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Psalms 50

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The Divine Judge Summons the World 1–6

1
The Mighty One, God, Jehovah, hath spoken, And called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. ​
2
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined forth.
3
Our God cometh, and doth not keep silence: A fire devoureth before him, And it is very tempestuous round about him. ​
4
He calleth to the heavens above, And to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5
Gather my saints together unto me, Those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. ​
6
And the heavens shall declare his righteousness; For God is judge himself. [Selah ​

God Rejects Empty Ritual 7–15

7
Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify unto thee: I am God, even thy God. ​
8
I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices; And thy burnt-offerings are continually before me. ​
9
I will take no bullock out of thy house, Nor he-goats out of thy folds.
10
For every beast of the forest is mine, And the cattle upon a thousand hills. ​
11
I know all the birds of the mountains; And the wild beasts of the field are mine.
12
If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; For the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.
13
Will I eat the flesh of bulls, Or drink the blood of goats? ​
14
Offer unto God the sacrifice of thanksgiving; And pay thy vows unto the Most High; ​
15
And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. ​

The Condemnation of the Wicked 16–21

16
But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, And that thou hast taken my covenant in thy mouth, ​
17
Seeing that thou hatest instruction, And castest my words behind thee? ​
18
When thou sawest a thief, thou consentedst with him, And hast been partaker with adulterers. ​
19
Thou givest thy mouth to evil, And thy tongue frameth deceit.
20
Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; Thou slanderest thine own mother’s son. ​
21
These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself: But I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. ​

The Requirement of True Piety 22–23

22
Now consider this, ye that forget God, Lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver: ​
23
Whoso offereth the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifieth me; And to him that ordereth his way aright Will I show the salvation of God. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Psalms 50

Verse 1

The mighty God, even the LORD — Three names stand together: El, Elohim and the LORD, as in Josh 22:22, 'The LORD God of gods'. The psalm is 'of Asaph', the Levite named chief of the singers before the ark (1 Chr 16:4–5). The call goes out 'from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof', the span of Ps 113:3, so the whole earth is summoned.

Verse 3

shall not keep silence — Charash, to be silent; the same verb returns in v.21, 'I kept silence'. The silence of patience ends here. 'A fire shall devour before him' recalls Sinai, where the glory of the LORD 'was like devouring fire on the top of the mount' (Ex 24:17); Heb 12:18 names the mount that 'burned with fire' and 'tempest'.

Verse 5

my saints — Chasid, from the root of chesed, covenant kindness, so the word means the faithful bound to him. 'A covenant… by sacrifice' points back to Sinai, where Moses sprinkled the blood and said, 'Behold the blood of the covenant' (Ex 24:8). 'Gather' is asaph, the root of the psalmist's own name.

Verse 6

God is judge himself — 'Declare' is nagad, to make plain, and the witness called is 'the heavens'; Ps 97:6 repeats the line, 'The heavens declare his righteousness'. The Judge needs no other bench: he is both judge and, in v.7, witness. Selah marks a pause before he speaks to Israel.

Verse 7

I will testify against thee — Ud, to bear witness: God is judge and witness at once. 'Hear, O my people, and I will speak' opens like Ps 81:8, 'Hear, O my people, and I will testify unto thee'. 'I am God, even thy God' echoes the opening of the commandments, 'I am the LORD thy God' (Ex 20:2). The case is brought against Israel itself.

Verse 8

continually before me — 'Continually' is tamid, the word of the daily offering: 'two lambs… day by day, for a continual burnt offering' (Num 28:3). The LORD does not reprove the sacrifices the law required. The fault lies in the thought, answered in vv.9–13, that he needs them.

Verse 10

cattle upon a thousand hills — The claim rests on creation: 'The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof' (Ps 24:1). The cattle (behemah) are the animals of the altar, and the offerer gives back what is already the LORD's, since every beast of the forest is his as well; v.12 adds, 'the world is mine, and the fulness thereof'.

Verse 13

Will I eat the flesh of bulls — The two questions answer the thought that sacrifice feeds God. Deut 32:38 mocks false gods in nearly these terms: 'Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings?' Here the LORD says he is not hungry (v.12); sacrifices belonged to his covenant and answered no need of his.

Verse 14

Offer unto God thanksgiving — Todah, thanksgiving, is also the name of an offering, 'the sacrifice of thanksgiving' (Lev 7:12). Vows are paid 'unto the most High' (Elyon). The word returns as 'praise' in v.23. Hebrews takes it up for believers: 'the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips' (Heb 13:15).

Verse 15

call upon me in the day of trouble — The promise runs in three steps: call, deliver, glorify. 'Deliver' is chalats, to pull out or draw off. Ps 91:15 gives nearly the same pledge: 'He shall call upon me, and I will answer him… I will deliver him, and honour him.' The one delivered glorifies (kabad) the Deliverer.

Verse 16

take my covenant in thy mouth — 'Take' is nasa, to lift or carry, the verb of Ex 20:7, 'Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain'. The 'wicked' (rasha) recite the 'statutes' (choq) and the covenant, yet live against them; the next verses name the breaches.

Verse 17

castest my words behind thee — Musar is instruction by correction, and the hearer hates it. Casting God's word behind is the picture of Neh 9:26, where Israel 'cast thy law behind their backs'. The words are still recited (v.16) but put out of sight when it comes to obeying them.

Verse 18

consentedst with him — Ratsah, to be pleased with: more than watching a thief, it is approving him. Rom 1:32 names the same fault, those who 'have pleasure in them that do them'. Theft and adultery are the eighth and seventh commandments (Ex 20:14–15); 'partaker' (cheleq) means taking a share.

Verse 20

slanderest thine own mother's son — Dophi, from a root meaning to push over, a stumbling-block; the KJV carries this Hebrew word only here. 'Thine own mother's son' is the nearest brother. The law forbids the same sin: 'Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people' (Lev 19:16).

Verse 21

I kept silence — The same verb as 'shall not keep silence' in v.3 (charash): the LORD was silent while they sinned, and they took it for agreement, 'such an one as thyself'. 'Set them in order' is arak, to lay out in rows, as Abraham 'laid the wood in order' (Gen 22:9); the charges will be laid out before their eyes.

Verse 22

ye that forget God — The name here is Eloah, the singular, found only four times in the Psalms (Ps 18:31; 50:22; 114:7; 139:19). 'Tear in pieces' is taraph, the verb of the lion's prey, as in Hos 5:14, 'I, even I, will tear and go away'. The warning follows the promise of v.15 with its opposite.

Verse 23

offereth praise glorifieth me — 'Offereth' is zabach, to sacrifice, and 'praise' is again todah (v.14): thanksgiving is the offering that honours him. 'Conversation' is derek, a way or course of life. The psalm ends as Ps 91:16 does, with God's pledge, 'shew him my salvation'.