God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, says David in Psalm 50, which is my prayer partner this morning. But what exactly does that phrase mean? I have some very good friends who have a God dream to help children and they want to name their land, land of a thousand hills and their desire is to have 1000 heads of cattle. My friends are country folk and I love them for it. Last month I went to a worship night at a coffee shop in Nashville and the name of the place was Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Co. We bought our friends the coffee cup to prophesy to them their dream. Then the other day we went to the Amish community here in TN and we went past Thousand Hills Cowboy Church. Now this morning I am praying Psalm 50 and it speaks of the cattle on a thousand hills. Three times, this phrase has come up in less than a month, okay Lord, what are you saying?

In the context of Psalm 50, I am in awe and wonder as David begins the Psalm by saying, “The Mighty One, God, the LORD, has spoken, And summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.” The God I serve has the authority to summon the whole earth, all of creation, He can put out the call and every created thing, must come and gather before Him. There is no other God with that kind of authority, oh the wonder of our God. “He summons the heavens above, And the earth, to judge His people” (Ps. 50:4). He gathers us all together to judge us, not to condemn us but to course correct us, because we are out of alignment.

His summons is to speak truth to us, we are performing for him with our sacrifices and He is wanting our hearts, our gratitude, not our performance or our sacrifices. It is a time of course correction. The Lord has always been after our hearts not our offerings. He wants us to love Him with our hearts and we so easily slip into performing for Him, but we are His children and He delights in us. So, when He says He owns a cattle on a thousand hills that is not a prosperity scripture, it is a reminder, he doesn’t need our offerings, our sacrifices, our performance, He wants our hearts of gratitude, our love, our affection, my friends, He is taking us back to the heart of worship which is our love for Him and His love for us. This judgment makes us feel so much better, when we realize He wants us and He wants us to want Him!