“To the obedient, I will show the salvation of God”

 

“But to the wicked, God says, “Why do you recite my commandments and profess my covenant with your lips?  You hate discipline, you cast my words behind you.  When you see thieves, you befriend them, with adulteress, you throw in your lot.  You give your mouth free rein for evil, you harness your tongue to deceit.  You sit maligning your own kin,  slandering the child of your own mother.  When you do these things, should I be silent?  Or do you think I am like you?  I accuse you, I lay the charge before you.  Understand this, you who forget God, lest I attack you with no one to rescue.  Those who offer praise as a sacrifice honour me; to the obedient, I will show the salvation of God.”  (Ps 50:16-23).

Sometimes, we have a false notion that praising God is enough.  We forgot that God favours those who obey His commandments.  We must hate sin to its very core.  We must not be accomplices to sin but like those who rebuke sin not because we are holier than others but because we follow what God wants!

The thieves are punished because its wrong to steal, absolutely.  The adulterers are punished because God likes us to be faithful to God and to our spouses and others.  They are all invited to repent but if they continue in their wicked ways, consequences of their actions will surely come.  This is not easy to do especially if the sinners are our friends or within the next of our kin. On the other hand, God’s will is priority. We will not get lost if we follow God’s commandments.