God’s Perspective On Money
Psalms 50
7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak, O Israel, and I will testify against you: I am God, your God.
8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.
9 I have no need of a bull from your stall or of goats from your pens,
10 for every animal of the forest is mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine, and all that is in it.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?
14 Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High,
15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
Many Christians believe that tithing is an Old Testament practice that does not carry over to the New Testament. Oftentimes, those who do know that Jesus made mention of tithing in Matthew 23:23 and Luke 11:42 attempt to escape with the following statement: “The book of Acts is what really starts the New Testament. The gospels are really Old Testament.” These people need to remember that whether the four gospels are Old Testament or New Testament, one fact remains: God does not change; His word is still effective, regardless of whether it comes from the Old Testament or the New Testament.
This week, we venture into the Old Testament to look at God’s perspective on money. Our text begins with God speaking to the children of Israel concerning their giving. He tells them that even though He will not rebuke them for the sacrifices and offerings they have made, He will set the record straight concerning their giving to Him.
The first point He makes is, “I have no need of your offering because it’s mine anyway” (9th & 10th verses). Sometimes we have a tendency to forget that the paycheck we are getting today is His, not ours. The tax return we get is His, not ours. The unexpected, unexplained income we get is His, not ours. But get this…. After God reiterates the point that He doesn’t need what His children have, He rhetorically asks, “Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?” In other words, “Do I consume these things or have need of them?” Of course He doesn’t.
So if God does not have need of our sacrifices and offerings, why does He want us to give them back to Him? That answer lies in the 14th and 15th verses:
14 “Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High,
15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
The best way I can put this is God desires to be God in your life and not a fair-weather friend. He doesn’t want you to give tithes and offering when you feel like it. If you give consistently, then He can consistently do what He said we was going to do in the 15th verse: deliver you in the day of trouble.
You see it’s like this. If you are sending your tithe to the Wal-mart every pay day, when you get into “trouble,” who are you going to call on? Wal-mart? I hope not. If we put Wal-mart before God, would it be wrong of God to stand back and wait on Wal-mart to deliver us? No.
So how can we use tithing in reference to Psalm 50:14-15? Because as Malachi reveals, without tithing, there is no such thing as an offering. First comes the tithe, which is the 10%, and then everything after that is considered an offering. An attempt to give God an offering before the tithe is actually an “improper offering.” The reason I share this with you is not to get anything out of you, but instead to get something to you. In closing, I will share this very personal testimony.
Not too long ago, my wife and I needed $1000 by a particular Friday. I went from place to place and source to source attempting to get this money. On that Tuesday, after exhausting all my earthly resources, I said, “God you’ve got to do something.” The next day, I received a call to do some work, which brought a profit of roughly $1200. Not only did I have the money we needed, but also we had enough to tithe on as well.
Again, God does not need what He already blessed us with and owns. All He is out to do is bless us and be God in our lives. As we put Him first, He places Himself first in our situation. And that’s God’s perspective on money.
