Psalm 50:10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
God’s Love, Our Need
Do you love God? If so, why? Psalm 116:1 says, “I love the LORD, because…” The rest of the psalm gives reasons for which the psalmist loved God. That tells me that there are reasons to love God, and that my loving God is not so much an indication of my virtue as it is an acknowledgment of His. Does God love you? Yes! Why? I’m not sure how to answer that question. He loves us, but He does not need us. Oftentimes, we love someone because we need them. I love God, and part of that is based on how much I need God and how much He’s done for me. When it comes to God’s love for me, God does not love me because He is in need.
In Psalm 50, God calls His people into His cosmic courtroom. These people seemed to think God was in their debt because of all the sacrifices they had given God. In verses 9-12 God says, “I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof.” God seems to say, “Look, if I were hungry, you are the last person I would tell.” God is never in need, worried, or hurried. God says in verse 13, “Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?” Is God so hungry that He is dependent upon our money or our sacrifices?
Verse 14 says, “Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High.” God loves us, not because He needs us but because of His character and person. When you think about it, about the only thing that you and I can give God that God did not give us first is thanksgiving. I can’t be generous with God. I can only be honest. He owns it all anyway.
Verse 15 says, “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.” We should love God, but there are reasons to love God. We don’t just love God, we desperately need Him. You can know that God loves you, not because He is getting rich off of you or because He is benefitting from you. He loves you because of His character. And God’s character is a reason to love Him, to offer our sacrifices to Him, and to live in thanksgiving every day.