1 The mighty God, even the LORD, hath spoken, and called the earth from the rising of the sun unto the going down thereof.

2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined.

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.

4 He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people.

5 Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.

6 And the heavens shall declare his righteousness; for God is judge himself. Selah.

7 Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God.

8 I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me.

9 I will take no bullock out of thy house, nor he goats out of thy folds.

10 For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.

11 I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.

12 If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.

13 Will I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?

14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:

15 And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.

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?

17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and casteth my words behind thee.

18 When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers.

19 Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit.

20 Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's son.

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.

22 Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.

23 Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to: Psalms
Book: Psalms
Chapter: 50

Overview:
The Glory of God. (1-6) Sacrifices to be changed for prayers.
(7-15) Sincere obedience required. (16-23)

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.

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.

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.

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