The Book of Psalms
Psalm 50
Psalm L · Vol. II, pp. 1019–1020
1 The majesty of God in the church. 5 His command to gather his saints. 7 The pleasure of God is not in ceremonies, 14 but in sincerity of obedience.
1 The mightyb God, even the LORD, hath spoken,3 and called cthe earth, from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.
A.M. cir. 2959. B.C. cir. 1045.
a 1 Ch.15.17; 25.2. 2 Ch.29.30.
1 Or, for Asaph.
2 Asaph, the reputed author of this, and of eleven other psalms (73-83), was of the tribe of Levi. He was skilled in music, and was appointed by David leader of the choir in the public services of the sanctuary. The office appears to have been hereditary in his family ever after. He was a prophet as well as a poet and musician, 1 Ch. 29.30. Ne. 12.16.—P.
b Ps.145.5; 82.1,6. Is.9.6. Ge.17.1; 18.14.
3 God has so spoken often in his word, and continually in providence and the consciences of men.—C.
3 Oure God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.
7 Hear,n O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.
8 Io will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt-offerings, to have been continually before me.
o Is.1.11,14; 66.3. Je.7.22. Ho.6.6. Ps.51.16.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.
13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?
15 Andt call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt uglorify 6me.
t Job 22.27. Ps.91.15; 107.6,13,28. Ja.5.13.
u ver.23; Ps.34.3. Jn.15.8. Mat.5.16. 1 Pe.2.9; 4.11.
6 The religion of the heart and mind, as opposed to a cold and dead formalism, is set forth in this psalm. The rites and sacrifices of the law were only acceptable when they directed the soul onward and upward by faith to Jesus.—P.
16 But unto the wicked God saith, vWhat hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?
17 Seeing xthou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee.
x Pr.5.12,13; 1.22,29. Ac.13.45,46. Lu.7.30. Jn.3.20.
18 When thou sawest a thief, then ythou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.7
y Ep.5.11,13. 1 Ti.5.22. Pr.1.10-18; 5.3-13; 7.21,22.
7 Heb. thy portion was with adulterers, Mat.12.39.
21 These things hast thou done, and I bkept silence; thou cthoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I dwill reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.
Notes
Ver. 3. A fire. A fire of the Spirit to baptize his children, Mat. 3. 11; a fire of judgment to consume the imperfections of his people, 1 Co. 3. 15, and the strongholds of his enemies, He. 12. 29. C.
Ver. 6. The heavens shall declare his righteousness. The heavens, into which Christ has entered, as a 'Lamb without spot,' will declare by the fact of his admission and appearance, and glory there, the perfect righteousness, in virtue of which he ascended to glory, and sits upon the throne. He. 9. 14, 24; 10. 12, 20.—God is judge. God is judge now by the books written; he will be judge hereafter by the opening of the books—sitting upon the throne—the assembling of all nations, and the pronouncing of his final decision, Mat. 25. 31. C.
Ver. 8. Some forms of sacrifice, as the show-bread, were continually, that is, without interruption, before God; others at short intervals, as the morning and evening sacrifice; others at longer intervals, as the passover and sacrifices of atonement. But all were mere pictures, of which Christ was the great original—and those pictures are of no value before God, but as they testify to 'Christ in us, the hope of glory.' C.
Ver. 18. This was verified when the high-priest and his friends consented with Judas, who was a thief, Jn. 12. 6, and were partakers in guilt with an adulterous generation, Mar. 18. 38. C.
Ver. 20. Christ, who 'came unto his own,' was not only 'despised and rejected' by his brethren; but the 'days of his flesh' were spent amidst the 'strife of tongues,' and he sat as a mark for every arrow of slander. C.
Ver. 22. Ye that forget God. Few are so atheistical as to 'forget God,' as he exists in a mere opinion; but how many forget him as the 'living God,' seeing, knowing, and judging all things! C.
Reflections.—Great is the majesty, extensive the high domain, and terrible the wrath of God! And great is his care of those who have accepted through faith Jesus Christ and have walked in him as they received him. But God hath full power to change the positive institutions of his own worship at his pleasure, and to reject his long professed people for their contempt of his Son. No obedience is acceptable to him but what proceeds from the faith of his being our own God in Christ. To obey was always better than sacrifice; and prayer to and praise of God more than burnt-offerings. And since Jesus' death, and Jerusalem's destruction, Jewish ceremonies are not only vain but hurtful. But never is our gracious God more ready to hear our supplications than in a day of trouble: and what grateful vows and thanksgivings doth he then deserve at our hands! Notwithstanding antecedent gospel declarations, how rarely doth the Son of man, when he cometh, either in remarkable mercy or judgment, find faith in the earth, or indeed aught but empty formalities and gross wickedness. And none are worse than profane clergymen, stained with hypocrisy, covetousness, whoredom, slander of Christ and his saints, blasphemy of God, and everything horrid. But graciously he warns ere he strikes. And to bow before the sceptre of his grace, receive his gospel offers, and practise holiness in his fear, is the way to escape the rod of his judgments and to share his eternal favours.