Psalms 50:7-22

7 "¹Hear, O My people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you; I am God, ²your God.

8 "I do ³not reprove you for your sacrifices, And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.

9 "I shall take no ⁴young bull out of your house Nor male goats out of your folds.

10 "For ⁵every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills.

11 "I know every ⁶bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine.

12 "If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the ⁷world is Mine, and all it contains.

13 "Shall I eat the flesh of ⁸bulls Or drink the blood of male goats?

14 "Offer to God ⁹a sacrifice of thanksgiving And ¹⁰pay your vows to the Most High;

15 ¹¹Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall ¹²rescue you, and you will ¹³honor Me."

16 But to the wicked God says, "What right have you to tell of My statutes And to take ¹⁴My covenant in your mouth?

17 "For you ¹⁵hate discipline, And you ¹⁶cast My words behind you.

18 "When you see a thief, you ¹⁷are pleased with him, And you ¹⁸associate with adulterers.

19 "You ¹⁹let your mouth loose in evil And your ²⁰tongue frames deceit.

20 "You sit and ²¹speak against your brother; You slander * your own mother's son.

21 "These things you have done and ²²I kept silence; You thought that I was just like you; I will ²³reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.

22 "Now consider this, you who ²⁴forget God, Or I will ²⁵tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.

Psalms 50:7-22 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

• 1. Psalms 49:1; Psalms 81:8
• 2. Exodus 20:2; Psalms 48:14
• 3. Psalms 40:6; Psalms 51:16; Isaiah 1:11; Hosea 6:6
• 4. Psalms 69:31
• 5. Psalms 104:24
• 6. Matthew 6:26
• 7. Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 10:14; Psalms 24:1; 1 Corinthians 10:26
• 8. Psalms 50:9
• 9. Psalms 27:6; Psalms 69:30; Psalms 107:22; Psalms 116:17; Hosea 14:2; Romans 12:1; Hebrews 13:15
• 10. Numbers 30:2; Deuteronomy 23:21; Psalms 22:25; Psalms 56:12; Psalms 61:8; Psalms 65:1; Psalms 76:11
• 11. Psalms 91:15; Psalms 107:6, 13; Zechariah 13:9
• 12. Psalms 81:7
• 13. Psalms 22:23
• 14. Isaiah 29:13
• 15. Proverbs 5:12; Proverbs 12:1; Romans 2:21, 22
• 16. 1 Kings 14:9; Nehemiah 9:26
• 17. Romans 1:32
• 18. 1 Timothy 5:22
• 19. Psalms 10:7
• 20. Psalms 36:3; Psalms 52:2
• 21. Job 19:18; Matthew 10:21
• 22. Ecclesiastes 8:11; Isaiah 42:14; Isaiah 57:11
• 23. Psalms 90:8
• 24. Job 8:13; Psalms 9:17
• 25. Psalms 7:2

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "to"
• [b]. Or "in My mind;" lit "with Me"
• [c]. Lit "its fullness"
• [d]. Lit "strong ones"
• [e]. Some ancient versions read "run together"
• [f]. Lit "your part is with"
• [g]. Lit "send"