Series: Stewardship...
First
What does it mean to put God first — not just in what we say, but in the way we live? In this three-week series, we’ll discover that biblical stewardship begins with recognizing that everything we have belongs to God. He needs nothing from us, yet He calls us to surrender everything, trust His faithfulness, and respond with wholehearted obedience.
Sermon Recap
Psalm 50 confronts one of the most basic
assumptions we make about our possessions: “What I have belongs to me.” The
psalm gives us a radically different picture. God is the Creator, King, and
owner of everything. He does not depend upon His people to provide for Him,
because everything already belongs to Him. The psalm begins with God summoning
His people before Him as Judge. He then exposes the inadequacy of a mere
external understanding of worship. Israel had been bringing sacrifices, but
they had begun treating their sacrifices as though God needed something from
them. God reminds them that He owns every animal, every mountain, and every
resource in creation. The result is a profound theology of stewardship: we do
not give because God lacks; we give because God owns. Our possessions,
resources, time, abilities, relationships, and opportunities are gifts
entrusted to us by God. Stewardship is therefore not primarily about money. It
is about recognizing God's ownership and responding to Him faithfully.
Psalm 50:1-23
“The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and
summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. 2 Out of Zion, the
perfection of beauty, God shines forth. 3 Our God comes; he does not keep
silence; before him is a devouring fire, around him a mighty tempest. 4 He
calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people: 5 “Gather
to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!” 6 The
heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge! Selah
7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O
Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. 8 Not for your
sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. 9 I
will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. 10 For every
beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know all the
birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. 12 “If I were
hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. 13 Do I
eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and
perform your vows to the Most High, 15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I
will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
16 But to the wicked God says: “What right
have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips? 17 For you
hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you. 18 If you see a thief, you
are pleased with him, and you keep company with adulterers. 19 “You give your
mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. 20 You sit and speak
against your brother; you slander your own mother's son. 21 These things you
have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But
now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.
22 “Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest
I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver! 23 The one who offers
thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I
will show the salvation of God!”
The
Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001
by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Psalm
50:1-23.
Discussion Questions
- Why is recognizing God's ownership foundational to biblical stewardship?
- What is the difference between ownership and stewardship?
- Why does God reject the idea that He needs Israel's sacrifices?
- How can possessions become a source of security, identity, and idolatry rather than depending on God?
- What does thanksgiving have to do with faithful stewardship?
- What would change if you viewed everything you have as something God has entrusted to you?
Closing Thoughts
Psalm 50 reminds us that everything belongs
to God. That means stewardship is not simply about what happens when we give
money to the church, but about how we use everything God has entrusted to us
for His purposes. Our resources become tools for mission when we stop asking,
“What can I keep?” and begin asking, “How can I use what God has given me to
bless others and make Christ known?”
What resources has God given you that you need to use
for a Kingdom impact?
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