This week, I would like for us to address a tension and frustration that can arise when it comes to money, finances, and treasure. To understand the nature of this tension and frustration, however, we first need to understand how prevalent money is in our day to day lives. You see, virtually everything that we do on a day to day basis involves the use of money. It isn’t that much of our life involves the use of money; much of our life revolves around the use of money. If you do not think that is the case, just take a minute and consider this question: What do you do in your day to day life that does not involve money? Is there anything that you do on a day to day basis that does not involve money? Where and how you live, what you do and don’t do, what you wear, what you eat, how you travel, all involve money.
And because virtually everything that we do involves and revolves around money, we are continually making decisions when it comes to how we handle money, finances and treasure. We have roles and responsibilities when it comes to money and finances. The tension and frustration, however, that we can experience when it comes to our roles and responsibilities, usually surface in one of two areas. The first area that we can experience this tension and frustration is when we fail to recognize and fulfill the responsibilities that we have when it comes to money. The second area that we can experience tension and frustration is when we fail to understand what responsibilities are ours and what responsibilities are God’s when it comes to money and finances.
You see, God has certain roles and responsibilities that He retains when it comes to money and finances, and there are roles and responsibilities that God has delegated to us. Where we get off track, frustrated, and in trouble when it comes to finances is when we try to fulfill roles and responsibilities that belong to God, or ignore or fail to fulfill responsibilities that belong to us.
So, what roles and responsibilities are God’s and what responsibilities are ours when it comes to money and finances? We find the answer in a section of a letter that is recorded for us in our Bible called the book of Psalms. The book of Psalms is a series of prayers and worship songs that were used in worship in the temple that were written down, recorded and preserved for us by God. The Psalm that we are going to look at this morning was written by a man named Asaph. Now Asaph was the Chris Tomlin of the Old Testament. Asaph was an outstanding musician during the reign of King David who was appointed to be the worship pastor at the temple.
In Psalm 50, we see Asaph, moved by the Holy Spirit, write a worship song that confronts the Jewish people for selfishness and rebellion that was beginning to surface in their lives. In verses 1-6, Asaph begins by painting a courtroom scene in which God is summoning the Jewish people to hear the charges against them. Asaph explains that God is the Creator and Judge of the universe who is ever present and ever aware of His creation. And as Creator and Judge, God was summoning the Heavens and the earth as witnesses to testify as to what they have seen from the Jewish people when it came to their rebellion. After summoning the Jewish people and the witnesses to the courtroom, Asaph reveals the charges against the Jewish people that God would be judging. Charges that are recorded for us in Psalm 50:7:
"Hear, O My people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you; I am God, your God. "I do not reprove you for your sacrifices, And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
Asaph begins by telling the Jewish people what they were not guilty of. As the One who had entered into a covenant relationship with the Jewish people, God was not reproving them because of a lack of worship activity. When Asaph refers to sacrifices and burned offerings, he is referring to the sacrificial offerings that the Jewish people were required to complete two times a day. In the Jewish sacrificial system, there were two times every day that sacrifices were made to God for the sins of the people, one early in the morning and one in the in the late afternoon at 3 p.m.
The sacrificial offerings involved animals who were offered as a substitute to pay the penalty for acts of selfishness and rebellion that had been committed against God. The burnt offerings were expression of worship and thanksgiving to God.
You see, the Jewish people did not need to be corrected because they were failing to show up for church. The Jewish people did not need to be set straight when it came to their worship activity for God. Then, if that was the case, what was the problem? Tomorrow, we will see Asaph reveals the timeless problem for us.
In the meantime, is there anything that you do on a day to day basis that at some point does not involve money?
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