"A Psalm of Asaph.
The Mighty One, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God comes; he does not keep silence;
before him is a devouring fire,
around him a mighty tempest.
4 He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God himself is judge! Selah
7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9 I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world and its fullness are mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and perform your vows to the Most High,
15 and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
16 But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?
17 For you hate discipline,
and you cast my words behind you.
18 If you see a thief, you are pleased with him,
and you keep company with adulterers.
19 “You give your mouth free rein for evil,
and 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 have been silent;
you thought that I was one like yourself.
But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.
22 “Mark this, then, you who forget God,
lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver!
23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me;
to one who orders his way rightly
I will show the salvation of God!”"
Psalm 50
This Psalm bears very strong affinities with the spiritual emphasis in the writings of the Old Testament prophets, and it would not be difficult to imagine Amos, Micah or Isaiah uttering it, with their slashing and scathing critique of the sacrificial religion of their day. This is the point which must be the application of the Psalm for us. It depicts a judgment scene in which God, the Judge of all the earth, summons His people to render account at His judgment throne (cf 2 Corinthians 5:10; 1 Corinthians 3:13). The Psalm falls into three parts, 1-6 describing the coming of the Judge and the opening of the judgment; 7-15 proclaiming the worthlessness of mere sacrifice as a religious exercise; 16-21 branding hypocrites who observe external obedience without a corresponding observance of the spirit of the law; 22, 23 summarise the double lesson of the Psalm. It will be useful to ponder this outline for a little, reading the Psalm as a whole, and getting its flavour, before looking at its several parts, which we shall do in the next two Notes.