GOD’S WORD FOR JULY 4 ~ ~ Psalm 50:10-12 ~ ~ “For every animal of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills.
I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is Mine.
If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is Mine, and everything it contains.”

John Piper from his book, “The Pleasures of God”

(speaking of God’s requirement that we hope in him, because that is the gospel)

This is not only good news for us sinners. It is also the glory of God to make only this demand upon us. Why? Because when you hope in God you show that he is strong and you are weak; that he is rich and you are poor; that he is full and you are empty. When you hope in God you show that YOU are the one who has needs, not God. You are the patient, he is the Doctor. You are the thirsty deer in the forest, he is the overflowing spring. You are the lost sheep, he is the good shepherd.

The beauty of the gospel is that in one simple demand (“Put your hope in God.”) we hear good news and GOD gets the glory. That is why God takes pleasure in those who hope in his love—because in this simple act of hope HIS GRACE is glorified and SINNERS are saved. This is the command of the gospel that keeps God at the center—the center of his affections and ours.

Now we must ask why God does NOT take pleasure in horses and legs as it says in verse 10:

“His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man.”

(Remember, too, that in those days, horses were almost exclusively used as weapons of war. Donkeys and oxen were used for farming and transporting, and no one rode just for pleasure)

The point here is not that strong horses and strong legs are bad. After all God made them! In fact we saw in chapter 3 that he rejoices in the strength and freedom of his mighty horses. For example, he asks Job:

“Do you give the horse his might?

Do you clothe his neck with strength?

Do you make him leap like the locust?

He paws in the valley, and exults in his strength:

He goes out to meet the weapons.

He laughs at fear, and is not dismayed:

he does not turn back from the sword….

he cannot stand still at the sound of the trumpet.

When the trumpet sounds, he says, “Aha!”

He smells the battle from afar,

the thunder of the captains, and the shouting.

Job 39:19-25

Clearly God exults in the strength of the horse that he alone has made. Job can’t take credit for any of the horse’s wonderful powers. No, the point is not that this glorious animal is bad. The point is this: in the day of battle, men put their hope in horses instead of putting their hope in God. But Proverbs 21:31 says, “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs TO THE LORD.”

Therefore Psalm 20:7 says, “some boast in chariots, and some in horses; but we boast in the name of the Lord our God.” And Psalm 33:17 says, “The war horse is a vain hope for victory, and by its great strength it cannot save.”

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