Psalms 50:12-22

12 If I were hungry I would not tell you, because [the] world and its fullness [are] mine.
13 Do I eat [the] flesh of bulls or drink [the] blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a thank offering and pay your vows to [the] Most High.
15 And call me in [the] day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will glorify me."
16 But to the wicked God says, "What [right] have you to recite my statutes and {mention my covenant with your mouth},
17 while you yourself hate discipline, and cast my words behind you?
18 When you see a thief, then you are pleased with him, and your association [is] with adulterers.
19 You give your mouth free rein for evil, and you harness your tongue to deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your mother's son.
21 These [things] you have done, and I have been silent; You imagined that I was just like you. I will rebuke you and present [an argument] before your eyes.
22 Now consider this, you who forget God, lest I tear [you] apart, and there [will be] none to deliver.

Psalms 50:12-22 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.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Literally "take my covenant on your mouth"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.