Psalm 50

Hello Project Ezra!  I pray you are all doing well, and that God has blessed you with many chances to share His gospel this past week, and that He will provide many more this coming week.  I’ve formatted the reading a bit differently this week.  Instead of providing a full outline, I’ve broken the suggested chapter into three themes that are found in the chapter, each one of which could be an excellent springboard into the gospel.  For each theme I have also listed a few additional thoughts, as well as several additional Bible verses that may be useful.  I would encourage you to read through the chapter, consider each theme, and chose one you can expand on for your open-air.  I’m looking forward to reading your testimonies!

All for His glory,

Dan

WORDS IN ITALICS ARE FROM THIS WEEK’S CHAPTER

God is a mighty judge, and we are guilty criminals

The Mighty One, God the LORD

 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth

Our God comes; He does not keep silence                                            

Before Him is a devouring fire, around Him a mighty tempest

He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that He may judge His people

The heavens declare His righteousness, for God himself is judge

Eph 2:1-3 – Dead in our trespasses and sin, by nature children of wrath

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:  (2 Timothy 4:1 ESV)

All of us will stand before God some day and be judged.  How will you stand before Him?

And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.  (Colossians 2:13-14 ESV)

God does not need us, but we desperately need Him

God does not need sacrifices

I will not accept a bull from your house, nor goats from your folds

For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills,

And all that moves in the field is mine.

If I were hungry, I would not tell you

For the world and all its fullness are mine

Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?

Good works will not help you.  God does not need us

You have nothing to offer to God.  Your so-called goodness does not benefit Him

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.  (Acts 17:24-25 ESV)

Call upon me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me

O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.  (Daniel 9:18 ESV)

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  (2 Corinthians 5:21 ESV)

Come to God in repentance and faith, with humility, and you will be saved!

God will not abide hypocrites, and we are all hypocrites

To the wicked God says:

What right do you have to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips?

You cast my words behind you

If you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and you keep company with adulterers

You give your mouth full reign for evil, and your tongue frames deceit

Everyone knows God’s law.  It is written on our hearts

For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.  (Romans 2:12-16 ESV)

Those who claim to know Him, yet ignore or deny His word, as self-deceived and still in darkness

Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him,  (1 John 2:4 ESV)

“Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!

The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;

to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God.  (Psalm 50:22-23 ESV)

Only through repentance and faith, through Christ’s obedience, and His blood, shed on the cross, can we be right before God

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek.  (Hebrews 5:7-10 ESV)