Psalms 50:7-15

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.”

Psalms 50:7-15 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 50

\\<>\\. This psalm is called a psalm of Asaph; either because it was composed by him under divine inspiration, since he was a prophet and a seer, 1Ch 25:2, 2Ch 29:30; or because it was delivered to him to be sung in public service, he being a chief musician; see 1Ch 16:7; and so it may be rendered, "a psalm for Asaph"; or "unto Asaph" {o}; which was directed, sent, and delivered to him, and might be written by David; and, as Junius thinks, after the angel had appeared to him, and he was directed where he should build an altar to the Lord, 1Ch 21:18. The Targum, Kimchi, and R. Obadiah Gaon, interpret this psalm of the day of judgment; and Jarchi takes it to be a prophecy of the future redemption by their expected Messiah; and indeed it does refer to the times of the Gospel dispensation; for it treats of the calling of the Gentiles, of the abrogation of legal sacrifices, and of the controversy the Lord would have with the Jews for retaining them, and rejecting pure, spiritual, and evangelical worship. {o} Poal "ipsi Asaph", Tigurine version, Vatablus; "Asapho", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; so Ainsworth.

Cross References 20

  • 1. Hebrews 2:4; Psalms 81:8
  • 2. Exodus 20:2; Psalms 48:14
  • 3. S 2 Samuel 22:16
  • 4. S Psalms 40:6; Hosea 6:6
  • 5. S Leviticus 1:5; Psalms 69:31
  • 6. S Leviticus 16:5
  • 7. S Numbers 32:16
  • 8. Psalms 104:20; Isaiah 56:9; Micah 5:8
  • 9. Psalms 104:24
  • 10. Matthew 6:26
  • 11. Psalms 8:7; Psalms 80:13
  • 12. Exodus 19:5
  • 13. Deuteronomy 10:14; S Joshua 3:11; Psalms 24:1; 1 Corinthians 10:26
  • 14. S Ezra 1:4; S Psalms 27:6; Hebrews 13:15
  • 15. S Numbers 30:2; S Psalms 66:13; Psalms 76:11; Deuteronomy 23:21
  • 16. Psalms 7:8
  • 17. Psalms 4:1; Psalms 81:7; Isaiah 55:6; Isaiah 58:9; Zechariah 13:9
  • 18. Psalms 69:17; Psalms 86:7; Psalms 107:6; Psalms 142:2; James 5:13
  • 19. Psalms 3:7
  • 20. S Psalms 22:23
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