#PsalmSunday: Psalm 50

Peace is not the absence of conflict with people. Peace is the absence of conflict with God.

Leviticus 7:11-15 says, "And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings that one may offer to the LORD. If he offers it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the thanksgiving sacrifice unleavened loaves mixed with oil, unleavened wafers smeared with oil, and loaves of fine flour well mixed with oil. With the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving he shall bring his offering with loaves of leavened bread. And from it he shall offer one loaf from each offering, as a gift to the LORD. It shall belong to the priest who throws the blood of the peace offerings. And the flesh of the sacrifice of his peace offerings for thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day of his offering. He shall not leave any of it until the morning." (ESV)

Those of us who have been granted the gift of repentance that leads to saving faith in Jesus Christ, had the only acceptable peace offering made on our behalf, when the Son of God suffered and died for our sins. Because Jesus alone is God, He alone can completely satisfy the wrath of God that is due every sinner...which is every single human being that has lived, is living, and will live. Through Christ, we who repent of our sins and trust wholly in Jesus' name, now have what we could never attain for ourselves—peace with God.

What a glorious joy it is to know that while we were enemies of God, living for ourselves, hating Him, and hating others; Christ died for us. Therefore, let all who call on the name of the LORD, rejoice in His holy name! Let us lift up our hearts and our voices to proclaim the excellencies of Christ Jesus our Lord! And let us demonstrate our utter gratitude and love to God the Father for giving us His Son, by offering Him a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving for continuously humbling us, so that we will never forget our depravity without Christ.