Psalm 50:8-15 – Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.
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These words from God to his people do a good job of righting our perspective. Many times, when we think of the importance of doing the work of the Lord, we actually begin to believe that we are pretty important to God. We begin to feel as though God needs us. “What would he do without us,” we ask, “It sure is good for God that he has servants like us to do his will.”
God makes it plain, in this psalm, that he does not need us. In the old days, when he called his people to sacrifice, he did not do so because he needed food. What could the people ever offer God that did not already belong to him? He owns all created things. Today, what can you offer God that he does not already own? When you place your offering in the basket at church, you are not giving God anything that is not already his. You are not offering him something that he needs. Instead, you are giving back to God what he already owns. You are rightly serving him, but not helping him. He does not need our help.
Imagine a father with a young son painting a room in his house. The father will accomplish the work very well without the young son’s help. In fact, the father can do the work more quickly without the son than with him. However, because the father loves the son and wants to spend time with him, the father paints a line on the wall, and allows his son to paint the wall below the line. No doubt, the father has to come along and clean up the boy’s messes along the way. But the father does all this, because the boy wants to help his dad. It is a privilege for him to work with his dad in accomplishing the task.
The previous illustration is how I picture things in the kingdom of God. God most certainly does not need me. He does not need my help. He can do things a million times better without me. However, he has chosen, out of his love and kindness, to allow me to join with him in his work. Serving God is an honor. It is a true privilege. I am allowed by God to participate in the work that is to his ultimate glory. How dare I ever make myself feel self-important? I am but a tool in his hands. I am like a child painting a wall. I am not needed by God, I am blessed by God in his allowing me to serve him.
Dear Lord, I thank you that you allow me to join with you in the work of your kingdom. I acknowledge without hesitation that you do not need me. You can and will accomplish your plan with or without me. I thank you so much that you would actually allow me to be a part of that accomplishment. I pray that you will equip and empower me to serve you faithfully. I pray that you will bless me with the honor of giving all of myself for the sake of your call. I know that you can do it all without me, and so it is that much more special that you would allow me to join in. Thank you, Lord. Please help me to join in well for the honor of your name.
Pastor Travis Peterson 