Psalms 50

Psalms 50THEME: A psalm of judgmentThis is the first psalm of Asaph, a musician and one of the three song leaders in the temple. Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were the three. This is a great psalm of judgment. It reveals God coming in righteousness to judge His people and to judge the wicked.

Psalms 50:1

The introduction to this psalm proclaims that the mighty God is coming. What a glorious anticipation this should be for the child of God. Some day we shall see our Lord! That is the prospect for every believer.

Psalms 50:4

When God is getting ready to judge, He wants plenty of witnesses to be there to make sure that He is righteous in all that He does. He says:

Psalms 50:5

Those saints who have made a covenant with God by sacrifice are the Jews, the children of Israel.

Psalms 50:6

The Lord Jesus Christ is going to be the judge. “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son” (Joh_5:22).

Psalms 50:7

If you had lived in Jerusalem when the temple was there and people worshiped in it, you probably would have asked, “Lord, are you criticizing these people? They come regularly to the temple (which is the equivalent of every Sunday morning and evening service plus prayer meeting on Wednesday night). They are as busy as termites serving around the temple.” Sure they were, but just going to church is not the most important thing. Of course it is important, but it will not establish a relationship with God. You had better establish that relationship through Christ so that your churchgoing can be pleasing to God.

Psalms 50:8

God says, “Did you really think you were giving Me something when you brought sacrifices to Me? Why, all the animals belong to Me anyway.” This reminds us of the words of Jeremiah the prophet: “For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices: But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you” (Jer_7:22-23). The prophet Micah said something similar: “Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Mic_6:6-8).

Psalms 50:12

If the Creator were hungry, He certainly would not need to tell the creature about it!

Psalms 50:15

God asks His people to come to Him. But God intends to judge the wicked. He is saying, “I didn’t intend to let you get by with sin.”

Psalms 50:21

My friend, God is not speaking only to Israel, He is speaking to us in our day also. He unmasks hypocrisy. Because God is silent does not mean that He approves. There is a day of reckoning coming. God says, “I will reprove thee, and set them [your sins] in order before thine eyes.” But God never ceases to be gracious. The way of salvation is mentioned.

Psalms 50:23

“To him that ordereth his conversation [his way] aright"who confesses his sins to Godwill be shown the way of salvation.