Psalms 50:12-22

12 "If I were hungry, I would not tell you, 1for the world and its fullness are mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?
14 2Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,[a] and 3perform your vows to the Most High,
15 and 4call upon me in the day of trouble; I will 5deliver you, and you shall 6glorify me."
16 But to the wicked God says: "What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips?
17 7For you hate discipline, 8and you cast my words behind you.
18 If you see a thief, 9you are pleased with him, 10and you keep company with adulterers.
19 "You give your mouth free rein for evil, 11and your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son.
21 These things you have done, and I 12have been silent; you thought that I[b] was one like yourself. But now I 13rebuke you and 14lay the charge before you.
22 "Mark this, then, you who 15forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be 16none 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.

Cross References 16

  • 1. See Psalms 24:1
  • 2. ver. 23; Psalms 27:6; Psalms 69:30; Psalms 107:22; Hebrews 13:15; [Hosea 14:2; Romans 12:1]
  • 3. 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
  • 4. Psalms 81:7; Zechariah 13:9; [Psalms 107:6]
  • 5. Psalms 91:15
  • 6. ver. 23; Psalms 22:23
  • 7. [Romans 2:21, 22]
  • 8. 1 Kings 14:9; Nehemiah 9:26
  • 9. Romans 1:32
  • 10. [1 Timothy 5:22]
  • 11. [Psalms 52:2]
  • 12. Ecclesiastes 8:11; Isaiah 57:11
  • 13. Psalms 90:8; 2 Kings 19:4
  • 14. Job 13:18; Job 23:4
  • 15. See Psalms 9:17
  • 16. Psalms 7:2

Footnotes 2

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