7 Give ear, O my people, to my words; O Israel, I will be a witness against you; I am God, even your God.
Give ear to the words of the Lord, O sons of Jacob and all the families of Israel: These are the words of the Lord: What evil have your fathers seen in me that they have gone far from me, and, walking after what is false, have become false?
Give ear now to the words of the Lord: Up! put forward your cause before the mountains, let your voice be sounding among the hills. Give ear, O you mountains, to the Lord's cause, and take note, you bases of the earth: for the Lord has a cause against his people, and he will take it up with Israel. O my people, what have I done to you? how have I been a weariness to you? give answer against me. For I took you up out of the land of Egypt and made you free from the prison-house; I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. O my people, keep in mind now what was designed by Balak, king of Moab, and the answer which Balaam, son of Beor, gave him; the events, from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may be certain of the upright acts of the Lord. With what am I to come before the Lord and go with bent head before the high God? am I to come before him with burned offerings, with young oxen a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of sheep or with ten thousand rivers of oil? am I to give my first child for my wrongdoing, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has made clear to you, O man, what is good; and what is desired from you by the Lord; only doing what is right, and loving mercy, and walking without pride before your God.
If now you will truly give ear to my voice and keep my agreement, you will be my special property out of all the peoples: for all the earth is mine: And you will be a kingdom of priests to me, and a holy nation. These are the words which you are to say to the children of Israel.
I am the Lord your God, who took you up from the land of Egypt: let your mouth be open wide, so that I may give you food. But my people did not give ear to my voice; Israel would have nothing to do with me. So I gave them up to the desires of their hearts; that they might go after their evil purposes.
And gave witness against them so that you might make them come back again to your law: but their hearts were lifted up, and they gave no attention to your orders and went against your decisions (which, if a man keeps them, will be life to him), and turning their backs on you, made their necks stiff and did not give ear. Year after year you put up with them, and gave witness against them by your spirit through your prophets: still they did not give ear: and so you gave them up into the hands of the peoples of the lands.
For the Lord will not give his people up, because of the honour of his name; for it was the Lord's pleasure to make of you a people for himself. And as for me, never will I go against the orders of the Lord by giving up my prayers for you: but I will go on teaching you the good and right way. Only go in the fear of the Lord, and be his true servants with all your heart, keeping in mind what great things he has done for you. But if you still do evil, destruction will overtake you and your king.
Make then this song for yourselves, teaching it to the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, so that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. For when I have taken them into the land named in my oath to their fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey, and they have made themselves full of food and are fat, then they will be turned to other gods and will give them worship, no longer honouring me or keeping my agreement. Then when evils and troubles without number have overtaken them, this song will be a witness to them, for the words of it will be clear in the memories of their children: for I see the thoughts which are moving in their hearts even now, before I have taken them into the land of my oath.
Today you have given witness that the Lord is your God, and that you will go in his ways and keep his laws and his orders and his decisions and give ear to his voice: And the Lord has made it clear this day that you are a special people to him, as he gave you his word; and that you are to keep all his orders;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Psalms 50
Commentary on Psalms 50 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
PSALM 50
Ps 50:1-23. In the grandeur and solemnity of a divine judgment, God is introduced as instructing men in the nature of true worship, exposing hypocrisy, warning the wicked, and encouraging the pious.
1-4. The description of this majestic appearance of God resembles that of His giving the law (compare Ex 19:16; 20:18; De 32:1).
4. above—literally, "above" (Ge 1:7).
heavens … earth—For all creatures are witnesses (De 4:26; 30:19; Isa 1:2).
5. my saints—(Ps 4:3).
made—literally, "cut"
a covenant, &c.—alluding to the dividing of a victim of sacrifice, by which covenants were ratified, the parties passing between the divided portions (compare Ge 15:10, 18).
6. The inhabitants of heaven, who well know God's character, attest His righteousness as a judge.
7. I will testify—that is, for failure to worship aught.
thy God—and so, by covenant as well as creation, entitled to a pure worship.
8-15. However scrupulous in external worship, it was offered as if they conferred an obligation in giving God His own, and with a degrading view of Him as needing it [Ps 50:9-13]. Reproving them for such foolish and blasphemous notions, He teaches them to offer, or literally, "sacrifice," thanksgiving, and pay, or perform, their vows—that is, to bring, with the external symbolical service, the homage of the heart, and faith, penitence, and love. To this is added an invitation to seek, and a promise to afford, all needed help in trouble.
16-20. the wicked—that is, the formalists, as now exposed, and who lead vicious lives (compare Ro 2:21, 23). They are unworthy to use even the words of God's law. Their hypocrisy and vice are exposed by illustrations from sins against the seventh, eighth, and ninth commandments.
21, 22. God, no longer (even in appearance) disregarding such, exposes their sins and threatens a terrible punishment.
22. forget God—This denotes unmindfulness of His true character.
23. offereth praise—(Ps 50:14), so that the external worship is a true index of the heart.
ordereth … aright—acts in a straight, right manner, opposed to turning aside (Ps 25:5). In such, pure worship and a pure life evince their true piety, and they will enjoy God's presence and favor.