RR Psalm 50:22,23 Part 13

(Early) Shabbat Shalom,
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Day 6 of counting the Omer

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְיָ אֱלֹהֵֽינוּ מֶֽלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָֽׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו, וְצִוָּֽנוּ עַל סְפִירַת הָעֹֽמֶר

Baruch Atah Adonai Elohenu Melech Ha-Olam, Asher Kid’shanu B’mitzvotav, Vitzivanu Al Sefirat Ha-Omer.

Blessed are You O Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us by his commandments and commanded us about the counting of the Omer.  Today is zero weeks and six days of the counting of the Omer.

Follow up that prayer by remembering a blessing from the Lord and give Him thanks.  Isaiah 51:3 For Adonai will comfort Zion. He will comfort all her waste places. He will make her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of Adonai. Joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and a sound of melody.
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Psalms
Psalm 50:22,23 – Part 13

Psalm 50:22 “Now consider this, you who forget God. Or else I will tear you in pieces with no one to rescue you. 23 A sacrifice of praise honors Me, and to the one who orders his way, I will show the salvation of God.”

“Now consider this!”  The conclusion of Psalm 50 starts with an “attention getter.”  It is the equivalent of a loudspeaker blaring, “Now hear this!”  The Hebrew word for “consider” is Bin (Bet-Yud-Nun) meaning, “use your discernment, enhance your understanding, and look deeply into this.”  The verse is an invitation coupled with a threat. Hint: God doesn’t make threats, He makes promises.  “Consider this… or else!”

Do we really want to push God to the “or else” stage of His promise?  God has been speaking in the first person since verse 5.  He first addresses, “My people… O Israel,” and not in a good way.  God is distraught.  Yeshua said this… Matthew 23:27 “Woe to you, Torah scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.  28 In the same way, you appear righteous to men on the outside, but are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. 

Secondly, God addresses “the wicked” in verse 16, who he accuses of the same problem.  Psalm 50:17 For you hate discipline, and you cast My words behind you.  The Lord elaborates saying, the wicked habitually break the commandments of God while lying to themselves about it.  As Paul admonishes Timothy… 2Timothy 2:15 Make every effort to present yourself before God as tried and true, as an unashamed worker cutting a straight path with the word of truth.

Now, in these final two verses of Psalm 50, God (still speaking in the first person) addresses those who forget God.  But this is more than having a faulty memory.  These are they who forget to honor God.  That “sacrifice of praise” is a “sacrifice of thankfulness” in Hebrew.  How much trouble do we bring on ourselves through a lack of thanksgiving?  Paul said as much…

Romans 1:21 for even though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. Instead, their thinking became futile, and their senseless hearts were made dark. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools.  And, as if that is not enough, Paul follows up with this… Romans 1:25 They traded the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creation rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

Pretend I’m your waiter, who just arrived at your table to take your order.  “What will you have, death or eternal life?”  Romans 6:23 For sin’s payment is death, but God’s gracious gift is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.  See Yeshua or see death?  Make the wise choice while there is still time.  Honor God and live.  Shalom shalom.   

Day 6 of the Omer
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Fri10-Apr-2026 23rd of Nisan, 5786 Pesach
Le 9:1-16Isa 42Pr 31Jas 2 (Mt 2)