Psalms 50:18-23

18 When thou didst see a thief, then thou didst consent with him and hast been partaker with adulterers.

19 Thou didst give thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frames deceit.

20 Thou didst sit and speak against thy brother; thou didst slander thine own mother’s son.

21 These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou didst think that I was altogether such a one as thyself, but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes.

22 Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I take you away, and there be none to deliver.

23 Whosoever sacrifices praise glorifies me; and to him that orders his ways aright I will show the salvation of God.

Psalms 50:18-23 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.