray like Mary, we broaden and deepen our picture of who God is.

Praying to ‘the Mighty One’ presents us with a picture of a God who cannot be pigeon holed into an area of ‘private religion’ or who cannot be enlisted when we need Him and left to the side when we don’t.

In Psalm 50 ‘the Mighty One’ speaks, He summons, and the whole earth is called to account, from the place to the sun rises right round to the place where it sets. Often today we react very negatively to any thought of being ‘judged’, but what if this is God’s role, God’s right, God’s place? Psalm 50 speaks to us of the God who judges all people and the God who judges with perfect justice (vs 6). Designating yourself as 'religious' doesn’t give you get you a pass when it comes to God’s judgment. God looks past the label we (or others) put on ourselves and He looks into our hearts. This is a foundational truth in the Bible. God looks past our observance and our words. He wants us. The Bible reveals that this Mighty One doesn’t need things from us (vs 12 – see also Acts 17:24-25). What He wants is a people who will love Him, trust Him and live thankful lives that glorify Him. 

Prayer: Read Luke 1 vs 46-55. Allow Mary’s prayer to ‘the Mighty One’ to be your prayer today.