Psalm 40
“Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord”
How many people may be watching us, see what we are doing and how we react to adversity and then because of something we have said or done, put their trust in the Lord? We may never know how we have affected others for eternity.

Psalm 40:4

Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.
We are being told in this verse to stay away from false gods and from those people who worship false gods.  Buddah, Allah, etc are all false gods.  The test to determine whether a religion or theology is true or not is to ask the question, "Does that religion or theology worship a god who has a son named Jesus who died on the cross for the redemption of mankind?"  If the answer is "No",  then that religion or theology is false and  is born in the heart and mind of Satan himself.  There is NO other way to come to salvation except through Jesus!

John 14:6  

Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but by Me.

John 10:1  

Truly, truly, I say to you, He who does not enter into the sheepfold by the door, but going up by another way, that one is a thief and a robber.
 

We are also warned in Ephesians 5:11 to stay away from false gods and also the people who worship them.  The Amplified Bible Version makes this very clear.

Ephesians 5:11

Take no part in and have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds and enterprises of darkness, but instead let your lives be so in contrast as to expose and reprove and convict them. 

We are to have no fellowship with them.  The way we witness to them and the way we evangelism them is to live a righteous life before them, not have fellowship with them.  Our lives should be so in contrast with the darkness that we expose, reprove, and convict.


"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire but my ears you have pierced."
The piercing of the ear was the mark of a slave. It illustrates ownership.
God doesn’t want our meaningless rituals! He wants an attitude of devotion, praise, worship, and thankfulness to Him. He wants us to speak of His faithfulness and salvation. He wants us to tell it to “the great assembly.”

Psalm 49
Psalm 49 tells us to check our investments. Have we invested in earthly things that do not last or in heavenly things that last for eternity?  There is no security in the possession and enjoyment of wealth because that has nothing to do with salvation. Believers in Jesus are truly happy above the most prosperous of this world because they are guarded against the terrors of death and judgment to come.  Jesus has done something for us that all the wealth of the world cannot do.

Psalm 50
The first few verses in this psalm speak of the year long Day of the Lord when He comes to bring fire on the earth and destroy the ungodly. "Gather to me my consecrated ones." speak of the saved ones who will be gathered to Him in the millennium.  This also foreshadows eternity.
"...for God himself is judge."
John 5:22
For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment to the Son,
"He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me."
This seems to be a bit of a contradiction from the previous verses that tell us that God does not need our sacrifices and burnt offerings. However, burnt offerings and sacrifices were required. Thank offerings are the willing ones. God doesn't want our offerings and sacrifices out of obligation. He wants our willing giving.  God doesn't want an outward show of sacrifices of animals, He wants an inward change.

Psalm 73
“…my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”
To envy others for their “stuff” puts us on a slippery slope.  The wicked may get their reward here on earth.  We get our reward in heaven.  God, however, often blesses the righteous here on earth.  But for us our possessions are not our "gods".

“Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.”
AMEN!