Psalms 50:4

4 He calls to the sky above and to the earth that he might judge his people.

Psalms 50:4 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 50:4

He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth
To hear what he shall say, when he will no longer keep silence; and to be witnesses of the justice of his proceedings; see ( Isaiah 1:2 ) ( Deuteronomy 4:26 ) . The Targum interprets this of the angels above on high, and of the righteous on the earth below; and so Aben Ezra, Kimchi, and Ben Melech, explain it of the angels of heaven, and of the inhabitants of the earth;

that he may judge his people;
not that they, the heavens and the earth, the inhabitants of either, may judge his people; but the Lord himself, as in ( Psalms 50:6 ) ; and this designs not the judgment of the whole world, nor that of his own covenant people, whom he judges when he corrects them in love, that they might not be condemned with the world; when he vindicates them, and avenges them on their enemies, and when he protects and saves them; but the judgment of the Jewish nation, his professing people, the same that Peter speaks of, ( 1 Peter 4:17 ) .

Psalms 50:4 In-Context

2 God shines from Jerusalem, whose beauty is perfect.
3 Our God comes, and he will not be silent. A fire burns in front of him, and a powerful storm surrounds him.
4 He calls to the sky above and to the earth that he might judge his people.
5 He says, "Gather around, you who worship me, who have made an agreement with me, using a sacrifice."
6 God is the judge, and even the skies say he is right. Selah
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.