“For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. “I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High; Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.” “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me; And to him who orders his way aright I shall show the salvation of God.” Psalms 50:10‭-‬11‭, ‬14‭-‬15‭, ‬23‬‬‬‬

In Psalm 50, God is talking with His people about the worship sacrifices they bring to Him. Basically He’s saying “don’t bring Me a sacrifice out of duty or with a bad, unrepentant attitude”. In the Old Testament, a sacrifice was brought annually to cover or atone for the sins of an individual, family or nation. (In the New Testament, JESUS was the sacrifice for all son, past, present and future. The basis of a sacrifice was to reconnect with God and at the heart of a sacrifice was repentance-our willingness to turn AWAY from sin and TOWARDS God.

God says in this chapter, “I don’t need your sacrifice (without repentance)-all the animals on the planet are mine! I need your heart!” He encourages us to offer a thanksgiving offering-recognizing that ALL we have comes from God!

Sometimes we behave as if we’re doing God a favor by worshiping Him. We forget that HE DOESN’T NEED US–WE NEED HIM! Every breath we take, every new day and every second chance are gifts from God. As He states in verse 23, He blesses those who aligns his ways with God’s, but He has no need for anything we can bring Him because He owns it all, except for one thing He gives us the autonomy to rule over-our own hearts. He wants our hearts! He wants us to willing align our lives with Him. He wants our love!

Think about it!