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Psalms 50 — Commentary 4

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Benson Commentary Psalm 50:1 A Psalm of Asaph. The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Psalm 50:1 . The mighty God, even the Lord — Hebrew. Eel Elohim, Jehovah; the God of gods; Jehovah; the supreme Lord of heaven and earth, the Lawgiver and Judge of men and angels; to whom the greatest kings and potentates are but subjects; the infinite, the eternal, who changes not; hath spoken and called the earth, &c. — Hath given forth his orders, that all the inhabitants of the earth, from one end to the other, should appear before him. These he now summons to be witnesses of his proceedings in this solemn judgment, between him and his people, which is here poetically represented. For here is a tribunal erected, the judge coming to it, the witnesses and delinquents summoned, and at last the sentence given, and cause determined. Psalm 50:2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Psalm 50:2 . Out of Zion — The place where he was supposed to reside, and where he would now sit in judgment; the perfection of beauty — The most amiable place of the whole world, because of the presence, and worship, and blessing of God; God hath shined — Hath manifested himself in a glorious manner; hath illustriously displayed his infinite and glorious perfections. Some versions read it, Out of Zion, with perfection of beauty, God hath shined, or will shine. Psalm 50:3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. Psalm 50:3-4 . Our God shall come, &c. — God will undoubtedly come and call us to judgment; though now he seems to take no notice of our conduct. The prophet speaks this in the person of one of God’s worshippers. As if he had said, Though he be our God, yet he will execute judgment upon us. And shall not keep silence — He will no longer connive at, or bear with, the hypocrisy and profaneness of the professors of the true religion, but will now speak unto them in his wrath, and will effectually reprove and chastise them. Or, he will not cease, that is, neglect or delay to come, as ?? ????? , al jecheresh, may be interpreted. A fire shall devour before him, &c. — “He will not come like earthly princes, before whom marches an armed multitude; but in a far more terrible and irresistible manner, which shall make you as sensible of his dreadful presence, as your ancestors were at mount Sinai, when the devouring flames, and thunder, and lightning, which attended him, made the very mountain quake and tremble.” He shall call to the heavens, &c. — “He shall call heaven and earth (angels and men) to be witnesses of the equity of his proceedings, Isaiah 1:2 ; and you may as soon move them out of their place, as avoid appearing before his tribunal.” — Bishop Patrick. This is evidently a prediction of the terrible manner of God’s coming to execute judgment on the apostate Jews and Israelites, partly by the kings of Assyria and Babylon, who laid waste their country, destroyed their cities, and carried multitudes of them into captivity; and more especially in their last destruction by the Romans, when a signal vengeance was taken on them, as for their hypocrisy, abuse of their privileges, and all their other sins, so in particular for crucifying their own Messiah. This most terrible execution of divine wrath upon them was frequently foretold by the prophets: see Malachi 3:2 ; and Malachi 4:1 ; Isaiah 66:15 ; Isaiah 66:17 ; and is often represented in the Scriptures as the coming of the kingdom of God, of the Son of man, or of Christ, the Father having committed all judgment to him. Now this prediction in this Psalm seems especially to respect this event. And it has accordingly been so interpreted by the best Christian expositors, as Poole has shown in his Synopsis Criticorum; where he likewise tells us that the Jewish rabbis affirm the subject of the Psalm to be, “that judgment, which will be executed in the days of the Messiah;” “ignorant, alas!” says Dr. Horne, “that they themselves, and their people are now become the unhappy objects of that judgment.” Psalm 50:4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Psalm 50:5 Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. Psalm 50:5-6 . Gather my saints, &c. — O ye angels, summon and fetch them to my tribunal. Which is poetically spoken, to continue the metaphor and representation of the judgment here mentioned. My saints — The Israelites, whom he calls saints; 1st, Because they were all by profession a holy people, as they are called in Deuteronomy 14:2 ; Deuteronomy , , 2 d, As an argument and evidence against them, because God had chosen and separated them from all the nations of the earth, to be a holy and peculiar people to himself, and they also had solemnly and frequently devoted themselves to God and his service; all which did greatly aggravate the guilt of their present apostacy. Those that have made a covenant with me, &c. — Who have entered into covenant with me, and have ratified that covenant with me by sacrifice — Not only in their parents, Exodus 24:4 , &c., but also in their own persons from time to time, even as often as they have offered sacrifices to me. This seems to be added, to acquaint them with the proper nature, use, and end of sacrifices, which were principally appointed to be signs and seals of the covenant made between God and his people; and consequently to convince them of their great mistake in trusting to their outward sacrifices, when they neglected the very life and soul of them, which was the keeping of their covenant with God: and withal to diminish that too high opinion which they had of sacrifices, and to prepare the way for the abolition of them. And the heavens shall declare his righteousness — Which they were called to witness, Psalm 50:4 , as was the earth also; but here he mentions the heavens only, probably, because they were the most impartial and considerable witnesses in the case. For men upon earth might be false witnesses, either through ignorance and mistake, or through prejudice, partiality, and passion; but the angels understand things more thoroughly, and are so exactly pure and sinless, that they neither can nor will bear false witness for God; and therefore their testimony is more valuable. Or, the meaning is, that God would convince the people of his righteousness, and of their own wickedness, by thunders and lightnings, and storms, or other dreadful signs wrought by him in the heavens. For God is judge himself — In his own person. God will not now reprove them by his priests or prophets, but in an extraordinary manner from heaven. Psalm 50:6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah. Psalm 50:7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God. Psalm 50:7 . Hear, O my people, &c. — Having brought in God, as entering into judgment with them, he now gives an account of the process and of the sentence of the judge, whose words are contained in this and the following verses. O Israel, I will testify against thee — I will plead with thee, and declare my charge or endictment against thee. I am God, even thy God — Not only in general, but in a special manner, by that solemn covenant made at Sinai; whereby I avouched thee to be my peculiar people, and thou didst avouch me to be thy God. Psalm 50:8 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me. Psalm 50:8-13 . I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices, &c. — This is not the principal matter of my charge against thee, that thou hast neglected sacrifices, which thou shouldest have offered; for, although thou hast often omitted thy duty even in that respect, yet I have greater things than these to charge thee with. I will take no bullock, &c. — Be not so foolish as to imagine that thou dost lay any obligations upon me by thy sacrifices, or that I required them because I had need of them, or took any pleasure or satisfaction in them for their own sakes. Every beast of the forest is mine — I could command or dispose of them at my pleasure, without thy leave or assistance; and the cattle, &c. — Which feed upon innumerable hills, or in valleys and fields. I know all the fowls, &c. — Where they are, and whence I could easily fetch them when I please; and not only tame and domestic fowls, but even such as are wild and fly up and down upon mountains; which, though out of man’s reach, are at my command. If I were hungry — If I wanted or desired any thing, which I do not, being the all-sufficient God; I would not tell thee — That thou mightest supply my wants. For the world is mine, &c. — And all those creatures wherewith it is replenished. Will I eat the flesh of bulls? — If I did want any thing, hast thou such gross and carnal conceptions of me as to suppose that I need or delight in the blood of brute creatures? Psalm 50:9 I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds. Psalm 50:10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. Psalm 50:11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. Psalm 50:12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. Psalm 50:13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats? Psalm 50:14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: Psalm 50:14 . Offer unto God thanksgiving — If thou wouldest know what sacrifices I prize, and indispensably require, in the first place, it is that of thankfulness, proportionable to my great and numberless favours; which doth not consist barely in verbal acknowledgments, but proceeds from a heart deeply affected with God’s mercies, and is accompanied with such a course of life as is well pleasing to God. And pay thy vows unto the Most High — Not ceremonial, but moral vows seem to be evidently meant here: the things required in this Psalm being opposed to sacrifices, and all ceremonial observances and offerings, and preferred before them. He means those substantial vows, promises, and covenants, which were the very soul of their sacrifices, and to which their sacrifices were but appurtenances and seals; namely, the vows whereby they did avouch Jehovah to be their God, and engaged to walk in his ways, Deuteronomy 26:17 ; and to love, serve, and obey him according to that solemn covenant which they entered into at Sinai, Exodus 24:3-8 , and which they often renewed, and indeed did implicitly repeat in all their sacrifices, which were appointed for this very end, to confirm this covenant. Psalm 50:15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. Psalm 50:15 . And call upon me — Make conscience of that great duty of constant and fervent prayer to me, which is an acknowledgment of thy subjection to me, and of thy trust and dependance upon me, and therefore is pleasing to me; in the day of trouble — When trouble comes, do not endeavour to avoid or extricate thyself from it by sinful shifts and contrivances, nor apply merely or chiefly to creatures for relief, but give glory to me, by applying to me, relying on my promises, and expecting help from me in the way of hearty and unfeigned prayer. I will deliver thee — I will support thee under thy troubles, and deliver thee out of them in the time and manner which will be most for my glory and thy good. And thou shalt glorify me — Shalt have occasion, and shalt consider it as thy duty, to praise and glorify me for thy deliverance. Observe well, reader, our troubles, though we see them coming from the hand of God, should drive us to God, and not from him. We must acknowledge him in all our ways, depend upon his wisdom, power, and goodness, and refer ourselves entirely to him, and so give him glory. This is a cheaper, easier, readier way of seeking his favour than by a peace-offering or trespass-offering, and yet more acceptable. Observe also, when in answer to our prayers he delivers us, as he has promised to do in such way and time as he shall think fit, we must glorify him, not only by a grateful mention of his favours, but by living to his praise. Thus must we keep up our communion with God: meeting him with our prayers when he afflicts us, and with our praises when he delivers us. Psalm 50:16 But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? Psalm 50:16 . But unto the wicked — The same hypocritical professors, whom he called saints, Psalm 50:5 , in regard of their profession, and here wicked, in respect of their practice; God saith — By his Holy Spirit inspiring his prophets with the knowledge of his will, and commissioning them to declare it; What hast thou to do to declare my statutes? — Having informed them what he would not reprove them for, Psalm 50:8 , and why, Psalm 50:9-13 , he now tells them for what he did reprove and condemn them, even for a vain and false profession of religion. That thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth — With what confidence darest thou make mention of my grace and favour in giving thee such a covenant and such statutes, pretending to embrace them, and to give up thyself to the observation of them? This concerned not only the instructers of the people, such as the scribes and Pharisees, at whom it prophetically pointed, but the hypocritical and formal Israelites in general, who professed to know God, but by works denied him. And it still concerns all those professors of the true religion, whose practice contradicts their profession, and in an especial manner those ministers of the gospel who, while they teach others, neglect to teach themselves. All such, according to the psalmist here, are guilty of a usurpation, and take unto themselves an honour to which they have no title, and from which therefore they shall soon be removed with shame and disgrace as intruders. Psalm 50:17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee. Psalm 50:17 . Seeing thou hatest instruction — Seeing thy practice contradicts thy profession, and makes thee a notorious and impudent liar. For though with thy mouth thou showest much love to my statutes and counsels, yet, in truth, thou hatest them, as they oppose and hinder the gratification of thy beloved lusts, and are the instruments of thy just condemnation, and a manifest reproach to thy conduct. Or, seeing thou hatest reproof as ???? , musar, is often rendered. And this, above all other parts of God’s word, is most hateful to ungodly men; and, therefore, this is fitly alleged as an evidence of their wickedness. And castest my words behind thee — As men do things which they abhor and despise. Psalm 50:18 When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. Psalm 50:18-20 . When thou sawest a thief — Instead of reproving him, and witnessing against him, as those should do that declare God’s statutes, or that profess his religion; thou consentedst with him — Didst approve of his practices, and desire to share in the profits of his iniquitous proceedings. Or, thou didst run with, him, as ??? ??? , tiretz gnimmo, may be rendered. Thou didst readily and eagerly associate thyself with him in his unrighteous actions. Thou didst yield to his motions, and that with great complacency and earnestness. And hast been partaker with adulterers — By joining with them in their lewd and filthy practices. “In this and the two following verses,” says Dr. Dodd, “are represented the notorious vices of the synagogue, (the Jewish Church,) which was extremely corrupt in the time of Christ.” Thou givest thy mouth to evil — To sinful or mischievous speeches. Thou hast an unbridled tongue, and castest off all restraints of God’s law, and of thy own conscience, and givest thy tongue liberty to speak what thou pleasest, though it be very offensive and dishonourable to God, and injurious to thy neighbour, or to thy own soul. And thy tongue frameth deceit — Uttereth lies or fair words, wherewith to deceive and circumvent those who deal with thee. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother — Thou sittest in the seat of the scornful to deride and backbite others, even those whom thou oughtest to respect and show kindness to, thy own relations, thy very brother: and this, not through inadvertency, or upon some sudden and great provocation, but it is thy constant and deliberate practice. This, the word ???? , teesheb, thou sittest, or continuest, implies. And thou art not only guilty of backbiting, or speaking evil of them when they are absent, and making known to others the follies or faults with which they are justly chargeable; but thou accusest them of things of which they are innocent. Thou slanderest even thine own mother’s son — And takest away his good name, which is better than all riches, yea, than life itself: and this in opposition to any express and often repeated commands. Psalm 50:19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. Psalm 50:20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's son. Psalm 50:21 These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. Psalm 50:21 . These things hast thou done, and I kept silence — I did not express my displeasure against thee in such grievous judgments as thou didst deserve. Or, I was deaf: I conducted myself like one that did not hear thy sinful speeches, nor see, or take any notice of thy wicked actions. And thou thoughtest, &c. — Thou didst misconstrue and abuse my patience and long-suffering, as if it had proceeded from my not noticing, or not regarding thy evil courses, or from my approving of them; and therefore thou didst grow more audacious and impudent in sin. But I will reprove thee — I will quickly undeceive thee, and convince thee of the contrary, to thy cost; and set them, thy sins, in order before thine eyes — I will bring to thy remembrance, and lay upon thy conscience, all thy sins in full number, and in their order, with all their circumstances of aggravation: and thou shalt then see and know that I particularly observed and hated them all, and that none of them shall go unpunished. Thus the psalmist, as from the mouth of God, foretels the destruction of the impenitent Jews; who, having received the law of God, and the ordinances of his worship and service, and entered into a solemn covenant with him, would not be reformed by the warnings and exhortations of Moses or the prophets, nor by the preaching and miracles of Christ and his apostles; and, therefore, after a long series of lesser judgments and calamities, of which we have a circumstantial account in their history, at last suffered an infliction of wrath and vengeance sufficient to make the ears of every one that heareth it to tingle. Psalm 50:22 Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver. Psalm 50:22 . Now consider this, ye that forget God — Ye hypocritical and ungodly Israelites, who have forgotten (as Moses foretold ye would do, Deuteronomy 32:18 ) the God that formed you, and made you his people, and have forgotten his mercies and judgments, by which you should have been instructed, and the covenant which you made with him, and by which you stand obliged to obey and serve him. Lest I tear you in pieces — Lest my patience be turned into fury, and I proceed to take vengeance on you; and there be none, or, for there is none to deliver — None that can rescue you from the power of mine anger. Psalm 50:23 Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God. Psalm 50:23 . Whoso offereth praise — Or, thanksgiving, as the word ???? , todah, is often rendered; glorifieth me — He, and he only, gives me the honour which I prize and require; and not he who loads my altar with a multitude of sacrifices. And to him, that ordereth his conversation aright — Hebrew, ???? ???? , vesham derech, that disposeth his way, namely, the way, or manner of his life: that is, that lives orderly, and according to rule: for sinners are said to walk disorderly, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-11 , and by chance, as it is in the Hebrew, Leviticus 26:21 ; Leviticus 26:23 , which is opposed to order; and the Scriptures own no order but what God prescribes and approves; and, therefore, this word, aright, is properly added in our translation: Will I show — Hebrew, ????? , arennu, I will make him to see, that is, to enjoy, as that verb is often used; the salvation of God, my salvation, that true and everlasting happiness, which I have prepared for all my true and faithful servants, and for them only: so false is that position of some of the Jewish rabbis, that every Israelite hath a portion in the world to come. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositors

Expositor's Bible Commentary Psalm 50:1 A Psalm of Asaph. The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Psalm 50:1-23 This is the first of the Asaph psalms, and is separated from the other eleven ( Psalm 73:1-28 ; Psalm 74:1-23 ; Psalm 75:1-10 ; Psalm 76:1-12 ; Psalm 77:1-20 ; Psalm 78:1-72 ; Psalm 79:1-13 ; Psalm 80:1-19 ; Psalm 81:1-16 ; Psalm 82:1-8 ; Psalm 83:1-18 ) for reasons that do not appear. Probably they are no more recondite than the verbal resemblance between the summons to all the earth at the beginning of Psalm 49:1 and the similar proclamation in the first verses of Psalm 50:1-23 . The arrangement of the Psalter is often obviously determined by such slight links. The group has certain features in common, of which some appear here: e.g., the fondness for descriptions of theophanies; the prominence given to God’s judicial action; the preference for the Divine names of El , Adonai (the Lord), Elyon (Most High). Other peculiarities of the class- e.g., the love for the designation "Joseph" for the nation, and delight in the image of the Divine Shepherd-are not found in this psalm. It contains no historical allusions which aid in dating it. The leading idea of it- viz. , the depreciation of outward sacrifice-is unhesitatingly declared by many to have been impossible in the days of the Levite Asaph, who was one of David’s musical staff. But is it so certain that such thoughts were foreign to the period in which Samuel declared that obedience was better than sacrifice? Certainly the tone of the psalm is that of later prophets, and there is much probability in the view that Asaph is the name of the family or guild of singers from whom these psalms came rather than that of an individual. The structure is clear and simple. There is, first, a magnificent description of God’s coming to judgment and summoning heaven and earth to witness while He judges His people ( Psalm 50:1-6 ). The second part ( Psalm 50:7-15 ) proclaims the worthlessness of sacrifice; and the third ( Psalm 50:16-21 ) brands hypocrites who pollute God’s statutes by taking them into their lips while their lives are foul. A closing strophe of two verses ( Psalm 50:22-23 ) gathers up the double lesson of the whole. The first part falls again into two, of three verses each, of which the former describes the coming of the judge, and the latter the opening of the judgment. The psalm begins with a majestic heaping together of the Divine names, as if a herald were proclaiming the style and titles of a mighty king at the opening of a solemn assize. No English equivalents are available, and it is best to retain the Hebrew, only noting that each name is separated from the others by the accents in the original, and that to render either "the mighty God" (A.V.) or "the God of gods" is not only against that punctuation, but destroys the completeness symbolised by the threefold designation. Hupfeld finds the heaping together of names "frosty." Some ears will rather hear in it a solemn reiteration like the boom of triple thunders. Each name has its own force of meaning. El speaks of God as mighty; Elohim , as the object of religious fear; Jehovah , as the self-existent and covenant God. The earth from east to west is summoned, not to be judged, but to witness God judging His people. The peculiarity of this theophany is that God is not represented as coming from afar or from above, but as letting His light blaze out from Zion, where He sits enthroned. As His presence made the city "the joy of the whole earth," { Psalm 48:2 } so it makes Zion the sum of all beauty. The idea underlying the representation of His shining out of Zion is that His presence among His people makes certain His judgment of their worship. It is the poetic clothing of the prophetic announcement, "You only have I known of all the inhabitants of the earth; therefore will I punish you for your iniquities." The seer beholds the dread pomp of the advent of the Judge, and describes it with accessories familiar in such pictures: devouring fire is His forerunner, as clearing a path for Him among tangles of evil, and wild tempests whirl round His stable throne. "He cannot be silent." The form of the negation in the original is emotional or emphatic, conveying the idea of the impossibility of His silence in the face of such corruptions. The opening of the court or preparation for the judgment follows. That Divine voice speaks, summoning heaven and earth to attend as spectators of the solemn process. The universal significance of God’s relation to and dealings with Israel, and the vindication of His righteousness by His inflexible justice dealt out to their faults, are grandly taught in this making heaven and earth assessors of that tribunal. The court having been thus constituted, the Judge on His seat, the spectators standing around, the accused are next brought in. There is no need to be prosaically definite as to the attendants who are bidden to escort them. His officers are everywhere, and to ask who they are in the present case is to apply to poetry the measuring lines meant for bald prose. It is more important to note the names by which the persons to be judged are designated. They are "My favoured ones, who have made a covenant with Me by (lit. over) sacrifice." These terms carry an indictment, recalling the lavish mercies so unworthily requited, and the solemn obligations so unthankfully broken. The application of the name "favoured ones" to the whole nation is noteworthy. In other psalms it is usually applied to the more devout section, who are by it sharply distinguished from the mass: here it includes the whole. It does not follow that the diversity of usage indicates difference of date. All that is certainly shown is difference of point of dew. Here the ideal of the nation is set forth, in order to bring out more emphatically the miserable contrast of the reality. Sacrifice is set aside as worthless in the subsequent verses. But could the psalmist have given clearer indication that his depreciation is not to be exaggerated into entire rejection of external rites, than by thus putting in front of it the worth of sacrifice when offered aright, as the means of founding and sustaining covenant relations with God? If his own words had been given heed to, his commentators would have been saved the blunder of supposing that he is antagonistic to the sacrificial worship which he thus regards. But before the assize opens, the heavens, which had been summoned to behold, declare beforehand His righteousness, as manifested by the fact that He is about to judge His people. The Selah indicates that a long-drawn swell of music fills the expectant pause before the Judge speaks from His tribunal. The second part ( Psalm 50:7-15 ) deals with one of the two permanent tendencies which work for the corruption of religion-namely, the reliance on external worship, and neglect of the emotions of thankfulness and trust. God appeals first to the relation into which He has entered with the people, as giving Him the right to judge. There may be a reference to the Mosaic formula, "I am Jehovah, thy God," which is here converted, in accordance with the usage of this book of the Psalter, into "God (Elohim), thy God." The formula which was the seal of laws when enacted is also the warrant for the action of the Judge. He has no fault to find with the external acts of worship. They are abundant and "continually before Him." Surely this declaration at the outset sets aside the notion that the psalmist was launching a polemic against sacrifices per se . It distinctly takes the ground that the habitual offering of these was pleasing to the Judge. Their presentation continually is not reproved, but approved. What then is condemned? Surely it can be nothing but sacrifice without the thanksgiving and prayer required in Psalm 50:14-15 . The irony of Psalm 50:9-13 is directed against the folly of believing that in sacrifice itself God delighted; but the shafts are pointless as against offerings which are embodied gratitude and trust. The gross stupidity of supposing that man’s gift makes the offering to be God’s more truly than before is laid bare in the fine, sympathetic glance at the free, wild life of forest, mountain, and plain, which is all God’s possession, and present to His upholding thought, and by the side of which man’s folds are very small affairs. "The cattle" in Psalm 50:10 are not, as usually, domesticated animals, but the larger wild animals. They graze or roam "on the mountains of a thousand"-a harsh expression, best taken, perhaps, as meaning mountains where thousands [of the cattle] are. But the omission of one letter gives the more natural reading "mountains of God". {cf. Psalm 36:6 } It is adopted by Olshausen and Cheyne, and smooths the construction, but has against it its obliteration of the fine thought of the multitudes of creatures peopling the untravelled hills. The word rendered "whatever moves" is obscure; but that meaning is accepted by most. Cheyne in his Commentary gives as alternative "that which comes forth abundantly," and in " Orig. of Psalt .," 473, "offspring." All these are "with Me"- i.e. , present to His mind-a parallel to "I know" in the first clause of the same verse. Psalm 50:12-13 turn the stream of irony on another absurdity involved in the superstition attacked-the grossly material thought of God involved in it. What good do bulls’ flesh and goats’ blood do to Him? But if these are expressions of thankful love, they are delightsome to Him. Therefore the section ends with the declaration that the true sacrifice is thanksgiving and the discharge of vows. Men honour God by asking and taking, not by giving. They glorify Him when, by calling on Him in trouble, they are delivered; and then, by thankfulness and service, as well as by the evidence which their experience gives that prayer is not in vain, they again glorify Him. All sacrifices are God’s before they are offered, and do not become any more His by being offered. He neither needs nor can partake of material sustenance. But men’s hearts are not His without their glad surrender, in the same way as after it; and thankful love, trust, and obedience are as the food of God, sacrifices acceptable, well-pleasing to Him. The third part of the psalm is still sterner in tone. It strikes at the other great corruption of worship by hypocrites. As has been often remarked, it condemns breaches of the second table of the law, just as the former part may be regarded as dealing with transgressions of the first. The eighth, seventh, and ninth commandments are referred to in Psalm 50:18-19 as examples of the hypocrites’ sins. The irreconcilable contradiction of their professions and conduct is vividly brought out in the juxtaposition of "declare My statutes" and "castest My words behind thee." They do two opposite things with the same words-at the same time proclaiming them with all lip-reverence, and scornfully flinging them behind their backs in their conduct. The word rendered in the A.V. "slanderest" is better taken as in margin of the R.V, "givest a thrust," meaning to use violence so as to harm or overthrow. Hypocrisy finds encouragement in impunity. God’s silence is an emphatic way of expressing His patient tolerance of evil unpunished. Such "long suffering" is meant to lead to repentance, and indicates God’s unwillingness to smite. But, as experience shows, it is often abused, and "because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, the heart of the sons of men is thoroughly set in them to do evil." The gross mind has gross conceptions of God. One nemesis of hypocrisy is the dimming of the idea of the righteous Judge. All sin darkens the image of God. When men turn away from God’s self-revelation, as they do by transgression and most fatally by hypocrisy, they cannot but make a God after their own linage. Browning has taught us in his marvellous "Caliban on Setebos" how a coarse nature projects its own image into the heavens and calls it God. God made man in His own likeness. Men who have lost that likeness make God in theirs, and so sink deeper in evil till He speaks. Then comes an apocalypse to the dreamer, when there is flashed before him what God is and what he himself" is. How terror-stricken the gaze of these eyes before which God arrays the deeds of a life, seen for the first time in their true character! It will be the hypocrite’s turn to keep silence then, and his thought of a complaisant God like himself wilt perish before the stern reality. The whole teaching of the psalm is gathered up in the two closing verses. "Ye that forget God" includes both the superstitious formalists and the hypocrites. Reflection upon such truths as those of the psalm will save them from else inevitable destruction. "This" points on to Psalm 50:23 , which is a compendium of both parts of the psalm. The true worship, which consists in thankfulness and praise, is opposed in Psalm 50:23 a to mere externalisms of sacrifice, as being the right way of glorifying God. The second clause presents a difficulty. But it would seem that we must expect to find in it a summing up of the warning of the third part of the psalm similar to that of the second part in the preceding clause. That consideration goes against the rendering in the R.V. margin (adopted from Delitzsch): "and prepares a way [by which] I may show, etc. The ellipsis of the relative is also somewhat harsh. The literal rendering of the ambiguous words is, "one setting a way." Graetz, who is often wild in his emendations, proposes a very slight one here-the change of one letter, which would yield a good meaning: "he that is perfect in his way." Cheyne adopts this, and it eases a difficulty. But the received text is capable of the rendering given in the A.V, and, even without the natural supplement "aright," is sufficiently intelligible. To order one’s way or "conversation" is, of course, equivalent to giving heed to it according to God’s word, and is the opposite of the conduct stigmatised in Psalm 50:16-21 . The promise to him who thus acts is that he shall see God’s salvation, both in the narrower sense of daily interpositions for deliverance, and in the wider of a full and final rescue from all evil and endowment with all good. The psalm has as keen an edge for modern as for ancient sins. Superstitious reliance on externals of worship survives, though sacrifices have ceased; and hypocrites, with their months full of the Gospel, still cast God’s words behind them, as did those ancient hollow-hearted proclaimers and breakers of the Law. The Expositor's Bible Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Illustrator

The mighty God, even the Lord, hath spoken, and called the earth, from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof. Psalm 50 The first of the Asaph psalms A. Maclaren, D. D. This, the first of the Asaph psalms, is separated from the other eleven ( Psalm 73 .-83.) for reasons that do not appear. Probably they are no more recondite than the verbal resemblance between the summons to all the earth at the beginning of Psalm 49 ., and the similar proclamation in the first verses of Psalm 1. The arrangement of the Psalter is often obviously determined by such slight links. The group has certain features in common, of which some appear here: e.g. the fondness for descriptions of theophanies; the prominence given to God's judicial action; the preference for the Divine names of El, Adonai (the Lord), Elyon (Most High). Other peculiarities of the class — e.g. the love for the designation "Joseph" for the nation, and delight in the image of the Divine Shepherd — are not found in this psalm. It contains no historical allusions which aid in dating it. The leading idea of it — viz, the depreciation of outward sacrifice — is unhesitatingly declared by many to have been impossible in the days of the Levite Asaph, who was one of David's musical staff. But is it so certain that such thoughts were foreign to the period in which Samuel declared that obedience was better than sacrifice? Certainly the tone of the psalm is that of later prophets, and there is much probability in the view that Asaph is the name of the family or guild of singers from whom these psalms came rather than that of an individual. ( A. Maclaren, D. D. ) The religion of man Homilist. I. A SOLEMN JUDGMENT AWAITS THE RELIGION OF MAN. 1. Its Author. "The mighty God," etc. (1) Omniscient. (2) Absolutely righteous. 2. Its witnesses. "He hath called the earth," etc. 3. Its grandeur. "Our God shall come," etc. The Eternal seems now silent; souls deafened by sin hear not His voice, but He will speak in thunder to them in the coming day. 4. Its officers (ver. 5). Who are the officers? ( Matthew 24:31 ; Psalm 104:4 ). "Gather My saints;" what a gathering! From whence? To whom? What for? 5. Its rectitude (ver. 6). We may deceive ourselves, as well as others now; but the undeceiving period draweth near, and a period of inexpressible solemnity it will be to us all. II. THE WORTHLESSNESS OF MERE CEREMONY IN THE RELIGION OF MAN. 1. You can give God nothing in your offerings. All belongs to Him. 2. He requires nothing. He is absolutely independent (vers. 14, 15). III. The VALUE OF RIGHT-HEARTEDNESS in the religion of man. 1. The nature of spiritual religion.(1) Hearty gratitude. "Offer unto God thanksgiving." Not because our thanksgiving is of any service to Him; but because it is right that His moral creatures should appreciate the favours He bestows upon them. Because it is necessary to their own virtue and happiness. Genuine thankfulness of heart to God is the paradise of spirits. Heaven is praise.(2) Hearty vows. "Pay thy vows unto the Most High." Resolve to love, worship, and obey the great God; and in genuine earnestness carry out the vows in daily life.(3) Hearty prayer. "Call upon Me in the day of trouble" — with thine own voice, in thine own language, from thy own heart ( Philippians 4:6 ). 2. The advantages of spiritual religion.(1) Divine deliverance. "I will deliver thee."(2) Divine approbation. "Thou shall glorify Me." That is, thou shall honour Me. What a reward! ( Homilist. ) Preparation to meet God Plain Sermons by authors of "Tracts for the Times." The whole business which we have in the world is this, to prepare to meet God. This is the meaning of the whole Bible, to warn us that we must meet God, and to afford us every assistance and encouragement in this preparation. It is this in which mankind differs from all other creatures of God which we know of. Angels have not this call made to them. Brute creatures have not to appear before Him. Every mall that is born must at last come into His presence. "Who may abide the day of His coming?" Our Lord's warning is, "Be ye ready." What it will be to "meet our God," no heart of man can conceive; for what thought of man can ever understand what God is? But we may come to know Him even in this world far more than we think we can, as He is revealed to us in Jesus Christ. The thought of meeting God is of itself so awful that we might have been disposed to sit down in despair at the contemplation of it, were it not for this access to the Father which we have in Jesus Christ. It is of infinite consequence that we should be prepared, "lest that day should overtake us unawares." And we know in what way we are to be prepared, what the things are which will be required of us. We cannot undo the past, which must all come before the all-seeing eye of the Judge; but, during the little time that remains to us, we can earnestly ask forgiveness, with lastings, and prayers, and tears, for the sake of Christ; and thus we may, with God's mercy, gain some hope and comfort before we die. ( Plain Sermons by authors of "Tracts for the Times." ) Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Psalm 50:2 Zion the abode of God W. Nicholson. I. THAT GOD DWELLS IN THE CHURCH. 1. In the congregation of the righteous. 2. In the hearts of His people. II. THAT THE CHURCH IS "THE PERFECTION OF BEAUTY" only when God dwells in it. Otherwise the Church is as the world without the sun; an army in battle without its general; a ship in distress without the pilot. III. THAT THE CHURCH IS GOD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL DWELLING-PLACE. 1. Here His love is most of all shown, and — 2. His praises most celebrated. ( W. Nicholson. ) The beauty and lustre of the Church Joseph Davis. I. JUSTIFY AND ILLUSTRATE THIS DESIGNATION OF ZION. 1. Its nature, not alone natural, but yet more spiritual. And so in regard to any Church to-day. Its beauty is not in that which worldly men admire — riches, rank, etc., but in the deep spirituality of its members. 2. Its source — Divine grace. 3. Its medium — Christ. 4. How wrought — by the Holy Spirit. 5. Its contrast to the deformity all around. II. IN WHAT SENSE GOD HATH SHINED OUT OF ZION. 1. There His nature and character are revealed. 2. Thence the blessings of salvation flow down to men. 3. In her midst Christ will judge the world. III. CONCLUSION. 1. Value spiritual beauty beyond all else. 2. Such beauty is the glory of every Church. 3. Be concerned that God may shine out of the midst of the Church with which we are connected. 4. You unsaved ones, if God shines in the midst of the Church, what is to become of you who will not come to Him? ( Joseph Davis. ) The perfection and beauty of Zion F. M. Ellis, D. D. I. THE INTERNAL PERFECTION AND BEAUTY OF ZION. 1. It is because of the indwelling of the Divine presence that we have a Church. 2. Only as God dwells in us individually is it possible for Him to dwell in His Church as a body. 3. The Church of Christ is the aggregate of holy living; the aggregate of simple faith; the aggregate of personal consecration; the aggregate of personal devotion to God and to our fellow-men. II. THE EXTERNAL BEAUTY AND PERFECTION OF ZION, the Church of the redeemed, depends upon the shining forth or manifestation of this indwelling presence of God. Christ's Church is not a dark lantern, but a chandelier with its lights trimmed and burning — a lighthouse. And what a responsibility this wonderful bequest to believers, this marvellous endowment of the Church, carries with it! ( F. M. Ellis, D. D. ) Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence. Psalm 50:3 Our God shall come R. Horsfall. I. THE COMING OF OUR GOD. The expression is very striking: "Our God shall come!" Christ is God as well as man. His first coming was in His birth at Bethlehem. Here the psalmist contemplates His second coming. The cry may soon be heard, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh," etc. It is of the utmost importance that we should be ready. II. THE MANNER OF HIS COMING. "A fire shall devour," etc. It is impossible to describe the terror of that day! III. THE OBJECT OF HIS COMING. "He shall call," etc. ( R. Horsfall. ) The silence of God R. H. McKim, D. D. I. CONSIDER THE MARVELLOUS, AND, AS SOME MAY THINK, MYSTERIOUS SILENCE OF GOD DURING THE PRESENT ECONOMY. 1. Rise in the morning, and go forth to look upon the world as the light reveals it to the eye. You see the sun mounting to his throne of glory, dispensing, as he goes, life and warmth and beauty over all the habitable globe. All nature awakes at his approach. But though there is a very orchestra of subtile sounds — the song of birds, the hum of insect life, the sough of the swaying pines, the rustle of the dewy leaves — yet nowhere in field or forest, on the green earth or in the deep blue sky, do you hear the voice of the Deity. God keeps silence! 2. Go climb some lofty mountain, until you have the clouds beneath your feet, and the world spread out in grand panorama before you, river and plain, hill and valley, city and hamlet. You seem to breathe the pure air of heaven, and to stand under its cloudless dome. But neither in that blue arch above you, nor among those vast ranges of billowy mountains which encompass you, nor from those yet loftier snow-clad peaks which tower up to heaven, arrayed in their white robes for ever as the high priests of nature, do you hear any whisper or echo of the voice of the invisible God. The cataract thunders in the gorge, the mountain-brook babbles in the valley, the sad sea-waves chant their dirge along the shore, the hoarse thunder reverberates from peak to peak, but God keeps silence. 3. Picture some of the scenes of shameful revelry nightly enacted in such a city as this, when the licence and impiety of Belshazzar's feast are reproduced; when lips that were taught in infancy to lisp the name of God in prayer are made the instruments of ribaldry and blasphemy. Yet no handwriting on the wall rebukes the shameless revellers. God keeps silence! 4. Or, think of the deeds of wickedness daily wrought among men — "man's inhumanity to man," the heartless cruelty with which the strong prey upon the weak, "the oppressor's wrongs, the proud man's contumely," deceit and falsehood, trickery and hypocrisy, wrong and robbery. God keeps silence! II. WHY DOES GOD KEEP SILENCE? 1. A spiritual being cannot be apprehended by the senses. The eye of flesh, the ear of flesh cannot perceive the invisible God. It is the soul which perceives, hears, apprehends Him. Faith in God must remain a moral act; it must be the result of moral considerations, not of the formulas of logic. The stream cannot rise above its source; and belief in God, which should be the result of a logical demonstration, would remain an act of the logical faculties, and would have no moral value. Moreover, if the being and attributes of God were so plainly exhibited in the visible universe as to preclude the possibility of a doubt, a necessary element of man's probation would be wanting. 2. The probationary character of human life. If God's presence and power and retributive justice were forced upon the attention of men, so that they could not escape the consciousness of it; if God's voice were ever sounding in their ears in warning; and if punishment followed swiftly upon transgression — men in that case would act as truly under compulsion as if bound hand and foot, and driven by the whip of the taskmaster. There might be obedience to the Divine law; but it would be enforced obedience, and hence its moral value would be gone. ( R. H. McKim, D. D. ) He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people. Psalm 50:4-6 Nature, a witness against the sinner John Caird, D. D. But she seems, oftentimes, utterly insensible. The most bounteous gifts are bestowed on saint and sinner alike. No matter what outrages on all righteousness and goodness men may be guilty of, she takes no notice. No lightning-bolt leaps forth on the impious head, and the solid earth does not yawn to engulf the perpetrator of iniquity. But, nevertheless, Scripture speaks of Nature as if it were a conscious witness of the moral history of man, as here in our text (cf. also Isaiah 1:1 ; Micah 6:1 ; Deuteronomy 31:28 ). What is the import of this appeal, in which heaven and earth are called upon to bear record? I. THE MATERIAL WORLD MAY BE THUS SUMMONED TO WITNESS, AS CONTAINING THE SCENES OF MAN'S CRIMES. Nature keeps a silent record of them in the associations of the places where they were committed. Bring the sinner to the scene of his past misdeeds, and he will sometimes feel as if all the objects around were endowed with a voice of reproachful reminiscence. How great is the power of local association, whether the deeds done there have boon noble or the reverse. There are places on which we wish never to look again because of that of which they remind us. Thus the whole earth may become full of such reminders, and so may be a faithful record to the eye that can read them. II. BY ITS FULFILLING, IN CONTRAST WITH MAN, THE END OF ITS EXISTENCE. All things are judged as they answer to the ends for which they were made. How, then, does the material world witness against us. III. As AFFORDING PROOF OF THE UNERRING CERTAINTY AND STRICTNESS OF THE DIVINE LAWS. Their operation is invisible and uniform; slow, oftentimes, but sure. Only the interposition of a higher law, as in the Redemption of Christ, can save the sinful man. ( John Caird, D. D. ) Gather My saints together unto Me. Psalm 50:5 "Gather My saints together unto Me F. Whitfield, M. A. 1. What an expressive word — "My saints!" How the Lord appropriates them as His own! ( Malachi 3:17 ). 2. "Gather My saints." "He shall gather the lambs in His arms." He shall "gather" them as a shepherd his sheep in the hour of weakness and danger. They shall not be weak or nervous then. The frail body shall be dropped for ever. 3. "Gather My saints together." It is the family meeting; it is the grand reunion; it is the glad assembly. We shall not rise to meet the Lord individually — in isolation; we shall be gathered together. What heart does not bound at the thought! 4. "Unto Me." What would that meeting be without Jesus? What is any meeting without Him? ( F. Whitfield, M. A. ) The gathering of Christ's saints C. Clayton, M. A. It is the Son of God who is the speaker in this psalm, which tells of His first advent at Jerusalem, and then of His second coming to take vengeance on the disobedient. In that second coming we all shall be deeply interested. Let us think how it will fare with us on that day. Our text refers to it. Consider — I. THE CHARACTERS DESCRIBED. 1. They are Christ's saints. We are to be a holy people, "without blame before Him in love." How is it with us? 2. They have entered into covenant with God. Abraham ( Genesis 15:9 , etc.; Jeremiah 34:18 ). See also Noah's sacrifice. And so God's saints now covenant with God through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. II. THE COMMAND RESPECTING THEM. 1. They will be gathered together. They are not so now. 2. They will be gathered unto Christ. "Gather... unto Me." How blessed this prospect. III. INFERENCES. 1. The duty of Christ's ministers — to gather together saints, from sin and the world, by the preaching of the Gospel. Nothing compensates if this be left undone. 2. The privileges of Christ's people. Eternal life in heaven is yours. ( C. Clayton, M. A. ) Christ's order for the gathering of His saints T. Boston, D. D. This psalm certainly relates to the coming of Christ for judgment (ver. 8). "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him." But whether to His first coming, to abolish the ceremonial law, set up the simple Gospel-worship, and to judge, condemn, and take vengeance on the formal, superstitious Jews, destroying their temple, and ruining their kingdom; or to His second coming to judge the world, is a question. I think it is plain it relates to both, the former as an emblem, pledge and type of the other; and thus we find them stated by our Saviour Himself ( Matthew 24 .). 1. We have the party in whose name the court is called and held. It is in the name of the Holy Trinity, Hebrews "God! God! Jehovah; He hath spoken," etc. God will judge the world by the man Christ. 2. The issuing out of the summons to the whole world, called the earth from the rising of the sun, unto the going down thereof; from east to west, from the one end to the other. 3. From whence the Judge sets forth, making His glorious appearance. At the giving of the law He came from Sinai with terrible majesty ( Deuteronomy 33:2 ). At this His appearance He will come from Zion, the city of the living God, namely, from heaven, the Church being so called as a heaven on earth. 4. His awful coming to the judgment. He is God, as well as man. Devouring fire shall be his harbinger ( 2 Thessalonians 1:8 ). But will any then bid Him welcome? Yes, His people will. 5. Whither the summons shall be directed. To the heavens, where the souls of the blessed are that are dead; to the earth, where the living are, good and bad, and where the bodies of the dead are ( Revelation 20:13 ). 6. A special gracious order in favour of His people. See text. Now comes the time of setting all to rights with them. And they are further characterized as "those that have made a covenant," etc.From all which we gather these doctrines — 1. When Christ comes again to put an end to this world, and complete the state of the other world, He will publicly own the saints as His own, and they shall be honourably gathered to Him by His order. 2. When Christ comes again, this earth will be very throng, and a wonderful mixture will be in it more than ever at any time before; He having called to heaven, and the other receptacle of departed souls, and brought them all back to their bodies which are in the earth. 3. When Christ comes again He will put an end to this world ere He go. His very first appearance will put an end to the business of it. All trades, employments, and diversions in this world will end for ever. And, ere He leave it, He will put an end to itself by setting it on fire; so that it shall no more be capable of affording a habitation to man or beast; while withal the heavens that cover it shall pass away ( 2 Peter 3:10 ). 4. Saintship will be the only mark of distinction among men then. ( T. Boston, D. D. ) The final saintly gathering Job Orton, D. D. I. HERE IS THE CHARACTER OF GOOD MEN. 1. They are saints. By this expression, "My saints," God claims a property in them, and expresseth His care of them and love to them. 2. They have made a covenant with Him by sacrifice. They have taken Him to be their God, their ruler and portion; and given up all dependence upon other objects. II. THE COMMAND. "Let it be thy care, O my soul! I have the honour and happiness to be gathered with His people; and to have fellowship with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. This is the main thing; the source of my chief joy. I bless God that I am gathered with His saints, and united to His Church; and that I do not live in the total or general neglect of this sacred institution. I am willing and thankful to be laid under the most solemn engagements to be the Lord's, and often to recollect and renew them. I know that my treacherous heart needs every tie, to bind it more closely to God and its duty. I would come, deeply humbled for past violations of my engagements, and with the renewed exercises of repentance and faith. Lord, I come, to join myself to Thee in a perpetual covenant, never to be forgotten; with a believing regard to Jesus Christ, the great sacrifice, here set forth, as crucified before my eyes." Let us remember what is said of this gathering. They shall all be gathered from all places, the most obscure and the most remote; and brought to the presence of their covenant-God and Father, who will applaud and reward their fidelity. ( Job Orton, D. D. ) A covenant with God A. H. Moncur Syme. The psalmist's idea of God, as herein expressed, is broad and spiritual, and indicates high spiritual development. It is an ennobling one for man. To have a covenant with God, to be partner with Him in a bond, is to make us, to a certain extent, equal with Him. Covenant-making is one of the earliest instincts in man, and intrinsically one of the noblest. The bargain-making spirit is not necessarily a low one, nor a selfish one, nor a worldly one. We have degraded it by our use of it, by our desire to over-reach, to get the better of our neighbours in our bargains. The first condition of existence is the establishing of relationship between self, and that which is outside self. During the early years of our life we are largely dependent on others for the fulfilling of that condition for us. When we grow older we realize that for a rich and full and strong life we still are dependent on others, but as they in their turn are also dependent on us, we make covenants with them to fix and regulate the mutual help which we are prepared to render and receive. This covenant-making denotes the recognition, conscious or unconscious, of the incapacity of our own resources to satisfy our own needs and desires. But it indicates also that the true nature of man is not that little portion which he has within himself, but is that great nature, of which each one of us has in himself but a little share. And such is the nature of man, that with all his own resources, and all he can draw from others, he is left still unsatisfied. He craves for a yet fuller life, to be filled out of the infinite nature. This leads us to think of the nature of the covenant between God and man, involving the duty of man. Our part of the agreement is that we sacrifice to God. The only true sacrifice is the one which is prompted by love. Love and sacrifice are a twin growth, and each loses its purity when severed from the other. The act of sacrifice is contemplated oftentimes when we are still in the enjoyment of comfort and peace and light, but the sacrifice itself is carried out when all our comfort has declined, when our peace has been turned into maddest strife, and when the light by which we entered the narrow path of self-surrender has been turned into a darkness deep as death. If we love God, we shall delight in every sacrifice which is a manifestation of love, and we shall rejoice to offer our dearest and best gifts to Him. In poverty and weakness we may now make such offering, but it will continue to complete itself. "And, at last, as the righteous will of man gains the final victory, as it unites itself in entire acquiescence with the all-righteous will of God, sacrifice will at once be perfected and abolished, immersed in one infinite ocean of joy and love." What we are vitally concerned to know about God is that He is perfectly just, and true, and loving. And this we can never learn from any revelation to our outward senses, but by quick prophetic insight, by the intuition of the Spirit. When we realize that God and man are one in a covenant of eternal life, we shall have incentive sufficient and worthy for all noble effort; for we ourselves shall have then become "sons of God." ( A. H. Moncur Syme. ) The necessity of sacrifice G. C. Harris, M. A. The history of sacrifice is as old as the history of sin; the idea of sacrifice much older. It is part of the inmost counsels of God. It finds its corresponding utterance, with differing degrees of clearness and truth, through all that is holiest, noblest, and most personal of all God's creation. Time, study, thought, enter into every work of art that earns any real fame . and perhaps it is not too much to say that no painter's creation, no sculptor's reproduction of all but life, no burning words of eloquence, no minstrel's strain, no poet's dream, no work of art, ever really touches the heart, kindles deep feeling, directs motives, or influences conduct, if it does not bear on or below its surface the evidence of labour, of travail, of self-devotion, of self-dedication, self-absorption in the object of beauty or of power. And only in proportion as those who look, or admire, or criticize, or are captivated, know the real principles of what they gaze upon, or estimate the suffering they cost, does the popular opinion approximate the true. And hence it is that God's judgment, and God's opinion of people and acts, differ so often and so terribly from ours. He knows on what grounds His professing servants claim to have a covenant with Him: in what manner they act up to their claim. But God is gathering together those with whom He has made a covenant by sacrifice. And why? For judgment. "God is judge Himself." He has a heavy charge against them. They are His. They have made a covenant with Him. But herein is their sin. The first awful charge against them is opened thus: "I am God, even thy God." The only sacrifice they had made had cost them nothing. And this day again God speaks. Again "out of Zion bath God appeared in perfect beauty"; but it is not the beauty of the world; it is "in the beauty of holiness" expressed in sacrifice. He gathers His saints together unto Him; "lifted up" from the earth upon the Cross, He "draws all men unto Him." Standing before the Cross, gathered before God, can we compare our lives with that life of sacrifice? Can we say that we have really rendered to Him that which He knows it is a sacrifice to us to give? ( G. C. Harris, M. A. ) I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings. Psalm 50:8-13 Lessons John Trapp. "I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices;" i.e. for thy neglect of them, but for thy resting in them, sticking in the bark, bringing Me the bare shell without the kernel, not referring to the right end and use, but satisfying thyself in the work done. ( John Trapp. ) Lifeless duties E. P. Thwing. Go out into the woods, where the white oak is, and where the beech is. Their leaves died last November, but they all hang on the trees yet. The trees have not strength to slough them. They always make me think of a great many people. Sap does not run in them any more, but their duties hang on them like dead leaves all over. They would not like to drop their duties: they are not quite in that state yet; but those duties are dry, sapless and enforced. ( E. P. Thwing. ) If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is Mine, and the fulness thereof. Psalm 50:12 The owner of the world D. O. Watt, M. A. I. THERE MUST BE A GROWING KNOWLEDGE OF GOD AMONGST MEN. Men once thought that God could be hungry, and that offerings of wheat, goats, etc., would appease His appetite: but when this psalm was written they had advanced far beyond this in their knowledge of God. And we now have no such idea. Science, learning, and the study of the life of Jesus, have classified and enlarged our ideas of God and God's workings. Then we ought not to be afraid to say, "The teachings of our fathers, the associations of the old theology of creeds must be modified. We must not allow our spiritual life to be controlled by leading strings held in dead hands." We must be ready to stand in the light of the revealed character of God, and accept our impulses and conclusions from that. II. A STATEMENT OF THE RIGHTS OF GOD OVER THE WORLD PROMOTES THAT KNOWLEDGE, How many of those who read inscribed on the portico of the Royal Exchange, "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof," ever ponder the large meaning of these words. All natural things are His. How we prize that which is ours — from our first children's toys to our possessions now that we are come to mature age. And because this feeling of ownership is in us we know that it is in God. And not only the things, but the energies in them, are His. And all things that men produce, for they come out of the fulness of God's world. What, then, can He wish for from us but that we come to know Him and to love and honour Him as we should? Therefore remember — (1) All property is held from God. We are but His stewards. (2) Everything in the world is a witness to God. (3) God is the sustainer of all things. ( D. O. Watt, M. A. ) Offer unto God thanksgiving and pay thy vows. Psalm 50:14 A thanksgiving mode of glorifying God J. T. Ward, D. D. 1. " Offer unto God thanksgiving." For what? "In everything give thanks." The propriety of this is seen at once when we consider that we owe everything to God. It is impossible, without a due acknowledgment of this, to appreciate our dependence upon and obligation to Him, "in whom we live, and move, and have our being." 2. But our text enjoins us "to pay our vows unto the Most High." 3. "And call upon God in the day of trouble." Our fathers had their troubles, and we shall have ours. They may arise from sources anticipated or unanticipated; for the former we may to some degree prepare, or even, perhaps, by prudent forethought and action in some cases prevent; for the latter, we can only patiently wait upon God who sees and knows all things, and with whom is all wisdom and power. No intelligent observer can be unaware of serious dangers that threaten our God-given heritage. "The price of liberty is eternal vigilance." We think our cherished institutions well guarded in citadels of truth and righteousness, and if all who man the citadels are reliable and faithful, it is certain that no foes without can harm, for the God in whom we trust will never suffer the righteous to be confounded or finally overcome. And we must trust in Him for the protection and defence of all that is right; and we must, if we would be safe and secure, look to Him for wisdom to devise and strength to execute all our purposes in His fear. 4. "And thou shalt glorify Me." Not "make Him glorious," as if to imply that we can add anything to His glory that ever was, is, and ever shall be complete in itself beyond any comparison; but "show forth His glory," by acknowledging it in our hearts, pro claiming it with our lips, exhibiting our regard for it in our lives, and diffusing it all abroad by the exertion of all our ransomed powers and possible energies in His service for the good of all within the range of our influence. For this we were created, for this we are preserved, and when we are told that we are redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, we are exhorted "therefore" to "glorify God in our bodies and our spirits, which are His. " ( J. T. Ward, D. D. ) On thanksgiving T. Laurie. Gratitude is a natural principle of the human heart. In every age thanksgiving has been offered. The songs of Zion have been often sung; the altar has blazed before the Creator of the universe, and the temple been filled with the odours of incense. I. CREATION IS A PROPER SUBJECT OF THANKSGIVING. With the beauties of nature you are surrounded on every side. The morning sun and the melody of the groves; the beautiful landscape and the blue sky; the roaring cataract and the spacious ocean; these are free. Untouched with gratitude can mortals behold them? II. THE BENEFITS OF PROVIDENCE DEMAND YOUR THANKSGIVING. Often has health been restored after sickness, and the mind solaced after the depression of sorrow. In some eases, misfortunes have been removed. Yes, calamities have been alleviated. Now, the return of tranquillity to the troubled mind is a blessing unspeakable; and the wounded spirit, which God hath healed, ought surely to praise Him. III. THE BLESSINGS OF HIS GRACE CLAIM YOUR WARMEST GRATITUDE. And, wherever such gratitude exists, it becomes a powerful principle of obedience, leading a pious man to combat every species of corruption, to cultivate every virtue, to maintain rectitude of conduct in every case, and preserve, in short, on all occasions, a careful and conscientious adherence to the commandments of his God. ( T. Laurie. ) The duty of praise and thanksgiving Bishop Atterbury. " Offer unto God thanksgiving." Which that we may do, let us inquire first how we are to understand this command of offering praise and thanksgiving unto God; and then how reasonable it is that we should comply with it. Our inquiry into what is meant here will be very short: for who is there that understands anything of religion hut knows that the offering praise and thanks to God implies our having a lively and devout sense of His excellencies and of His benefits; our recollecting them with humility and thankfulness of heart; and our expressing these inward affections by suitable outward signs; by reverent and lowly postures of body, by songs, and hymns, and spiritual ejaculations; either privately or publicly. Our praise properly terminates in God, on the ac

Matthew Henry

50:1-6 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 consciences will be forced to acknowledge the righteousness of God. 50:7-15 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 him. 50:16-23 Hypocrisy is wickedness, which God will judge. And it is too common, for those who declare the Lord's statutes to others, to live in disobedience to them themselves. This delusion arises from the abuse of God's long-suffering, and a wilful mistake of his character and the intention of his gospel. The sins of sinners will be fully proved on them in the judgment of the great day. The day is coming when God will set their sins in order, sins of childhood and youth, of riper age and old age, to their everlasting shame and terror. Let those hitherto forgetful of God, given up to wickedness, or in any way negligent of salvation, consider their urgent danger. The patience of the Lord is very great. It is the more wonderful, because sinners make such ill use of it; but if they turn not, they shall be made to see their error when it is too late. Those that forget God, forget themselves; and it will never be right with them till they consider. Man's chief end is to glorify God: whoso offers praise, glorifies him, and his spiritual sacrifices shall be accepted. We must praise God, sacrifice praise, put it into the hands of the Priest, our Lord Jesus, who is also the altar: we must be fervent in spirit, praising the Lord. Let us thankfully accept God's mercy, and endeavour to glorify him in word and deed.