Written by Asaph. Asaph was the great singer and musician of David and Solomon’s era. Asaph, the son of Berechiah, was a Levite musician, appointed (along with Heman and Jeduthun) by David to preside “over the service of song in the house of Yahweh” (1 Chronicles 6:31, 39). David also appointed Asaph as chief over a group of Levites “to minister before the ark of Yahweh, and to celebrate and to thank and praise Yahweh, the God of Israel” (1 Chronicles 16:4-6). Asaph’s sons became important temple musicians (1 Chronicles 25:1). Sometimes the simple “Asaph” may stand for the “the sons of Asaph
1 The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to where it sets.
2 From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.
3 Our God comes and will not be silent; a fire devours before him, and around him a tempest rages.
4 He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me this consecrated people, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice.
7 “Listen, my people, and I will speak; I will testify against you, Israel: I am God, your God.
8 I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices or concerning 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 insects in the fields 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 on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”
16 But to the wicked person, God says: “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips?
17 You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you.
18 When you see a thief, you join with him; you throw in your lot with adulterers.
19 You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit.
20 You sit and testify against your brother and slander your own mother’s son.
21 When you did these things and I kept silent, you thought I was exactly like you. But I now arraign you and set my accusations before you.
22 “Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you:
23 Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me, and to the blameless I will show my salvation.”
SECTIONS:
I Introduction: The Supreme Judge Enters to Preside (50:1-6).
II The Supreme Judge Levels Two Charges (50:7-21).
A First Charge: Ritualism (50:7-15);
B Second Charge: Rebellion (50:16-21).
III The Supreme Judge Offers a Solution (50:22-23).
THEME: Judgment comes to God’s people first so honor him in all you do and offer thanksgiving.
QUESTIONS:
- Who is speaking in this Psalm?
- Who is God summoning?
- Who is God testifying against?
- What are the accusations
- What relationship do animals have with God?
- What do the wicked do?
- What kind of offering does God want?
OTHER BIBLE TRANSLATIONS (Psalm 50: 15):
NET bible: Pray to me when you are in trouble! I will deliver you, and you will honor me!“
International Standard: Call on me in the day of distress; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me.“
Good News: Call to me when trouble comes; I will save you, and you will praise me.“
ADDITONAL VERSES:
1 Peter 4:17 For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
Psalm 51:16-17 For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.’
Matthew 10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.
Matthew 6:25-26 Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air: They do not sow or reap or gather into barns—and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Job 38:41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God as they wander about for lack of food?
https://www.bible-studys.org/Bible%20Books/Psalms/Psalm%2050.html
The psalm is a warning to the pilgrim of Zion to avoid hypocrisy and formalism before God. The setting of the psalm is comparable to a courtroom: God, the Judge, appears and calls for a hearing, the heavens and earth being called as witnesses. The accusations are twofold: God’s people must realize that true worship isn’t mere sacrifice, but sacrifice offered with thanksgiving and faithfulness. Second, the wicked are denounced for not keeping God’s law, though they pretend that do. In reality, they are those who “forget God” and face certain destruction unless they repent.
“I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.”God not only knows them, but takes care of them. Not a sparrow fails to the ground without his knowledge, and all the fowls of the air are fed by him (Matt. 10:29). Therefore, He didn’t need their turtledoves and young pigeons, which were the only fowls used in sacrifice. “He is Creator and everything was created by Him and for Him. The Creator is always in control of His creation. The world and everything, and everyone belong to Him. He can do whatever He wishes with His creation. “For the world is mine”: The earth; all that has been created. He is saying, if He wanted it, He would just take it. Everything is His anyway. God has no need of anything. Certainly, He is not guided by appetite as a man.
http://www.walkwiththeword.org/Studies/01_OT/19_Psalm/19_Psalm_050.html
This is not Final Judgment but a judgment of Israel that occurs before then. Those being judged are identified in v.5 as “Those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” Judgment always begins first with God’s people. (1 Peter 4:7) In v.4, God summons everyone together as witnesses as He specifically comes to “judge His people.” The repeated, parallel references throughout Scripture indicate that this specifically refers to Israel. This is further supported in v.5 by referring to “those who have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice”, a distinction that is specific to Israel. This Psalm speaks to those that are supposed to be His people, making the distinction between those that have followed Him correctly versus those that have not. This is not about “believers vs. non-believers”.
The worship of God through sacrifices was not supposed to be undertaken as a ritual obligation with the attitude, “This is what God requires me to do” as if God “needed” it. It was only supposed to be an extension of their heart, faith, and loving worship of Him. What God desires most is an obedient and loving heart that comes to Him voluntarily to praise and worship Him. (see Psalm 51:16-17)
God specifically emphasized the thanksgiving (or peace) offerings. There were 3 kinds:
- A voluntary offering in response to a special divine blessing.
- A voluntarily vowed offering when making a request or pledge to God.
- A freewill offering spontaneously presented in worship and praise
“I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes” is a series of legal terms that renders what we envision happening when called to personal account before God. The defining characteristic of true believers is that they’re not just obedient, but actively shun sin.
As believers, what should Final Judgment motivate us to do? Instead of being overly focused on the meaning of prophecy and signs, shouldn’t we be even more obsessed with pursuing the one thing we’re commanded to do in these times: Draw closer to Him from the heart?
False religion is a significant theme of both Old and New Testaments. The prophets pronounced judgment on those who claimed to be faithful, but whose lives failed to live up to their claims. Jesus confronted the same problem with the scribes and Pharisees.
In verses 1-6, the psalmist sets the stage as a courtroom. He calls witnesses from heaven above to earth below to serve as witnesses.
In verses 7-15, God outlines the problem. The people have assumed that their sacrifices have satisfied their obligation to God, but God doesn’t need their sacrifices. He is looking for honest sacrifices of thanksgiving.
In verses 16-21, God outlines some of their sins: Rejecting instruction, thievery, adultery, evil, deceit, slander.
In verses 22-23, God addresses two groups of people: The unfaithful (v. 22) and the faithful (v. 23). He outlines the consequences of the behavior of each group. God delivers a warning to those who have forgotten God––and he tells them how to achieve salvation. God will honor their sacrifice of thanksgiving with the gift of salvation.
“Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth.” Zion is Mount Zion, the mountain on which Jerusalem was built. In the Jerusalem temple, God’s throne sat atop the Ark of the Covenant. Zion was God’s dwelling place.
God gathers His saints for judgment before the witnessing world. When God deals thus with His people, He often does it before a watching world. We would prefer that He deal with the sins of His people privately, but if they will not listen to His correction, the day will come when He deals with their sin with the earth as an audience.
I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings: God did not rebuke His people for offering sacrifices. He commanded them to do that. Yet, He was not interested in receiving more animal offerings, apart from their trusting obedience. This was a rebuke of ritualism, of empty repetition of religious ceremonies. God spoke to their ritualism first, because it was under ritualism that they excused the sin described later in the psalm and thought themselves approved before God.
You thought that I was altogether like you: In some ways this was their greatest sin, losing sight of the holiness of God. They had become too casual and easy in their relationship with God. One way that they forgot God’s holiness was in mistaking His patience for not caring about sin. We often make the same mistake and confuse the generous space God gives for confession and repentance to mean that He doesn’t really care about our sin.
SONG: Change My Heart O God, Take My Life and Let It Be