Psalms 50:1

_THE MIGHTY GOD, EVEN THE LORD, HATH SPOKEN, AND CALLED THE EARTH FROM THE RISING OF THE SUN UNTO THE GOING DOWN THEREOF._ As formerly at the giving of the law on Sinai, so now at the final consummation of the Gospel, Yahweh appears in glory. His judging as King on Zion, and thence over the whole earth, is set forth. Psalms 50:1.-He, after a long silence, summons all to witness His righteousness in judging, and gathering His saints who have convenanted with Him by sacrifice (Psalms 50:1); expostulation with Israel for formalism; His effectual invitation to them to call upon Him in trouble) Psalms 50:7); judgment on transgressors who take God's covenant in their mouth, while rejecting God's commands, presumin

1._The God of gods, even Jehovah, _(241) _hath spoken _The inscription of this psalm bears the name of Asaph; but whether he was the author of it, or merely received it as chief singer from the hand of David, cannot be known. This, however, is a matter of little consequence. The opinion has been very generally entertained, that the psalm points to the period of the Church’s renovation, and that the design of the prophet is to apprise the Jews of the coming abrogation of their figurative worship under the Law. That the Jews were subjected to the rudiments of the world, which continued till the Church’s majority, and the arrival of what the apostle calls “the fullness of times,” (Galatians 4:4,) admits of no doubt; the only question is, whether the prophet must here be considered as addressing the men of his own age, and simply condemning the abuse

1-6 This psalm is a psalm of instruction. It tells of the coming of Christ and the day of judgment, in which God will call men to account; and the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of judgement. All the children of men are concerned to know the right way of worshipping the Lord, in spirit and in truth. In the great day, our God shall come, and make those hear his judgement who would not hearken to his law. Happy are those who come into the covenant of grace, by faith in the Redeemer's atoning sacrifice, and show the sincerity of their love by fruits of righteousness. When God rejects the services of those who rest in outside performances, he will graciously accept those who seek him aright. It is only by sacrifice, by Christ, the great Sacrifice, from whom the sacrifices of the law derived what value they had, that we can be accepted of God. True and righteous are his judgments; even sinners' own...

PSALM L _God, the Sovereign Judge, cites before his throne all his_ _people, and the priests and the judges_, 14; _and reproaches them for their vain confidence in the sacrifices_ _they had offered_, 7-13; _and shows them the worship he requires_, 14, 15; _and then enters into a particular detail of their hypocrisy,_ _injustice, and union with scandalous transgressors; all of_ _whom he threatens with heavy judgments_, 16-22. _The blessedness of him who worships God aright, and walks_ _unblamably_,

THE MIGHTY GOD, EVEN THE LORD - Even “Yahweh,” for this is the original word. The Septuagint and Vulgate render this “The God of gods, the Lord.” DeWette renders it, “God, God Jehovah, speaks.” Prof. Alexander, “The Almighty, God, Jehovah, speaks;” and remarks that the word “mighty” is not an adjective agreeing with the next word (“the mighty God”), but a substantive in apposition with it. The idea is, that he who speaks is the true God; the Supreme Ruler of the universe. It is “that” God who has a right to call the world to judgment, and who has power to execute his will. HATH SPOKEN - Or rather, “speaks.” That is, the psalmist represents him as now speaking, and as calling the world to judgment. AND CALLED THE EARTH - Addressed all the inhabitants of the world; all dwellers on the earth. From the rising of the sun unto

EXPOSITION THE psalmist announces an appearance of God to his people "out of Zion," and a pronouncement of judgment upon them, which all heaven (Psalms 50:4) and earth (Psalms 50:1) are called upon to witness. The judgment takes the shape of a twofold address; first, to the righteous, who are exhorted to the spiritual worship of God (Psalms 50:14, Psalms 50:15), and warned against putting too much trust in sacrifice (Psalms 50:8); secondly, to the wicked, who are sternly reproved for their hypocrisy, their hatred of instruction

THE MIGHTY GOD,.... In the Hebrew text it is "El", "Elohim", which Jarchi renders the "God of gods"; that is, of angels, who are so called, Psalms 8:5; so Christ, who is God over all, is over them; he is their Creator, and the object of their worship, Hebrews 1:6; or of kings, princes, judges, and all civil magistrates, called gods, Psalms 82:1; and so Kimchi interprets the phrase here "Judge of judges". Christ is King of kings, and Lord of lords, by whom they reign and judge, and to whom they are accountable. The Targum renders it "the mighty God"; as we do; which is the title and name of Christ in Isaiah 9:6; and well agrees with him, as appe

A Psalm of Asaph. Whether this means that Asaph wrote it, or that it was committed to him to sing, we do not know. Certainly Asaph did write some Psalms. There are twelve ascribed to him in the book of Psalms. He wrote some, and it is equally certain that some ethers were dedicated to him. He had the leadership of the orchestra, who sang the Psalm in the temple. This is a very marvelous Psalm. If we only consider the poetry of it, it is one of the chief of the Psalms, but its matter is very deep august. It should be read with great reverence of spirit. The Psalm begins with a prologue in which the scene is introduced. God is represented as coming forth out of Zion to judge those who profess to be his people to discern between the precious and the vile to separate between mere professors and pretenders. The first six verses represent God as coming. Psalms 50:1. The mighty G

Psalms 50 The Demands of a Righteous God _ 1. His coming and His call (Psalms 50:1)_ 2. The God of Israel speaks (Psalms 50:7) 3. The demands of righteousness (Psalms 50:16) Psalms 50:1; Psalms 51:1 belong together. In the first God is described coming to Israel, proclaiming His righteousness and demanding righteousness from His people and in the second Israel makes confession of sin....

L. GOD LOOKS TO CONDUCT RATHER THAN TO SACRIFICE. For the attitude to sacrifice, _cf._ Psalms 40*. PSALMS 50:1. The expected Theophany. PSALMS 50:1. Read _mg._ with LXX. CALLED THE EARTH: since the calling occurs in Psalms 50:4, which is a more appropriate place, read the earth feared. Psalms 50:5. The LXX reads Gather his saints together unto him, those that have made his covenant with him by sacrifice. The last words refer to Exodus 24:5 ff. For saints-' (_hasî dî m),_ see on Psalms 4....