God is coming to judge his people. He condemns those who replace the obedience of the heart with offerings and material sacrifices, and those who recite the commandments instead of practicing them.
① 1The God of gods, the Lord has spoken,
he summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2God has shone from Zion, perfect in beauty.
3God is no longer silent, he comes;
before him is a devouring fire,
around him a raging storm.
4He calls to the heavens above,
and to the earth below,
that he may judge his people:
5“Gather before me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6The heavens will proclaim his sentence,
for God himself is the judge.
7“Hear, O my people, for I am speaking.
I will accuse you, O Israel,
I am God, your God!
8Not for your sacrifices do I reprove you,
for your burnt offerings are ever before me.
9I need no bull from your stalls,
nor he-goat from your pens.
10For I own all the beasts of the forest
and the animals of my thousand hills.
11All the birds of the air I know;
all that move in the fields are mine.
12I need not tell you if I were hungry,
for mine is the world and all that it contains.
13Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14Yet offer to God a sacrifice of thanks,
and fulfill your vows to the Most High.
15Call on me in time of calamity;
I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.”
16But God says this to the wicked:
“What right have you to mouth my laws,
or to talk about my covenant?
17You hate my commands
and cast my words behind you.
18You join a thief when you meet one;
you keep company with adulterers.
19You have a mouth of evil
and a deceitful tongue.
20You speak ill of your brother,
and slander your own mother’s son.
21Because I was silent while you did these things,
you thought I was like you.
But now I rebuke you
and make this charge against you.
22Give this a thought, you who forget God,
lest I tear you to pieces with no one to help you.
23Those who give with thanks offerings honor me,
but the one who walks blamelessly,
I will show him the salvation of God.”
- For a long time, it has been a subject of reflection and discussion for the people of God to know what, in God's eyes is more important: the offering of sacrifices or keeping the Law? The psalm demands honoring God with sacrifices, but clearly gives priority to an upright life.
