2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shone.
To the Overseer. -- `On the Lilies.' A testimony of Asaph. -- A Psalm. Shepherd of Israel, give ear, Leading Joseph as a flock, Inhabiting the cherubs -- shine forth,
Beautiful `for' elevation, A joy of all the land, `is' Mount Zion, The sides of the north, the city of a great king.
And Jehovah `is' in His holy temple, Be silent before Him, all the earth!
and the city hath no need of the sun, nor of the moon, that they may shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the lamp of it `is' the Lamb;
But, ye came to Mount Zion, and to a city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of messengers, to the company and assembly of the first-born in heaven enrolled, and to God the judge of all, and to spirits of righteous men made perfect, and to a mediator of a new covenant -- Jesus, and to blood of sprinkling, speaking better things than that of Abel! See, may ye not refuse him who is speaking, for if those did not escape who refused him who upon earth was divinely speaking -- much less we who do turn away from him who `speaketh' from heaven, whose voice the earth shook then, and now hath he promised, saying, `Yet once -- I shake not only the earth, but also the heaven;'
For what His goodness! and what His beauty! Corn the young men, And new wine the virgins -- make fruitful!
They have seen Thy goings, O God, Goings of my God, my king, in the sanctuary.
I go -- I turn back unto My place, Till that they are desolate, and have sought My face. In their distress they do seek Me speedily!'
For, lo, Jehovah is coming out of His place, To charge the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth upon him, And revealed hath the earth her blood, Nor doth she cover any more her slain!'
Cry aloud, and sing, O inhabitant of Zion, For great in thy midst `is' the Holy One of Israel!'
God of vengeance -- Jehovah! God of vengeance, shine forth.
Jehovah is loving the gates of Zion Above all the tabernacles of Jacob. Honourable things are spoken in Thee, O city of God. Selah.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Psalms 50
Commentary on Psalms 50 Matthew Henry Commentary
Psalm 50
This psalm, as the former, is a psalm of instruction, not of prayer or praise; it is a psalm of reproof and admonition, in singing which we are to teach and admonish one another. In the foregoing psalm, after a general demand of attention, God by his prophet deals (v. 3) with the children of this world, to convince them of their sin and folly in setting their hearts upon the wealth of this world; in this psalm, after a like preface, he deals with those that were, in profession, the church's children, to convince them of their sin and folly in placing their religion in ritual services, while they neglected practical godliness; and this is as sure a way to ruin as the other. This psalm is intended,
These instructions and admonitions we must take to ourselves, and give to one another, in singing this psalm.
A psalm of Asaph.
Psa 50:1-6
It is probable that Asaph was not only the chief musician, who was to put a tune to this psalm, but that he was himself the penman of it; for we read that in Hezekiah's time they praised God in the words of David and of Asaph the seer, 2 Chr. 29:30. Here is,
Psa 50:7-15
God is here dealing with those that placed all their religion in the observances of the ceremonial law, and thought those sufficient.
Psa 50:16-23
God, by the psalmist, having instructed his people in the right way of worshipping him and keeping up their communion with him, here directs his speech to the wicked, to hypocrites, whether they were such as professed the Jewish or the Christian religion: hypocrisy is wickedness for which God will judge. Observe here,