With this post, we reach a point 1/3 of the way through the Psalter. And a lovely point it is.
Psalm 50 raises a question previously unasked in the Psalter, at least in precisely this way: what does God want from human beings? If we remember that ancient people saw gift-giving as a way of building a relationship, with the giving of lavish gifts creating a sort of dependency or relational asymmetry, then we recognize that the question is not an idle one. To give a gift to God is to have a relationship with God, at least as the Bible understands it. So what sort of gift is appropriate?
The psalm considers the question from several angles. Verses 1-6 open with a description of “El Elohim Yahweh” descending from heaven to earth in splendor. The very heavens declare the deity’s majestic righteousness and surpassing qualities as the judge of all the earth (v. 6). Thus the God with whom the psalmist seeks a relationship is the same God who brings justice to the world, surely a magnificent gift.
Next, verses 7-15 offer a divine oracle in which this God declines sacrifice as an appropriate gift because He owns all the creatures in the world (you can’t give something to the one who already owns it!) and because a deity does not need to eat flesh and drink blood in any case. (Thus the psalm rejects a simplistic view of sacrifice that sees it as an act of feeding the deity.) This section puts the relationship on a different footing than one of strict reciprocity: “Thanksgiving is a sacrifice to Elohim, and keeping your promises is a peace offering to the Most High. ‘Call on me in a day of trouble; I will rescue you and you will honor me’.” Weaving together oracle (v. 15) and comment on divine oracle (v. 14), the psalmist recasts the whole question. God’s job is to save the contrite in heart, and our job is to be grateful. Barbecue is secondary. Let me come back to this point in a moment.
The psalm next moves to a criticism of the evildoer, i.e., the one who does not have a relationship with God. Verses 16-21 describe people who say the right things — they look pious and obedient — but do not say the main thing. They are people who do not truly practice the disciplines of wisdom (verse 17’s word musar, a favorite word in Proverbs to describe the life lived wisely). Their greatest mistake lies in assuming that God is like them, just a wearer of masks and not a person of integrity. They were mistaken, and fatally so.
The psalm ends with a summary of its position: live a grateful life. “The one sacrificing thanksgiving honors me; he will make the way where I will show him God’s salvation.” (The Hebrew text is actually a bit defective, but this seems to be the sense of it.) The gift that will create a meaningful, positive, beneficial relationship with God is one rooted in human gratitude, and thus in human awareness of the truth of our dependency on God.
Now, to return to an earlier point, what does the psalmist think about sacrifice? There is no reason to believe that he or she objected to sacrifice as such. That position would have to wait for later generations. But the psalm does lay the groundwork for the later Jewish realization that sacrifice was only a form of prayer (a very pleasant smelling one!), and that prayer itself was not a way of bribing God or creating obligation, but rather a way of cementing a relationship. So the barbecue is not, strictly speaking, necessary. A life — actions — based on a thankful heart is the key. And it still is.