psalm 50: attitudes for worship - tuesday 8th week

We continue our reflection on our responsorial psalm, psalm 50.  In this psalm God gathers all the people of Israel to indict them.  In Psalm 50 God is the accuser, he is the judge and he is even the witness.  And what was Israel's fault?  What was God's accusation?

This is Israel's fault – It is not for making and offering sacrifices but the mindset that accompany their sacrifices to God.  And what was the mindset – that God needs the sacrifices that I offer him.  Israel then was offering animal sacrifices and so they thought that God needs these sacrifices because he was hungry, because he needed to drink the blood of these animals and to eat their flesh.  The point is, to offer worship to God because they thought that God needed this worship.  This was the wrong mindset in their prayer, the wrong mindset in their worship.  Ang ginahimo naton amo nga daw ang Dios ang ginapa-utang naton agod to kon may kinahanglanon kita sa iya dapat niya sabton.  Amo ni kon kaisa ang danger sang mga novena.  I will complete my aguinaldo masses so that in effect I can put God into my debt, I can oblige God to listen to my prayers.  Psalm 50 is against this mentality.  Instead it offers us the right attitudes for worship.  And what are these.  I will just cite two.

First the psalm says, "Offer to God praise as your sacrifice." In some translation this is more appropriately translated as offer to God thanksgiving as your sacrifice.  This psalm wants us to form a grateful heart – mapinasalamaton nga tagipusuon, indi taguipusuon nga pirme lang may kinahanglan, pirme lang nagapangayo, kadto ka sa Dios kay pirme lang may kulang.  Indi bala bisan kita mismo na-ugtan sini? 

To offer thanksgiving comes from a mindset nga everything that God owns everything and everything that I have comes from God and everything that I give to God is not mine in the first place but his.  That is the mindset that psalm 50 wants us to have.  Wala man sia nagasiling nga indi na kita mangayo sa iya pero be more appreciative, be mindful of giftedness rather than lack, rather than need.

The fact that we call the mass the eucharist reminds us what we are doing here.  Eucharist comes from the greek word eucharistein, eucharistos meaning thanksgiving, meaning thankful. 

Second attitude, the psalm says, "fulfill your vows to the Most High."  Familiar sa aton ang panaad.  Subong daw indi na gid man ini uso pero in the past and to some extent even now this is what fills the church of Leganes, this is what fills the church of Jaro during the fiesta of the candelaria, and this is also the reason why in my younger days I need to go to Tigbauan during the fiesta.  These are all panaad.  A panaad is a vow made to God when you were in trouble.  It is not to bribe God.  It is not to pay God his salary for doing his work on us.  No.  A vow, a panaad is simply fulfilling your word to God.  It is going back to the time God helped you.  Ginapabalik kita sa sadtong tion nga ginbuligan kita sang Dios kag bangud sini nagabalik man ang aton pagsalig.

Actually this is the reason for the Eucharist also, to do it in remembrance of the Lord so that the Lord will continue to do it, so that we too will never forget God's love for us.  So fulfil your vows to the Lord.