Psalm 50:4

4 He shall summon the heaven above, and the earth, that he may judge his people.

Psalm 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 ) .

Psalm 50:4 In-Context

2 Out of Sion comes the excellence of his beauty.

3 God, our God, shall come manifestly, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall be kindled before him, and round about him there shall be a very great tempest.

4 He shall summon the heaven above, and the earth, that he may judge his people.

5 Assemble ye his saints to him, those that have engaged in a covenant with him upon sacrifices.

6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge. Pause.