Psalms 50:9-19

9 I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 1I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.
12 "If I were hungry, I would not tell you, 2for the world and its fullness are mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?
14 3Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,[a] and 4perform your vows to the Most High,
15 and 5call upon me in the day of trouble; I will 6deliver you, and you shall 7glorify me."
16 But to the wicked God says: "What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips?
17 8For you hate discipline, 9and you cast my words behind you.
18 If you see a thief, 10you are pleased with him, 11and you keep company with adulterers.
19 "You give your mouth free rein for evil, 12and your tongue frames deceit.

Psalms 50:9-19 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 12

  • 1. [Matthew 10:29]
  • 2. See Psalms 24:1
  • 3. ver. 23; Psalms 27:6; Psalms 69:30; Psalms 107:22; Hebrews 13:15; [Hosea 14:2; Romans 12:1]
  • 4. Psalms 22:25; Psalms 61:8; Psalms 65:1; Psalms 76:11; Psalms 116:14, 18; Numbers 30:2; Deuteronomy 23:21; Job 22:27; Ecclesiastes 5:4, 5
  • 5. Psalms 81:7; Zechariah 13:9; [Psalms 107:6]
  • 6. Psalms 91:15
  • 7. ver. 23; Psalms 22:23
  • 8. [Romans 2:21, 22]
  • 9. 1 Kings 14:9; Nehemiah 9:26
  • 10. Romans 1:32
  • 11. [1 Timothy 5:22]
  • 12. [Psalms 52:2]

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Or Make thanksgiving your sacrifice to God
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.