Psalms 50:13

_WILL I EAT THE FLESH OF BULLS, OR DRINK THE BLOOD OF GOATS?_ Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? The answer is in John 4:24; and yet the Godhead made itself for a time subject to the conditions of the flesh, in the person of the incarnate God (Luke 24:39)....

7-15 To obey is better than sacrifice, and to love God and our neighbour better than all burnt-offerings. We are here warned not to rest in these performances. And let us beware of resting in any form. God demands the heart, and how can human inventions please him, when repentance, faith, and holiness are neglected? In the day of distress we must apply to the Lord by fervent prayer. Our troubles, though we see them coming from God's hand, must drive us to him, not drive us from him. We must acknowledge him in all our ways, depend upon his wisdom, power, and goodness, and refer ourselves wholly to him, and so give him glory. Thus must we keep up communion with God; meeting him with prayers under trials, and with praises in deliverances. A believing supplicant shall not only be graciously answered as to his petition, and so have cause for praising God, but shall also have grace to praise h...

Verse Psalms 50:13. _WILL I EAT THE FLESH OF BULLS_] Can ye be so simple as to suppose that I appointed such sacrifices for my own gratification? All these were significative of a spiritual worship, and of the sacrifice of that Lamb of God which, in the fulness of time, was to take away, in an _atoning manner_, the sin of the world....

WILL I EAT THE FLESH OF BULLS, OR DRINK THE BLOOD OF GOATS? - This is said to show still further the absurdity of the views which seem to have prevailed among those who offered sacrifices. They offered them “as if” they were needed by God; “as if” they laid him under obligation; “as if” in some way they contributed to his happiness, or were essential to his welfare. The only supposition on which this could be true was, that he needed the flesh of the one for food, and the blood of the other for drink; or that he was sustained as creatures are. Yet this was a supposition, which, when it was stated in a formal manner, must be at once seen to be absurd; and hence the emphatic question in this verse. It may serve to illustrate this, also, to remark, that, among the pagan, the opinion did undoubtedly prevail that the gods ate and drank what was offered to them in sacrifice; whereas the truth...

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

WILL I EAT THE FLESH OF BULLS, OR DRINK THE BLOOD OF GOATS?] That is, express a pleasure, take delight and satisfaction, in such kind of sacrifices, which can never take away sin: no, I will not; wherefore other sacrifices, more agreeable to his nature, mind, and will, and to the Gospel dispensation, are next mentioned....

Psalms 50:1. _The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun until the going down thereof. Out of Zion the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people._ To profess to be the people of God is a very solemn thing, for the apostle Peter tells us that «judgment must begin at the house of God.» Those who profess to be his people shall be like the wheat on the threshing floor. John the Baptist, preparing the way for the first coming of Christ, said of him, «whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor.» When he comes again, he will separate the precious from the vile, the true saint from the mere pretender....

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....

The trial begins. God is the accuser as well as the judge. Israel's sacrifices are unexceptionable, but it is not slain beasts which the Lord of all the earth desires, but the devotion of the heart, exhibited in thanksgiving and trust. The people as a whole are addressed. The duty which is enforced is their duty towards God, corresponding to the first Table of the Decalogue....