Psalms 50:16-23

16 But to the wicked God says, "What right do you have to declare my statutes, That you have taken my covenant on your lips,

17 Seeing you hate instruction, And throw my words behind you?

18 When you saw a thief, you consented with him, And have participated with adulterers.

19 "You give your mouth to evil. You harnesses your tongue for deceit.

20 You sit and speak against your brother. You slander your own mother's son.

21 You have done these things, and I kept silent. You thought that the "I AM" was just like you. I will rebuke you, and accuse you in front of your eyes.

22 "Now consider this, you who forget God, Lest I tear you into pieces, and there be none to deliver.

23 Whoever offers the sacrifice of thanksgiving glorifies me, And prepares his way so that I will show God's salvation to him."

Psalms 50:16-23 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.