March 13
Verse of the Day for March 13
For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.Psalm 50:10 KJV
The Key of Stillness · Day 13 of 31
Reflection · 3 min read
The Cattle On A Thousand Hills
God is speaking in this psalm and he is addressing people who have been bringing sacrifices faithfully and have quietly started to believe he needs them.
For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. If I were hungry, he says a verse later, I would not tell thee.
It is close to sarcasm, and it is aimed at a particular kind of religious anxiety — the sense that the whole arrangement depends on your contribution and would collapse without it.
And then, having dismantled that, he says something surprising. Call upon me in the day of trouble. Having established that he needs nothing from them, he asks them to ask him for things.
The relationship is not a supply chain running towards God. It runs the other way, and always did.
If he were hungry,he would not tell you.
A great deal of exhaustion in religious life comes from an unexamined belief that God is depending on you.
He owns the hills. Call on him in the day of trouble.
Carry this today
Where have you started believing God needs you?
Pray
Read Psalm 50:9–15
9I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds. 10For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. 11I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. 12If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. 13Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? 14Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: 15And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
Keep praying
Reflection by Collins Asein, from the daily devotionals in the PrayerKey app. Bible text: King James Version.