The first time I remember being introduced to a passage from this Psalm was while I was with my maternal grandmother. Grandma was a poor farmer for most of the years I knew her; selling fruits, vegetables, pigs, cows, and dairy products to cover rent on property she never owned. The big “house on the hill” in which she lived wasn’t much. Indoor plumbing was a hand pump. She cooked on a wood burning stove. We bathed in a washtub. We had a two-seater out house. The house was modernized eventually – sort of – with real indoor plumbing and a bathroom, but for most of my early childhood, a trip to Grandma’s was a step back in time of about a century or so.
Grandma played a key role in my spiritual development. While poor in possessions, she was rich in God’s wisdom and love for her family (especially her favorite grandson). She watered the seeds of the gospel implanted in me on just about every opportunity we had to be together, and praise God, we had lots. Of all the scripture she quoted to me, the one I remember most vividly was Psalm 50:10. She emphasized God’s ownership of “the cattle on a thousand hills” as we’d travel to and from her home in the country. She loved wildlife and livestock, but she loved her God who created them, even more. She understood the psalmist’s message as it spoke to the sovereignty of God, His righteousness, His desire to bless and deliver us, His ability to discern the hearts and motives of those who claim to worship him, and His readiness to punish when hearts and motives are not right.
I thank God today for the fact that He still owns all – especially my little herd in Henrietta, TX. His love for me – and for you, my Christ City family – is made evident in His provision, bounty, and yes…His discipline.
Lynn P.